(Topic ID: 207974)
I feel like I have to paint all the bare wood now to make up for this which is killing me. Not sure if a wood filler wood correct this, especially with how it would react to clear coat, and how the wood darkens and brings out the grain when the clear is applied. I think wood filler would be an even more obvious spot.
You can shellac and color the wood finish again. Look in vid1900's playfield restoration thread.. it's covered a few times.
If you are going to be touching up the rest of the playfield (based upon the bigger last pic you posted) just lightly airbrush some wood color paint over that top wood area. Clearcoat with the rest and no one will ever be the wiser....
Lenoir City, TN
Wondering if a color matched (wood color that is) paint would look just as good as the natural. It would be even toned for sure
^^ what he said too 
I wouldn't even know how to color match the tone of wet wood versus dry. The wood almost looks white but when I run naphtha on it the color gets significantly darker. I feel like the paint idea would work but how would I match the color? Other than constantly wiping the board down with naphtha while I mix drops of paint?
I wouldn’t add any color until I tested a small amount of oil or water based clear first to see if that brings the color back that you want.
don't be so hard on yourself. I've done all sorts of fun things like this- that at that moment- I couldn't get past them. But guess what? after a week - I forgot all about it...and enjoyed my machine. This isn't a big deal!
Purchase amber shellac flakes, follow the instructions and mix with alcohol. It will brush on and even everything out. No way would I paint that to look like wood,its difficult.
I really appreciate everyone talking me off the ledge. When I look at it I'm really wondering if a filler wood be the answer. I think what makes it so obvious is the change in texture. The surface around it is flat and super smooth but as the ply under started to come out you can see how different the surface is. phil-lee do you think the shellac flakes would even this out?
I kinda wonder if you actually sanded it down, that looks like a typical shape of a missing ply- I bet the color looks different because its clean now... unless you were really working on that one spot by hand, and very carefully to get that exact shape... this is not something you did. You certainly took down the top bit of wood and you may have exposed a lighter color but that different grain defect almost had to have been there before you started unless you saw the chunk fly while sanding... then yea... that was you 
Else, seriously, no biggie at all. You could work a bit to try to get it to match color wise, but I would not fill it unless you have a filler that will look good under clear-
Leduc, AB
Quoted from rufessor:I kinda wonder if you actually sanded it down, that looks like a typical shape of a missing ply-
Have to agree with @rufessor.
Think your playfield has a plywood plug. Like the photo below. A small plug none the less.
thplywood plug (resized).jpg
Unless you truly sanded through the top veneer.
Sana'a
Quoted from mrm_4:This is what it looked like before I started sanding. You can see the groove I was trying to flatten out.
Based on your photo it looks like you did sand through to the second layer of plywood. Luckily it is not in a ball play area and it will be mostly hidden by the upper arch.
I'm no cabinet maker, but will suggest in that lighter coloured area, filling those left to right lines with some type of wood filler. Then staining that area to closely match the top layer of plywood. Then just level it with some sort of clear finish. PM vid1900 he may have a much better response.
Looks like that was a flaw in the ply to start with. It's not terribly difficult to patch something like that with a piece of birch or maple veneer, cut to shape to cover the damage. In your case a piece with straight parallel sides, curved where it meets the paint. Hold it in place, scribe with an exacto knife, carefully chisel out to an even depth slightly less than the thickness of the patch. Glue and clamp the patch, then level by scraping and sanding. Shellac will match the color. It will look better than that original crack. PM me I can send you veneer if you don't have a source.
Quoted from Pinbee:Looks like that was a flaw in the ply to start with. It's not terribly difficult to patch something like that with a piece of birch or maple veneer, cut to shape to cover the damage. In your case a piece with straight parallel sides, curved where it meets the paint. Hold it in place, scribe with an exacto knife, carefully chisel out to an even depth slightly less than the thickness of the patch. Glue and clamp the patch, then level by scraping and sanding. Shellac will match the color. It will look better than that original crack. PM me I can send you veneer if you don't have a source.
After having a night to cry about it and get over myself I think this is the right thing to do. I feel like I would have to shellac all the wood so it would be even from top arch down to the shooter lane. Do I have to worry about clear coat adhering to the coat of shellac?
Quoted from mrm_4:After having a night to cry about it and get over myself I think this is the right thing to do. I feel like I would have to shellac all the wood so it would be even from top arch down to the shooter lane. Do I have to worry about clear coat adhering to the coat of shellac?
I'm not sure what your skill level is, but you could try and fix it and have it look worse than it does now. I'd spend another night or two thinking about it before you dive in.
If this was a $$$$$ restoration in my shop, I'd patch in a piece of maple veneer.
For a regular job, I'd level out the plug, paint it a neutral maple color, then with a stiff, almost dry brush, **paint** some fine grain onto the patch and surrounding wood.
Quoted from Darcy:Based on your photo it looks like you did sand through to the second layer of plywood. Luckily it is not in a ball play area and it will be mostly hidden by the upper arch.
I'm no cabinet maker, but will suggest in that lighter coloured area, filling those left to right lines with some type of wood filler. Then staining that area to closely match the top layer of plywood. Then just level it with some sort of clear finish. PM vid1900 he may have a much better response.
That area is in play, it's worn from the ball traveling on the upper arch. The pf isn't ruined, but will look bad without a good fix, but it's playable.
I'll either try the veneer repair or paint. However if I paint I'll probably go extreme with it and do a super dark brown. Similar to the rare plastic playfields.
Saarbrücken
Matt...you might need these for your restoration...I've done these vector graphics for my playfield restoration. I decided to cut them out of black foil resulting in really sharp deep black decals...obviously you'd have to clear coat playfield more often but I think worth the effort....drop me a pm
Good luck with your restoration - worth every minute
Greetz
Henrik
I went the extreme route... I love the original look of the wood up top, and I think that's why I got as upset as I did when I sanded too deep. But after doing this I think I actually like it better than the original look. However I know there is a special level in Hell where I'm going to be tortured by Mata Hari herself for painting it like I did.
Perhaps just a small 1/8" lip from a grindstone, with wood showing right around the hole/ball, would contrast the black? just a thought.
I wouldn’t sweat it....New Stern owners ruin their playfields as soon as they open the box it came in.
Quoted from Pinball-Dreams:Morning Pinheads,
Matt asked me to post some specific pictures of my Mata Hari with plastic playfield which we rfurbished. Happy to do that for you...pics to follow...
Quoted from mrm_4:I went the extreme route... I love the original look of the wood up top, and I think that's why I got as upset as I did when I sanded too deep. But after doing this I think I actually like it better than the original look. However I know there is a special level in Hell where I'm going to be tortured by Mata Hari herself for painting it like I did.
Wow, both of those looks snazzy! i would probably have painted the area dark red or something like that though.
Quoted from Luzur:i would probably have painted the area dark red or something like that though.
It's funny you say that, I was going to use purple until I went to touch the board with the brush and decided black. The thought was how the original red arch looks like it's cutting through the dark night sky. So I just continued/expanded the sky.
2 months later
I'll be getting my playfield back from being clear coated in the next few weeks. Does anyone know of a post or a checklist anywhere of a good order to do the swap?
Example:
1.) Lights ground braid and sockets
2.) Pop bumpers
3.) Drop target assemblies
4.) Drink a beer
5.) Side rails
and so on....
Quoted from mrm_4:I'll be getting my playfield back from being clear coated in the next few weeks. Does anyone know of a post or a checklist anywhere of a good order to do the swap?
Example:
1.) Lights ground braid and sockets
2.) Pop bumpers
3.) Drop target assemblies
4.) Drink a beer
5.) Side rails
and so on....
Answered my own question...
Found this: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/playfield-swap-guide
Thanks mof for putting this out there, this is good stuff
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