I wasn't originally going to post this. But? What the heck! I'm a budget pinball guy! Like? I have no extra cash right now! Just moved New baby, etc....So everything I own is a huge project or just a mess! I picked up a Simpsons that is just nasty!!! Mouse pee, mold, water damage, etc..... Everything in the back box is Gone! No back glass, not one circuit board! the PF was a mess. I thought I would get the machine then just pick at it and hope that I'll find all the parts as I get a little cash here and there............

The PF was my first attempt at restoring one. It came out.....Usable. I'm not proud of it because I know I could do a better job with some real supplies. I used what I had laying around. I did have createx paint and an airbrush, but very little masking supplies...

Anyhow, just thought I'd post it for some of you other budget builder guys to see that were not all Professionals out here...lol

some of my color matches are off, poor outlining, I used cheapo home depot spray rust-oleum acrylic Enamel clear, and still have to do another coat, it did some lifting on me on the first coat, I'm wet sanding it to try another another day when it's nice and sunny out...

some of the white in the holes is the dust/slime left over from wet sanding, I just took a couple quick garage pics to post.

Ok, here are some pics of my hack job! I always get them out of order..But you'll get the idea!

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Here are some before pics...I don't really consider this a true restoration, just fixed up... I don't have any in between pics,but after cleaning and sanding a lot more of it ended up in a flaky pile on the floor..My first attempt at painting I pulled more of it off with the masking tape...It was a battle the whole way through and toward the end I was just getting burnt out on it. That's another reason why it sits sanded waiting for more clear, had to walk a way for a few...haha

OH!! And some advice just in case someone doesn't know! I learned a few lessons while trying to do this. One is.......Do NOT use newspaper to mask with! It made a mess! I could read the ads on my fresh paint!! It was awesome!! Not really!..... Don't use cheap dollar store type masking tape either.....another mess....your better off using the tape you wrap gifts with, it will also work for some of the lines. not ideal but does work if your just looking around the house for stuff to use, it's kind of a pain too,sometimes it comes off in little pieces and leaves glue, I just cleaned the glue off with a little naptha I had.You have to be real quick with it. but works...

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Thanks every one!! I put the Simpsons aside for now, and started on a Mr and Mrs pac man since it's complete. So maybe that playfield will be next..I had a blast doing it even with the problems I had with it. The next one will go smoother since I learned a list of things not to do.

That cabinet above looks great!! My is rough! Someone colored on the side of it, wrote their own sayings, etc... Oh! And smells like dead mice, mixed with mouse pee and mold! It's just great! There is some mystery sticky stuff in there too!

The Play field guide at the top of the thread is awsome! But I'm the kind of person that can read until I pass out and it doesn't sink in until after I do it and mess up. Now, If I go back and read the guide it will make more sense.....Vids guide covers it all.

Hours? Who knows! Days and days of playing around!! First I tried to draw back all the lines, took a few days. Only to have them all pull off when I removed my first masking. Then I remembered in the guide it said something about locking all the loose stuff down with a coat of clear. I sanded it all back down and cleared it. But, I didn't clean up or out any holes. I still have to fix some of that. Even locked down with the clear it will still pull pieces here and there. My junk masking supplies didn't help that. I also masked with news paper and it trnasfered the ink to the board. The white areas were a pain to try to get that covered back up or out!!..

Trying to match color was another one of my problems, I would have it look perfect then after I sprayed, it would be too dark. I redid the some colors two or three times and it's still a little off. The green was another pain for me. I just could not get it to match, purple and yellow the same. So, some of that was redone 2 or 3 times. I tried to brush some spots in, That doesn't really work out well, at least for me it didn't. I had the red so thick I had to scrape it all back off with an opposite end of an exacto blade, flipped in the handle. When I finally got the red close, I ended up dripping black on it by accident, (below skateboard section). It won't come out, and when I tried to cover it with red I just made a bigger mess. It's staying! I got to a point where I just started not caring. Some nights I could outline the black with a brush perfectly, then the next night I was all over the place, towards the end I just started rushing it to get it done. I had all the words drawn back perfect, but that was dumb because I didn't paint the white first, so the last time I did the words, like above the bar area, I just scribbled them in real quick.

Just a lot of dumb stuff like that the whole way through, It wasn't really planned out very well. Next time I know to sit down and try to plan out what colors are going to be painted first and go from there. I did a lot of dumb stuff not thinking about what I was going to do further ahead. The next one will go a lot quicker and a lot smoother.

Then at the end, The junk clear I'm using, or maybe even something I did, curled my white and blue almost instantly, the other colors were ok if the clear dried quick. But for some reason the white was really touchy. I said the heck with it at that point, let it dry, sanded then put another coat of clear. So, by the end I was just burnt out on it. Redoing, junk masking supplies, etc.....

The paint is a whole other learning phase, what to put down for a base, thickness, thinning, air pressure, all seemed to change my color. That's something I need more practice with.

Oh, And if this was something that I highly valued I wouldn't use the junk clear. This was a practice project, and the game needs so many parts, I just thought I would play around and try to learn on this play field. That and money is really tight right now, so I had to find something to work and practice on. I have a couple other games I want to do the right way. I don't want to start those until I have better supplies.

added....Another I noticed, color would match in one area, but not in another. It just depends what is faded out more. I know it's common sense, but was something I never really thought about until I was trying to match. either paint all one color or match it to each section. some I did, and others I said the heck with it!