(Topic ID: 92661)

Mylar or Playfield Protector after touch ups?

By MonkeyGrass

9 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 22 posts
  • 10 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by swampfire
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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Linked Games

  • Taxi Williams, 1988

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#1 9 years ago

Ok guys, I'm about to tackle some artwork restoration on my Taxi, and I'm curious as to what you prefer for post-restoration protection. I'm thinking about possibly going one of two ways with this:

1) After touching up the field, use the Mylar lower playfield protector from Marco's, adding pop bumper rings and some custom cut/applied sections to the Santa kickout and the Gorby lane leading to the top of the rollovers. Total cost - about $55 in mylar pieces. Drawback? Multiple Mylar pieces can affect ball travel. I really wish they did a full field protector!!

2) Getting one of these new poly playfield protectors to cover the whole field with one seamless piece. Cost - about $135 after shipping. Drawback? Untested product, unknown life-span.

Just to be clear (pun intended) I am NOT going to clear coat this playfield - so please don't suggest it. If I were to go to that kind of trouble and expense, I would buy a repro and rebuild the whole table. I have some minor wear around the 5 green inserts in the middle, around Lola, and the pop bumper area. I am starting to get a wear spot from the Santa kickout. The field is level, plays awesome and I simply want to touch up the artwork that is there and prevent any future wear.

What says the community?

#3 9 years ago
Quoted from MonkeyGrass:

...use the Mylar lower playfield protector from Marco's, adding pop bumper rings and some custom cut/applied sections to the Santa kickout and the Gorby lane leading to the top of the rollovers. Total cost - about $55 in mylar pieces.

Yep, as I mentioned, using a blank sheet and cutting to taste is option #1. The 12" sheets are already in my shopping cart. Well aware of them.

The question was, which is preferred - Mylar or Markolan?

#6 9 years ago
Quoted from vid1900:

But instead of 12" sheets, order a single 48"x22" cut from the roll.
No seams, no separate pop rings.... just one continuous sheet of protection.

I've only played one game that had it installed, and it seemed cool. Too early to say if it is the be all, end all.

I have little to no faith that I would be able to cut it accurately enough on the entire playfield to make it actually look or sit correctly. That's A LOT of cutting and it all has to be perfect. How many folks here have successfully cut their entire playfield out of a single piece of Mylar? I'd love to know, honestly.

Quoted from markmon:

I would put this on: http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=GS-TAXI-PF-PROTECTORthey are so shiny they look like after market clear coats. Free floating and easy to remove. Mylar sucks.

This is kind of what I'm leaning towards. I like the fact that its easily removable and not adhered to the table. If I hate it, I can pull off, re-sell it or worst case, I'm out $130. If the Mylar doesn't sit well, I'm screwed. Not to mention, having to custom-cut and fab my own upper playfield *really* increases the chances that it would be less than ideal. And with my paint condition, it's never coming off unless I decide to replace the PF with a CPR repro.

Mylar is a "known" quantity to me (and the rest of the community). I already have one table that was done at the factory, or immediately done pre-routing by the op. The playfield is the best part of the entire pin - 20+ years later. Plays great, fast, waxes right up and doesn't have the planking or swirling that the few unprotected areas show. It does have 2 rather aggravating bubbles, but overall, not bad.

Markolan is a pretty new player in the game. Seems like very mixed results. From what I seem to be reading, if it's put on a new, or freshly stripped/restored playfield, and cleaned regularly, it's a great, non-permanent solution. Probably end up replacing it every 3-5 years, depending on how much use the game gets. Plus I could get one now, put it on pre-restore and see how it plays. It would prevent any further damage to the paint, and come right up when I get around to the touch ups.

Anyone else have hand-on with both of these and willing to offer some feedback?

#8 9 years ago

So I take that you are not a fan of Markolan? That full-sheet Mylar method does sound do-able, hadn't thought of it that way!!

#14 9 years ago

Excellent thanks for the feedback guys! I'm leaning towards the Markolan. It's obviously going to be easier to install, be removable if/when it needs to be, and since my paint is pretty dull, I think the "clear-coat" side effect might be a nice touch. I am fully stocked on Novus and Plexus, and I think I'll be able to maintain a pretty decent shine for a few years. Heck, even if I have to replace it every 3 years to keep it looking new, that's about $40 a yr to keep my playfield from ever wearing further. Well worth it, IMO.

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