Cabinet Respray vs Leave It Alone (Experiences & Opinions Wanted)

[Jango]

Hi all
I am toying with the idea of doing a cabinet respray and stenciling (I'll either make them or get them done by someone) and would like to hear the merits of doing so vs leaving the machine in original condition and just restoring everything else etc.  Whilst I appreciate the history of a machine with faded side art and a few scratches etc, there's nothing like looking at some of the cabinet resprays that I've seen on this site that guys have done for the older machines.  If its done right, they look amazing.

Therefore I'd greatly appreciate any opinions from guys who have done one or the other etc

Thanks

[Ballywannabe]

Personal choice.  I have both, but as a rule I will only respray if the original paintwork is poor or painted over, and/or the cabinet needs work (patching, bogging, glueing).

cheers
Ian

[Strangeways]

Personal choice.  I have both, but as a rule I will only respray if the original paintwork is poor or painted over, and/or the cabinet needs work (patching, bogging, glueing).

cheers
Ian

+1

Don't respray a game for the sake of it. It is a lot of work and a great reward if the original paintwork was poor. First option is always look to keep the game original.

[Homepin]

I recently did a full cabinet repair/paint job on my Winner EM and it certainly is a lot of work.

The original paint was badly faded and marked with chips and scratches. The chipboard used as the backdoor on the headbox was puffed up and stuffed as was the back section of the cabinet (strangely the only two pieces on the cabinet made from chipboard??).

The pic below shows a before and after (the main cabinet is already done in that pic). It was worth the effort for me on this one but I certainly would give it a lot of thought before I did it again - it takes a lot of time and effort.

[millsy]

All depends on what condition the original is - All the machines I have done, I had no choice because of the lousy attempt of repainting them by the previous owners. One example is the Jumping Jack I repainted - As you can see I had no choice.

[goodolddays]

I agree with others comments so far .. only do it if necessary as it is a LOT of work.
 Better to leave original if possible.   
I've only done 3 of the 11 games I've owned so far , only because either original artwork had been painted over or was just too far gone.

[Retropin]

Also... whats the title you are thinking of doing?

[Mr Pinbologist]

I also think it should be a personal choice as to whether a cab is resprayed or left original, although i have resprayed most of my games. Most people wouldnt have bothered redoing some of the games i have done, as most people would've been happy to leave them as they were but i'm a fussy bastard and want all my games to look as good as possible  

Then there are games like my Mibs and how it looked when i got it, here are a couple of pics before and after.. now who in their right mind would want THIS (before pic) in their collection???? not too many i would think!! I bought this mess for $20, and spent $300 just on the rechromed metalwork! no idea what the rest cost me but i spent months working on it in my spare time.

[Mr Pinbologist]

All depends on what condition the original is - All the machines I have done, I had no choice because of the lousy attempt of repainting them by the previous owners. One example is the Jumping Jack I repainted - As you can see I had no choice.

Your Jumping Jack looks great Millsy  That was a pretty nasty looking paint job on the before pics, people who do this to games should have their arse kicked 

[millsy]

Your MIBS looks worse than the Jumping Jack BEFORE  , but look at it after  - Looks straight out of the factory - This is why I think everyone enjoys and gets a buzz after finishing a repaint.

Post a pic of the machine your undecided on Jango and we will give you a better opinion.

[mildflame]

Wow these look brilliant!

[Boots]

I have heard a story of a guy in Adelaide who paints all of his machines black as soon as he buys them.
Old machines, new machines, all of his machines.

[spook]

@ Jumping Jack before pics .... what the hell were they thinking?   

Both the Jumping Jack and MIBS after shots are superb!  Well done guys .... those examples make a re-spray worth considering! 

[ktm450]

It can take many hours, I restored a Gottlieb Volley for my fathers 60th birthday, I estimate it took around 30-40 hours in prep, paint, webbing, stencil application and colouring then clearing.

Here is a link to the resto, with all the work covered:

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=6311.0