Can you guys install a piece of foam or felt with adhesive backing to the metal plate?

Or am I talking nonsense?

I Flewtonized ("Flewton" TM by Rarehero ) one ball this morning on the surface grinder and will throw it in the machine tonight to see how it plays.

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Nice devlman, will be watching you

If you can find KME's video "sk8ball" in another thread somewhere, this is basically what he has done. Not sure how it has held up over the long run. He has been active in other Metallica threads, but not so sure if he is on this thread.

Can anyone on Facebook repost the pic of his mod? Blocked at work here.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/met-code-15-is-up/page/13

a link is given on this page.

Ed Z

Nope. You need the transfer of energy to the captive ball behind it so it hits the target.

What do you connect the thing coming out of the newtonball too? I like it, but see exposed hole in the picture, and newton ball has a post out the back in of it, and that goes to what?

You can try the foam at just the top trick though, that seemed to work pretty well, just not the most lovely or permanent thing.

There's no pic, it's just a brief video showing the ball sticking, you can't see any of it. It's just the foam at the top of the block like I mentioned above though.

It works great. I found some tube-like adhesive foam that holds up much better. Maybe Smassa can share a pic as I can't get to my Met at the moment.

Not entirely true. I have had the loop velcro on since day one and it works perfectly...and it protects the block.
Maybe why I'm not experiencing the issues others describe is because of this little add on.

Does the foam help protect the block, or is more geared for the shot to bounce off towards the magnet?

It's geared towards preventing the ball from catching air and bouncing over the magnet.

This occurred to me when I took the cube assembly apart. The biggest issue is that the shot would be incredibly tight, and the pf under the newton cube is pretty ugly from the underside of the cube. Some protectors for the edges would also be nice but again, would make the shot even tighter.

Flat newton is installed and works really well. As mentioned this makes the Sparky shot off the right flipper easier to make, and the ball recoils nicely to the coffin magnet.

Pics!!

Pic of ball in place. After about 50 hits I'm seeing some marking so might try oil or air hardening the new face and see how that holds up.

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One more head-on. The shot is pretty sensitive now and registers a hit even with softer glancing blows.

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Who is going to take my $$?

I'd like to try hardening the face first for the best longevity, but after seeing what works best if anyone wants one of these I can probably make up a batch.

One of my favorite things about Pinside is watching mod evolution. So many different talents and skills and ways to approach things. The hive mind produces some great ideas.

I'd be in on this mod, keep me updated.

loop Velcro, are you talking about the stuff to wrap speaker wire in a bundle?

I've seen MODS made to lesser machines or "PRO" models to mimic the LE's/Premium machines....but a MOD to a LE/Premium to more mimic a PRO.....now we are on new territory

Awesome! I'd like to see one even more shaved down...so the flat surface is a bit wider and further back by another 1/4 inch.

Sell me a Flewton!

Sooo, what's to keep it from spinning around? Enough strong hits to the right side I think would start to unscrew it from the nut.

There's a great point there.

Hopefully screwing it super tight will do the trick....but I'm sure devlman will let us know how it goes with testing.

You just have to make sure you hit each side of the ball an equal number of times every game.

No, but seriously, this occurred to me too, but so far it's doing well. I think that unless the face is really wide the hits don't put much torque on the ball to break the nut loose, and it would only by hits to the right side (the "unscrew" direction) that would hurt it. Will see how many games it lasts with just the nut holding it. I can always weld a T-nut to the top of the post that, once drawn in from below with a nut, would keep it oriented indefinitely, but that means tow little fang holes in the top of the PF...not my favorite solution.

Sure, I'll pick up some more balls and try one a little deeper.

I am in on a flewton when you get it dialed in! Is the magnet catching better than with the block now?

Get a pro. I freaking love my pro! They nailed it on this one version.

Velcro uses hook and loop strips. I cut a small piece of the loop piece a little bit wider than the block front and wrapped it around the block. I prepped the block by cleaning it with alcohol and have had no problem with the velcro strip adhering. I have about 500 plays on it and this is my second piece of velcro used. Easy to do and no dis-assembly required.
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...to each their own. The color changing/fading GI lighting and color changing inserts are such an insanely cool experience since the update, the Pro feels "less alive".

Rare....you can stop defending the LE/premium versions I get what you are saying...myself being a "color changing light whore" would have scooped up the better version if it was in the cards at the time....it definitely out performs the PRO in that aspect.

I don't think people are putting the LE/PREMS down...some people do actually prefer the PRO of this machine to there more robust/upgraded counterparts. Whether or not it was a financial decision based on what the extras were worth to each individual....or just not possible with there wallets.

We all love Metallica pinball here.....which ever version is owned!

Why is this on me? This is a Premium/LE thread and Hwawonyu said "Get a Pro". Tell him to stop defending the Pro version lol

Maybe I got lucky but on my machine, I never felt it was that terrible. But this feels as good or better. I'm interested to get a couple of these out to have some other opinions.

**Raises hand!**

Right here

Its def not terrible, and I have learned how to get it to catch most of the time. But sucks that you get penalized for a perfect shot to the block with no lock If the snake mouth is closed I hit that and locks everytime

That said premium is the way to go, lots more toys. Hammer is way cool when is does work.

I'm glad to see there are some potential newton ball band-aids for the Premium/LE lock issue, but I'm tired of almost never getting coffin multiball. Even if these methods help, you'll always have to work harder for the same mode that's consistently attainable on the Pro.

There's an easy code fix I'd love to see. Just give us the option for virtual locks, exactly like the Pro. I no longer care about physical locks. I care about starting multiball. For those who want physical locks, let them continue to finesse that area of the playfield. I'm over it.

Lyman wouldn't even have to add an adjustment to the menu. There are already options for disabling the magnet & hammer. Just add Pro-style virtual locks as compensation when the lock magnet is disabled.

Metallica LE would instantly become one of my all-time faves if I replaced the cube with a ball (easy for me to do) and had virtual locks (easy for Stern to do).

I thought nylon center nuts were made to lock the bolt in place:

>>The nylon insert locks the nut in two ways. First, it forces the bottom face of the screw threads against the top face of the nut threads, increasing the friction between the two. Second, the nylon applies a compressive force against the screw itself.<<

Is it possible to just make this look exactly like the pro with the real pinball and wireform locking it into place?

I finally put some time on a pro (stock mind you - no leds) and frankly, even if the hammer were removed entirely and the captive ball was 100% identical to the pro, the difference with the premium is unbelievable now.I don't think

It's not fair to point at Rare as a 'defender' - there is a stigma regarding almost premiums where the pro is 'awesome' and the premium is a 'waste'. All he's pointing out is there is a substantial difference in atmosphere and feeling between the machines - the pro is significantly less impressive than the premium, even though the pro is awesome

Really appreciate the whole Flewton aspect. Heck the name alone sells this thing. The real question is does it make locks more reliable than Markmon's newton ball; sk8balls foam or the velcro solution. Personally i would prefer a real captive ball without the "flewting".

pic of sk8balls original foam. Not sure if he indicated it was changed to something else or not.sk8foam.jpg

It's always seemed strange to me that they don't have a hit to the block activate the magnet to try to grab the ball when lock is lit. Why just leave it up to the magnet to "sense" it? Why not throw on some double protection and have the block help out with the job?

Rarehero is the naming master.

I set them to 5-7-9 in pre-1.5 code, but decided to try default settings again in the new code. No matter how few hits you choose, it's still super frustrating to know you have a lock lit and smash the block to no avail. One time on ball three, I had the final lock it, hit the cube 23 more times (not a typo) and drained without getting coffin multiball. Yes, I have the new magnet board.

I know there are a bunch of band aid half-fixes for the LE lock. It's never going to work as well as the Pro. I just want virtual locks. They work flawlessly on every Pro I've played.

I agree completely with this, regardless of crappy locks, virtual locks, etc. The ball just plays better.

Haha...fair enough. I'm not one sided on the PRO either.....the LE/PREMS are definitely the more robust versions with much more than the PRO offers. I like and respect them all...no arguments here.