I thought I would make this thread (more or less for myself) just to document the process & look back on it later.

I’ve been looking for a late 70s chime game for my collection. I’ve also wanted to get a pin with Dave Christensen artwork. I just cleared up some space in the garage to finally attempt to restore a game. So a friend had a players condition Mata Hari just sitting in storage. Looks like the perfect match for my first restoration

I’m mainly doing this to learn more about these machines & pick up some skills to hopefully do more jobs like this in the future. Perhaps doing a retheme or a homebrew someday...but you have to start somewhere! Thankfully I’ve become friends with a few local guys who can point me in the right direction if I get into trouble. So let the fun begin

So as far as the game goes, it hasn’t been powered on in many years. Looks there is acid damage on the MPU. The cabinet has the typical ware & scratches of a 40year old pin. Missing the key to the coindoor so haven’t been able to look inside it yet, but everything should be there. The German dagger backglass is in great shape & doesn’t need to be replaced. Some of the plastics are warped but none of them are cracked. The playfield has some ware but is pretty nice overall.

Mata Hari is such a great looking game, so I really think this one needs to look pretty again. I’ve been inspired by some of the other Mata Hari restoration threads, so here’s what I plan on doing...

1) New Alltek MPU & lightdriver boards for sure. Don’t sure what else it might need.
2) Install playfield hardtop, rebuild with new flippers, pops, drops, etc. New posts, rubbers, etc. Install LEDs. I just want to to play great & look nice.
3) Restore cabinet & re-stencil with Pinball pimp stencils. Possibly new purple/red/black color scheme instead of yellow base color
4) Restore apron & paint new color to match new cabinet scheme.
5) Get everything looking shiny again, repaint the legs & rails or possibly get new ones.

Lots of work for a first restore, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. Not expecting pristine collector quality here, but I will do my best. Will I screw it up? Ha probably. Only one way to find out.

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So if I’m going to pull the playfield, I’ll need a rotisserie. So I’m building one from Vid’s design this weekend. All put together, but I’m just waiting on the paint to fully cure before assembling. I was going to make the rails 22” wide, but I decided to make them 27” to accommodate a widebody someday.

My only concern is that this project will take me many months to complete, so I’m hoping the playfield won’t be prone to warping by sitting in the rotisserie for that long. I think I read somewhere that it should be spun into the vertical position if left in the rotisserie for long periods to help prevent this.

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Rotisserie done. That was a really easy build. I love the fact I can break it down & store it in pieces when not in use. Now to get the coin door open. Missing the key unfortunately.

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Drilled out the coin door lock & was able to get inside. The coin door parts are pretty rusted, but everything is there inside the cabinet. The MPU has serious acid damage so it will need to be replaced. Found a few burned out connectors. Found the manuals & schematics. With all the reading I’ve been doing, decided to start writing down my notes in a binder or easier reference.

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Powered the game on. All I got was a few strings of GI bulbs to light up. No worries. I was planning on replacing the MPU & lightboard anyway. The displays are out too. I was thinking of replacing them with LED displays, possibly upgrading to 7-digit xpin displays. Starting to get pricey haha.

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As far as the cabinet goes, it’s in pretty good shape. Just a few areas of concern, specifically the delaminating plywood on the back of the head. At least the cabinet isn’t splitting from what I can tell. The neck is in good shape. Just various nicks that should be easy to fill with bondo. Going to use fiberglass epoxy for rebuilding some of the corners.

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So it’s time to start gutting this thing so I can begin the cabinet restoration. Starting the disassembly with the head. But first I went through & labeled every every connection. Then I took tons of photos to remember where everything goes when I reassemble down the road. To make things easier & more organized, I put specific parts into labeled ziplock bags. Most of this stuff is going to get cleaned & tumbled to remove the rust before reinstalling.

Removed the door, the boards, the power supply, etc. As I was doing all this, I was thinking that when I re-paint with a different base color (like purple instead of yellow) it was going to look pretty dumb with yellow paint inside the head. So I decided to tear everything out, including the aluminium sheets. They were stapled in so securely that I ended up destroying them as I pulled them out. So those will need to be replaced too. All the original cards basically fell apart when I removed them, due to the brittle old paper. Perhaps I can reprint.

In any case, the head is completely gutted & removed now. Next I’ll remove the playfield & start gutting the cabinet.

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I was able to finish the tear down today. Removed the playfield & placed on the rotisserie. Still haven’t found an answer if a playfield left on there for an extended period is prone to warping. I’m in a high desert/low humidity climate here, so I’m not sure. With all the wood working & painting I need to do I won’t be getting to the playfield for awhile.

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Was able to remove everything from the cabinet & clean it out. I left the chimes & slam tilt attached to the plywood & just removed the entire thing. The coin door was removed, plunger, etc etc. I even removed the ground braid. So now I can paint it however I want. The cabinet looks solid to me, just just the touch up work needs to be done. Again I took a million photos & labeled everything into bags.
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However I’m not too proud to admit that I bent up, scratched & basically ruined the side rails while trying to remove them. I don’t know if I was missing the wrong tool or what, but those nails were rusted completely & hammered deep into the plywood. I had to pry back the rails with a screwdriver just to barely get at the nailheads & pull them out. In fact every nut, bolt & screw was rusted bad & was difficult to remove. I guess 40 years will do that to a pin. I’ll be happy to replace that old stuff with new screws, nails, bolts, etc.

In any case, I was thinking about replacing the dented old rails with new ones before I started disassembly. Now I definitely will replace.

Now that everything is disassembled, it’s time to start repairing the cabinet & sanding.
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So referring to the color scheme of the cabinet, I’ve never liked the fact that the base color of the cabinet is yellow, when there is little yellow on the playfield. The primary colors used are red, purple & magenta. So I plan on using the Pinball Pimp stencils, but I’m just going to change up the colors. Hey it’s my game, let’s make her unique!

So after fooling around in photoshop, this is what I’ve come up with using the color swatches available on the Rustoleum website. When I refer to the base color, that’s the color I’m swapping out for yellow & will become the color of the girl.

Go to to poll & vote for which one you prefer. I have to say, I’m leaning towards that purple/magenta combo. It’s pretty sharp & fits the game well. The head edges around the backglass would be purple. And I will repaint the apron as well, which will be purple in any case.

MAGENTA BASE
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RED BASE
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PURPLE BASE
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Ha thanks for the suggestion, but I’ve already got enough on my plate. I’d like to get experience with stencils for future projects anyway.

Picked up an 18# Tumbler from Harbor Freight today, along with some fine crushed walnut medium & Fritz polish. Already have an ultrasonic cleaner, so I’ll clean parts in there first with some Evaporust before putting them in the tumbler. Then a final pass with Mother’s Aluminum polish to bring out the shine.
Really curious how these parts turn out.

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Finally got around to modifying my lift cart today. Will make it easier to move the cabinet around for painting.

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I’ll tell you what. Just finished sanding the original paint off the head with 80 grit. By the time I lay the final primer coat down on everything, I’m never going to want to look at my sander again. I suppose stripping the original paint is the worst part, but damn this sanding is for the birds.
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Well the woman/background have to be the same color, as that is the base & the first color that goes on. I am thinking that I'm going to go with the purple & magenta, and then after those are laid down I might remask some small areas (her lips, the skull & crossbones) and hit them with Red Createx in the airbrush. Depends how the stencils come out.

Sanding is the top priority at the moment. It making a mess of things in the garage & I just want to get it done.

The tension spring on my garage door snapped the other day, so I had to wait a few days before the guy came & repaired it. Hate sanding with the garage door closed.

But finally finished striping all the original paint from the head & cabinet. I will say that using a quality 3M respirator made a huge difference. My lungs feel great after 6 hours of sanding.

There are only two areas where the wood is separating. The neck of the cabinet & slightly at the top of the back box. I only have two large clamps so I did the neck first. I used Titebond III wood glue, then put some in a syringe & was able to get the glue deep within the area. Then I clamped for 24 hours.
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So the part I was most nervous about was using fiberglass epoxy to be build the delaminated corner on the backbox. It was a pretty large area that I had to cut away.

I prepped by cutting the broken wood away with an exacto knife. I placed screws for the epoxy to bond to. I used painters tape to mask off the area & create a mold to pour the epoxy. Then I waited about 3 hours and sanded with 150g sandpaper.

Just look at that result! I’m really impressed how it turned out. Nice sharp strong angled corner now.

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Now I’m just filling small nicks & flat areas with Bondo auto filler. Once that’s done I’ll give final passes to everything with 150g & 220g sandpaper. The hard work with the cabinet is over I think. I really don’t care about making the inside or underside pristine.

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timab2000 Thanks for the support!

I've been going back rereading your thread. Now I'm undecided what to do with the bottom of the cabinet. I should have taken a photo yesterday. I basically have the same issue you had. Lots of dark stains at the front of the cabinet & a lot of rotted/broken wood along the bottom edges. Half of me says who cares about the bottom, the other half says if you're going through the trouble of a cabinet restore, then you should do it right.

Care to share what materials you used for a new floor to the cabinet? Did you have to cut it to size? Is the old floorboard nailed & glued in making it hard to remove? How did you secure the new floor? What wood strips did you use to repair the edges along the bottom? Assuming lots of gluing & clamping. I looked at your photos & I get the basic idea, you just didn't mention the details of what you did.

This will be a lot more work I'm sure. Still on the fence.

Thanks for the link to that thread. I'll read up tonight

The cabinet work continues. Final sanding tomorrow to get ready for primer.

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Yes. I realized halfway through replacing most of the wood that I could have easily just replaced the bottom. Lesson learned for next time!

After final 220g sanding & masking areas, it looks like it’s finally time to prime.

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So it’s 90 degrees & 15% humidity here. Is what it it until late September, so I’m going for it. Decided to use this 2in1 sandable filler primer & started with the head. No wind today either.

Hit it with 2 light coats of this stuff. This is the worst spraying primer I’ve ever seen. Shook the hell out of it & it just comes out inconsistently. I used 2 cans & was barely able to cover the head. What gives?? Assuming it’s the filler medium in there that’s making it flow bad.

Letting it dry couple hours before sanding & trying again. It is that the first coat just gets sucked up by the wood? Should I be using this stuff? I’m a little concerned at the moment. At this rate it’s going to take 20+ cans to do the job. Holding off on the cabinet until I get the head done.

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It is the 2in1. I had the whole cabinet sanded smoothly before using it too.

Well I lightly sanded it down with 220g, which was a total pain in the ass. That filler material got in every nook, cranny & corner. It took me forever to get everything smooth to begin with. I’m not sure I need a primer with filler material in it.

Again the coverage when first spraying was terrible. I’m extremely hestitant to put that 2in1 on again. I’m done for today. Looking for another option.

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Well I’m going to pick up some of the Rustoleum 2x primer & try that as well, mainly inside the cabinet & backbox. I’ll keep plugging away with the 2in1 on the outside of the backbox I guess & see how it turns out.

I guess I’m just confused when to use a filler 2in1 primer. Is it a better product to use on wood to hide the woodgrain, because it’s thicker than a regular primer?

Well you guys are making me feel better though. I just wasn’t sure what to expect. Off to buy a ton of cans.

Got the first coat on the cabinet & the second on the backbox today. I used the 2x primer inside the cabinet, which went on much easier & is just slightly darker. I used the 2in1 on the exterior of the backbox & cabinet. I just wanted to see the difference between the two primers.

So I’ll just be priming/sanding until I get it flat & even on the exterior. But the wood grain on the back of the head is really visible. I have feeling no matter how many coats I put on, I’m never going to be satisfied. Seems like it will be hard to get all that grain to disappear. The cabinet primer went on so much better.

When I paint the base layer, I’ll be taking my time, laying it flat & doing one side at a time.

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Just curious... are you guys sanding these primer coats with your orbital sander or doing it all by hand? I’m using my sander, but in the lowest possible power setting.

Too windy to paint the last (i hope) coat of primer today, so I was playing around in photoshop again.

So it seems like most people think that color schemes on cabinets should stay original, for tradition, for resale value, or whatever reason. Well I'm still leaning doing something different. I just want to be 100% sure I like my changes, because I do NOT want to sand down & restart the process again if I don't like it.

I've tested several different colors in statin & gloss finishes, and I have to say that I just don't like the shades of the satin options, so gloss it is.

Anyway I'm deciding between these two variant schemes. Scheme 1 is based on the original colors (black/yellow/red) and Scheme2 is based on the colors that appear dominantly throughout the blackglass & playfield (purple/pink/red). It's a coin flip at this point. Someone is going to have to talk me out of it.

The only other question is.... are there concerns when laying down the other colors when the cabinet base is black? Will the shades be dulled?

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I suppose this is another option too. Has neon sign like feel to it
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Yeah they are all rustoleum ultra 2x gloss colors. I used the swatches from the website to play around in photoshop, and bought some cans & sprayed some test samples

Purple
Apple Red
Berry Pink

Is there a risk though to painting colors over a black base?

I’m kinda leaning towards the purple/red/pink combo. I think it will pop nicely & match well with the backglass. Hard decisions

Got the final (hopefully) coat of primer on today. Get sanded tomorrow & finally ready for paint.

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Well all sanded with 320g today & ready for painting. Is it perfect? Hell no. I clearly missed some small areas that could have used some bondo. It could probably use another coat but I’m moving on. Overall the surfaces are smooth & flat & the prominent edges are sharp. Million times better than before I started. I think I used around 10 cans? I lost count.

Going to go slow & steady for the base coat & see how it goes. Just one side at a time while only spraying flat surfaces.

As far as color goes, still deciding. The only thing about an alternate scheme is that it will have to change the playfield rail color, and the apron, and make different color Bally apron decals. Might be more trouble than it’s worth.

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I’m super impressed with the tumbler though. I did a test run, let some parts tumble with crushed walnut & flitz polish for about 18 hours, then buffed them with Mothers mag polish. The results are great IMO. Really looking forward to restoring the coin door & seeing how shiny I can get it looking again.

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Some before & after pics....

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It's either this or original. You get the picture. For the record...purples, pinks, & reds are all over the plastics, playfield & backglass. This alternate scheme is not out of place. IDK Gonna sleep on it.
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Yeah that’s the whole problem. The girl doesn’t pop out, unless she (meaning the base color) is yellow. Pink works too, but I’m really afraid of using pink as the base color. It’s too risky.

Can only use 3 colors, and two of them are going to be black & red. So it’s purple or yellow base coat.

I could make the base coat red, but I wasn’t I big fan of that mock-up

I’m seeing Mata Hari colors everywhere, even in my Instagram feed. Haha. I’m going crazy now.

I will say that purple & yellow are complimentary colors. Perhaps I’ll try a mock-up of that.

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Last mockups. Food for thought. On the yellow/grape/black scheme, I'd airbrush the lips & skull from black to red to symbolize the Kiss of Death. I'd also make the head outline purple on both I think.

Who am I kidding, I'm probably going to paint this thing the original scheme anyway.

yellow, grape, black
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yellow, red, purple
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Well since this is my first attempt with laying down paint on a cabinet, the less complex I make this process the better. There's so much that can go wrong when painting & the stencils are only setup for 3 colors.

For all this brainstorming, honestly it's best to keep the color scheme original. It just looks right. So I'm going with yellow for the base & red for the highlights. If I want some slight originality, I'll paint the apron red instead of yellow. That works for me. I can decide later on if I'm going black or dark purple for the outlines.

I will say that yellow & purple really look sharp together. I just don't think it's the right choice for Mata Hari

I like the yellow/red/purple look, but I feel the scheme is just a ripoff of Lost World or Viking. Black outlines really pop & that's probably the way to go. So no more mockups. Time to start spraying.

You did yours one side at a time, spraying on a horizonal surface right? Seems like this will get the best looking even coat, but damn it's going to take awhile to get it painted that way.

How long did you let each color cure for before moving onto next color?

For rebuilding the corners I used Bondo automotive Fiberglass Resin. Super simple to use, strong & easy to sand into sharp corners. After priming you can’t even tell where the resin areas are.

Got the coin door completely disassembled tonight. What a rusted mess. Took a million photos so hopefully I can put this puzzle back together.

I will say that the front of the coindoor looks pretty good. It’s not dented much so I think it can be polished up nicely. However someone put thick tape over the coin return slot years ago. Hard as a rock. Anyone have a clue how to remove it without scratching up the panel? I don’t think GooGone will work. Perhaps I should try soaking panel in evaporust?

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I've got some so I'll give it a try, then the evaporust

At least I wrote the steps down as I disassembled, as I'll just go backward to put it back together. Shouldn't be too bad.

Do you guys have to further clean the rusty areas with a brush or steel wool after soaking in evaporust? I've never really used the stuff before. Not sure how effective it is. Anything that is small enough to fit will go in the tumbler after the soak.

All coindoor parts tumbled & polished...

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.....and reassembled. Before & after. It’s like night & day. What a difference! Glad I decided to do it. Just need to get new Free Play plastics for the coin slot windows & a door lock. The front of the door still has some scratches that didn’t buff out, but that’s fine with me. Keep original when possible.

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You’ll have to dissemble a good portion of it. Some of the screws that mount the plate are behind the coin mechs. Take photos & it’s fairly easy to reassemble.

I thought the small plate covering the coin return was gone. Turns out it was just inside the door itself.

Lockdown bar mech, before & after

Still waiting on paint to arrive

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Well I thought I was done priming, but I decided to lay down a final coat of white 2in1 filler primer to hopefully make the yellow base coat pop better. Everything sanded with 400g today. Smooth as glass & ready to paint. Just having a hard time wiping at the fine dust away with tack cloths.

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Forgive me for getting a little distracted for the last few days.....new acquisition

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In other news the paint did arrive this weekend. I decided not to go with the Rustoleum 2x Ultra paints. While most people are able to use it successfully, I’ve seen some horror stories as well.

So I’ve heard some good things with this Molotow brand. Acrylic based, lots of pigment, wide spray nozzle, way more shades & colors to choose from for future projects. So I wanted to give it a shot. It will have a satin sheen after painting, so I might spray with an additional clearcoat when finished. Depend how it turns out.

Going to start with the head first. If it would only cool off here. 90 again today.
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So I started painting the head with the Molotov satin paints today. In the garage, 70-75 degrees. Surface horizontal, sanded smooth to 400g, wiped with tack cloth to remove dust. Thin light coats, wait 4 mins, reshake can, spray lightly again. Did this around 6-8 a side, depending on coverage.

Well let me just say this is the oddest paint I’ve ever used. It does not spray on wet. It is best described as a mist or cloud. It’s almost like laying down fine layers of powder. Used 4 cans today with the stock wide nozzles & they all sprayed the same.

Will will say that the paints are full of pigment. Very vibrant yellow. But since it sprayed like a fine mist, getting uniform coverage was extremely difficult. So I kept having to lay down thin coats. Looks great from a distance.

On close inspection though....holy shit. It looks like sandable primer. Micro globules all over. I’d say it’s rough or fuzzy to the touch, orange peel I guess. I also feel that I am going to have to sand this as well it get it even? Before you say I laid down too many coats, getting even coverage was hard, so the 6-8 coats were needed. IDK if this is how this stuff is supposed to go on or what, or if I sprayed at too far a distance. Gonna let it cure for couple days and see how bad it is.
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Everything was at the same temp. The cabinet, paint & garage air were all at 70 degrees. If I sprayed closer than the 6-9 inches I was spraying, then there’s no way I could lay down a thin coat. Not sure if wet sanding with 1500-2500 grit is a option here or if I should just sand it all off & retry.

Perhaps the 25% humidity is a factor. IDK

I meant trying to wet sand this coat to save it, but I guess I’ll just sand it back down with 320g & attempt again.

So how close are you supposed to spray with these cans? 3 inches?

Well I sanded down all the sides I painted with 320g and removed the orange peel. So it’s smooth now. It’s funny tho. After sanding the bottom & side looks pretty good, but the back doesn’t have good coverage at all.

Since I’ve gotten it smooth, and the fact I’m going to see laying down the same paint again, I don’t think I’m going to take it back down to wood & reprime. What would be the point of that? 2 more coats and I’ll be done I think.

But of course it’s 92 so no painting today. I ordered some fat spray tips so I think I’ll just wait for those to arrive. Might get wider coverage when spraying.

I need to spray the chime box mounting board, so I’ll experiment with that first

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While waiting for fatter tips for the spray paint to arrive, started rebuilding the chime box. More tumbling & polishing.

After debating, I decided just to repaint the front of light board in the backbox with gloss white. I didn’t feel like pulling every socket & rewiring the back. More trouble than it’s worth.

I am going to upgrade to LED displays tho. Not sure which brand yet, but I’ll either go with red gels or just plain white. I don’t think 7 digit displays are necessary on Mata Hari though.

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Yeah I bought a set of 6 digit Pinitech UNO set last night. White LEDs with red, magenta & yellow inserts. Going to experiment & see what looks best.

Well MUCH better results today, but not how I had planned.

I waited for more Molotow cans to arrive, along with an assortment of fat caps, which sprayed up to 3 inch & 6 inch cones. Did some test sprays with the fat caps. Not only did the paint come out wider & heavier, but I went through half a can in about 30 seconds. These fat caps just puke paint from the can. Glad I did the test sprays.

So I just used the stock caps & adjusted my technique. I wasn’t worried about spraying slightly thicker coats since my surfaces were horizontal. Zero chance of runs. So I got close (3 inches), held a flashlight in my left hand, fully depressed nozzle, and made my sweeps across the surface. The flashlight reflection helped me to see where the wet paint was, so I didn’t miss an area. I could adjust the amount of paint by how fast I sweeped the can.

This worked great with these low-pressure cans. I imagine if I used this technique with rustoluem 2x cans the result would be way too thick. I’m really liking this paint now that I know how to use it correctly.

Timer was set for 7 minutes between coats, then like 2-3 mins of can shaking. Then check to be sure the layer was dry to touch before spraying another. 3 coats for a side & I was done. Made sure to spray along the edges as well.

Almost done with the head base coats, but I’m happy now that I know what I’m doing.
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Chime box board done. Well I should say almost. I think I’m going to replace the power cord with a new 3 prong one.
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Well the head is base coat is finished, although I forgot to take a photo. Onto the cabinet, one horizontal side at a time. I think I laid down 4 coats on this side today. Doing the inside as well as I go.

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Ready to paint a side tomorrow. Time to bang this thing out.

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Another side done. One more to go tomorrow.

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Look what arrived today

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I want the experience of installing a hardtop on my MH, before I decide to install one on my Taxi. I think it’s an awesome product & much easier than touchup/clearcoat work. I’ve seen too many lousy clearcoat jobs go wrong when it’s not applied properly, and that’s not something I want to tackle right now. So while a hardtop may not work for some people, it’s a great option for me.

So I finished the yellow base coat & neck a couple days ago...

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And today I began the stencil work. Only about 60 degrees here today, it made a huge difference. These Molotov paints didn’t dry too fast. 3 light coats a minute apart & then I pulled up the stencil. I’ll have to look closer tomorrow when the layer has cured, but I don’t think I applied too much paint. The raised edges seem minimal to me. And I got pretty nice coverage with this red paint. Pops nicely.

I will say that there’s a learning curve with the stencils. I masked off my areas first, which made it harder to lay the stencil down along the edge of the head. Next time I’ll put the stencil down, then mask off the overspray areas. I’m not sure if the right head stencil is 100% straight, because I got some rippling along one of the edges. I think the black layer will conceal it, but I’m not sure yet.

I was going to paint all red layer stencils first on the cabinet & head, then do the black layer. I guess I’m just debating if I should just complete each side of all layers first. It’s already masked off for overspray, so it would be easy to just apply the black layer now.
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So this will be a big weekend. 70 degrees, perfect painting weather. Started with the cabinet stencils today.

The application of the stencils was pretty straight forward. Just followed Pinball Pimp’s YouTube video. I thought the large stencil would be tough to manage, but I didn’t get any winkles & it laid down straight. Made sure to mask off the overspray areas & edges.

Cabinet painting was more stressful than the head though. I did my 3 one minute coats & started peeling up the decal, using gloves to avoid making a mess. It was actually 3 individual stencils that needed to be pulled up, so I highly suggest you plan out how you are going to lift it up, from which direction to make it easier, etc. However the small details of the stencil was harder to pull up or started tearing. I was upset that a smudged a few small areas, but I think I can touch it up. The thought of doing the black layer with all the small details worries me. Having an exacto knife to help lift the small areas helped though.

I think I put down a little too much paint in some areas. I’ll see if I have raised edges tomorrow. But overall today was a success. Tomorrow is the other red side of cabinet & first attempt at a black layer on the head.
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Well I almost just had a heart attack. I thought I would spray some of the Molotov paint into a cup & do a little touch up test. While standing closely next to the cabinet, i heard a drop of paint hit the floor & within seconds all the paint was pouring from the cup. Luckily none got on the cabinet, but if I was leaning over it, it would have been a DEFCON 1 disaster.

So I’ll chalk this one up to inexperience & stupidity. Paint must have reacted with the solo cup. Phew! I’m having a beer now to decompress.

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To lighten things up, I’m posting this playfield pic from a MH for sale listing I just saw. What is this? Sloth’s sister from the Goonies? Yikes!
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More progress today. Happy to report no mishaps this time. I was more careful pulling up the stencils. 3 coats once again. The first two are light & then a final coat to make sure the surface is completely wet, reflective & smooth. The registration X’s worked perfectly. I’ve had no major paint tearing when pulling the stencil up, which tells me I’m not laying it on too thick & it’s not drying too fast. I feel like 60 degrees is the perfect temp. If I was doing this when my garage was 90+ degrees this summer, I think I’d be having way more issues.

The black layer on the head came out really nice. The final payoff is going to feel very rewarding

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More painting tonight. The head is done! What a before & after pic comparison.

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I guess I forgot to take photos when laying down the stencil on the front of the cabinet. This was more difficult than I expected, due to the hole in the center. I was worried I was going to get it off center when laying it down, but it came out fine.

If you look closely, you can see the slight edges of the red layer under the black. I don’t know if this is unavoidable when using these stencils, or if the paint was too thick, or if I missed a step. It doesn’t bother me at all, but if the solution is to wetsand those edges before proceeding to the next layer, there’s no way I’d be confident to attempt that.

Just the black sides of the cabinet to go & then I’m done painting. I’m not going to spray with semi-gloss varnish. I’m too afraid I’ll mess up all the work I’ve already done. I just hope these paints hold up over time.

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Just one more side to go. This layer was pretty tough tho. I focused on removing the stencil on the girl first. As I continued on, I could really tell the paint was drying quickly. You want to move quickly but you don’t want to make a mistake either. Just so many small details where the stencil tears, and then you need to use an exacto knife to carefully get the stencil to lift, without cutting into the paint layer below. I was sweating due to the stress, and didn’t want to drip on the wet paint. But I think it came out very well.

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I'm hoping someone will comment (like @pinheadpierre) on my raised edges & solutions to eliminating them. I'm referring to the edges the green arrows are pointing to in this photo. This is the raised edge of the red layer, that is still visible when the black layer is put on top of it.

Do people wet sand these edges down before proceeding to the next stencil layer, or is this just a result of using these vinyl stencils? I suppose I could have used less paint, but that's tricky IMO if you're trying to get good coverage. These layers are only raised less than a millimeter, so it not really that big a deal.

I'm just wondering if there's a step I missed. In any case I am satisfied with the result, and I also like the satin sheen of these Molotow paints, as opposed to the glossy look of the Rustoleum 2x paints.

I suppose a final layer of semi-gloss spray varnish would help to protect it, but that's more work & god forbid if I screw up that final layer. IDK

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Wow that's really interesting. Obviously I'm not trying to achieve HEP level restore, but that's something to think about when I do the next one. I wonder if I would get thicker clear areas on my edges if I sprayed with the surface horizontal though. While it's probably smart to have some kind of varnish/clear layer on the cab, I just want to be done spraying at this point. I have a lot more other work to do.

Is that what you do Peter? Just gingerly sand the edges of each layer down before applying the next? Just making a note for next time.

Thanks for the support. I even impressed myself

Well the painting is done! Not 100% certain, but I think I used about 12 cans yellow, 2 red & 2 black. Feels good to have this done! Now to let it cure a day or so & start putting it back together.

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I also received apron decals from Classicarades on eBay. I was expecting much, but I’m happy to report the colors are super bright & are pretty close to matching my cabinet. They don’t have the black outline, but that’s fine. I’m using them for sure.

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The decals are almost a perfect match to the paints I’m using. No worries. Sand & prime the apron. Spray yellow. Slap on decals. Done.

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Nylon feet & cabinet protectors on, new legs look great. Tumbling some parts I forgot for the backbox.

You can really see how the grey primer on the inside of the cabinet dulled the brightness of the yellow paint. I'll never use grey primer again, unless I'm painting a cabinet black.

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So does anyone have a suggestion for replacing the aluminum sheet in the backbox? Pulling mine out was a mistake & it's not reusable now. I purchased the thinnest aluminum sheet I could find at Home Depot, but it's still pretty thick. I'm not certain if I'll be able to staple through it easily.

I'm curious if anyone has another solution. A $13 roll of thin aluminum roof flashing cut to size? I'm thinking this might be a better option, as it will be lighter & easier to staple/screw through.

Lined the backbox with a roll of roofing flashing from Home Depot, cut to size. Thin & easy to cut, stapled in & looks great.

Sanded & started priming the apron today. I forgot I need to sand & repaint the rails on the playfield, so I want to get that done before it starts getting too cold. Still waiting on some parts for the cabinet, so it will be easier to solder before installing.

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I think it was around $12 for an 8 inch wide x 25 foot roll. They had all kinds of roll options at Home Depot. I still had plenty left over.

I’m in a bit of a holding pattern. Just waiting in parts to arrive before proceeding & it took longer than I thought to figure out what I needed. All I need to order now are bulbs & rubbers.

Almost done painting the apron though. I think it’s going to look real nice. It would have been easier to use a compressed air stapler gun for securing the ground wires. I'm replacing the old rusted yellow pieces where possible. The new short length sections have soldered lugs on the ends. You can see in the backbox pic. Should make the ground connection solid. I extended it to all 4 legs.

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I’m pretty sure I got the idea from you

Been busy lately but slowing making progress. Looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend when I can really dive into it.

Parts arrived. Starting installing. The apron came out nice I think. The decals doesn’t have the black outlines, but at least the colors match my paints very well.

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