Doctor Who
Bally, 1992Restoring a DW, going to post pics to my restore here. If you have any questions please ask. I am an amature restorer, this game is being done for myself. Thank Sierra Nevada for my broken English.
Thanks to Chris Hutchins for the stellar playfield.
Quoted from Goner:Beautiful playfield with great clearcoat. Was the playfield restored or new? I'll watch with interest as I try to get my DW working again.
Restored. http://christopherhutchins.com/gallery/album501
One thing I want to stress to people is how doable a playfield reassembly is. Frankly the hard work is done in the restoring, I am just reassembling the playfield. If you have an attention to detail this is something that anyone can do. This will be my 6th playfield swap or reassembly.
I used to play a DW at 3rd st. Diner when I was in college. I worked as a bartender in undergraduate school and after work we would head out to an after hours club. Around 6am we would roll out to the diner. They always had a pin but the one I remember was DW. I would play it plastered out of mind until my breakfast came. Fking daleks.
I don't know why I chose DW to be my next pin but it is one that was on my radar and popped up locally for a decent price(in todays inflated market). I am paying for almost all of the restore off of money I made selling my remote battery holders. I don't have a ton of money to go towards the hobby, I have a couple of young kids that I'd much rather spend my money on, so doing little things like the holders and playfield rails keep me in this hobby.
I don't like playing on beat to shit games so the first thing I did was text Chris(HEP) to see if he would do the playfield and after saying yes I couldn't tear the playfield apart fast enough.
I haven't done shit with this game but once the playfield landed earlier than expected it is time to get into high gear.
Thanks again to Chris Hutchins. His work is always an inspiration and I frankly feel lucky to consider him a friend, his consideration towards how a game plays is often lost on how he can make a game look.
My apologies for the rambling. I'm into my third beer and am waxing nostalgic on some old DC hardcore.
Will do. I am trying to get as much cleaned as possible before reassembly and made some new oak playfield stiffeners. On my last swaps I would try to clean and reassemble a couple of mechs a night but with the ultrasonic being so efficient I am cleaning all mech parts and then will rebuild them all at once.
I've added this thread to my favorites. Please keep updating it for us. Amazing clear on that play field!
Flattered. Chris' clearcoat is amazing. The one problem that I have with such a nice playfield is that you want everything to meet that standard which I frankly cannot afford. I'm doing this restore on a shoestring budget so trying to reuse as much as I can.
Close up of a reflection in the clear
I'm having my Doctor Who get a make over and clear coat in November/December. I was partially on the fence about it but seeing that clear got me 100% off the fence.
There is no way I could put back all the nuts:bolts:wires: mecks: electronics. I even asked my Tech, and he is good to tear down my MB . He said no way man ,could not pay me enough. So good for the people that are able /have space to restore pinball.
Quoted from TigerLaw:I'm having my Doctor Who get a make over and clear coat in November/December. I was partially on the fence about it but seeing that clear got me 100% off the fence.
Quoted from TigerLaw:I'm having my Doctor Who get a make over and clear coat in November/December. I was partially on the fence about it but seeing that clear got me 100% off the fence.
Yeah, mine will probably have to be down for a while. Gonna do my P-ROCing first though. My goal would be to have mine restored, reprogrammed, and completely awesome by next June for the Expo in Atlanta.
Quoted from RobKnapp:There is no way I could put back all the nuts:bolts:wires: mecks: electronics. I even asked my Tech, and he is good to tear down my MB . He said no way man ,could not pay me enough. So good for the people that are able /have space to restore pinball.
Tiger Law were or who does the work on your restored pinballs ? Thanks Rob
Keith Hollbrook is doing my Sorcerer right now. Really great top level work from what I have seen in the pics.
Quoted from shimoda:Yeah, mine will probably have to be down for a while. Gonna do my P-ROCing first though. My goal would be to have mine restored, reprogrammed, and completely awesome by next June for the Expo in Atlanta.
Care to extrapolate on the new programming? Very interesting.
Quoted from TaylorVA:Care to extrapolate on the new programming? Very interesting.
Agreed. This isn't a game with a ton of shots. Not sure what to improve on exactly. More use and integration of the W and H shot would be awesome though.
Quoted from shimoda:When I get a chance to get started and have any progress I'll start a new thread for the P-ROCification of DW.
Your news is a lot more exciting than my restore thread. Feel free to hijack! : )
Out of interest Taylor, I finally got around to installing my Dr Who decals the other day.
My Dr was pretty mint, just faded (like most) so the cabinet didn't need stripping back.
The cabinet didn't even have a lock down bar installed. No filler required with this one.
I got a set of legs blasted and Powdercoated metallic charcoal. Like the original grey legs but upgraded 
Here's a few pics of it. Not the best pics but you get the idea ...
rd.
So pretty I got my wobble head kit today, but I have to wait until Monday to install it (birthday party tomorrow, so I want them all up and running for the kids)
I was thinking of getting some blue legs for mine - I had to replace the legs on an old bingo, and went with red ones to match the cab, and they look so nice.
Nice RD! Did you apply the decals yourself? Did you do it wet or dry? Did you sand or coat the old decals at all?
Quoted from accidental:Nice RD! Did you apply the decals yourself? Did you do it wet or dry? Did you sand or coat the old decals at all?
I get a local signwriter to help me with the stickers. Big stickers scare me
Cabinet got a light sand all over. Around the leg area was a little damaged so that area got a good sand. Decals went right over the top, no indentations or anything.
If the cabinet was damaged in any way, it'd get stripped right back to timber. But in this case it didn't need it.
rd.
Quoted from rotordave:Out of interest Taylor, I finally got around to installing my Dr Who decals the other day.
My Dr was pretty mint, just faded (like most) so the cabinet didn't need stripping back.
The cabinet didn't even have a lock down bar installed. No filler required with this one.
I got a set of legs blasted and Powdercoated metallic charcoal. Like the original grey legs but upgraded
Here's a few pics of it. Not the best pics but you get the idea ...
rd.
RD- thanks for posting the pics. I like the legs. I usually stick to stock as the rest of my lineup is all SS and I'm a bit of a cheap ass when it comes to stuff like that. Thanks for the help btw, cheers!
Playfield is coming along slowly but coming along. I hope to get some time in tonight so will try to snap a few pics.
"So good for the people that are able /have space to restore pinball."
I agree, it's hard to do a full resto with limited space, but a PF swap? Nah. I did my Space Shuttle PF swap completely inside my 900 sq. ft. condo that me, my two kids, and my wife live in, and we had 3 pins at the time. Just gotta use tupperware containers and take a lot of pics. Would've been SUPER easy if I had not had to resolder everything on the game, and drill all the holes. Using a NOS or restored playfield has got to be a billion times easier and faster.
Looks great rotordave!
One thing that has always bothered me about DW is the dull colours printed on the apron. I made some free play cards that extend artwork from the DW logo decal in the middle but they looked stupid because the apron colours were so dull but the cards were bright.
I'm going to make some new decals that bring those colours up to match the cabinet art. I'll print them on static cling vinyl so they aren't a permanent mod.
Quoted from accidental:Looks great rotordave!
One thing that has always bothered me about DW is the dull colours printed on the apron. I made some free play cards that extend artwork from the DW logo decal in the middle but they looked stupid because the apron colours were so dull but the cards were bright.
I'm going to make some new decals that bring those colours up to match the cabinet art. I'll print them on static cling vinyl so they aren't a permanent mod.
Sounds cool. If you make some extra sets lmk.
Quoted from rotordave:I got mine finished the other day Taylor
New decals, new cabinet rails, Powdercoated legs, painted door ... I shopped the PF last year so I didn't need to do that
I just need to get a new "launch ball" button cause my one is busted.
rd.
RD, thanks for the inspiration. I need to get cracking.
Quoted from TaylorVA:RD, thanks for the inspiration. I need to get cracking.
It only took Malcolm 3 years to do the decals and me 1 year to put them on
rd.
I saw these transparent cards, you get an LED kid from them that goes below it. Seems like they would look pretty cool installed.
Card1: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/doctor-who-custom-card-transparent-p-3616.html?language=english
Card2: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/doctor-who-custom-card-transparent-p-3615.html?language=english
LED card kit (blue, there are other colors): http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/noflix-pinball-card-bally-williams-blue-illuminated-p-2911.html?language=english
I saw these transparent cards, you get an LED kid from them that goes below it. Seems like they would look pretty cool installed.
Card1: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/doctor-who-custom-card-transparent-p-3616.html?language=english
Card2: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/doctor-who-custom-card-transparent-p-3615.html?language=english
LED card kit (blue, there are other colors): http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/noflix-pinball-card-bally-williams-blue-illuminated-p-2911.html?language=english
I wish they also had an instruction card to balance it out. Looks cool though.
Out of order but put got the GI harness in..
My dining room table looks like your workbench, but not as tidy. I'm doing up my mpf too. You have probably already said, but how have you got all the metal so shiny?
I ran everything through my ultrasonic cleaner first. For larger parts I would do one half at a time. I then used Liberty polish to polish all parts. For the motor housing I also used 000 steel wool.
I tried it but actually like the contrast of the black. What I should have done was paint the screw heads that hold the opto carrier in place flat black.
It does look good the way you have it. Mine was very faded, or I needed to clean it better.
Let me know how the colored sleeves work for you. I had some blue one's on my post and went back to the black because I didn't like the crazy ball action I was getting.
If you haven't read this already, check it out. A nice backstory on DW.
http://home.comcast.net/~pfutz/UnofficialDoctorWhoPinballHistory/index.html
Quoted from Barron:If you haven't read this already, check it out. A nice backstory on DW.
http://home.comcast.net/~pfutz/UnofficialDoctorWhoPinballHistory/index.html
Thanks for posting that.
The approach to making DW seems so unique for a title that you'd figure would be less popular in the states. I remember it being on as a kid but never got into it.
I do remember playing the game on location in the 90's. I tended bar and there was an after hours club we would hit from from 3-6am. Afterwards we would get breakfast at a diner in downtown Richmond which had DW. I'd get my breakfast and sit it next to me while I played, good times.
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Houston, TX
Upper Hutt
Shepparton
