How to repair this damage (Nintendo laminate) ?

[Level42]

OK, I need some advice to repair the damage on the lower sides of my Mario Bros. (Radar Scope) cab.

The sides look like it's a plastic laminate. Under that there is wood. Not MDF.
There are scratches that are all the way through the laminate and into the wood.

I will have to fill the scratches which are not terribly deep. Then finish it off as smooth as the laminate and (and that's my biggest worry/question) paint it. I don't feel much like paining the entire side. I understand there will be color differences this way, but I think there's no way to get a finish as smooth as the laminate.

Or is there ? Any help much appreciated.

[hatrick]

Bondo, or whatever the Netherlands equivalent is, would probably be your best bet for filling in the damaged areas. I just finished doing that on my DK that was way worse than yours. I "feathered" the area where the laminate had peeled off and filled it in with Bondo. I painted the entire side, so I can't really comment on that part.  However, the Bondo came out as smooth as the laminate and blended well.

[Level42]

OK, thanks, I thought that was not the laminate on there...
Just checked Bondo's site, and I'm pretty sure it's something common everyone knows in the US, but they have a large number of products, which one did you use ?

[Level42]

O and how did your paint-job turn out and how did you do it ?

[hatrick]

I used this one:
http://www.3m.com/US/auto_marine_aero/Bondo/catalog_item3be4.html?itemNbr=179

It's the common "body filler" for auto repair in the US.

For my paint, I used Neilyboys' restore as an example and used the same primer and his paint code. I rolled it on and it looks pretty good, but in certain light you can see light roller marks where the paint overlaps. It's not bad, but it might be just enough that it will bother me until I fix it. I'll post a pic of the finished paint. I'm still assembling the parts onto the cabinet.

[SavannahLion]

For the paint, it's not likely you'll ever get the paint to match the laminate exactly. It's hard enough matching paint on paint, but matching entirely different materials is a pretty tall order.

Regardless of what you do, carefully mask off the artwork if you wish to save them. Use painters tape and paper and make sure there are no gaps under the painters tape. I often have very poor luck with tape for a variety of reasons so I usually spray a thin coat of clear coat around the edge to seal the edge. This technique requires "breaking" the paint seal with a razor blade to prevent chips in the paint though. If you're feathering colors, I probably wouldn't bother with sealing the tape edge unless there's other damage that I can't see in the photo. That said...

Since you have no desire to paint the entire side. The most obvious would be to repair the area with bondo then try to match the cabinet color as closely as you can. Rather than spraying a square patch of color that may or may not match. Gradually spray up the panel side. Go lighter and lighter with each coat. What you're trying to do is blend the paint and the existing color so any color change is gradual and hopefully unnoticeable.

[fjl]

hatrick, I think that dog is about getting ready to pee on your cab.

[Level42]

Thanks for all the advice.

I checked a bit here. Is bondo a polyester or glassfiber filler ?

[fjl]

Not sure what the regular bondo type is but they have Fiberglass variety for fixing and patching boats.

[Level42]

Should have known, wikipedia is your friend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondo_%28putty%29

So, the regular Bondo is a Polyester based product. I found similar products here:

http://www.motip.com/?page=23&id=934

and here:

www.alabastine.nl


Thanks !

[hatrick]

hatrick, I think that dog is about getting ready to pee on your cab.

Hahaha...she didn't pee on it, but she was inspecting it to make sure I did a good enough job.

[Level42]

Probably getting high from the fumes