Thanks - I think you are right. The only place I'm concerned about it the top panel. After thinking about it for a while I dicided I will be "finishing" that panel as well so all visible pink will have the super smooth lacquered/polished finish. It is going to be a huge pain to do that panel because of the two interior corners I will have to sand up against but I've come this far so what the heck. The only panel that will not be "finished" is the back one which will never be seen.
I just put the 25th(!) coat of lacquer on the cabinet. I went through 5 cans of the stuff and probably breathed in more than I should have. It looks pretty good and it's already smooth to the touch - that stuff dries very very quick. I'm pretty confident it has a thick enough layer so I can sand it smooth but not sand through to the paint. I'm going to strictly be wetsanding with 1500 grit sandpaper - I'm not going to be working my way up to it or anything because I don't want to remove too much.
Now comes the hard part - waiting. I think I need to give it two weeks to cure just to be safe but I really really really want to finish everything next weekend since we have the holiday and everything. Argh!
I guess I can turn my attention to the finishing details. I still have to:
1. Install the speaker covers (and don't forget the screw caps)
2. Install the plug that spacies graciously sent me (which involves splicing my SmartStrip so I'm a bit nervous)
3. Figure out a way to powere on and off with one button (I'll probably wire the computer power button to a button on the back of the cab somewhere)
4. Install the marquee (cut the retainer strips too) and apply the side art
5. Make a bezel out of black posterboard/matteboard or something
6. Install the CP (figure out a way to keep the joystick in place)
7. Install and wire the coin door
8. Install t-molding
9. CONFIGURE THE COMPUTER - this is easily the biggest hurdle for me because I stink
I'm sure I left some stuff out but all of this can be done in an afternoon so it's really not that much.