Nintendo R-Type Restoration Project UPDATE 6/14/06 - ALMOST THERE!!

[Hiub1]

Hey guys, been a while since my last post, but I'm here everyday . Anyways, just picked up this bad boy from another guy here on the boards. It looks like it was an original Nintendo R-Type that was converted to a Neo Geo cab. The bottom of the cab had some damage from a bump or two, and one of the corners was knocked off.







Overall, it is in above average shape, the monitor is supposed to work well but is untested, and the power supply should be OK as well. The only real damage is at the bottom, which is somewhat problematic since the structural integrity of the cab is somewhat jeopardized by the lack of material down there, and screwing it down would only make matters worse. It also looked kinda ugly, and if I was going to do a restoration of the thing, that was not going to fly.

After reading that great tutorial on how to fix the bottom of the cabs (Name escapes me at the moment, but thanks!), I decided to take a stab at it. This cab used some funny sized particle board, so I used the closest thing I found at the Home Depot.

I did one side yesterday, and did the other one this morning. Everything is assembled with dadoes on the cab, so I went ahead and routed the dadoes for the sides as well so that it would hold up better.





Here is one side on there.





Used some Gorilla glue, and screwed it on there for now. I think the glue and dadoes should be strong enough so that I can remove the screws, and I reinforced the joint from the back with some strips of wood with some mo' glue and nails.



Here is the result from the first side, you can clearly see the mismatch of the wood. I am open for suggestions on what to do.



The other side was smooth sailing. One thing I found that was good to do if you have any sort of groove when you are replacing the bottom like I did is to first cut the shape of the panel, and then just lay it on there and trace the grooves with a pencil to give you a good idea where they are going to be. This made it simple and everything fit like a glove. Here are the two sides done, next to my other 'cade.









I also sanded down the sides some today, and next on the list is to begin BONDO on those panels once I figure out how to get that difference in thickness to a more reasonable level.

I am also somewhat stumped on what to do with this thing. I kind of feel like it should go back to its original state, but I am not really a huge fan of R-Type, and I think finding the art and such is going to be a real hassle. Maybe do some sort of Nintendo multigame? I love the DK series, as well as Super Mario Bros., and at least that would be somewhat related to its roots. Again, I am open for suggestions, as I plan to keep at least the shape of the cab completely original. One thing I that was really beat up was the lower part of the cabinet, the kind of extension that most of the Nintendo cabinets have. I think the cab looks neat without it, altough it does make it a bit short. I am in need of some input on that as well.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and I will keep you guys updated on how this thing comes along.

So long, Fred.

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EDIT

Crappy weather this weekend, and had a hockey tournament so I didn't have time to mess with the actual cabinet. I had been itching to see if this monitor was worth a damn, so I fired her up to see how it came out. The pictures should speak for themselves. All this is in Windows XP with a plain vainilla Radeon 9200SE and some Powerstrip goodness. All the modes are non-interlaced by the way, SFA running at 384x224, Robotron at 256x224, Windows at 321x224. All the resolutions sync up just fine without adjustment so far, at least these. Monitor is the original Sanyo something something 20...

On the workbench...



Good ol' Robotron looking fine



Street Fighter Alpha - This game impressed me with how nice it looked on a real monitor!











Nice shot of Windows





Last one, Kicker

[SirPeale]

How to fix the thickness issue?  I read what you said, but I don't understand how you couldn't find the right thickness of wood.  It appears to be off from 1/16" to 1/8", and that's a lot!  Are you sure they didn't have the right thickness?

[Hiub1]

All they had was 3/4'' which was too thick, and what they called 19/32'' or 5/8'' which was too small. They didn't have anything in between that. The difference is about 1/16'', and on the other side its even less.

[arcade-mad]

Hi
you should have made the step of the different thickness of wood on the inside then it wouldnt be noticed you could have done this by making some packers ond joining it has you have done just put the packers under the strips you have used to join the 2 pieces together.

Or by making your strips doglegged (stepped) using the fatest part of the strip on the thinest board and the thinest on the fatest board.

Hope this helps

[Hiub1]

I honestly figured the wood was going to be OK until I put it on the cab, thinking since the cab is 5/8'' and the wood I bought was 5/8'', but it turned out not being that way. I think that if I can find some sort of veneer or another thin sheet of wood I can just screw it on there and sand off the difference. I am not so worried about it now, I think it will look just fine. I can even just roughly cut it to size, and just use a flush trim bit on the router to get it perfectly aligned. After that it should be some quick bondo work and that is that.

After sanding down the sides, I noticed that under the black pain this particle board has a paper face to it. Do you guys have any tips on how to paint it so that it looks most like the original finish that was on there before?

Thanks for the input, Fred.

[Hiub1]

BUMP for the update.

[mccoy178]

If you have a thickness issue, couldn't you biscuit join the cabinet and the new piece together from the front facing of the side?  That would make the outside dead on even.  If that makes an issue with the front of the cabinet, I would create a 1/16" spacer at the bottom to fill the gap.  Does that make any sense?

[mccoy178]

Also, on the front of the cabinet, if you biscuit joined the wood, the t molding would hide the skinnier piece and then you could use a wood filler in the gap at the bottom where the 1/16th" gap exists.  If you biscuit joined the top of the new edition to the side of the cabinet, you could use a hidden piece of wood on the inside of the cabinet at the front and back at the bottom of the cabinet to keep the new board straight.

[Hiub1]

Hey McCoy, thanks for the tip. The biscuit joiner is the one power tool that I am not familiar with. How would it work to make the two faces even?

As of now, I believe it should be pretty easy to find some sort of board that will take up that space. The other good thing about it will be that I won't have to work so hard to cover up the grain on the plywood as well. Last week of school for me with finals and stuff, so hopefully I'll have some more free time to work on this thing.

Thanks again, Fred.

[mccoy178]

A biscuit joiner makes a half football shaped hole on each piece of wood.  You put a football shaped biscuit in the middle, glue, and clamp.  You put one about every three inches.  The depth of cut is measured from the surface, so the holes would be in the same location on both pieces.  If you plan on doing any more involved/fancier work in the future, they're worth their weight in gold.  Well, maybe not gold, but you get the idea.

[Hiub1]

I see... that does sound nice. I might start looking at one, as I could see where that will come in handy.

Thanks again!

[BobbyG66]

It would be best to match the thickness exactly.

I would find some thicker wood and then find a carpenter or woodworker with a planer.
You could bribe him with a few bucks or beers and get it planed to the exact size.

The pieces are small enough so it should not be a big deal.

Good luck
BobbyG66

[Hiub1]

After a bit of work, the thickness issue was solved! Here is how:

 I found some 1/8'' hardboard that was just a hair too thick. Using a belt sander,

I went to work on the plywood and sanded down a bit of material at the time until it looked flush.

I cut the hardboard to an approximate size of the actual size that I needed, got some Gorrila Glue, and stuck it on with some screws to hold the hardboard in place while the glue dried and expanded.

I let the glue sit for a day or so, and then removed the screws. Used my router with a flush trim bit to get rid of the excess hardboard I had approximated with, and the sides are now perfectly flush.

Now for the gap, utilizing my godly bondo skills, I applied it to the groove as well as the screw holes and various other gashes on the side of the cab. Used my random orbit sander to smooth things out, and a sanding block to finish it off smoothly. It really came out great!









As for the paint, I used Kilz Latex Primer and then some Black semi-gloss latex paint that I had from a previous project. I applied a coat, then lightly sanded, then applied another coat until I had 3 on there. The paint does not look perfect, since you can see a couple of roller streaks, but that is mostly my fault.













 

I installed the coin door back, as well as the speaker grill. I also mouned the monitor and the glass, and I just got the CP and T-Molding in the mail when I went home for lunch.

[AlexC]

Looks great, good work 

[nostrebor]

Fantastic work so far. I'm glad that you got the thickness issue worked out.

Dave.

[Hiub1]

Thanks guys. Everything is coming along nicely. The CP I recieved is in really good condition, but I learned a lesson. Goof Off and CPO's dont bode well together :/ I tried cleaning some of the gunk off with it and the black from the CPO started coming out. It was only a bit, but the overla would have looked much nicer if that area of black wasn't faded.

I recieved one 4-way and one 8-way joystick with the CP, and just finished cleaning them up. The joys surely have a different feel than anything else I've played with, so I'll see how I like them.

T-molding was also installed today and it looks quite nice. I am still waiting on the Marquee, which I bought from eBay. It looked a bit funny compared to the original R-Type marquee, but the seller gave me the correct size for it and he also said that it was silk-screened onto the plexi, so that it should be original. I'll see when I get the thing.

I had to do some repairs on a broken Ipac that I had laying around as well. One of the USB prongs had broken off, and I tossed it in a drawer thinking it was useless. It came to my mind yesterday to just snip off the end of a USB cable and solder it on directly, and it worked like a charm. I would like to pick up a Jamma fingerboard and wire this cab for Jamma, since I already have the original wiring loom.

Anyone have any reccomendations for some horizontal games that used a 4 way stick so I can try this out?

Thanks again for the compliments guys, Fred.

[quadmasta]

What freakin a-hole sold you that cabinet?  Oh wait.......

What'd you do with that Neo marquee?  I'll take it back if you don't want it.

[Hiub1]

You can have it back. Got an original R-Type marquee . I will post pics of the finished cab tonight.

[Hiub1]

Well, some more work went on, and finally it is almost done. It would be nice to get an original R-Type control panel and sideart, so hopefully some will come up on eBay.

Software is set up to run MameWah with R-Type and R-Type 2 to be played only. I created a custom display mode with the game's exact resolution and refresh rate, and everything looks AWESOME. The refresh rate really made a difference! Before you could see very blocky movement of objects that scrolled the screen, such as the letters in the attract screen or the snake in the second level, but once the refresh rate was properly set up, everything moves VERY smoothly.

After doing a cap kit on the monitor, it worked for a day and then it seems that the blue gun has stopped working. Haven't done much troubleshooting on it, but I am looking to just get a new monitor. If anyone has any clues, I am all ears.

Anyways, enough talk.













Like I said, if anyone has any leads on a control panel or artwork I'd be VERY thankful.

Thanks again for reading, Fred.

[Crowquill]

I've never seen an R-type marquee like that. I wonder if it might be from a bootleg. Everyone I've ever seen has the monster from the first level on it. Another tip-off might be that it seems to be missing the Nintendo logo.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9219

As far as the control panel goes...I always thought the artwork for the R-Type CPO was gaudy. I'm thinking you might be better off to keep the Vs. CP. If you can find a second Nintendo 8-way (or something better-- AKA any other stick on earth) then you could have it as an all-nintendo cabinet if nothing else. Run R-Type(s), Vs. Games, and all the standard Nintendo fare. It's probably easier to find a vs. control panel or overlay too. I think R-Type was the only game Nintendo realeased that actually used a single centered joystick. Even the DK games have the controls on the left. I am in awe of how well the patched sides came out. Lookin' awesome. It's a shame about the monitor.

[Hiub1]

I can't seem to find the site now, but it was one of those MAME game database sites, and it showed this marquee for R-Type (US), and it looked larger, with the nintendo logo there to the side. This one does look like it has been trimmed, so it could be that it is somewhat original. Also the fact that it is silk-screened kinda makes me wonder if they'd put that much effort for a bootleg. Thanks for the compliments, I am looking at buying a kit from ebay that just comes with the tube, yoke, and chassis to replace the existing one. For about $140, do you think that is a good deal? If I do buy a new monitor, I'd have to swap the frame out anyways.

As far as the CP goes, I don't absolutely love the R-Type one, but for the sake of bringing it to its original state, I'd like for it to be on there. Anyways, swapping from a VS control panel to the original one really is simple, and if I ever wanted to I could do it in 2 sec as long as I did the wiring correctly. Also, the joysticks aren't horrible, but they are not the greatest either. I have learned to live with them, but I am on the lookout for another 8 way.

Again, thanks for the comments, Fred.

[Crowquill]

Marquees (and any other type of artwork) can get really confusing. Despite bootlegs, many games had multiple versions of their marquees and control panel overlays. Sometimes with slightly different colors used, sometimes with completely different artwork. Q*Bert is a good example:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9182

Both the standard logo and cursing giberish versions are official. They just changed as production went on. I believe there are a couple versions of the CPO for Q*Bert as well. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of screen-printed bootleg marquees. usually they're pretty easy to spot due to their shoddy printing.

On the monitor front, if you're going to have to assemble the monitor yourself anyway (and are comfortable doing it), you might check out 8liners.com. They sell replacement chassis for any tube. You might be able to use it with the existing tube if burn-in isn't too much of a problem. I think my next cabinet is going to get a 25" tube from a thrift store TV with one of their chassis. You also might want to ask in the video forum about possible fixes. Here's a comparison of chassis that was done a short while back:

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/chassis/