All American Football - Paint & CPO
The new control panel overlay arrived today from Mame Marquees. I have had a marquee printed there before but never a control panel overlay. I have to admit, I’m very impressed with the quality. In anticipation of installing the control panel overlay, I wanted to make sure to have all of the cabinet components painted before it arrived. I spent some time over the weekend repainting the marquee retainers and control panel frame.
The marquee retainers and control panel frame were spray painted with 3 coats of Rustoleum semi-gloss enamel. The marquee also got a good cleaning to remove years of dust, dirt and cigarette stains:
Although I did not repaint the piece, I also reinstalled the coin door. I had a spare coin door that was in better shape than the coin door originally on the cabinet, so I used it instead. Sometime down the road, I will probably end up stripping it of paint and repainting, at a minimum to ensure a consistent color match on the cabinet. I installed some new t-molding in a few areas that would be inaccessible once the control panel was reattached to the cabinet. The area is clearly pictured below, however you’ll notice that the molding on the left side is not finished. I still need to route a slot where I did some corner repairs.
You’ll notice in the picture above that the monitor bezel and plexiglass have also been reinstalled. I cleaned the plexiglass and bezel with soap and water. The plastic monitor cover then received a quick wipe down with some Armor All to give it a nice shiny appearance.
Finally, time to install the new control panel overlay. I “primed” the bare metal of the control panel with flat black Rustoleum spray paint. “Why”, you ask? First, if I make an error trimming one of the joystick or button holes the black underneath will be less glaring than bare metal. Secondly, the control panel, prior to sanding, had a considerable amount of rust. The Rustoleum paint should help retard any further rusting of the panel.
I knew from my test prints that the control panel overlay needed to be installed with the left hand edge and top perfectly aligned to the metal control panel. I intentionally made the overlay 1/8″ too long on the right side and bottom to make sure I had an accurate fit. I set the overlay in place and then taped it to the control panel using masking tape.
Once I was convinced that it was properly aligned on the control panel, I removed all of the tape from the left hand side and about 2 inches of tape from the left hand side on the top and bottom. I then peeled away the backing from the adhesive vinyl and working in a diagonal pattern, adhered the overlay to the control panel. Once the overlay was adhered, I ran a J-roller over the surface to elimate any air bubbles. The process is then repeated util the entire overlay has been adhered.
You can get a pretty good idea from the middle picture above how much of the control panel overlay I adhere at one time. The folds you see in the backing material, about every 2 inches, is all I adhere at once. Once the panel was completely adhered, I trimmed the outside edges of the overlay, removing the intentional extra material, using an X-acto knife and the metal control panel as a guide. I also began to cut out the joystick and button holes, again using an X-acto knife and the metal control panel holes as a guide.
You’ll notice that a few of the holes don’t appear to be aligned exactly right. This concerned me but then I started looking at some pictures of the original control panel overlay. It appears that Leland wasn’t too concerned with exact centering so I guess I shouldn’t be either:
Overall, I’m pleased with the appearance of the cabinet so far. I did apply some t-molding to the control panel frame, but realized the 3/4″ molding that I had was not big enough. I’m going to have to order some 1″ t-molding for the control panel frame and some 3/4″ for the rest of the cabinet. Once it arrives I should be able to finish this project off. I’ll be reinstalling the joysticks and buttons later this week. Stay tuned!
June 4th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I am curious, how did you cut perfect circles freehand using an exact-o knife? You cut the circles from the top? Or from the back? I would think the top…
The photos you show are from the old alignment, can you show some closeups of those circles cuts you made? Does Mame Marquees offer a service to cut those holes at an extra cost?
June 4th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
@Jeff Rothe: I cut the holes from the top. It’s a 1/8″ metal control panel with a removable wooden base. From the pictures, it sometimes looks like it is a 3/4″ thick wooden control panel but it’s not. I took the wooden base off and just let the x-acto knife follow the edge of the hole. Went back over it 2 or 3 times until I had a nice smooth edge.
The key is having a sharp blade and I put in a new blade after cutting two holes (probably overkill but a dull blade can cause rips and I didn’t want to risk it).
I know that Mame Marquees offers a template, meaning they will print another copy of the overlay with just the holes that you can then place over the real overlay as a guide (I think). I’m not sure if they cut holes or not…I didn’t see it listed as an option. I prefer the method I used as you are using the actual control panel holes as your guide and not necessarily freehanding it, which would be the case using their template.
I’ve got some additional pictures with the buttons and sticks reinstalled that I’ll probably have posted later tonight. I take a few closeups of the holes.