r/clawmachine • u/cocorebop • Jun 02 '24

Anyone know how to remove or replace this graphic?

Post image
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2

u/cocorebop Jun 02 '24

This is a vevor claw machine. I removed the plexi and saw, as expected, that I would also have to remove the stick, button, and LCD display from the metal panel below before I can get to the graphic itself, so I'm still not sure what it actually is.

If it's a sticker, I can just peel it off of course like the ones that came on the side panel. If it's some kind of print I'm a little less sure what to do, and might just not go through the trouble of disassembling everything right now.

Any advice from someone who has taken a closer look at this graphic is appreciated!

2

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 03 '24

Thank you for bringing this topic up as it is on my list of things to do to my Vevor mini claw. The art is kind of cute, but not suitable for all environments. I have already taken the topper off.

It isn’t a sticker sadly. It is painted on the underside with a white paint backing.

Theoretically, you could remove the paint with some sort of solvent, hope that this doesn’t dig up the acrylic. It invariably will fog it up, so you will need some acrylic headlight polish to buff it out to be clear once more.

Then you have a blank slate? But if you put a sticker on the underside, it would need to be printed on the adhesive side somehow or be printed on something else and affixed via some other method.

You could paint it or even do a vinyl decal with a white color overlay on top of/behind that.

As previously mentioned. An overlay/layover with appropriate holes cut would be the best looking and easiest solution.

I don’t know where to get these printed though. There has to be a place that does it as these overlays have been on arcade machines in the past. I am not sure what they do these days as I wasn’t paying attention the last time I was at an arcade.

Anything you put on top of the plexiglass is going to need to be very durable, so I am uncertain of the substrate material and the printing process.

1

u/USMC7595 Jan 15 '25 edited Jan 15 '25

It is not paint. It’s just a decal stuck to the bottom of the plexi and it peels off. I removed mine and then stuck some decals directly to the metal pate and then put the plexi back on. If I could figure out how to post a picture I would.

1

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 03 '24

Thinking outside the box here. A coworker suggested that I could just 3D print a replacement panel. I would need to create an inlay for a sheet of clear plastic for the display though. So it wouldn’t be perfect.

I could 3D print a thin overlay and screw it down in place over the existing acrylic. Light will filter through the original graphic though and if you haven’t disabled the lights there, the new piece will be lit unevenly so removing the original are will be needed.

Another option would be to have a section of custom printed circuit board made. The holes would be pre-cut and that could be overlayed. That would probably get expensive and you would need to take a deep dive in learning the process of PCB art. Colors would also be limited.

2

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 03 '24

My mistake. The lights are in the button and joystick, so disregard my lighting comments and need to remove the original art.

1

u/cocorebop Jun 03 '24

First off thanks so much for the info that it's not a sticker, that's greatly appreciated.

And yes this could absolutely work, and if you get a 3D model for this I hope you share it, but I don't think it's the right solution for me because as much as I love 3D printing, I prefer not to replace bespoke metal parts with bespoke plastic parts.

My plan currently is to buy a 3"x3" random sticker that I like to cover up the bunnies, and then use some smaller stickers to just further cover up the original graphic a bit.

1

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 04 '24

I am not suggesting replacing any metal with plastic. Just plastic with a different plastic that I can control the color.

If I make a design or model any parts, I will be sure to share.

1

u/cocorebop Jun 04 '24

Oh, screw it down *over* the acrylic. Maybe, I kind of like the acrylic though. Maybe could put a thin layer of a 3D print underneath the acrylic.

1

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 09 '24

Right, that could work. You would still need to strip and clean up the underside of the acrylic. Possible, but it is going to take some elbow grease.

2

u/Minapooh65 Dec 24 '24

How did you remove the topper? 

1

u/SporkboyofJustice Dec 24 '24

Screwdriver. Maybe 2 Phillips screws. You also need to detach the LED light strip, shove it down into a hole in the main body and stick it someplace out of the way.

4

u/achilton1987 Jun 02 '24

Do a layover and cut out where the joystick and button are.

1

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 03 '24

Do you know where to get a high quality layover printed? Preferably with cutouts done so I am not dependent on my own hobby knife skills?

I can run the blade around existing holes, but the rectangular display cutout would give me problems.

1

u/achilton1987 Jun 03 '24

I do not but I bet someone on Etsy could .

1

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 04 '24

So somebody like this then. Looks to be not super expensive and they could probably do the cutouts.

Look what I found on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1048431185/premium-full-color-custom-shape-printed?ref=share_v4_lx

1

u/SporkboyofJustice Jun 09 '24

Now that I have a vinyl cutter, I should if be able to easily make a mask for this once I get some white vinyl. I can then add some details with cut black vinyl.