Apply MameMarquee CP Artwork - Tutorial DONE!

[ginno]

Hi Guys,

I just recieved my CP overlay from MameMarquees and I'm just wondering what is the best approach to applying it.

I have a pre-drilled CP and the artwork is exactly the correct size to fit the CP.

[Minwah]

I started at one side, and gradually peeled off the backing while sticking it down and pressing it with a duster.  I worked from left to right.

When done, I trimmed the edges off and cut the button etc. holes out with a sharp craft knife.

As you made it exactly the right size it will be a bit more difficult!  I made my artwork about 1cm too big at the left and right edges, and exactly the correct depth for the panel.  The crucial part was getting it square to begin with.

My advice is take your time and take care to place it correctly to begin with.  Once started you should be ok.

[Effayy]

Hi Guys,

I just recieved my CP overlay from MameMarquees and I'm just wondering what is the best approach to applying it.

I have a pre-drilled CP and the artwork is exactly the correct size to fit the CP.

[AceTKK]

Here's what I would do:

remove a vertical 2-3" strip of the backing material right in the middle of the overlay, leaving the rest firmly applied.  Put some heavy-weight paper like cardstock next to the exposed adhesive between the overlay and your panel as a shim to keep the adhesive from sticking.  Position the overlay on the panel and use some spring clamps or something to keep it from moving around.  Then, when you're sure the positioning is perfect, remove the cardstock shim and press the exposed adhesive down.  Once the 2-3" center section is firmly attached, work from the middle out peeling off the backer and pressing the overlay down. 

If that doesn't make sense I can add some pics when I get home from work.

-Ace-

[ginno]

Thanks Guys,

Just a couple of little questions:

Minwah: Do you cut the button holes completely out or just enough so you can then fold some of the overlay down into the button hole?

[NinjaEpisode]

Minwah: Do you cut the button holes completely out or just enough so you can then fold some of the overlay down into the button hole?

[ginno]

Thanks Ninja,

Another quick question that comes to mind,  Is it ok to stick the CP overlay onto paint as i have already painted the top of the CP? 

It will have perspex over the artwork so its not going to get a lot of stress put on it in terms of peeling off, however my paint job seems to tear away from the cabine quite easily...

[ginno]

OK, I applied the work over the weekend and it was quite successful.

He is a quick background on my situation and how I went about applying the work:

CP painted MDF that is to be covered by a thick layer of Perspex
Due to this thickness the joysticks are mounted into the top of the CP.
There is no T moulding and button holes have been pre-drilled



Step 1 - SMOOTH SURFACE
First thing I did was silicone the 2 metal joystick plates into the recessed holes created for them, I then puttied around them to ensure a smooth finish.

[Crimsons]

Hi. I was wondering at what resolution did you create the CPO in. I presume you obtained those images from the internet and overlayed them for a custom image ? I am guessing most of those images were created at a lower resolution then that of 300dpi that is generally deemed appropriate here. Therefore if you created at your final image at 300dpi, was there any resolution issues ?

[scottp]

Would you mind if I put parts of this in my FAQ?

[dema]

Looks good and a good tutorial to boot. Rather than build a light table you could have just cut the button and joystick holes out from the bottom of the panel. If you got an exacto knife you could reach deep enough to make the cuts. Obviously a box cutter wouldn't fit in the button hole.

[ginno]

Hi. I was wondering at what resolution did you create the CPO in. I presume you obtained those images from the internet and overlayed them for a custom image ? I am guessing most of those images were created at a lower resolution then that of 300dpi that is generally deemed appropriate here. Therefore if you created at your final image at 300dpi, was there any resolution issues ?

Hi, Crimsons

Both the images I obtained off the internet. There were some issues with the artwork.

First of all I ensured I obtained 'high resolution' images - The raiden character was 1280 x 1024, the Scorpion overlay was only 800 x 600, I really wouldn't recomend anything under 1280 x 1024, but Scorpion turned out well, cant see a quality difference between both.

Basically the CP overlay is the Raiden image cropped (this included the background) with scorpion cut out and pasted in via photoshop, the only real work was using the clone brush to expand the backgrounnd above the characters heads.

I then increased resolution to 300dpi, once I did this the image became a little 'messy' in some areas (eg the silver shine on raident hat was not smooth) to fix this I applied a Filter->Blur->Blur in photoshop about 4 times to trade off between the bad image quality and making the image look blury.

Once I did this i was happy with the result, I think I was lucky because there was no high contrast colors or sharp lines in the image I could get away with the lower Image quality.  Mamemarquee did a great job printing the work out.

[ginno]

Would you mind if I put parts of this in my FAQ?

[ginno]

Looks good and a good tutorial to boot. Rather than build a light table you could have just cut the button and joystick holes out from the bottom of the panel. If you got an exacto knife you could reach deep enough to make the cuts. Obviously a box cutter wouldn't fit in the button hole.

Hi dema, I thought about that idea, the reason I went with the light box was it meant I was able to cut from the top, this meant as I was cutting I was pushing the artwork down - onto the CP, if I cut from the bottom I would be pushing the artwork off the CP even if i had someting under it.

Also the MDF i was using is quite thick so its hard to get into the bottom of the holes, I really should have gone out and bought a exacto knife but I was in too much of a hurry to see the result

I was happy it all went well and its very rewarding for a few hours work it make the cabinet look 100 times better.

Cheers all!

ginno...

[dema]

I can understand your hurry to get it on the panel, I'd be doing the same thing. I really like the artwork you went with. Great job!

[ginno]

Thank Dema,

If your interested in a background on the cabinet I have a site up and running http://users.bigpond.net.au/ginno/ few more photos and those last updates and ill finally submit it to the examples page.

I wonder what my next project will be hmm...

[ginno]

Hi all just updated the tutorial above, added a few pics of the applying of the CP overlay section

Cheers.