Atari Origami

[tb lilley]

I've got a few Atari cabs, and none of them have cardboard monitor surrounds that are in decent shape. There's a guy in the US who repros these, but with shipping / customs etc it gets expensive. And how hard can it be ....

Here's the worst I've got, on an Asteroids DLX cabaret:

A few simple tools:

When these were constructed they were made out of two pieces of card. The card I bought wasn't big enough, so I had to make four separate pieces. Here's the first, using the original as a simple template. Just a case of cutting card to shape, and scoring the folds. A steel ruler is a great help for this.

Repeat for the other 3 pieces, glue together:

It's not perfect but good enough when fitted:

Might try Missile Command next. Pretty simple stuff. Half an hour start to finish. Cheap and cheerful as you like.tb lilley2014-01-01 13:42:55

 

[Purity]

I did the same for my Asteroids cabaret. Just used the original cardboard as a template, and got a massive piece of card

Looks good dude!

 

[smarty]

Nice! I've got to do this to a few cabs, where did you get the card from?

 

[bonehead]

Looks good. I did use a guy in the states for my missile command an was very happy with it.
What you have made looks really good.

I would also be interested in where to get the card from as I may have a go at making some myself.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[tb lilley]

Card came from Ryman. Off the shelf. My local Ryman is a fairly small outlet - although I picked out the largest size they had in store it's too small really. I'll measure up Missile Command tonight and drop into HobbyCraft tomorrow. Probably going to need A0 or A1. I'll report back.

 

[Equites]

HobbyCraft is the place I get all my cardboard from, they have the thicker range too perfect for monitor surrounds.

Impressive range of sizes and colours, a bit pricey though.

 

[edwoodjnr]

I also had Star Wars and Tempest repro bezels shipped from the US. I redid my Gyruss bezel myself with A1 size black 300g card from here:

http://www.artstore.co.uk/seawhite-300g-black-card-a1-c-285-p-9346

It turned out real nice after using the old one as a guide.edwoodjnr2014-01-01 17:37:20

 

[Morty]

Nice work, would be nice to get someone to do all the work but as stated the shipping etc soon adds up

Got this on my todo list for my Missile Command, i bought the card from a place called "The Range" which looks to be a nationwide chain. Also got some acrylic paints to test touching up the side art on the Breakout cab

In the past the black card i've seen is a white core with a black coating which you can see if cut for sharp folds but this card is black right through

 

[tb lilley]

Apparently the originals Atari made were white cardboard - black ink was then silk screened over the white cardboard (which is why you see the part # on the edge).

I'm not massively fussed, but to get close to original satin sheen black (white core) matte board is supposedly the way to go. I think that's probably overkill as these sit behind smoked bezels anyway. But I'll see what I can find down at HobbyCraft.

 

[Equites]

The HobbyCraft ones are white core, just like the originals.

 

[Morty]

Oh yeah.. must look closer next time

I have what i assume is a repro surround in my Lunar lander and the white edges always bugged me which is why i searched for that card.. now i can say to myself "That's the way Atari did it.. so stop moaning"

 

[Jodo]

Who is this 'US seller' that people keep mentioning; has anyone got a link or a forum name please? Ta...

 

[edwoodjnr]

His name is Joey Cuda. I haven't been able to find a large size black card as thick as his in the UK but I will check out the Ryman and Hobbycraft card.

http://www.ukvac.com/forum/atari-black-cardboard-bezels_topic332080.html

 

[Guests]

I got a Missile Command bezel from Joey and it's perfect. He does an impressive job, worth every penny.

Mind you James, what you've done there is a decent job for sure!
PAC-MAN2014-01-02 08:39:59

 

[jengineer]

looks good!

 

[tb lilley]

The HobbyCraft ones are white core, just like the originals.

Finally made the trip to HobbyCraft and picked up black card with white core. Pretty good. Fiver a sheet. Had a go at Tempest cabaret.

This is what was fitted:

To be fair, I've seen worse. Obvious issue here is that it's blue (from Centipede cabaret) and should be black. Less obvious from the pic is that it stinks of fags (and I say that being a 20 a day smoker myself) and is starting to crumble away.

Anyway, here's the replacement fitted:

Less than perfect, but a decent improvement. The black seems to reflect the vectors better than the blue. A subtle effect, but noticeable. Missile Command next.

 

[Equites]

The HobbyCraft ones are white core, just like the originals.

Finally made the trip to HobbyCraft and picked up black card with white core. Pretty good. Fiver a sheet. Had a go at Tempest cabaret.

This is what was fitted:

To be fair, I've seen worse. Obvious issue here is that it's blue (from Centipede cabaret) and should be black. Less obvious from the pic is that it stinks of fags (and I say that being a 20 a day smoker myself) and is starting to crumble away.

Anyway, here's the replacement fitted:

Less than perfect, but a decent improvement. The black seems to reflect the vectors better than the blue. A subtle effect, but noticeable. Missile Command next.

Nice - Don't chuck away the original MC tube surround though, I could use it too for a template.

 

[tb lilley]

Yeah - no worries. I intend to keep it with the cab anyway. Even when I replace parts I like to keep hold of them. But you're very welcome to have a borrow.

 

[Purity]

That looks very good James

 

[Jodo]

Very nice indeed. Did you need to go over the bends to hide any white core or was it OK? We now have a Hobbycraft less than 5 mins from me in Chesvegas, so keen to finally get my Firefox bezel re-done.