Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle
General Chat => Arcade Lifestyle => Topic started by: Arch on March 29, 2012, 10:16:27 AM
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Deep breath...
Some of you might have noticed that I've been asking for pictures of Zaccaria Star Splash art recently. Well, there is a reason for this. Some months ago I was at a meeting in the "Secret Norwegian Arcade Club". We are four guys only in Oslo who are into arcade machines, and I am the only oddball who prefer woodies to candies. At one point one of the candycabbers showed me a dark picture of his woody cab that he had stored in an old barn. When I saw the Zacc art I got very enthusiastic, so he told me that I could have it for free if I could arrange the pickup. This first and only picture was not very revealing to say the least, and it was very hard to tell the state of the cab, but I noticed that the bezel and the marquee were missing, and consequently I started the quest for art here on DLF.
Here is the first picture I saw:
(http://www.arthak.net/ZAC.JPG)
Yesterday I went to pick up the cab at a barn outside Oslo. And, surprise surprise... it is a wreck. :shock:
I suspected as much, but I hadn't thought it to be this bad. The main issues are as follows. The sides are scratched badly with names and your regular AC/DC-logos, the wood is chipped, it has several holes, the t-molding slots have been filled with glue and painted over, the control panel is flaking badly underneath and the plexi is melted, bent and stained from cigarette burns. The inner bezel (for lack of a better term), the bezel, the marquee and the back door are all missing. I need some good t-molding too. I have never seen a Zacc in the flesh before, so there might be other bits missing as well.
We all know that a thread like this is not worth a damn without pictures, so see for yourself:
(http://www.arthak.net/StarSplash/ss1.jpg)
(http://www.arthak.net/StarSplash/ss6.jpg)
(http://www.arthak.net/StarSplash/ss2.jpg)
(http://www.arthak.net/StarSplash/ss3.jpg)
(http://www.arthak.net/StarSplash/ss5.jpg)
(http://www.arthak.net/StarSplash/ss4.jpg)
There are some upsides though. The guts aren't all bad. The monitor, a Hantarex 900, is crisp and clear with no burn. It needs a recap but that's about it. Marquee light works, the coin door lights work and the buttons and the joystick are ok.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Germany several wheels are already set in motion. Deals have been made, money have been changing hands, and the DLF community represented by Luigi, Bela, Lachek and others have shown their true colours as the most helpful and friendly guys out there. :)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3444.0;attach=1741;image)
With this much community involvement alredy, and because I'd hate to see this get chucked, I feel I need to go through with this. So, this is The great Norwegian Zaccaria Star Splash restoration project! Welcome! ;D
What I'm thinking is that I have to go deep on this one, probably to the point of disassembling it, repairing the wood and making new side art, a new cp, and a new inner bezel. This will be a long and painstaking project, but hopefully, with the help and backing of the community, I will get there in the end.
So, what do you think? Doable? Answer: Yes! Where should I start? Answer: Haven't got the slightest idea! This is the first time I plunge this deep into a restoration, so any input is welcome. :)
Cheers,
Håkon
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We have a brave man here !
I did the scanning / preserving of the spacestation and Crazy kong sideart, and maybe you can do the starsplash ;D
Here how i started on my sidearts..
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2779.0 (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2779.0)
PS, Goodluck on the T-moulding.... If you do find it, please let me know where, i never saw the silverish t-moudling for sale...
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Thanks, Etienne. I've been looking at your threads a lot, so I think I will be able to manage the scanning and vectorizing. I've found a HP Scanjet 4670 at a Norwegian auction site, and I've put in a bid already. It's pretty cheap atm.
What puzzles me though, is how you go about printing it? On the Star Splash the art seems to sit silkscreened on the paint itself, or it might be a very thin sheet of vinyl. Is the vinyl the way to go? Will gameongrafix or thisoldgame take the job, you think?
As for the t-molding, I am curious if there were any original Zaccaria cabs without the silverish T and if there is any other alternative that would pass as "authentic"? The silver T is the only part of the whole original cab design I feel that I really dislike. Bela? Anyone?
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on the T-moulding part i need to disagree with you, i like it very much.
The originals are indeed silkscreened direct to the wood without vinyl.
as reproduction, i will have it print it on vinyl, i have contact with two printers in the netherlands, and i need to see what the costs are.
I have never ordered art in the US, but i think they can print it also for you.
Dont know about the costs, and shipping.
Are there no printers local to you who also print on vinyl ?
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I will check around locally, but my previous dealings with Gameongrafix for my Compu-Game cp were very positive, so I might end up using them again. Easier to deal with someone who are familiar with the end product, and the texture of the printed material came out exactly as the original was.
Here's a shot:
(http://www.arthak.net/cab2.png)
But first things first, namely... making the file. The side art on the Star Splash consists of a lot of defined lines, so it shouldn't take too long once I have the scans and the correct measurements.
While I have your attention, do you plan to make new runs on the alu stickers or the control panel plexi? I think the layout on the Star Splash might match your CK you see.
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it depends what you need for alustickers.
I am not specificly planning a run now, but i do have some requests, so who knows.
I made a bunch of stickers for bencao74 who wanted to place them in his webshop.
So if you need the zacc alu sticker, you can contact him, he has them for sale ;)
The Plexi i am not planning to make again, also the panels in plexi you can get from bencao, based on my file and verificated by me.
(i have one sample here to test the size etc etc. but i need that for my 2e zacc ;) )
The Starsplash does need an extra hole though. but here you can see that :
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2958.msg39412#msg39412 (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2958.msg39412#msg39412)
As for the printing of the CK panel, or any other panel, i can ask the printer that i used to do that for you and ask a price.
(rough estimation 30 - 35 € excl VAT )
The last time i ordered 4 in one go, so i could save on startup costs.
I understand your point of the structured CPO material, but zaccs use plexi CPO's, so i dont need the structured material for that.
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Hey,
sure, I can do some plexi also with extra cut. I prefer CDR, PDF or DXF files. But perhaps Etienne has a layout with this extra button already. The CPO plexi is pretty much the same but with rounded and polished edges (is this correct, Etienne?).
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Nice to see that another Zacc will be saved. :D
About the t-molding, I also like the silver one, but I think you should choose the one you like the most (ok, not green or orange :D), the original is not available anymore.
Was there any pcb in it?
I've never heard about the game Bad Monkey, which one could it be? ;D
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Maybe a variant on crazy kong, like big kong :
played it in mame, I love it !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlURS0UUKqA&feature=player_embedded
The plexi is indeed with rounded edges, and very nice
i only have the file with the 3 extra holes like in the link.
but its easy to remove the 2 holes from that file and then you got the correct button setup.
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Hehe, the "Bad Monkey" is not really a game I think. Apparently it is a nickname of the previous owner, and the "marquee" if you can call it that is just two sheets of paper. :)
I am on my way to Germany right now, and I will be off the radar for some days, but I will contact you guys next week with regards to the cp. When doing the vector of it I might do a little customisation and add a third button. I know ths might be frowned upon by the purists, but the way I'm thinking is that the Star Splash was originally intended as a universal cabinet. With a third button it becomes even more so, and if the graphics are in keeping with the original design (ie. adding another "shoot"-circle), I think it should be ok. Had it been a dedicated cab I would not have done this.
As for the t-molding. I think I might go with non-intrusive black if I can't find anything that looks like the original.
I've spent the evening ripping out the monitor and the guts from the cab. What I'm left with is a very light but very sturdy shell. I want to take it apart for a couple of reasons. This is going to be a long ordeal, and I would like to store the cab in a small area. When working on the surfaces I also think it will be easier to pull out and handle one piece at a time. At this point, however, I'm already a bit lost, because the thing is glued together like a rock. I've been searching for a weak spot where I might start to break it apart, but no luck. I really don't want to take a sledgehammer to it or anything like that so I guess I'll just keep prying. Is there a trick or a spot you guys know about? I've looked all over, but there is not one single screw in this thing. :?
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They fixed the parts together with a kind of a stapler (that is the closest match in the dictionary) from the sides, it is really hard to take it apart without damaging the wood.Ully made it somehow with his Jungle King, but that cab is a bit different:
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1843.0
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I know what you mean, its build to last ;D
i would not take it apart if i where you.
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You will also need a black cardboard bezel. This can be easily done. Just buy some black cardboard and adjust it to fit in the cab...don't forget the hole in the middle or you won't be able to play ;D
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Talking about the cardboard, don't forget Paul swan's tutorial :
http://www.zzzaccaria.com/MonitorSurroundRestoration.htm (http://www.zzzaccaria.com/MonitorSurroundRestoration.htm)
also the rest of the site is worth browsing ! :spaceace:
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Hm, guess I’m not pulling the cab apart after all. There is no way I can do it without screwing up the wood, so it stays as it is I guess.
Thanks for the heads up about the cardboard bezel. The one for the Star Splash is just black, isn’t it?
And now… roadtripping!
(http://www.arthak.net/trip/car.jpg)
German roads are estimately 15673 times better than Norwegian roads. Even in Rheinland-Pfalz. ;D
When I was given the Zacc Star Splash I went on DLF and asked if anybody could help me by scanning some artwork. The plan was to vectorize and reproduce the art, because there was no way I thought I could source original art for the cab. Well, I was wrong. I was contacted by Luigi who knew where to find a NOS bezel, and Laschek who had two marquees for sale. Problem was, I was in Norway and they were in Germany and sending the glass bezel and marquees would most likely end in a glass shard disaster.
As it happens, I have a Norwegian friend who lives in Karlsruhe, Germany, and last year I booked tickets to visit him. I knew that in Karlsruhe there is a museum called Retrogames where they have a lot of old cabs, and had announced on J+ that I had planned to go there. I seemed to remember a reply from Luigi that he lived only 50 km away from that place, which again ment that I could actually go from Karlsruhe to Luigi’s place to pick up the bezel. On his end he did one hell of a job to get the bezel transported from another place in Germany. It all started to come together nicely.
Initially, I had planned to have Laschek’s two glass marquees sent to me by post. This was not the optimal solution, given the fragility of the items and the high shipping cost that we non-EU citizens are blessed with. I mentioned to him that I was going to Luigi’s place, and although he lives quite far off, he kindly offered to deliver the marquees to me in person.
So here is the scenario: the marquee coming from somewhere north of Frankfurt, Laschek coming from Kaiserslautern, me coming from Norway via Karlsruhe, and we’re all meeting up at Luigi’s place at 15:00 on Saturday. Something’s got to go wrong, right? No! It all went down perfectly!
I arrived with my friends who had offered to drive me, we met Luigi and he showed me his wonderful game room, and shortly after Laschek arrived. Zacc wares were exchanged, and we chatted a bit before I left for Karlsruhe again with a car full of valuable glass and a smile on my face! Thanks again to Laschek and Luigi who went out of their way for an unknown guy from Norway. You guys are the best!
(http://www.arthak.net/trip/bez1.jpg)
Me and Luigi wheelin' and dealin' over the NOS bezel.
(http://www.arthak.net/trip/bez2.jpg)
The deal is made! :D
(http://www.arthak.net/trip/bez3.jpg)
Laschek and me sealin' tha deal. ;)
Later in the evening we went to Retrogames (http://retrogames.info/) and had an absolute ball! The friendly guys there, Klaus-Peter and Mario among others, were kind enough to give me a tour behind the scenes, where they had rare Atari cabs like Gotcha (http://retrogames.info/arcade/show/858), Battlezone, a very early Sprint clone and a very nice Asteroids cabaret. The rest of the night was spent in the main game room where we enjoyed beer, 80's music, Centipede cabaret , Star Wars upright, Juno First, Tron, Space Harrier cockpit and a lot of Marble Madness rivalry with my friends. A great night, and I really really recommend a visit to Retrogames!
(http://www.arthak.net/trip/rg1.jpg)
You can't go wrong with beer and a Centipede cabaret. I WANT ONEEE!!!
(http://www.arthak.net/trip/rg2.jpg)
My friend Finn gloating about kicking my butt in MM. :twisted:
I’m now back in good old Norway where I plan to do some heavy work on the cab in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
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Great report Arch!
Do i see a TRON reflected in the MM??!!
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Great story, thanks for sharing.
As for the cardboard bezel, there are 3 variants, 1. black, 2. Spickels of paint and 3. Fireworks.
I think the Starsplash has black, and you can easy create that from black cardboard.
i Have one on my attic which i can measure and report the measurements here if you like.
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Yeah, you surely have the infection. ;D
Great to see our members on your pics, nice report, thanks for sharing. ;)
Some pics from the spoils would be great. ;)
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OMG, now I have proof that I looked even worse than I felt that day ;D
BTW, I have a 60 km drive to Neustadt, so I wouldn't call it that far away. Plus I had to go there at least once a week for three years, so I know the route inside and out, I'm usually on auto pilot ;D
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another thumbs up for the EADS!!! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
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Thanks for the kind words, guys!
Ully: Indeed! EADS rules! I hope I can make it up to the guys involved sometime. :)
Belike: I will take some shots of the spoils asap. When I got home from .de I had the house full of visitors, so I didn't get around to anything else than just checking that the bezel and the marquees were ok. I forgot to mention that Luigi also was kind enough to give me his Star Splash control panel plexi which was in good condition, so the only thing I will be reproducing now is the side art. Thumbs up all the way for that, Luigi! :)
Muerto: It is indeed a Tron, yes. Had a brief go at it, and from what I could tell it was in decent condition as well. From an objective point of view, the gems of the RetroGames collection were the Tron, the SW upright in almost flawless condition and the Space Harrier cockpit which was also in good nick.
Laschek: Thank you even so! :) Our meeting was very brief, and I wish I could have spent more time with you guys. It was kind of hard since the family with the baby were waiting for me, but I will be in Karlsruhe again so perhaps we could meet another time as well.
Etienne:
I think the Starsplash has black, and you can easy create that from black cardboard.
I Have one on my attic which i can measure and report the measurements here if you like.
Thank you so much, I would very much like those measurements! It will save me from a lot of trial and error. I'll just go with the black variant, so it should be easy to reproduce once I have your numbers.
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Cool !
I bet that it is the starsplash CP that was on his Crazy Kong, which is by now replaced with my repro ? ;D ;)
I have not seen pics from Luigi's new CP yet..
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@Etienne: I'm still busy to make the little bubbles go away. Turns out very well but I took a photo and you really see even the smallest one. I use a scalpell to "peek" into the bubble and then press it to the plexi....stay tuned.
@Arch: it was a pleasure to meet you, hope you had a great time! :) Good luck with your Zacc resto!
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Found some time to measure the cardboard bezel..
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/1.jpg)
Lets tape it to the table and try to straighten it as flat as possible.
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/2.jpg)
Height: 91,5 cm.
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/3.jpg)
width: 59,9 cm.
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/4.jpg)
Center width monitor hole: 30 cm.
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/5.jpg)
Center Height monitor hole: 39,4 cm.
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/6.jpg)
Distance monitor hole from bottom: 3 cm.
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/7.jpg)
And at last a vector PDF on scale..
Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Vertical.pdf (http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Vertical.pdf)
The monitor hole is a bit curved, and the difference between the center and the top / bottom opening untill the rounded corner is 1 cm.
The radius of the corners is 3 cm.
I hope this helps you to reproduce a cardboard bezel. ;)
EDIT:
I see you need a horizontal version... :-\
Perhaps Bela can provide me the measurements of the distance from the bottom of a horizontal version, then i can copy my PDF and adjust that to a horizontal version..
EDIT 2:
Horizontal version :
Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Horizontal.pdf (http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Horizontal.pdf)
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I have just one cab with horizontal version, it has to be the same size. ;)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H1Tvp7QxNK4/T335HhXjDiI/AAAAAAAAFvY/ptErvxJvBzU/s800/Arcade%2520day%2520050.jpg)
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Thanks for the perfect measurements Etienne!
I'm in the need for the cardboard bezel, too. So my zacc will get a more perfect look.
Cu
Digimon
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I have just one cab with horizontal version, it has to be the same size. ;)
The size i agree, but the distance from the bottom of the bezel to the start of the hole looks bigger ..
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No, it is 8 cm and 10,5 from the sides. ;)
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thanks !
PDF added !, check previous post..
or.. for the lazy people: ;D
Vertical version:
Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Vertical.pdf (http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Vertical.pdf)
Horizontal version:
Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Horizontal.pdf (http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccbezel/Zaccaria-Cardboard-Bezel-Horizontal.pdf)
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Very useful, thanks Mr. Vectorking! :D
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Whoooa! :o
Thanks a million, Etienne! You really go out of your way. Much appreciated! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
I think I will go with the vertical version first actually, since I don't have a vertical cab yet. When you're saying I need the horisontal version, do you mean because of the monitor setup inside the cab? Not showing in the pictures, but I have some some metal "extenders" for lack of better words, and these make it possible to do a vertical setup. I have, however, downloaded both your versions and noted the measurements so the future is open. :)
As for the material, is it just some thick but bendable black cardboard then, or does it have some sort of rubbery quality to it? Hard to tell from the pictures.
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Youre welcome,
It is just ordinary cardboard, plain and simple :D
Yeah, i was looking at the pics in page 1 of this thread and saw a horizontal mounted monitor.
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Ok, Bela asked for a picture of the spoils of my German roadtrip, and although it has been sitting on my camera for some days I haven't had the time to post it here yet. The band I'm in is releasing an album these days, so there is a lot of rehearsing and gigging going on. Things will be quiteter in a couple of weeks though, unless it goes multi platinum. ;)
So, from the top there is the marquee from Laschek. He gave me another one as well, but the one pictured is the one in the best condition. Minor flaking in the corners, but nothing that I can't live with.
Then there is the NOS bezel that Luigi managed to source for me. As stated above, his efforts here were tremendous.
Then there is the control panel that Luigi gave me as a nice surprise when on location. As Etienne suspected, he was going to replace his new CK control panel with this one. Still just giving it to me like that just goes to show what a great guy he is.
And finally there are the stickers sent to me by Etienne. Very nice work as you would expect, and the dot above the i when it comes to finishing my cab.
Now if this isn't a testimony about how cool this commuinty is, I dunno. I haven't been here that long, but I love you all! :-* ;D
(http://www.arthak.net/zackit.png)
As for progress, I have yet to obtain a usable scanner for the sideart. I put a bid on one, no luck. Hopefully I will find another one to bid on soon. I need to scan that side art!
One thing I might want to start to think about is what used to go in the bottom left corner on the bezel. As stated, I've never seen a Zac in the flesh before, so I have no idea. Did they use to have game instructions here or what?
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Yes, that "window" is for an instruction card of the game that it has
perhaps you want the vectorfile that i have for the outline of the cabinet ?
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2779.0
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Oh, yes please. Is it in that thread? If so I haven't noticed, which would be strange because I've been through that thread at least three times for inspiration and advice.
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Cool stuff in good looking quality.
Maybe you can scan te CP?
I try to scan the marque in a couple of weeks.
Yesterday I've bought an HP Scanjet 4670 (20€);)
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20€! That's cheap! :shock:
I can scan the cp for you at work, no problem. Next week I will be on tour, but the week after I will send you the scan.
Mind you, I have in fact been thinking about vectorizing the cp anyway in order to tweak it and build a custom 2p cp for my festival next year, so if you want easy going you can wait for that.
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Nice stuff, we have some instruction cards vectorized by Etienne for your bezel. ;)
The vectorized cpo would be great, it is also missing from mine.
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The 2 Player CP is my project for the rainy Autumn days;)
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Oh, yes please. Is it in that thread? If so I haven't noticed, which would be strange because I've been through that thread at least three times for inspiration and advice.
Nope, its not in the thread , but i have it here for you ;)
zaccminioutline.zip (http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccminioutline.zip)
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Perfect, Etienne!
Aaand... today I picked up a HP Scanjet 4640 for 30 Euro. ;D
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Will this look right, do you think? It is the closest thing I can find to the original Zaccaria T-molding.
http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/products/tmolding-15mm-chrome.htm
Cheers,
Håkon
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It looks silvery, but it says chrome.
(http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/gremimages/15mmt-molding-chrome2.jpg)
i have the feeling it looks like high gloss chrome when installed on the cab... :-\ :
(http://buchananmotors.com/tmp/cabrefurb/source/image/dsc07386.jpg)
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Yeah, this is the closest existing match, but doesn't look to good imho. 8)
I would rather go for a simple black one, just my 2 cents.
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Etienne, it says in the description the photo is not a good likeness of the chrome, shinier in real life :)
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:oops: my bad, i did not read it totally, but thats because i think its ugly T-Molding..
Makes the cab look really "cheap"
I would keep the original on there then, or is it totally gone ?
Just my two cents..
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Hm, I agree. It will look a bit cheap I think.
The original t-molding is totally destroyed. Partially torn off and painted over where it still remains.
I will go with black then.
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Nice project :)
Paul.
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Thanks Paul,
In case you guys wonder about the recent silence, it is all underway, but in babysteps - and not very interesting ones. Yesterday, for instance, I spent hours reinstalling frigging Windows XP onto a laptop in order to make a portable scanning station that I can take with me into the basement where I keep the cab. And we all know you don't want to see pics of a tired guy installing XP on a laptop so... :P
But the scanning bit is coming up soon. Time to plan my approach by re-reading Etiennes thread.
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Great,
If you need help or tips, feel free to ask.
I have done a few succesfull scans & stitches, and Ully can help you too, he told me everything i know ;)
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Finally got around to trying out my new scanner. Pretty happy with it. As a test I did a scan of the Star Splash CP. As I have an original one that I think I will keep as it is, but I've seen a couple of requests for a generic Zac panel here and I thought it might be a nice way to ease into the project, get a feel for the scanner, contribute to the community etc. So here's the image of the CP after manual stitching, colour adjustment and cleaning up. Now for the vectorizing. I am preparing to delve into Halftone Hell here. Hopefully I will come up with a neat trick for those circular halftone patterns. :shock:
But to you guys with the similar cp. How do the colours look to you? It would be nice with some input to get it as correct as possible. I sometimes screw up colours as I am colour blind (don't tell my employer. :wink:)
(http://www.arthak.net/sscp2_web.png)
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Nice job! On my universal I have this panel but it's the 1-button variation.
Heh, can't help too much on colour either - also colour blind.
Regards,
Paul.
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Do you also like to have the vector template for the CP ? ;)
zacc mini cpo template.pdf (http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccminicpotemplate.pdf)
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/plexipanel/16.jpg)
Oh, and here is my way of making halftones ::)
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=3318.msg45363#msg45363 (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=3318.msg45363#msg45363)
and
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=3474.msg48275#msg48275 (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=3474.msg48275#msg48275)
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Sweet! Thanks a lot, Etienne. :) If you happen to have the .ai layer of the button placement that would really be great!
I'm kind of anxious about the halftones in this particular piece. "Normal" halftones like the ones you describe in your threads are time consuming enough, but the halftones here are crazy. Here's a pic to show you what I'm up against.
(http://www.arthak.net/extract.png)
I am no fan of Live Tracing, but I might end up autotracing these particular parts because I don't really see a consistent pattern.
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The darker blue parts are purple on mine, but I think there are more colour versions from this one.
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That pdf that i linked to has all you need ;)
You didnt opened yet in AI i guess
Anyway, the halfoning, or i can better say pattern is a b1tch!
It looks a bit like circles with a dot inside..
i did not ddraw every circle you see, but you get the idea i guess ;)
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Right! Aaalmost done with the cp. What remains are some of the more intricate halftone patterns. To reproduce those manually will take forever, so instead I plan to do another really high resolution scan of the areas concerned, and to autotrace them in order to preserve the original pattern. Not that anyone would really care, but you know how it goes. Once you invest time in such things, you want it done proper. ;)
Here is a WIP. Another session to go, and it should be pretty much done.
(http://www.arthak.net/sscp_vector4.png)
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Looking tight !
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Good to see that my gift will help others, too :)
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Luigi: indeed, hopefully somebody somewhere will need this. I'll try to finish it next week.
In the meantime:
(http://www.arthak.net/scan.png)
Scanning the Star Splash side art using Etiennes patended technique. I do this in a shared basement, and I sure got some strange looks from the neighbours. :shock:
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At least you got the correct size of a coffee cup there ! ;D :spaceace:
PS, its not my pattent, zorg did a tutorial on how to scan the sidearts,
and Jeff did a translation in english:
http://www.rotheblog.com/2008/04/tutorials-arcade/scanning-arcade-game-sideart/ (http://www.rotheblog.com/2008/04/tutorials-arcade/scanning-arcade-game-sideart/)
and also i took the idea of a guide because of SuperUlly
Dont give me credit for things i dont deserve credit for ;)
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Turned out I needed that big cup of coffee, because it is a pretty time consuming process. :?
Ah, ok, sorry. Let's say the method you made me aware of then. Anyway, the scans came out pretty nice, and I am currently stitching them. Another time consuming process if you want it pixel perfect.
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Stitched! Looking at this, scratches, cigarette burns and an chipped wood and all, you may understand why I want new side art for this cabinet. Can you make out the spot where somebody has scratched "Elvis"? :roll:
Now the vectorizing mayhem can commence! Not looking forward to the halftones, but I came up with a workflow for it when working on the control panel. The halftones there are more advanced than on the side art, so I should be good. After a good night's sleep, that is. This took hours! Yawn!
(http://www.arthak.net/ssside_final.png)
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Looking good, i cannot spot the Elvis though..
The vectors will not take too much time with this, it pretty straight forward.
Goodluck !
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wouldn't it be easier (and much cheaper) to get a replacement cab? having this printed is going to cost a lot, not considering how time-consuming everything is going to be ...
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Sticker vinyl at my printer costs around 45€ per side (80 x170 cm)
so thats not too much if you ask me..
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Why thanks, Ully, for that motivational pat on the back. ;)
Seriously, money and time does not enter into this. My geographical location does. I don't live in central Europe and I don't have the same access to cabinets as do you guys, so I work with what I can get my hands on. Besides, doing a full restoration from a hopeless starting point is a fun challenge and it will make me enjoy the finished cabinet a lot more. I enjoy the graphics restoration part a lot, and it's a good learning experience. The "easy route" is not always the most scenic one, as you should know. ;D
Etienne: did you come to the point where you printed your side art? I'll have to find out about my options soon: gameongraphix, thisoldgame, something local... hmmm...
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Hey....totally out of topic but since your from Norway: Happy National holiday (no idea what it's called though...) !
We marched today at the Norske Sjømannskirken in Rotterdam for their celebration. Lot's people in traditional clothes etc.
Check out pics here:
http://harmonieslikkerveer.nl/component/joomgallery/algemeen/2012-5-16-sjomannskirke.html
Oh and ignore Ully, he just hates Zaccs.... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Hey, thanks! I've been out marching with the kids today and I'm up to my neck in icecream and hot dogs. It's called 17th of May - just the date really. :)
Do you have any Norwegian friends or relations since you were there? Or just curious?
A friend of mine actually spent his five first years in Rotterdam because his dad worked at that church.
edit: ah, I think I just realized that you are in a marching band. What do you play?
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Heh, it's a small world ! :)
The bass drum ;D
Yeah, I actually have no idea how the contact was established. Must say I liked the atmosphere and the people were very kind, drinks and nice chocolate cake was plenty and we got some nice applause afterwards (which is not always the case....) It was the first time we did this. I think they were very lucky because today it was Ascension Thursday here, a national holiday for us. Else about no-one of the band could have made it due to work...
We were also very lucky because the weather was great. It was fun to march around the park for a change and it's my city of birth. The church is really beautiful and so were quite some of the ladies around ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Well since we're off-topic now anyway:
You can spot me here with the black bass-drum (not the white one):
(http://harmonieslikkerveer.nl/component/joomgallery/image.raw?type=orig&id=3831)
And somewhere in here :D :
(http://harmonieslikkerveer.nl/component/joomgallery/image.raw?type=orig&id=3852)
OK....back to the Zacc ;D
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Nope, i dont have yet printed sidearts.
Note that its not the printer that i used for the alustickers, because that will be too expensive for this job (i think)
I have calculated the sizes here ;
http://www.drukwerkdeal.nl/nl/producten/stickers/vinyl_stickers_groot_formaat_ (http://www.drukwerkdeal.nl/nl/producten/stickers/vinyl_stickers_groot_formaat_)
They are the guys that did the first prints of Bela's galaxian bezel:
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2109.msg25947#msg25947
I think for the sideart its very suitable..
Maybe Bela can digg up this old print and send a sample of it in an enveloppe to you so you can see the quality..
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Besides, doing a full restoration from a hopeless starting point is a fun challenge and it will make me enjoy the finished cabinet a lot more.
that'S the real arcade spirit all the way!!! thumbs up!!! :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
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It is excellent quality, you can trust me. ;D
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Ok, guys! I just need to say that I haven't left DLF or abandoned my project or anything like that. It's just that my me and the missus are breaking up, and there is a lot of real life practical stuff going down like house selling, house buying and so on. I bought a new place to live a couple of days ago, but I'm not moving in until November - and until then my cabs will be living in a storage container. For those of you here that I know and that have helped me with my project, I just wanted to let you know.
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Sorry to hear that !
Well, welcome back Arch !
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Sorry mate :(
No good news :( :(
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Depends of course....but it's never fun....all the best !
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Hi again, and thanks for the sympathy guys. Well, as you can probably guess from my previous post, I haven't really had the chance to invest much time in my arcade projects lately. I have been doing a thing or two in between all the real life stuff though, so I thought I might share some progress with you guys.
I had a couple of days off, so I decided to go ahead with the part of the restoration that I've been dreading the most, namely the sanding and painting of the cabinet. I'm pretty comfy with doing stuff on a computer, like tracing art etc., but the sanding bit is so hands on - and dusty - that I just wanted to get it over with.
I started out in the shared basement of our building. That was a big mistake. I started sanding for a minute or two... looked up... and could barely see three meters for all the dust. So I lugged the cab up the stairs to my 2nd floor apartment and continued on the balcony. That worked a lot better, but when I was done and looked over at the neighbours balcony I discovered that I had covered all their drying laundry in a fine layer of black dust. I had to go over and apologise, and luckily they weren't too cross about it. :oops:
(http://www.arthak.net/sand1.png)
So after quite a bit of sanding - I think I might have gotten away with even less to be honest - I was left with a nice surface. I then went on to repair some damage to the wood by means of some Liberon acrylic wood filler. The filler came in a range of colours, and for some strange reason I decided to go with brown. Smearing it on the cab, it turned out that it had the colour of poo. Nice one, Arch. :roll: I also spent quite a bit of time cleaning out the glue of the T-molding slots. I've ended up buying black T-molding for the cab, which will work nicely I think.
(http://www.arthak.net/sand2.png)
So that is pretty much the state of the cab right now. It has gone into storage awaiting my house move in November. Until then I could do with a bit of advice on how to go about painting the kickplate and front of the CP. What kind of paint would you use to get the glossy black front of the Zac cabs? I have no experience with painting a smooth surface like this, so any advice is appreciated.
So much for the handyman. I've been doing quite a bit of tracing the last few days based on the scans I did in may. You won't believe how many stars this side art has. I've been listening to upbeat chiptunes to work faster, but the monotony of drawing all those stars has been a killer. In the end none of them are similar though, and they look exactly like the original. What remains are the halftones. Getting good halftones can be hard, but I will try to do my best to stay close to the original. I hope to send this to the printers so that the art will be ready when the cab comes out of storage.
(http://www.arthak.net/sssa_prv.png)
Ok, hope you like what I've done so far. Progress is slow, but steady. I've aquired quite a lot of dedicated project cabs recently, but I won't touch them until this one is done. Focus! :shock:
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Good job so far Arch!
but, ahem... ::)
I think you'll have to listen to some more of that chiptunes mayhem because you forgot a buch of tiny stars here and there. ;D
Nothing dramatic though, this should be done pretty fast.
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/~chrischris/arcade/zacc_starsplash.png)
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Lol! Well spotted! :D
I must have been a bit quick about it when I did the .png export, because some of the layers were switched off. I assure you, I have done those stars as well. ;)
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I've been doing quite a bit of tracing the last few days based on the scans I did in may. You won't believe how many stars this side art has. I've been listening to upbeat chiptunes to work faster, but the monotony of drawing all those stars has been a killer. In the end none of them are similar though, and they look exactly like the original. What remains are the halftones. Getting good halftones can be hard, but I will try to do my best to stay close to the original.
Arrhhh, the sweet smell of suffering ! :twisted:
I know what you mean ;D ;D ;D
Great job so far !
The front and kickplate are brown also, not black IIRC
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Lol! Well spotted! :D
I must have been a bit quick about it when I did the .png export, because some of the layers were switched off. I assure you, I have done those stars as well. ;)
cool, then!
I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget them.
Sometimes when you spend hours with your nose in the details, you don't see the big picture anymore.
Like a big spelling mistake on a poster or something (that particular example is checked as "already done" in my book btw :oops:).
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Well done, it was a real pain to see that original sideart sanded though. :P
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Belike: The sideart had to go, sadly. It was a real mess that didn't really show well in the pictures. People had been at it with knives and cigarette lighters. Norway in the 80's=The Wild West.
Chris: Yes, I know what you mean. I work in publishing, and one time we published a book with a big huge typo on the front cover. :oops:
Etienne: not really sure about it being brown. I've had a look at it in all sorts of light now, and it looks black to me. Might have been painted over at some point though, so I will go with the colour code you gave me.
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It must be painted over then, i mean it does not get any browner than this :D
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/zaccraiders/10.jpg)
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Very nice work so far! :)
How was the Liberon acrylic wood filler? Easy to work with? People on this forum often apply a wood hardener before the wood filler. Did you? I've never seen any such product for sale in Norway.. >:(
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I forgot to ask, hos did you get the colorcodes of the blue, purple and yellow ?
just from the scan, or did you color match them ?
If you got the values, i am interested in them! ;)
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Any updates on this Arch ?
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Not really any progress, except for the fact that I am able to get to it again - in a physical sense. I took it out of storage just recently, and it is now sitting in my basement. Current status is that I have perhaps one or two work sessions left on the side art. I've experimented a couple of times to get the halftone patterns right, but I seem to come to a dead end every time. But it is not abandoned. Too much work has gone into it and I want to see it finished. Hopefully before we meet in .nl. :)
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I am sure we will, i am @ Eurocade ;)
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Arch ? still alive ?
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Was this ever finished arch ?
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Not yet, still sitting in my basement waiting for me to sharpen up and finish the side art. There is not much left to go, and I found new hope today when I saw the awesome art from Spinnhacker: https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=5699.0 Fingers crossed he might be able to help me out! :shock:
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Hi Arch, did you finish the sidearts? I'm very interested on those :)
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I am also very interested too
Star Splash Side Art? Yes please :)
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On it. Spinnhacker, ugotmail. ;)
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Me want too ! ;) ;D
long time no see arch, i hope everything is fine over there 8)
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OH !!
;D :-*
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ppztp6ebla03mhv/star%20zacc.pdf?dl=0