First off, thanks for all this work, Dave. This was my idea, but the design was actually by someone who wants to remain nameless. If he wishes to come forward, I will let him speak up. Otherwise, just know that I had the idea and a basic idea of "filling in" the hole, but didn't actually render the design.

Anyone who wants the 3D design, I will send it to them to print themselves, but I have been testing one that was printed up by TMezel. It works good and you can buy just the bracket or the whole kit here: http://mezelmods.com/collections/x-men/products/x-men-wolverine-newton-bracket

Overall, this makes the machine much more fun and less of "the Wolverine show".

great to see progress on this! i'm in for a version that works on a Pro

How does the little ball bearing stay in place? What is it (as far as ordering it from a pinball parts place)?

I don't know why...someone, wouldn't sell all the needed parts as a complete kit. Custom bracket, all parts needed, decal, ect..so a person could just buy it. I guess if all of the parts but the custom bracket can be found in one place it wouldn't be bad...unless one of the parts is out of stock at the other place...which would render buying any of it useless.

The Pro and LE would be the same...correct? It's nice to see this captive ball idea in actual LE gameplay (not just slinging the ball around by hand) as I was afraid the magnet would never catch the ball on the LE.

Also...does it just mount with the back 2 holes? I see there is no holes in the bracket for the front 2. Shouldn't there be 2 holes there for the front 2 posts (that aren't in the pictures) to go in?

Looks like it works great. It's gotta be some smooth shooting without Phat Wolvie in the way.

There are 4 post holes. The prototype from TMezel has to have the holes carved out with a tap and drill. The next prototype will hopefully allow me to screw in the pieces but not be hella-tough. I think the magnet catches more with the newton ball than it does with the Wolverine plastic figure. You can add a plastic piece above the four posts to sit a figure on if you'd like.

These are the posts I used (perfect fit for existing holes):
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/02-4036-1

The Newton ball is this one:
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/04-10005
You will need a #10 nylon nut to hold it from below the plastic bracket.

Gotta get back to work, but if anyone else has questions, I am open to answer.

So the custom made plastic piece is threaded? I just figured it had holes and the post had nuts that went on the bottom to hold it in place.

If that were the case...would the post be long enough under the playfield to go through the playfiend and the plastic piece and also have room to add a nut to hold it in place?

If not...could a hex indent be put in the bottom of the plastic piece to hold nuts to screw the posts in?

This issue concerns me for a couple of reason. I have no means to tap anything...so if that is required...I'm out. You may think that sounds silly, but I'm sure others would be out also if something like that is needed to be done. Not only do I have no know how...I have no tap / die tools. I would also be concerned about how well plastic threads would hold out. If you would over tighten and strip the plastic piece...it's done. That may not be an issue as I don't know anything about the material it is made of. I also don't know if there are t-nuts under the playfield on those holes. That may also change things a bit. If there are t nuts there it would probably prevent any over tightening causing stress on the plastic piece under the playfield.

If the post could go all the way through and use a nut under the plastic piece....or the plastic piece have a place designed to hold a hex nut up in it....it would take the tapping and stripping concerns completely out of the picture.

As for the post you linked to....I'm also confused. The game originally has 2 posts...correct? It looks like in the pictures above those 2 posts were moved forward to the middle holes. I'm guessing that type of post (with the little rubber rings on top) are needed there to hold the mini ball in place. So did you put the post you linked to in the other 4 holes? Are they tapped in the top of them? That would put those 4 posts as the 4 outer corner posts. I'm guessing they are a bit taller than the pointy ones in the pictures and they also have the threads in the top and that would make them good for holding the plastic cover that you mentioned.

Another question is ...where does one get a standup target? I looked on Pinball Life and Marco and don't see much to choose from. I figured a search for "standup" would bring up dozens of different target sizes and colors....but not much there.

You are fast to post, but you didn't read the third sentence. He is sending a new prototype where the holes are slightly larger. No tap will be needed. In fact, he emailed me last night asking if I wanted the next one. We are trying to make it self threading so it is able to be screwed into, but not loose either. So you are worrying about nothing.

There are four holes for Wolverine that are there in the original "bash assembly". The two posts that dave used (and explained in his first video) are the ones from the holes near the pop bumper. I suggest leaving those where they are if you can. The posts on Marcos are meant to go through the playfield, but aren't long enough to do what you are asking. They barely protrude through the plastic. The plastic needs to be thick enough to have some structure to it. If TMezel wants to try and make it thinner, he can. Maybe it'll still be strong enough? Maybe it won't?

I will be posting pics of my setup along with some pics of the bottom of the playfield. For now, here are some when I had the aluminum bracket:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/target-wolverine-my-solution-to-a-crappy-part/page/8#post-1984282

You want to search for switch, not standup:
http://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=switch

I'm trying to share it with others who want to implement it since I got a few PMs about it. Is it perfect? No, but it beats that giant plastic POS that Stern made and I think the game plays much better without it.

Hopefully, with the refinements that TMezel is trying to make, it'll be a good part and easy to install.

thanks for the time/effort you've put into this guys.
I do think that wolvie and the call outs are the only things holding this back from a top 10 pin.

Need a creative smallish wolvie for decoration above the captive ball [not the pole dancer version!]

No, I read it "The next prototype will hopefully allow me to screw in the pieces but not be hella-tough." just didn't make any sense to me.

I think I know what you are saying now. The Mez is making a new version where the holes are there....but just barely smaller then the post threads. You will then screw the posts in the playfield and they should cut threads into the holes in the plastic as it goes through.

If that is correct...my question is: So doing that...will those threads you cut into the plastic when you originally screwed the post down hold up if it is removed (for a shop job, to change posts if you want different ones, ect...) or will it be a one shot deal? I'm just not familiar with the material or how well the threads would hold up to a couple of removals and remountings. I just figured having a hex shape recessed in the bottom so you could put a jam nut in and use that for the threads would be a more reliable solution. It wouldn't be a matter of having to thin down the entire base and possibly removing part of the structural integrity. It would just be a matter of thinning it in a hex jam nut shape, size and thickness where the mounting holes are. From the picture it looks like that is what was done with the nut that holds the switch in place.

That being said I don't really know what the base thickness is from the picture compared to the thickness of a jam nut. If the base is not very thick now...that might not be an option as you couldn't have the hex nut space go too deep and still be effective.

Thanks for the work and I'm sure it will all work out nicely. The last picture that rotodave posted looks better in my opinion, but I'm guessing a lot of that is because it in a more complete state since it has all of the posts in place. I'm also speculating that there are many different ways you can go about doing this with the same custom piece. I would probably go with the above pic that has the 4 sleeved posts holding the plastic cover and I would probably stick my hacked off, belt-less fat Wolverine on top as long as I can keep his claw out of my ramp.

Having this option and hopefully the future Wolvie belt cover LE remount option will be nice. I'm glad I have a spare Wolverine that I haven't had to break out yet. I will probably use it to try out the belt protection option and my slightly blown out model to try on top of the captive ball option.

342025-i.jpg

The holes for the switch should be good for the screws with no bolts needed. The whole setup is very tight and getting it in and out sucks a little, but it is what is necessary for this to work. I will get some more pics up later in the week.

I'd like the 3D model or sketch if you'd send It to me...I'll PM you with my info. I'd like to see the design.

I'll probably buy a bracket thing if they come available. What type plastic are you making them out of?

I've made a note off the parts listed here, I may start the process of getting the piece parts in hope of a bracket coming available shortly.

Thanks for doing this, I think I'll enjoy my LE more after the mod.

Robert

Thanks...now I need you to connect my brain to my flipper fingers, using a higher speed network...

Could I get the file to print, or is mezel selling these soon?

TMezel should be sending me an updated prototype soon...

Here is my first shot at instructions for installing the bracket. Any comments? Especially interested to hear from rotodave:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_BS4np5B39PRlpHOWZ0cWV2SE0/view?usp=sharing

Done! MezelMod make bracket.

Looks good, if you can get the missing before picture it would be ready to print.
Just one picture of the mod installed (without action figure attached) would be enough instruction for me.

Thanks... Unfortunately, Mezel still has my bash assembly (and he can have it for as long as he needs). I sent it to him months ago for making the chastity belt for Wolverine. Otherwise, I would have put it back in and taken pics. Hoping someone else can post some pics of the Wolverine installed from under the playfield. It is four nuts you remove if I remember correctly. Very simple to uninstall the whole thing at once.

How much different does the game play with this change?

Can you backhand Beast/Gambit with this mod?

Wouldn't it just make it easier to backhand?

I can backhand into the pops, but I don't think I have ever backhanded it cleanly. At least not while I was paying attention.

I think it is better. Makes Wolverine harder to hit which is a plus and a negative, depending on how you play. I noticed my combo count drop because I wasn't hitting Wolverine every two seconds. I feel the game is faster and cleaner. I can't imagine that Borg requested that wide ugly figure to be there. It just seems like a Gary Stern idea to me.

Rotor dave, if you get a chance, can you post a pic of how it looks under the playfield on the LE. Was hoping to include some LE pics in the guide. I think I can use one of your above playfield pics.

Very nice work! Can't wait for the base to be available.

Another good part of this mod is that you can remove that post from the right pop-bumper as balls will not get stuck behind the figure. I really don't think it is ever needed to be honest.

Would it be better for us to carry the full kit so you could just have one stop shopping?

That would be easiest. It doesn't make a ton of difference to me, but it would be way more convenient and I bet most wouldn't mind paying a little extra to get it all in one shot.

I would personally like to see a kit include a plastic for mounting a figure to, but no actual figure. That way I can find my own Wolverine to use. Some probably want the whole thing including a figure of some sort though. Best way might be to offer both options.

I second the plastic to mount the figure

If you are going to offer a "full kit", I would do it sans the figure as there are many options out there and users may want to have their own choice. The plastic top doesn't need to be clear lexan, that is just what I used and countersunk the holes so the screws would be flush and allow a nice spot to mount a figure. To figure out where the posts line up, you can use the base of the bash assembly with the four threaded ends as alignment and it should work (no promises). I can test if needed.

Yes please do - I love X-men but this target pisses me off every time I play the game needs constant adjusting and just irritates me that the flow is bad. Please offer this full kit and send me on TODAY.

Mezel,

If you do decide to carry kits, maybe buy your 3/4" ball bearings in bulk:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss

I added the 3/4" ball bearing to the parts list. Can't believe I forgot that. Marcos does NOT carry that size either.

Full kit please

Full kit works for me.

I would suggest a full kit. The more full the better.

A cover plastic that looks like it should be there with or without a figure on top of it would be nice. A decal to cover the, now exposed, bare wood to match the playfield would also be appreciated.

+1 on full kit and plastic mount