>I've got a Buccaneer where most of the plastic inserts are loose. I bought all new inserts for the game. I've sanded them flat and made waterslide decals for the inserts.>

Why did you need to sand them flat... if they are new (?)

<< I tested one and when I put it in the game, its way too white, almost fake looking. >

So you mean they are basically not yellow enough like the old ones? If it's only when they are lit you could use yellow LEDs or add layer(s) of yellow cellophane filtering underneath, I've used filtering on one game with white LEDs to get some faded inserts to look correct again. If it's when they are unlit also, you're stuck with the color they are.

<<How do you do new inserts in an old game and make it look like it fits? I'm not repainting, or clearing the playfield, just replacing the inserts.>

So to make sure - you mean make them fit as per the color, or is it that the new ones seem like they are too small for the holes and loose too?

Yellow inserts might work too but you'd have to get a few and compare. Even warm whites it's tough to find ones that are going to look as yellow as a real lamp.

I still would think new inserts would be pretty freaking flat where you would not notice them affecting the ball at all. Perfectly flat? There are no inserts or playfields that are *perfectly* flat even when they are straight out of the factory. If I buy new ones and I can visually see it is cupped or something, forget it, I'd just uncup my old ones plus I get to keep the original artwork. And leveling them into the playfield is never going to be absolutely perfect either.

So are you going to be putting something over the slide-on decals to protect them, like clearcoat or laquer or mylar or something? Maybe you can use a tinted coating, or pre-tint the coating before you spray it, or use tinted mylar/whatever to end up with that 'aged' color for the white inserts (?)

I've flattened some cupped Fast Draw inserts by heating and pressing flat again from the back with good success. I did a rather homemade job of it though, others here probably know all the tricks to doing it the best way.

>>I wasn't into Pins when I was younger so I don't know... When the machines were new - were the inserts white or always off white? Maybe I'm over thinking this whole thing?>>

As a kid I played lots of 70s games including Buccaneer when (or close to when) they were new but wouldn't trust whether the inserts were off-white back then or if it is simply my memories that have yellowed like old photographs Maybe they were white but they've yellowed with age along with the lacquer coating and the whites in the playfield ink, so now new white inserts stick out against all of that. Old inserts have that aged lacquer over them too, making them less white. I've got old games where the original white bumper caps are still whitey-white and the inserts aren't (but who knows if they were even made out of the exact same material.)
I have one brand new repro EM playfield I haven't installed yet - the white inserts are white but since all of the artwork is fresh and bright, the inserts look 'correct' to me, not overly white.

>>I guess the next question - After applying the decal and it dries, do I automotive clear coat it before installing or is the acrylic coating good enough?>>

I'm no expert on coatings but something thin and not real glossy like clearcoat would fit better with the look of the old playfield, if you do it. Plus if it's too thick you may end up needing to sand the bottom of the inserts a little shorter to be able to push them all the way in without them sticking up higher than the playfield even after they're bottomed out. In any case you'd want to assure you can indeed get them flush with the playfield (including sanding the bottoms since you are applying materials to the tops of them) before gluing them.