Vampire Savior 2 conversion

Drewdah

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(I originally posted these questions on the BYOAC forum, but someone recommended I try to solicit some advice here instead. If you have any suggestions or advice for my questions below please let me know)

I've decided to start simple and just convert my emtpy dynamo z-back cabinet into a dedicated fighter cabinet since it already has a CP setup for street fighter. I have a Vampire Savior 2 CPS2 B board (and an A board) on their way to me right now, so now I just need to get the cab ready.

Control Panel:

The cabinet has one of those fold down control panels with and a removable drawer that holds the PCB that slides out with it, so I decided to unplug everything, slide it out and see what the condition was.





From what I can tell, I've already got the JAMMA harness for the CP but I'll be needing a whole bunch of replacement switches, some new disconnects, and I'd like to get some new artwork (or at least something better than the ripped SF2 layout). The control panel itself is metal and it looks like the existing artwork is on stuck on there like a huge sticker.

Question: Any suggestions on how to get the existing artwork off? Should I just sand it?
Question: Are there vendors that sell adhesive CP artwork in the shape of my CP that I can just replace it with?

The next thing I noticed was the wood of the kick panel / coin door area of the cabinet is split at the top and probably should be replaced. I removed the coin door and took some pictures:




I have 0 woodworking experience, but replacing this one panel seems reasonably easy

Question: If I was to replace this, how can I get this one piece out without damaging the rest of the cabinet? Should I cut it out with a saw?
Question: What kind of wood should I get to replace this panel with?

Thanks for the help
 
A few small updates. I found a pre-made 3d model of my z-back cabinet and so I decided to try out some color schemes. I've settled on something like this for now, but I've had a really hard time finding 3/4" t-molding in that smoke gray color.



For the control panel, I got some advice from a friend and picked up a cheap heat gun and a paint scraper at harbor freight and was able to peel off the existing SF2 CPO with only a small layer of glue left over. I tried using goof-off to get the rest of the glue, but I ended up just hitting the whole thing with an orbital sander at 60 grit and now the whole thing is smooth and ready for a coat of primer.



I've been unsuccessful in finding an original example or reproduction of the Vampire Savior 2 (or even the original vampire savior) CPO, so for now I think I'm just going to stick with the black & gray.

For the split MDF on the kick panel, I found some tutorials online and ended up separating the cracked area with a paint scraper and then dripping a shitton of wood glue in there.



Seems to be holding well enough and hopefully when sanded and painted you won't be able to tell.



Lastly, I picked up a can of bondo body filler and a tube of the hardener and started filling in the damaged areas on the side, front and edges of the cab. Two things I learned quickly about working with bondo (my first time doing ANY of this stuff) are 1. It smells awful and 2. It clumps, hardens and become impossible to work with ~3 minutes after you mix the hardener in. I wasted a lot of it because I hadn't planned out exactly which areas I needed it for before mixing.

Anyway, more to come.
 
I've noticed that temperature has a big effect on the working time of bondo. Being in the pacific northwest I've used it in several different temps, and the warmer it is outside the quicker it hardens.

Not that it's very helpful, since most people work with it outside or with open garage doors due to the smell. It's seldom possible to control the temperature, but it's good to know that on a really hot day it'll dry super fast so you don't mix too much at a time.

Oh by the way, the smell grows on you after a while. In fact it's been a while since I last used some. I think I'll go mix some up as I think I'm suffering withdrawals.
 
VS2 was not released here officially in the US so there isn't a dedicated example. Typically in this generation they would ship it with a generic diamond plate CPO like many of the other games matching this era. They put out so many games w/o a ded CPO. They instead sometimes used CPO stickers and move stickers.
 
@Prairied1ll0 I believe I just read that you used to work for Capcom. Do you know if any of the Darkstalkers series had a dedicated CPO? As long as it fit the theme of the game I think it might be okay.

Otherwise I might be inclined to purchase one of those diamond overlays that you were selling (assuming you still have some available)
 
I could be wrong but I have never seen one that I can remmember. I didn't work for them in that era or ever for the arcade side.

I think there were control stickers for some of the DS games. You can probably search and figure that out.

I still have inventory.
 
Does anyone happen to know where I can find 3/4" t-molding in either of these colors? The site I got the information from wont take orders of anything less than 250ft (and I only need ~40). Is that typical?

Brand: Formica
Number: 961
Color Name: Fog

125.jpg


Brand: Formica
Number: 928
Color Name: Mouse

363.jpg
 
Have you finished the sides yet? Wondering what you did, I have the same cab and it needs as much TLC....
 
I did the bondo work on the gashes and broken areas and have the entire surface sanded down flush with 60 grit, but I haven't started paint yet - mostly because I'm not sure if the paint I have will work.

What I have is a bucket of leftover primer from when I painted my house and a few bottles of super-glossy spraypaint that I picked up from the hardware store, but a lot of the cabs I see people restoring seem to be using paint sprayers and very specific kinds of paint.

This is my first time doing any of this, so I planned to just do the primer with a roller, let it dry then start hitting it with spraypaint and do a few coat / sand cycles and see how it looks.

Those of you who have painted cabs before, does that sound like the right idea?
 
Finally a little bit of progress...

I could have sanded and nitpicked / bondo'd every single blemish on this cabinet to death, but I decided to just throw a coat of primer on it and the control panel and I'm already glad I did. Granted I just used a few rattle cans of valspar primer with a trigger attachment, but it came out decent enough for my first paint job.

I'm going to sand and throw another coat of primer on the cabinet tomorrow before trying to move to actual colors, but hey - at least I got SOMETHING done.



 
I decided to stick with a glossy black control panel for now because I like the contrast of the white buttons, at least until I get some button decals or a fully vinyl CPL overlay.



After that I went to town with my rattle cans of black and dark gray. I think my next cabinet I'll definitely buy a nice paint sprayer or stick with a laminate because painting this thing was an absolute pain in the ass.



Got all the buttons and coin mechs wired up and fired it up for the first time in months.



Last on the list for this cabinet is to find some appropriate t-molding and either hunt down or create an appropriate marquee.
 
There is so much darkstalkers-related art out there, personally I would go the route of finding some pieces you like and then making your own marquee, cpo, and side art out of them
 
looks great, i had one of these in an MK2 cabinet a year or so back that I restored back to MK2. I played the game a bit and was impressed with it. good luck keep up the nice work
 
Here's a few pics of it in a little arcade / hookah lounge I set up at my house for our New Years Eve party. I've been having a really hard time getting the color balance on it right, which is why it looks pale blue compared to the other games - the red just wont turn up high enough for some reason.







There is so much darkstalkers-related art out there, personally I would go the route of finding some pieces you like and then making your own marquee, cpo, and side art out of them

Good suggestion, I think that is probably what I will do.
 
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