Paint or keep Orginal? Need opinions....

[garnerb350]

Guys...I'm stuck on this...and i cant figure out which direction to go...

I'm currently trying to fix up a Mr. Do! Universal Cabinet that i got (for free!) and Ive been busy taking all the metal off and repainting them and getting it all nice and shiny...I also sanded everything smooth and i'm ready to paint. But here is where I am stuck...I cant decide either to try to keep it as orginal as possible or should I do a whole brand new paint/artwork scheme on this bad boy.

Here is a example of what the cab orginally look like...


Notice the white/70ish sideart-kickplate?

Well I have a couple of friends who when they saw it...they ran the other way...they couldnt stand it...
Me , I could care less...But the problem that I am having is that I cant find any vector artwork or specs of this design...so this being said...looks like I am going to have to do this...which it need to be done because the orginal artwork is yellowed and it has the common nicks, bumps,& tears...

Thinking on this...it seems to me that it would problley be easier to just make up a totally different art scheme...I guess revamp it... But my angel and demon on my shoulder are confusing me...stay orginal or go all out? My intention is to sell this joker after I finish...and hopefully be able to buy a DK cab ( if I ever find one)...

So should I restore it to it former glory or "cho-lo" it out?

heres a simple draft....

[Beretta]

sounds like you already sanded off the artwork?

pitty, i would have left it as is, scratches, cuts, tears, yellowing and all.

i woudl have imagine the yellowing could have been corrected.. im sure there is something out there or a way to clean painted surfaces without destroying them.


if artwork has already been removed then i'd say go with what ever you want.
who cares if your friends like the artwork or not.

[garnerb350]

 I havent sanded the sides yet....

Those Universal cabs have a weird overlay thing I have never seen on cabs...it a wonder that other arcade manufactuers didnt go into this direction....

The sides are covered with vinyl artwork...its thicker and more durable than regular vinyl...then it is covered with some type of "clear coat vinyl"...you would think at first you are looking at laminate, buts it vinyl... the white is yellowed...and there are cracks in it... I took some cleaner and scrubed the daylights out of it...no luck...plus there are spots where the red or orange lines are worn away...

[HaRuMaN]

I vote for please leave as-is

[Beretta]

interesting ya if they covered it with some kinda clear layer theres no way to get past it to remove the yellowing.

still me i'd just leave it as is.

side art on original cabs means a lot to me though, granted this is pretty generic side art but still it is original..
it honestly does'nt look that bad it just looks like it's seen some action but then again it's old so can you blame it?

from the pictures it really does'nt look that bad to me.

it's also a good excuse to avoid the work of sanding and painting it

[garnerb350]

from the pictures it really does'nt look that bad to me.

OH my apologies, that photo is just an example of what the sides look like...it not MY cab...here is my cab....

[spOOf]

That definitely looks beat up, but I like the original look better than your mockup.

[garnerb350]

Well I guess i know what i'll be doing this weekend...taking 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper and drawing out everything and then vectorizing them....

[HaRuMaN]

Well I guess i know what i'll be doing this weekend...taking 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper and drawing out everything and then vectorizing them....

We have a winnah! 

[garnerb350]

We have a winnah! 

[RayB]

That green mockup looks like crap.

I LOVE the original art. But yes, your cab is fairly beat up.

PS: DOn't listen to friends unless they are just as arcade-geeky as you.

[Beretta]

oh i see, ya it's got some battle scars..

still.. and this is just my opinion.. i'd leave it as it is.. although maybe try to touch it up a little.

i would'nt sand it all off even if it was to replace with reproduction of the same thing.

then again some people want their cabs to look like they just came from teh factory.. and there is'nt anything wrong with that but i'd try to save the side art as much as possible..

this is really a judgment call at some point you have to decide for your self if there is enough to save or not.

just today i finally decided to have a peak under the paneling someone had applied to the side of a joust cab im using for a project..

i was hoping to see & save the ostrich.. it was there but sadly they had sanded the paint down so much you could see the wood grain before they applied the glue for the paneling.

was however a nice "vigilante" conversion sticker intact, wondering if it's possible to remove it without destroying it.

[Sir Headless VII]

I don't think anyone would buy the cab you have in the state its in (for a reasonable amount of money). The mock up you made doesn't look good and if you do it people will wonder why the art isn't original (or more what else has been screwed with in the machine). I think the best way to go forward would be as you said trying to recreate the art and redo it. Then again I am not particularly experienced in selling cabs.

[mvsfan]

if you want to do it right,

ask them over at Mamemarquees.com.

they probably already know the dimensions of side art for a Mr. Do cabinet id be theyve done one for somebody already.

Itll cost you $43.00 per side to get it done right.

thought this would help.

[Beretta]

I don't think anyone would buy the cab you have in the state its in (for a reasonable amount of money).

depends on what "reasonable" is..

but really that cab dont look bad, it looks sold other then some cosmetic problems it looks structurally sound.. these are'nt by any means new cabs.. they've got many years on their odometers.

you should see this cab i got it's in pitiful looking shape you would probably have convolutions just by laying eye's on it.
although it's mostly cosmetic (looks worse then it is)

[garnerb350]

Well I finished doing the artwork for the cab... I made a custom ( not really ) by taking the Mr Do logo and placing it on the sideart ( i figured I'd give it that dedicated look)...

[CheffoJeffo]

I thinks I like it ...