(Topic ID: 302770)

ANNOUNCE: Stern SEAWITCH Playfields at CPR

By KevinCPR

2 years ago


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  • 26 posts
  • 16 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 2 years ago by A_Bord
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#1 2 years ago

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Stern SEAWITCH Reproduction Playfields

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-playfields/seawitch-2/

SeaWitch fans,

Not to pile on, but you happy campers are going to be seemingly swimming in reproduction playfield options suddenly

As most of you will say - PILE ON, PLEASE ! SeaWitch getting a playfield love fest, after all these years.

Some background:

We've been sitting on the SeaWitch playfield project since the end of the Art Team years (2008-2011). Our Art Director, Stu had finished up a complete vectorized silkscreen layout for the playfield around 2012. Our local buddy, John Greatwich of Great Pinball, had begun his experiments with the new direct-ink digital printing methodology for putting new artwork back onto original, sanded-off playfields. His leading project was SeaWitch playfields - so with plenty of other playfield work to undertake, CPR yielded on SeaWitch playfields. John carried that SeaWitch playfield torch for essentially a decade, and even got into newly-cut SeaWitch full reproduction versions at the end. John concluded the Great Pinball shop within the last year or so.

With that, we decided to bring SeaWitch out of the mothballs, and finally put it into our regular CPR playfield rotation. We started our first batch of SeaWitch playfields down the pipe just a couple of months ago. They literally sit at the clearcoater's shop right now, among his last pickup of a month's worth of playfields...

Murphy's Law of timing... LOL... Very recently we were told that the Great Pinball SeaWitch playfield legacy may not be 'completely' dead as we were told. A recent announcement here on Pinside revealed that John must have passed the torch of some unfinished business with several owed SeaWitch re-prints, as well as possibly some of the remaining whitewoods for new reproductions to be finished up. With these particular SeaWitch playfields being announced, it prematurely pushed the requirement of the CPR batch to be announced equally. Even though our clearcoater may be weeks away from delivery, the SeaWitch crowd should know these are ALSO in play. We normally wait for playfields to physically be in-hand, before release on our web site. But in this case, announcing this 3-4 weeks from now might tick-off many SeaWitch owners, who wished they had known their full options. For instance, we know of many who had been waiting for bundling with backglass + plastics, and getting their discounts.

Anyway - now everyone has all the information of possibility.

CPR PLAYFIELD NOTES:

- Finally, exact/correct repro colors, after all these years of tests and versions
- ZERO banding. The correct digital press for making playfields.
- Artwork from Stu's 2012 silkscreen masters
- Made on CPR's custom gameboard stock, the most expensive and heaviest stock used in the hobby
- If needed, combo-discounted plastics and backglass available in same shipment
- Custom SeaWitch topper also available
- 5-layer automotive polyeurethane clearcoat
- Dimpled & drilled, and laser-dimpled backside, ready for swap right out of the box

If you do want one:
ORDERS CAN BE CARTED, CHECKOUT, and PAID on the web site ... we will ship orders immediately upon delivery from our clearcoater.

It's sunday... will try to get some pix here and on the web site ASAP. Just have to visit the clearcoater with the camera gear...

KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
http://www.classicplayfields.com

#2 2 years ago

please do Ali and Embryon!

#3 2 years ago

Glad to hear. Thx for doing Seawitch.

#4 2 years ago
Quoted from KevinCPR:

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Stern SEAWITCH Reproduction Playfields
https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-playfields/seawitch-2/
SeaWitch fans,
Not to pile on, but you happy campers are going to be seemingly swimming in reproduction playfield options suddenly
//<![CDATA[
window.__mirage2 = {petok:"fde933c981ee608420dc72bfaf60ab8d5331cc53-1635116906-1800"};
//]]>

As most of you will say - PILE ON, PLEASE ! SeaWitch getting a playfield love fest, after all these years.
Some background:
We've been sitting on the SeaWitch playfield project since the end of the Art Team years (2008-2011). Our Art Director, Stu had finished up a complete vectorized silkscreen layout for the playfield around 2012. Our local buddy, John Greatwich of Great Pinball, had begun his experiments with the new direct-ink digital printing methodology for putting new artwork back onto original, sanded-off playfields. His leading project was SeaWitch playfields - so with plenty of other playfield work to undertake, CPR yielded on SeaWitch playfields. John carried that SeaWitch playfield torch for essentially a decade, and even got into newly-cut SeaWitch full reproduction versions at the end. John concluded the Great Pinball shop within the last year or so.
With that, we decided to bring SeaWitch out of the mothballs, and finally put it into our regular CPR playfield rotation. We started our first batch of SeaWitch playfields down the pipe just a couple of months ago. They literally sit at the clearcoater's shop right now, among his last pickup of a month's worth of playfields...
Murphy's Law of timing... LOL... Very recently we were told that the Great Pinball SeaWitch playfield legacy may not be 'completely' dead as we were told. A recent announcement here on Pinside revealed that John must have passed the torch of some unfinished business with several owed SeaWitch re-prints, as well as possibly some of the remaining whitewoods for new reproductions to be finished up. With these particular SeaWitch playfields being announced, it prematurely pushed the requirement of the CPR batch to be announced equally. Even though our clearcoater may be weeks away from delivery, the SeaWitch crowd should know these are ALSO in play. We normally wait for playfields to physically be in-hand, before release on our web site. But in this case, announcing this 3-4 weeks from now might tick-off many SeaWitch owners, who wished they had known their full options. For instance, we know of many who had been waiting for bundling with backglass + plastics, and getting their discounts.
Anyway - now everyone has all the information of possibility.
CPR PLAYFIELD NOTES:
- Finally, exact/correct repro colors, after all these years of tests and versions
- ZERO banding. The correct digital press for making playfields.
- Artwork from Stu's 2012 silkscreen masters
- Made on CPR's custom gameboard stock, the most expensive and heaviest stock used in the hobby
- If needed, combo-discounted plastics and backglass available in same shipment
- Custom SeaWitch topper also available
- 5-layer automotive polyeurethane clearcoat
- Dimpled & drilled, and laser-dimpled backside, ready for swap right out of the box
If you do want one:
ORDERS CAN BE CARTED, CHECKOUT, and PAID on the web site ... we will ship orders immediately upon delivery from our clearcoater.
It's sunday... will try to get some pix here and on the web site ASAP. Just have to visit the clearcoater with the camera gear...
KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
http://www,classicplayfields.com

There seems to be a typo in your link. Not the first one, but the one at the bottom.

#5 2 years ago

Just for clarification: All my Seawitch playfields were new, & none were restored over the years. I was a early pioneer using direct ink or uv ink for restoring playfields for some Bally & Williams titles many years before. The Stern Star Gazer & Seawitch new playfields were done over the last 8 years ago with a Canon Oce Arizona uv ink flatbed printer which is about 11 years old. This also did my backglass production. I did my best with contractors as a one man operation. I wish everyone that is doing pinball parts production the best. I wound down my business 4 months ago, as I ran out of money supporting parts production the last 15 years. Going through personal bankruptcy the next few years since I have zero savings & going on my first year of pension.

#6 2 years ago

FOLLOW-UP

Here are some pictures taken at the clearcoater's studio this morning. SeaWitch playfields are among the current gang moving forward.

These are at 2 coats down (out of 5) and if you look closely, everything is sanded right now.
** So the topsides are all powdery and matte at the moment. **

Some of the racks at the Clearcoater's studioSome of the racks at the Clearcoater's studio
Some of the SeaWitch batch with other FriendsSome of the SeaWitch batch with other Friends
Sanded and PowderySanded and Powdery

#7 2 years ago
Quoted from greatwichjohn:

Just for clarification: All my Seawitch playfields were new, & none were restored over the years. I was a early pioneer using direct ink or uv ink for restoring playfields for some Bally & Williams titles many years before. The Stern Star Gazer & Seawitch new playfields were done over the last 8 years ago with a Canon Oce Arizona uv ink flatbed printer which is about 11 years old. This also did my backglass production. I did my best with contractors as a one man operation. I wish everyone that is doing pinball parts production the best. I wound down my business 4 months ago, as I ran out of money supporting parts production the last 15 years. Going through personal bankruptcy the next few years since I have zero savings & going on my first year of pension.

You have been a credit to this hobby for a long long time I hope you get to enjoy your retirement!

#8 2 years ago

KevinCPR how accurate are the Seawitch playfield colors on your new photos on the CPR website to what they look like ‘in real life’?

#9 2 years ago

In particular, this photo:

074F78F4-4562-4767-8CCA-89AEC4BD387D (resized).jpeg074F78F4-4562-4767-8CCA-89AEC4BD387D (resized).jpeg
#10 2 years ago
Quoted from skink91:

In particular, this photo:
[quoted image]

Sadly, it will depend on how you (and everyone else) has their monitor adjusted.

#11 2 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Sadly, it will depend on how you (and everyone else) has their monitor adjusted.

While there is certainly some truth to this, it is also not a complete answer.

I look at a lot of playfield photos on my monitors/devices and some color thresholds in this photo seem further outside what the same monitors/devices show on others.

#12 2 years ago

Greatwich left, CPR center, Fantastic right

SW_scan (resized).jpgSW_scan (resized).jpg

Seawitch playfield 150dpi copy (resized).jpgSeawitch playfield 150dpi copy (resized).jpg

Greatwich top, CPR center, Fantastic right

Seawitch playfield 150dpi copy3 (resized).jpgSeawitch playfield 150dpi copy3 (resized).jpg

Greatwich is from a scan, CPR and Fantastic are from photos. Impossible to compare real-world colors from photos with different white balance but I tried to even out the whites and blacks to give a general idea of tone.

#13 2 years ago

CPR blacks are thicker all around…but how does it compare to an original? Based on comparing to some pics in the gallery — too heavy. Fine detail of the original is lost.

2x and 4x on the CPR do not match the original.

3 is a terrible blob of white. Compare to an original…

Some red jewels on her hair are not coloured in the CPR version.

Greatwich appears to be the clear winner based on these pics. CPR appears to have obvious multiple mistakes.

They also appear to be selling art from World of Warcraft Cataclysm as an alternative D&D backglass??

#14 2 years ago
Quoted from skink91:

KevinCPR how accurate are the Seawitch playfield colors on your new photos on the CPR website to what they look like ‘in real life’?

Guys,

As far as playfield pictures go on our web site, they are all taken in the same "photo booth" setup. ~8000 lumens of light from multiple umbrella heads, 5000K, and Canon DSLR camera with 70mm portrait lens (taken from 25 feet back, for the full shots), and a 24mm pancake lens for the closeups. They're all going to be shiny, bright, colorful "beauty shots" as usual... but if they are expected to support a deep forensic color analysis, I don't really think they are going to be any help for those wanting to go down that road.

All I can tell you is that the "real life" playfield that you will hold in your hand will be the proper colors intended. When original films don't exist, we spend a lot of time choosing the colors, and it's not taken lightly. Considering what most original SeaWitch playfields look like today, I'm not surprised that some may find our repro to look "too" poppin' ... But make no mistake - 40 years of exposure, rub, and crud has moved a ton of colors in different directions. One of the main ways to find out what the "REAL" colors were 40 years ago, is to hunt for protected ink. This can be usually done by peeking under posts. Posts that have hidden ink for four decades. And voila, there are the original inks - at least the best sample available in 2021 - for what the whole playfield was colored like 40 years ago.

CPR prints *original* colors ... not *aged* colors. So we always go with what is revealed by the protected inks. Anything else is well... the incorrect color to use on a reproduction. For example, the two most significant colors on SeaWitch are the dark blue and the light blue. So I included some pics below to show an original, and how peeking under the posts reveals the truth. Again, these are just JPEG examples showing a concept, and not meant for literal color analysis of SeaWitch

seaw1.jpgseaw1.jpg
seaw2.jpgseaw2.jpg

So the "real life" if you get our playfield, will be EXACT matches to all those original point samples and analysis we did, hunted from under posts and rails (and peeled mylar too). Regardless of how the web site pictures may appear on a screen or to the eye. Yes, the colors are indeed fresher and brighter, compared to a 40 year old original. Of course. SeaWitch's darker blue is a nice vivid medium blue... NOT A DEEP MIDNIGHT / NAVY. Anyone reproducing with the deep navy is simply following the 40-year-old darkened look. To each their own, I guess.

.

Quoted from dr_nybble:

CPR appears to have obvious multiple mistakes.

Yes, we can all A-B Cross-Compare every square inch of every candidate out there. But it can go both ways. In just 3 minutes of me looking around, I too can point out A) I can instantly see the 'Greatwich' version does not use the correct light blue or dark blue. Period. In particular, the dark blue leans noticibly toward a type of violet hue. B) Where are all her little face and nose details on the "Greatwich"? C) in a closeup pic on the other thread I notice hundreds of little 'white wisps' that border many of the blackline edges, when I zoomed in. Those should all be perfect color-to-color edges. D) printer banding in all the artwork, top to bottom

We could play this fine-forensics game all day... But I'll stop there.

I'm not sure if the "Greatwich" layout comparisons posted above is being confused with what Greg is doing today, because as I understand it, Greg did all his own new artwork and is using a whole other set of color choices (???).

People will be free to compare details, colors, print quality, build quality, and decide on their own, of course. This wasn't meant to be a thing with a "winner" - heck, we yielded 10 years, and thought the coast was clear for SeaWitch, finally. Guess not! HeeHee. But if people love A-B comparing, go for it I guess. This is indeed social media, and we decided to post here...

KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
http://www.classicplayfields.com

#15 2 years ago

But honestly, how hard is it to cross-check the art against the scan? There are obvious differences between the CPR artwork and the original. Will they be fixed?

We’ll check the artwork for free -- just post it before you go printing a few dozen.

We shouldn't need to pick between "the lesser of two evils".

#16 2 years ago
Quoted from KevinCPR:

All I can tell you is that the "real life" playfield that you will hold in your hand will be the proper colors intended. When original films don't exist, we spend a lot of time choosing the colors, and it's not taken lightly. Considering what most original SeaWitch playfields look like today, I'm not surprised that some may find our repro to look "too" poppin' ... But make no mistake - 40 years of exposure, rub, and crud has moved a ton of colors in different directions. One of the main ways to find out what the "REAL" colors were 40 years ago, is to hunt for protected ink. This can be usually done by peeking under posts. Posts that have hidden ink for four decades. And voila, there are the original inks - at least the best sample available in 2021 - for what the whole playfield was colored like 40 years ago.

Thanks @kevincpr. Especially for the bit about the ‘protected’ ink - the difference is stark, as you stated as well, especially when you have spent a lot of time staring at the colors you are now so familiar with (due to crud, yellowing, etc.) and it can be startling on first glance.

I am pretty sure we all just want our pins to look as pristine as possible (or we wouldn’t even be here having the conversation!). If nothing else, for myself, it was a relief to hear that you are putting a lot of thought into the process.

Very much looking forward to seeing how your new backglass and plastic colors marry to the playfield colors as well. Thanks!

#17 2 years ago
Quoted from skink91:

Thanks KevinCPR. Especially for the bit about the ‘protected’ ink - the difference is stark, as you stated as well, especially when you have spent a lot of time staring at the colors you are now so familiar with (due to crud, yellowing, etc.) and it can be startling on first glance.
I am pretty sure we all just want our pins to look as pristine as possible (or we wouldn’t even be here having the conversation!). If nothing else, for myself, it was a relief to hear that you are putting a lot of thought into the process.
Very much looking forward to seeing how your new backglass and plastic colors marry to the playfield colors as well. Thanks!

Even "protected ink" is not immune to time.

#18 2 years ago
Quoted from dr_nybble:

CPR blacks are thicker all around

Honestly, it's all their colors. Even on Meteor, the fine white, red, orange lines were all blown out. Fine detail was lost. A LOT of fine detail:
pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png
Frankly, looks like the 'minimim width' of the black line in Illustrator was too large, and like dr_nybble said, just blown out. But other colors, too, like the white border of the "1", "2", "3" insert text.

#19 2 years ago
Quoted from KevinCPR:

Yes, we can all A-B Cross-Compare every square inch of every candidate out there.

That seems healthy so folks can make informed decisions.

I added Fantastic photos to the above comparisons. As Kevin said, colors from photos with different white balance, even when corrected for in post, aren't going to be real-world accurate so I'd take the colors you see with a grain of salt. I just wanted the above photos to give some idea of the differences between the art on the three. Hopefully it helps someone considering a purchase.

#20 2 years ago

I love these posts bitching about PF colors. As someone who has done a fair amount of PF touch ups, clearcoating & cabinet restoration paint etc, I find them highly entertaining.

I am often frustrated when I try to take "glamour shots" of paint work/resto work that I have done & when I am looking at it in person the stuff looks awesome. & then I have to take 100 different pics in many different angles & lighting situations just to get a couple that even come close to showing what I'm seeing with naked eye. I often look at pics & I'm like DAMN that is Not what the color looks like in person. The Camera can lie drastically.

I posted these 2 Flash Gordon pics a while back, but it is a good example of how things can look so drastically different, depending on lighting, camera angle, how far camera is away etc. This is the exact same Flash Gordon cabinet, pics taken 10 seconds apart, with exact same camera with no changes to the camera/flash etc, in the exact same lighting/cabinet position in the room, Just different angle/close up of the cabinet from the camera. I was trying to show the customer what the Gold looked like & how close I came to original color...... one looks like crap & other looks great. Which one is what it looks like in person?

Paint colors & photos are very tricky.

But speaking of colors being off..... Kevin, is there any chance the colors on CPR Cheetah plastics will be adjusted in future now that you guys are doing PF's as well? It's pretty clear that the colors are not even close to each other. I get that the plastics will be backlit & colors will wash somewhat when lit up, but would be cool if colors especially the green for the "leaves" would be closer. Really appreciative that you guys did both these projects, & the Cheetah PF is awesome, of the maybe 15 CPR PF's I have worked with, this was by far the best to date. I just think the colors could now be adjusted a bit on the plastics to make them look better together. The original plastics are much closer to the colors on the PF.

IMG_20210316_194256 (resized).jpgIMG_20210316_194256 (resized).jpgIMG_20210316_194313 (resized).jpgIMG_20210316_194313 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163227 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163227 (resized).jpg
#21 2 years ago

Just in case you are looking for a reproduction Classic Stern cabinet to house your Seawitch (or any standard-body Classic Stern) please check us out.

EZPinball.com
[email protected]

As featured in episode #174 of the Slam Tilt Podcast.

#22 2 years ago
Quoted from dr_nybble:

CPR blacks are thicker all around…but how does it compare to an original? Based on comparing to some pics in the gallery — too heavy. Fine detail of the original is lost.

2x and 4x on the CPR do not match the original.

3 is a terrible blob of white. Compare to an original…

Some red jewels on her hair are not coloured in the CPR version.

Greatwich appears to be the clear winner based on these pics. CPR appears to have obvious multiple mistakes.

I think if you are that anal(not you, just generalizing) that you are comparing such fine details as the black lines etc then I guess we should start demanding playfield producers to off center the key lines around the inserts like they are in the originals so they can be exact matches. I think CPR's is the clear winner just due to the colors. I'd prefer more vibrant whether it coincides with the originals or not but considering how long CPR has doing this I'd assume they match colors to the best of their ability. It would be nice if CPR had an option to purchase playfields without the clear coat like Fantastic does. I always have them re-cleared anyway.

#23 2 years ago
Quoted from NinJaBooT:

I think if you are that anal(not you, just generalizing) that you are comparing such fine details as the black lines etc then I guess we should start demanding playfield producers to off center the key lines around the inserts like they are in the originals so they can be exact matches.

There's a big difference between making small positioning tweaks for centering (which I don't see anything wrong with), and losing a lot of the fine details in the artwork.

I've noticed a few other early solid state era repro playfields like this. Someone shared comparison photos of a Dolly Parton playfield recently.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cpr-dolly-parton-playfield-review-not-great

I'd be interested to know why the choice is being made to lose a lot of that fine detail.

#24 2 years ago
Quoted from ForceFlow:

There's a big difference between making small positioning tweaks for centering (which I don't see anything wrong with), and losing a lot of the fine details in the artwork.

For instance, the detail is lost in my Taxi BG and it is noticeable and annoying, even without a side by side comparison. To each his own, of course, but this data point in an unsolicited survey places a decent amount of value on fine details.

#25 2 years ago
Quoted from ForceFlow:

I've noticed a few other early solid state era repro playfields like this. Someone shared comparison photos of a Dolly Parton playfield recently.

Wow, I see what you mean with that DP playfield. There is no excuse for that much loss of detail in her face. I prob wouldnt be very happy with it either.

#26 2 years ago
Quoted from NinJaBooT:

Wow, I see what you mean with that DP playfield. There is no excuse for that much loss of detail in her face. I prob wouldnt be very happy with it either.

I think CPR has done the same with Seawitch. Their linework looked awful compared to the Fantastic one, not to mention incorrect fonts.

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