I had a question regarding arcade cabinet decals. I built a mini-cabinet last year and applied the art to the cabinet. The printer undersized it slightly, but I wasn't overly concerned about that. It was a good first DIY project and a little visual defect was more or less okay.

Well a year later, the decals have shrunk more, bubbled, and moved. This sucks and actually is a huge concern because it looks like garbage. I added a before picture, and then three after pics. *Edit: The before got sorted to the end ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I want to reprint the decals (probably with a new company) and this time I want to either seal or protect them so they can't shrink/move/etc.

My questions are:

1) Should I protect the decals by putting a thin sheet of plexi over the top (probably screw it into the cabinet and put caps on the screws) OR could I use the same stuff that clearcoats playfields to protect this? I want to make absolutely sure the next set cannot move whatsoever.

2) Can anyone recommend a decal type and company to go through? These were vinyl decals with 3M adhesive backing and well... I'm less than happy with the results.

After Front (resized).JPG
After Left (resized).JPG
After Right (resized).JPG
Before (resized).jpg

Bump so maybe people will see through their lunches.

I sanded the sides to 400 grit and then painted it with an oil primer and two coats of the black paint which was acrylic latex, after looking the product up online.

Ohhhhhhh THATS what that PM was! Thought it was about a playfield. But thank you, also good to know for this project haha