I have a Stencil Kit for a Bally Star Trek cabinet
I would like to restore. I would like to know if anyone could walk me through the process of
repainting it. and the correct color of paint to
use. Thanks Appreciate the help
I have a Stencil Kit for a Bally Star Trek cabinet
I would like to restore. I would like to know if anyone could walk me through the process of
repainting it. and the correct color of paint to
use. Thanks Appreciate the help
There are multiple threads on here about this, below is but one:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cabinet-restoration-vids-guide
HEP has some recent threads too, and others will chime in with their favorite links / suggestions.
GL!
I just finished a Star Trek Cabinet.
As far as stripping off the old art, the Pinball Pimp suggested using acetone and a bunch of paper towels. It works great. Even takes off previous touch ups and saves a ton of sanding and headache. Tear off the sheets of an entire roll and and a half of strong paper towel. Pour the acetone into a bowel or a disposable foil baking pan. Dip your paper towel one at a time and start wiping. Use a second foil pan to hold the used paper towels. They get filled with the old ink pretty fast. Soon you are down to the bare wood and you only have to fill and sand to get it smooth. I suggest using medium to heavy duty chemical resistant gloves with a liner. The acetone evaporation makes things very cold if you are just using thin nitrile gloves.
Fill in the raised wood grain and sand smooth and use a primer before your base color. Again the Pinball Pimp has some useful info on his website including how to place those large stencils.
Mask everything off. Overspray gets EVERYWHERE!
As far as colors, pick the colors that appeal to you. I hated that baby blue and orange. I used a deeper yellow than the original, then an Apple Red and a dark blue. I used gloss finish. It looks terrific! The gloss does show defects much more than a satin.
In peeling the stencil off work carefully and fast. The paint starts drying quickly. The stencils rip pretty easily but that's ok. You can go back and pick out the pieces left behind. Try to peel it off pulling along the mask line, not against it. When the paint starts drying, you start get tiny tails of the drying paint that will fall back where you don't want them. Pulling parallel to the mask lines helps prevent this.
I used an Exacto knife and small pair of hobby pliers to help pick up the torn edges without smudging or smearing the paint. I kept a paper towel dipped in mineral spirits and a second dry paper towel on hand to keep my hands and tools relatively clean. If you do drop a bit of mask/paint where it isn't supposed to be, pick up the mask quickly without smearing the paint and just leave whatever paint it leaves behind until it dries. If you try to wipe it up, it just gets worse. Touching up boo-boo's is pretty easy. After everything on all sides of the cabinet and backbox are dry, look at everything and put a small piece of masking tape by each area you want to touch up. I sprayed a small amount of the same paint into a clear plastic Solo drink cup and used that to touch up with a small artist brush. You should have several minutes of working time if you keep the cup tilted so the paint pools along one edge. Use as little paint as is needed to cover the mistake. It worked great for me. Don't go crazy trying to get every little paint mask paint tail. One thing I learned a long time ago is that the enemy of good is better. Don't do this touch up until it is dry or you will get smears of orange and green as the paints mix.
Hope this helps.
Bruce
Doing one side at a time and waiting 48 hours between coats is time consuming and a pain but the best way to do it. Always keep the surface you are painting flat to avoid drips.
Repaint the interior of the cabinet at the same time, at least the parts you can see with the glass on.
You'll need to remove all of the circuit boards and most of the hardware before you start. Take pictures of where everything goes like all those yellow grounding straps and the parts of the coin door.
WoW! Looks Gorgeous. Appreciate you
sharing step by step details. I like the colors
you chose. I wanna use the same colors.
This is my first attempt at painting a cabinet
I hope it turns out decent. i used a sander
and removed all the paint and primered the cab. i hadnt worked on it in months n was in
storage but all the dust settled on the cab and
has a blackish color. would i need to remove
all the primer off or can i just go over it with
more primer? i cant wait to restore Star Trek
I even got a new backglass from Classic playfield reproductions. i have the BG that
was a repro of the prototype backglass
where the crew members are wearing
differnt colored uniforms
I don't know about the dust. You should not have to reprime unless it is real ingrained. Did you try vacuuming it off? You don't want to get threads or fibers from a cloth stuck in the finish. I guess you could try some light sanding if vacuuming did not take it off.
I got there pro back glass of the prototype as well. I am just starting on the playfield swap for CPR playfield.
Thanks for the Suggestions. I dunno might have to try the light sanding and maybe try a light coat of primer on it. its kinda grayish looking. it was in storage for awhile. i should have wrapped it in plastic. Thats Great you have that BackGlass as well. I bought a nicer used playfield awhile back. not alot of wear on it as the one in it. I can do basic pinball repair but not technical at wiring for playfield. will have to take the better playfield to a electronics shop n have the better parts swapped over. Star Trek is my favorite Tv show growing up. this pinball means alot to me and hope it turns out as beautiful as yours. I have a Williams Flash that I had the playfield completely restored and redone to factory new. and all boards bulletproofed and a very nice backglass for it. but cabinet needs repainting bad. but unable to find a stencil for it.
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