Well, the case was as brittle as could be. Even cleaning this particular Super Nintendo with soap and water resulted in pieces cracking around the rear vents and sides. With the plastic already looking rather awful, I decided it might be time for something a little different.

Rather than try to reverse all that yellowing with Retrobright, I’d decided to give the old machines a fresh coat of paint. Actually, we’re doing two Super Nintendos, one red and one black, then mixing the case sections together to make a pair of rather sassy-looking consoles.

The first job was getting rid of the old stickers and grime. A little warm, soapy water helped loosen everything up, although I was rather hoping the serial number and original identification labels would survive the process. Fortunately, most of the unwanted stickers came away without too much trouble.

For the painting I picked up a can of Motospray New Look vinyl spray from the local automotive shop. It was around $15, which seemed quite reasonable for an experiment that could either look magnificent or turn into another exciting lesson in what not to do.

I’d stripped the consoles down into their individual case sections, giving the paint a chance to reach the fronts, bases and top covers. There were also the various buttons to think about, which would need colours that suited the finished machines.

The first coats were looking rather promising, although the Nintendo lettering was still showing through in places. That meant another coat or two would probably be required. I also considered sanding between coats, but hadn’t committed to a particular approach at this stage.

The basic plan was to mix the halves. One machine would have a red body with black sections, while the other would reverse the arrangement. I’d also been thinking about painting the buttons black to tie everything together. Plenty of possibilities once you start swapping the parts around!

Of course, there’s an important distinction between making old plastic look better and actually repairing it. The paint covers the discolouration, but it doesn’t restore the strength of those brittle case sections. I’d still need to handle them rather carefully.

I’ve ended up with four SNES cases and only three actual consoles, which is an interesting way to build a collection. At least the spare case might come in handy if I manage to crack something else during one of these adventures.

And let’s be honest, Retrobright, as good as it is, can be a pain to make and use. Sometimes it’s easier to accept that an old case has had a hard life and give it a completely different appearance.

This is where Sega of the 90s got it right. Black is better! Well, at least black plastic hides some of the yellowing that makes these old Super Nintendos look as though they’ve been left in a smoker’s lounge for twenty years.

It can still fade or discolour, though. And if there’s dust settling on your Mega Drive, shame on you! Crack out those Mega Drive dust covers and keep those lovely old machines safe!

The paint was looking encouraging by the end of this first session, but the finished consoles would have to wait until everything had dried properly and I could put the cases back together.

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