Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade

The bulk of the original cabinet’s size comes from its display hardware: Two 25″ monitors, one facing forwards from the back of the cabinet and another facing upwards towards a mirror that superimposes its image alongside the other to create a single widescreen display.

If we somehow found a way to display the two original images (one reflected top-to-bottom) on a modern LCD panel, we could replace the original rear half of the cabinet with a “slimline” version…

Saving the video conversion task for another day, we commissioned a cabinetmaker to build the new, slimmer design with a plywood rear panel and melamine-backed particle board for the shelving and sides:

The control panel is ripe for replacement, too: it’s lost its protective plastic coating. Unprotected from years of arcade use, the artwork on the panel is mostly trashed.

After several attempts to remove the artwork, then smooth it over:

Hmmm…not so good. Plan B: Create a new control panel from fresh wood!

Copy of the original control panel, cut from fresh particle board.

The new wood’s surface is nice and smooth, just what we need for applying new artwork. Stickers don’t adhere to particle board very well, though, so we seal the wood with a layer of spray-on acrylic:

After applying a layer of Krylon Triple-Thick Acrylic Glaze.

Another bonus to creating a new panel: we can cut the T-molding edge groove 1/8″ closer to the surface. When we install a sheet of clear plastic over the panel, the offset groove will let us surround them both with a strip of lipped T-molding for protection from spills and edge wear.