Transformer

Since I had my soldering iron out and my package came in the mail yesterday, I decided to wire in the transformer. I ordered some colored 16 gauge wire to redo the wiring coming in for the outlet that handle the larger voltages. I purchased this pack if anyone is interested https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07885SC75/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00 Good quality. I'm happy with it. These wires go to the front of the game for the on/of switch and the 3 light bulbs in the game.

PXL_20210108_174207869 (resized).jpg

PXL_20210108_190112137 (resized).jpg

Lightbox

While I'm waiting for the tumbler, I started to plan how to tackle the light box. I removed all of the rubber carefully. Luckily, this time huge chunks didn't come out. But as I started sanding, something didn't feel right. The large rust spot in the score reel holding plate coincided with a large soft spot on the light panel. It looks like all that moisture(piss) whicked into the front of the light panel where the shot lights are. The frame of the light panel is solid wood, but the strip of wood for the shot lights is particle board. The swelling causes this section to be about 1/4 inch ticker than everywhere else. I thought about sanding it back, but, I don't really want a lightbox that's soaked in piss. I don't see a reason to replace the entire panel. So, the plan is to cut off the shot light strip and make a new one. Attach it to the back panel and then paint the entire thing.
PXL_20210108_203244497 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210108_202811076 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210108_203438233 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210108_203443771 (resized).jpg

I'm happy you are enjoying it.

Lightbox

I spent some time repairing the lightbox section of the wiring loom. There were about a dozen cut wires. Some of them were just chewed through but the section that went to the rating lights were gone. I guess they were used for nesting materials.

PXL_20210121_201054011 - Copy (resized).jpg
PXL_20210121_201058791 - Copy (resized).jpg

I took out the schematic and there should be 5 wires going to the section of the game.
InkedPXL_20210121_194335563_LI (resized).jpg

Rifleman - Red-Yellow
Marksman - White-Green
Sharpshooter - White-Black
Expert - White-Orange
(All of these are connected to power through a White-Blue wire.)

Shoot Again - White-Blue

The wires for Rifleman and Marksman come off of the 1000s score reel. The wires for Sharpshooter and Expert come from the 100s score reel. The wires for Shoot Again and Game Over come from the Game Over Relay. The last part was a bit confusing because I had 6 wires when I was done not 5, but 2 of them were White-Blue. It looks like both wires should be soldered to the Shoot Again lamp. That should put the Game Over and Shoot Again lamps in series and explains the 2 White-Blue wires.

PXL_20210121_201103127 - Copy (resized).jpg

The lamp sockets aren't too far gone to be reused, but I'd rather just replace them. I need 25 of them and at that quantity I can buy them for .99 from Marcos. I also live within driving distance of Marcos and can just go pick them up to avoid shipping.
PXL_20210121_201720044 - Copy (resized).jpg

Lightbox

Continuing repairs to the lightbox. Plan A was to take a tenon saw and attempt to cut the shot lights section in half lengthwise. I was trying to preserve a section to use as a drill template. About 3 pulls of the saw and I heard a noise you don't want to hear when using your favorite tenon saw... metal on metal. You guessed it..... blind nails.

PXL_20210124_185956148 (resized).jpg

Now that sawing it off wasn't an option unless I wanted to destroy my saw, Plan B was to pull the shot lights section of. This didn't work either. The entire thing just crumbled in my hands.

PXL_20210124_185538985 (resized).jpg

I did take some scale pictures with a ruler before doing all of this as insurance in case something like this happened. Redrilling the holes should be easy. They are 7/8" in diameter and spaced 1/4" apart. I ripped off the whole pieces, pulled all of the nails, and removed whatever was left with a sharp chisel. I have some poplar offcuts that are already 4S that I'll use to rebuild this section. The plan is to cut them to length, drill the holes, attach it to the panel and then fill, sand, and paint the entire thing.

PXL_20210124_190854290 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210124_190855713 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210125_192536362 (resized).jpg

Not much to see here. Just more score reels. 4 down 1 to go.

PXL_20210208_202236361 (resized).jpg

Backglass

So I was browsing FB, and I saw a picture of a back glass from a guy asking if anyone knew what game it was. To my surprise, it's a Midway Rifle Gallery glass. Me and the guy chatted for awhile, but we were too far apart on price. It would have been nice to have a spare. Oddly with all the filth on the back of mine, it's still in nicer shape than the one this guy had. If anyone is reading this an looking for a glass, it's on Ebay right now for $200

I appreciate it. I think on it. Mine is really nice. 1 flake of paint on the woman's dress and just a couple of spider cracks that are smaller than an eraser head.

Lightbox

Since I'm finishing up on the last score reel, I need to devote some time to the lightbox. I made a drill guide for the new shot light strip. Nothing fancy just two holes the correct size and distance so I can get repeatable holes drilled. After making it, I realized my bit was pretty worn out and doing this with a hand drill wasn't giving me the accuracy I wanted. I sold my last drill press, and I've been looking for a suitable replacement since. I found one on CL and I'm going to check it out this weekend.

151929728_222417946259595_4964784626954404402_n (resized).jpg

Wiring Harness

While I was soldering the last score reel, I decided to tackle the section of the wiring harness that goes from the backbox to the front of the machine. This entire section was chewed through. I think it was like 16 wires. My helping hands even wanted a break after this. I couldn't tell if the wire had been chewed through cleanly or if some wire was missing. So, after I cut out all the damaged wire from the harness coming from the backbox, I extended all the wires about 12". This way when I put the backbox back on the machine and wire it back to the front I'll have some extra slack in the wiring if necessary.

152279554_135296308460659_3076310791158546548_n (resized).jpg

Lightbox

My previous attempts to make the strip for the shot lights was less than stellar. The holes are 1/4 away from each other and if you aren't drilling straight down, the 1/4 section between the holes will shatter. Between having to make this strip and eventually needing a drill press to inlet the rifle stock, I pulled the trigger on a new to me drill press. It's a Delta 17-600 weighing in a tad over 350 pounds. It came out of an electrical plant where someone painted it no less than 3 times. The restore was pretty straight forward as I knew a guy that had the parts I needed. I'll be tackling the shot light section this week with it.
PXL_20210220_194707663 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210323_183231099 (resized).jpg

Lightbox

All the holes have been drilled. Someone at the factory wasn't the most exact person when drilling holes. A couple of the holes for the lights in the back are a good ways off center, but I adjusted my final cuts to try to get them as centered as possible. Don't let the wavy in the wood grain fool you. It looks like all the holes are drilled all over the place. It's just an optical illusion. There are a couple of holes shifted maybe an 1/8th of an inch, but not enough to make me remake this. Next, I'll glue and tack it in place, throw some glazing putty on it, sand the whole thing, and take it to the booth for priming and paint. I need to finish this part so that I can tear down the paint booth from my kitchen remodel. I want to park in my garage again.

172246979_446183190018885_1515683023741354250_n (resized).jpg
173597079_458257415383407_2587465568312770534_n (resized).jpg

Lightbox

The more work I put into this thing the more work it becomes. I hate old particle board. Since there is no grain direction, as soon as you sand a part and catch a small piece a whole chunk rips out. I have bondoed and sanded this thing 3 times now and there is still more work to do, but I'm close to painting it. I laid down a couple of layers of primer to see how much further I need to go. The grey primer helps me see all of the divots and nicks that need to be addressed. I'm thinking one round of glazing putty should lock everything in.

PXL_20210420_203706802 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210420_203711855 (resized).jpg

Cabinet Front

While the lightbox was drying I moved my attention to the front of the game. When I took the game apart the wiring harness going to the front of the game had been cut from the backbox. I've repaired all the damage to the wiring harness on the backbox side and added an extra foot of wiring to it. This should address the amount of chewed up wiring that I need to remove. Now I need to tackle the wiring harness for the front of the game in anticipation of connecting the 2 of them back together. This part of the harness connects to the compressor, light, gun trigger, and all the coin mech stuff. I was going to totally replace it, but it looks in good enough shape to save. Same issues as the rest of the game. It's filthy, chewed up, and smells like a pet store. The patient:

PXL_20210418_185101411 (resized).jpgPXL_20210418_185128215 (resized).jpg

This is the coil for the ball release. I replaced it with a NOS one when I rebuilt the compressor. Surprisingly it metered out just fine even after have rats use it as a toilet.

PXL_20210418_185110158 (resized).jpg

I removed most of the mechs and cut out the chewed wiring. I clamped one end in my vise and went to work cleaning it. I was careful to pull apart the harness to make sure I cleaned everything out. This helped me catch a few places where wires had been gnawed farther up the harness. I cut these wires out also, and I'm going to run new wire through the loom for those. I was thinking about relacing part of the wiring harness. I've decided against it, but I wanted to drop this here for anyone interested in doing something like that. This is a very thorough primer on lacing wiring harnesses:

http://www.dairiki.org/hammond/cable-lacing-howto/?fbclid=IwAR3ti7nWkUExTUrd_OZyryFtj0uCo34gj0VI5zcfU6sTfFJtepA5NdXD0mg

PXL_20210422_205758779.PORTRAIT (resized).jpg
PXL_20210422_205917119.PORTRAIT (resized).jpg
PXL_20210422_205939583.PORTRAIT (resized).jpg

The result:
PXL_20210422_210856618.PORTRAIT (resized).jpg

Light Box

I can't wait for this part to be over. The light box went into the paint booth for it's final paint job. I'm happy with how it came out.
PXL_20210504_202738437 (resized).jpg

The racks for the score reels got an Evaporust bath and polish. These didn't turnout great, but I didn't expect them to.
PXL_20210426_184346150 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210426_184616680 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210427_191310220 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210427_191519340 (resized).jpg

The score reels got a good cleaning. Most of it came off with a damp towel, but there were these darker specs that refused to come off. Since I wasn't seeing any ink running off the numbers, I got brave and used a magic eraser LIGHTLY. That did the trick. You can see it between the 7 and 8
PXL_20210505_175655871 (resized).jpg

Lightbox

Finally came the rewiring. It didn't go smoothly. The hole in the new sockets I bought were too small for the existing screws. I was going to staple them down, but then I couldn't find my stapler. For now I'm using the screws off to the side to hold them in place until I can find the stapler. Previously, the ground for all of these lights was a bunch of tabs with stiff metal wire between them that you put the screw through. There was pieces missing and I didn't feel like repairing all of that. Instead I switched to using ground braid. I'm happy I did. Much easier to wire everything up.
PXL_20210510_185709762 (resized).jpg

Next was putting the score reels back together. There are 2 wiper/boards for the score reels and 1 for the timer reels. The 2 for the score reels are used to light the rating lights at the end of the game. If you get the highest rating, you get a free game. The 1 for the timer reels is to stop the game when the maximum number of seconds has been reached based on the jumper settings. I didn't take any pictures of how this wiper attaches to the board. Luckily I didn't have to. This pictures shows the zero position for this reel. The wiper only goes on the posts one way. Then the score reel plastic goes over that.

PXL_20210511_172309814.PORTRAIT (resized).jpg
PXL_20210511_171356473 (resized).jpg
PXL_20210511_172340823.PORTRAIT (resized).jpg
PXL_20210511_175501496.PORTRAIT (resized).jpg

Project Update

Summer was busy with a lot of other projects which took away from this one. I also welcomed another future Pinside member in July. So all my time has been there. Now that things have settled down, I'm getting back to this project.

What's left:
1) Join the wiring from the back of the game to the front wiring
2) Inlet a new rifle stock
3) Figure out what to do with the clown
4) Get new tubing for the compressor
5) Clean up and install the legs
5) Finally play the dang thing

Clown

I thought long and hard about the best way to deal with the clown. It's only deteriorated further since I got it. I don't think it's going to hold up being shot at some more. I looked into using mine as a template for a mold, but I'd just make a copy of a flattened and damaged clown. So, I'm going to try to make a new one.

To make a new one I need to make a model for the mold. I chose to use this for the model

PXL_20211026_133719252 (resized).jpg

The epoxy clay has a long harden time (4 hours) giving me a long time to work with it. It cures in 24 hours and can be sanded. And it sticks to itself so that I can a new model a piece at a time. After the model is done, I'll cast a silicon mold and then cast a new clown in resin

PXL_20211101_183734274 (resized).jpg

Clown

The work from yesterday cured overnight. I looked at it this morning and the mouth portion was way off. I covered the previous work and re did the mouth. I'm much happier with this version. I never assumed I would sculpt a model perfectly in one go since I lack any artistic skills.

PXL_20211102_131200326 (resized).jpg

Clown

Tongue and forehead added.

PXL_20211102_175403629 (resized).jpg

Will do. I'm curious how it came out. I'm already down this rabbit hole so might as well finish up

They were available?

Clown

I wet sanded the entire thing this morning before adding more. Nose and cheek added. The corners of the mouth are a bit too high. After I add the other cheek I'll lower the corners

PXL_20211103_141645562 (resized).jpg
PXL_20211103_162748285 (resized).jpg

I remember those. I talked to the guy last year that made them and he was still making them on request. But like you I didn't like the look or material. I'm going to be casting mine out of a flexible resin like the stuff action figures are made out of. I'm hoping the flexible resin will absorb some of the impact and not have the pellets ricochet off of it. I'm planning to cast a few. If everything works out, I'm sure I can spare you a couple

Clown

I had a major set back on the clown. I had a guy reach out to me with some questions about his game. While we were talking, I asked if he could take some pics of his clown. His was in nice shape, and he was kind enough to take scale pictures from all angles, and it turns out my model is WAY off. Shape, thickness, everything. I had to start over. The biggest thing I've learned using this clay is to let it cure depending on what I'm trying to do with it. Right after you combine the 2 clays, the consistency is like stiff Silly Putty. After an hour it's more like clay. After 2 hours it's a very stiff clay. After realizing this, the new model is much more accurate and I made it faster. The last model I had about 4 hours in. I did the new one in under an hour and I feel like I'm on the right track now.

PXL_20211105_142917009 (resized).jpgPXL_20211105_152220796 (resized).jpg

My game is missing the coin box. Ive been looking for one since I started working on the Deluxe Shooting Gallery. I all but gave up trying to find one, but as luck would have it a guy I know was parting out a Bally Marksman recently. His met a tragic fate involving coming out of a truck during transport, but his coin box will live on in my game. Even though this one is a tad different from the ones Ive seen for my game, it will work just fine and is a genuine article.

PXL_20211108_173806530 (resized).jpg

PXL_20211108_173808670 (resized).jpg

Clown

This has become a lot harder than I thought it would be. If making clay models is someone's job, I have a lot of respect for them now. Since the last update, I've added the necessary thickness to the head to be able to do the checks, hair and ears. The checks were the hardest part. The original head was bulbus with very few sharp lines. So I've been smoothing everything out trying to get the same effect. I'm still not happy with the chin and the smile, but I'm going to revisit them before adding the collar. Trying to get everything looking sort of symmetrical is tough without more of the face being there. Here are some progression photos

Thickness Added
PXL_20211112_161504798 (resized).jpg
PXL_20211112_161508890 (resized).jpg

Cheeks Starting
PXL_20211115_185314451 (resized).jpg
PXL_20211116_162551643.MP (resized).jpg

Cheeks Rounded Into Face And Hair Started
PXL_20211117_171253354 (resized).jpg

Clown

I had to step away from doing the clown for a bit. I was getting frustrated trying to get the forehead and hair areas correct and didn't want to ruin my progress. Got back at it a little while ago and am happy with the progress.

PXL_20211219_220307675~2 (resized).jpg

Cabinet

The one issue that still nagged me about the cabinet was the damaged formica under the rifle. It has been cost prohibitive to replace it.... until now! The company that makes the reproduction formica I needed finally started selling partial sheets. A full sheet was 12'x4' and almost $1000. The smallest they will sell is a quarter sheet. It's still kinda expensive but hopefully I'll get a nice Christmas bonus from work

Clown

Getting there...

PXL_20220108_000111649~2 (resized).jpg

Clown

Starting to look like something. Reworked the mouth, added the right side ear and filled out his hair.

PXL_20220111_001928193~2 (resized).jpg

I wouldn't call the stuff you make barely designed! Glad people are still following along after this long

Clown

Minor corrections are done with sandpaper and die files, but if anyone was wondering what happens when the model needs a large correction. This is what happens.

PXL_20220112_193751788 (resized).jpg
PXL_20220112_193731140 (resized).jpg

This stuff cures to be incredibly hard and this has been the only way I've found to remove large amounts of material quickly. In this case the left side of his brow protruded too much. You don't want to know how many times this model has had a visit from the die grinder.

Clown

Almost done. Did a lot of corrections since last time. You can see I took a lot out of the left side of his mouth, reworked his cheeks and hair. Mostly trying to get things as symmetrical as possible. Im just as surprised as all of you that it's looking this good

PXL_20220124_210052318 (resized).jpg

PXL_20220124_232410644 (resized).jpg

Yep. I'm going to make a mold and make the actual clown target out of silicone. This stuff is hard but I agree with you. It's not going to stand up to the abuse. I've been looking into different silicones to find one with enough flex to hopefully absorb some of the force from the pellet.

Clown

Reworked the mouth, added some mass to the cheeks, tried out the eye and eyebrow placement. Looking more and more like the real thing everyday. I promise when it warms up I'll get back to the cabinet

PXL_20220203_190356626 (resized).jpg