Cab Restoration: Killer Instinct 2

[TobyPC]

I scooped up this Killer Instinct 2 cabinet for 180. It was converted to a Neo Geo 4 slot. It happened to have Strikers 1945 Plus in it.. which more or less covered the value of the cabinet altogether!

Today, I started stripping the oil based paint off of it to expose the artwork underneath. It's tedious but it's coming along decently.


I guess the main purpose of this thread is to track the progress of this. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll come across a Killer Instinct 1 or 2 board down the line to complete it.

I'm going to work on this as I have the time and money to do so.












There's some little flaws but overall it doesn't look bad at all, I think!

 

[Heinz]

Wow I'm impressed you could remove that paint without ruining what was underneath, nice job!

 

[FilthyRear]

Turn it into a Pac-Man.

 

[Day_Man]

What product were you using to strip the paint off?

 

[TobyPC]

What product were you using to strip the paint off?

I got lucky and this was painted over with oil-based paint. So, I'm mostly using paint thinner for oil paint and a plastic scraping tool to minimize scoring of the artwork.

I'm just being patient not to overexpose the artwork to the thinner.

 

[gusmoney]

People swear by Citristrip to remove paint and not harm the artwork underneath. Maybe easier to work with than straight paint thinner.

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

What product were you using to strip the paint off?

Rubbing alcohol on a magic eraser will take latex off of vinyl side art. It takes alot of elbow grease, and you gotta take it slow, but it will remove the paint without fading the art.

 

[TobyPC]

I did end up using citristrip today. It did prove to be very useful but it also soaked a bit into the vinyl and some areas and made it pliable. It did tear the vinyl a little bit. I did my best to clean it up.. but I'm going to wait a couple days for the vinyl to harden again before touching it.






The next time I do this I may just stick with the paint thinner because although it was quite a bit slower it was a lot more controlled.

 

[snes_collector]

You did an amazing job, the cabinet looks great. Good luck on the restoration

 

[Day_Man]

Danmmmm! That cleaned up really well.

 

[Damulta]

Unbelievable save!!! Hope you find all the missing parts and bring it all back to its former glory.

 

[BLEAGH]

Wow, the artwork was mostly in pretty nice shape under there.

 

[TobyPC]

Many thanks for the compliments!

There are some goobers on the artwork; especially where the citristrip sat a little too long. The artwork got wrinkled a bit in those areas, but I was able to shrink them down a bit with a heat gun and pressing down with my finger to smooth out.

It should clean up decently if the vinyl hardens back up again.

Also, I think the original CP overlay is under the generic one...

 

[TobyPC]

Today I pulled off the control panel and started filling in the gaps with wood filler. Sanding. I was able to uncover the original control panel art by carefully pulling off the cheap overlay. It had some minor damage but I touched it up with some paint and a paintbrush.

Not sure if I'm going to get reproduction art for the top or just finish fixing this up

 

[acblunden2]

I have the same problem on a KI1 cab however. The paint job on it is done very well. Looks like it was sprayed on. Damn near impossible to remove. It was so tough that I swooped up another empty KI cab. Your work gives me hope. Great work man.

 

[TobyPC]

I'm still looking for a KI or KI2 board for it. I want to bring it to its former glory!

If I can't get the game, I may as well convert it into a rampage or something.

 

[Geekman1222]

I like this, your doing gods work friendo keep it up !

 

[Damulta]

I'm still looking for a KI or KI2 board for it. I want to bring it to its former glory!

If I can't get the game, I may as well convert it into a rampage or something.

Maybe put a pandora box in it

 

[TobyPC]

Maybe put a pandora box in it

If I can't get a working Jamma board by the time I get the monitor and power supply sorted out, ill probably stick an old gaming pc in it and wire it up for mame in the short term.