I believe in giving credit where credit is due and Kruzman is the best hands down, but there's others out there like myself working to be as good!

I use SM2K (acrylic & resins) apply 12 heavy coats, then block sand it wet flat as glass. One of the hardest 2-part clear coat systems out there, these clear coats do not dimple or seem to have any imperfections after 1,000's of games on my own Party Zone, and on other playfields I've cleared. Reasonably priced at $400 plus return shipping, here's a link...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/playfield-clear-coat-service-for-pinball-machines

Dude are you serious...I can post wherever I want there's nothing malicious, I've talked with Kruzman and the Op of this thread many of times about clear coating chill out. Next time maybe don't "think" out loud and especially when you're showing such little class as to try and belittle me dude!

Dude this is a FREE country I'll gladly chime in and say whatever I'd like to regardless of what you "think" thank you...even if it is a little bit of shameless self promoting. lol

"Can do" vs "Should Do" that's what people who "Do Nothing" say IMHO. I'm well aware Pinside is global and unlike some people I don't think I'm better than anybody else or vice versa.

Well I'm glad to not do business with you, thanks for saving me the trouble! I'm sorry I like replying to all these smug narcissistic self centered pot shots. You want to have a conversation about class...you obviously couldn't.

I think you got a solid $1,600 pf there man. I recently sold a NOS TAF cleared by HSA on ebay for $1,600, and simultaneously there was another NOS TAF cleared by Kruzman up there for $2K that sold. And personally I think Creature is a way better game ascetically.

PS sorry MMR for derailing your price quest mon, this comment is what I was originally going to segue to!

It would be nice to see some pics, how can anybody get tired of seeing cleared playfields! lol

I just finished clearing a TAF and I'd shoot that pf too just the same for $400 and you'd be sure to not loose out in value in the long run or have a difficult sale. I hate to be brutal but I've seen some killer restorations here on pinside using frisket and airbrushing far better than any of the touch ups some of the so called pros have been doing. I can do almost flawless touch-ups thinning out acrylics and applying multiple coats and doing some conventional masking. I spend about $100 in materials on every clear coat job. And I never charge anybody more than $100 for extensive touch-ups most of the time if there minor I'll just do them for free, because I like to use my own acrylic paints. Any run of the mill auto body shop is going to charge around $300 to clear coat a pf. Lets be realistic there are shitty clear coat jobs out there, but piling on the coats and doing the block sanding is really all that matters aside from good prep work. My policy is if the playfield touch-ups look perfect prior to clearing the final outcome will look killer. More importantly is what materials you are using, whats the point of paying for an aftermarket clear coat job if it's going to be too soft to protect against friction(wear) or dimple and just go to crap over the next year or so. In the past acrylics were too tough to use on a pf and would crack and chip but this company has blended them with soft resins to make one of the most durable and flexible clear coat systems to use on a playfield. There's a 3+ year old thread of more than happy pinsiders who practically swear by it like myself. You really have no idea the depth and durability of this stuff until you've seen it in person likewise. It's only downfall is that it is not uv protective, but that in my opinion is a good thing for black light lighting. And hardly any playfields ever fade without any protection anyways. The only thing on the market right now somewhat comparable to SprayMax2K from what I've seen is a ceramic clear coat that I heard Micro is offering?

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Well I consider myself to be a conservative liberal but sorry dude I won't be changing my attitude or disposition in life anytime soon it suits me fine. Thanks anyways lol

I spray in one session, 12 coats become 1 thick coat annealed together that will generally cure and pass the fingernail test in about 2-3 days. It will completely harden within 2 weeks once the remainder of the thinners that keep the clear coat wet finally evaporate. In my experience when you block sand between coats with any clear coat if you examine it in the brightest of led lights you'll see each block sanding session's scratches in layers, so you want to keep that at a minimum because that dampers the clarity for me at least. I will do two block sanding sessions with this stuff, prep sanding and a final block sanding. If I'm spraying on a bare pf sometimes I'll shoot a diamond plate like clear coat on it first (2-3 coats) and let that sit overnight then prep sand it before I really start adding multiple coats, mainly just for the inserts to bond well to the clear. If you don't block sand between dried coats that just seems like a poor way to add multiple coats of clear just to achieve depth without giving any integrity (tooth) to make all those coats become one strong layer. Which is the point of spraying a clear coat in the first place to protect the artwork from wear and encapsulate the playfield. Everybody is working with different materials that have very different cure times and very different procedures they have perfected so there's really no comparing any of us.

Here's that killer HSA clear job on a NOS TAF for comparison, were all learning from each other it's iron sharpening iron here.

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No sweat man, your totally right with using something like varathane or even on the factory diamond plate clear coats I've seen the top coats lifting over inserts, cracking, chipping. Its soft stuff and has a hard time bonding to a plastic insert that has been polished and just has no bite.

But this stuff is unlike your traditional clear coats and is mostly comprised of acrylics & resins (what they make bulletproof glass out of) much tougher than any soft 2-part urethane or lacquer. The resins bond it together I'm guessing, its kinda like super-glue meets crushed bulletproof glass. I can assure you as many of them as I've finished blocked sanded down now they get much stronger with more layers. In fact if I don't block sand them within 24 hours of finishing the coat it's like trying to file a rock down with a potato chip wet sanding with 2,000 grit. lol It is already time tested and has been used for over 3 years by hundreds of pinsiders, and I think we've somewhat perfected the application.

Here's the link...
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-spraymax-2k-auto-clear-in-a-can-club

Spectacular!