I should dig out my roll of frisket and start practicing, this weekend might be a good time for it! And Mona lisa... Wouldn't that be a pretty odd but interesting theme for a pin? =)

Nice, no reserve and all! Hope it finds a good owner that will take care of it =)

Yeah i agree! "This machine works great, looks great, and is a blast to play." and "Playfield does have some minor wear".. a blast to play sure but looks great and have minor wear... not so sure =) Look at the tip of the left flipper! Anyways, pictures are there and seller says its worn.. so up to the buyer. If I got the chance earlier I might have bought it, if it was closer that is. Though the price is a bit high for this particulare one.

Yeah, the cab looks allright and the PF is probably salvageable but not really worth it now with the new pf around the corner.

I have all the reciepts and orders saved but have not yet dared to summarize them... I might do it later on. It feels expensive so for but mostly I think its because of all the special tools ive bought. Tumbler, socket wrenches (we only have mm style in our garages over here), air compressor, paints, paint gun, the screen for the backbox text, ink for the backbox, sanding paper (a lot), orbital sander, heat gun, soldering station, mask for protection when painting, 2 part auto clear, airbrush colors and the list goes on and on...

Next project, which will probably be my high speed, wont be the same since i will have all the tools ready. I hope I will still enjoy the hobby after this restoration and maybe even do some restorations without having to build a new cabinet.. .. and.. if I can sell one or two machines after that maybe I can break even with the tools and things. In the end it will hopefully be worth it, both economically and fun-wise.

Come on brad don't be lazy! =)

More pictures of the insert fixing process. I noticed that wetsanding the inserts in alcohol when sanding with 300 and finer grit works like a charm! And as vid 1900 said, the micro cracks were in the old top coat which is great because I am able to completely remove it. My biggest concern is if the epoxy glue will be able to hold the inserts in place. Fingers crossed...

Top left pic shows how I masked one of the 3 bumper areas with painters tape to sand the bare wood part. Its not the cutest masking but it works good for sanding. This is something that takes a lot of time since it requires a lot of concentration. Not so fun but as usual I am looking forward to see the first layer of clear.

bits.jpg

Will post a pic of the whole field soon to give an idea of what its progressed into.

Yes especially the green one looks good in the pic since it's got alcohol on it for a preview. I've sanded the sides with 80-100 grit and it will give a little tooth to it. I've tried the Loctite plastic primer too but I am doubtful cause it's made for CA glues and not epoxies. Loctite says, I've mailed them, they don't have one for epoxies and did not know if it will make any difference or not.

I second that! Really nice door! I did mine way back and skipped the texture all together. Like it without it too. Looks brand new like yours. I may try that tip on future doors. The one on my HS is kicked inwards so I don't know what I will do with it. Maybe it's possible to straighten it or I'll try to find that type of door that was also used on arcade cabinets back in the day. Or the easiest is to get a WPC style door. Have not decided yet but as close to original without the hassle of straighten it would be best =)

Here is a picture of the progress with the PF so far. Its getting closer...
Whats left is not that much but time consuming. Sand all inserts that are left, fix a few wood spots, sand the insides of all holes, reglue all inserts, a bit more ME over everything, cleanup with naphtha. Then the first layer of clear will finally go down. I think it would take me one more day if I could work on it continiously but.. Ive got plenty of other projects so lets say one week

pfnow.jpg

I hope too but I think it will be a pain! But gone this far I just need to finish this at all costs =) masking will also be a hard one. Easy in theory but difficult when you're gonna start. The project is starting to feel like a "not wanna go through it again" thing but, if it ends up good I will probably sit there sanding and prepping again in the future.

@MustangPaul, that looks really nice! I like the star feeling that it gives me, like twinkling stars in the night sky. Goes well with the theme and I must admit I'm tempted to try it! =)

@Curbfeeler, good to hear! Will check your F14 and send you scans for a test! It would be a huge advantage to have stencils for the inserts. Otherwise I will sit here masking by hand forever...

Are jewel caps the ones used in games like Ripleys believe it or not?

Allright =) Would look nice i suppose!

Ok, more stuff to learn which will delay this project but make it better in the end

Just had to try out the method of masking the inserts and paint them instead of using water slide decals. Feels like a better method if you have the oppurtunity. I think, even if you are using water slides youll have to go through the pain of making vectorized pics of the scans to make it look decent. Thats why I happened to order a plotter the other day. Worth it just for this project? No.. but Ive got a HS waiting for restoration too and that PF is in need of a restoration.. no joke..
Also, thanks to Curbfeeler and his F14 restoration thread for convincing me to try this. (Paul, he beat you to it but im sure you can find something else for me to buy.. ^^)

brux.jpg

Whats seen in the picture below is gonna put even my patience to a test. If you don't hear anything more from me in this thread you know its because it killed me.
scape.jpg

Great Cheddar! Im curious too! Though it feels a bit like ... "sigh..." that I need to learn all of this too. Im lucky im an experienced photoshop user though even though the vector stuff is new to me.

Here is an issue I ran into when sanding the inserts. I noticed that on the back of them (though most visible on the clear ones) there is some kind of sticky film that makes them look faded from the front. I had theories about what this was.. either clear coat from when they cleared the back of the PF. Or glue. I think most likely it is glue residues.

The small inserts, like the 3/4" squares, are full of this but the larger ones like in this picture have it on the edges where the glue has been.

glue.jpg

I tried to clean this up. A cotton stick with different things on it. Tried water, very hot water, alcohol, naphtha and acetone. None of them worked that good. And a word of warning to anyone digging this deep into their pinball machines, do NOT use acetone on it because it will make it worse, like crystallize the glue and make it opaque white instead of hazy. Ive tried to scrape it off with a razor blade too but its really hard to get off.

The best method seem to be hot water, then let it dry and then use a cotton stick (whats the word for those? plastic sticks with cotton on the ends..) and try to scrape the glue off. Works like 60% good but always something. I will have to test if it comes off easier if you heat it up with a heat gun.

Anyway, cleaning inserts like this is something I would do if they were impossible to find. Doing it if new ones are available I cant justify it. So, guess what... more delay before the first layer of clear! Will get some new and snap them in there.

Definitely will! =)
Gonna try to cut some frisket as a test though ive heard its a bit too flimsy for this. But would be nice to do a test before I get the better vinyl masking material and a decent transfer tape.

Thanks! =)

Its the epoxy glue (or whatever they used) they used for glueing the inserts in. But I think it reacts to alcohol and gets worse. I wet sanded the inserts in denaturated alcohol, not sure why but guess because I had it next to me. And some of it got on the back of them. Will sand in water next time as long as it's not on the PF. Live and learn as you said before Paul.

Indeed, thanks anubis2night!
I think what I've scanned is actual size or bigger, not low res and too small at least. If I send something I will measure it to make sure. Very nice offer of you! =)

Still learning... =)

heart.jpg

Each color will get its own layer in inkscape.. then I can export each one into the cameo software and cut stencils for each one of them. At least it wont need to hurry to get it finished for christmas.

Hi BJM-Maxx!

Yep its inkscape. I am not using the colour separation function, not that I am aware of anyways.. still very new to it. But I changed the stroke color to the pink one since it stands out very well. Thanks to Curbfeeler for the inspiration =)
Sounds like a massive task you just went through.. but the result will get very nice i guess! I have not really thought of the pdf and stuff yet, just to get it into the cameo software safe and sound since im gonna do stencils and airbrush. But someday I will have things printed too and then the pdf might work.. thanks for pointing out!