My SMB overlay project.
Here’s my story. I picked up a pretty hammered SMB in November 2018. It originally came from France and or Africa.
Don’t want to go into too much detail, but it needed a lot of work. See the fuse box photo. That says it all.
Anyway, after getting all the electronic, mechanical and cabinet parts back up and running and looking good, I started on the playfield restoration.
I used pvc sanitation pipes for the left ramp and used the same to insert in the VUKs and drop holes.
I used automotive bondo to straighten and repair the holes and scratches.
Sanded down the playfield as much as possible. Thought about touch up paint, but that would be temporary because the paint was flaking every where.
After getting it smooth, I spray painted it with 4x clear Coat. Some areas that still had leftover paint bubbles up. So I resanded after everything was dry.
Was lucky enough to get a high resolution scan from a friend of a friend.
The scan is not scaled properly. I got it right straight down the middle but it is off a bit on the left and right sides. I guess an IT wizard could have rescaled it but I was already too far in.
I had a black and white copy printed for 2 reasons. First to see how well everything matched up. Second to mark all the drill holes.
The first copy was way off. So I measured a point from the bottom of the playfield to a point on the top. Had it reprinted in black and white to use as a template.
Looked fine, so I had it printed and clear laminated at the same time. See photo...
Next step is too clean the playfield. I used rubbing alcohol which worked really good. Make sure it’s dry before continuing.
I applied the overlay with the dry method because I didn’t want the playfield to swell or warp. Make sure the playfield is very clean and dust free.
After the overlay was installed, I fixed a few areas. Especially around the VUKs and drop holes.
I cut out round clear laminate patches to protect the VUKs areas, drop holes, sling shots, and pop bumper areas. Used a spray can and razor for the cut outs.
The hard part was the reassembling. Cut out overlay where all posts are. These could twist the overlay when tightened down.
I used #44 LED bulb for the playfield from pinbulbz. This will keep the temperature down and have better illumination through the insert section.
Note: Many have asked for the overlay scan. Sorry, I am not going to be the one to distribute this. I do have a funny feeling that other pinsiders may have the scan. You‘ll just have to ask....
Good luck with your projects. Be patient. It’s not an easy task.
Coils