I’m have a Nintendo Dr. Mario VS. arcade cabinet I’m working on restoring. The monitor needs a cap kit and I found some original sideart decals for it. The biggest problem is the paint job. When I bought it, it was painted in a ugly matte cream color to match the previous owner’s game room walls. I had learned that Glidden Amsterdam was a good match for the original paint. On a whim, I Dremeled some of the cabinet’s corner with a brush to reveal the layers of the re-paint job. There’s the top matte layer, a shiny thin black layer, and the original blue paint:
Chances are, you can remove most of the top layers of paint with some paint stripper. Just don’t leave it on too long or use too many applications. The new “safe” strippers or orange oil based ones may work best for your purposes. Also, if the repaint job used latex paint, a little soap and water will loosen it enough to come off fairly easily using a nylon scraper or similar tool.
Even if you get the paint off using one of these methods, you will probably still need to repaint it. It might be easier to sand it smooth and paint over it.
Good luck, sounds like fun. [sub]But not enough fun for me to volunteer to help you :D[/sub]