Williams Indiana Jones The Adventure Restoration

[Boots]

Well done Rob, nice video and very informative.

I do agree the wet is far more forgiving and when the pros (Gav) do it that way, well who am I to say otherwise.

Re cleaning with alcohol, is white spirits a suitable alternative ? I have that already!

Re Water spray bottle, just use kitchen washing liquid and how soapy?

Re Before trimming edges, leave the decal overnight to really dry out, to avoid possible movements?

I still want to give the cabinet a few days to cure from painting, and work commitments will not allow me to start for a while.

Thanks once again for all the assistance.

Any more video's or suggestions would be great

Cheers Trent

I think he means isopropyl alcohol, white spirits might leave a residue

[Retropin]

Don't use White Spirit... it dissolves glue and any residue will prevent the decal from sticking properly

[Sinbad79]

wax and grease remover or prepsol ?

[robm]

Well done Rob, nice video and very informative.

I do agree the wet is far more forgiving and when the pros (Gav) do it that way, well who am I to say otherwise.

Re cleaning with alcohol, is white spirits a suitable alternative ? I have that already!

Re Water spray bottle, just use kitchen washing liquid and how soapy?

Re Before trimming edges, leave the decal overnight to really dry out, to avoid possible movements?

I still want to give the cabinet a few days to cure from painting, and work commitments will not allow me to start for a while.

Thanks once again for all the assistance.

Any more video's or suggestions would be great

Cheers Trent

Yes, isopropyl alchol is what i use


I just use dishwashing liquid, a few drops

The decal job i did on the weekend, i trimmed straight after application, then wiped again with a soft cloth - good to have a second set of hands to trim as they can hold the ruler or straight edge firm while you trim

Agree about leaving the paint to cure

Good luck! Its not that hard

[pinsanity]

Or you could just apply them dry.  

Just saying.......

Dry: (as a one person application)
Line the decal up, cut off half an inch of the backing paper from the edge and stick it down gently on the cabinet. This is your alignment phase.

Once satisfied with all aspects of alignment, use a soft cloth or wear one felt glove and smooth out the decal pushing FROM THE CENTRE OUTWARDS.

Peel away another inch or so of the backing paper and repeat.

You'll be done in 30 minutes tops for each of the main cabinet side decals and 15 each for the coin door and backboxes.



No dealing with liquids so no squeegeeing.
Cabinet/backbox can be flipped over immediately to do the other side. No waiting around for it to dry.
Can be trimmed straight away. No drying time needed.

Temptation to adjust the decal (and potentially ruin the decal) is removed. Line the decal up correctly the first time and you don't need to adjust it anyway.

[pinsanity]

Another trick that I use.

Cut away all the surrounding white border vinyl on the artwork with a Stanley blade BEFORE application.
In other words, ignore the guide line marker points that are printed on the edges of the decal art and align them manually using line of sight. (Cutting away the white border prior assists with this.)
As the name implies, those guide line marker points (crosses) seem to be little more than just a generic guide (for IJ at least) and will most likely lead to the artwork on the sides being misaligned as mentioned earlier.

Here is a pic of how I do it. I am in the process of aligning the main cabinet side (not stuck down) with the front decal (stuck down).

Note how far out of alignment with the cabinet you need to manually place the main decal to get it to align aesthetically with the front artwork. (Remember the legs hide the lower artwork).

[turbo27]

Ok, here's an idea - my head is spinning

Going to start with the headboard. One side dry, the other side wet. Best of both Worlds.

At least then I have tried both methods before the big ONE

Thanks Guys, do appreciate the support

[pinsanity]

Just about any other title I wouldn't have mentioned the alignment issues but IJ, TOTAN and MM are the only machines off the top of my head that have what I call 'wraparound artwork' on the edges which does require some manual "fine tuning" alignment if you want it to look better than what they did at the Williams factory.

Most of the other machines are either plain black edging (TZ, TAF Getaway) or have artwork that wasn't meant to line up in the first place (AFM, MB).


Wet or dry whatever you feel comfortable with.  

You'll be right!  

[turbo27]

Appreciate the support and info

Will keep you all informed how I progress

Thanks

[DSB]

Totally up to you which way you go. They both seem to have there advantages. I found doing it dry was the best for me doing it as Pinsanity has said. As you can see in the second picture I was able to stand back and rest to check the progress. If you do it dry just take your time and make sure its lined up before you start! Notice the clamp and transformer holding everything in place. Good luck with whichever method you choose. 

[Dluth]

Any tips for doing the front decal? Seems awkward. I read somewhere that some use some sort of plug.

Another trick that I use.

Cut away all the surrounding white border vinyl on the artwork with a Stanley blade BEFORE application.
In other words, ignore the guide line marker points that are printed on the edges of the decal art and align them manually using line of sight. (Cutting away the white border prior assists with this.)
As the name implies, those guide line marker points (crosses) seem to be little more than just a generic guide (for IJ at least) and will most likely lead to the artwork on the sides being misaligned as mentioned earlier.

Here is a pic of how I do it. I am in the process of aligning the main cabinet side (not stuck down) with the front decal (stuck down).

Note how far out of alignment with the cabinet you need to manually place the main decal to get it to align aesthetically with the front artwork. (Remember the legs hide the lower artwork).

[pinsanity]

Originally I used a piece of custom cut plywood to support the coin door hollow whilst I was applying the decal, but then found the easiest way to eliminate the sagging in the middle was to simply precut out the blank white vinyl in the centre of the decal before applying. As with the siderails, you have a marginal safety net with the inner rectangular edge as the lip of the coin door extends beyond the cutout piece.

Then it is just a matter of doing it in the same way as the sides, cut off half an inch of the backing paper along THE BASE (always start at the base to make sure the artwork stays horizontal, not left to right or vice versa) and then work your way up removing the backing paper an inch or so at a time.

As before, the main concern is making sure the artwork is correctly placed before applying - for example that the winged logo sits below the footprint of the coin door once it is installed.

[Dluth]

Thanks - seems to make sense to pre-cut - especially for the dry method. For the wet method I guess you'd need the plug.

[turbo27]

Headboard done!

One wet one dry.

Tried the dry method first, came out really well, no bubbles, just one small bump - forgot to clean the back of the decal (didn't follow Robs instructions  ). You need to go slow and precise, working from the middle outwards, but good results are certainly possible.

Just tried the wet, results, unfortunately got a small bubble, but having said that, it was my mistake and NOT the method. I found wet easier and far quicker, giving you time and allows for corrections to minor mistakes.

I cut back the backing paper and re-adhered. Set the decal in place with weights and clamp. Stuck one end down, but it was as I transitioned to pulling the remaining paper off I allowed the decal to catch before I sprayed the water and bugger me it was stuck. NEXT time spray water everywhere before you pull the paper back  . I reckon this should prevent the unintentional 'stick'

Trimmed with a medical scalpel and used a black permanent marker to colour the decal trimmed edges

Coin door maybe this afternoon, but will definitely be going 'wet'

[DSB]

They look well lined up. Good job. When you do the cabinet decals watch out not to get water on the bottom panel of the machine. It doesn't take water well as I found out the hard way.