mame control panel

[stiegi]

Hello guys!

I made a custom control panel out of mdf wood and spray painted it with dupli color platinum. I used primer and put 4 layers of clear varnish on top of it. After some time of use I noticed that the control panel shows some signs of wear.

I donīt want to make the control panel again because it was a lot of work - I know in a dedicated cab they used a cp made of metal and put control panel overlay on it which is a pretty resistent combination.

So does anyone of you know how to make the control panel really resistant to friction and sweat of the hands during gameplay? Is there a special sort of clear varnish out there? I am also thinking about plating the whole wood cd with metal. Is hammertone finish strong enough for a long period of gameplay?

Please let me know if you know how to solve this problem. I cannot put acrylic glass on it because the tracking ball (from Ultimarc) will not fit anymore

regards,
Alex

[AMDman13]

Honestly the only way to go is with some sort of plexi. I have been using the CP that I built on 2006 and it still looks brand new. You trackball will fit. You just need to cut and bevel the hole in the plexi.  Trust me if you take the time to research and do it this way you will never need to touch it again. Plus, the artwork underneath will still look brand new.