Edited 8/6/2008 to correct the “official” color.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I am planning to convert an old Donkey Kong cabinet into a dedicated Donkey Kong 2 (D2K) cabinet. I just finished my Tron, so I am now ready to proceed with another restoration project. I expect to receive my pre-ordered artwork from This Old Games by the end of the month, so I’d better get this project moving! There is a great discussion going on right now on the KLOV Boards debating which cabinet colors would be favorites for the new D2K cabinets. The maker of the D2K upgrade, Jeff Kulczycki, decided on a darker blue color for cabinets that will be built as a dedicated D2K machine. I’ve always thought that Nintendo had a different approach to their cabinet color choices. They generally used a secondary color from the artwork as the cabinet base color. Rarely did they use one of the primary colors in the artwork. Following their previous cabinets, I wanted to see which color I thought would be a better fit. I made a few quick images to compare and contrast the different colors, and here is what I came up with.
Sapphire Sparkle (the “Official” color):
Purple:
Yellow-Gold (My favorite!):
Red:
I really like how the Yellow/Gold color looks. It does a great job of complimenting the colors in the D2K artwork. What do you think? Submit your vote in my Poll over to the right. I’ll likely keep “official” and do the dark blue, but it’s fun to think about it.
Related Articles
10 users responded in this post
Cool site and cool cab graphics!
BTW Dark Blue *was* the prototype color. It looks REAL dark on a cabinet especially in a dark arcade.
The “official” color is Behr S-H-550 – Sapphire Sparkle
It sounds kinda girly, like a shade of lipstick or something but the color looks pretty cool.
Good luck with your cabinet whatever color you choose!
Jeff
i was wondering if you knew how to switch pole position 2 board from auto start mode to manual mode. i know it has something to do with the cabinet wiring. it was a regular pole cabinet.
JeffK: Thanks for the compliments! I’m anxious to begin working on the cab. I am probably going to go with the “Sparkle”. I have the color swatch and I like it. I’m really thinking hard about that yellow. That’s what fun about making a new game.
So, any ideas on making a new kit for another game out there? I love what you did with the D2K, and would like to see you try something else. The problem is if you do too good of a job, I’m in trouble because I don’t have enough room for anything else!
Tony: Not sure on that question. I’d check the dip switch settings as a start. Go to http://www.crazykong.com and look them up. There should also be a manual there, so you can check there if there is not a corresponding dip switch setting. Just in case you haven’t messed with them before, “dip switches” are the small toggle switches, usually in a bank of 8 or so, mounted directly on the PCB boards.
Personally, I dig the yellow-gold as my first choice. It’s different from DK, Jr and 3. But it fits all in all.
The sapphire is okay, but looks too much like the Radarscope common-blue machines, IMO.
Can’t wait to order mine. I just got my new joystick from Mike’s and installing it tonight. Next will be the high score save kit, and POSSIBLY a D2K kit if I can afford it. Hoping to find a Jr cabinet to convert that.
Catch ya later!
You’ve got to add the extra $30 to add D2K to the HS kit. If not, you’ll regret it!
Jeff great site man. I am building my DK II now and I am going to use the Purple color….Thanks!
@Chris: Make sure you send me pics of your cabinet after you are finished with it. I really want to see a real purple one.
I painted my D2K purple. I really like this color because it really makes the game stand out. Unfortunately, i am still waiting on the rest of my D2K kit(only have the marquee and control panel).
That’s great Don! I’m glad someone else is doing a different color. I’ve seen several dark blue cabinets lately, and I’m still not sold. I think I might just go Gold after all. Send me some pics of your purple cabinet. I’d love to see it!
Leave A Reply
Please Note: Comment moderation maybe active so there is no need to resubmit your comments