JrPac

bump!

bump!

I was recently in a production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and hosted a party for my friends in the cast. To keep with the theme, I set up a 2600 with a Harmony cart loaded with Snoopy & The Red Baron and the unreleased Good Luck Charlie Brown. To my delight, both games were a hit! (The game room was also a hit!)

Added some odds and ends: ThinkGeek Power-Up light switch, 7800 controller PCB, 2600 Crystal Castles, 2600 game PCBs and cart lock mechanisms, UHF to coax adapter, CX-40 handle

That's a peek of something else I'm trying out 😜 That would be pretty!! Sadly the manufacturer has a minimum so it would still end up being like $40 for a one off.

As Crossbow said, you must still remove the original metal plate and adhesive. But I am trying to make it as streamlined as possible 🙂 (If only the original didn't have the embossed lettering, otherwise that would actually totally work). Hypothetically, after removing the old plate you would apply an included pre-cut cardstock strip as a foundation layer to smooth out the surface and conceal the holes. You'd then prepare the decal by pre-bending the ends on either side, and finally apply the decal on top. I'm admittedly a little confused at all the emphasis on filling and sanding the holes. I really don't see how epoxy would be easier than peeling and sticking a strip of cardstock 😆

I don't plan on offering the rainbow alone but you're welcome to trim one of the plates

Just sharing for fun, but here's what was on the console before I started this project. I designed and printed this label when I was probably 12 😆

Glad to hear! Thanks for the feedback. Thanks also for the feedback! Honestly I think I prefer the PAL version too 😜 Confirmed with the company the horizontal grain is 100% doable and the next round of prints will have em 👍 I would love to, but that's not something the manufacturer can do and I don't have the equipment to do so either. Current priority list seems to be: NTSC (gray text) PAL NTSC (Vader) NTSC (rainbow)

Just having fun here but imagine an inverted "Vader" style 🤤

Experimented with different paper bases this morning. This worked surprisingly well! Pre-cut a cardstock foundation to fit only the top face (without the bends). Pre-creased the foil plate and applied over top. The bends look totally fine. The paper texture does show through, so I will need a smoother cardstock. Not surprised as this is just cheap poster board. I would strongly recommend the end-user to pre-crease the bends onto the foil before installing. I could include very faint gray guide lines on the product, but they'd still be there after you install. What do y'all think?

To be clear, I did use the cardstock in my experiment as a foundation layer spanning the full width. My only concern is how that would work with the bends, so I'm gonna experiment with that. These are made from foil with a vinyl laminate, so it's a bit more forgiving to texture than a thin vinyl decal would be. There are quite a few nicks and marks on my system that the foil alone conceals well—just not those pesky holes (Though from my experience making arcade art, good vinyl conceals most sanding marks)

I am sticking to gray for the time being. If they sell well enough I’ll explore variations (definitely would like to do the PAL version as well if it’s feasible).

That indeed would be a good solution, but considering I plan to to offer this to other collectors, I want to make the process as streamlined and accessible as possible I do agree the black text would be more visible.

Update! The samples arrived today and here's the status. The color and reflectiveness of the material look excellent, the rainbow looks awesome, and I think the gray text also works. The print company oriented the brushed pattern the wrong way. I've contacted them and they should hopefully be able to fix it. The grain is also a little more intense than I'd like, but unless they're side-by-side I don't think anyone would notice. The foil material alone does not seem to be rigid enough to conceal the molding holes that are typically under the plate. Backing it with some cardstock helped dramatically, so I may need to include a second layer. Will do more experiments!