And this is the template I’m using (not mine, I just restored the colors because originally they seemed washed out; see the above link). Sorry if the psd size is so huge: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CEJENWTZ
Anyways, I need someone who has an official Astro City Panel, either from the Saturn VSP or a cabinet, and/or has experience with lamination, to help answer the following if they can:
What’s the exact depth/thickness of the Panel? I’m should be somewhere around 2mm-4mm, but I’m not sure.
Exactly what print material is used for the art on the panel? Is it laminated or does it use Plexiglas?
If it does use plexiglas, what’s the depth of the plexi?
Which lamination place/s should I use to best replicate the Astro City artwork?
Can I keep the image at it’s original side, center it, and add clear boarders around it to make the total size 5in x 25in. The template image is 4.7in x 23.9in.
Will areas without any color (background) be clear/seethrough, besides the boarder? This is essential to retain the faithfulness to the original art.
Will it be possible to retain the vibrancy/brightness of the colors (as seen in the template) without losing accuracy/quality?
Sorry if I’m being picky, but I can’t find any answers using search, and I’m really desperate to recreate the Astro City Panel to be as identical to an authentic one as possible (and to look nice of course). Thank you :)!
I see…interesting :/. In that case, does anyone know of a silk-screening place in New York’s capital region area? I’ll go there.
Edit: Also, is there a good silkscreening site online. I’ll also still need to know the depth of the panel, and also whether it’s metal, aluminum, or something else. Thanks.
Try this place out. They cpo’s from this industrial strength bullet proof material. Just send them the image with the correct dpi so they know what size it is and they’ll print it and send it to you.
It’s not. It’s a laminated (it has a semi-matte sort of finish) sticker. I’m at work so I can’t measure it right now, but the whole thing is pretty thin.
If I could, I would love to, but as a recent addition to SRK, I can’t post anything in that section until June and I have at least 100 posts, so that option is out for the time being. It’s also cheaper for me to make my own.
Thank goodness. And here I was thinking I would have to track down a silkscreening location and pay a fortune to obtain such a print ^_^!. Also, I’m in no real hurry for the measurements, so take your time on it. Thanks for clearing that up! I really appreciate the help you guys are giving.
Used, good condition, Astro panels (no parts) are not that expensive. And the quality will likely be much greater than what you can produce on your own. Printing something as large as the panel art, especially if you silk screen, is going to be probably half the cost of buying a good condition panel. I’ve seen Astro panels go for less than $50 shipped. The current trading outlet has some one from the VSP for $85 shipped and comes with the stock LS-32 sticks (used of course) but still that’s a great deal. Just a note on the VSP panels, the holes have tabs on them so you have to grind/file them before ou can put in standard Japanese 30mm buttons.
Even if you can’t post anything in the trading outlet you can still contact members that do post there.
I don’t know if you’re buying a blank panel from Lizardlick or making one yourself, but I’m confident your time would be better spent just getting a used one.
Hell you can get a brand new Seimitsu manufactured panel for $70 plus shipping from AkihabaraShop. If you already have a blank panel, you could just buy the sticker from them as well. Just contact AkihabaraShop and ask them what the price of just the sticker for an Astro panel will be. Of course if you get the panel elsewhere, you won’t know if the sticker will perfectly fit.
Anyway, I’m just saying that there are a lot of faster/cheaper/better ways to go about this than trying to make it from scratch, especially if you’re trying to pay for labor. If you had some connections to get art printed for free or have the panel made for free, that’s one thing, but it doesn’t sound like you have any of those.
Thanks a lot for the advice Paik. Actually, I just got connections locally to have the panel made for free. As for the artwork sticker, that actually seems like a very good idea, so I just contacted Lizardlick to see if they will sell any Astro City art separately.
As for the panel in the trading outlet, it’s nice to know that I can still PM the sellers for a sale. Unfortunately, someone already has dibs on the Saturn CP, so I’ll just wait until another one shows up. I would have loved to get that one though.
Anyway, all I really need to know now is the material and thickness of the panel. Again, thanks for the advice. It means a lot to me :).
^ That’s one nice-looking panel. Indeed, I’ve decided to pretty much abandon lamination and just get the official panel art and/or panel. I’ll be playing on my PS2 with an Astro City stick soon enough :).
