I originally tried diamond in the paint can as a brush-on. It was a disaster: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/clear-diamond-finish-alternative-to-spraymax-2k#post-5064449

So I tried it just for inserts. It was a disaster also: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/clear-diamond-finish-alternative-to-spraymax-2k#post-5076979

One of the posters thought it was because the paint-on product is different from the spray-on. So for my next one I decided to use only spray-on. But it’s not working either...grrr

I think I will give it a coat of spraymax as a new base to work with and see if that changes things.

The lighter color of the yellowy skin is the result of the flash differences. You can see in the later pics that it is still a pretty deep yellow. The lack of swirls is real, it took some deep cleaning and elbow-grease but I was able to pretty much eliminate the swirls. However as you can see from the pic, it also tends to remove some loose flakes, resulting in uneven results.

Progress has been made. After re-touching up the black that was destroyed after the last try, I sprayed a light coat of SprayMax 2k (from the spraycan) into the unused area at the bottom of the playfield, after a minute with no visible reaction I sprayed the whole pf. It appears to be ok, I don't see any puckering/dimpling anywhere. I missed the 15-minute flash period so I have the heaters on and will do another coat tonight.

In other news, I have made real progress on the spinner. The original was pretty worn.After scanning it in, I cleaned up the image in photoshop and sent it to the Cameo for cutting. It was put on the freshly base-coated spinner and it looks pretty darn good!img-191030162404-001 (resized).jpg IMG_4793 (resized).jpgIMG_4794 (resized).jpg

Some progress but still a long way to go.

Since I have been having so many problems with the diamond clear, I junked it and I sprayed on a thick coat of spraymax 2K. I don't know if its surface tension or what but it refuses to flow down into the cracks around the inserts. Looks like its time to drip into the cracks.
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I have to admit, I enjoy the playfield touchups but NOT the clearcoating process. 2 days ago I dripped clear into the cracks.

And, surprise surprise, it made lots of bubbles but flowed OUT of the cracks. sigh...Here you can see the drip area but still the cracks are only partially filledDSC00182 (resized).jpgIMG_4814 (resized).jpg

Today I carefully sanded it down, lost some black paint again, and re-droppered the clear into the cracks, sometimes it took 3 times as the cracks would slowly reappear.

Here is the "Shoot Again" light, after sanding, after the 1st dropper and the crack re-appeared, after the 3rd dropper.. I hope its gone for good.DSC00187 (resized).jpg
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Today I sanded the playfield down again (a very nerveracking process) until the paint started to go. I have obviously reached the point where I am not making any progress, as the "Shoot Again" light, after sanding down to the point where its starting to get the paint around the edge still looks like this:DSC00195-cropped (resized).jpg

Whatever process I am using does not work so thats going to be it. All of the arrows have their black edge paint gone and still have dropped edges so I am going to sand the playfield down as smooth as I can, put a final coat on it, polish it and leave it. I've reached the point where I am done with it.

update, I took a break and ordered a gallon of 2-part clear and threw my expired (but still full) $30 can of spraymax2k into the garbage...sigh

The new stuff is definitely thicker and I had high hopes when I dripped it on, however after a couple of days, it sank into the cracks as well.DSC00198 (resized).JPGDSC00199-cropped (resized).jpgDSC00200-cropped (resized).jpg

Despite this, its better than it was in most cases and I went ahead and sanded them all down as best as I could. I have to say it is an immensly scary procedure, taking a sanding block to your playfield, knowing that you have to get it smooth but if you sand down a 1/1000 of an inch too far you can sand down into the color and ruin the playfield.

Still, I am ready to open another $30 can of spraymax2k and lay down a good layer over the playfield and see how it looks, I am hopeful it will be decent enough that all I will need is a light sanding and then a final coat ready for polishing.DSC00203 (resized).JPGDSC00204 (resized).JPGDSC00205 (resized).JPG

I have made real progress. Its getting close.
I was too worried about sanding through the clear and ruining the paint, so I decided to put another coat of clear on the playfield. I put a pretty thick coat on and it came out pretty amazing. DSC00207 (resized).JPGDSC00209 (resized).JPG

I really only have 2 areas of concern now, around the dang "Shoot Again" insert, its still got quite a noticable divot, also for some reason the flash insert developed an arc of bubbles that will need to be addressed, other than that I think I am close!
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It was a thick coat of spraymax, about 1/2 of the can. Seems to have worked great. Its in the low 40's around here, 30's at night so I have set up a system where I run a space heater inside my paint booth in the garage and then open the garage door 1 foot and have 2 desk fans blowing out into the night. I have to worry about critters coming in but it keeps the table in the 70's or 80's all night!

After sanding it down, things are looking great. There are only 3 spots left that need a bit of work. I wouldn't have even done them but the "Shoot Again" still really needs some work:
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So, I set it all up again (mixed up the 2 part clear into a tiny cup) and dribbled some clear into the spots. We will see how it looks overnight after the clear dries.
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I don't want to make a 10000 post thread about my inserts...lol...so this is the last one about them.

Today, I checked on the clear, it had sunk down into the cracks again. The inserts are solid and its not dripping through, bizarre.IMG_4833 (resized).jpg

After sanding it down, the crack around the insert is still obvious:IMG_4837 (resized).jpg

I sanded it all the way down through the paint...sighIMG_4839 (resized).jpg

I don't know what is happening but its obviously not going to be fixed, so this is the end for this. I re-touched up the black and tomorrow I am putting the final coat of clear to be polished.IMG_4840 (resized).jpg

Interesting idea, decals are not strong, but it might hold up enough to allow a clear coat over it.

Update coming in a couple days. I’ve pushed paint into the crack with brushes, I’ve pushed clear into the crack with q-tips...nothing seems to work. So I am trying a decal to cover it up. The decal is on and currently drying and looks to have bridged the gap. Since there is no strength to it, I need to spray a good layer of clear over it.. that will happen soon. I will post pics

2 steps forward, 1 step back....sigh

Giving up on using clear, I tried @mrm_4's suggestion and created a waterslide decal on the laser printer. I laid it down with plenty of fluid and it seemed to have gone on well, covering the crack and not looking too bad. I was worried about the juice used to get the decal to lay flat but when it dried it was almost gone and after a naptha wipedown it was completely gone.
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Thanks to mrm_4 again about using light coats of clear over the decal to start, so I spent sunday watching football and racing out during commercials, putting on all my protective gear, putting a light coat of paint on for 15 seconds, then reversing the process. I laid down 3 light coats of clear and let it dry overnight in my heated paint "tent"

It would appear to have worked, the decal area is covered over quite nicely and although it is raised ever so slightly, that is easily sanded down to flat.DSC00220-cropped (resized).jpg

What I started to sand it down, I noticed everything was bumpy, almost like a sandy texture and it covered the table!DSC00222-cropped (resized).jpg

My guess is that my can of spraymax2K finally expired. I had been keeping it in the fridge (much to my wifes dismay) but I guess it was too long.

I sanded the whole table down with 400 grit but I had to be careful as the decals only had 3 light coats over them and if I sanded into them the result would look terrible. So I did the best I could:DSC00225-cropped (resized).jpg

Then I opened my 3rd can of spraymax2k ($150 in clear between the cans of spraymax and the can of 2-part drippable clear) and put on a thick coat. I hope this is it, we will see how it looks tomorrow!

Looking back over the thread, it looks like I opened it 10 days ago.. one of the issues in having a problem is the time clock on the cans.... oh well.

I would call yesterdays coat of clear a qualified success. Of my two trouble spots, the "SHoot Again" looks quite good, I think it will sand down flat and be ok. The "Super Flash" crinkled up around the exact spot of the decal. Hopefully there is a thick enough coat of clear on it I can sand it flat.

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Posting an in-progress update. Although the garage is currently torn up to make a Christmas present, I needed to check the state of the playfield before my can of clear expired. I sanded it down with 400 grit and discovered that the "pucker" factor (see above) was not down into the clear in any meaningful way. After a sanding with 400 grit, it looks good to continue and try to get it polished. I can (finally) throw away my can(s) of clear!!!

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Well, it took 89 days (How in the world does HEP do 3 of these per week?) but I am happy to report that my Flash playfield is finished.

Having sanded to 400 grit earlier, I spent 3 hours sanding at 800 then 1000,1500,2000,2500 - with a significant amount of the clear being sanded off with each step. I have to admit, I was a bit depressed at 2500 grit when it wasn't very shiny, I felt I had done something wrong and had no real idea what. I decided to run the polisher on half of it so I could get a comparison pic and post to see what ideas anyone had.

A while back, per a post on HEP's thread I purchased Meguiar's and then did some research to see what color pad was the proper one. You have to be careful, some colors are "cutting" discs and some are "polishing" ones. It turns out "yellow" is the proper disc (or possibly black) for polishing. Anyway, I set it all up, ran it for a while and darn if it didn't look good!

With real excitement I did the rest and although it is not perfect, it is really good and i believe the playfield is done!
800 gritlook how much comes off with each step2500 grit, not shiny yetnice and shiny!

Thanks guys. Currently prepping it for repopulation.. all the holes need the wax and gunk cleaned out. Interestingly, there are still dips around the inserts. Not enough to worry about but there

A few pictures of how it turned out before I start putting things back on the playfield.restored bottom halfrestored top half

I have learned a bunch of things for the next time.

Interestingly, the divot around the "shoot again" never did fill in, it is still visible if you look closely for it. Also, there was a weird crinkling effect that happened in a couple of spots. Although I sanded it down and filled over it, it is still visible if you look carefully at the 5000 point light, and the 10,000 point light shows scratches that I don't really know where they came from:wierd ringsscratches and crinkles visible

Still,
I am happy with it, the black areas are black again, the ball swirls are gone, the playfield is flat and it is so much better than it was and I feel it is quite acceptablethe fully restored playfield

Work continues on re-installing on the underside. Its not as sexy-looking as I did not trust my ability to get everything re-wired back up so I didn't replace/polish every single piece. I did the major assembilies such as the dropdowns, flippers and pop bumpers but the rest are mostly just cleaning and adjusting every contact.
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