Louisville, KY
This is how I painted my cabinets. First, "thank you" for all those that responded to my hundred and two questions with advise and suggestions. I know there are more then on way...but this is how I did my first paint job.
When I got my game, the bottom of the bottom cabinet was rotted through where I guess one too may beers or cokes had run through. In addition, the coin door was broken. After crafting a new bottom and door, I made the lower cabinet sound. after lifting the game from the cradle that supported it, I removed the play field and the metal side rails from the lower cabinet and the glass from the upper cabinet. With the help of a lift table, I separated the upper and lower and prepared to paint. I removed all buttons, coin slots, ball shooter, and locks. The wooden rails surrounding the glass in the top cabinet were removed. Cardboard inserts were made to minimize the possibility of paint getting into either cabinets.
After searching the web for images, I verified that the patterns on the cabinets were close to original. After sanding the cabinets with 100 and 220 grit, I traced the existing patterns using a sharpie and tissue paper and old clothing patterns. I used patterns from the sides and images from the web to help me recreate the patterns on the coin door end of the bottom cabinet.
After the patterns were traced, I primed the cabinets with an adhesive primer. This was to insure that everything remaining on the cabinets was secure and wasn't going to fail under the new paint. The base color to be applied was the blue of the sky and sea. After the second coat was rolled on and dried, I masked the cabinets to paint the sand. This color I attempted to make as the original speckled. Two coats of a sand color base coat was rolled on to the cabinets. Once dried, I speckled the sand with brown, yellow and red. I used a wire brush and flicked the paint on using my thumb. The back of the upper cabinet is a good place to practice.
I decided to paint the white (clouds) in two sections. This made the aligning of the stencils easier.I placed my patterns over what was already painted and adjusted them as needed. I then placed the patterns on white poster board and with a sharpie drew them through. A sharpie will bleed through tissue paper nicely. With a sharp blade, I cut the stencils out. 3M spray adhesive held them in place on the cabinets. Note: where the sand was speckled the surface was not flat so I used small tacks to hold down critical edges. Two coats of white were sprayed. These same steps were followed to adjust and create the stencils for the red.
After allowing several days to dry, I applied two coats of water base poly. This gave all the paint colors the same finish and also helped even out the speckles in the sand. When dry I reinstalled the wood frame on the upper cabinet. With new twist nails I reinstalled the metal side rails on the lower cabinet. Buttons, locks and coin slots were carefully installed in the cabinets. The lower cabinet was then set into the cradle and new leg bolt installed. A new lift rind was installed in the rear door and the upper was placed back onto the lower cabinet.
With a new power cord in place, I am ready to begin chasing electrons.
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Moncton, NB
