My Dy-no-mite Strato-Flite

Next order of business
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#104 3 months ago

BRH

HoakyPoaky

PoakyMods

10y 140K 3,215 124

Well I see you've done it again & I've stumbled onto yet another of your restore threads. Another masterclass of cleaning & polishing! At least you chose not to do another tedious cabinet restore on this one!

It'a funny because you & I are always on the same page. Did you decide to challenge yourself with an EM restore after several early SS jobs? Because I just did the same thing myself & picked up an Aladdin's Castle. I haven't started yet but this thread will come in handy.

Another poster made the point I was going to raise. Even after all your laborious hard work to make this game look fantastic, someone will try to lowball you if you ever try to sell it. Because no matter how nice it looks, "it's just an EM after all". IDK if going through all the high end restore work on a "non-A-list EM" is really worth it. Unless you're planning on keeping it. That's the same thing I'm debating on my AC, and how much effort I should put into the restore.

But it's crazy how clean you've made everything. Outstanding work as usual

#105 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from HoakyPoaky:
Well I see you've done it again & I've stumbled onto yet another of your restore threads. Another masterclass of cleaning & polishing! At least you chose not to do another tedious cabinet restore on this one!
It'a funny because you & I are always on the same page. Did you decide to challenge yourself with an EM restore after several early SS jobs? Because I just did the same thing myself & picked up an Aladdin's Castle. I haven't started yet but this thread will come in handy.
Another poster made the point I was going to raise. Even after all your laborious hard work to make this game look fantastic, someone will try to lowball you if you ever try to sell it. Because no matter how nice it looks, "it's just an EM after all". IDK if going through all the high end restore work on a "non-A-list EM" is really worth it. Unless you're planning on keeping it. That's the same thing I'm debating on my AC, and how much effort I should put into the restore.
But it's crazy how clean you've made everything. Outstanding work as usual

Hey thanks man!
I’m going to end up doing the cab when the weather officially breaks. I wish I could just leave it but the bottom is rotted out and one of the sides has “MIKE” carved in it.

I love EM and somehow I ended up with 3 Williams 4-players. I have a space mission in queue after this. After I get these 2 games done I think I’m going to change gears and go home brew

#106 3 months ago

BFM

phillyfan64

Pinside+ Member

Your restore threads are amazing. I have an Upper Deck EM baseball game that I would love to clean like you’re doing here.

#107 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from phillyfan64:
Your restore threads are amazing. I have an Upper Deck EM baseball game that I would love to clean like you’re doing here.

Thanks!
I love cleaning games it’s almost like therapy or something. So if you enjoy it I would say tear it down man, do a massive shop job on it.

#108 3 months ago

BRH

HoakyPoaky

PoakyMods

10y 140K 3,215 124

OP
Quoted from mrm_4:
Hey thanks man!
I’m going to end up doing the cab when the weather officially breaks. I wish I could just leave it but the bottom is rotted out and one of the sides has “MIKE” carved in it.
I love EM and somehow I ended up with 3 Williams 4-players. I have a space mission in queue after this. After I get these 2 games done I think I’m going to change gears and go home brew

If your doing the cabinet I’m surprised you went with a playfield protector instead of clear coating. If you’re going that far, might as well go all the way.

#109 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from HoakyPoaky:
If your doing the cabinet I’m surprised you went with a playfield protector instead of clear coating. If you’re going that far, might as well go all the way.

I’d rather have a hardtop.
But I’m not going to go through all the trouble of burying the playfield in an inch of clear because of how badly sunken the inserts are to only have it ghost on me 3 months later and ruin it. I hate clear coating. If anything I’d hit it with a thin layer of krylon satin to lock in the color but the whole obsessive sheet of glass look for an EM to eventually ghost will make me quit the hobby.
Well now I’m in a mental dilemma, what’s the point of doing all of this…
God damn it

#110 3 months ago

BRH

HoakyPoaky

PoakyMods

10y 140K 3,215 124

Haha. Oh ok I understand now. I've never attempted a clearcoating job yet & I'm sure the sunken insert would be a pain to address. For this game it's probably not worth the effort.

Restoring is fun though bc it's calming therapy! I've learned it's certainly less stressful or frustrating as mod production. I miss doing a restore. My projects are piling up. Not enough time in the day.

Looking forward to your continued progress

#111 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Finished the 5 relays in the back box. That completes everything on the checklist for cleaning all internal mechs!
Time to put the board back in the back box and start fine tuning all the switches and steppers.

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#112 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

The only part giving me trouble is the match unit. It moves every time you hit a switch which changes the value of the saucer. I think I got it dialed in but every 2 or 3 dozen hits it doesn’t finish a full advance and stalls between contacts.
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However everything looks good in the back box and I put incandescent lights where all the score reels and controlled lights are.
I have a mix of 3 slow blinking warm white LEDs and 3 fast blinking where the clusters of stars are.
The jet has cool white LEDs and the lettering has warm white LEDs.

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#113 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

I played about 20 games on it and I seriously cannot believe how fast it plays. I had to double check that it wasn’t High tapped. I’m seriously afraid the ball is going to smash all the posts out of the playfield.

Once temps outside are consistently in the 60s and up I’ll start restoring the cab. For now I’m just going to play the crap out of it.
Trying to decide if I want to take this or Xenon to Pinbrew…

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#114 3 months ago

GHL

Garrett

Pinside member

Pinckney, MI

10y 65,550 1,306 7 29

Looks great inside and out! Watched this thread for a while, outstanding attention to detail and great results.

When the ball is rolling on a flat surface again, late 70’s EM’s are extremely fast. Ok, how’s about $1,500 :p

#115 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Pinball pimp order placed

#116 3 months ago

???

cp1610

Pinside member

Kirkwood, MO

9y 69,800 655 10

Looks real nice. Just need that push to make my em game work and maybe get to look at least a 8th as nice as this. So i keep following you.

#117 3 months ago

Tuukka

Pinside member

Lempäälä

3y 70,050 1,038 16 11

Looks very nice even with the LEDs.

And yes, Strato-Flite was one of the fastest EM games back then when they were new.

#118 3 months ago

KPC

Gornkleschnitzer

Pinside+ Frequent

6y 68,850 717

That looks so nice. I haven't had the chance to play this title before but always thought it looked cool.

Got any way of recording gameplay videos to show off how snappy it sounds and plays?

#119 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from Tuukka:
Looks very nice even with the LEDs.
And yes, Strato-Flite was one of the fastest EM games back then when they were new.

I tried to use the LEDs as sparingly as possible in the back box, only behind places that needed the help to shine through the BGResto glass. Keeping the incandescent on the score reels really helps make it look as original as I could get it.

#120 3 months ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from Gornkleschnitzer:
That looks so nice. I haven't had the chance to play this title before but always thought it looked cool.
Got any way of recording gameplay videos to show off how snappy it sounds and plays?

I got a few buddies that always threaten to stream game play and what not, maybe I'll set something up to show it off.

1 week later

#121 82 days ago

BRI

misterhare

Pinside member

Cleveland Heights, OH

4y 40,050 340 3

OP
Quoted from mrm_4:
I got a few buddies that always threaten to stream game play and what not, maybe I'll set something up to show it off.

Waiting for my invite to come play this thing. I'll reserve my praise until after I've seen it in person.

#122 82 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from misterhare:
Waiting for my invite to come play this thing. I'll reserve my praise until after I've seen it in person.

Weather is breaking so I’ll be tearing it down soon to redo the cab.

#123 77 days ago

BFM

phillyfan64

Pinside+ Member

mrm_4 what paper did you use for your coil wrappers? Also, how did you get the game counter so clean?

#124 77 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from phillyfan64:
mrm_4 what paper did you use for your coil wrappers? Also, how did you get the game counter so clean?

For the wrappers I just use colored printer paper but I have this double sided adhesive that is amazing.
Copic Adhesive Sheet 8.5X11 (25) amazon.com link »

For the game counter I took it apart and on the inside there are little tabs that hold the plastic window in. I bent those to take the plastic out and then I put the metal through the typical cleaning/tumbling process and lastly polished it with mothers.

#125 77 days ago

BFM

phillyfan64

Pinside+ Member

OP
Quoted from mrm_4:
For the wrappers I just use colored printer paper but I have this double sided adhesive that is amazing.
Copic Adhesive Sheet 8.5X11 (25) amazon.com link »
For the game counter I took it apart and on the inside there are little tabs that hold the plastic window in. I bent those to take the plastic out and then I put the metal through the typical cleaning/tumbling process and lastly polished it with mothers.

Thanks for the info. I’ve got everything off the bottom plywood. I just sanded it. Looks better already. I may put a coat of poly on it. Washing cloth wires makes me very nervous. I have no utility sink in my house which makes it even more difficult.

#126 77 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from phillyfan64:
Thanks for the info. I’ve got everything off the bottom plywood. I just sanded it. Looks better already. I may put a coat of poly on it. Washing cloth wires makes me very nervous. I have no utility sink in my house which makes it even more difficult.

It’s amazing what Mean Green and a toothbrush does. You’ll get a nice harness just by laying it out on an old towel and just going over it like that.

#127 77 days ago

BFM

phillyfan64

Pinside+ Member

It’s done. Not bad at all. I didn’t have any Mean Green. I used Simple Green. It did the job. It’s sitting in the sun right now. I’ll print up some new labels and run the metal relay brackets through the tumbler. I’ll do a few at a time like you did. I broke a couple wires. I hope I took good enough pictures! I do have the schematic.

Thanks!

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#128 76 days ago

BFM

phillyfan64

Pinside+ Member

Not as clean as yours but it will do I guess. Did you scan and make all your own labels?

#129 76 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from phillyfan64:
Not as clean as yours but it will do I guess. Did you scan and make all your own labels?

Typically I print them all from @inkochnitos site but this time I made all of them myself in word. There were several that he didn’t have that I needed to make so instead of having a few odd balls that would look a little different than his I made them all uniform on my own. I’ll be using the same ones on my space mission.

#130 76 days ago

BFM

phillyfan64

Pinside+ Member

OP
Quoted from mrm_4:
Typically I print them all from @inkochnitos site but this time I made all of them myself in word. There were several that he didn’t have that I needed to make so instead of having a few odd balls that would look a little different than his I made them all uniform on my own. I’ll be using the same ones on my space mission.

Ok thanks. I'll have to see what he has for mine. I know he does have most of the unusual ones that go under my playfield and inside the cabinet. I'm ordering the adhesive sheets you recommended. Is 65 lb paper too heavy for the wrappers?

1 week later

#131 67 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

I think these might be the blues

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#132 67 days ago

BRI

misterhare

Pinside member

Cleveland Heights, OH

4y 40,050 340 3

OP
Quoted from mrm_4:
I think these might be the blues
[quoted image]

Oh shit. I'm coming over after league Thursday before you tear this thing apart!

1 month later

#133 26 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Ok time to start tearing down again and redo the cab. First up is sanding the head. Next is Bondo then sand some more…
I hate this part so much.

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1 week later

#134 19 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

While I wait a few days for my primer to cure I decided to test out my paint choices and I think this is the scheme
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All satin
Ink Blue
Oasis Blue
Ivory
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The reason I went with Ace’s line for the Ivory is because of the nozzle. When you take the nozzle off and stand back about 4 feet you get an amazing spatter. This example I was a little closer which is why it’s so concentrated. I had amazing results on my Shangri La cab with this method. Literally take about 3 seconds to do a whole side. Just 2 quick swipes back and forth and done.

#135 14 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Ok base blue and frame are good to go.
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Next up is the white spatter and the stencils

#136 14 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Love it

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#137 8 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Really happy with the back box

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#138 8 days ago

???

cp1610

Pinside member

Kirkwood, MO

9y 69,800 655 10

That's looking really nice. When do we ship a Strato-Flite for a restore to look as nice as yours. (Only joking sending you one to restore.) Because anybody watching this thread is thinking the same thing.

#139 7 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from phillyfan64:
It’s done. Not bad at all. I didn’t have any Mean Green. I used Simple Green. It did the job. It’s sitting in the sun right now. I’ll print up some new labels and run the metal relay brackets through the tumbler. I’ll do a few at a time like you did. I broke a couple wires. I hope I took good enough pictures! I do have the schematic.
Thanks!
[quoted image]

Where’d you end up with this game phillyfan64

#140 7 days ago

MRM

mrm_4

Pinside+ Member

Quoted from cp1610:
That's looking really nice. When do we ship a Strato-Flite for a restore to look as nice as yours. (Only joking sending you one to restore.) Because anybody watching this thread is thinking the same thing.

Haha thanks man! Problem I have is after I do a game I can’t let it go so you probably won’t get it back if you send it to me

#141 6 days ago

BFM

phillyfan64

Pinside+ Member