That Paragon. OMG.
(Topic ID: 243533)
Linked Games
Addams Family, The
Bally, 1992
Topic Gallery
Beautiful, highly detailed and shiny Paragon PF. Some lucky person is going to treasure that for life.
Battle Creek, MI
Quoted from Gort:That Paragon playfield is sweet! I'd love to play a game on that!
Me too!!!! I have bought 2 paragons to restore, one was 400 and one was 500 between 9-6 years ago, and I never got to them. One of them I pulled the pf and restored it and then sold the restored pf.
That reminds me for some reason, dayhuff has a really nice Judge dread for sale (he is in battle creek west mi). Its been in his personal collection for close to 10 years, and always played nice during his parties where 2-300 people played for 10 hours. Nice game. I went to look at it but I want a HUO stern, less than 15 years old.
As promised here are the pics of the mirco ToM repro. There were about 12 inserts that needed paint work on this which is unusual for a mirco. the before pics are a page or 2 back. maybe 3.
So for people who dont know me. After I do a lot of prep, I apply the clear, 2 coats per set, and then I allow to cure at least 2 weeks. with business being so backed up its more like 3 and 4 weeks. The longer the better. Then I sand a lot of the clear off, and make it level. Then hand sand all of the edges of the holes and cut outs, as well as low spots, and the shooter lane. I have to make sure the clear wont build up at the bottom of the shooter lane making a large flat spot.
After I have enough coats, I have to block sand the last sanding by hand. A da sander will not leave you with the mirror flat surface because the sanding pad absorbs the tall spots. It sucks and i hand/block sand up to 3000.
Then polish it back to glass. Then scrub all of the compounds out of the edges, and I seal the back with poly.
Some pfs need paint work or wood work, drill and dimple, or the star roll overs are clogged up with clear from the manufacture. That is all hourly.
Once I clear a pf it has to be shipped in a wood crate. you can make one if you have the wood shop. I can even send you my design and measurements so they are easy to make if you have the tools and truck, or I can send you a wood crate to your house, you can drop the pf in it (it takes less then 5 min) since it has all of the padding, and send it to me. Then after I do my work I use that crate to send the complete pf home to you. The crates are designed for 10-12 round trips, and with all of the packing for 1 or 2 pfs they come in handy.
IMG_3065 (resized).JPGIMG_3066 (resized).JPGIMG_3067 (resized).JPGIMG_3068 (resized).JPGIMG_3069 (resized).JPGIMG_3070 (resized).JPGIMG_3071 (resized).JPGSanding out an EBD (nos) today. I didnt want to sand it because the clear was so nice as it is, but once I sanded with the block it hits the high points first and you can tell it looks perfect, 'bUT IT AINT FLAT"
so the nos EBD will be done this week, and I put the last coats I think on a bsd, and the 4th coat on a stargazer.
I actually know who owns all of those planks
This is not pinball but it happened while writing pinball invoices.
I heard a splash in the river like a person my size doing a cannonball. I had a feeling what it was, so I got up quick to see the bald eagle getting some fish breakfast. This is my 4th or 5th time I have seen him do it.
You would think it would be graceful and precise. nope. not at all. I dont know how he accomplishes that much noise and splash!
I couldn't be happier with how this EBD came out. It was a LOT of paint work for a nos. The biggest reason was the lacquer was really thin and the wood grain had expanded, so there was lacquer down in the valleys if you can imagine the wood grain being the mountains. since the grain goes up and down on pfs it can be hard to sand the sides without getting down in to the top layers of the ink. Which is exactly what happened to me. The black and blue came right off on the left side without much sanding at all. I only take off as much as necessary to level and get the shine off the lacquer. I epoxied all of the inserts from behind, and I painted all of the inserts. There are before pics back some pages.
The owner of this job is a prince for being so patient. It took me a long time, which is because of the paint work and being over booked. The longer it takes me, the better it is for the pf, because that means more time for it to harden before I sand it level.
Little EBD trivia. There are so many versions of this title. They were produced many times, so the colors are way different, but also the back dimpling is much different. In the span of EBD production they went from no light boards for the insert lights, to small boards to big boards. This is the last round of EBD. I am not sure if they are different for the 2 different style cabinets. Anyway, after doing this one, EBD is not on my list of pf's I would rather go repro. I loves this plank!!
IMG_1517 (resized).JPGIMG_1518 (resized).JPGIMG_1519 (resized).JPGIMG_1520 (resized).JPGIMG_1521 (resized).JPGIMG_1522 (resized).JPGIMG_1523 (resized).JPGIMG_1526 (resized).JPGIMG_1528 (resized).JPGIMG_1529 (resized).JPGIMG_1530 (resized).JPGIf you click on the pic of the 2 yellow arrow inserts at the top and enlarge, you will see the cracks from the insert edge go in to the crème color, which got painted. Oh and here are the after pics.
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Porters Lake, NS
Quoted from kruzman:If you click on the pic of the 2 yellow arrow inserts at the top and enlarge, you will see the cracks from the insert edge go in to the crème color, which got painted. Oh and here are the after pics.
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Amazing work as usual
Quoted from kruzman:If you click on the pic of the 2 yellow arrow inserts at the top and enlarge, you will see the cracks from the insert edge go in to the crème color, which got painted. Oh and here are the after pics.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Playfield porn at its finest!
This has been kind of an experiment, as far as posting pics of the work, (at least every thing that gets completed). Since I see it all day I figured its kind of boring, and I dont want to waste the resources of Robin's memory by posting a bunch of pics. I have been told by some folks they like seeing the work. I am sure I could make it more interesting by taking pics as it progresses and blah blah. I saw that hutch has a thread like this but much more detailed on progression, and possibly technique, I only looked once. Problem is it is a lot of work and time. As much as I need at least one helper I dont have one, and now I am also running the compound by myself. This place really needs a ranger and a grounds staff. Its getting run in to the ground, actually the reverse the grounds are taking over. POINT is, there is very little time. I also know my self and it would turn in to a journal of my depression, wrecked life, and eventually become the kruzman show. Picture the osbornes with just ozzy, alone being a self absorbed idiot, but total white trash, sad sac.
Please feel free to drop me a personal email if you get any joy out of me posting the pics, and I am open to suggestions on tweaking it. Maybe there is something that a lot of folks are interested in seeing pics of, besides dum dum stuff like brand new repro pfs with the star roll overs completely filled w clear Also PLEASE tell me if its a waste of memory. The truth is I am posting pics on what a pf should look like. Its not like I am being creative any more. Being creative pays WAY less than sanding like crazy.
Though I really enjoyed the time i did restorations, it bankrupted me, and I am saving for a car. I am trying to get a friend to break down his Iron maiden and see if it fits in a new subaru forester, and then bring it here from IL. If so, I think its going to be forester rather than a outback. I looked at 4 runners, and I think they were about 40k with 100k miles, so that aint gonna happen. I do plan to keep" doug" the 1997 F250 flower stroke 7.3l.
So to wrap it up, if you have an opinion on me posting a bunch of pics of the complete jobs, please let me know as well of any other ideas. I realize nice curvy women holding the pfs would be an improvement, kinda like the price is right. Though the line of women of any sort, is short, way out here in the sticks with a 53 year old, beat up, self hating ex addict, pervert saving up for a used subaru. Its sad sac but I had to write it. I will say, some of my best laughs are at my self.
Lastly in Kruzman playfield news: I have been in contact with my bio father again, and he happens to have a t-shirt business in his retirement. So I want to work on getting some kruzman pinball playfields t-shirts made up, to give out. I have to figure out a design. I am thinking of a way to make the rare or in demand. something like only for people who send me a pic of my pf installed. The idea just came to mind last night.
Quoted from kruzman:I have been told by some folks they like seeing the work.
Honestly, for this old dude, it's better'n pr0n. I love it all.
Quoted from kruzman:I have to figure out a design. I am thinking of a way to make the rare or in demand.
Two designs - one that anyone can get, and then one JUST for folks that have installed your PFs. (Because while I have your Meteor PF, it's still at least a year away from being installed, and I wanna shirt.) 
I know most everyone would love seeing pics, stories and the like. Just like Chris's thread, it's cool to see the work and life outside of the hobby.
Awesome to hear about saving up for a car but I did get worried until you said Doug is staying. 
Love seeing all the different playfields in all their perfection, and also the before pics can add a lot to the story. I don't think you have to worry about Robin's servers getting overloaded... hell if you have that many pics to upload I'll just donate more 
Two designs - one that anyone can get, and then one JUST for folks that have installed your PFs. (Because while I have your Meteor PF, it's still at least a year away from being installed, and I wanna shirt.)
Very good idea!
Quoted from kruzman:kruzman pinball playfields t-shirts
This. Yes.
maybe a squirrel in the logo?.... or an eagle, but eagles are pretty played out, my vote is for squirrel.
B
Quoted from ZooDude:This. Yes.
maybe a squirrel in the logo?.... or an eagle, but eagles are pretty played out, my vote is for squirrel.
B
another good idea. never even thought of that one!
Love seeing the work Ron. If nothing else, I just like knowing there are still old NOS playfields out there and seeing the transformation with what you do with them. I’ve still got a few to send your way when it slows down for you, let me know. I think I’m about to give up on the NOS Barracora you did for me though. I’ve not seen any games listed in a long time where I thought the swap would be worth it, so that may get listed for sale. Maybe I’ll get lucky at Allentown and something will pop up lol....
Quoted from SergioJ:Love seeing the work Ron. If nothing else, I just like knowing there are still old NOS playfields out there and seeing the transformation with what you do with them. I’ve still got a few to send your way when it slows down for you, let me know. I think I’m about to give up on the NOS Barracora you did for me though. I’ve not seen any games listed in a long time where I thought the swap would be worth it, so that may get listed for sale. Maybe I’ll get lucky at Allentown and something will pop up lol....
Hi serj where are you located. My bud John dayhuff sees a lot of games, he watches for that older bally stuff. My suspicion is the good games from the ss and even DMD era are not going to come up for sale until someone passes away and the estate gets sold.
I just had a convo with another record collector and he said what I just said, but for records. right now its often the same games that go on the market over and over, every year or 2.
It kills me that I have to sell the NOS pfs. Not to be selfish but I am a collector by heart and if I could afford them, oh! I would. I have had some amazing nos pfs in my possession. my fav is rocky. I have a very clear conscious about flipping. I never charge the high price, I always point out issues, and I buy a lot of pf's I have had for 14 years now that havent sold. Many times when a nos pf surfaces it goes thru many many hands that keep marking it up. It seems like a good thing to have the not so popular pfs here and on my web site so that when someone starts a restore project, there is one available. On average I mark up pfs 100-150 from what I paid w ship. (I made more on the last batch of WPC pfs because I had to burrow the money cash from a loan shark.) Occasionally a pf will arrive that I bought, and its not in good enough shape to sell. if it is fixable I do so and often loose money. For example that DE simpsons, I havent put the time in to finishing it because I am going to loose money on it. as it sits, I have put 30 hours in to it, and I am going to loose money on it, so why add more? when I do get the time I will get to it for the cash flow, but I loose money on pfs more often than I like. with the simpsons I forgot to ask every single question, and if you dont ask directly, it doesnt seem to come up. Whatever one pf in the big pic is nothing.
I started yappin, but I also like to see what nos pfs are still around. what a difference the last 10 years have made. I think until 2010 nos pfs were being installed at a flat line on the graph, but about the time pinside came around pinball started getting big again. Also there is a big percentage of collectors that really enjoy restoring and working on them, I think more than ever before. I know many others besides my self that sold their IJ and SS games for 3100 each in 2010, because they would be easy to replace. Not knowing it would be double the price. anyway old news. I dont have a list of the nos pfs I have owned but I have a good memory, I may try to put a list together. Might be fun
I just finished a mirco IJ that I had to let sit and dry for 4 months. It got here the month it was made. I have to sand and polish the mini pf still, but Pics are coming. I have redone this pf twice, so 3 times total. I get it done and a month later the inserts are sunk again. So I sand it level and add 2 coats, and do it all again. Iam glad I kept it here after it was done to watch it.
Yeah, I hear ya Ron. I’m in the DC area and pretty much just bought playfields over the years for games that I either had or wanted to get in the future. I remember at one Pinball Expo in the 90’s there was a guy selling a stack of NOS EBD playfields off the back off his truck in the parking lot for $100 each I think. It wasn’t a game I was thinking of getting so I passed, they were all over the vendor area the next day for $200 lol. Wish I’d picked one up now. I’ll have to go through what I have. I’ve got one NOS Mata Hari that has some pretty good cracking in a lot of the paint. Is that salvageable or is that pretty much wall hanger material in your opinion?
Quoted from SergioJ:Yeah, I hear ya Ron. I’m in the DC area and pretty much just bought playfields over the years for games that I either had or wanted to get in the future. I remember at one Pinball Expo in the 90’s there was a guy selling a stack of NOS EBD playfields off the back off his truck in the parking lot for $100 each I think. It wasn’t a game I was thinking of getting so I passed, they were all over the vendor area the next day for $200 lol. Wish I’d picked one up now. I’ll have to go through what I have. I’ve got one NOS Mata Hari that has some pretty good cracking in a lot of the paint. Is that salvageable or is that pretty much wall hanger material in your opinion?
On the old nos ballys its really a question of if NOS means that much to you, because the nos cost a lot to make nice. Its been a while since I did a matta hari.
I have a repro matta hari that I did on accident about 3 years ago. It was mine, and I thought it was a customers, so its all cleared. Its been wrapped all of this time, I found it yesterday when looking for the stargazers.
Back to the ballys. That nos EBD was expensive because it had so many inserts that needed work, but also the wood was really expanded on the left edge which meant a bunch of paint also. So all of the inserts get glued from behind 100$ on that EBD I charged 300 for paint work, but I didnt charge for all of my time, so... But usually on a bally its 200-250 in paint work. Then you have the base clear at 650. so you are looking at a grand for a NOs bally.
So with that in mind you can decide on what suites you best. buying a nos and having it fixed and cleared (price of the pf + 900-1000) or buying a repro and having it cleared (which is 650 plus the cost of the repro) or buying a repro and using it as is. I think the new 8 balls are 849 or 899
One of the Non -nostalgia advantages of the nos, is that nice hard ply wood. Ohh that the good stuff.
Here is the IJ, that has been here a long time. I am sorry I had it so long, but like I mentioned in a post earlier, this was not an agreeable pf. all of the modes were painted and more than half of the other inserts. I even added epoxy behind the mode inserts.
Notice on the t-nut holes and the holes for the flipper rail, I dremmeled out all of the clear and there is just a thin single coat.
I didnt think about it in time on this one, but from now on I am going to fix the lip stick on the womans mouth/smile. That could look way better
The other pics are what happens when you pet the deer. those were hostas on the side of my house
IMG_3100 (resized).JPGIMG_3101 (resized).JPGIMG_3102 (resized).JPGIMG_3103 (resized).JPGIMG_3104 (resized).JPGIMG_3105 (resized).JPGIMG_3106 (resized).JPGIMG_3107 (resized).JPGQuoted from kruzman:Here is the IJ, that has been here a long time. I am sorry I had it so long, but like I mentioned in a post earlier, this was not an agreeable pf. all of the modes were painted and more than half of the other inserts. I even added epoxy behind the mode inserts.
Notice on the t-nut holes and the holes for the flipper rail, I dremmeled out all of the clear and there is just a thin single coat.
I didnt think about it in time on this one, but from now on I am going to fix the lip stick on the womans mouth/smile. That could look way better
The other pics are what happens when you pet the deer. those were hostas on the side of my house
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Take a bottle of Tabasco and half a jar of cayenne pepper spice. Put it in a 1 gallon pump sprayer and fill with 1 gallon of warm tap water. Mix really well and spray it on your hostas, etc. Unless it is severe drought and there literally isn't any other vegetation to eat, the deer will leave them alone. You have to respray regularly. I do it after every mowing. My yard immediately backs to woods. My neighbors flowers are a buffet. Mine? Pristine.
Quoted from robotron911:Take a bottle of Tabasco and half a jar of cayenne pepper spice. Put it in a 1 gallon pump sprayer and fill with 1 gallon of warm tap water. Mix really well and spray it on your hostas, etc. Unless it is severe drought and there literally isn't any other vegetation to eat, the deer will leave them alone. You have to respray regularly. I do it after every mowing. My yard immediately backs to woods. My neighbors flowers are a buffet. Mine? Pristine.
Oh I like the sound of that. My relationship with the deer is odd. I think they are beautiful, I love petting them, and getting them to trust me, but dam it not my hostas. Thank god we wrapped my pear trees in plastic chicken wire. at first it was for winter, but soon as I took some of it down on one, they attacked it.
Yesterday there was a new buck at the compound, I have never seen. First antlers I have seen this year, and these were really big. (remember loonie toons "he had horns like this" Bang!)
By the size of them (still fuzzy) I would guess an easy 10-12pt. Hopefully my neighbor will take does this year, rather than trophies. I dont want to see that wasting disease get worse.
If I had those cameras, I would enjoy watching them get a good bite of hot sauce. ha. oh I would enjoy that! I tried to film one chasing my cat up a tree, after I was picking the ticks off her forehead. Its back to being a circus here again.
Great morning today. Listened to the whole mad season, (above) album at concert level while playing flight 2k. I would say I am at 70 games and still no multi ball.
I would like to take a minute to remind everyone that when you contact me to send me a job, please put the name of the pf title in the subject. clear coat from pinhead 69 does not help me find you at all when the job is done.
I am looking for the owners of a Funhouse and the IJ set.
I apologize in advance but I may seem a little rude if you contact me about a clear job without the title in the head line. If you send me a pf, then send me another email (not pinside but [email protected]) with the name of the pf in the subject. for text just write.
Hi ron. this is for your jobs envelope. I send my Mirco funhouse today. my contact info is
Joe blo
21 happy st
sobriety MI 49053
phone number
If you are reading this and you have a pf here, you may want to send me an email like my example just to be sure. I dont want to whine anymore than I all ready do, but if I only finish 5 pfs a month and 3 are unclaimed, I dont even make my rent, not to mention food, and clearcoat.
Plenty of this is my fault. I live by a mantra of the 4 agreements and the first is the hardest for me. So I am tightening up.
1 dont make assumptions
2 dont take anything personally
3 always keep your word
4 respect yourself, where you are.
I forgot about my facebook, and I found these pics. This is exactly why I went bankrupt. I think I charged 1000 for this job including the clearcoat. I am guessing 1000, it was probably less. This was a customers extra pf, and part of the deal was he was suppose to send me the pf he pulled out of his game, and I gave him the credit ahead of time. Another reason I went bankrupt, I was stupid!!!!! Of course I never got the pf.
cent1 (resized).jpgcent2 (resized).jpgcent3 (resized).jpgcent4 (resized).jpgcent5 (resized).jpgcent6 (resized).jpgcent7 (resized).jpgcent8 (resized).jpgcent9 (resized).jpgFrom the folder, these pics were still a work in progress. I put a coat down to lock everything in. The complete job pics are on one of my burned up lap tops, or on my photobucket I cant get on to. I dont remember. It just makes me sad
c1 (resized).jpgc10 (resized).jpgc11 (resized).jpgc12 (resized).jpgc2 (resized).jpgc3 (resized).jpgc4 (resized).jpgc5 (resized).jpgc6 (resized).jpgc8 (resized).jpgc9 (resized).jpgQuoted from dmacy:That’s a shame about the loser that didn’t even hold up his side to send you his old playfield.
I am not proud to say I learn most lessons the hard way. The pic of all the games in my living room, was the year before I started restoring pfs 2006 or 7 In the corner is Totan, black rose and a HUO sharkeys shootout
Ron is cranking’ them out!! One per day. Prob a little warm up there but it’s the good time of year.
Its feast and famine. I havent been spraying because of the humidity, which causes all kinds of problems. I have just resolved to only spray when its below 80 and less than 70% humidity. Unfortunately its been real hot and thick. you dont know heat till you work in 94 with 80% humidity and no breeze. I take that back. half the country is burning up, you all know what it feels like.
I also cant polish when its over 82ish. even though I cool with ice water while polishing, the pf gets way too hot causing the inserts to expand, and no longer be flat. VERY frustrating
Awesome story on the jesus painting. Its painted on a canvas that was rolled up with 2 others (holy trinity) as part of a traveling revival in the first 20 years of the 20th century. I bought it from the estate of the daughter who's father was a preacher. she glued it in a thin sheet of plywood. I bought it and of course was in a 04 vette. I was all excited, and just wasn't thinking of how I was gonna get it home. I had to drive back to Indy the next day
I just deleted a couple of paragraphs of my feelings on religion and god.
your welcome.
Again I want to ask everyone, (Except the people that I talk to weekly) who has a job here to send me an email to [email protected] with your pf title in the subject line.
ALSO, I would really like to invite people to post more. How about any pics of pfs getting installed, pfs installed, or if you just found a new pf that is sweet. and use the little up vote when you see some thing you really dig.
Quoted from kruzman:ALSO, I would really like to invite people to post more. How about any pics of pfs getting installed, pfs installed, or if you just found a new pf that is sweet. and use the little up vote when you see some thing you really dig.
Roger that!
I just received a Mirco Indy that Ron did for Dave Macy and snapped this victory picture. The clear is so smooth and perfect and I can run my fingers all over it and everything is unbelievably flat. This is a massive improvement over my original pf which has grooves so deep it's going to be reborn as a 12" LP.
7C3123F3-C067-4813-9770-EE1C449C0090 (resized).jpegE0C9C1CA-8780-4E9F-BF49-0F7E5C89103C (resized).jpegIf you get one of my clearcoats and want to know how to take care of it, here you go:
You will need:
1. a bottle of meguires quick wax (spray bottle)
2 a bottle of meguires liquid gold. its gold something maybe gold class. Its a car polish with a bit of abrasive/cleaner in it
3. a bag of micro fiber towells and some zip loc bags
for the most part I like to spray an area of a populated pf with some of the quick wax. I love the stuff because I use it on ramps, the pf, plastics everything.
I use one towell to rub it in, clean areas of dust and dirt. Then I use a seperate dry towell to quick polish it till all residue if off. This stuff repells dust and makes every thing super fast, because it fills in all areas of friction with some silicone. I like it on wire ball returns. I spray some on the towell and go over the wire forms, then buff with the dry.
If you get to the point where the quick wax is not taking off ball trails, please replace your balls or put them in a polisher, then use the liquid gold, just like on the car. Do a small area rubbing it in circular motions. It has fine abrasive. I rub it in and keep going till it disappears. then I polish out with the other dry micro towel.
I always keep my towel that has wax and dust and dirt in one zip loc and my nice clean, dry towel in another zip loc bag. I store the bags in the cab. Do not wash them and use them for pfs. you can wash them and use them to clean up dog crap. I toss them when they get dirty. If not stored in the bag, it will attract dust because of the static, and then you have a brillo pad.
Carnuba wax is not made for clearcoat. its actually made for enriching oxidized, or recently rubbed lacquer paint. On my clear its going to give you a slick surface but its going to keep smearing, and it takes forever to get the smears so they dont show. The quick wax is the same principle. no abrasive, just a material that will fill the microscopic holes and scratches to minimize friction.
If there is a place where the ball drops on tio the pf, I suggest a mylar patch under it. I also like ball hole protectors. You may have to use one of the dremmil bits in the install kit to make it fit. I like both cliffys and mantis. both different ways to do the same thing. its all preference. cliffy is a really good guy.
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