Don't be afraid to experiment with different products. I just restored a Pinbot which I documented on here. I used roll Frisket for some stuff, but I much preferred "Badger Foto Frisket Transfer Paper" in the blue package that you buy in sheets. I also used a ton of Tamiya Model Masking tape, and used that almost exclusively to mask the chest inserts. I liked the thinner stuff that will bend around curves. I was scared when I used it that it was going to leave a film and ruin my clear, but it didn't. Turned out great, in fact.

Since the pinball restore community is kind of small, I tend to look for results from other hobbies. When I was in doubt about using SprayMax 2k, I went to motorcycle forums. When I was in doubt about whether the Silohouette Cameo would make sufficient cuts for masking pinball airbrush material, I went to model railroad and helicopter forums. I'm always surprised how much of that kind of stuff transfers over from hobby to hobby.

Best of luck!
Dan

Yep, scanner. Even if you could hold the camea 100% straight, the lens would still distort your image.

This guy has the best methods I've ever seen for insert restoration!
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-diner-restoration

Hi, saw your question about inserts in the Vid1900 thread. I don't want to self-promote my thread, but wanted to show you the dramatic difference that sanding made for my inserts (see post #2)

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/curbfeelers-f14-tomcat-restoration-it-begins

I am now questioning why I didn't pull out inserts and sand them on every machine I've ever touched up. It just makes such a dramatic difference!

Anyway, those cracks you pointed to in my opinion are not in the plastic. I think that's the nasty original clear coat that has yellowed. Check my pics and see what you think, if you will. All that yellowed, cracked crud was original clear and paint. Looked like the plastic was yellowed and cracked, but it wasn't.

Yours is a tough call because if you sand it then you lose the artwork, but to some extent I'm not sure you can really avoid that.

Hope that helps.

Dan

Good enough? https://forum-s3.pinside.com/201312/1285600/160833.png

These are good as well.
http://christopherhutchins.com/gallery/album137?page=1

Sure, I got the first from here. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bop-overlay-attempt. Credit where credit due. Maybe he will "help" you with enough source for a good decal.

I am going to be spraying my F-14 with black airbrush paint using vinyl stencils I cut with my Silhouette Cameo. If you want me to trace and cut a test stencil let me know. Only problem is I've never shipped to Sweden, so don't know how long it might take or how much it might cost.

My pinbot had several flashers that had to be cut or desoldered off when I restored the game, then soldered back on later. A real pain. I would not flinch at a game with 2-prong molex at all. Williams didn't do this originally because of cost, most likely. SOldering those back was a pain, and I've already decided next time I cut and add molex.

Great Andy. You see the latest on my F14? I think the cameo is going to work for your shuttle insert mask! Actually I see several places on there with insert masks that the Cameo would be just the ticket. Get me that scan!

Dan

Hey Andy, okay back after a trip across the country and returning from that to find myself buried in work. I've got the scans you sent and dig through them tonight and set out some pointers. We'll get this going for you!

Dan

Okay Andy, here we go. So we're going to get to know the Cameo, okay? All your first cuts and first layers of paint we'll plan to wipe off with alcohol. They are practice, okay? For fun, if you will.

So we won't start out with lettering yet (too complex). Let's start with solid fields. I think light blue will be a nice place to start out.

So the way I do vectors in Inkscape is I draw the anchors (odd number pics) and I drag the curves (even number pics). Sometimes it's trial and error to get the right location and number of anchors, and sometimes you have to move the anchors (select them without the others and move them with the keyboard). Then re-try dragging curves. It does take practice.

I found a very low res copy of the playfield off vpforums but here are some low-res demos attached. When I trace for real I use this bright pink but I also use no fill and a stroke of 1px. A very, very thin line.

So find a place on your playfield you want to try this, and let's practice tracing the shape of the mask. Set your anchor points, bend the curves. Set the anchor points, bend the curves. It's time consuming, but it's simple steps.

1.png

2.png

3.png

4.png

5.png

6.png

Here's something else you can do to start out. Do the pop rings by making a circle in inkscape. My circle in these pics is perfect, but my scan from vpforums is warped. It's fine for a demo.

Select this circle then right click it to duplicate. Then Path...Outset to perfectly expand the duplicated circle into a bigger and perfectly expanded version of that circle with just the right offset from the first circle. Repeat and repeat to make the whole set. From these masks you can paint perfect circles.

I actually used the freeware version of the cameo software for this on my F14. A circle is a circle, no? I was able to "outset" and "inset" my chevrons, also to make perfect keylines. Very handy as you can see from my F14 thread.

Good Luck, Sir! Keep us posted.
Dan

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8.png

Okay, one more thing then I go to bed. When you do this work, you have to think like a screenprinter, since you are recreating work that was done by screening. Red, then white, then black, I think, no?

So what if we place the clear insert that's sanded down. Then paint the entire red field then the white on that, then the black last? That will look more natural, right?

I think for the white around the shuttle we can use the offset I just described, right? And on the black, those lines are so thin, do we need to cut them? Modeler's masking tape, perhaps? Just a thought.

9.png

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Cool, hopefully the circles is a good starting point. Here is more info on offset.

Offsets
Ctrl+( inset path (towards center)
Ctrl+) outset path (away from center)
The default offset distance is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).
Alt+( inset path by 1 pixel
Alt+) outset path by 1 pixel
Shift+Alt+( inset path by 10 pixels
Shift+Alt+) outset path by 10 pixels
The actual distance for pixel offsets depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer adjustment.

source: https://inkscape.org/doc/keys047.html

Regarding scale, I would really love some info on this. I've been putting a steel rule on the playfield when scanning and making a 1cm box and scaling the graphics until that 1cm box is 1cm in the project. I'm sure the pros don't scan a steel rule when they work

I have also measured directly on the playfield to the nearest .5 mm and had good results but not super.

Cool, sounds like you're making good progress. Since you already scanned, you could just very accurately measure the diameter of one of the round inserts and keep a digital "test insert" in your project at all times. When you're ready to cut, just make sure that "test insert" matches the correct size and scale re-size the whole project until it does. That's very similar to my steel rule method.

Dan