Snux...you are familiar with the blue I used to make the Space Station ramps with. I picked up some dark red that I may use for Swords of Fury as well as F-14.

Plastic colors.JPG

I plan to form initial prototypes in, quite appropriately, red, white (clear actually) and blue. I'm doing a couple other ramps first, then F-14.

Don't know if this would work for you... I made a playfield for my son to do some prototyping with. I carefully marked or punched where I needed to drill on the playfield. When it came time to actually do the drilling I used a 1/2" thick piece of acrylic that I had pre-drilled the various size drill bits I needed. Then when working over the playfield, I would just position the proper hole size (for the bit) over the punch or the mark with the acrylic acting as my guide. Really prevents that "slip"...worked great.

Wow!...now that you mention it!

Those pieces are actually crimped into the original plastic which is hard to duplicate. To remove them from the old plastic, I insert a soldering iron into the metal piece and warm it until it can rotate. This in turn heats the surrounding plastic. Once that plastic is warm enough the piece can be pulled out. I think some reverse the process to insert into the new plastic, but I grind the edges of the crimp back a little so that they can simply be inserted into the new plastic. Since most if not all are held in place with hardware they won't come loose.

Beautiful! Love the work you've done. Something to keep in the back of your mind if you are interested. I have F-14 on my short list for new ramps. Ramps will be either transparent blue or transparent red. I envision a lighting mod for mine that mimics running landing lights for the multi-ball locks.

A lot to figure out. I did sell the Space Station ramp in a plug and play version, but the F-14 ramp is, as you pointed out, a bit complex. What I did with the High Speed ramp was to offer assembly service where purchasers would send me the parts and I would attach them. I may do that here as well. Not a huge deal for domestic purchasers, but may be a hassle for international shipping.

So.....what's next?

All this really opens up thoughts as to how "deep" some of these older games could be made. Very cool.

Within a game or two after a complete restore and clear coat on my F-14, I broke one of the upper plastics...DOH! Fortunately I just recently found the plastic I needed from another Pinsider...He also had a complete populated diverter ramp which I also purchased to use as a model for an new transparent ramp.

Plastic protectors are pretty easy to make with some basic tools. Not sure about your hemisphere, but I can buy scrap pieces of acrylic and Lexan (polycarbonate) by the pound. You can rough cut the shape then finish the shaping on a benchtop belt sander or even a Dremel. I use 1/8" thick Lexan and if necessary, countersink for the posts. As far as in a pinball machine, the Lexan is pretty much indestructible. I'm doing a restore on a Centaur right now and will include key protectors made of Lexan.

That is frickin' awesome!

Can't wait to see what the new ramp looks like!