Hi all!
I just started my Pinbot restoration this week-end. I received my stencils this week and thought storing them for a few months but I guess I got itchy. I wasn’t planning to start yet but hell, let’s do it!

It’s my second restoration but my first full cabinet inside out strip which I’m going to paint with Pinball Pimp Jeff’s stencils.

My playfield is very good with factory mylar. I’ll meditate if I take it off or just polish it as is.

I got a new set of plastics and a new vortex ramp. The game was already LED throughout. Overall, the top side was already pretty neat. I’m going to strip it down and clean through fully and replace a few components like rubbers, lane guides, polish ramp flaps, new fasteners, etc.

The bottom side will get deep cleaning, I’ll redo flippers and drop down target assembly. My visor targets were re-done right after I just bought it. I’ll shotgun replace coil sleeves, coil wrappers, etc.

He’s the first few pictures, from this week-end. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to work but I’ll try to post progress pictures and comment as I go.

Please give your tips and trick. I'm a beginner!

I got about 5 hours in so far. I un-did everything without power tool and took enough picture I hope. I was thinking about re-using the ground braid but I might very well replace it.

Next step, sanding!

Started pulling some connectors out
Started pulling some connectors out

Playfield's out!
Playfield's out!

Here it is!
Here it is!

Getting emptier, see I keep the braid until the end
Getting emptier, see I keep the braid until the end

That is pretty much empty, minus the braid
That is pretty much empty, minus the braid

Topper off! Dirt on original paint!
Topper off! Dirt on original paint!

That's an ugly cabinet!
That's an ugly cabinet!

Ok, braid off. Goes kinda here.

I think a bear played this game before, look at the claw marks
I think a bear played this game before, look at the claw marks

Undressing done! Ready to sand. So long Pinbot, I'm gonna miss playing you for a while.
Undressing done! Ready to sand. So long Pinbot, I'm gonna miss playing you for a while.

Hehe thanks!

I'm done stripping and sanding to wood and halfway done with bondo the corner fixes. I was out this week-end but will post pictures as soon as possible. Got a few findings to report back!

I took a day off from work last week to put in about 8-9 hours into the cabinet and head. Here is the progress:

A few shots from the "before"
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Started with the back side, using the orbital sander and 60 grit paper. It did well but took a lot of time I felt. So I decided to try paint stipper. It worked very well to get rid of the paint to the primer (blue). I put a very light coat and avoided going to close to the edges. Took quite some time as well but it was way easier overall. You can see the difference between only with stripper and after some sanding.
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After some more sanding, I was happy with the result. Still some primer in wood grain which I will probably smooth again to finish the surface. I did not go crazy on sanding where the head attach and the interior. Just rough the surface, make it smooth and give the primer some grip.

BTW, I don't know how you guys get to have the interior floor to wood in every corner. It's impossible to sand those tight spots. I first wanted to have my interior floor on wood and cleared but hell I'm painting it. I'll find a nice color to contrast the black and may be add some personal touches to give it a "Pinbot" feel. I'm pretty "artsy" and rather spend my time doing that than sanding this guy to death.

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The very bottom edge was in very bad shape at a few places, one piece of plywood was completely missing and the wood was chipping. So I cut a piece of masonite to fit under the old plywood and the notch in the corner and glued to very solid. It came up very strong and I think this will hold very well from now on. I spend a lot of time actually going around the bottom and glued/clamped the whole thing as it was cracking and chipping. Now the bottom edges are very solid. I'll later sand and paint now the glue has completely dried.

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Then I moved to the bondo and started to patch the corners with the game still upside down. Tip to myself, don't do a lot of bondo at the time, this thing dries in minutes. I'm not expert in wood working or patch work as this is my first true restoration but I like where it's going so far! I guess I have half the cabinet done and half the backbox as well. The worst is done though. A few corner beauty shots included, all done with orbital sander. (hell, those corners are going to be hidden behind legs anyway...)

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OK, I'll give it another shot. I guess I did not expect it to be so difficult. I also read Bryan Kelly hates painted floor so I must be doing something wrong

It's this one from CanadianTire here in Canada. The body filler step 3.

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Well, to me it does not look bad, it looks different. Definitly not original but it looks clean though. Cleaner than a dirty floor if you are not going to sand it throughout.

I'm sure a nice soft but contrasting color could look good. Still I'm going to give it another shot.

I was able to work 3 hours last Saturday and all day today ( took another day off, way more fun). That's 11 more hours put into it.

I'm done with bondo and sanding and started priming today. I did not have enough space to do both head and cab so I only did the cabinet.

A few findings:
It's a lot of work... Gosh. Don't get you hopes too high if it's your first time. It's a craftsman game. It's fine if there a few things I could have done better. Pros make it look easy but it's not.

I used a wet rag to remove the dust. Apparently wood does not like water and it raises the wood grain. I had to sand again to get the baby's butt finish.

I decided to paint the floor, sorry but I'm not going through this. I also decided to get the transfo floor natural wood and paint the bottom a contrasting colour, at least not black. We'll see how it turns out.
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Painting is suppose to be the fun part but it's not as easy as it sounds using spray can for this kind of work, priming at least.

The primer split and raised the veneer at two places, not sure how to fix it.
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Also applying the primer let defects show up as I though everything was perfect, no big deal...

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I used TremClad oil based primer, that is what we find here in Canada.
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Oh yeah, in he meantime I got myself a small tumbler. It cleans but does not polish as much as I thought it would.
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Question, looks like I got a bunch of tiny wood particles hanging from the primer,on the inside. I can remove by hand almost. Is it ok for me to lightly sand and give a final coat of primer?

Actually, should I lightly sand between dry coats of primer?

I spent 2 more days on the restoration. I'm done priming after some problem and applied my first coats of black today. I'll post picture when it's done. I'm suing Black Krylon Colormaster Satin finish. It's hard to get an even finish but did not want to go crazy thick on my first coats.

The places where the wood split is because there was nothing underneath the thin layer of veneer. Either a empty knot or like I saw on other Pinbot restoration a full lenght from top to bottom with nothing underneath the veneer, about 3/4 of a inch wide.

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I bit the bullet and took out the bondo again. Sanded, prime and then what, another split with another hole. Damn cheap wood!

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I also spent some time cleaning some hardware. I bought a little tumbler and it worked well. I did took a photo of what screw goes where before throwing in the tumbler. All clean. I hand polish every metal part I can with Autosol.

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Hey,

I added, BRASSO Metal Polish to the media tumbler. I guess it helped but did not see a huge difference to my first batch dry. I infact sanded between primer coats it helps a lot making the surface smooth again. I'll probably give a light sanding again between my second and third/final coat of black to get the same result.

I'm using a clean microfiber rag and mineral spirit to get the dust off. Did not seem to raise the wood grain or affect the paint and got the dust off real good. Only it's smell terrible.

I'm really looking forward to finish the base coat and move to stencil!

I'M reading everywhere that cabinet ground braid should be 1/4" wide but mine was 3/16". I bought 1/4" but wondering if I'll change for 3/16" like the original. It's like $7 difference for a 50' roll.

Also, I do not feel like buying a long nose stapler for this. I'm tempted to do it with a regular heavy duty hand stapler.

Why did it not work?

I'll give it a shot and see where it leads me. I got 2 settings on mine. For sure you need to hold firm onto the surface though...

Haven't try the manual stapler but I think I'll just bite the bullet and buy a 22 gauge air stapler from Amazon.

I finished painting last week end. I'm pretty happy with the result. I put the cabinet upward so it's easier to do short pass left to right with the spray can. Only thing I would do different is try to find a way to mask the sides when spraying so the over-spray does not go stick on the finished sides and make them rough.
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Today I finally did my first stencil color on the head. I had the stencils lay flat for a week now and they are just great quality (Pinball Pimp Stencils). They were very easy to apply.
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I masked the head so I can do the first color, and then the second and keep the masking all around the other parts.
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I used Krylon Banner red and it came out not enough orange to my taste. It does look good but not close enough from the original to my taste. Oh well... First coat:
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I did 4 coats. After talking with Jeff at PP, I put on too much paint and did don't let dry long enough before peeling. Actually, I waited about 10-12 minutes as Jeff from PP recommended 10-15 minutes. I should have apply 4 coats with 1 minutes in between and remove the stencils right away. At the end, the edge started to stick to the stencil and spread a little at a few places.
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Light sanding the edges when it's cured should clean this up hopefully.

Now I know I'll definitely want to clearcoat the cabinet. Otherwise it will be too fragile I think.

Hey Cosmokramer, I was reviewing your thread, you mention it's because you did not let dry long enough that the paint started to stretch between the cab and the stencil?

I thought it was the inverse.

Yeah but like you said, the red seemed to cover the base coat black not as good than the white of the stencils. I think I'll do a test on a scrap piece of stencil.

Very true. I might do that on the cabinet body. A light coat of gray primer.

Some more progress made last week. I did the yellow second stencil on the head following instruction from Cosmokramer and Jeff from Pinball Pimp.

Actually, I see Jeff did not recommend applying even a very light coat of primer as a base before doing stencil colors. He was right. The edges came out great this time but the paint did not adhere perfectly on the edge and separated from the primer. See pictures. I'm going to touch up with a brush no worries. The clear should protect everything nicely.

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Otherwise, it's looking freaking sweet.

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I'm also spending some time painting and hand polishing a bunch of other parts.

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Time to give an update!

The good: I'm done with stencils on the head and 2 of the 3 side of the cab! The bad: the third side, the first stencil color did not adhere properly. I had to sand back and re-base coat with black. A new stencil is on the way and with the few mistakes I made so far, I can say I think I now got the hang of it in terms of amount of paint and amount of time to let dry before peeling. Practice makes perfect.

I spent some time on the coin door and I'm doing some test on how I'll clear the cab. I now know I want low gloss/satin like finish and foam brushing does not give good enough result to my taste. I'm going to "bite the wallet" and spray can to clear.

Here are a few updated pictures:

Nice graphics, sharp line. We can see the gloss difference where I sanded to knock the edges and prepare the surface for stencil colors. Clear will take care of it.

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Taking apart, cleaning, tumbling, polising, re-decal and painting coin door. Using the "splatter" technique, can't remember the name

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Got a new woofer, hopefully it makes a difference in Pinbot. I tried it (hardwired) in my Diner and it sounded worst, too much range and not enough lows.

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Looking forward to finish this god damn cabinet and move on...

Thanks Bryan! Not perfect but way better than it was.

Got my replacement stencil yesterday. I should finish painting this week-end (finger crossed)

Time to give an update. I re-did the side of the cabinet I messed up. Sanded, re-painted black and re-did stencils. The yellow still did not come out the way I would have liked as the red is flawless. Go figure. Some touch up and I will clear the side as soon as time and weather allows.

The Head is DONE. I only cleared both sides as the back is very nice as it and it's more to protect the art. I'm painting the bolts head to match the art on the outside. I'm done with ground and started re-installed the hardware, the backbox panel fits great and I'm very happy. I also printed new decals

I'm still working the cabinet even if the clear is no done yet. I pretty much finished laying the ground and some other hardware. I'm figuring out my tilt board as ground goes. I'm soldering anchors to all ground end to it can be screwed to the cabinet, transfo, speaker, side rails neatly, I think it's worth the effort.

With some help from my wife, I did some custom art on the tilt panel to give the inside (where you never look at) a little extra. I like it very much.

Can wait to continue assembling the game. I got an order from Marco coming in soon and looking forward to install the playfield on the rotisserie.

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Thanks guys, I'm pretty sure I'm spending way too much time on this build for what it's worth but I'm learning a ton.

Update time!

I have been quiet the last few weeks but been busy on my pinball, ask my wife... I can only work in short stretch so things are coming together slow but surely.

I'm waiting on my legs to put the cabinet up and attach the head. The cab is pretty much done. I received the first of a few orders of new parts. Bunch of stuff!

Painted the bottom side of the cab matte black and painted the metal protector at the front, really clean looking.

Door is back in, new cabinet switches, new buttons, new speaker, new hardware where needed and new glass. Painted and clear leg plates, lots of polished parts. I'm very happy with the result, the cab is looking real good.

One thing I realise is which order to put stuff back together, for example I was waiting for my leg plates to arrived so I installed other things but I would have been way easier to put them back first, I had to remove a few bolts, etc. It's all things I'm learning, next time I'll know what should go first to avoid doing things twice, 3 times, 4 times...

I'm about ready to put the playfield on the rotisserie, I removed a few needed parts and man there was some dust, apron was probably never removed at least not cleaned. Will remedy to that.

Next updates, cab should be complete and up on the rotisserie the playfield go.

Cheers!

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Thanks mate, I hope so. Doing my best.

Thanks buddy!

The ground braid is actually a tube, so just slide the tip of the terminal inside and solder letting it pour inside the braid.

I used a 22 gauge air stapler from amazon.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000N52KSW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

It was not expensive and works well. Strong and steady. 2 things though, people recommended get the long nose one but it's like a 100$ more. I wished I had the long nose for some location in corners and tight space but I manage to do a pretty clean job with it. Also it does not have a guide so make sure you are centered before pulling the trigger. Not sure if other staplers have a guide but I saw in some high end resto that some staples were a little off as well so not a big deal I think.

Like others said to me, if you plan doing lot of cab resto and playfield swaps, get the long nose. I'm not regretting my purchase yet. Way better than a hand stapler for sure.

Enough with the pretty stuff, now to the dirty stuff.

While I'm waiting for my extended leg bolts to put the cab on its legs and mount the head, I got the playfield on the rotisserie. Man it's easier to work on a game on that thing as opposed to inside the cabinet...

I'm taking pictures before I remove the plastics and after I do, from every angle. I'm deep cleaning all hardware and plastic before storing in individual compartments. I'm labeling each by sections. I'm cleaning the plastic even though I'm installing a new set, they are going to be stored. I'm also cleaning the screws, bolts and nuts as it saves the tumbling media from all that dirt.

See how those metal guides are dirty, dripping brown stuff.

Going well, good progress. Next time I'll do the lift ramp and start tackling the underside. I'm keeping the posts for last on the top side.

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I got a repro vortex from last PPS batch. I heard before that I would need to take out my dremel tool and I did. First the vortex would not sit flat on the playfield, it would touch and hang from the metal lanes underneath. So I had to grind a slot to make it fit.
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Second, the ramp flap entry would not be flush to the playfield. I grinded a slot to let the plastic attaching to the flap free and heated the plastic tap to bend it down. Perfect flat flush now!
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Third, the ramp to the vortex was too narrow at one spot and the ball would get stuck. Doh! Again, heated the ramp SLIGHTLY and bent towards the outside. Enough room for the ball all the way around. Perfect!
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So yeah, those repro are great but not perfect!

Needless to say I was afraid to grind the whole way through or even the light from the GI underneath to bleed through. I could have grinded more but I'm happy how it sits now.

Thanks MarchAFB! Kudos to you to not dropping the ball and commiting to your restore. I understand sometime you just want to let it go but like you said if you are going to regret then go all in.

Congrats on the CPR swap. I looked around for a CPR but they were out of price (like $1200 US) forget it. Mine is dirty of course but in decent shape.

If I decide to remove the mylar it's going to be repaint and clearcoat which in itself is another big undertaking. I already feel I got knee deep in the resto anyway...

Will keep you posted.

Oh yeah, I ordered a bunch of cliffy posts, switch protector and I got myself a new set or lane guides. Mines were all mashed up and the ball would not roll flat onto the flippers which is anoying as hell. I got the enhanced version and the craftsmanship is at least as good as the factory. Looking forward to see how they fit.

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Removed and clean the through feeder. Looking better I think.

Funny how you are proud of taking apart, cleaning, polishing and re-assembling something nobody except you will ever see...

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Ordered from Marco as well, I'll compare and rectified as needed, thanks for the heads up.

I got them from someone else image files and just stitched them together on the same page. I added a protective film over the sticker page before cutting so they should last through time.

Yeah mine is pretty dull now, broken underneath a rivet, the Adv X sticker missing and the lower stainless steel flap is missing a corner.

How did you create you replacement, just cut some plexy the same shape? how do you get nice edges?

I tried it in my Diner and was not impress the the low range. My Pinbot woofer was punched in so I hope it sounds better. I'll report back when I'm done.

Time for an update, stripping the top side is coming slowly but surely!

Ramps are getting regrained. Drop target assembly completely cleaned and tumbled. Chest inserts and board are cleaned, target are held in place with zip tie and coil are clean, shotgun sleeve replaced and coil wrapped new.

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Motor assembly is getting taken apart and cleaned as well. A wire broke off, no biggy. Time to fix this and remove the electrical tape.

Flipper are getting rebuilt, cleaned and polished the base plate, new hardware, new OES with new wiring, same coil. I built little bracket to sandwich between the lane change and the OES switch to attach the newer style return spring, you can see them in the flipper final assembly picture at the bottom right.

Pop bumpers are completely redone tumbled, polished and new parts.

Kick out hole mechs are cleaned, tumbled and back together.

I'm currently tumbling my slingshot and next are my shooting lane feeder and ramp lift assembly. Then I'm done with mechs. All I'll have is to remove all the posts from the top side, the wire guides, unsolder a few flasher socket and finally remove the rails.

I'm still debating about what do to on the playfield and mylar... I will be at a crossroad soon.

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Tomorrow morning, my friend is bringing me 3 boxes from Marco, Pinball Life and Titan that I had shipped to the US a while back. I also put in a huge order at Comet this thanksgiving week-end and Pinbot will get its share of it.

Time for an update a few picture and a story.

The game is back on its legs and I put the head on yesterday, see how it's look and take it off the floor.

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I continued taking care of the playfield and I stripped it completely. I also took the decision of removing the mylar. I'll touch up the playfield and clearcoat it. Which means many more months under restoration. But I'm so deep into it so I'm might just do it.

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I used the freezing spray method to remove it and the flour and alcohol to remove the glue. It's a pain to remove the glue clean but i'ts for the best I hope.

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The factory lacquer was still in pretty good shape and not much art got removed except near the chest lights, I might have gone light on freezing spray as well. Anyway, all those color are going to be airbrushed.

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I never done airbrush but need to get into in. But first I need to find a place to get a place to base clearcoat in winter here in Canada. I'll call a few paint shops see if they can get me in while they do other pieces to try to get it cheap.

Overall the playfield is in very good shape. The worst planking where the paint is slightly lifting is near the left outlane, the chest area like I said and around the pops where the factory mylar was placed sloppily. The clear also lifted from over the Xball insert which will need a new decal of some sort. I might ask my wife to hand draw it since she has a pretty steady hand, we'll see.

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Meanwhile, I cleaning my board and ready to put back inside the head. I'm also tumbling more parts like actuators, pivots and all posts and wire guides.

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About that story. I tried my lock down bar to see how it fitted. I did not want it to rub on the front of the cabinet near the corner so I crazy glued 2 pieces of felt to "protect" the beautiful paint job. I applied the glue deliberately which means way too much...

The glue had soaked in the felt and I tried the lockdown bar. I fitted great and left it there. It must have pressed the glue out and through to the wood, basically gluing the felt piece to the front of the cabinet. When I came back to it a few days later, the lockdown bar was glued pretty good but I just thought it was a tight squeeze. So I pulled.

Some paint came off, some wood came off.

I had to touch up the area and after spraying some clear it's pretty hard to see. Because it's under the lockdown bar it's invisible but still. I did not think I would need to take out the bondo at this stage.

Lesson learned. Like the 100th...

I spare you from posting picture of what it looked like but it was not pretty, to my eyes at least!

My playfield is off to someone who'll base clearcoat it. I trust him he'll do a good job.

Before that, I finished with some touch-ups. I sanded the shooter lane the best I can without removing too much material, I'll have to do some slight painting to get a more even finish. I patched a few holes and repaired kick-out holes. I also had to level all 5 triangle inserts (bonus "X" and special)

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I built a pretty neat transport box that we'll be used to level the playfield for CC as well. I cover any holes with tape, add bulbs to socket and cover all the underside underneath a plastic bag. Off it goes!

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See her in about 2-3 weeks.

In the meantime, I'll install my topper which the chromed tape is kinda scratched at a few places. I'll see what I do about that.

On another note, I talked to my brother about my cab woofer I replaced. I found out that it's not going to be an improvement but rather a downgrade because of the efficiency of the speaker. I did not know that. He recommend I either 1) use the old one which is perfect for the application, 2)get a "infinity baffle" speaker which will be more efficient that what I got, 3) get a small powered amp to add before the speaker to boost the signal and filter out higher frequency. I'll see what I do about that as well.

I got my playfield back from base clearcoat. It is sealed now and I can start the touch-ups. The clear really got into the cracks as my playfield was quite planked and dry. You can see in the pictures of what was the worst area. It is safe now.

The guy did some touch-ups particularly the black by using the wipe method to fill in the cracks before the CC. He also re-did some black line as well. It's already showing pretty much better.

I suspect the spray booth was quite dusty as there are lots of tiny speckles on the surface but as I'm going to sand flat before painting that is OK.

The shooter lane drank pretty much all the clear as expected.

I think it's going to look great when I'm done.

I received my moisture trap for the airbrush today and will sand in the next few days. About that, what grit you guys recommend for sanding? I read 400 up to 800 depending on who you ask to.

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Hey Joey, thanks for the tips! Obviously I only went with 1 coat of base but I'm sure I can work off of that. Got my 800 grit sand paper tonight and a can of acrylic lacquer to seal colors as I go. You just keep spending on those full restoration...

My clearcoat was still too soft and fragile to start cutting frisket mask over it so I'm letting it cure some more. I should be ready about now so whenever I have time I'll attack the yellow area.

In the meantime, I cleaned the blue ramp. It was one of the first thing to come off and I just left it in my parts box. That thing was dirty. It came off like new it's amazing. I also went with the blue/red theme flasher dome colors even if I'm going to take the GI back to white only.

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Nothing special, I guess my Pinbot was in better than average condition to start with.

I did start my paint touch-ups this week. I've done my Yellow and Orange. It is my first ever experience using an airbrush so bare with me.

Yellow went well. I used Createx Opaque base yellow (6 bottles starter kit) and it came out as a pretty good match.

Orange went OK. The gun kept spitting paint and my guess is the paint was too thick for the needle (0.5mm) I used. I should probably try thinning the next time. The final result came out great but it took way too much time. I tried mixing the base red/yellow but was not satisfy and bought orange that I used it straight from the bottle as well. I also bought a different red because the base red has too much blue in in and won't cut it (according to my artsy wife).

You can see in the picture I only did the tail side of the special orange trail and the color match is pretty darn close.

The bulk of the work is still to frisket the areas and mask the rest of the playfield.

I bought a roll of 10" wide frisket of ebay (made in Korea) and it works great. It pulls out flawlessly giving a straight edge. Was way cheaper than my local art store. I'm getting pretty good with the xacto knife.

Next up is green and then blue. I keep red/gray for last and will finish up by white. Then the black key lines.

P.S. I hate my airbrush, it Chinese cheap crap and I'm about ready to bite the bullet and buy a decent Iwata gun.

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I ordered mylsef a Iwata Revolution CR, looking forward to try it. I hear it's pretty good at shooting createx straight off the bottle.

Got my Iwata yesterday and gave it a shot. I painted the green as a test since there is not a lot of it and it was already in pretty good shape. Only a few spot on the chest section but mostly the green orbit needed touch ups. Actually the left half of the playfield had more problems and you can see in the picture that other color orbits has black bleeding through.

I masked and cut the orbit the best I can without going crazy, I kind of free-handed the shape so it fills most of it and looks good from playing distance let's say.

All I need now it to repaint the few blacks dots that are incorporated in the orbit.

I'll probably do the same thing for the next colors as well. I'm amazed how small a band of frisket you can cut with the xacto knife and be able to pull away.

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Next up, baby blue!

Cool thanks!

This week and this evening I did the dark blue and the light blue. They were both tricky to match but I'm very happy with the result.

There was a lot of light blue sections and they were a pain to mask and cutout. Especially around the left side near the lanes.

I had some frisket lift and overspray at some places but nothing a light sanding can't fix.

Next should be the red which will be tricky as well, huge sections at the top right corner.

Some before and after.

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Also, I masked and painted the yellow around the credits between the flippers. I figured if I could match the color good enough I would not need to decal the text.

I still ordered a sheet of waterslide decal and prep the text in photoshop so I'll see if I decided to paint the whole thing again and do the water slide text over it.

For now it's look way better than before anyway.

Before and after:
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If someone needs it, here it is:

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Thanks! Yes about the red, I'll also be redoing the red planet orbit and the most left burner near the chest which are more critical in terms of color match.

I'll post a before and after pictures of the chest grid but this is what it looked like before.

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Time to update.

I'v done the red. It came out a little off but it's mostly hidden behind the spiral ramp and mini-playfield. The original was more on the pink side. Only place it would have been noticeable was the rocket engines in the middle. I'v redone the left one and when I realized my red was too much saturated, I mixed some more red and re-shoot this only before pulling out the frisket. I pulled the frisket elsewhere so be it. It's better night and day anyway.

I'm also done with my grey which were hard to match but it turned out really good. I'm done with the chest grid and it looks like new. Actually all I'm missing is the black lines which will be the last final step.

Next color is White. I'm very much looking forward because it's going to increase the contrast on the playfield. I expect to not go out the bottle white but a little off white to better match the original white since I won't redo all of it but surely all the GI sections plus a few other sections. With a bit of luck, I can tackle that tomorrow.

Before:
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After:
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Much appreciated!

Luckily, I was able to tackle the white yesterday. Man does it make a difference!

I had some trouble with my frisket mask not sticking at a few places, it happens with larger pieces, which ended up with some slight over spray here and there but once cleaned up everything will be all right. It is not sticking super well on painted area but stick very well on original playfield area and over inserts.

All I'm missing is hand drawing the lettering on the "Lites Extra Ball" and do the BLACK. Also, I want to give my shooter lane a mist coat of wood tone beige to cover the deep dirt tracks.

I might do touch-ups like the orange planet orbit which I did not do first. But at this point I'm already super happy how this turned out.

Would I do that again? May be. Does it worth $1000 which what a new CPR runs in $cad. Yes!

I do plan to clean my shed and clearcoat myself using 2 parts Spraymax2k in a can when the temp warms up. I feel confident and will be much cheaper/faster that taking it to the clearcoat guy who did my seal coat.

Here a bunch of pictures before black and the white overspray fixes. We are getting somewhere.

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Before:
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After:
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Thanks! I started touching up some black lines and filling up some cracks in the black area. I did spray some clear lacquer this morning to see if the color will blend properly. It's going to dry up today and when I'm back home I should have my answer. (My wife do not want me to spray in the house so I do it when we are away...)

Ordered my face mask yesterday so I'll be ready to give a few coats of clear when the weather warms up. Then I can see if it needs more touching up or I'm good to go and re-populate.

I'll try to do wood tone this week-end. I was planning to do only the shooter lane but I might do all the bare wood areas actually. Just a light transparent coat to even things out. I'll first try around the pop bumpers and see how it looks.

I sanded the clear and I freshen up the bare wood with a birch tone color. It's quite different but it cleans up the game real good. It also improves the shooter lane dramatically. Once cleared, the wood pattern should show up a little more. Overall I like it.

I got some tiny touch-ups to do in the black and I plan on redoing all of the stars as some are quite faded. To have tried it in one place it makes them pop really nice.

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Merci buddy!

I fixed the white text saying: LITES EXTRA BALL.

I stopped looking for a place printing white on waterslide decals. In my search though, I found a guy who suggested using a Cameo stencil cutter. He asked how large was the text and agreed to take a shot at it. He kindly offered to cut it and send it to me. Kudos to another dedicated pinhead.

He did cut the text as on the insert but also separate letters. I used the "as is" version and taped off the letter which did not need to be fixed. I only re-did the bottom tip of "I" and "T". Then the "X" and "T".

A few thin layers of airbrush color and the result is pretty good. Too good actually. The original text was a bit blurry and the new letters are sharper. From the player's POV it will go unnoticed.

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Ready for clearcoat I guess

Got my first 2 coats (1 full can) on. I clean up my shed, made some room and hang up my light.
I waited about 12-15 mins between coats. Looking good except I made a mistake when I mixed my white paint using straight up flow improver instead of my homemade mix. Result, the white paint seems to want to wrinkle. I'll see once it's dry and sanded if I need to touch it back up...

Before, first time it sees the sun in months.
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My setup and condition
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A few picture before I get the fuck out.
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Also, I decided to redo the white and do waterslide decals for the inlanes text. We'll see how it turns out. I'll install the decals after the first coat of clear.

Had to redo the white twice since my color match was wrong (picture)

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As I'm redoing some of my touch-ups, I figured I should post a video of how I cut frisket mask with an xacto knife. I am no artist and a beginner really but I guess it shows with a little patience and steady hand anybody can do it.

Tips I may share:
-Hold the knife lightly, no need to press hard, be gentle.
-Use you other hand to steady your motion. Like I play guitar, I use my pinky to add some control to the movement and slide along the surface better.
-When doing rounds, I prefer to start with my wrist bent and unwind, not the inverse. Bend as much before getting unconformable, you can get a good stretch with the same stroke. Move your body and a whole.
-Change position to get best approach and best lighting. Do not get lazy standing in one place.

Howdy folks!

Time to give an update.

First, I encountered problems when I did my first coat (I'm using spraymax 2k in a can) The white area and everything that got mixed with white craked and wrinkled under the clear. Some other color reacted as well. Disaster. I had to redo all the white, light gray, yellow, green, orange and blue. Again practice makes perfect.

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Rework.

Multiple light coats, heat cured in-between, knocked down the edge before clearcoat. Apparently the problem might have been caused by using acrylic lacquer to seal down touch-up between color. Funny enough, I as suggested to do that. I had no issues the second time around.

I also did my 2 water slide decals for each inlanes. These are tricky to install and nowhere near perfect. But good enough. I would need some serious practice before redoing all inserts text on a playfield. Luckily those 2 are kinda hidden.

So after the paint touch-ups, light layer of clear, wait 12 hours, sand for tooth, apply water slide decals, let dry for 12 hours, light coat of clear, wait 15 mins, wet coat of clear (that's the content of 1 can)

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So this morning I was ready to tackle final sanding and final clearcoat!

I started using 600 grit but it did not leave the playfield flat enough without serious muscle. I previously wet sanded but did not like it and decided to do dry sanding this time around going with 400 grit and "Richard's" sanding block. That was it. I was able to get the playfield completely flat except a few low spots.

I do not care that much about low spots under the posts, more importantly I took care of the places where the ball travels and the eyes can see.

I used a sheet and half of 400 and wiped with naptha after each 1/4 of sheet.

I finished with my trusty green scotch-brite pad and gave a light 600 grit final sanding. Pretty good!

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After, I vacuumed all the holes and blew with compressed air the whole thing. I did not want for debris to raise and fall once I shoot the final coat.

Wiped with naptha and tack cloth.

I then filled the low spots with clear using an eyedropper. I used my 3rd and last can of Spraymax. Sprayed in a cup and filled the low spots.

I then waited 20 mins to shoot the final heavy coat.

I was ready!

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I was able to do multiple passes from different direction since the light bulbs seemed to blocked the clear depending of what direction I was shooting from. I did not want that to happen on the final coat.

It went very well. Good coverage. 1 hour in I took those pictures and it looks flat and true.

After polishing, it should look pretty sweet!

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In the meantime, I continue cleaning other parts like flame polishing my lift ramp and cleaning my translite and back glass. Someone in the past used hockey tape (classic) to hold the translite to the glass and the glass to the bottom rail. I was able to remove all glue residue using naptha fuel.

Using Novus 2, I was also able to remove quite a lot of brown stuff from behind the translite even though it looked clean at first sight.

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