Computer Space restoration for CGE 2012

[SubaruBrat]

So thanks to Pete who lives out in Las Vegas, he picked up the machine from the CGE storage facility and carefully packed it and shipped it to me for restoration. This came out of a discussion at E3 last year and they wanted it ready for the Museum, so it is now at my place.

The game arrives!

http://www.gamegavel.com/images/events/cge2012/CS1.JPGhttp://www.gamegavel.com/images/events/cge2012/CS1.JPG
http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS1.JPG

[SubaruBrat]

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS1.JPG
http://http://retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS1.JPG
http://www.gamegavel.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS1.JPG

[SubaruBrat]

From 15 or more feet away it looks like a solid cab, but get up close and it gets ugly.

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS6.JPG

[SubaruBrat]

The control panel area has a big split

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS3.JPG

[SubaruBrat]

The metal components are all pretty corroded;

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS2.JPG

[SubaruBrat]

The back board is delaminating from the cab;

http://retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS5.JPG

[SubaruBrat]

And the edges are pretty ragged;

http://retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS7.JPG

[indieseoul]

Wow its in pretty rough condition. Its really great that you are restoring another computer space. I hope you document that with video as well.

[retroshaun]

Urgh what a mess. Don't think I'd be taking that one on... don't have the time!

[SubaruBrat]

It ain't that bad, and it has to be done. That said it will be a pain in the ass.

[retroshaun]

Well good luck dude - excited to see the progress!

[SubaruBrat]

With the party and car show out of the way it is time to get to work on CS. Here is the first part of the job, making the cabinet solid. Mice had built a nest and through digging and pissing they had done allot of damage. Computer Space is made up for a main fiberglass body with a monitor support fiberglass frame bonded in. The base and the back are plywood that is bonded into the main body. The plywood was debonded from the body so I had to clean that up and rebond them, as well as adding in additional support through gussets made up of resin and chopped fiberglass. Now that the cabinet is solid and not falling apart it is ready for the edges to be cleaned up and the wet sanding to start.

Notice how the fiberglass shell is separating from the plywood back.


http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CSA.JPG

Remains of a mouse nest, to be honest it was an afterthought to leave this last bit in for a pic, it was a hell of a mess.

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CSAB.JPG


http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CSAC.JPG

Looks a bit uneven? Well Computer Space was anything but even, a half inch or inch here or there was how they were made.

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CSAD.JPG

[Compute]

So CS didn't ship with feet? That seems like a bad idea, considering what I've seen of cabinets with no feet. Will you be putting feet on, or does the fiberglass durable enough that it will not be necessary?

[SubaruBrat]

In all fairness Computer Space was the first commerical video game to ship so they didn't nail the feet idea on the first try. It actually included the suggestion that high risk locations add weight (bricks, metal) to the base to weight it down. With minimal moving the lightweight cab is fine with just the fiberglass edge. The CGE owners and I talked about this issue and agreed upon a 4 wheeled moving dolly that would fit underneath against the base and reduce risk.

[retroshaun]

I would probably add levelers to get it up off the ground a little and prevent further damage. Not historically accurate, but I protect my investments :)

[SubaruBrat]

The owners requested that it be unmodified, but they are aware to use a wheeled dolly.

The paint has arrived and the "body work" is nearly complete. Pretty soon I will start the paint process. Metal flake is not hard to do but you have to understand which parts of the procedure to ignore, modify and obey. The ratios of hardener/clear, and temp ranges are all valid, however the gun pressures and nozzle sizes are all wrong. The pressure on my HVLP is set to almost 20PSI (and a high CFM compressor is a must) when spraying the mid coat with the flake. The reason being at the recommended pressure you get a flake here and there and it is murder to get a good pattern, at 20PSI you can move fast and get good coverage.

The products used are from TCP Global and product codes for doing a Computer Space (Blue) are;

UB1901 Jet Black base coat, this is sprayed first and provides the base over which the metal flakes are sprayed
UBC825 Mid Coat; this is what the metal flake is mixed into to spray the middle coat over the black base
KC210 mixed with KH-212 which is the clear and hardener that is sprayed over the mid coat/ metal flake layer

Metal flake part# is KUS-FXX where the XX is dependent on the color and size

The control panel is coming along as well, and I swear I will get pics up soon!

[retroshaun]

Cant wait to see it... sounds like its gonna be just in time for CGE too. Pics please :)

[SubaruBrat]

I am still finishing the sanding which isn't very interesting for pics, I took some time off to finish out a few components that are more exciting to look at. Here is the coin return and the control panel;

The coin return as it was;

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS2.JPGhttp://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS/CS2.JPG



As it is now;

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS8.JPGhttp://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/events/cge2012/CS8.JPGhttp://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CS8.JPG


The control panel as it was;

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CS9.JPG


And as it is now;

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CS10.JPG

[retroshaun]

Nice! Did you re-chrome the coin return? And did you get the CP re-screened?

[SubaruBrat]

Yep, the return was stripped, copper plated and then chromed. The CP was a total re-do, I may start making these since one guy did a run about 7 years ago and then stopped.

[Mr Johnson]

Wow! Lookin' good!

[retroshaun]

Excellent detail work, its gonna look minty new once its done :)

How much is a re-chrome for such a small job?

[SubaruBrat]

I sent it with some other stuff, probably $10 or so.

Some of the fiberglass repair, cloth and resin;

http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CS11.JPG

The paint is here, the gist of the process is that with all the body work complete you spray a jet black base coat, followed by a mid coat which is clear with the metal flake mixed in. This is all topped off by a top coat which is catalyzed urethane that hardens all the layers. The paint will be on by the end of the month, after that is all reassembly.
http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/images/misc/CGE_CS/CS12.JPG

[SubaruBrat]

We wanted to thank our friends at CGE/VGHM for a nice mention of us http://www.vghmuseum.org/2012/08/28/computer-space-restoration/

[retroshaun]

Did they mention the rough textured finish that upset Nurmix so much? :-)

Personally I thought it was very nice!

[SubaruBrat]

Don't you dare, I was super tight on the lack of buffout and wet sanding time. Buffout needs 90 days cure, I had 9 hours, Nurmix can kiss my

[retroshaun]

Lmao! :-)