Mario Bros in Red !

[Level42]

Major set-back...this evening, when my son and I went for our regular game or two the game suddenly died completely, at least the screen gave a whit picture.

I checked, and it looks like the PSU is dead. No voltages at all, so I guess I am now forced to try and open it up.....any good tips ??

[Level42]

Weird. After trying "one last time" after an hour or two, the MB worked fine again !

Does the Nintendo PSU have some overload protection that restores after some time ? I know there are "automatic" fuses that work like that but I wonder if they were already in use then ?

I'm thinking that maybe my audio amp. is overloading it a bit, will measure the current it draws to see about that.

[Wade]

Steve at pinballresource has new Nintendo style coin door/mechs for $10 on special.  Only token mechs but they can be tweaked.  I use tokens on my machines but after repainting the face plates I honestly couldn't justify even $20+ shipping for brand new ones.

Wade

[joe average]

This has been cool to read. 

I picked up a nice mario bros a while back that I've been working on turning back into a dk.  Interesting how different that one looks.

[Level42]

The CPO is in ! Pics soon !

[Level42]

OK before you look at the pics:

I mailed Scott from Mamemarquees the pictures so he could compare. I am happy with the CPO. This is printed from existing files and without an original it's impossible to get a 100% match (if at all possible). Honestly I would always prefer a NOS CPO and then a silkscreened repro CPO, but in the cases that both are just not around, Mamemarquees is an excellent alternative and I'm glad he's around to make this because else my Centipede and MB would have had terrible condition CPO's. (My Centipede has a bright blue colored CPO, and my MB is a "narrow-body" and both are not available in silk screen reproduction....)

So, with this info, I compared the original and the repro. And here are the pics:



Original:

Repro:


Original:

Repro:


Original:

Repro:



Original:

Repro:


Green color compared:


Blue color compared:


Bricks compared:


Personaly, I like the black edges around the letters of MARIO and LUIGI because it makes them stand out against the background much better. Everything else are minor things you'll only see with a 1:1 comparison like this.

I'm positive it will look great once installed !

[Level42]

Received some samples from Formica. Sorry about the first pics quality, for some reason my camera had a problem focussing. Of course the colors are not a perfect match, but the one in the middle comes pretty close.

However, the biggest change in look would be that the original is perfectly smooth, while the Formica has a slight texture. Also it's much less shiny, but I'm not sure the shine was original or is from age/cleaning etc.

Anyway pics:







I've also requested some samples from Italian laminate factory Abet. Hope they arrive before my holiday...

[Wade]

That looks pretty good for an inkjet.  If it weren't for the bricks being off in color it'd be pretty tough to tell.  Inkjetted CPO's are far nicer than inkjetted sideart, marquees and bezels, since those don't even resemble the original screenprinted originals, but the CPO's can look pretty good due to the textured lamination.

That center formica sample looks pretty good.  It is possible your cabinet color has faded slightly, as my MB was obviously faded once I got the sideart off.  Maybe not.  Either way, you won't find a color sample in laminate that is exact I'm sure, but that middle one looks very good.  I agree on the texture, the wilsonart I used on my MB had a matte finish and very slight texture, versus the original japanese plywood cabinet which had a slightly flatter and slightly shinier finish.  In the end, I'm happy with the laminate.  The match in color and texture is usually just as bad or worse when I paint.

Wade

[Muerto]

That looks excellent!
- as wade said, maby the color on the org MB is faded in the sun...
When youre finished with this restoration, it would be cool if you did a post where you brought it all together: color codes, where to buy, things you should be attentive of, etc.

[Level42]

Yup, I was pretty happy with the Centipede CPO I got from Scott as well. Even though there were some color errors, but those were in the file (from the big collection we all know about ) so not Scott's fault at all. That one was still better in color match (check my Centipede thread).

I guess you're right about the Formica Wade. There is still one thing holding me from deciding between painting and laminate: The original side-art is in mint shape. With the Formica I would have to remove it of course and get new side-art. Repro, and different color turtle. Also increases the price when choosing the laminate route.

I received the Abet samples yesterday, but they don't seem to come as close as that one Formica color. There is one sample that has a very nice glossy effect, but that one is not the right color and the gloss is TOO much.

There is still one sample on it's way from yet another Italian factory called Arpa.

Would Wilsonart send samples to Europe ? It doesn't look they have offices abroad ?

Maybe we should look for a Japanese/Chinese laminate factory ? The colors I've seen so far are just a bit more "classy". I guess we're looking for a color a bit more like fire-truck red Asian tastes are different so maybe they have something a bit more brightly colored.

I know I won't find an exact match so we'll see what we end up with.

For now, I have another problem since the Sanyo yesterday was starting to loose vertical deflection. I guess that cap-kit is getting really necessary.(It was already folding over). I hope the 19" has the same value caps as the 13", I can compare it now nicely between my MC cabaret and the Nintendo.....

[Wade]

I can't explain why yours has different colors on the sideart (maybe because it was a kit? is it a different size compared to regular MB sideart? that might explain it).

However, as much as I like my cabinets to be as nice as possible, since yours has sideart that is flawless, I would lean towards just keeping it and living with the dings in the sides.  Very careful touchup of the areas where the red is missing completely will hide the flaws pretty well, and that cabinet is still in better condition than most I run into.  If money were no object, then I'd probably go ahead with the laminate and new sideart.  The laminate, sideart, and overlay pretty much doubled the cost of my game, but the total cost was still reasonable to me for a keeper game.

It's a tough call!

Wade

[Level42]

There were two official versions of the side-art. My bet is that the blue colored turtle version came with the kit.

Anyway, I may well end up doing it Darthnuno's way. I hope I can get his paint left-over....

[Level42]

Right....on with the CP restore (this game is too much fun, was hard to go on with the restoration .

Well I removed all the hardware from the CP.  Some pics:


Exactly the reason why I'm all for painted "all over" CP's and also the reason why I'll give this a nice paint....



The other's a lot better. Guess which one was "Player 1".....


Yugh....


Original Nintendo blue colored buttons....


My first Nintendo joystick disassembly...


Completely cleaned it very thorougly with q-tips & pure alcohol. Especialy the "pillow ball" that's stuck for life inside the joystick was a "joy" to clean. At least it IS very rewarding since it felt a lot better after removing all the sticky goo everywhere.....

I removed the "top layer" of the CPO with the heating gun. It came of a lot worse than expected. Will turn to the nasty (sticker remover) chemicals next.....

[zorg]

Received some samples from Formica.
I've also requested some samples from Italian laminate factory Abet. Hope they arrive before my holiday...

Can you, please, provide the name of the formica supier ?

it may be usefull for a project I have.

regards

[Level42]

Formica: Simply ordered from the Euopean site. I guess this one is closes to you Zorg:

http://www.formica-europe.com/publish/site/eu/france/fr/home.html

Here's where you can ask for the samples (free).:
http://www.formica-europe.com/publish/site/eu/france/fr/home/services0/mysamples.html

[Darth Nuno]

There were two official versions of the side-art. My bet is that the blue colored turtle version came with the kit.

Anyway, I may well end up doing it Darthnuno's way. I hope I can get his paint left-over....

Hi André,

What I can do for you is to go back to the paint shop with the right color reference and buy 0.5 or 1 liter of paint, and then send it for you 

Let me know my friend 

[zorg]

thanks

I will order some samples in order to match the one I need.

[Level42]

There were two official versions of the side-art. My bet is that the blue colored turtle version came with the kit.

Anyway, I may well end up doing it Darthnuno's way. I hope I can get his paint left-over....

Hi André,

What I can do for you is to go back to the paint shop with the right color reference and buy 0.5 or 1 liter of paint, and then send it for you 

Let me know my friend 

Bruno, with the code on the first tin you bought they should be able to create exactly the same color again .  I think 0,5 liter will be plenty to touch up the bad spots on the cab. If you can do that for me it would be great (I cannot get a reference from my cab without damaging any of the parts that are in sight).

There's no need to send it......I think I still need to come over for something anyway

By the way, I will be in Genk next weekend for the Collectorsshow (Luc will have a stand with some of his classic videogames and pinballs !) It's a 2 hours drive for you. If you could make it there, I can bring the SW perspex And we can enjoy some great games and fellow collectors !

[Darth Nuno]

Bruno, with the code on the first tin you bought they should be able to create exactly the same color again .  I think 0,5 liter will be plenty to touch up the bad spots on the cab. If you can do that for me it would be great (I cannot get a reference from my cab without damaging any of the parts that are in sight).

Good news for you André 

I went to my usual paint shop this afternoon... they don't work with the brand "CORONA" anymore.
But because I still got the reference, they have done an equivalent color in the brand "Dulux".
There it is something you 



Of course I've to check if it looks similar :



It looks the same... hope it'll match your cab like mine 

By the way, I will be in Genk next weekend for the Collectorsshow (Luc will have a stand with some of his classic videogames and pinballs !) It's a 2 hours drive for you. If you could make it there, I can bring the SW perspex And we can enjoy some great games and fellow collectors !

I should be there this sunday... prepare the Star Wars stuff  I'll bring the paint 

[Level42]

Yes !!! Excellent news my friend. Looking forward to see you again !

SW perspex is ready for transport

See you there !

[Level42]

Got the paint and want to prepare the bad parts as good as possible.

My question: would it be possible to bondo just the bad parts with the original "laminate" still on the side ? And then paint the bad parts. Not sure how it will look but I'd like to give it a try.

Alternatively could I bondo the bad parts with the laminate still on and then paint the entire side (masking off the side-art).

I'd prefer to see if I can just touch up the bad parts.

[Level42]

Preparing the CP....the sticky stuff was even nastier than the Centipede.

I tried "sticker remover" fluid and it did NOTHING for it. So I did it "the old way" again. Costs a number of sanding discs and a lot of time but the result is that this is one game I always win






I'll primer and paint it before applying the new CPO.

[Level42]

After all the options I checked about coin mechs for the nintendo I decided to give the frontplate a fresh coat of paint and be done with it.
I have no clue what coin this mech accepts (probably 20p or something like that), but I have a smart little plan to let it accept any coin.

Anyway before:

[Level42]

About paint, I took a look at the paint that my friend Bruno (DarthNuno) had mixed for me and I think the pictures say it all:

With flash:


And without:



Amazingly it's a 100% match under both flash and without. That's normally pretty rare. Well done Bruno and thanks !

I tried applying it with the technique that Bruno used on his cab. Although it hides the defects pretty good, I am planning on just repainting everything.
That will require masking of the artwork and repairing the sides with bondo etc.

I discovered that there are too much discolarations. I'm starting to think my trusty cleaning product Dasty is a bit too harsh on some materials. It looks like it took away some of the red at the parts I cleaned most intensely.

Any tips on masking the side-art without damaging it ?

[Level42]

Finaly: The CP is done !

Anyone wonders how a black CP would look on a red Nintendo cab ?



First I put small holes at the center marks of the locations where the buttons and joystick-holes will come:


Next I turn over the CPO, put the CP on it and allign all the small holes to be dead-centered:



Fix one side of the CPO with some tape:


Cut of the backing paper on the other side of the CPO and stick it to the CP.

Then roll off the rest of the backing paper while pushing and sticking the CPO on the CP. I simply used my hands only, no bubbles:


CPO flat on CP:


Next step, folding over the edges. Actually the hardest part IMHO. Got one or two tiny bubbles, not visible though. I had to re-apply the larger fold-over one time to get rid of some larger bubbles.


Next: Trimming the edges with a very sharp knife. Pretty easy, just use the metal as your guide:


All holes cut out and some excess trimmed on the right side and on the "fold-overs":


All hardware re-installed:


(need to get two orange buttons).

And the always-popular old vs. new pics:

OLD:


NEW:

[Level42]

Does anybody have a single bolt for mounting the coin-mech ? I've got three but of course need four. It's a flat-topped bolt.

Also looking for the coin-return "ring" that is missing on my mech.




For the first time in my life, I've used "bondo" (although it's called differently here). I'm simply not a handy guy at work like this, but there's a first time for everything.

I can now understand why it's so popular in our hobby. It's pretty easy to work with, even by a clumsy guy like me. The first results after sanding look very good indeed, tight corners etc.

Some before shots:











Will sand tomorrow as it produces a lot of dust and I'll do it outside (should have done the bondo-ing outside too, it smells terrible).

[Level42]

Regretfully, my wife had other plans for today, so no sanding. I'm going to use my trusty B&D on this as the bondo is a mean thing to sand down.

I feel kind of relieved that I started with the bondo. Something I was looking up against. This experience will come in nicely for my Space Invaders.....

[Spyridon]

This is coming along nicely.  Excellent documentation as usual!

[Level42]

Thanks Spyridon ! It's nice to get some feedback once in a while (though the counter shows lots of people have a look ).

Finally did some sanding last weekend:

[Level42]

I wasn't too pleased with the first results. I know everything should feel very smooth, but however much I sand it doesn't seem to get much better. It's not terrible, but probably it would show on some parts.

I re-bondo-ed some parts and did some parts that I missed.

I'm looking for a good idea to restore the lower edged of the speaker panel and the kick-plate. Both are very dodgy. Any tips to get a nice straight angle on those ?

[joeks]

i would bondo larger area's if i were you. so you cover more of the little scratches and dents with one area of bondo. and then sand that until it's super smooth. for sharp 90 degrees edges i always use a "plamuur-mes" bondo-tool/knife? works great.

success with the cabinet! i envy you very much. (building myself a donkey kong cabinet from scratch with mdf)

[Spyridon]

i would bondo larger area's if i were you. so you cover more of the little scratches and dents with one area of bondo. and then sand that until it's super smooth.

I agree.  Put a lot more bondo on there and then sand smooth.  If it's really rough, you may want to really sand it down before your next coat of bondo.  Don't be afraid to put too much on.  It will sand off.

[Level42]

But what's the sense of applying a lot of bondo and then sanding it off ?

Today my order from Mike's arcade arrived (VERY quick delivery !):

What a difference a couple of buttons can make:


Compared to the original (the one with the orange ring and red push button inside) there is a VERY minor color difference, but it might as well just be age. It's so minor, it's hardly worth mentioning (I will put up a comparison pic later). The springs are very light on these buttons, probably because they were ment for the original Nintendo microswitch buttons. Since I replace those with leafs, I will change the springs to get a bit more resistance since it's now a bit too light even for my taste But that's nothing Mike can do about, just my stubborn love for leafs.

What you don't see is that I also ordered (and installed) the 4-way restrictor plate for the left joystick, feels much better than without one !

Since I was ordering from Mike anyway, I also ordered the "flat" Nintendo white T-molding. It's a lot whiter for sure than the original that are on my cab. Not sure if that's because of age (could well be). Still not 100% sure if I will apply it, but I will do a 1:1 comparison soon.....

[joeks]

with a larger bondo area, you can be sure you have covered every single bump and scratch. when you just fill the scratches you think need filling, you probably won't get a smooth surface overal covering the area.

i googled a few pics to show you:
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/1763/achterkapplamuurqf8.jpg

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/9303/300620081534eo2.jpg

mind you, those pics are allready after sanding see how much bondo is used?
but i am sure it will feel reeeeaaaaal smooth.


good luck!
greetings

[WunderCade]

Yeah, I've found that "skim-coating" large areas with bondo finishing compound works great. It's not as thick and fills small cracks and divets better.

[Darth Nuno]

I suggest you to put a lot more bondo too.

I've done similar job on that midway conversion.

Here's the area to fix :



A lot of bondo as you can see :



...of course it increases the sanding process, but the result is great  :



To less bondo and it'll go away during the sanding process...

[Level42]

OK thanks for the tips, I'll try that. For now I guess the MB project is on hold though. From now until the end of the year I will need every spare minute for the construction of my gameroom.

However, look what I just found "in my backyard" (i.e. Germany):



http://www.arcadeshop.de/product_info.php?products_id=548&language=en&osCsid=84f5b8265e2c57f0963322b8d76d547c

That looks like a great replacement. Doesn't look like it's the original brand, but the plate looks identical. Not sure if it's the exact size though. And the price is a lot more friendly than the original one....

[zorg]

You can save the original coin plate quite easily with a really cheap method

sand it down to the bare metal (aluminium), finish the sanding with a really thin wer sand paper (600 the 1000)
then forget it for a few weeks ouside the house. autumnal weather will give the aluminium his natural anodisation.

I've done it a few times and the result worth the time needed to forget the part

[ckong]

This is a great topic, a lot of very useful information. the part that I am most interested in at the moment is the painting/bondo discussion. I got an original Donkey Kong cab a few weeks ago, with some severe samages on the kickpanel (6 bolts to hold a coindoor bar or something like that) and both sidepanels. Here are two pics of them, but there are more damages.




At the moment I am busy with restoring it, and I will repair the damages with 'bondo' (don't know what it is, I use two component woodfiller) and then repaint everthying with leaving the sideart on. I will mask the sideart of course, with sticky foil. I will post more pics of this process in my restoration topic over here: http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1059.0

[Level42]

Hey Erik !

Bondo is called polyester plamuur here !

There are several brands, I bought this one: