[Superully's Restoration] everyone's game for Zoo Keeper

[Superully]

a lot of players in the arcade world think that ZOO KEEPER is the best arcade game ever produced. while i don't entirely agree with this statement, i'll happily admit that zoo keeper is a kickass game featuring some unbelievable cabinet artwork all around. taito ditched the usual universal taito logo sideart for a comic-style art covering both sides and the cabinet's front completely. because of its fun gameplay and artwork, everyone IS game for zoo keeper



i picked the cabinet up during my first england roadtrip from rav's place one and a half year ago. unfortunately, it is missing most parts of the wiring harness and the entire board set. looks like another masterplan has to be set in motion ...

i emptied the cabinet almost entirely to make it easier for getting it up into my apartment. here it is still in my car after transporting the game over from my storage



let's pull it out! apart from spider webs and some light mold, the entire socket is missing. those pedestals were just poorly designed



because nothing is inside the cab anymore, it is pretty light and therefore allows us to carry it up without using a trolley. here we are, still at the bottom of the seemingly endless staircase



first bend - looking good so far



piece of cake!



four bends later, we're almost there, only a few more steps ...



right in front of my apartment entrance door (man, my beard is getting greyer and greyer, perhaps i should stop work like that)



done!!! the cabinet in my study, ready for a first inspection

[Muerto]

So looking forward to thos restoration!!! Man that sideart is KICKASS looking!!!!

[level42]

Yeah,yeah,yeah, I feeeeeeeel this is your perfect candidate for Eurocade 2012 !!

[Etienne MacGyver]

Great one to enter the resto line 

Now its empty, perhaps a scan of the side and front is possible 
(or is there already reproart for this ?)

[Superully]

Now its empty, perhaps a scan of the side and front is possible 
(or is there already reproart for this ?)

yepp, there is! i'll only do touchups though.

[Superully]

inspection time! starting at the very bottom - or better: what's left of the base!



correction, i have another piece of the base here with me



look at that crappy material





what do you think, can this be saved?



unfortunately, the missing base also left its marks on the cabinet itself



same shi**y material as the base! this is going to need a lot of attention



full frontal view of the (empty) cabinet



the fabulous frontart is still in pretty good shape ...



... but the bottom parts worries me a little bit!





let's turn to the sides, starting on the right



while everything looks fine from afar, a closer look reveals the usual wear, dings and scratches!







the cabinet's left side



nothing new there







nothingness inside



stickers on the back - the unreadable one in the middle is going to be reproduced by our vector king



taito serial plate



as you can see, the cab is going to need a lot of attention, mostly woodwork and touch-ups for now (hopefully, i will find a perfect match for the two colors). i still haven't decided whether to work with the cabinet "as is" or if i should disassemble it entirely (like i did with my jungle king). disassembly would make work on certain parts much easier, but of course it would also involve so much more work. however, i do have the experience from my jungle king resto and luckily this experience is still "warm" (if you know what i mean)!

[Muerto]

hehe, that "crappy" material is MDF!!! very stirdy - except when humid/water present...

[level42]

Compared to plywood it is crap though....

[Etienne MacGyver]

looks like you need to stick that new alusticker to a piece of aluminium, it looks like a plate instead of a sticker..

[Superully]

i still haven't decided whether to work with the cabinet "as is" or if i should disassemble it entirely (like i did with my jungle king). disassembly would make work on certain parts much easier, but of course it would also involve so much more work.

the decision has been made - or better: the decision "made itself". why? well, in order to fix the damages to the sideart i had to remove the screws holding the cabinet together (at least for the most part). when i had them out and moved the cabinet around to lay it on its side, the "roof" basically slid off



"that's a sign", i thought to myself and started disassembling the cabinet



i'm becoming an expert on taito cabs



having the cabinet taken apart is going to make the restoration process so much easier!



have i said before that i'm in love with the zoo keeper art?



up next: prepping the individual pieces for cosmetic surgery!!!

[Superully]

just because i'm not posting a lot of progress pictures doesn't mean i'm not making progress, it's just that things are moving really slow because of the condition of the wood. it didn't look that bad at first glance, but the more i got into it, the worse it got. one side of the cab was literally damaged all way round which meant filling sanding filling sanding filling sanding ...

but why not simply show you some pictures ... ?





out comes the knife!!!







before starting the filling / sanding session, a lot of wood hardener is needed first!





wood filler ready!



let the games fillings begin ...

[Superully]

after sanding, more sanding and even more sanding ...



... i'm done with the woodworks (for now)! let me show you some pictures of the current condition of the wooden parts, starting with the front piece



in detail





now on to the sides, first the front









then the back







as you can see, i had to remove a lot of rotten wood and fill countless holes to make the pieces sturdy again. everything looks extremely rough at the moment and hopefully i'll be able to find matching colors for the upcoming paint job! the worst part is over though (i hate filling and sanding), let the fun part begin ...

[Etienne MacGyver]

I love those "nougat shots" 

[Dr. Blair]

So, can the wood filler go right on top of the wood hardener? Or is there some prep that needs to be done in-between? Very cool stuff, but the way.

[Superully]

nope, no special preparation, it can go right on top of the wood hardener. all you need to do is give that stuff enough time to evaporate, it smells like hell!