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Working on a Sega Blast City

No, masking isn't necessary. I used fine tip brushes and the paint was thick and easy to apply. There were two spots near the monitor where the paint was worn so thin I could see the black coating underneath. For that I did mask around the monitor, applied paint with a sponge, then sanded and polished it. Kind of a waste of time, I admit. Those spots now look really bad in direct light. But otherwise it's hardly noticeable that I painted there.

I used DecoArt Gloss Enamels that I bought at an art supply store for the touch ups. I posted a photo of it here: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/working-on-a-sega-blast-city.20583/post-345775

Mixing the paint to match the color of the cabinet was tough, at least for me. I watched some tutorials on youtube for matching colors with oil paints which was very helpful. Eventually I got it close enough. It would be easier if this paint didn't change color when it dries.

Another option if your cabinet doors aren't too yellow is to take one to an automotive paint store and ask to look at their sample books. Find a color that matches and ask them to mix a small can for you. Shouldn't be too expensive. The place I've been going to charges $28 for an aerosol can and it's probably cheaper for the same amount of paint without the aerosol. Depending on the type of paint they mix, you may need to apply clear coat over it too although that's not absolutely necessary.

If the spots are small you may be able to use Honda Frost White and it will look fine. All depends on how dark and how yellow your cabinet is.
 
Silly question... which one of all bondo products are you using? Bondo can't be found here in Costa Rica so I have to order it thru amazon and there are several options.

Thanks!
 
Can I see more full cab photos of the blast from different angles? I want to see how that paint blended with everything else
 
hoagtech said:
Can I see more full cab photos of the blast from different angles? I want to see how that paint blended with everything else
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I didn't take any pictures of the whole thing yet because I still haven't replaced the yellowed side stickers. Coincidentally I ordered some last night so I should have new stickers and full photos soon. I may do a little more touch up paint as well on a spot or two.
 
Thomas said:
I didn't take any pictures of the whole thing yet because I still haven't replaced the yellowed side stickers. Coincidentally I ordered some last night so I should have new stickers and full photos soon. I may do a little more touch up paint as well on a spot or two.
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Did you go with arcade art shop or alberto for the side stickers?
 
garou81 said:
Did you go with arcade art shop or alberto for the side stickers?
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Arcade Art Shop. And I requested some changes to the colors. Out of the 5 people I'm aware of who sell these stickers, alberto1225's look the most accurate. I think he's too busy these days to print them, however. Arcade Art Shop has some other items I want so that's why I ordered from there. I could have attempted to revise the files from arcade otaku wiki and try getting them printed somewhere locally but it's much easier to order from someone. Also, eventually my Blast will be sitting between my other two cabinets and depending on how much space I have, the stickers might not be visible. So I shouldn't be too picky about the colors. I definitely don't want to keep the originals on there. Those look really bad.
 
New stickers (decals?) arrived and are on the cabinet. No more looking at these scratched, yellow things.

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Peeling off the old ones was easy with a little heat applied, but not too much heat because the adhesive separates from the vinyl and leaves a mess on the cabinet.

As I wrote previously, the stickers were ordered from Arcade Art Shop and I requested a few changes to the colors. Most importantly, a change to the blue areas to be more purple. The changes were implemented and the new sticker design is now fairly close to the originals. The only part left that I would change is the grey shadows; I would make them lighter with a blue tint. There are other differences in the colors and shape but those are also in the Arcade Otaku wiki file (which I assume is the source) and these differences aren't too critical in my opinion. Overall I think the stickers look good. The vinyl and print quality are both excellent.

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I wish the white border was a grey white like the cabinet although it’s hard to tell how white the stickers were originally when the cabinets were new. Maybe the border is supposed to be white. The paint under the stickers was the exact color of the rest of the cabinet so the paint on this cabinet (the resin body only) hasn’t changed since it was new (but did need buffing and polishing).

I'll take pictures of the whole cabinet later after I do a few more paint touch ups.
 
Here's some more information on mounting plates that everyone except for me probably knows already:

In an earlier post I wrote about needing a Kowal plate converter to mount a Seimitsu LS-56 to an alberto1225 panel. This isn't correct. Seimitsu makes other plates and the plate I needed was the SS P-40. This plate costs only a few dollars whereas the Kowal costs $11 and isn't as widely available. However, the SS P-40 isn't flat and places the lever 5mm higher above the control panel, which may or may not be desirable.

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For now I will keep using the Kowal plate because that's what I am used to. The 5mm difference with the SS P-40 is noticeable. It places the ball top higher in my hand. I may switch back to it later and use it for a few weeks to see if I like it better.

There is also the Seimitsu SE P-40 which is also compatible with the LS-56. It is a flat plate and, based on the dimensions, looks like it might fit an alberto1225 panel but it doesn't. I suppose I could use a file to enlarge the holes if I really wanted to use this plate. If I didn't already have the Kowal plate I probably would.

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The SS P-40 and SE P-40 also fit the LS-55 lever. The plate that seems to be the standard plate sold with both the LS-55 and LS-56 is the MS P-40 and this plate does not fit alberto1225 panels.

Plate dimensions:
https://www.tops-game.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=6548




Now on to the paint touch ups. I had some areas where the paint was worn so thin that I could see the black coating underneath. It's difficult to brush these large areas and make it look good. Months ago, I tried using a sponge to apply the paint and then sanded and polished it a little and that is somewhat better than brushing. But it still looked bad.

This is the best photograph I could find of how it looked before and painting. On the right side of the photo you can see where the paint is very thin and cracked. It may be difficult to see in the photo but the whole area is darker because of how thin the paint is. This is the area above the right speaker.

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I added isopropyl alcohol to my custom mix of craft store paint to thin the paint, then used a 2" foam roller to apply several very light coats, applying heat in between each coat. I accidentally discovered that rubbing this water based acrylic enamel paint with a paper towel soaked with alcohol levels the surface and brings out more gloss. So after allowing the paint to cure for a day I "polished" it with alcohol. The results are decent and it's difficult to see where I have rolled the paint unless I shine a light directly onto the surface. I did the same process on a large area on the left side of the cabinet to the right of the side sticker.

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This is the left side above the left speaker, original paint:

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And the right side, DecoArt Gloss Enamel paint rolled on, "polished" with alcohol:

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The reason I'm doing ridiculous things like rolling craft store paint is because I wasn't sure if I wanted to do any painting at the beginning and now I don't want to disassemble the whole cabinet to spray it. I also have three doors in the front that are each a different color because I sprayed the coin box door and convinced myself to ignore the other two. The lesson for me is this: if I buy an arcade cabinet, decide at the beginning to either paint all of it or none of it.

Lastly, photographs of the full cabinet:

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advans14 said:
Looks awesome. What decoart craft store paint? Got a bottle pic “? I have the exact black scratches on my cab :/
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DecoArt Gloss Enamels. Here's some info: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/working-on-a-sega-blast-city.20583/post-345775

Add tiny amounts of black to the white paint until the shade is close, then add tiny amounts of yellow to get the color. Before I did this I thought the color would be more blue but in the end I didn't need to use any blue. I think the black pigment might be a very dark blue. Maybe that's why. The car paint that I sprayed also contained no blue. Black and yellow only.

For a better finish that can be sanded and polished, buy and mix automotive touch up paint. Single stage, not the base coat/clear coat type.
 
Thomas said:
For a better finish that can be sanded and polished, buy and mix automotive touch up paint. Single stage, not the base coat/clear coat type.
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On that note for a cab that needs some light touch up, I wonder how something like this would perform
 
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