(Topic ID: 255496)

Comet rides again

By yaksplat

4 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 48 posts
  • 9 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 3 years ago by yaksplat
  • Topic is favorited by 3 Pinsiders

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You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider yaksplat.
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#1 4 years ago

I bought a pair of comets and a spare playfield.
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From these, i should be able to build two good comets; one with the spare playfield and another with a hard top. Somehow I don't think anyone would be interested in a comet playfield that looks like this.
IMG_20191111_174726 (resized).jpgIMG_20191111_174726 (resized).jpg
Although the intentions were good, the execution was not there.

So I've got some issues to start off with.
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Yeah, that's not pretty.

Rottendog on order, but then this gives me an opportunity to see if i can salvage this board. I used to work in a circuit board factory, so soldering isn't really an issue at all. Diagnosing issues will be the challenge here.

#2 4 years ago

Finally got one of the machines down into the basement today. Now that it's cold out, the garage isn't a suitable work environment.

Step one: Confirm that everything with the transformers is working correctly. There was a blown fuse which concerned me, but then after seeing some cut wires, and other hacks on this machine, it wouldn't surprise me if someone did that while it was plugged in. Also the main fuse was only a 4A instead of 8A.

IMG_20191117_225425 (resized).jpgIMG_20191117_225425 (resized).jpg

Once i replaced the fuse and soldered some of the connections back up, everything tested out fine. All the right voltages in all the right places. Just needs a lot of cleaning.

1 month later
#5 4 years ago

So, in the past month, I've been messing with boards. Neither machine has a MPU that's 100%. The one had battery damage all over the place and the other has random dead components on the board. I was hoping that I'd have one good one between the two. So, while repairs are going on, I decided to get a RottenDog 9211 MPU. That way I can now tell that all of the gremlins that were appearing had nothing to do with the playfield and everything to do with the MPU with issues. Once I confirmed that all of the switches and solenoids on the playfield were good, it was time to strip it down for a hard top. There was a lot of wear in the middle of the playfield so, for me, it's just a piece of wood.

IMG_20191228_112948 (resized).jpgIMG_20191228_112948 (resized).jpg

Sanding... Sanding...
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And more sanding
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Once sanded, I hit the inserts with some thin superglue. I'll be able to polish them to a shine, working my way up to 3000 grit.
IMG_20191228_154313 (resized).jpgIMG_20191228_154313 (resized).jpg

The hard top is waiting.
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#6 4 years ago

Inserts sanded to 3000 grit and polished to a shine.
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#10 4 years ago

Hard top on. I'm not gonna lie, there's a bit of stress when installing it. It wasn't bad, but the one shot nature of it makes it scary.

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1 week later
#12 4 years ago

Clear bodies and transparent red skirts sure look nice with upgraded lights.

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#14 4 years ago

I tried out some flame polishing today. I think it turned out quite well.

Before:
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After:
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Installed:
IMG_20200109_133844 (resized).jpgIMG_20200109_133844 (resized).jpg

#17 4 years ago
Quoted from jaytrem:

Wow, that ramp looks new!

Getting the damn decal on the ramp was worse than flame polishing it. In that area there's a lot of elevation change and a curve. No fun at all.

#19 4 years ago

Actually if the decal had a split backing, the installation would have been better. Or if I had taped half of it down first into position. Next time...

#22 4 years ago

This playfield is just about there.

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#23 4 years ago

I ran into a minor issue with a new corkscrew ramp from @freeplay40. I don't know if this was due the combination of using a hard top as well. The ball would rub on the underside of the ramp, right after the wireform gate.

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There is a metal tab on the left hand side on the rail. The original ramp went all the way up to this tab.
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But you can see that with new ramp, it is below the tab quite a bit.
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Now the reason that I mention that it might have something to do with the hard top is that the ramp is anchored on the playfield wood, and the ball is travelling 1/32" higher with the hard top installed. That 1/32" makes all the difference, and i don't think it would rub otherwise.

My solution to this was using a hole that was in the hard top, right under the edge of the ramp. None of my three playfields have this location filled with anything, so I placed a double starpost in there with a ring on it. The ramp sits on the ring and just slightly lifts it so the ball travels easily underneath it.
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5 months later
#25 3 years ago

Such a long time and no posts. That's just because it was cabinet time, and i needed warmer weather.

So here's a little tidbit:

Before
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After
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#27 3 years ago
Quoted from RGarriott:

Its amazing what alittle paint does.

And a new piece of wood. Once that board gets gross, there's no cleaning it. Any surface scratch and the fibers start mushrooming out .

#30 3 years ago

I'll throw in a cooked burger when i put this one up for sale. In fact I'll be including beef will all machines i sell from now on.

#32 3 years ago

Old paint. Acetone makes it all slide away. You can almost see a kid with an ice cream cone.

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#33 3 years ago

Fun with resin. Fixing up some corners, dings and dents.

Pieces of waxed hardwood flooring make great dams when clamped in place.
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If you're ever fixing corners, Nerf darts fit perfectly into the bolt holes and they pop right off the resin.
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#34 3 years ago

Another nice looking panel:

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#36 3 years ago
Quoted from Lathroum:

Where did you find a decal for the ramp?

Mine came with the project machine.

Ministry of pinball has them.

1 week later
#37 3 years ago

New bottom for the cabinet.

The old cabinet bottom was ready to fall out. The groove that was cut in the side panels was cracking through to the bottom.
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I ripped the edge out complete and removed the old bottom. It was really nasty inside anyways.
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After painting the inside of the cabinet, I routed the edge to a consistent dimension then cut and prepped the new bottom.
I used 3/8" square strips to replace the removed wood, nailed and glued it in place and then filled any gaps with bondo. Once painted, it looks like the original wood is still in place.
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When all was said and done, It looked much better than the original and was solid again.
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#38 3 years ago

I was stressing about stenciling my machine. I had never done it before, and the nature of the stencils makes it a one shot deal. Screw it up and you're buying new stencils. I had painted the cabinet black and let it sit for a few days to let the paint completely cure. I started with the head, just as a warm up. I did both sides at the same time, leaving it vertical. Thin layers = no drips.

First stencil on
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Mask off everything else.
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Light coat of white since it's yellow over black
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Couple layers of yellow
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Wait 10 min and pull of the mask, leaving the squares for alignment
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Wait 2 days then put the mask on for the orange layer, lining up the existing squares with the square holes in the next layer.
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Couple shots of Orange.
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Head is done.
IMG_20200728_125012 (resized).jpgIMG_20200728_125012 (resized).jpg

#40 3 years ago
Quoted from jaytrem:

The orange stuff looks great! Are you keeping original paint on one side of the cab?

Everything is repainted. Too many scratches, initials carved in, dings, dents, chips...

#41 3 years ago

And a side

Line up the first stencil. Tape it a few inches in, trim off the back and start sticking it down, lower front corner first.
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First layer down
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Top peeled off and everything else masked off.
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Light layer of white.
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two layers of yellow.
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Wait 10 minutes and peel it off.
IMG_20200726_154143 (resized).jpgIMG_20200726_154143 (resized).jpg

Orange Layer:
Apply the mask
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Light layer of white.
IMG_20200729_124227 (resized).jpgIMG_20200729_124227 (resized).jpg
First layer of orange
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Second Layer of orange, then extra masking removed.
IMG_20200729_125823 (resized).jpgIMG_20200729_125823 (resized).jpg
Start removing the mask. I decided to stip of the top and bottom first, to cover the most area with no small pieces.
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And done.
IMG_20200729_130251 (resized).jpgIMG_20200729_130251 (resized).jpg

#44 3 years ago

Sometimes a few wisps of paint fall of the stencil and leave marks.
IMG_20200729_130255 (resized).jpgIMG_20200729_130255 (resized).jpg
While the paint is still wet, a little naptha on a q-tip will clean it right up. Unfortunately, I didn't learn this until the first layer was already down and dried. So i have a few touch-ups to do on the black with some yellow wisps.
IMG_20200729_130639 (resized).jpgIMG_20200729_130639 (resized).jpg

#45 3 years ago
Quoted from bssbllr:

Yep you were right. Glad you were the guy to rescue those machines. I would have never been able to do all that. It looks great.

This is really my first shot taking a game in the condition that it arrived in and going this far with it. It's definitely a learning experience.

1 month later
#47 3 years ago

Just a little bit of resin needed on this side of the cab

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2 weeks later
#48 3 years ago

Cabinet #2

IMG_20200918_190355 (resized).jpgIMG_20200918_190355 (resized).jpg

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