Read all of this with interest. Did my own overlay on a beat Space Invaders years ago. After having it produced by a local sign house, I prepped the field by sanding flat and then doing several coats of a quality polyurethane laid on by foam brush. I let the final coat dry for a week before a light sanding to give the overlay adhesive something to grab onto. I applied wet with NO soap, just continuous misting from a spray bottle. (Full disclosure, I was a vinyl sign guy for a few years and prefer this to dry application every time.) The trick at this point is to fully squeegee out the water. Usually I use a 6" plastic squeegee with a soft microfiber cover to avoid scratches. Once it was completely flat I let it set out of the sun for a few days to make sure all the moisture evaporated out. (Heat will make the vinyl adhesive want to curl.)

When it was done I made my own 3mm acrylic overlay to protect it. (I'm not an autoclear guy.) It is beautiful and plays like a dream. The only trouble I have had is after so many plays the ball traveling off the flippers pushed down hard enough on the acrylic that it has moved the overlay towards the top of the play field just enough to bunch it up at the horse shoe. I had to strip down that part of the playfield, trim off the bunched up part and then reassemble.

I did not overlay the shooter lane. I left that natural with the poly clear on it and cut a dovetail where the ball runs into the overlay. The only way people can tell is if they notice all of the inserts are opaque white.

Shawn

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During -
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