Hand painting sideart

[OhSnap!]

So i have been working on the artwork of my machine and have hit a snag. I live in Australia meaning to buy side artwork from America will set me back almost $300Aud, which is ludicrous.
There isn't any places that specialise in arcade artwork that i know of over here so unless people know of alternatives, I'm stuffed.
  During my attempts to find a place that wouldn't cost an arm and i leg to buy from i Was looking into mamemarquees.com.
 I had picked out the artwork I wanted for what seemed like a good price and i had my heart set on them, until i remembered conversion rates, shipping and the fact that to have it full sized added an extra $130. I only ended up buying the matching marquee which itself cost me $60 with no plexi  .
 i drew up a quick little paint sketch of the art together modified slightly (very roughly might I add):
 
I dont think any other artwork would go as nicely with the marquee.
I plan to draw up a much better version over the next couple of days in which i can work from. I plan to change it as much as i am comfortable to from the one on mamemarquees
I think that due to the small colour pallet, the amount of different paints i will need to buy will be pretty limited meaning that the savings will make this worthwhile.
I am a decent artist so i don't think that this is too out of my league. i am planning to do a lot of measurements in order to duplicate the art on the other side so hopefully the finished look wont look too amateur.
  I was originally thinking of using stencils, but i don't think i could produce good enough stencils without the cnc at work that i wont be seeing for a month as  i am on holidays.
so this seems like the best option for me
 i was wondering if anybody else has done this and if anybody could point out some pitfalls for me, feel feel to strongly recommend against me doing this.

[RobbyMac]

Print the shapes on paper and cut them out via exacto for stencils?

If both sides don't match exactly, no biggie. Noone will be able to see both sides at the same time anyways.

Lastly, it may still be pricey, but call around to local sign shops to see if they do 4 color process printing on vinyl. Ask them how much for a print (You'll need to give them an overall height and width).

[OhSnap!]

I like the idea about using a sign printing place, I just sent emails out to 6 local places to see which would give me the best deal, how much do you guys reckon they will say if i get it printed 188cm x 92cm / 6"2' x 3"1'?

[OhSnap!]

another quick question: Could i do my artwork in photoshop instead of with a vector making program? I understand that i would have to make the image to the exact size it will be printed in and it would be big, but i am just so much better at photoshop than illustrator and the image would turn out better.

[RobbyMac]

Dunno about price. I think here in the states they can run around 10-15$ a sq. foot. (wraps) but that usually includes installation.

Yeah they should be able to use photoshop. 100 dpi at full size minimum. I printed my fusion stuff (except cp graphics was 300) at 200 dpi, and while that may seem low resolution, in large format most people don't notice the difference. The problems with raster are file transport (because of the large size) and color correction (unless you layer the diff colors, which makes file size even larger). but it is do-able.

[OhSnap!]

well one place was asking for 10% full size at 300dpi, i suppose thats what i'll give 'em

[RobbyMac]

Once you get below 50dpi it will look 'pixelated'. This may not be a concern depending on your design.
But 10% full size at 300 dpi is going to get you a 30 dpi print when they enlarge it to full size.

[OhSnap!]

i suppose they were referring to billboards

[drventure]

Following along with this topic just made me ask myself whether anyone's ever seen or tried "airbrushed" marquee or side panel art.

Too cheesy? 

[RobbyMac]

30 dpi billboards? yes. I think they usually run between 10-30 dpi.
You might want to mention to them what it's for, and make sure it gets laminated...

Airbrushed? Depends ont he theme I spose. Anything can look good if done right I think.

[Don]

i know Ozstick are an Australian arcade company, not sure if they'd have side art but worth a look!
www.ozstick.com.au/