RoToron ロトロﾝ

[bobbyb13]

Forgive me for missing it, but what kind of paint are you using?

Good masking job.

Only tape worth using is always so damned expensive.
 

[Ond]

Forgive me for missing it, but what kind of paint are you using?

Good masking job.

Only tape worth using is always so damned expensive.
 

That's ok bobbyb13, I like to use automotive paints specifically acrylic based.  I use them in combination with acrylic thinners and a spray gun.  This pic shows the look I'll be working toward again, only in yellow this time.

[Ond]

Spray-painting for the CP 'decal' is complete.  I need to give it a few days to dry thoroughly before I finish the gloss yellow coats.  That will mean re-masking to cover the artwork.

The artwork which is more like a stenciled decal is satin black, a nice surface to play games on rather high-gloss black.  The CP yellow will be high gloss to match the control buttons and joysticks.

[bobbyb13]

Very nice on the panel.

My word, what grit did you sand to before paint to achieve a red mirror globe?!

Outstanding quality.

[Laythe]

Oh, that is gorgeous.

I was privately on the fence about the red->yellow transformation until you posted that, but, wow that's sharp.   

I'm a believer on team yellow now.  And, it's good to have you back. 

[yamatetsu]

Very nice on the panel.

My word, what grit did you sand to before paint to achieve a red mirror globe?!

Outstanding quality.

I'll quote myself:

Taken from the 'Are there "How to Videos" on arcade building?' sticky in the main forum:
You probably won't get better advice than that.

[bobbyb13]

I will be learning that for sure
And thank you yamatetsu
And Ond too of course!

Unreal

[vertexguy]

OND, I stumbled on this thread many months ago when you weren't actively posting and thought, damn... that will be an insane next level build when it's finished.  Glad to see you're back at it again!  Really looking forward to seeing this completed!  I wish I had half that building skill!   

[Ond]

Thanks Laythe, the curvy shapes of this cab in ultra-gloss yellow is really it's ‘art’ I guess.  The addition of simple areas of contrasting black with a little white and red make the yellow work I think.  Welcome to Team Yellow.

One of the main reasons I return to BYOAC is to be in the company of great builders and in particular the three here whose work I admire most - Laythe, markc74 and Pixelhugger. The look of RoToron owes much to what I’ve learned from these three about artistic arcade design. Anyone reading this project thread who hasn’t checked out their work, do yourself the favor.  If you’re excited about building your own arcade controls/cabinet, you will be greatly inspired by their work!

Achieving the ultra-gloss curvy look in fiberglass is a labor of love requiring strong motivation. Can’t wait to get back into the hazmat suit again  . Motivation is a trick of the mind, if I get the control panel finished – the rest will follow.

@ yamatetsu – thanks for answering bobbyb13’s question.  I was going to be a smartass and tell him I sanded with Grit 1’000’000 to get that finish.

@ vertexguy – it’s really great to still see new builders here of your caliber.  I mean that sincerely.  Keep going with your excellent documentation/sharing in your project build 

[Ond]

...next, yellow to ultra-gloss finish.

[javeryh]

Looks great as usual.  I can't wrap my head around how you get such crisp lines and no bleeding with your tape-job.  Do you unmask while the paint is still wet?  Every time I try something similar it's a hot mess.

[Malenko]

Looks great as usual.  I can't wrap my head around how you get such crisp lines and no bleeding with your tape-job.  Do you unmask while the paint is still wet?  Every time I try something similar it's a hot mess.

samesies.

[Ond]

Yep, guys I know what you mean with tearing and bleeding of masked paint jobs.  There's a few things that you can do to address those things.  The tape I'm using is top quality air-brusher's tape.  Unlike masking tape etc it does not bleed underneath when you spray.  I pull up the mask soon after spraying.  You have to avoid the temptation to coat too thickly as well.  As paint drys it skins and becomes elastic.  Depending on the thickness and drying time you can unmask and tear away the tape with a clean edge. 

[jennifer]

 

[jennifer]

 

[ditchdoc68]

Ond, thanks for the updates again, good to see you back at it. Rotoron is looks amazinfg so far!

[Ond]

Ond, thanks for the updates again, good to see you back at it. Rotoron is looks amazinfg so far!

 

Next ... Top hemisphere

[firedance]

Wow 

[Jimbo]

Looks a bit shoddy if you ask me!      

[BadMouth]

Looks gorgeous.

On the fine line tape: I recently tried Tamiya brand "masking tape for curves" and was amazed.  Not sure if it is any more cost effective than automotive brands, but the results blew me away.

For people who are curious(stuff Ond already knows);
What makes these tapes different is that they are vinyl instead of paper so they stretch enough to make smooth curves with no pleats for paint to seep under.  I bought the Tamiya tape after getting poor results with Frog tape cut into thin strips.

Edit: also discovered Molotow chrome paint pens.  Amazing mirror finish.

[javeryh]

The craftsmanship is obviously top notch but what I like the most is the color choice.  It’s ballsy but looks fantastic.  This is really going to be the focal point of whatever room it ends up in.

[Gilrock]

I see an imperfection....oh wait it was dirt on my screen.  It takes me so many hours in Photoshop to get my control panels looking that nice.

[wp34]

Ridiculously nice.   

[thatpurplestuff]

I love the combo of yellow and black with white highlights, but the contrast of matte/glossy finish is incredible (and the yellow accent on the spinner is one of those tiny details that puts it over the top).  Awesome work!

[Vigo]

[Arroyo]

Unreal......

[Ond]

Ha ha!  Love the yellow Lambo!  I’m so glad you guys get the ‘look’ I’m going for with this cab.  There are artifacts in the finish, like slight ridge lines on edges etc. That’s part of the painted style of the artwork.  The real time and effort is in hand polishing paint to a very high gloss.  For most of the cab I’ll be able to use a mechanical buffer to polish with, but not the CP.  This will be my little reminder of what I’m aiming for, when I’m hacking away at raw fiberglass which looks terrible.
 
A reality check… The top dome or hemisphere I’m going to work on next suffered a fall and some damage in the past few months.  Part of the connecting bracket had fractured and it took a tumble onto the concrete. Amazingly, none of the dome itself was damaged.  The re-worked fiber glass is just so tough, but the bracket will need to be replaced, this time with steel instead of MDF.
 
It’s been a real learning curve this build.  The truth is, if it had of been finished years ago using the original approach, it would now be displaying all kinds of structural issues. Getting these things right is my consolation.

[vertexguy]

I need to hire you next time my wife wants to repaint the inside of our house.  Your lines are so clean it's crazy. 

[yotsuya]

The color and paint look great, Ond, but I’m not gon’ lie - I loved the red.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mourix]

You are pretty much an example for everyone at this point

[nitrogen_widget]

OND - do you paint cars?
If not you should because I've seen worse pro jobs on cars.

[bobbyb13]

OND - do you paint cars?
If not you should because I've seen worse pro jobs on cars.

Quite true.

I have worked on some VERY expensive cars that didn't have paint work that nice!

[Ond]

[Pixelhugger]

I love this picture. It looks like something you'd find in a field in Chernobyl. In a good way.

@nitro: Pretty sure what Ond does with paint is a lot harder than painting a car.  With the surface prep alone there is no comparison!

[Ond]

   I don't mind posting those post apocalyptic images of something you might very well find in a forbidden radioactive zone. I'm gearing up to transform it back into eye candy.