Bonn
Hi everyone,
as I am new to pinball and this forum in particular I would like to introduce myself and my project. In my teens, about 15 years ago to be more precise, my father and I used to go to a bar to play pinball about once a week (machines played over the years: Lethal Weapon 3, Barb Wire, Who Dunnit). Back then we already looked into buying a used machine for home use but were put off as neither of us would have been able to repair it if something went wrong with the machine.
Forward 15 years, although being a biomedical scientist, I have a good knowledge of electronics and mechatronics as I really like to build and repair things (I realized that I should have studied engineering instead, oh well...).
About three weeks ago I more or less spontaneously decided that I really needed a pinball machine quite immediately, so without much research beforehand I went and bought a W?D from a guy who had to downsize his pinball collection. I was interested in a few other machines as well but decided to go for the W?D by its relative rarity alone. Had I done a bit more reading beforehand I would have seen that W?D is changing owners quite frequently so I might have gotten a slightly better deal elsewhere.
The PF in my machine is in a relatively good condition (I think), the cabinet certainly has seen better times, especially the damage on the front between the legs. The ramps are in a decent condition which seems to be important for this machine due to the lack of spare parts available. Already swapped for new custom-made parts are the slot machine window and the curved back of the elevator ramp. But more on that topic later 
I also got new motors for the slot machine reels as the old ones did not work satisfactory even after taking them apart and cleaning them.
As I will definitely keep this machine I am trying to restore it as best I can. Maybe I'll give it to my dad as a gift when I am done.
I have scanned a few of the decals (you might have notices the decal on the metal sewer output thingy is missing, forgot to put it back on again) as well as plastic parts (two of the clear parts from behind the elevator and on the ramp are missing on the pictures, forgot them on the scanner). I am fortunate to have a laser cutter at home, so making new 2D plastics is easy for me. Going for 3D-shaped objects is another (ad)venture that I am looking into at the moment. Vectorizing some of the required artwork (especially the cabinet) is also more time consuming than I tought, but should be worth the effort.
Things planned so far in an approximate order are:
1.) More or less completely exchange the flat plastics for new selfmade ones
2.) Looking into making a new center ramp and side ramps (I will post a separate thread just for this in a few days)
3.) Replacing the slightly scratched glass. I have a reliable company at hand who do custom-made safety glass, maybe they can even do anti-reflective coating, I have to inquire about that
4.) Printing new cabinet decals (have to vectorize the graphics first though)
5.) Completely disassemble and clean PF, trying to repair the small damages around the slightly protruding inserts in the center
6.) Small mods like city skyline decals on the inner cabinet sides and a few model train streetlamps along the train track on the left and at the back to lighten up the artwork there
I have just lurked for the past two weeks but am very much looking forward to help and feedback from this forum and will try to give back as much to the community as possible.
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Brief question regarding pictures in posts: Is it possible to post a thumbnail in the text which will open up a full sized version, or can the attached picture only be inserted in its full size?
West Chicago, IL
