I am working on a playfield swap of a high speed. The star roll-overs are fully clear-coated . I thought it was just a small layer of clear over the opening but the opening is full of plastic. I'm assuming it's molded that way and should have been opened up. I'm looking for suggestions on how to open these up.

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The issue I have is the plug appears to be a part of the mold, as if it needed to be cut loose before the insert was placed in the playfield. It is not as easy as just cutting around the top edges. The center portion is all one molded part which needs to be cut apart.

I believe these were never cut apart before the playfield was cleared. The center portion was one solid piece of plastic on the bottom. I have never seen this issue before.

I began cutting with a brand new #11 exacto and it is starting to lift the clear off the roll-over inserts. I have to cut through plastic too, the removable insert is not just held in with clearcoat.

I finally got the inserts out. They were not molded together just held in, as others explained, by the clear. I had more success with a fine grinding bit and a dremel than I did with the exacto knife.

This is a clear-coated NOS playfield, not a repro.