(Topic ID: 246769)

My 1st Restoration: Mata Hari with a Hardtop

By HoakyPoaky

4 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 284 posts
  • 36 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by Dono
  • Topic is favorited by 48 Pinsiders

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“Which alternative color scheme do you prefer? See Post #17”

  • Magenta base 2 votes
    4%
  • Red base 1 vote
    2%
  • Purple base 4 votes
    9%
  • Keep the original color scheme 39 votes
    85%

(46 votes)

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#172 4 years ago

This is looking terrific, @hoakypoaky. Question for you on your white chime resonator boxes - when you cleaned up your tilt panel, how did you clean up those plastic boxes? Both boxes showed yellowing in the before picture, and in the after picture they're nice and white. The boxes in my Black Jack restoration are also yellowing - I've tried scrubbing and also hydrogen peroxide with UVA light. It helped a little bit, but they're still yellow at the tops. Did you get replacement boxes, re-paint them, or something else?

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#174 4 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

I just repainted them. Same paint I used to paint the backbox light board. I think it was the Rustoleum 2x Ultra glossy white.

Thanx....I was thinking of doing that, but was worried it might affect the chime tone somehow. I may give it a shot.

1 week later
#183 4 years ago

Looking great, @hoakypoaky! When you put your new grounding shields in the backbox, how did you handle the mounting holes for the PCB brackets, etc.? Did you use the old shields as a template and mark the holes in the new shields through the old ones, or did you just install the new shields and then measure where all of the screws should go? I just got in my roll of roof flashing and will be redoing the shields in my Black Jack restoration.

2 weeks later
#186 4 years ago

That looks really, really nice HoakyPoaky - terrific job so far!!!

2 weeks later
#200 4 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

The thing that I’m questioning is the 3 original mounting nails for each pop. I’m worried that they are not countersunk far enough into the playfield, and may be an issue when the hardtop is put down. I have new replacement nails, but they will probably be difficult to remove. I’m just wondering what others have done in this scenario.

Mine were pretty flush....unfortunately, I don't have a good close up picture to show. I didn't do anything with them and the hard top laid down nicely, no issues since installation earlier this year and a couple hundred games played.

IMG_6328 (resized).JPGIMG_6328 (resized).JPG
3 weeks later
#216 4 years ago

I had no insert or switch alignment issues on my MH. I had about a dozen and a half holes for posts that were mis-aligned and needed to be reamed out with the dremel, and the holes for the apron brackets were orders of magnitude off. All easily corrected, and understandable given the 70's manufacturing variances on something like this.

#220 4 years ago

I used a small rotary dremel after I laid down the hardtop. I first tried widening the mis-aligned holes with an xacto - it did ok but it was work. Went to the dremel, easy-peasy did all 12-16 holes in less than 20 minutes.

#229 4 years ago

Looking fantastic!

#234 4 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

So those bits will just cut away at the hardtop & not cut into the wood underneath? They look like they are blunt tipped.

The bits look bigger in the picture. With the dozen or so holes that were mis-aligned on my MH, part of the playfield hole was still accessible. So I just shaved the excess hardtop, widening the hardtop hole, without touching the playfield hole sides.

3 weeks later
#248 4 years ago
Quoted from mrm_4:

What sort of trickery do you have planned with this little guy?..... [quoted image]

Ball trough LED strip light perhaps?

#251 4 years ago

@hoakypoaky, you and I must be walking a similar path:

I used Comet LEDs as well. They're local to me (they're in Boulder, CO and I live in Broomfield, about 12 miles away) and discovered them after meeting co-owner Ryan at a local tournament a couple years ago. Now I bump into him at all sorts of tournaments and shows in the Denver area - they're really nice people over there at Comet. Best of all....since they're just across town, buying from them online I get next day shipping at USPS First Class pricing unless I drive over there to pick up my order.

After doing the hardtop last year, I went with 2SMD Cool Whites for the topside GI and 2SMD Natural Whites for the white inserts and color matched the other inserts. Like you, I put a different color (Blue for me) behind the 5x insert because I wanted it to stand out. I just did the same color matching (Green 2x, Yellow 3x, Blue 5x) on my Black Jack project last night.

I also put an RGB color changing LED behind the candelabra and the baron's head on the backglass (saw and liked that on Todd Tuckey's TNT MH video) and another RGB for the credit light on the apron.

I also went with the disc LEDs in the pop bumpers....I too like they way they illuminate the bumper bodies along with the cap (I did the same in the pop bumpers for Black Jack and the one pop in my Black Knight). And to top off that coincidence, I also switched the pop bumper sockets to 555 when I rebuilt them! Love the bayonets for inserts and GIs, hate them in pop bumpers.

Last month, I decided to try #47 incans for the MH topside GI and I must say, I really, really like that look. While the Cool White LEDs were nice, the #47 incans really brightened up the playfield without being overwhelming. I think I'm going to stick with that....they don't run as hot as #44's and since this is HUO and turned on for only a few hours several times a week, I'm not too worried about warping or marking up the plastics with burn spots.

Looking forward to seeing more photos when you complete your project. I'd take some shots of mine with the "updated" #47 incans topside but not sure a photo would capture how good it really looks.

#254 4 years ago

A picture doesn't do it justice (it looks much cleaner and clearer in person), but here's a shot of my hardtop with the #47 incans I put in this week for the playfield GI replacing the cool white LEDs I've had for the last 10 months. I've got natural white LEDs for the inserts and pop bumpers.

incans-gi (resized).JPGincans-gi (resized).JPG
#264 4 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

I think I’m going to replace the plastics with a new set though. And I need to track down the link to all the cards for the apron & inside the backbox so I can reprint them on heavy card stock.

Beautiful job, @hoakypoaky! She looks GREAT!!

Here's the link to the backbox cards if you haven't found it yet: http://www.pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards/Backbox_cards.htm

#266 4 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

First solo game

That's how a lot of my MH games go....one epic ball, and two quick drains out of my control.

A few Q's for you....

1 - Are you using a red filter in front of the Credit and Ball in Play display or is the display itself red? I kinda like that!
2 - I'm assuming you're playing the game in your garage? How are you able to make everything around the game appear black so that the focus is on the game?
3 - How is your camera positioned? It captures everything....entire playfield and backbox displays. Seems like it would be right in your face while you're trying to play. I'd like to try to film some of my games the same way.

Thanx....

#275 4 years ago
Quoted from phillyfan64:

Beautiful job! How do you like those Comet pop bumper leds? I was thinking of trying them. I still have the bayonet style sockets inside the pops so I’m not sure they will fit.

I've got wedge Comet LED discs in my MH pops and bayonet Comet LED discs in my Black Jack pops. Both fit, but the bayonet is slightly tighter.

#281 4 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

Where's the link to those apron cards? I can't seem to find them now. Specifically the instruction cards. Also curious what paper stock you printed them on.
EDIT: I just found them on IPDB

I used 90lb Wausau premium card stock to print out my apron cards. I bought a sheet of PEG plastic a while back to use as shims for ramps, drop targets, etc. to level areas of the playfield after the hard tops go in. That PEG plastic is opaque when the peelable backing is still on it, so it works well under the left apron card so that there's no discernible glow under the card coming from the credit bulb behind it.

#282 4 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

mathazar mrm_4
Curious what settings you guy have your MH set at. I set it up for 3-ball with the liberal standard settings that the manual suggested, but I think I'm going to switch the awards to conservative settings.
I like setting my games up as hard as possible, and since I kept the displays at 6 digits, I want to make it as hard as possible to roll the game. I'll have to reread the manual when I get home tonight.

I'm also at 3-ball on MH with conservative settings. I had it on 5-ball / liberal at first, mainly for my son, but I kept rolling over the 6 digit display regularly so I changed it about 8 months ago. I've only rolled it over twice since then (maybe 150-200 games).

#283 4 years ago

Wow - you seen this yet? https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/92099

Insane price, but the EM versions of MH are really rare and this one looks to be in very nice shape.

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