Raleigh, NC
Looks really good. Cabinet is probably harder than a playfield because the playfield is flat and harder to run (but not impossible)
(Topic ID: 193184)
Quoted from bam10:Looks really good. Cabinet is probably harder than a playfield because the playfield is flat and harder to run (but not impossible)
I agree that the vertical walls of the cabinet are harder to clear. Skins' ready to move to playfields alright. Maybe even do playfield restoration work?
I appreciate the words of encouragement. This is definitely a step out of my comfort zone but ultimatly necessary to get me to where I want my cabs to be. I am still apprehensive of water and wood. I'm afraid I'll look at it in the morning and it will be swelled up everywhere a hole in the cab is.
I followed up with 2000 grit. Holy shit wet/dry sand paper is expensive. $45 a sleeve of 50 sheets. Looks pretty damn smooth now though. It's still hard to believe cutting and polishing brings the shine back. I'll find out tomorrow I guess.
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**Edit: holy crap amazon rocks. My buffer already came. It wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow. Ordered at 4pm on a Sunday and here 24hrs later. Now I just need my compounds.
bam10 is there a definitive cleaner between polishing stages? I see some say spray wax, others say no way. I don't want to cross contaminate. I'm assuming these pads will work (3M Perfect it BUFFING & POLISHING KIT Pad Compound Foam 39062 39061 39060 5723 5725 5751 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0082LK87Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dsiPzbNC9S64S) with the hook and loop plate the buffer came with. Plate and pads are both 7". The plate didn't come with a nut, I'm assuming that's correct?
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Ashover
Thanks for sharing such detailed descriptions. Very impressive work! I may never do this level of restoration but it is fascinating to follow the process...and I've just spent an hour playing on my Medusa so I know it is a machine well worth investing time in.
You can try one side with wax and the other without.
I'd think keeping one pad per compound and wiping well in between is enough. Adding wax is not part of the manufacturer's recommended process and if anything can change the compound property.
That's pretty much what I use. The white compound first to remove sanding scratches. Grey next to remove the swirls and haziness from the first step. You don't use as much of the grey product. After that it should look pretty good. Frequently the blue isn't needed, mainly for dark colors. Just wipe down with the microfiber cloth betweeen products. wax isn't really recommended on fresh paint.
Holy crap. Cutting and polishing done. It turned out amazing. So little effort and time too. I could have got more of the orange peel out but I'm still learning and was deathly afraid of sanding through the clear coat. The peal you see at the top will be covered by the rail. It's outstanding. Looks like a mirror and feels like glass.
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Nice ,now that you are the expert you can come to my home and demonstrate your talents. I wil supply the scotch....post buffing
Quoted from Skins:So little effort and time too
Told ya 
The sanding is really where the bulk of the work is and highest risk. The compounds just make your passes and move up to the polishes.. it goes quickly.
Quoted from Skypilot:Nice ,now that you are the expert you can come to my home and demonstrate your talents. I wil supply the scotch....post buffing
I have another side. Don't jinx me. 
So I sanded the other side and sprayed some more clear to allow a good leveling wet sand so I could cut and buff it to match the other side. Clear still wet. Sanding tomorrow.
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I also wet sanded and cut and buffed the back of the head. I'm waiting on 3" pads and backing plate to do the sides of the head and the front panel of the cab. IMG_2974 (resized).JPGIMG_2968 (resized).JPGIMG_2967 (resized).JPG
Ups brought my 3" backing plate and 3" pads. I was able to hook it up to my angle die grinder. Now I can get into tight spaces to cut and polish. It took some practice to get the throttle feathered while turning down the psi. In then end it worked great. Getting close to wrapping up the cabinet.
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Looking good!! Excellent job, its harder than you made it look to build the base to the finish and get the surface prep right-
If you want your encouraged (by me) to look into foam pads for your grinder- you can use a buffing compound and various "grit" foam pads as well as your strategy-
Anyhow- That looks stunning- super super awesome. If I get a playfield like that I am typically happy
Amazing cabinet.
Quoted from rufessor:Looking good!! Excellent job, its harder than you made it look to build the base to the finish and get the surface prep right-
If you want your encouraged (by me) to look into foam pads for your grinder- you can use a buffing compound and various "grit" foam pads as well as your strategy-
Anyhow- That looks stunning- super super awesome. If I get a playfield like that I am typically happy
Amazing cabinet.
Thanks man. I appreciate that. Are you talking about those 6000 grit sponges you put on a da?
Legs and lockdown bar refreshed in gold. I'm going to shoot them in clear when I get the front of the cab sanded for more clear.
Wrapping up a productive pin day. Since I had to wait on clear coat to cure I figured I would work on stripping the playfield and watch some college football.
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I have to pull out my cpr playfield and look at the zipper mech area. I sure hope all the recesses for the hardware are routed out. I know the pop housings are but the extent of the zipper area shocked me.
Toronto, ON
Zemst
Quoted from eh97ac:Can you go over your cutting/buffing setup, tools, products and materials?
Sure. I am using a Makita 9237C rotary polisher. There are a bunch of good ones but I found online this one is consisntly mentioned as a good buffer. The key is to get one with a soft start and a reliable rpm setting switch. It comes with 7" hook and loop backing plate. Mine came with a nice bag.
For tighter spaces I used a dewalt angle die grinder with a 3" soft hook and loop backing plate from the chemical guys. It worked great getting into tight places.
The pads and compound/polishes are all from the 3m perfect-it line. The white foam pad for the white bottle top labeled #1 and so forth as shown in the picture.
The 3" black pads can be used for either compound or polish so I used two separate ones.
You need several clean, dedicated to each step microfiber towels to wipe and clean each step. Don't mix and match for fear of cross contamination.
Lastly I used meguiar's inspection spray to final clean after everything.
I hope this helps.
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Quoted from thierryv:Damn , and I thought my Medusa turned out nice
It looks great. I was just trying to see how good I could push myself. I still comprised on some things but it's a learning process for me as I go along.
No, in order to sand and level the clear without going through the clear to the color base coat, it has to be relatively thick. The plus side is you can't feel the stencil edges at all when it's all said and done. It's completely smooth when done. I would guess 4 coats.
Thanks for the info! Very similar to CPR.
http://classicplayfields.com/perfection.html
I might have to give your setup a shot 
Quoted from PinballMikeD:That's a great paint job, well done. You're giving me motivation to get back on my Medusa
Your stencils helped. They were a dream to work with as usual.
Cabinet sides sanded, cut and buffed. The head is done. The front panel of the cab was still soft so I haven't been able to sand on that yet. I also got the lock bar sanded, cut and buffed. So very close to wrapping up cabinet painting.
Wrapped up. I have a couple tweaks but it's 95% done. The stipple at the sides of the cab at the top will be covered by the side rails. Same with the front panel. The coin door trim will cover it. I'm still working out the side rail issue. The legs are just loosely being held in place. I will paint the bolts eventually too.
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Cabinet is absolutely stunning. A masterpiece, deserving to be sitting next to a Ferrari.
Now, with that extremely heavy playfield, make sure that you are at least two people to put it back in that pristine cabinet. Otherwise, you will need to clear coat it again..... 
Yves
I was looking at the foam pads your using to buff out the clear- they are very similar to (if not identical) to the ones I was referring to. I get mine at chemicalguys.com- they have decent prices on some nice polishing buffing supplies for automotoive clear coat. Turns out you can also use that buffer and pads to buff out your car and make it shine just as nice as the cabinet! I have done this a few times and its amazing how good it looks... but its even more fun on pinball!
Thank you everyone. I appreciate the kind words.
So this came in the mail today.
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I figure the amount I spent on custom paint masks from the local sign company would pay for the machine. It's surprisingly easy to use. I was even able to figure out how to make registration marks stay the same across each layer allowing for proper lining up when painting. Let's see what kind of customizations I can come up with. Hopefully it all works out. For now, the tests are promising. The "a" has a cutout btw
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Moe
It's the silhouette cameo 3. It seems good. I can't get the damn Bluetooth to work for some reason though.
Looking good. Careful wet sanding the clear coat too soon. It can shrink while curing for 30+ days. Better to wait in my experience.
Do you have the transparent standup targets for the back? Forgot I got some and didn't send with the game.
Very productive day. I put my new plotter to use today. Why I didn't buy one before is beyond me. The amount of time and money I spent on my last restore with custom stencils could have bout two of these. It is unbelievably easy to manipulate and use.
First up is the light panel. Some people on my Flash Gordon restore suggested putting Ming there for its light panel. On this restore, I went Medusa. I plan on wet sanding and buffing this too.
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I also worked on the coin door. Hep did something I liked where he painted the diamond red and put the snake head in it. I went red diamond but went with the Bally logo complete with drop shadow. It's not perfect. The black separated from the gold some. Not sure if I'm leaving it or sanding and redoing it.
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I also got some of the other coin door parts painted. I'll clear everything tomorrow.
Much nicer to airbrush the logo on the coin door than to use a decal. And cheaper too.. Hmmm I like this idea. I think I'll steal it if you don't mind
The deal was when you're done you're sending it back to me, right? 
This just keeps getting better. I've thought about getting one of those cutters myself for tinkering, poor man's laser cutter for prototyping ideas, looks like you're putting it to good work! Especially love the head on the light panel.
Quoted from Aurich:The deal was when you're done you're sending it back to me, right?
This just keeps getting better. I've thought about getting one of those cutters myself for tinkering, poor man's laser cutter for prototyping ideas, looks like you're putting it to good work! Especially love the head on the light panel.
Ha.
Yeah loving the plotter. Very useful for restorations.
I was dying to see the door mocked up. Everything is just sitting loosely. Looks great imo.
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