Space Invaders Bezel Help

[Jon_Eckersley]

Hola!

I have recently aquired an empty Space Invaders Pt 2 cab, in excellent condition. The only slight downside is that the original perspex bezel has a second piece of perspex glued over the original logo (it reads 'Super Earth Rescue).

Whilst the original logo is still intact on the reverse side of the bezel, its impossible to see from the front. The glued on logo does actually look quite funky - its in a similar style, but I'd much prefer to have it as it was meant to be. I also dont want to ruin the bezel, so thought I'd ask for some advice?

I had considered soaking the entire bezel for some hours, but wasnt sure if this would do anything, or indeed, soak off the transfer that i am trying to restore!


Any replies would be great!

Jon.

[Smittydc]

Dear god thats HIDEOUS!!  

It's also the same bezel I have on my machine (space invaders deluxe), minus the ugly addition.

I'd recommend trying some gum and adhesive remover.  Try it on a small spot first, but I think it will do the trick.

You're lucky -- when I got my cab somebody had scrapped the oringinal art off of the glass.     I found a replacement on plexiglass, but the original would have been nicer.

Let me know if you need any advice on designing a control panel -- I've made three that fit the orginal lines of the cabinet.

[mccall]

I don't have any experience with this but ... is the original art on the back of the glass and the stickers of the front? If that's the case wouldn't a heat gun/hairdryer work to loosen up the glue so you could peel the sticker right off? Alos I thought that nail polishremover was a real good adhesive/gum remover and that can work if the original art is on the other side of the glass.

If the original art and the stickers are both on the front side, I wouldn't know how to go about removing just one without harming the other.

[planetjay]

Super Earth Rescue Isn't in MAME. Did you get the boards?

Any idea what kind of glue they used?

[mahuti]

on this same topic,... anyone know how to polish plexiglass?

[rampy]

on this same topic,... anyone know how to polish plexiglass?

novus 3, novus 2, and novus 1 -- i think...

Also isn't there a blow torch technique for deeper scratches (dont try THAT at home)

rampy

[Jon_Eckersley]

Thanks for all the replies  

To answer some of your questions:

smitty: I'd love to see any designs you have for your control panels - it is infact the only original piece missing, but as I was planning on creating my own panel this isnt such an issue. If you could drop a line to jon@gameart.plus.com that would be most appreciated  

Mccall: The transfers/stickers are on the reverse side of the bezel. The bezel is actually plexi and not glass, and unfortunately the 'super earth rescue' logo is another piece of approx 2mm-3mm plexi glued on top. The logos are on opposite sides, so it makes things a little easier.

planetjay: The boards inside were old space invaders boards and bits-  it looks like they added a logo only to change the name? As for the glue, im not sure - there isnt any visible, and im assuming its something strong  


I'm not sure if a hairdryer would affect plexi (ie, discolouring it), and im not sure if stronger solvents would react badly to plexi. Can someone answer this before i attempt a solution?

cheers

[mccall]

So they glued two sheets of plexi together. Hmmm.

Throwing "glue plexiglass" into Google newsgroups returns quite a bit of info on various solvents that one can use to join two pieces of plexi together. From the little bit of reading I did on the search results it looks like if those solvents were used the chance of seperating those panels without damaging both would be just about nil.

Without knowing how those panels were joined, I wouldn't even know where to start on how to seperate them. Sorry.    

[paigeoliver]

Super Earth Rescue is most likely one of the many gazillion space invaders upgrades/bootlegs/rom swaps. I would send that boardset off to someone to check it out. Heck, you could probably get someone to swap you an unmolested bezel for yours and yr Super Earth Rescue boards.

[Jon_Eckersley]

Hmmm, this appears to be a problem then  

The cabinet was bought empty - it had been sitting in a warehouse for some time, and was probably going to be thrown away.
Unfortunately the sound board was the only card left inside - the main boards and stuff (along with the control panel) had been gutted out long ago. Because of this, I had planned on cleaning the old girl up, and putting in a mame machine and my own controls.

I would really love to have the original bezel as it was - almost all of the other pieces (the cardboard and perspex backdrop, even some sound-board instructions) were still all in great condition, if a little dirty.

I havent got a clue what to do next now... i guess i should start looking for a replacement?  

[mccall]

Just a thought ... if you are in a decent size city check your phone book for glass places. Anyplace that sells pane glass will most likely also sell Plexiglass. If they sell Plex, and you explain your predicament to them, they just might be able to tell you how to try to seperate the two panels.

[planetjay]

I would really love to have the original bezel as it was - almost all of the other pieces (the cardboard and perspex backdrop, even some sound-board instructions) were still all in great condition, if a little dirty.

I havent got a clue what to do next now... i guess i should start looking for a replacement?  

This just my opinion BUT, It doesn't look THAT BAD. Well at least from here. IN person may be different. I'd leave it for now and watch for one on eBay.