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EBD cabinet looks great. On the head, I liked when the you had the red background as it matched the back glass, but understand the challenge then with too much cream in the border compared to the lower cabinet.

The only thing that strikes me a little odd now it the red along the neck line. Tough to tell if it's all shirt or shirt + neck in the original. Seems like it's missing a little cream to highlight the flesh tone in his neck to match the lighting on his face.

Fantastic job though. What a special cabinet for the buyer.

Quoted from Jvspin:
EBD cabinet looks great. On the head, I liked when the you had the red background as it matched the back glass, but understand the challenge then with too much cream in the border.
The only thing that strikes me a little odd now it the red along the neck line. Tough to tell if it's all shirt or shirt + neck in the original. Seems like it's missing a little cream to highlight the flesh tone in his neck to match the lighting on his face.
Fantastic job though. What a special cabinet for the buyer.

It is just shadowing really.
Stencils are all about taking two or three colors and some shapes to create an idea or illusion so I try to stay true to that when I do these color changes and not over think it.
It’s all about working within the basic layout or parameters of the original.
There are some projects others have posted on here that do the more realistic mural style repaints but it isn’t what I aim to do.
I always think of it as strictly a color option. Just like you could get the same car in more than one color scheme it opens that door but it sometimes takes some sorting out.
I am thrilled with this cabinet as it setsand would be scared to even consider anymore changes.

OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
Home Depot I think.
You can probably order them in bulk somewhere which is my next plan as I started using them more and more on my black cabinet games.
First time using only black screws in them as well this time around.

I noticed the screws and was like.. just another HEP touch

Minor corrects are made. There were only two or three so that is a surprise.

image (resized).jpg

Your level of patience is unreal. I would have been sick of painting that EBD cabinet long ago. At this point it would be giving me nightmares.

Quoted from kcZ:
Your level of patience is unreal. I would have been sick of painting that EBD cabinet long ago. At this point it would be giving me nightmares.

I have an eighteen year old autistic son that chants the same phrases and ask the same questions over and over and over and over again.
That is a 10 on the patience scale.
This cabinet is a solid 5 though.

OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
I have an eighteen year old autistic son that chants the same phrases and ask the same questions over and over and over and over again.
That is a 10 on the patience scale.
This cabinet is a solid 5 though.

Hell, Chris.

I thought we'd at LEAST get you to a "7"...

Quoted from TheJerol:
Hell, Chris.
I thought we'd at LEAST get you to a "7"...

Don’t worry. I still have the conversion ahead of me

Cabinet is ready for the final clear

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First coat will be full gloss to give a nice basis to build the matte clear off of.
This coat dries faster than the matte and will slightly wick out of it as it cures.
First Clear down full gloss.

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Now for the matte clear.
Based on ratios I can dial gloss levels up or down.
I really think this cabinet and color scheme are going to show best at about 75-80% gloss levels.
That will give a nice reflective sheen but it won’t have an unnaturally wet look.
Here we have matte clear
2090F14B-7108-4A30-9256-CA179D8BA598 (resized).jpeg

Here we have straight clear
39AB8A6E-7B8C-47A2-BB0C-38B5241BAD6E (resized).jpeg

By mixing them together in certain ratios I can formulate the gloss level
The true clear is much more powerful than the matte so less of that and more of the matte is a known to me.
How much less or more depends on the application. 352ACDB0-8B1B-44A7-970C-0DE5F851B343 (resized).jpeg

Quoted from Cserold:
Looking good Chris. Where do you buy these guys?[quoted image]

I have found them in bulk at McMaster Carr, we use them a lot at work.

Final clear is down.
It will remain glossy looking until it dries overnight.
It is as flawless a job as can possibly be done straight out of the gun and that is important because sanding and polishing are not an option on s matte clear finish as that process would make it too glossy and defeat the purpose.

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Those edges make me weep with joy

OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
Final clear is down.
It will remain glossy looking until it dries overnight.
It is as flawless a job as can possibly be done straight out of the gun and that is important because sanding and polishing are not an option on s matte clear finish as that process would make it too glossy and defeat the purpose.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

That looks so awesome! I'd give my left leg and nut for this EBD, and my EBD

Quoted from Bohdi:
That looks so awesome! I'd give my left leg and nut for this EBD, and my EBD

Great!
All HEP donor cards are also matte cleared.

Night shift has checked in
Glazed with the Oil of Aphrodite

1E25EA2F-6C86-4815-9E80-2701CCC904E5 (resized).jpeg

Final details are made with the TAF project.
Going with my first ever two tone blue chrome/white button combo
Comes close to the look of the hand there.
Straight blue just wouldn’t do it.
Blue start button of course that is a great match.

image (resized).jpg

HEP-nontisserie invented this morning
It has a true lockbar receiver
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Magnetic tray holder
image (resized).jpg

Wire harness holder.
image (resized).jpg
image (resized).jpg

It is semi official.
image (resized).jpg

One of the best threads on pinside. Awesome watching you transform these games from beaters to as perfect as one can make a pinball machine.

There has to be some way for you to monetize this thread. It is amazing! I read it every single night.

Not that I don’t love Pinside, but you should be getting some advertising income for this. It is not easy to both do all this amazing work, then document it for us while fielding questions.

Thank you for the entertainment and education!

How many pins do you generally have in queue for restoration? It demand cyclical?

Quoted from Aniraf:
There has to be some way for you to monetize this thread. It is amazing! I read it every single night.
Not that I don’t love Pinside, but you should be getting some advertising income for this. It is not easy to both do all this amazing work, then document it for us while fielding questions.
Thank you for the entertainment and education!

Thanks if people enjoy the thread and I am getting paid for anything you see me working on that is good enough for me.
Life’s too short to try and chase every dollar you possibly can. I actually think I have been purposely sabotaging my own income for years.

Quoted from ToucanF16:
How many pins do you generally have in queue for restoration? It demand cyclical?

Usually 20-25 these days.
About 10 years ago it was 50 or more but I had help and we just kind of cranked them out. It was at a high level but not the same as today’s.
I slowly figured out back then that it cost more to do more and in the end I netted about the same thing so I have been working over the years to scale it back to where it is now.
It is pretty steady.

Starting to close in on the final parts and pieces of the TAF.

This rarely drags out this long but it is just one of those games where everything you look at needs help even something as simple as this opto pair.

The wires are broke or breaking. The screws are corrodedCA7A31FA-DD89-4057-86D8-CF42813CE317 (resized).jpeg

The receiver is placed in the emitter housing. That means the opto that collects the light is in the white housing when it should be in the black.
It is just cosmetic in a way but it could also make you wire a set up incorrectly. 272F97C2-A70A-4C31-B15E-B712020AFBE4 (resized).jpeg

That being the case I am making up a whole new set. 41BFAC78-A2D7-43D0-809D-C01A5D67E03E (resized).jpeg

New set built with fresh wires,tubing and connectors. 9ED18C57-8A42-4FF4-A9B1-D28CFE34C969 (resized).jpeg

Now in place with new screws C3B8D831-B6AF-4F9A-B259-34058FAEE800 (resized).jpeg

I had the metal fabricator weld a spare swamp scoop I had he did that and also assumed I wanted it powder coated with my other parts.
I wasn’t expecting that but since it was a spare I though “so what? No big deal. “
After I looked at it I was like “Hmmm that might look pretty cool since it is the swamp scoop and that shows a good bit anyway .”
I built it up and installed it.

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Now I am placing a new plastic set. D3F652F4-78E9-402C-8E00-8C882E4C2E43 (resized).jpeg

I think the jet bumper area is going to look good. First time scheme on this one so you have to think a couple steps ahead but with the plastics starting to surround I am confident in it. 0E9733F5-7055-4FA0-B370-46619B0C81D0 (resized).jpeg

I want to change the flasher dome color on the plastic stack because I think a lower profile yellow one will look better on this build image (resized).jpg

I also want to use the style without the extended legs for a little cleaner look.
image (resized).jpg

This presents a tiny challenge.
First I need to make the hole larger in the plastic.
Screwed down FAA6D41C-E796-4AA3-B7EB-AE531A8D2502 (resized).jpeg

Forstener bit is my best bet for a clean cut. E0C1F80E-9E75-4611-A031-3B7C9CA3370C (resized).jpeg

Drilled. Centering is crucial E33CD446-80C7-4B2B-806D-6FC214831627 (resized).jpeg

Looks good. A1FDDB26-095D-41E4-A9FB-66AA15AB84B1 (resized).jpeg
Check fit
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Break two tabs off the fit the little flasher board. 44958860-99BA-4DEC-9FC4-9FCE1560E8AF (resized).jpeg

Riveted and built8AE7B331-3791-4335-A34D-D985C0A2A37A (resized).jpeg

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In place.
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Yikes, I surely would have blown-up that plastic attempting to enlarge the hole, even with a Forstener bit.

nice job chris. you enlarged that hole by about 1/4", correct? not a lot of room for error given the position of the original hole

Next plastic sub assembly I want to rework is this one.
I don’t like to see wires if I can avoid it.
I also find this one comes up short in the wiring length if I route it the way I like.
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Drill the sockets off43C90E9C-7B40-4F7F-B66B-3EFCC40A55EC (resized).jpeg

Now polish them because these are best reused when possible the holder is longer and thinner than replacements now sold and fit the plastic better as a result. 9CF6439A-CFD4-4451-A40A-B226E454AD0B (resized).jpeg

Riveted onto a new plastic 19D0D5CA-F02A-45EF-AF5E-709AE695E617 (resized).jpeg

Now for the wires I generally am color coordinating the black wires because they are going to hide best. If it was orange then it is now black/orange ,red now black /red
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Now a pass through hole is drilled in both plastics of the assembly 009793B4-D113-4F08-B6BE-A6524C49858C (resized).jpegAF35E6EA-C604-4E12-AD58-15D09F47B176 (resized).jpeg

It is then built up.

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The extended and protected wiring lets me really tuck the harness in
BD538558-63C5-49E4-8345-FCBF73FA7F3C (resized).jpeg
Now in place. Cleaner looking

FAFA8BAF-BB15-4743-81F1-82A4212A71B1 (resized).jpeg

That's one place where I feel a lot Pat's WMS designs suffered; exposed wiring, switches, etc. He used a lot of those rubber switch covers which are better than nothing, but still... meh. Great job tidying things up where you can. Insane attention to detail, and relentless pursuit of a clean look.

OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
The extended and protected wiring lets me really tuck the harness in
[quoted image]
Now in place. Cleaner looking
[quoted image]

Amazing detail. Goodness.

Chris, couple of questions if I may.

1. you often mention “nicer/fuller” rivets. Where do you buy them?

2. When you cut custom ramp flaps, what do you use to cut the metal and round the corners?

Love this new thread format

Quoted from yancy:
relentless pursuit of a clean look.

This is a perfect, short description of Chris’ work. Chris, maybe the start to a new HEP tag line.

Quoted from Cserold:
Amazing detail. Goodness.
Chris, couple of questions if I may.
1. you often mention “nicer/fuller” rivets. Where do you buy them?
2. When you cut custom ramp flaps, what do you use to cut the metal and round the corners?
Love this new thread format

This is a perfect, short description of Chris’ work. Chris, maybe the start to a new HEP tag line.

The rivets usually come from Pinrestore
The undesirable ones are standard pop rivets which have a hole in them.

I cut the flap material into roughly the shape I am after then clamp it between two paint paddles and use a mini die grinder to shape it.
I think towards the beginning of this thread when I was making the Alien replacement flaps there is a slight overview of it.

scot from (pinrestore.com) is a great guy and has quite a few [must have] items for restorations all in one place

EBD cabinet has graduated from the paint shop.
Final gloss level has been approved.

image (resized).jpg

Tomorrow I will start working on. Cutting and placing the internal block work for the playfield runners and building up the new lamp panel.
That will be totally from scratch since the LE is a much different configuration.

image (resized).jpg

Back to TAF

Building the swamp plasticimage (resized).jpg

I will add a little lighting image (resized).jpg

Map it out

image (resized).jpg

Locations for the sockets are drilled and riveted.
Sockets are wired with green and green/black wiring to match the art on the plastic. image (resized).jpg

Small hole drilled for a zip tie. Black of course.

image (resized).jpg

Swamp plastic built and wired.

You can’t tell it is wired and lit really up top.

I have already added a GI tap for the connector when so wired the playfield.

image (resized).jpg

Swamp plastic placed.
When doing this it is slightly raised in the lower area so the ball will clear the bulb easily
Then tested.

image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

Added yellow covers to the green bulbs to turn them down just a notch and make the color a little better in my eyes.

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The next thing I want to do is build up the new ramp. image (resized).jpg

It is a pretty big job as far as ramps go
4 switches
3 flashers
2 lights
1 sign

In this case add lots of rusty screws and corrosion.

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Before I do anything I need to check the fit.

The thickness of the new ramp is both a blessing and s curse.
Much easier to make corrections now.

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The main frustration I run into at least half the time is the divertor dragging on the cut out.
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In order to really check this I have to screw it down as it would be when truly installed. image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

It clears well at the mounting point
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Runs very close at the end when activated though. image (resized).jpg

Another thing I want to check is the alignment of the divertor with the ramp.
Not ideal.
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The arm is adjusted/bent in a manner that solves both issues.

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Playfield can go in the cabinet now and I will wrap it up inside there.

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HEP nontisserie converted back to a workbench.
Now the ramp swapping center

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I could never buy that Addams FAmily .....cause I wouldn't want to play it to get it dirty. What a piece of ART! Speaking of Art.....I'm not a fan of paintings, but I'm in Awe looking at playfields and how they painted the playfields.

I've always disliked the smoke colored ramps. They always look dirty to me. Nice and clear is the way to go.

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HEP This Week

By High_End_Pins

5 years ago

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Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!