I picked up my Cleopatra 10 years ago. I was fairly new to the hobby at the time and this was the first playfield that I tried paint touch ups. Like most Cleo's the lower playfield usually losses the most paint around the bonus area.

One question that does come up frequently is, "do I have to clear coat a playfield after paint touch ups for a home use only machine?". We can see that overall, the paint touch ups held up quite well when routinely waxed. Actually forgot how much touch up was done until hit with the Magic Eraser. And Cleo abuses the playfield with very high ball speed, basically SS speed due to the 24VDC to the flippers, pops, kickers. Hands down, the fastest EM I've ever played.

I prefer to touch up the original cabinet paint when refurbing. But this Cleo appears to have spent most of it's life in a very small bar filled lots of cigarrete smokers. I would prefer to repaint the cabinet but without a heated garage I won't have time this year. Will see if the old cab paint will clean up and touch it up for now.

Before teardown pics;

left side cabinet (resized).jpg
right side cabinet (resized).jpg
playfield before tear down (resized).JPG
right kickout before ME (resized).JPG
upper playfield arch before meagic eraser (resized).jpg
lower playfield before me (resized).JPG

After Magic Eraser
upper playfield arch after ME (resized).JPG
Kickouts after ME (resized).JPG
lower playfield after magic eraser (resized).jpg

Second time touching up the paint on this pin. The bonus area just sucks and still more to do.
184B3C89-C07B-4E5C-9042-7CE73856692D (resized).jpeg63FF3EE5-8F01-4DFB-BB30-AAD9FDB3AC30 (resized).jpeg

No I did not. Went through that with the Aztec. Easier to fill them when clear coating.

What sucks is the insert for each half of the bonus cracked during removal and it’s a weird size.

Not yet. I’ll post a pic with a scale over the opening for future reference.

Edit: It’s 1 3/16”, same size as the star rollovers. Need more sleep :p

Two weeks of playfield touch up. A little work left around the Double Bonus but have had enough of the painting, good enough and better looking than it was.

13316601-C284-4119-8493-1855B77EA289 (resized).jpeg

35026FA0-8106-4A51-BDD5-7C0EBAD16C32 (resized).jpeg

35C9210C-337D-4478-9274-900DA3134DD2 (resized).jpeg

945537D8-40DB-4A3D-8F4C-8F110FA5C840 (resized).jpeg

Going to clear it with water based Varathan since the initial success on the Aztec. I don't have an auto clear set up at home and the weather is starting to turn in Michigan. Would rather try the 2K on a cheaper/more common pin in case I do something stupid.

Yup, scuff up the inserts as suggested in Vid's guide, incredible resource. I had clear that lifted on one of the Aztec inserts that was filled and leveled with super glue. Now that technique can produce a nice result but is a gigantic pain in the ass. The clear seperated after the second or third coat, so added more fill/sand time trying to fix the mistake.

How's it going with the 2K clear on your pins? The results look very good in your thread, was there much orange peel to sand out?

The Varathane rattle cans resulted in a fair amount of orange peel. Lighter coats would of course cause more but when shooting a very heavy coat (starts to get milky) some out gassing bubbles (fisheyes?) would also become trapped. I found a thread from someone on pinside who used varathane and a micro-fiber paint pad and claimed good results, and I found the same experince. Very smooth application of clear that resulted in less sanding time. Love working on them but trying to be as efficient as possible with time.

And a nice looking example too!

There are a few Cleo fans out there but most people hate it due to the high difficulty and I get that. But if lucky enough to have this pin in your collection then you can really get to know the table, and it's brilliant. The player must constantly be anticipating the ball as with any pin but the high ball speed on this pin will absolutely test your skills. Cleo is insanely fast when set up properly. It is a shooters table with a brutal layout and that's why it makes me want to play "just one more game".

And not many other EM's have the abilty reset the drops and score the double bonus and/or extra ball on every ball! Saying it is easy, doing it is extremely difficult.

The playfield art is ok but it has to be one of Morrison's best back glasses. Cleo is always ponting at me and calling me out...so she can whoop my ass!

Really looking forward to playing this pin with a flat playing surface. The William's Aztec was a fast playing EM and after clear coating, it is very fast and more importantly has accurate ball trajectory once again. Hopefully will have this Cleo project done by Christmas. As you can tell, I'm a big Cleo fan

You are one lucky dude to have had more than one Cleo/Pyramid.

When I first got this pin up and running 10 years ago, played two games before obliterating two of the existing drop targets and chipping the pop skirts. Beleive it or not, after 10 years I have to replace the pop skirts once more due to one of them chipping again. She is brutal.

All of them

I’m a huge Morison fan. The Cleo EM is my first choice, the SS second and then Pyramid. But all three are just cool works of art.

Currently have a Gridiron too. Now that is the total package from back glass to playfield. It is…a work of art.

8639F7D6-FBA4-49F4-BC23-41141C81413F (resized).jpeg

BB0E88C5-A50C-48C8-A820-D472908616EE (resized).jpeg

C682964F-F9AA-4DA2-8877-5BB66C7004E5 (resized).jpeg

If the original double bonus insert had not cracked it would have been reinstalled. But since it did and never liked the white insert in that location….

0F55EC8D-9247-41B7-B3C1-1DD88D89323D (resized).jpeg

B2D2F997-35C6-462A-A8D5-FABA62D4E7A0 (resized).jpeg

4023A8C1-504D-4FF8-AF34-82243B518516 (resized).jpeg

499DC8BA-2F11-490E-A6EF-A8BF5819D47D (resized).jpeg

2EA57774-BEF0-4197-816F-C1C2E3587A12 (resized).jpeg

Cab is driving me nuts. Just trying to get it presentable until it can be repainted next spring.

706C3CFF-302F-4F5D-B8A1-A7FF663EA102 (resized).jpeg

2CF628B5-B881-40EA-95BE-9E66D6A7A5D6 (resized).jpeg

9EF254D7-E3B9-44F7-86CD-D8191BA0F712 (resized).jpeg

32112468-0FAD-4BB4-870B-941FB5B175B3 (resized).jpeg

Was afraid I had over filled a bit to much. Using Varathane to clear and fill.

88BE5F33-3B5D-4FF5-B358-A24577917DC3 (resized).jpeg

8E5C24DB-1FDC-41D4-A488-D0E94D43215B (resized).jpeg

9349E2F3-94AF-40AC-A5C1-6C8ACD00C3B0 (resized).jpeg

before (resized).jpg

1D368A20-937C-4D74-A552-E7070EF59AAD (resized).jpeg

14043DE2-2E64-461E-8E62-3154D66ED144 (resized).jpeg

98903661-B519-4420-8256-6F34444F2FD4 (resized).jpeg

Will need one more coat. The clear is dry in the pictures.

09F92131-89BB-4C7B-B190-53B7A56DD4B7 (resized).jpegC4C52C99-DD61-43FB-9D4B-6DE8DFC53340 (resized).jpeg

Re-glued the cabinet and installed new leg plates. A Pinside member in another thread said they cleared their lower cab boards to make it easier to clean than the bare wood. Solid idea.

lower cabinet before (resized).jpghead and lower cab after (resized).jpgbottom cabinet after (resized).jpg

Just the water based Varathane crystal clear. I know that is taboo to many but I don't have the set up for an automotive clear. Yet. One day

What sanding I've done so far has been focused on leveling inserts. I do rough up the overall surface between coats.

Here's what I've learned so far. When reading threads about clear coating with Varathane most people use a rattle can and some would use a brush. Both have more cons then they do pros from some experimenting. The rattle can leaves ridiculous orange peel that takes a lot of sanding to get level and if you go too heavy bubbles may get trapped as it cures. Brushing won't result in as many bubbles but the brush strokes are present.

In another thread on Pinside buried deep in the topic one person suggested using a Shur-Line paint pad. This man is brilliant! It leaves a somewhat consistent layer that only leaves those ripples that you can see in the reflection. The little ripples sand out very easily and quickly! The paint pad is awesome and saves a crap load of time.

When I first start the clear on a playfield, I do use a light mist out of a rattle can. Want to lock in the paint touch ups. After that dries I hit it with the paint pad, level inserts, sand, coat, level and sand, etc.

Should be one more final coat tonight and good to go. I'm afraid to say anything, but right now it's almost perfectly flat top to bottom. This 24VDC pin was fast with 16 cupped inserts in the lower playfield. It's so flat I'm afarid it will self destruct now

Bubbak, do you have any pictures you’ve previously taken of your score motor? I’m wondering if my 2B switch stack activator is the right one. It’s always had a nagging start problem. Also interested in the stack activators for 1C-4C too. Thanks!

The downside of water based Varathane is the number of coats it takes compared to an auto clear. Just a light sand and polish left to do after a few days of drying time.

9505C87B-4DF3-476B-BA1B-1574700B0B0B (resized).jpeg
A5E5E50D-D667-4CBC-9957-8F09672A3094 (resized).jpeg

FA593C55-6DB1-48E1-8E4F-1BAF0E9C5FF0 (resized).jpeg

After Maguires polish. Will hit it with novis and wax soon.
21D84205-A95C-41FA-920B-E4CDE304B490 (resized).jpegCFD712ED-C055-416F-81D8-003D62030217 (resized).jpeg

E1830565-928B-4F08-928E-A72AF19EFB21 (resized).jpeg

It is recommended to let cure for a couple weeks.

It’s not perfect but definitely better than my first attempt.

Appreciate it. Life has slowed this down and it’s so close too.

I just need to replace the sleeves on the pops, flippers, add additional playfield light sockets and a once over on the bonus unit. And then on to reassembly of the playfield.

Made a couple of slight color modifications

Two maybe three weeks out.

Cleaning the clear out of the star rollovers is a lot of fun :p. I did use spare stars to help but still had a lot of build up.

Also had to drill out the clear for the pop rings.

Had to travel for work last week and this week as well so progress has been slowed.

885B913E-B1D2-433B-8468-01C58E5AF92F (resized).jpeg

It’s a very dark playfield.

223AEDB2-CBAA-4722-A49E-362E9FF6E6E1 (resized).jpeg

Bally’s tend to have them under the upper arch. Always liked them up there and Cleo doesn’t have many GI lights on the mid upper playfield.

Something else they do I’ve always liked is the use of color on the side rails and upper arch. I have definitely committed a cardinal sin with the purists.

Just about to start the playfield reassemble. I forgot how much crap there is to go through under the playfield on this one.

To prevent potential shorting. 1/2” OD tube and Mylar on the ball arch.

2BDE5CF3-818D-4141-85C2-1A767777B087 (resized).jpeg

06D368C3-A616-4C8A-8328-7226B97CCDA3 (resized).jpeg

006917E0-70BA-492D-8319-B512DE32ADDC (resized).jpeg

4D75AEBA-81C9-497D-85EC-F7023DD7E98E (resized).jpeg

26F21BCC-BB77-45FA-9CB0-89C719955AED (resized).jpeg

More to do but getting closer. The first pic was before tear down.

E5CD2C7A-743D-4A37-982F-68072CFBBD16 (resized).jpeg2F37B171-B132-4390-9046-0359B9930A35 (resized).jpeg00E35ADF-7036-45D9-AD48-A626E1395EA3 (resized).jpeg3C7F2A68-F32C-4CC8-92FA-D11AFCFF53F0 (resized).jpeg6D931864-EB3C-4669-84CD-CBCC6A44DF37 (resized).jpeg71343632-D924-446F-8234-BFDA8B4CAB69 (resized).jpeg73EF65AA-4447-4149-8BF7-14117629EBE1 (resized).jpeg