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Which paint?
Moebius:
*grrrr* - don't you hate it when you have second thoughts about details half-way through to completion?
I'm putting together a stand-up cab with 18mm plywood. Originally, I had planned to stain it (dark mahogany) then varnish, and purchased both.
But I saw a nice-looking silver cab here earlier, and I have a conflict. Go with real-wood look? Go for paint? Sheesh - no-one said it would be this difficult to make these decisions ???
Sshado:
Heh, I keep changing my mind too. I was going for the nice all wood look with an oak finish to match the rest of my furniture, then I was going to do it black to look more authentic.
My mind changed back and forth till I came up with my (hopefully) final decision...I just hope it turns out the way it is pictured in my head :)
unclet:
I too went with a premium black semi-gloss paint and applied it with a nap roller and my cab looks great. Nothing I ever paint with a brush looks as good in my opinion, but it all depends what your looking for I guess.
I just recently painted my air hockey table sides and trim with a brush and decided to redo it with a roller since I did not like the results...
good luck
unclet
Chris:
--- Quote from: Moebius on April 03, 2003, 06:22:25 am ---But I saw a nice-looking silver cab here earlier, and I have a conflict. Go with real-wood look? Go for paint? Sheesh - no-one said it would be this difficult to make these decisions ???
--- End quote ---
Here's my thought: One of the points of building an arcade cabinet is for the arcade feel. I can't remember any arcade cabinets that were stained wood, although a few "generic" cabinets did have wood-grain laminate.
Another thought: Most MAME cabinets tend to get painted black, with black T-molding. The cabinets we usually consider striking, however, are usually the ones that buck that trend. If I were redoing my cabinet, I would redo it in blue or deep purple (the other dominant colors in my marquee, bezel and control panel). If you go with black, maybe consider a colored T-molding (see Motorfish's cabinet).
rampy:
A few suggestions:
Prime (or seal) first. I suggest using a kilz primer but get it tinted to a color resembling what you are going to paint over it to save coats. (I had mine tinted grey and it made it easier for coverage when painting black later)
I suggest (YMMV) using oil based paints for extra durability (but you better paint in a well ventilated area)
I used satin sheen black on my cabinet... I think I woulda rather have gone either entirely flat or semi-gloss in retrospect.
The flatter a paint the more it hides imperfections (that's why most drywall/etc is painted flat or satin)...
*shrug*
rampy