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Gottlieb, 1987You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider pinmonk.
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Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:So I managed to get a scan of the plastic from another pinsider. Do you know anyone that could actually make the plastic? Or at least the decals? I can make the polycarbonate piece but I have no experience what so ever using adobe illustrator to make the art look right for the decal.
Post the scan (or a reduced file version if it's too big). How detailed is the art?
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:It's not very detailed[quoted image]
That shouldn't be too bad. I'll take a shot at it for you.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Thanks I really appreciate it. Another question. What's the best way to make the template to cut out the polycarbonate since I don't actually have the plastic that came off of it?
If the scan is actual size, turn that to vector and cut from that. I can't tell what size the original plastic was since the jpg is 72dpi and that makes the image like 15 inches, which I'm sure it is not.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:No it's about the size of a tortilla chip
Is the scan you have at scale (actual size)? When pinside posts, it converts the images, so that's probably why I'm seeing 72dpi here.
Check the image properties and see what it says the DPI of the scan is.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:The DPI of the scanned image came out to be about 328, want me to send you the original image file?
According to photoshop it's 299.99, so essentially 300DPI. It also now gives me what I think is a somewhat realistic size of 57.66mm x 97.03mm.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Gotcha, I just used a dpi calculator since it wasn't in the image settings.
It's quick and dirty, but at the size you're printing this it should look fine. Saved it as a PDF so you'll have the transparency and resolution.
Pit Left-300dpi.pdfQuoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Thank you so much. That'll look great. I really appreciate it. Would you let me pay you for doing this? I would have paid someone else to make it.
Nah, don't worry about it. If I was taking money for it, I would want it to be a whole lot better. As it is, it's just good enough.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Haven't figured that out yet, going to Lowe's tomorrow to get a piece of polycarbonate. I don't have a scroll saw. Might try a jig saw or see if a 1/8 drill bit on my drill press will cut it.
If you get PETG, you can sand and heat smooth the edges so they aren't rough from the saw. Polycarbonate doesn't do well with heat. For that area of the pin, PETG should be more than strong enough.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Might have to look into that, but it shouldn't be to hard to print it on decal paper and apply it to the plastic
Paper will kill too much of the light and also will discolor over time from the lamp heat if there's a bulb or bulbs underneath. I'd use clear plastic. A window cling might be ideal.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Might have to look into that, but it shouldn't be to hard to print it on decal paper and apply it to the plastic
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Oh, I watched a video of a guy that made them by cutting out the polycarbonate in the shape of the plastic, then printing the art onto clear decal paper, sealing the paper then wet applying them to the polycarbonate. Is there a better way to make it?
Dunno. Haven't seen that video. If the paper's clear is it actually paper? I'm pretty sure it's a plastic film like a window cling. If that's the way you're going, get the kind with the white backing on the film to more accurately match how the plastics are screened.
As for cutting, again, haven't seen that video, but cutting poly with a saw can give it rough edges that you can't do much about except maybe sand smooth. PETG won't be as much of a rough edge and you can flame polish the edges to smooth them out.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Watch "Make Your Own Reproduction Pinball Plastics" on YouTube
Here's the video. It was part of another thread on pinside a while back.
If you have a scroll saw with a blade like his, you should be golden. Looks like it makes pretty clean edges.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:How do I get it to print out the size plastic is supposed to be? When I try printing it it prints the image almost the entire size of the page
Your printer settings might be at stretch to print or fit to page, or the dpi may be set wrong (72dpi setting on a 300dpi image will make the image print LARGE). Check the pdf and printer settings.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:gotcha, i'm not very good with computers, i'll mess around with the settings, thanks
If you're using adobe acrobat to open the PDF, on the print menu, there's an "actual size" choice. Check that. You can see on the preview to the right of the one I did that the plastic is then the right size relative to the 8.5"x11" page representation on the right.
acrobat menu (resized).jpgQuoted from gottlieb_fanatic:I forgot that the image defaulted to 72dpi when shared on pinside. I'll have to change it back to 300.
It shouldn't have changed the size if you clicked on the PDF. When you click it, it should load the PDF viewer and from within that viewer you can save it. I just did it to verify and it didn't change the DPI.
Quoted from gottlieb_fanatic:Just to let you know, the plastic didn't turn out so great. Apparently there is a lot more to this process than I thought. Everything was going fine until I put the decal paper into the warm water, as soon as I did the ink started cracking, then trying to get the decal to slide off the paper and onto the plastic was a nightmare, the decal was so thin it kept tearing. Gonna do more research and see if I can find a better process.
Thanks for the followup. I haven't done the print and transfer part of it. I'm assuming maybe the transparency didn't accept the ink well enough not to lose it when it got wet. Dunno. Definitely post when you get it figured out. Alternately, you can send the art out to one of those window cling makers and they can make a cling for you. Costs more, but it should work easier.
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