Silkscreening question about ink. (prOk or rikitiki?)

[WunderCade]

This is prolly something pr0k or rikitikki can answer.

I've recently discovered tutorials on DIY silkscreening, but they all use ink. None of the tuts show or address latex paint being used. And if I can't use latex paint to silkscreen, then would I have to have the ink colors color-matched to Ms. Pac colors so I can silkscreen right onto the side of the cab? Is there a place that does that?

Thanks guys, I am at the point now where I need to address the sideart on my Ms. Pacman restoration project and I wanna steer clear of stickers.

[prOk]

Cant' say i've ever tried to paint thru silkscreen.  Not sure what you'd end up with really.  I'd imagine it would be very tough to do considering the particulate of paint is much larger than ink.

has anyone ever made ms pac vector art with the colors separated in layers like they were originally stencilled?

[Austin.Wolff]

Out of curiosity for my own cabinet of course, what is wrong with stickers?

[prOk]

Most ms pacs were not stickers although the very last run was..  so for the most part, if you're restoring a game you really want to paint it like it came from the factory.

[Austin.Wolff]

But aside from restoring, they present no ill effect?

[shardian]

Ms. Pacs weren't silk screened, they were stenciled.

[WunderCade]

Ms. Pacs weren't silk screened, they were stenciled.

I think the black lines were silk screened - only speculation on my part though.

But you're right, they used stencils for most of it.

Silkscreening was my bright idea, as you know if you've ever dealt with Ms. Pac sideart, it's a "chase your tail" proposition, none of the vendors are willing to make stencils for the obvious legal reasons.

Twobits IMO is a gouging machine with their repro stickers, and I want to restore (which means "authentic" to me) this machine by painting the art as it was originally.

So, I thought silkscreening would be a viable alternative for the DIY'er. I just have to figure out what to use in terms of paint or ink and then how to color match. If I resolve the question of ink and the process works out, I will definitely document it here on the forum.

[shardian]

Recently, a guy on here posted his pacman on which his girlfriend free-hand painted the sideart on with the aid of an overhead projector. You could do the same with your cabinet. Basically, once you get the projection set up to a proper scale on your cabinet side, you just trace all of the lines. Then paint away. Once you have painted in all of the areas trace around the edges with a high quality paint pen in black.

[WunderCade]

I think I just came up with the solution in my last post. I'll just use stencils and paint for the Blue and Pink and Yellow and then silkscreen the black lines on. Black silkscreen ink is readily available.

Now, does anyone know if the vector lines on the AAL Ms Pac sideart are correct? I'll bet prOk knows....LOL

[prOk]

The lines on AAL are a  mess unfortunately

[rikitiki]

Sorry missed this one.
no can do with the paint on a silk screen, just not the same and wont look right.
I plan on posting up a silkscreen 101 on my pac cab as soon as Im finished with my Burgertime project. 
I though Im going to demonstate the cabinet screeniing, the screens needed for Ms pac would be a little too large I would think for the common mortal man.
and stencilling would be the best way to go.
If there are no cut ready files not to mention the copyright issue it may be possible to lay  clear fisket down on your exiting cabinet hand cut out each color needed.
Premask the cut frisket and than removed it in 1 piece to be used at a later time.
I recently saw on youtube a  quick Ms Pac  Stencil Job
it was part of an arcade classics collecor video I'll see if I can find the link.
looks like they had a piece of plex that was cut out that they could clean and reuse.
feel free to PM any questions

[rikitiki]

Youtube link restensticl ms pac

[WunderCade]

Thanks for your ideas rikitiki and the link...it looks like they are using a clear mylar, no?

Is fisket some sort of mylar (clear plastic)? I Googled it, but there are no English references.

Are you planning to use a single big stencil on your Pacman cab?

[rikitiki]

it might help if I spell it right FRISKET you can usally find small pieces in hobby stores but youd want something more industrial size to cover the cabinet.
its like a mylar but it is a vinyl that has a removable low tack adhesive
Same type of spray masked used for stencils like what PROK sells for his kits
but is avaiable in a clear as oppose to white.
This way you could see through it to cut with an xacto knife and make your own.
would be simialr to what you saw on the video