Medusa
Bally, 1981Quoted from RVH:I've never met TigerLaw or Pavball but I have got a feeling this is not going to be TigerLaws game.
You are right!! This one is mine and will have its very own room in the house!! 
I'll allow TigerLaw to play it any time he wants though. 
Christopher is also doing TigerLaw's TAF and that one will be his. 
We are both so very excited!!
Playfield and playfield parts prep today.
Starting with a CPR gold and working from there.
The original Medusa playfield I have here has a much longer and more pronounced shooter lane so I am changing the CPR to be more in tune with that.
I do not know in this case if it is crucial but I do know I am better off to address it now . I am going to take it to the edge of but not into the art so it will be a slight comprise .
Shooter lane further defined and compared to another CPR Medusa pf here in house.
Also have a few inserts cracking out.
Not knocking CPR on any of this stuff I am thankful for the playfields but just detailing how I am going from point A to point B on this project and what some of my personal objectives are.
I dread dealing with the rollover inserts on this one during assembly but to minimize it I am taking care not to add anymore clear to the already present problem.
The method is to mask them with handles I can pull off while clearing so they are only dusted towards the end of the application.
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Apron will take a bit of work but since we can't get the good apron decals anymore I have no choice but to rework the original.
It isn't bad but not perfect either.
I would like to just clear it and work from there but it has some larger bare metal spots so I need to base it a bit before clear.Just doesn’t make sense to clear over bare metal. Same go's for the spinner.
Quoted from beelzeboob:How'd you match the color so well, Chris?
I do it by eye with the various paints and toners I have here.It is the same paint uswd on the cabinet once I settled back into the factory scheme..Honestly this is not a hard color to match compared to many.
When I used to paint cars for a living it was a daily event so just second nature at this point.
Since I am sticking with the original paint scheme I am going to try to eliminate the stainless on there.
First step ia modifying a rail set prior to powdercoat or paint.
Of note I did buy a correct set from Marco but they were paper thin,flimsy and don't line up quite right. They force the back of the rail to the very back edge of the cabinet almost beyond and give a little more gap than desired in the front.
The alignment is a mix of the rails hole being off and my cabinet holes being just a touch further apart by design.The factory hole come close to overlapping.
Anyway this is all in the name of an extra 1/8 inch or so but I really like an even bordering of the rails front and back.
First are the factory cabinet holes.
Then my cabinet holes.Just a touch wider so we don't end up with the blow out in the factory cab.
After that the Marco rail fit which would be fine but not my ideal.
I have a much thicker and more robust set of standard rails from Pinball life.
It is not a fun process but I am going to drill it to better fit and align with my project.
After drilling and working the metal I have it fit and the alignment is more ideal with a more even fit front and back.
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Going the powder coat route on trim.I will probably wait to get that back before picking the gold shade for the stencil.
One thing I want to be sure of since I decided on this is that I eliminate all traces of the stainless on the outside.This means everything down to the coin door frame bolts.
There is a lot there to inventory pack and ship.
I do have a local source but really prefer to deal with pinball people because the better understand the application. I find that when I deal outside of the hobby people might make the wrong side look good,bend things up stuff like that.
Pinball guys usually recognize the parts better.
The other thing about having it all powdered is that I can sand paint and clear over that if needed not as easily done over stainless
So, the original cabinet was like rotten/termite victim/other major fault or you are just doing this just because? Usually people dont do complete cabinet swaps without there being something horribly wrong with the original.
Quoted from Luzur:So, the original cabinet was like rotten/termite victim/other major fault or you are just doing this just because? Usually people dont do complete cabinet swaps without there being something horribly wrong with the original.
This is the highest of the high end restore.....everything as good or better than a machine coming off the line brand new. Hence the new cabinet. Chris has posted the used cabs for sale in the past at a reasonable price.
Quoted from Luzur:So, the original cabinet was like rotten/termite victim/other major fault or you are just doing this just because? Usually people dont do complete cabinet swaps without there being something horribly wrong with the original.
Why waste a ton of time cleaning up an original cabinet when a repro is better in every way?
Quoted from Luzur:So, the original cabinet was like rotten/termite victim/other major fault or you are just doing this just because? Usually people dont do complete cabinet swaps without there being something horribly wrong with the original.
Well it was the first game I ever found a dead frog in.
http://christopherhutchins.com/gallery/album681
Quoted from High_End_Pins:Well it was the first game I ever found a dead frog in.
Had the frog turned to stone?
Quoted from RVH:Had the frog turned to stone?
It was more like dried wood.
You know the funny thing is as things age or deteriorate they always do the opposite of what you want.
The cabinet got soft and flimsy ,the frog got hard and rigid.
Once I get everything back from powder coating this will take back off.
Decided to wait on the final paint for the cabinet so I can hopefully perfectly match the stencil color to the powdered trim,
.If not damn close without guessing.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:You know the funny thing is as things age or deteriorate they always do the opposite of what you want.
The cabinet got soft and flimsy ,the frog got hard and rigid.
No, that's about right.
Gorgeous work. Two questions:
1) Did you get the modified/updated stencils from Jeff at Pimball Pimp for the head?
2) What kind of color did you go for? Brand?
The Gold color is ten times better than the one used by Bally, 36 years ago.
Yves
did I miss something? what happened with the stone look? or was it not working out and decided to go more original looking?
Quoted from CaptainNeo:did I miss something? what happened with the stone look? or was it not working out and decided to go more original looking?
From Post 89: I decided my best bet was to go back to the original general scheme and work from there. It will still be unique but not at the expense of good taste. The reasons that I am heading back to factory scheme are that I could not get a combo on this particular game that works for both the playfield and the backglass.
Beautiful job as always Chris!
The lone plastic part must be properly prepped and primed for plastic painting if you want it to last .
The metal has to be etch primed prior to base application. If this were a larger area or something like a car it would need a bit more than that but for these and the application it is an extra step but not overkill.
Quoted from jwilson:Why waste a ton of time cleaning up an original cabinet when a repro is better in every way?
Cause there not. Period. How many repro's have you used ?
Quoted from Classic_Stern:Cause there not. Period. How many repro's have you used ?
These are .I have used about 80 so far.
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Lake Charles, LA
Toronto, ON
