I am going to start this thread again, after getting some encouragement for folks. Its basicly for open pf talk, questions ideas, stuff wanted and available, and of course I will be hawking my wares, like my list of nos/reproduction/, and cleared, tweeked, restored pf's.

Now with the help of chris travis' phone camera, I will be posting pics of the jobs that go thru here. some are fairly interesting. I will try to remember to do before pics. People are always buggin me for pics, and I lost interest in pf pics because it is so easy and common to make a pf look like a million bucks with pics, and when it gets here and the check is cleared, it looks like crap. Because of that, I lost interest in pics and put no stock in them. I am going to post more on here, if for nothing but entertainment.

Here is a list of some of the NOS/NEW reproduction pfs I have available:
AC/DC stern pro $650
Batman Dark Knight stern $750
Batman Forever sega $750
Bumper Pool Gottlieb 575$
Car Hop gottlieb $700
Contact williams $375
Corvette NOS bally $975
CSI stern $550
Family Guy stern $850
Harley Davidson stern $650
Indy Jones 4 stern $600
Iron Maiden stern pro $700
James Bond 007 Gottlieb $850
Monte Carlo gottlieb $450
Nitro Ground Shaker Bally/cpr gold $750 plastics available
No Fear williams $800
Popeye bally $600
Speakeasy bally $600
Spiderman Stern nos $800
Spring Break gottlieb $675
Star wars episode 1 williams 800$
Rolling Stones LE stern $800
Simpsons data east $900 In studio for paint and clear, Price is going up
Simpsons pinball party set. stern $900
Addams Family Bally silver $875
Transformers stern $500
Wheel of Fortune stern $550
Wiz of OZ JJP $500
WWF Royal Rumble pf set Data east $975
Xenon Bally CPR gold custom starburst inserts $975

STAR WARS Data East nos cleared dimpled, and tweeked $2000
Amazing Spiderman gottleib nos. cleared, inserts glued and painted dimpled, tweeked $1900

There is a list of my used pfs on my website pinballplayfieldskruzman.com. as well as shipping crates

Clearcoated/reproduction PF install kit $75

Pinside will get a donation for all sales

Here are some "before "pics of a gorgar pf I did for ken white in CA. he does amazing restorations. I remembered to take the pics after I reset 5 inserts, and glued and leveled all of the rest. This has one very thin coat down and sanded 600 grit. Pf was all ready dimpled

gore before1 (resized).jpg

gore before2 (resized).jpg

gore before3 (resized).jpg

gore before4 (resized).jpg

gore before5 (resized).jpg

gore before6 (resized).jpg

and some after. NOS pfs from this era take plenty of paint work. This one was not planked which is unusual

IMG_4207 (resized).JPG

IMG_4208 (resized).JPG

IMG_4210 (resized).JPG

IMG_4213 (resized).JPG

IMG_4216 (resized).JPG

IMG_4217 (resized).JPG

Here is a before and after of a touched up area. This is an IPB pf and they did the touch up. Many of the IPB MM pfs had touch up that is hard to find sometimes because it is such a busy pf. Of course once you see t, it is all you see from now on!

There are 2 touched up spots up by the top 2 lanes, and then one by the arrow insert. The red spots are about an inch, and then there is the black in the inserts. The arrow on the left side of the pf had to be done also. These pics are not of the final project. after I do repaint, I lay a coat of clear down to see how it matched since the clear deepens and darkens the colors.

I am not sure why, but people talk poorly of the fact that I dont accept resto work, but the majority of the work I do involves this type of thing. restorations put me in bankruptcy, but thats a story for another day.

1mm1 (resized).jpg

1mm2 (resized).jpg

1mm3 (resized).jpg

1mm4 (resized).jpg

1mm5 (resized).jpg

Flash gordon pfs are really rare. If I run across one, I have a post-it here on the wall to remind me.

I really appreciate that.
One of my friends, just this week, wrote to the reproduction pf maker about the flaws on his new pf, and the reply he received was, " it is going to be fine after 25 plays", and he went on to say that "the pf's that cost 500 look exactly the same after 25 plays and (he) dosent know why people waste their money." He knows nothing about my work (although he has known me for years). That is my biggest focus. Ball dimples. My work has been progressing since the first year. I am constantly trying to do better, but 2 years ago, I found a way to make my clear repel ball dimples even more than before. It has a lot to do with why my process takes 13 weeks.

I definitely wouldn't do this for a living if I didn't think I was contributing and making pinball a little better, and being involved in the restorations people do is an honor.

Here is something a lot of folks don't know. I have a couple of tests I do to check the mechanical bond of the clear. The first I do to one pf in each group. (which is 5 or 6 pf's) I got this from the diamondplate pf's that sun did. I put masking tape on the cleared pf after the 2nd or 4th coat, and I cut an X thru the tape in to the clear with a utility knife. the first test is when I pull the tape if it takes clear with it. The next test is I hit the cuts with 175 lbs of compressed air to see if it will lift. The test that is done on every pf is after sanding I clean out all of the holes and edges with the 175 lbs air gun that will quickly identify any weak bonds in the clear. Its totally relative, but my service is expensive, and I just want to do the best I can do. Not every pf comes out perfect. some I believe are possesed, and will just not co operate, but I always do my best, and re do it a couple times.

I am clearing an alice cooper pf that is going to be installed at the factory, and the art is really cool. I like that it is not a cut and paste job like what stern has been using for the most part lately. I love stern games, its just since most of the titles are licence's, its cut and paste computer work. I really like the bm66, and the Iron maiden. Of course dirty donnies work is the best stern has ever offered in my opinion.

Ok here is an opportunity to brag for you guys. What is you most cherished pf. One pf. Please no collections. No pfs that you dont own any more (I have hunderds of regrets). I like to hear what titles are still out there.

My submission is Gottlieb Amazing Spiderman

as1 (resized).jpg

Well that went over like a led zeppelin.
No one else has a nos/new that want to brag about?

I will break my own rule and say that a nos Rocky from the gottlieb collection sale is the coolest pf I have ever owned.of course I had to sell it because its my job

This morning I was watching "How its made" and it was hand made shotguns. simple double barrel and over and under. everything hand made and everything one of a kind. Tough to decide what was more beautiful the metal or the wood. I was guessing 8 grand for one. then they said that each gun had about 1000 hours of work including the hand engraving and wood work. I doubt that charge 10 bucks a shop hour like I did when doing resto work, so I am guessing 100k$ for these beauties. sure you can buy them at wall mart for 275, but these were unbelieveable. the kind of stuff really rich people pass down for generations. really inspiring to watch,. I had never heard of the name but it was 2 names that started with an H. The wood was burled walnut. The engraving had so much depth, similar to a really complicated proof coin.
Anyway it was good inspiration for me... (to raise prices. Ha!) jk

Holland and holland!!!! absolutely beautiful!!!!

I am putting together funds for a roof as well as rafters for the studio, as well as a van, so if you have been out here and know my games, they are all for sale.
I am going to put together all of the titles and prices and in the next few days. I listed the elvis beautiful, shoppped, $3600 and the huo dale jr $3500 on another thread. I have a restored flight 2k I do not want to sell. New pf and e\verything on it is new. all tec cpu and rotten dog Bridge rec board. BGR back glass. the cab is the only thing left to do and it could use a little tune up because I havent played 10 games on it yet. led light. its beautiful 2600 firm.
I have a batman forever with a cleared nos pf installed. cab is 9.5 game is amazing $4k
Gottlieb world beauties wood rail, has been working in my living room for about 5 years, never broke once. love that game $650.
The nicest dr dude I have ever seen cab and pf are amazing. no broken plastics or any thing on the pf. amazing game 3500

I am listing my best games, most I have had a long time. I dont want to sell any of them, but I have to borrow money for this project and I would like to borrow less than more. I am going to list everything on cl and FB, so I will put links to them when I get them done.

forgot to say I dont want to ship any games. pick up, cash on the glass.

wow that viking looks totally different once you start getting parts on it . will you please post more pics as the project comes along. That pic just made my day!

I have worked on 2 asteroid annies, and restored one, so 3 total, and I have only seen one game. Thats a pf I would love to own.

That gold strike is comming along well. I do it just as your are, then I lock down my colors with fix spray or super light clear, and then do my black. what I really like is the clear will up the speed with less friction, and it will play nice and fast.

Having a collection of christiansen pfs, whould be a great collection, and would take some time and work to achieve. The reason I got in to pfs was because things went sour on me one day, and I found myself living in a 550 sq foot, 1 bedroom apt, so I scaled down to 2 pins in the dining room. I started collecting pfs so I could get my fix.

I have done about 15 jj pfs total. what titles have they done besides wiz, hobbit and dialed in? I think those are the only ones I have done. I remember the hobbit had so much wood cut out that when I measured from side to side there was 75% of the wood missing, so I was afraid that the wood was going to flex a lot. I am going to have to do a joust for a friend soon, and I have no idea how that will go since when I am done, I run a heavy 13 amp buffer over it for a day (at about 2k rpm).

As for singing the pf's, its been a point of contention for me. I didnt want to sign them because it was a work of art, and I only contributed a part of it, and if I was the original artist I wouldn't appreciate it. I think it sucks that the pf manufactures never mention the original artists or send them a check. Even if it was just 5 bucks per.
Then for about 2 years I used my grandma's crown stamp from her deli in hamtramic. Lately I have been using the stamp but I keep forgetting to use it before the poly the back. It will wipe right off if I do it after,

One thing I do is I use a upc sticker on the WPC repro pfs that dont have one. I really like that detail, because it messes people up when it is installed because thats the first way to see if a pf is a repro (of course there are other tell tale signs). One of the advantages of buying one of my tweeked TAF pf's is it has a upc sticker. I am waiting for the final coats to cure on a tweeked cpr taf right now that will be for sale. Its for sale now for 1700.

Tommy skinner and I have come up with a very simple decal to start using, I just need to figure out where and how to get it made. I think I will take it to kinkos. Now that mirco puts his name under the clear, I may as well add mine.

There was a pf here in pinside for sale that was listed as my clear coat, and a customer checked with me to see if it was legit, which is was not. I do know the seller and I think it was just a mistake, though there are plenty of people on ebay that sell "kruzman" pfs that are not mine. I contacted ebay and they told me to go punch sand. I keep the envelope of every payment for pfs and clear (I dont take paypal for that service) so I can look up pfs from pretty far back, and I suggest to people to check with me before buying anything that is claimed to be my work. Usually the seller has a pic of the pf in my crate,and with my packaging, so that is very easy to tell. I may look on the net to see if there is a printer who does this kind of stuff for a decal. Maybe one of you guys is in that field and can help me

I know it is a fat chance, but I need a used Spirit pf to restore for a friend in B.C. to do when I finish this DE Simpsons and VOLTAN. Please contact me if you can sell or trade one.
I just remembered when I was going thru Gene Cunninghams personal collection at his house he had a couple Bon Voyage games done of course by christinsen. I came so close to buying one of the games, but I have not seen that pf available in a coons age.

If you are a fan of christensen, check out Robert Williams. He is an artist in S.CA. still alive I believe. I got to meet him in 92 when I lived out there. his work has pinball written all over it. The best book featuring most of his woek is "views from a Tortured Libido" published by Last Gasp. Introduction by dr. tim leary. It has in depth analysis of 60 of his greatest oils.

Good old Gene Cunningham wrote and published a book on Christiansen titles Mad dog and his art. Gene was friends with him in the 70's and really enjoied the friendship. Christiansen gave gene a couple of Back glasses for his games that are full on nudes, and glorious! Including the top less matta hari, which I have one, and "son of fireball"

My last suggestion is a book from a gallery show that I contributed to, on Christiansen called; Broads, Boobs, and Buckles. I thing gene contributed to it also. Thats show was in 09.

well there we go. That is a little easier. good ol mirco. bless his heart

I have been using this stuff since art school. Those thin black circles are very hard to paint. if you lock down your existing paint then if you dont like what your results are, you can remove the black without the colors.

afix (resized).jpg

I am told that VID has hundreds or more tips on doing restor work (on pf;s). I think it is awesome that he has spent so much time contributing to the benefit of the hobby. I have not done more than 2 full restores a year for the last 3-4 years (I think). I haven't been able to find a way to make a living at it, and by living I mean grossing 20k a year. When you are doing a restore for your self, you know exactly what your specs are, and what is good enough for you and the job. working for people I dont know, I have no idea whats good enough, so that leaves me with doing the absolute best I can, which takes me a lot of time.

People form an opinion of my work after seeing one job. If that was a job that a customer wanted to spend as little money as possible, and the pf is not all that great, and then changes hands... The new owner is unaware of the original specs and budget. Then it can be concluded that I suck. Since day one, this is the problem I have wrestled with.
Other pf restorers have different levels, but it goes back to that same story, when once it changes hands, its just said that kruzman did the pf, and if there is a huge range of quality possibilities ,there is a huge chance there will be a disappointment.

The other thing I ran in to with restoring pf's was I would have a customer who was specific with his expectations, and was very happy with the job, but the people who are not involved do more talking about their opinion of the work. So not only was it super frustrating, but I spend so much time on doing the things I do, as well as I can, I exceed the budget quickly, and do the rest for free.

Sorry to yap your ear off. I have got 3 people who very respectfully, and kindly didn't understand why I wont do the restor work for them. Its my favorite job, which may be why it's where I dont get much pay. Now days they are paying 15 per hour at mcdonalds, and I have charged less than 15 per hour ,SHOP TIME, many many many times. Since I live pretty simple, and make enough to qualify for medicaid, I can work cheap... until the roof at my studio in the barn is falling in. Which brings up one of the many reasons pinball is the greatest hobby in the world. Each game is a little savings acct that you get to play with! A lot of games go up 5-10% a year, and they are fairly liquid. As I say this I realize that if this is my contingency plan, I should concentrate more on the popular A title games rather than the red head step child games I seem to love the most. They are not as easy to sell quick, and dont appreciate as much. Case in point. My fav games right now are elvis. 007, and dr dude, batman forever, eldorado city of gold, dragon, and a game I used to hate gottlieb Monte Carlo. In this case, it may be the nicest one in existence, (with topper). A lot of times when a game has been restored or in amazing condition, that will go a long way on my enjoyment of the title as a whole.

I am guessing a lot of you may use your games in the same way. I do know it is a great way to get the wife/partner on board when trying to justify shelling out a butt load for a pin. So there is my tip of the day.

Yesterday I was starting the prep on a NOS TAF pf. One of the first things is to remove the existing finish and level it out. also sand the smooth areas for the clear to bite on to.
You may be able to see in the first pics the planking that is getting started. look up at the blue in front of the bear rug. The whole pf is like this. The grain of the wood has swollen. The best way for me to explain it, is I see the grain as mountains and valleys. I not only have to get down in to the valley to level, and remove the clear, but also to get rid of the gloss. leveling all the way down to the lowest valley will level the area (except where there is an insert, which can be way up or down) so I have to be super careful because it is easy to sand in to the paint at the top if a mountain while trying to get the lowest valley.

If I level this out and seal the pf so moisture is not an issue, it will do a lot to stop it from progressing. If I dont sand out the valleys, I will have a bonding issue as well as it will look like crap and will show the planking under my clear. as long as the paint/ink has not cracked, it will not show, after sanding." It takes a gentle hand" and experience. This is an example why it is important that if you are going to hire someone to clear, a body shop guy will know nothing of this.

Many of the inserts will have a low spot that is below the edge of the wood surface. if I dont sand that, all of the same issues apply plus there will be ghosting in no time. When I feel I am getting too close for comfort, I hand sand to minimize damage. after sanding I can see the cracks around the inserts, and if this pf was 5 years older I would be painting many of the insert key lines. Inserts are shaped to pop up when the wood squeezes them rather than to crack. so after years of expansion and contraction, they are never level. After I do this I have to hand sand all of the edges of the cut outs, ball holes shooter lane, ramp divots, and all of the dimples for drilling during installation.

Another time I encounter this chore is after a reproduction pf gets here, after is has just been released. I learned the hard way to put it in the closet to dry and cure before doing my clear. many of them develop this wood grain texture in 2-6 months. If I cleared as soon as it got here, it would do its thing under my clear, and that would suck. really only one of the major repro pf makers has this happen all of the time. The other rarely has it. I don't know if it is better wood or the wood is drier when printed

The last 2 pics show that I needed to remove the t nuts rather than leave them in and plug the holes. I couldn't get a good sand because they are high. Part of my procedure is to dremmil out the clear out of the t nut holes until the last 2 coats. That way t nut installation is much easier

IMG_4235 (resized).JPG

IMG_4236 (resized).JPG

IMG_4237 (resized).JPG

IMG_4238 (resized).JPG

IMG_4239 (resized).JPG

IMG_4240 (resized).JPG

IMG_4241 (resized).JPG

IMG_4242 (resized).JPG

IMG_4243 (resized).JPG

IMG_4244 (resized).JPG

IMG_4245 (resized).JPG

IMG_4248 (resized).JPG

as promised for karri.
This is straight out of the spray room. It will still be block sanded from 600-3000 grit, then polished out, then run a rag thru all of the holes to get the compound out.
This pf was done, but its didn't feel right. It didn't feel as heavy as it should, and there was not enough clear on it. I dont like thick clear. One of the repro makers, makes his finish too thick. that doesn't make it stronger or harder at all! Think about a Damascus knife blade. its strong because of hundreds of thin layers. anyway I just didn't have a good feeling about it, and the customer has been kind enough to be patient, so I sanded it down and did 2 more coats. Now I am very confident.
Before the last coat, I use my" handy dandy install kit" (trademarked) to remove most of the clear in the t nut holes and the countersunk pop bumper nail/screw holes, and the ramp lip recesses. You don't want that stuff with 10 coats of clear in it. I don't have a way to measure but I would say it is thinner than one of the most popular repro makers clear, or about the same thickness. For some reason, I have spent soooo much time trying to figure out why, but nos pfs come out best with my process and sterns really work well.

Lastly. The studio work is relatively light right now. less than 12 jobs in house. so if you have been waiting for a time to send a pf in. now is the time.

If you hate to send your priceless pf in the mail, I can make you a heavy duty ship crate, and sent it to you with the packing. you just need a drill driver for the screws. it will take you less than 5 min to pack it up, and I have never had one damaged in 10 years with "the crate" (trademarked).

as always thanks to every one for the support. Also feel free to post anything pertaining to pfs on this thread. It keeps it relevant.

l2 (resized).jpg

l3 (resized).jpg

l4 (resized).jpg

l5 (resized).jpg

l6 (resized).jpg

This question is exactly what I wanted to experience in this thread, besides sell my wears. I am not going to give out trade secrets, but a specific question like this, is something I like answering because it tells me the poster wants to do awesome work. It took a long time to figure this out. Sometimes I think about stuff like how did man figure out yogurt. I have heard there is a special bacteria in the bladder of a goat that makes the milk turn to yogurt when warmed from hanging on the side of a camel. Nomad travelers would use a bladder to bottle their milk in and hang it on the side of the camel. One guy didnt clean his freshly gutted bladder, and it still had the bacteria in it. what are the chances someone figures this out? and then ate it? I mean soap? how did they figure that out so long ago?

I was working just inside the big door at the shop because it was cold as hell but I wanted my dustings to go outside so I had a fan blowing out but the furnace blasting. anyway, by standing in the dark shop looking out at a 45 degree angle down on the pf, with bright light outside, it shows the slightest gloss that I may have missed. When I am working planking yet dont want to get below the paint, I will work at that spot. Otherwise I have a table set there for me to take the pf to set it down and inspect. I can never match the light of the sun, even millions of miles away( I learned that from indoor growing and then later prison).

So great question. whats the next question for stump the chump?

I check my email every morning, so you can write thru pinside, but if you want to send pics, or want me to send pics, its better to write me at [email protected]
that way I can save the email. Please put the title of the game in the subject and I wont have to get hassled when I dont know the owner of a complete job.

On those cpr firepoower, as well as cyclone and one other title, cpr got new inserts and didnt sand the edges or use the right adhesive on the hot dog inserts and they popped out. They are tapered to pop out rather than crack, and when they do under clear, I do not want to fix it. I have my cyclone pf here from years ago. some places the clear will peal off some places it bites in to the ink and takes it off. total mess. so just keep an eye out for that. after the initial shipments they took care of the problem I believe and they allowed folks to send in theirs to get glued. I dont read the forum, or keep up on new stuff, so I pulled mine out of the closet. ( I always put the repros in there for 3-5 months to cure) and I had a surprise. and I tried to repair it so I wouldnt feel right contacting cpr to get assistance or refund.

so on your firepower, I will epoxy the inserts from behind either way, to be safe.

I want to post some good news:
I know cpr is transitioning from screen printing to digital printing. Kev anounced it like 9 months ago, and I thought he meant they were going to do it then. He said they can do runs of one pf of any title. (you can find the press release in the archives here) I was sending folks to them, but I found out that its in the future and they are still doing screening.

But here is the good news. I am doing a EATPM for a customer, and I think the print looks really good. I dont know if itis digital or screen (maybe someone knows) but kudos to kevin and his folks at cpr for a nice job. That is a great game that looks play as important part as function. When a title has a beautiful woman, or great artwork (which is becomming very rare in the recient releases) then a lot of the enjoyment of the game is the looks and condition. This one probably can make the numbers for people who do them for a living, to do spec games. If I could I would buy one. I thing bill in dorr MI still has my game and I will kindly have that back please!

Maybe someone who reads this thread is in the printing biz. I need to get some kruzman pinball playfield stickers made for the pfs. I have a couple designs, although I am not absolutly cracy about them. they have the essentials. So if you are in the print biz or have a great printer and can make them please contact me. Thanks in advance. K

I had a guy make UPC stickers for when I do wpc games and quite often they dont have them installed which screams repro. Repro is not bad, but I like to make it confusing, so I install the upc stickers. On the pics above you see that nos TAF pf has no sticker. so when he sent pics and asked for advice, the first thing I saw was no sticker, but there were a bunch of tell tale signs that said WPC which it is. After working on them for over a decade I can tell real fast if it is in my hands, but with pics. (people say a pic is worth a thousand words... yes plenty of them lies) I saw Anna Nicole Smith in real life once when I lived in santa monica

Have a great day. play some pinball. or buy a pf!

happy sat morning. I want to post a link to an inspiring pf install. the guy doing the work is doing a super top notch job, and sweating the details. He also bought one of my pf install kits ($85 shipped) and it is really helping with the finish quality, as well as smooth progress, it seems.
Also I think sys 11 games are really worth restoring to this level. They didnt yet have the memory or display, but its an era of amazing titles from all of the manufactures of the day. here is a link

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/elvira-and-the-party-monsters-playfield-swap-refresh#post-5025917

I know its kind of a pain in the butt to take pics and document the work, but this serves to show people how to, as well as give a reference as to the level or quality you can achieve. Its a stock cpr pf (which I am not a huge fan of that clear) but this title looks beautiful, and everyone has numbers and budgets they have to stay within, or customers with the budgets.

Take a second and check it out when you have time. it inspires me!

I got some final pics to post before I ship. trying to get in the habit of taking more pics. The customers want to see them.
first is an Apollo 13, that is NOS but it was fully populated, then stripped, and I did my thing. This title gets beat up pretty good and ghosts like crazy. This is now so flat and smooth, with no friction it will play a lot faster and smoother

111011 (resized).JPG

111012 (resized).JPG

111014 (resized).JPG

111015 (resized).JPG

111017 (resized).JPG

111018 (resized).JPG

111020 (resized).JPG

1111022 (resized).JPG

I was trying to explain on another thread on the diner pf about the reason to have me do my process on a new repro pf that is "perfect" after all it is a gold.
One of the things is the difference between a sprayed finish and a sprayed finished that was block sanded and polished. both reflect light, but the reflection in my clear is very sharp. the trees you can see in the pics above, are over 100 feet away on the ground. The reflection is sharp, and not distorted. The look of the finish is secondary to me. What is most important is a pf that will not show the beating it takes from that heavy steal ball. I am super concerned with the mechanical bond that wont lift when installing properly or later down the line.
I get all but one coat of clear out of the t nut counter sinks and other areas where you dont want it to make installation easier to be successful. Not to mention sealing and finishing the back so that after you are all done you dont have black finger prints all over the back which I have seen countless times.
Here is the final product pics of the lotr that I posted a couple weeks ago.

10111 (resized).JPG

11102 (resized).JPG

11103 (resized).JPG

11104 (resized).JPG

11106 (resized).JPG

11107 (resized).JPG

11108 (resized).JPG

11109 (resized).JPG

In that last pic, I showed the 2 purple insert outlines because I had to paint them. they had pretty distracting cracks around them, and it is one of the few places where I can paint color on this pf. since it is photographs, and they fade with pixels, most of the solid colors have a pixel texture to them. I think since they had to layer ink to get this color it got rid of the pixel texture so I could match and paint it.

Here are some pics of TnA for ya all. These pfs are done by a maker I haven't dealt with. very different. I am doing 2, for different customers, and each pf is quite different from each other. I have noticed that they were new and not dry when I received them, because I let the first 2 coats dry 17 days, and by then there was wood grain in the surface of the clear, similar to what happens some times with cpr pf's. Its super easy to fix, but the key is to wait for it to be done drying before I finish.

One thing I tried to show in the pics is the consistent surface flatness. when you just spray without blocking, you get big hills around all edges. all liquid will pull its self to an edge once it finds one. also there is no compound left inside the edges of the cut outs and holes from all of the buffing. They used a green colored material for gluing the inserts I believe, and it is here and there. I am interested to play this game at the next show I go to in the fall.

1tna01 (resized).jpg

1tna02 (resized).jpg

1tna03 (resized).jpg

1tna04 (resized).jpg

1tna05 (resized).jpg

1tna06 (resized).jpg

1tna07 (resized).jpg

1tna08 (resized).jpg

1tna09 (resized).jpg

1tna10 (resized).jpg

1tna12 (resized).jpg

1tna13 (resized).jpg

1tna14 (resized).jpg

I havent got a chance to play TNA, but several of the people who have similar game taste as I, speak very highly of it. I like deep progressive rules, so I am looking forward to it.

This is the first one that I have shipped to spooky. I dont know what to expect on installation. I am guessing is just a job to most of the employees, and they dont see it as their prized possession, after all, they make them every day. I just hope that since it is going to react a little different than the other pfs they are doing, that they dont mind dealing with the issue of being a little more fragile. The pfs they install daily all ready have scratches, and nibs and what not. This one is flawless, so the smallest "oops" is going to glare. So Hopefully it will install and look great. The other issue is time. I haven't talked to them, and I am told time is not an issue. The TNA and alice pfs that have come here all seem pretty new, and still drying wood (just like all the repro pfs) They are the current title so they have not had a chance to sit around. I could tell after I did a set of coats and let it cure, after 15 days the wood grain was visible in the surface of the clear. So I am taking my time, but I dont want to hold them up. I could finish the 2 other spooky pfs I am doing this weekend, but I am going to give them one and 2 more weeks to cure, before i do the final block sand and polish.

I am always humbled by praise and good things said about my work. Its all word of mouth for the ad budget here, so thank you very much.

I forgot to mention that I wanted to talk about cleaning the compound out of the holes when done with the job. The TNA shown above as well as with all of the other jobs I do, are going to be installed by someone else who ultimately finishes the job. So its that person who really has his or her name on the restoration.
I am happy to see people are polishing out clear jobs, but if you dont clean your cutouts and holes, either the installer has to, or it gets installed with the coumpound and wax in the edges and low spots. I dont think its the installers job to clean the wax and compound, so remember... its not done until you clean it.
If you dont, it will have to be done by someone else or it wont get done and wont look as good as it could after all of every ones effort.
I think it took me a good year, when I first got started to realize this.

I think it is on the cpr website concerning clearcoats, or it could have been a letter forwarded from cpr to me, from a customer, but it says, and I paraphrase" that it does you no good to pay the insane price to have someone reclear a cpr pf because the finish will ball dimple just as ours will. Its the nature of the metal ball and soft wood."
It bothered me for a long time because I spend a lot of time on the clear that I do to make it able to withstand the abuse a machine experiences. I could make way more per hour if I didnt worry about making a hard finish. of course wood is only so hard, but with research, trial and effort, and a lot of time and elbo grease, it is a fact that my finish wears MUCH better than a stock finish.
I got a letter yesterday that makes me very happy. I asked for permission to reprint this of course.

The pf that I did for this customer is not a cpr. My point is that the assumption that my finish dimples the same as a stock reproduction finish is incorrect, and there is no way I would do this work, breathe these fumes, and make this salary if I was not making a difference.

Hi Ron,

I hope you're doing well. I wanted to commend you on just how well your work holds up and contrary to popular belief disproves that dimples are "normal". I was skeptical but after ~125 plays, no wax, and a few severe ball launches due to a misadjusted stand up target, your clear coat still looks like new and shows zero dimples. I had read about your work over the years and really had a hard time believing what I read. It was/is all very much true. Not sure if you care or not, but I've attached a few pics for you to view (zooming in really tells the tale) and wanted to thank you for your efforts in this community. I very much look forward to using your services again in the future.

Chris
Aka pinside ID CLEllison

These go with the letter above

fh (resized).png

Here are some pics of an alice cooper that came out awesome. I like the art on this pf a lot.

IMG_4446 (resized).JPG

IMG_4456 (resized).JPG

IMG_4464 (resized).JPG

IMG_4465 (resized).JPG

IMG_4466 (resized).JPG

IMG_4468 (resized).JPG

IMG_4471 (resized).JPG

IMG_4472 (resized).JPG

IMG_4473 (resized).JPG

I have some new pfs that will be here in the next 2 weeks.
elviria
harlem globetrotters
bally playboy
banzi run
all cpr gold.

I may not sell the playboy because I need one and this one has starburst inserts like my xenon. starburst inserts were not used for a couple more years, they are a very subtle mod that really looks sweet

I am not sure if this info on the FH ramps are common knowledge, but this is a great thing to know ahead of time. I think if someone is doing research, they should find this. This is a great example of how helpful pinside is. Doing a pf swap is the equivalent of swapping the motor in a 97 subaru outback. We found a bunch of helpful info in the net before and during the job.

With Funhouse, I think it is either a IPB, NOS or mirco. Mircos are obvious by the clearcoat being thick. Nos will have dates on the edges, and sometimes t nuts. if you see t nuts, its nos.

The way I tell if a Bally playboy is repro or nos, the nos has the white primer from the top side sprayed around the inside of the ball holes, and it has overspray on the back around the ball holes. All of the old ballys have this.

On DMD bally williams pfs, I also watch for the upc sticker at the bottom left side

AS for my prices there is one more charge that is significant. After I work on a pf it has to be shipped in a sturdy wood crate. Some people who have the facilities and time, send them in one, if not I sell them for 70 including the packaging. They last over a dozen round trips without problem. Usually around that time, or whenever necessary. I put a new top on them. I have had so many pfs damaged and destroyed from shipping in cardboard. I sold a used pf this month and shipped in cardboard, (since I didnt work on it I didnt insist on the wood crate) the package was exposed to so much water, they not only had to relabel it for the address, they taped cardboard around it. This was not just left out in rain, it looked like it was under a downspout. I cant figure out how it happened, but, that is just the latest example.
And a warning to people who think just because it is insured, it will be covered for how much I insured it for. All of the shippers are different when it comes to claims, I have strong opinion of that, but one thing they all have an issue with is how a piece of plywood can be worth 300-3000. They do not just hand out checks for how much you insured it for.

Way back in 1989 while in school, I loaded trucks at ups for the christmas season rush. That experience was an opportunity to see how the packages get handled, and what to expect if a pf is not wrapped properly..

Anyway the shipping crate is expensive. But it is necessary, and its a good investment. Once you have one you will be able to pack up a pf in less than 5 mins, and for the most part, not have to worry about it getting destroyed in its travels. In some cases when a client needs to ship a pf to me, and dose not have a crate, and doesn't feel comfortable sending the pf in a cardboard box, I will ship them a crate, with packing. The shipping cost for the crate when empty is $30.

Most reproduction pfs dont need paint work, although there are a lot if IPB repros that have plenty of screening issues to be cleaned up. This is why gene liked to sell them at shows so people could inspect them. He would have 10 lined up and it took so much time to play" find waldo" If there is work on the average repro pf, it is hairline cracks around inserts. There are several different shades of black that the different manufactures use. I have it down to basically 4 paints. Then, even if it is not an exact match, I paint the whole line so at that point it wont matter or show. If it is a couple inserts and black I dont charge. If it is more than 4, I have to charge hourly paint or shop time (40 per hour)

I have a really nice Frontier here in the shop, I am just getting started on. its reglued and leveled, now time to paint inserts. Its going to be beautiful. The clear really deepens the colors and contrast. I will post pics when done. It is in as nice of condition as a nos of its age can be.

I wanted to get some pics posted of this pf before I shipped it back to its owner. I have never seen one before, nor the game. Its an alien. The new clearcoat, and fine polish really brings out the background, for lack of better terms seemed to set way back (if it were 3 dimension) I just finally saw pics of the pf installed with the rest of the games parts, and the art work makes more sense to me now I think it looks really nice. I was told there is a long story as to why the game didnt make it to production (which I dont know anything about).
I am sure this would fit in perfect next to a space invadors
I am not sure who did it. If you know, feel free to post the artist's name.
enjoy
IMG_4489 (resized).JPGIMG_4492 (resized).JPGIMG_4494 (resized).JPGIMG_4496 (resized).JPGIMG_4498 (resized).JPGIMG_4499 (resized).JPGIMG_4500 (resized).JPGIMG_4502 (resized).JPGIMG_4504 (resized).JPGIMG_4508 (resized).JPG

You can see in the ramp lip cut out that I had to dremmil out the clear which had some adhesion issues from the original clear. it may have had dust in the corner, or it just had some reason for there to be clear that was not anchored to the wood. (around the inside edges)

I edited my original post with the alien pics. when I read it this morning I could see how it could have been read negatively or critical about the art on alien, and thats not what I was trying to say, so I looked up pics of the game, before expressing my opinion again. I think the final
project or the pf installed looks really cool.
I like the way the clear seems to bring out the dark alien images in the background.

After seeing that aurich did this art (I am very impressed) but it totally makes sense to me now. Though I dont know him, face to face, this dark style seems totally his influence. I am pretty sure its his art on my sisters acdc pro, which we really dig. Kudos to him for doing a pf. The art rather than just the shinny gloss on top

My girlfriend thought i should rethink it, because she follows it, and she saw it as negative. So I blew her off but once i realized it was aurich, I changed it just in case.
There is so much negative, devicecive speech going on in america right now I dont want to be a part of it.

Well I have never produced an entire pf on my own, the closest I have is a run of 12 nude creech pfs, and I only did the girl. I also did a topless genie, so I really respect anyone who has the talent and stones to put his work out there. That being said I wanted to make sure it was not misunderstood.
So there we go.

I have some new arrivals that are available. I mentioned them, but now I got to inspect them, and they have no issues. That may be because someone got to hand pick them since he is in the same area as cpr.
Bally playboy plus a couple of the colored inserts that were clear, were made with starburst inserts (same as my xenon) 950$
Harlem globetrotters 875
elviria 900
Banzi run 900

Ted nugent/ nos cleared by bill davis. Drilled and dimpled, very nice

I still have a cpr addams family that I went thru and tightened, cleared, and sealed the back 1750$

also a NOS DE STARWARS. I really tightened up the art work, reglued the inserts, leveled them, cleared, sealed the back, drilled and dimpled $2000
as well as the used DESW that I made the drill dimple template from for 300

You may want to keep an eye on my website in the next week or 2. I will be listing some amazing rare german pf's. Miss world, lady death, and space rider, just to name a couple. they are nos and so cool. If you dont know about this type of pf, it was very popular in germany for them to design a new game on the games that were readily available, and worn and people were bored of. so games like matta hari, globetrotters, even kiss. Believe it or not the pf they made to redo the kiss game, is as good, but has a whole bunch of nudity. So you install a new pf, new BG, and you have a new game that is very rare, and in some cases would not make many customers in the more conservative areas of the states.

I will post more info as I get it

Check this out on ebay, its a space rider pf. A german nos pf that is made to convert the harlem globetrotters, to a custom game. I am pretty sure the seller has a line on backglass for it also, so that you can do the whole project proper.
check it out I love it!

ebay.com link: 0

I Talked to the seller and if the buyer wants it shipped in one of my shipping crates, that can be done, or it can be sent to me for work and clear.

ALSO, I can drill/dimple the pf if it is not dimpled

Here is a nos frontier I am working on. The inserts were quite nice considering the age, but they still had the cracks around them. Some of the inserts in the bonus area have black art that goes right to the key circle. So I glued all of the inserts from behind because of the age, and I painted all of the black keylines around the inserts except the ones where the art hits the black key line. After I put down a thin coat to check my work I didnt like that the remaining inserts that I didnt paint really showed their crack because the clear magnifies.
so since I had clear down I didnt want to paint the art in the inserts because it would look slightly elevated, and I sanded as low as possible and drew key lines around them. I have all ready matched the black exactly (I use 8 different shades of black). If it works like it should, it should match perfect and look really good after a coat. I will post the pic after I do another coat.

even though this was a very nice example of this title, there are 48 inserts, and they all have that crack, especially after I sand the pf level in prep. So that is 48 inserts to glue and paint. 9 of them I had to draw.

I figured I would post a day in the life rather than just BUMP

I also want to thank the owner and all of my customers for the support

frontier (resized).png

sorry for the crappy pic. not much light today

Here is some pics of the Lady death and Space rider game kits that are for sale on my website. If you have never heard of them, it was a company that would take a game that bally made huge numbers of, so they were available cheap, and there were plenty of games that made their quarters and were no longer being used. So they made new art work on a pf, back galss, and plastic set... New game, new theme, on an old globetrotters
When these were made it was all about space. star wars, star trek movies had just been made. People couldnt get enough space themed stuff. I know I couldnt. The only thing that could be better is add some hot pinup chicks. Well they did that also!
I think the biggest reason these kits were not a big hit over here is, after the election in 1980, american culture was going to tighten up the sex left over from the 70's. Ed Mease, Ron and Nancy, and the folks to direct the national endowment for the arts, wanted to get rid of all of the lewd and lascivious nudity in our culture.

So I think it was timing. They were made at the wrong time. They sold plenty in europe. Anyway now they are cool collector items. They made one of the Kiss title, and it is Just full of lots o naked hotties.

The space rider pfs are not dimpled. I have a template and can dimple for you if you are going to install. Of course I will be happy to tweek and clear them for ya also. The look so beautiful cleared, the colors are bright and deep.

ld (resized).png

rk (resized).png

sp (resized).png

So I just got this nos frontier done. It was nos, and pretty nice, so it got the inserts glued, sanded off all of the laquer, painted all of the inserts, and cleared. When I have to use clear to build up to level, its really important to allow each coat to cure. Of course after its done, I sand it level starting with 600, and going up to 3000 wet block sanding. Then polish, then clean out all of the cut outs.

front 1 (resized).jpg

front 10 (resized).jpg

front 13 (resized).jpg

front 2 (resized).jpg

front 3 (resized).jpg

front 4 (resized).jpg

front 5 (resized).jpg

front 6 (resized).jpg

front 7 (resized).jpg

When it rains it pours.
This just got dropped off for me to start on, just as I finished the last. I have only done 3 frontier pfs in 13 years, and 2 are in the last couple months. If it was a repro, that would be very common.

front B1 (resized).jpg

front B2 (resized).jpg

front B3 (resized).jpg

I was just reading your post again and I thought of something. I am pretty sure there is a post about some game makers pf's having the star posts sinking in the clear. It may have been regular ball posts. I get frustrated when there are different opinions on what is right, so I avoid them, but it made me think of something.

The clear we use on pfs is not used the way it is designed to be used. The clear I use is made for 2 coats, 3 at the most and only if you screwed the pooch on 2. Yes you can drive your car later that day, but you sure the hell cant screw things down on the paint. Its going to be soft for a couple weeks.

Now imagine is you laid down 5 or 6 thick coats in one or 3 days, which is what happens for production pfs. the bottom coats are sealed in, and are going to take a while to cure. Even longer than the ones on top or if you just did 2 coats. One of the ways I make harder surfaces is take this in to account, and it requires quite a bit of time.

I know there are a million pf experts out here in the pinball world, but it is my opinion that: If you buy a repro pf, especially one from CPR where they ship them out as soon as done, and work on the next title, so they try not to keep a stock which would have time to cure. I highly suggest you let the pf cure in a vented area for at least 3 months. I know you cant always, but keep in mind the longer you let it cure, the harder the surface will be for a heavy metal ball to bounce around on. I have come to this conclusion from trial and error. I am not an expert, though I play one on TV.
So in conclusion if there are more than 2 coats of clear on a pf, and the maker sprayed them in a short peroid of time (less than allowing each set of coats fully cure, then spray on top) its really important to allow it to cure out. as a rule of thumb I pulled 3 months out of my butt. It really depends on the when it was done, what kind of material, how it was applied, how many coats, coats applied over what amount of time, the wood, the weather, a lot of factors.

I was not singling out cpr or anything, I just used them because they do a bunch of work, sell it , and do the next title, which seems to be different than say mirco who has stuff in stock (I am guessing for the sake of the example)

so there it is, and I bumped my thread.

Here are some pics of a nos voltan. It was in better shape than most its age. Usual insert cracks, and a couple scratches and nicks. I didnt realize it until the sander took it right off, but the top laminate was puckered. It was a vertical, long, thin, blister in the wood that was about 3-4" and only about half in wide. Of course it went right thru the woman's brestisis' down in to the script below. I didnt remember to take a pic of it until I was mostly done with the paint work. I avoided painting the entire red area by making the pink shadow a little bigger. A little magic to make it disappear. All of the inserts got painted and they were glued. One of my favorite pfs by one of my favorite pin artists.

I always remember something a dentist said to me. "my best work is never seen" the context was when he does his job well no one notices there was a problem at one time

1volt10 (resized).jpg

1volt2 (resized).jpg

1volt3 (resized).jpg

1volt4 (resized).jpg

1volt5 (resized).jpg

1volt7 (resized).jpg

1volt8 (resized).jpg

1volt9 (resized).jpg

I am finishing up a big batch of jobs, all in the next 3-4 weeks, and I have plenty of capacity, so if you have been waiting for a good time to send in your pf, this is one of the rare times when I dont have a big line up. You can contact me for info.
I am not sure if I have mentioned it on here before, but if you have a rare pf that you are worried about shiping, or you dont have the materials to ship your pf, I can send a shipping crate, with the packing, and all you have to do is drop it in, and you need a power screw driver to screw down the lid of the crate. There are about 15 screws. so far in 13 years , not one pf has ever been damaged in one of the crates.

enjoy the day, and thanks to all who support my work. I am very thankful for the opportunity.
cheers, rk

So here is a example of why I let new repro pfs sit for a couple months before I clear them. This one was pretty smooth except you could feel the inserts, which is no big whoop. In the 6 weeks it has been here, the clear is sinking down in to the grain of the wood. This could be because of what ever leveler/primer they use before clear, or it could be from a production clear where all of the coats are done in one week or less. I dont really know.
I dont see it as a defect or anything. Its just new repro pfs. some companies have more of this effect than others, but it effects all of them, and it happened to the nos when they were made
I took these pics Saturday because I was about to sand it, to allow it cure for another 4 weeks or so. may as well get off 3/4 of the clear, less to cure. Its logical to assume that is will finish curing faster, if I remove most of the clear. I will still have to sand it again before I clear. If I was to clear it without leveling the inserts, they would look forever be sunk. If I was to clear it with this kind of surface texture (if the surface was not glossy, then the grain effect would forever be in the clear)

Many times this happens to such an extreme, that to sand the inserts level, I get down in to the paint all day long, because the inserts are so low. Different pf titles, different runs are all different amounts of this effect. The original playboy (cpr) had hardly any wood grain, insert change from the day it came till a year later. FT is a title that really has issue with this effect.

I have found in my dealings with pfs, each has its own attitude. I do my best on every job. some want to work with me, some are bastards. The good thing is it can all get fixed. Its just a matter of time and money.

some people send me the pf and allow it to cure here, some let it cure at home. Take it out of the box, and if possible, store in a place with the air circulating. I repeat, GET IT OUT OF THE BOX please.

If you have any topics you want an opinion explained in detail, send me a pm. That is why I posted this.

play some pinball, rk

01diner1 (resized).jpg

01diner2 (resized).jpg

01diner3 (resized).jpg

THANK YOU!!!. I wish Wade would re-run that title. I am a huge fan of that game. I have sellers remorse. I bought my wizard that had been all gone thru by a lost lumber jack. It was too nice to restore. I had it for a couple years and as usual had to sell it for I forget, hookers or tires for the van. machines are my savings acct.

On my wizard, I installed a stronger coil only on the right flipper because they had a hard time to make the shot that goes to the top and around. It was on clay's thread or site. it made the game so much more fun. I am sure the clearcoat would be better for making less friction for ball travel.
If you haven't played a wide body with a cleared pf that has been sanded level and polished out (not just sprayed, because that has orange peal to some or more extent) you should see how it livens up the game. most wide pf's have a big empty space in the middle for the ball to slow down. In my opinion TZ and paragon are the 2 games a cleared polished pf makes the biggest difference for speeding up the ball play.

Thank you for the support larry

So this beautiful Night Rider belongs to a guy named ken white out in sunny CA. Him and his father do some amazing restorations and I am always glad to be involved. Besides the quality of work they do, I dig it that they mostly do games from the early SS era (mostly bally I believe.)

This pf had a lacquer or varnish that had a serious brown tint to it. I sanded it right to the ink, and on the center area like the truck trailers and the logo I painted a brighter white. Not straight white so it looks out of place, just much brighter. I reset about 6 inserts, reglued all of the rest, painted them all. There are 2 factory or previous owner touch up spots in dark blue. they are not worth repainting that whole area so I left them. I did some color repaint besides white but I dont think you will find it. The back is gloss oil paint to seal out moisture and wipe off finger prints.

1kr1 (resized).jpg

1kr2 (resized).jpg

1kr3 (resized).jpg

1kr4 (resized).jpg

1kr6 (resized).jpg

1kr7 (resized).jpg

1kr8 (resized).jpg

Its been a very non profitable week here. My old spray gun (the one I like, I have several and they are super expensive $200-500 and I like the cheapest one) finally died and I bought a new fancy expensive one from japan. I am having a hell of a time getting it dialed in, so I replaced all of the filters (5), and gutted my spray room, built new walls, new tables. helped a little. Today I am buying new bigger air hose, and connectors. I am going to move up to 1/2 rather than 3/8. So its been super frustrating because I know everyone wants their pfs. Anyway I will get it figured out but I am not going to spray any more until it does.
Stupid expensive gun. If I could I would return it and buy another 129 rig and use that.

I also got a chance to build some crates, as well as some custom crates for bg's and for paragon (huge). One of the pics is of the insulation boards of different thickness that I use for the packing. SO expensive. Its about 12 bucks for a sheet that gets cut in to 4. News flash: everything is expensive!

I sometimes forget to thank everyone for their support. Sometimes people are so cool when they send me the payment they will round it up, or last week someone sent me a set of plastics for a game I am going to restore. When I watch the news, I think to my self, "man the world sucks" But surprisingly often, my customers can be really kind. I will say it helps me get out of bed in the morning.

crates1 (resized).jpg

crates2 (resized).jpg

crates3 (resized).jpg

Thanks guys, appreciate it.
here is a link to a fella here on pinside doing a swap on a AFM. I really like his work and there is a lot of helpful info in there if you ever get time to read it. It takes a bunch of time to take pics and upload and write explanations, plus opening yourself up to criticism, so I appreciate the effort. Plus the pf and install kit are super cool. ha
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/afm-mirco-playfield-gone-over-by-kruzman-swap/page/2#post-5249449

I actually havent owned one or worked on one, so I am not positive about anything. I think it would be worth starting a thread if anyone has any experience doing one. of course there will be lots of opinions, but actual experience. I am told that vid has thousands of posts on restoring pfs. I havent looked at it, but there may be something in there.
Feel free to ask me if you come across any more questions in trying to figure it out, and please post your findings here if you do get a straight forward answer, if you could.
cheers, ron

I remembered something concerning this question last night while watching Jeopardy. if you are unsure of the material on the pf and you are going to clear, do your regular sanding, and dewax, and then do one or 2 "dust coats" I have learned to do this on uncleared cpr pfs, after melting the red inserts and wrecking a BK.
Its what painters do with a surface they cant sand, so I think it will work with this as long as you prep well.
good luck.

Steve Pandol (i think he is in PA) has a GLOBETROTTERS for sale. Its a cpr bronze, and he would like to get rid of it. since mine is sold I figured I would try to help him out. you can contact him at [email protected]
He is on here, but I forget people alias's.
He is a good guy and wont screw you around.

Well this is a good question to have in the archives. I am sure others have answered it, but everyone has an opinion. I also like flight 2k, so I will give you my opinion.
Auto body guys are awesome at what they do, but the only thing in common with their job and pinball is the material used. process is so different!
They paint metal and plastic, but not metal with plastic in the middle of it without a seam dividing. When I spray a car, I spray 2 or 3 coats of clear in one day, and if there are no problems that is the end of it.

ok well to get down to it, the biggest thing is most of the time body shops want to dust it then paint it. It is so important that you sand that pf level. you have to get out the wood grain as well as level the inserts. When you start sanding you will see the gloss parts remain after sanding, they are the low spots. You will be amazed when you run a sander over it and see how level that pf is not. My process is apply 2 coats at a time, allow 15 days cure, and repeat. before recoating you have to sand. Not only for the clear to grab, but to level. Dont forget hand sanding the low points and the edges of the cut holes. this takes me at least 25 min besides the full sand with the sander. if you dont sand the low spots like the dimpled areas and edges of holes they will break, chip, lift, everything bad. After the last coats I sand the entire pf level, then I progress in grit from 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000. Then I polish. I have that process down to a full long day. (then you need to clean the compound out of the cut out holes' edges.

I am not just pedaling my wears. I highly recommend my install kit for when you install! it eliminates lifting, chipping, and all of that, and it repairs lifting (ghosting) which you will have plenty enough around the edges of your inserts if you dont sand the wood and insert level. I think the shipping would be about 25-30 bucks, not sure.

You may want to explain to your body painter that you want a clear that is durable for a ball rolling over it

So I hole that helps. Now that I explained my secret process, I expect to be out of biz soon, so I am going to submit my app to the nearest fast food restaurant.

Correct on those very cupped inserts, and your explanation of dealing with it is exactly what I recommend. I ouldnt explain it any better I dont think without step by step directions, but that is exactly how I would deal with inserts that cupped. I dont think its possible to sand that pf without having to paint around the inserts because of the edges of the inserts, and the edge of the wood and where they are suppose to be flush. I always reef on the sander on the inserts because I would want to paint them anyway since there is the crack around them. also, they are almost 40 which means if you clear that pf without glueing those inserts, it wont be long at all before the clear starts ghosting from loose inserts. It goes on and on. I am serious I spend all of 40 hours in these pfs without the paint work. at least its dimpled.

I usually bring a pf or 2 to J dayhuffs party (next weekend) and I stash it in J.D.'s office for people to check out, on his desk or file cab. Not sure which I will being this year. I think I brought the amazing spiderman last year. It depends on what gets done between now and then.
If there are any pfs on my list at the start of this post, that you may be interested in, I can bring them to the party for you to look at, or buy. Saves the stress of shipping.
If you are going to Johns party for the first time this year prepare to have your mind blown!

Hi robert without pics, I really have no idea on advice, but generally speaking, I would take 6 months (it may take much less) and find a nos or used pf that is in much better condition. when the wear is the womans face, (like I said I dont know what it looks like) you may have a hard time painting it. working on a unlevel surface is not as easy as a stretched canvas. matching colors that are over 30 years old is about impossible, so you will want to paint the entire thing, when you lay down a color. It goes on and on. My point is this sounds like a full restoration repaint. I also dont like airbrush work except for doing large background areas like under the arch or apron, so, I just dont have much help for you on this one.

Ok so you have a second pf. Thats is the way I do it. Now I understand a little better. one suggestion, is check all of the inserts. the loose ones, you should pull and reset. The inserts that feel tight, you should still glue in place from behind.

The way I do repaint on older pfs like this, is when you match a color, paint all of that color in that area, and dont forget the clear will make it deeper.
I have used your trace paper idea before, just to apply dots to the edges of the outside of a color, on the pf you are painting.
Lastly get your surface as flat as possible!!!
Dont be afraid to re do something.

I spent the weekend doing the final sand and polish on a nos Taf pf. The worst part is I cant see the flaws in the clear until I get the finish so polished at the very end. if i just polished it good enough, they would never show, but in this case, a little bit of compound caked outside a cut out. The wheel got too much compound on it, and it hits the hole and then at the far side of the hole it deposits some compound that I didnt see, and continued to run the wheel. then it is all done, and I see the caked bits of compound (About 3 of them each about 3 mm) and they stand a little higher than the rest of the surface because the caked material stopped the buffer wheel from hitting that small area and it is a bit higher, so if you look at the right angle, there it is. This sucks so bad because this pf is amazing. so beautiful and today I have to sand the area starting at 1000, 1200, 1500, then wet block 2 and 3 grand. Then I have to go thru the 5 polishes and 5 buffer heads and blend it with the rest of the pf and prey I dont burn anything or make any mistakes. This is easily a half days work of sucksville. So today I am trying to stay positive, but I gotta get out there. If you are the owner of this pf please contact me, I cant find our correspondence. your name is on your crate, I just havent been out there today.
Livin the dream!! I wanna thank everyone for their support.

Ken white in CA has a nos SPY HUNTER that I perfected and cleared, for sale. He is not going to use it. He also has a stock wade krauss sky jump for sale.
He is a very reasonable guy and his email is
[email protected]
you can contact him for price and info. I am doing this as a favor.

If you want an amazing nos pf my buddy Ken White has a spy hunter I tweeked and cleared for him. he sold his game and is selling the pf at a large loss at 850. Its listed here on pinside. For that price hang it on the wall. If I get some cash flow I will buy it.

wow that elviria is so beautiful!! the resto looks awesome, with the lock down receiver, and new decals. Maybe some day if you need a roof or lawyers, you can sell it to me. (lets hope not)

I am thinking about changing the name of my operation to
'TEGRITY pf's

That show is better than ever, though I can think of a lot of folks that wouldnt think its funny at all

I finished a NOS TAF and a cpr elviria. Both came out so nice. Both amazing colors by the original designers. The elviria really stands out Deep contrasting colors, great art!

Some people dont know this, but I am happy to trade and barter (are they the same?) of course plus and minus cash. Things are rarely equil.
For example I just traded 4-5 jobs for a bunch of the geiger kits where you get a pf, bg, and plastics to make a game like matta hari, glotrotters, and Kiss, in to a new game with the "pretty pinball girls in space" that became almost extinct once ron and nancy and meese came in to office. I am going to do the lady death conversion, which is a matta hari conversion. Its the only one I have the pf , bg and plastics for. The KISS/MISS world is the best by far because of the art work, but I cant afford a kiss game.

They are not on my list above but I do have Space rider and miss world pf's for sale. The Miss world needs just a bit of black paint work at the top, otherwise all of these are in amazing condition. BGR is working on or has the back glasses for them, and tommy is working on the plastic sets. CPR has the back glass for miss world on their web site, but it says they made it so it cant be used. I am wondering if it can be worked on to work in a game. that bg is amazing!!!!!

OOps I accidently included a pic of my dream truck, "doug" Thats right, a 7.3 litre powerstroke (my girlfirend thinks that is halirous and perfect for me), with the new mini van in the back ground. Shout out to dave in Imlay city for hooking me up that that new pin hauler. My sister had the same year with sto and go seats and J.D and I got 3 games in there after expo. As for the 1996 f250. well thats for charming the ladies

1a11 (resized).jpg

1a12 (resized).jpg

1a14 (resized).jpg

1a16 (resized).jpg

Maybe someone cane help with this problem. My computer used to highlight spelling errors as I composed. For some reason it stopped. Its old. so on my email there is an icon at the top of the page for spell check. There is not one here. is there a command like; "control " I can do, so I have spell check again? I am realizing that everything I post gets saved for ever, and I would like to take care of my spelling issues. so if you know, and you have a moment, please send me a pm, and I will be so grateful.
cheers, ron

My man Jim. Thank you for the help!!!

So this is a completed Williams Alien Poker that I would love to throw in my game, but it is owned by a customer. I really like the company who made this pf. They are german and made the bride and f14 repro pfs. It didnt fight or resist, though it did get an extra 2 coats. It came out perfect. love it. you can see the reflections, one is a tree in the clear. Notice how un-distorted i is. That is the result of my least favorite job. wet block sanding

ap10 (resized).jpg

ap12 (resized).jpg

ap13 (resized).jpg

ap2 (resized).jpg

ap4 (resized).jpg

ap7 (resized).jpg

ap8 (resized).jpg

ap9 (resized).jpg

Its possible that the aliens in this game influenced the guys who made Rick and Morty

Here is that night Rider being installed by mr white.
Looks pretty darn nice

1nr (resized).jpeg

Hopefully this thread is still relevant: I have a customer looking for a NOS dolly pf for a restoration. Of course I will get a clear job out of it!
anyway PM me if you have one or know of one.

I think I go thru phases. At one point I got really tired of ballys (especially paragons) because I was getting a lot of them, and they have their own charm, or you could call them issues, that are time consuming. Then I do 6 months of repro pfs, and I am ready for some nos old stuff. How was it my mother used to say it so eloquently ? oh yea, "Boy. you are like a fart in the wind".

Here is another Alice cooper I have finished that is going in to a new game. there is a cool mini pf that I have all ready sent back to spooky. I have really fallen for the art on this pf. It would be a god wall hanger for sure!!!
I am finally getting back on track, and up to pace with the jobs. Everything was delayed because of roof damage this year, and the whole spray room had to be rebuilt, then dialed in. Plus a new supplier for my clear. same manufacturer, but a supplier who can get materials that are newer than 2 years old!!!!

LASTLY: I want to mention that I have a cpr TAF pf almost done, that is for sale. I am waiting for it to be purchased before I do the last set of coats and block and polish. PM me if you are interested.

Also if you have any nos pf's to sell or trade, drop me a PM
AS always thanks to everyone for the support. I really appreciate being able to do this for a living!

10ac (resized).jpg

12ac (resized).jpg

1ac (resized).jpg

2ac (resized).jpg

3ac (resized).jpg

4ac (resized).jpg

5ac (resized).jpg

6ac (resized).jpg

7ac (resized).jpg

8ac (resized).jpg

9ac (resized).jpg

Here is an amazing deal on a ww pf. If you are planning to do one in the future, and the little issues in the clear dont bother you, this is your chance to save about 700 bucks!!
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hep-williams-white-water-playfield-set

Hi sergio, I am willing to make a trade on any of the pfs I have in stock, but those old stern pf's in nos, are as rare as chicken teeth. Take a look at what I have, or maybe a clear job to put toward that dolly. If I didnt do this for my living, and could save my money instead of pissing it away, I would only trade my nos pfs (like you).

I thought I would share this. I will preface it with the fact that I got my first pin when I was 14 (my dad helped) and it was my dream to own an arcade. When I got older I wanted to be an operator since arcades seem to fail so often. The draw to weighing a 5 gal bucket of quarters, is always been my dream.

I have a good friend named Chris Travis (rock pinball). I dont know how it came to be, and I am sure its a interesting story, but he got the opportunity to open an arcade above a new restaurant in a small town called Wayland. (little 2 or 3 light town). The upstairs is a big open room the size of the restaurant below, so he divided it with tall black curtains on a cable, and with the help of a couple local friends who have games to add to his, plus he bought some vids, Chris did my dream and opened an arcade.
So I went up there this weekend to check it out. I figured since its such a small town and the restaurant is just finished being built, no signage, that no one would even know he had the games up there. In my mind, that still within my dream. I got there and there were 2 families in the restaurant, and there were 2 kids upstairs. So I figured since he prob wasnt making any quarters at all, I would donate mine to the earthshaker. It played awesome and I got my name on it. while I was playing, a group of 4 little kids came up and started dropping quarters. Half of them didnt know how to play the games, and one kid was about 9 and was amazing at the basket ball game where you throw the small balls in the hoop. Chris came up to play a couple games with me, and give me some Quarters (thank you by the way), and he checked his coin boxes, and since everything chris travis touches turns to gold, of course there was a bunch of coins in there. I was super impressed and super happy for him. This guy never just talks about ideas. He often comes up with an idea, and gives it a shot, win or loose and he usually wins, all while working 55 hours a week at a regular jobie job. So the video games do much better than the pins, (most of the little kids had never seen a pin, or thats what it looked like since he could get 45 baskets in 30 sec, but tried to climb on the pin as if that was what you do with it. He didn't know the shooter was to launch the ball) and of course the claw game that grabs candy is the best quarter maker.
So this weekend I was reminded that nothing ventured nothing gained, or however that goes. It was really inspiring, and maybe some day I will get a game on route. Next time I need to bump this thread I will write about my great idea to put my GnR pin in a tattoo shop, and how I just agout got thrown out for insulting the owner. After all" its an art studio not an arcade!!!"

Ok back to the coal mine.