February is gone already...

Even with it being a Leap Year, February still flew by. Nothing really happening that's arcade-related except I ended up getting the monitor fixed in my Pac cabaret. It looks great, but it's still stuck in the garage until I make a decision whether or not the couch is staying in the game room. I'm still on the lookout for a pinball machine as well. There have been a bunch of Craigslist ads recently, but nothing of real interest. Spring is around the corner and garage cleaning (and arcade re-organizing) is close behind.

The Holidaze

I try to post something every month, either arcade or game room related. But, there's really nothing to report over the last month or so. Winter, the Holidays and my travel schedule make it tough for me to do anything to my games or my game room. I did get a few of my CGC comics framed for the one wall in my game room, but that's about it. My search continues for a Neo Geo (mini preferably) and a mid to late 80's pinball machine in this new year. I'm in no hurry and I want to wait until the right deal comes along.

Cool Game Room Shots

I was able finish the wiring on the MultiWilliams control panel and move most of the games in this weekend. Here are a few pics!

Game Room Floor finished!

To continue my post from October on my game room floor, I thought I'd add a few pics of what the floor looks like COMPLETELY finished with the quarter round installed, area rug and the beginning of bringing some games in!

Custom Heavy Barrel Overlay Installed!

I finally got the custom Heavy Barrel control panel overlay printed and installed. It was a bit tricky since it was on a Dynamo cut-corner panel, but it turned out really nice!

MultiWilliams is 95% Complete!

The horrible looking, converted Joust cabinet that I picked up eons ago, is now not so horrible looking anymore! With all the cosmetics finished up, this looks like a completely different cabinet! Here are the Befor and After shots:


All that I need to do is finish up the DC wiring, re-install the monitor chassis and cut a new top back door. I can't wait to play some Joust!

Staining My Concrete Game Room Floor

A few weeks ago, we had a small plumbing problem in our downstairs basement/game room. Nothing too major- no damage to anything but the carpet. Luckily, the previous owners didn't cap the drain under the carpet and most of the water found its way down the drain. So, as I was looking into the best flooring options, I started to think down the road and all the "what if's" that could happen down there. Wifey and I both thought tile was the best solution (no more carpet!), until I read about staining concrete floors. So I gave it a go.

I looked all over the internet for the safest and best way to stain the concrete. Muratic acid yields the best effect, but it's really nasty stuff and I didn't want to take a chance with it indoors. So I opted for a water-based stain kit by Rust-Olem. According to most reviews, it's really durable and there are a few things you can do to further the durability.

Last weekend, I began cleaning the concrete. What a major pain in the a$$, unless you like mopping. Here's a pic of the floor before the cleaning/stripping:


You can see the paint, dirt, etc. from the previous owners. No big deal- a little Citristrip and it came off, no problem. I then patched the holes left by the tack strips from the carpet. One thing I was concerned with was that there almost seemed like there was a previous sealer applied. So I got out the rough stuff- Stypeeze and applied it to a small area that looked shiny. Nothing really changed, so I proceeded with the staining process.

The first step is to etch the concrete with the mild acid provided. It basically deep-cleaned the concrete with a lot of fizzing. Then rinse, rinse, rinse. The kit comes with 2 stains that can be mixed at the paint counter. I did a light and a dark to get a mottled effect. I put the light stain down everywhere and then after an hour, I put the dark stain down in areas. Once I was happy with it, I put 3 coats of the sealer on it. Here's where it stands:


I tried the invisible fluorescent paint, but it didn't work. It just peeled right off the floor. Oh well. I'm pretty happy with it. Last night I added 4 coats of top wax to add durability. I still need to paint the drain cover and add 1/4" round to the base boards around the room to give it a finished look.