Best material for marquees

[DougA]

I was wondering what people's experience was with different options for marquee material. It looks like most choose vinyl, but is that the best choice. What else is available?

[Capeman]

@douga Find a local sign shop and have them print on standard white vinyl (not the gray backed outdoor stuff) and apply it to over a piece of translucent white acrylic. This is what most people use for backlit signage. The translucent white material is key, it diffuses the light so the glow is even across the material.

[DougA]

@capeman Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. Now I know to specify exactly what I need

[Lurker]

There are a lot of materials that will give you different effects and have different positive and negatives to them. The other factors involved are what you have available, cost and your skill level and tools.

General characteristics

Opaque: (non see through)
Back material of what ever you want, wood, mdf, metal, plastic etc. etc.
Cover with various options; paint: acrylic, enamel, stickers. vinyl print. paper print.
top cover with nothing, glass plate, acrylic plate, etc.

Clear:
options are more limited to Glass or clear plactics (not going to list out the types)
I hear clear Aluminum is a thing now if you have the money for it. Bullet proof marque.
placed on the back in reverse stickers, paint, glued pages

But what you are probably really asking about is the popular semi opaque back lite marques.
The options here open up again from sand blasted or acid etched glass to pre fab opaque glass to similar effects in plastic.
Layer on top sticker, vinyl, paint, paper.
Optional sandwich on top of that another clear piece (see above as I the combinations of options start to repeat)

In the end what you generally will have is the following;
(Back to front)
Illumination source Light bulb, led strip, to what have you.

Back piece maybe optional depending on support and opaqueness needed but will be a combination of three qualities.

1. Physical support of art work
2. Diffusion of light (frosted glass, parchment paper over plastic, nothing what so ever)
3. Protection of artwork (ya I guess I could have listed just two as this is an extension of physical support but a list really needs to be three items or more. A two item list isn't a list...it's a couple of things to remember. It's not even a "set" its a "pair"....I'm sorry what were we talking about?)

Art work This is the bulk of "depending on your skill and resources" bit. You can hand paint something to the back piece. Print something on your printer. Stickers. Get a shop to print a vinyl (decal or not) and various levels of transparency) If you are replicating an arcade a print shop will have the tools you don't to get you a semi transparent print. But I have seen decent prints from home printers work just fine.

Cover piece Most often clear and again glass or plastic. Thick or thin all depends on what you are looking for but the cover piece is what will give whatever art work you choose the finished look that makes it pop. It is NOT required but I always think it makes thing look better.

One Tron-esc Marque:
Black backing plastic 1/8" acrylic because it was there.
1/4" clear acrylic (polished sides) with art work dremel etched on back side in reverse, kind of circuit board lines and dots around main text.
Sandwiched together with side facing blue LED strips.

The etched areas scatter the light and glow giving a very cyber punk marque look. I wish I had a picture of it, but a quick google search gets me an image using the same concept.

For someone who didn't used to comment much I rabble ... like...a lot

Let me try to cycle back to the question;
I think you are going about your thinking a bit backward. First ask yourself what kind of look you want. Then what might make that look happen. Then what can you afford and repeat making adjustments as you go.

Warning! more rambling
Is Vinyl the best? YES, for the specific look vinyl gives you, but only if that is the look you wanted. Many arcades used it in the day because it was the cheapest and easiest way to cover MDF with vibrant art. Thus it is also the easiest way to replicate that nostaglia, BUT we can do way cooler and more innovative things now because we are not making for the masses. We are making for ourselves... and as gifts to friends.

Stands on box as your choice of inspiring music plays

I want to see creative cases Like the Tardis

I want to see us deviate from the standard mold of a cabinet pattern and build cabinets that inspire on their own like the Classy bartop build.

I want to see our ingenuity flourish and our style encompass not just the system on which we play but the form we present it in. Be it the Road Case to the full comic DC v Marvel .

So when you vote be sure to vote for... oh wait... that's...
My witness I shall never go hungry...No, no wait...
...
KING BOB!

drops mic

[Capeman]

@lurker good ramble!

Don’t forget the pixel theme! (This ones mine haha)

[DougA]

@Lurker Thanks, that's a great summary (rambling included :-). Sadly my build will not be of the exciting and creative type mainly due to the requirement from my wife that it be camouflaged. Sadly that doesn't mean a camo-effect 1942 arcade cabinet, but rather that it should merge as much as possible into the rest of our furniture, so it is in the process of becoming a mainly antique white with "aged" effect cabinet decorative molding, and vertical 3:4 .screen for playing early 1980's arcade games.