Starting to think about lights. For inserts I'm using Fast Pinball LED boards. These are WS2812 (Neopixel) serial LEDs. I programmed an Arduino to use as a light tester.

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Then checked out how they would look under an insert. Approved! This video does not really capture the colors.

3D printed a GI light mount. The plan was to wire an RGB bulb through here but that didn't work out. Also this mount is too big. Back to the drawing board...

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However this worked! I'm using a 7 LED Neopixel Jewel for the center insert. It will allow me to do directional and other animations in the center insert.

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I was starting to build up a big collection of parts. I finally got sick of not finding what I needed and got to organizing. I love Art Bins for this.

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I needed a way to detect the ball making the orbit. I started with a standard rollover switch but the ball would skip it too often. Looks like I then tried installing an opto based on that hole in the rail (don't remember that.) Finally settled on a gate. Simple and wide enough to cover the passage.

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I could not find a game which had a one way gate with a switch. So I had to invent one. Now I can detect a full shot through what I was now calling the "secret passage." Please ignore the embarrassing solder job on that switch.

It was becoming apparent that those blue targets were not hittable. Time to think about how to change that...

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Viewers of my stream kept asking if I was going to put optos behind my drops like TNA. Have to give the people what they want! Also installing an upkicker rail. This was from Jurassic Park. It sucked but was fine for the prototype.

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I don't like lock stealing. So let's call it a Danesi Mech, not a Danesi Lock. I have other plans for it.

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Meanwhile I was solving the GI issue. Most homebrew pinballs seem to use these Christmas light style strings. Usually they just stick them up through the playfield on their own. That works...

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But I wanted something easily removable and interchangeable. This was the mount I decided on. Attach some connectors and you have a standard light to use throughout the game.

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Sketched out an upper playfield idea after watching Jack Danger nudge the ball off the two upper lanes onto the upper flipper while streaming ACNC. A passive bagatelle style upper playfield like a mini Pinbot.

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Mock it up with foam core

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Add some lanes

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Next up, the most important part!

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This was the REAL reason it won Best in Play! I was the only one who brought a cup holder.

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Starting to think of a cool bridge explodey mech...

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I can make it go up/down with this...

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Add another slingshot in the pops to give the ball some more bounce!

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Except I can't use a Stern slingshot. There isn't enough room. Instead I'll use a Williams mech.

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At this point I had started writing more code. I also upgraded Mission Pinball. And I was now getting random coil failures. Super fun when you try to flip and it ignores you. Time to upgrade the computer. The Raspberry Pi 3 is no longer capable.

Bought an Up Squared board. TNA runs on a normal Up so this should have no problem powering my game.

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A brand new fancy desktop

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My first time getting over 1 million! Coil failures fixed!

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Technically the audio system hasn't been hooked up to the computer ever. For streaming purposes, this game has a built in HDMI out. I want the sound over HDMI. To hook it up to the amp I need an HDMI audio extractor. So this gets installed and I add some sound effects. Everything works as long as I plug my splitter and extractor into each other in the correct order.

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The foam core mini playfield didn't last very long before it started to disintegrate. Time to make one out of plexi...

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Installed. Much better, you can see everything below it!

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Still wasn't happy with the ramp so I tried a slightly different one. It didn't help too much... (REMOVE THE RED TARGET AND PUT IT THERE!!!)

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But it did give me some space to put this guy here. And I got an awesome stuck ball! (It's supposed to appear cracked, I didn't break it)

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And then I lost my job. I had free time. I used it to teach myself Fusion 360 and started modeling the game, beginning with the mini playfield.

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And then moving on to the main playfield

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After designing the bridge I could 3D print the parts that I needed. I could also test it in both up and down positions.

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Experimenting with rails. They basically ended up like this.

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Speaking of rails...

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My plan was to print out a life size copy of the playfield and glue it to a piece of plywood.

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Create this template to make brackets

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Cut them apart

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I think I needed more than this

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Create some templates to make height spacers

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And now I have a bunch of parts

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Now that I had tools I could start bending.

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Assemble them along the path you want to take. Feed the brass through. Hit it with a hammer when necessary.

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Working on the second cross rail

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Get help if you need it

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Oh look, a little rail that isn't on the whitewood

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Changes were made to the design and this rail needs to be remade. I just didn't get it done for Pintastic.

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Continuing to model the game

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Modeled all the lighting.

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Many models of mechs are available on Pinball Makers: https://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Files_Section

I used these whenever possible. But they didn't have a ton of my parts. I had to model Stern style slingshots, Data East pop bumpers, Drop target mechs, some targets, switches, scoop, trough, probably other things...

The subways have also been added.

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Modeled the plastics

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And things like the apron and mounting hardware. The side ramp is still horizontal even this late in the design. This is November 2018.

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Don't worry about it! I've been working since January. I'm just finally getting around to documenting my build. Also, this was something I enjoyed and I treated it like my job while I had the time.

I asked for feedback on my design and MarkInc designer of The Nightmare Before Christmas suggested that the ramp go to the upper playfield. This was something that I had been thinking about doing but he sold the idea when he also suggested moving the small rail to the center of the playfield. I realized I could aim the ramp towards that and it would feed the bridge.

The upkicker would drop the ball in a better position for nudging.

Started working on the ramp by modeling the vacuum form mold.

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This is why my upper playfield is so high up. I originally had the ramp drop the ball onto the playfield over the back rubber. During whitewood assembly I decided it was better to enter at ground level so the mini playfield got raised up.

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And finally as actual ramps. I don't know why the side ramp is yellow in the model. It should be clear. The back ramp was originally designed as a metal ramp which is why it doesn't quite look right.

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In the model, the guide rails have gaps to let the light through. I have not constructed these yet. I used a quicker method to build them for the whitewood.

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Thanks! No individual thing in the process is difficult, there are just a lot of things...

And now that I had my playfield modeled I joined a local makerspace. They have a 4' x 8' ShopBot.

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More than big enough for a playfield, I could even cut a cabinet on it!

I was trained on it and my first cut was to test my insert hole sizes...

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It's a good fit so it's time to do the CAM for the playfield

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Bought a bunch of bits for the CNC machine and spent a night in the shop.

After 5-6 hours and here's a playfield. (I didn't take any pictures during that time because I streamed the cut using my phone)

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Time to take it home, er, nobody told me it was going to snow... 30 minutes turns into over an hour. At midnight.

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It's like a club where you pay a monthly fee and they have large tools and workshop areas that its members can use (after taking the necessary training)

The one I go to has this CNC machine, a laser cutter, welding shop, plasma cutter, full woodshop, glass blowing shop, electronics station. All fun things that don't fit in my house!

Shooter lane works...

The whole reason I decided it was time to start modeling the game was because I had started writing rules and did not know where to shoot. It needed inserts. Now I get to glue them in

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Scott Danesi hosted my insert insertion stream with ~40 viewers who I'm sure were *fascinated* by watching glue dry and wood being sanded. Wish I could have shown the game playing then!

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I forgot to cut the lip for the star rollover. Needed to fix that. It came out sloppy but it worked.

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No, and it bothered me. I'm not sure how I would have cut it by hand.

Doing test fits with the cabinet mounting hardware. I didn't commit to a mounting style so the holes weren't in the model. I ended up sticking with the Sega latches. I cut the attachment holes by hand. But screwed up the alignment...

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So I had to patch it and redrill when I found the correct spot

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And I had to widen the lockdown hook holes a bit. It was slightly off

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And it fits!

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And latches

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Time to send my baby off to a professional...

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With the playfield off being clear coated, it was time to build some lights and subassemblies.

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I need 18 of the GI lights

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I had all the parts for the bridge for a while. Finally started assembly.

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The 3D printed parts clip into some holes drilled into the acrylic tube.

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Cut it to size and it's done. Also built all my light boards, GI lights, and center insert.

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I need to make ramps. It's now March 2019. Pintastic is the end of June. What am I going to do?

Start by slicing my ramp mold model into 3/4" layers...

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Then cut them out using the CNC machine! It needs some work before I can vacuum form. Also cut a set of plastics and a new upper playfield.

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And then I had to cut another upper playfield. The rollover switch model I was using did not match the Spooky rollovers that I purchased. The incorrect one is in the front with the correct positions marked off. The one in the back has the correct holes.

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And while I'm at it, glue the backbox light strips to some plastic strips. I was afraid it would eventually brush against the TV and short out. This gives it a bit of insulation. I also made one more to install under the backbox in order to illuminate the back of the playfield.

This is 3/16" PETG plastic. Playfield plastics are 1/16" PETG. The upper playfield has a shelf underneath to make it 1/2" with a 1/8" gap for the screw heads. That makes it the perfect distance to mount switches.

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Lights and switches installed. It's not done yet though. Some design changes were necessary...

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I went a little nuts modeling every detail on this thing. I need to go back and update it with the new/swapped parts.

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I finally get back to the rails. The original plan was to use brass so I could solder them together. I failed. They just acted like a giant heat sink so I could not get the solder to stick. So instead I designed and 3D printed some clips. They work but are definitely not a long term solution.

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All ready to go

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A bit of Bondo and sanding helps smooth out the back ramp mold. This end up being the first pass, not the final pass.

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Another trip to the makerspace to cut more things...

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Playfield rails, ready to pop out

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And the side ramp

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Both molds together at last

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Technocopia in Worcester: http://technocopia.org/

TEN WEEKS UNTIL PINTASTIC. And this shiney, beautiful playfield has arrived...

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I can do a playfield swap, manufacture the remaining parts, and write some code in 10 weeks... right?!?

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Time to get to work! First up are the light boards!

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I dimpled the playfield using the CNC machine so the light boards align perfectly.

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I even have a map of where they all go from Fusion 360

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Lights are wired serialy in 5 sections. Left GI, right GI, lower, middle, upper playfields. Each string has their own power tap and is no more than 21 lights each. This helps mitigate some of the problems with serial lighting (which really got an undeserved bad rep after the awful implementation in WOZ) If any light goes down they take less of the playfield down with them. Also the light boards cost ~1$ vs ~35$

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Testing... GI bulbs are installed too.

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Looking good. It would be a shame if I had to redo all these lights or something (foreshadowing....)

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Almost the entire build was streamed live on Twitch, so technically I already shared everything the extra slow way

With the light system in place I can start to think about transferring mechs. I planned ahead and put everything on its own connector. In theory I just need to unplug things, unscrew them, and move them over. And when everything is gone I can move the wiring harness.

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Most of the mechs are in the back of the playfield so I'll start there. Need to install some of them before I can declare the lights finished.

Pop bumpers all lit up...

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Say hello to Mr. Scoop

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And the coolest upgrade. Lighted drop targets. They can be their own inserts. I stole this idea from modders but in my game the lights can convey game state. Blink red if you want them to shoot it. Strobe green for a lock. Landing strip pattern if the upkicker is open. Etc.

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Replace the drop target faces and point some light boards at them

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They are mounted on some angled corner braces that I bought at Lowes. They work perfectly.

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The progress thus far...

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Here's a video of the drops