Flash Gordon
Bally, 1981
Freefall
Stern Electronics, 1981
Harlem Globetrotters On Tour
Bally, 1979You can definitely salvage those. Just takes a bit of work. You took the right approach with the courser grit and moving up to lighter grit. Just keep climbing that ladder till you're polishing them. They should come out nice.
Looking good! Thumbs up.
Too cold to paint so I’m working on the coin door and replacing the rectifier board.
Here’s the old, hacked up board
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And now the new board and transformer all cleaned up:
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And the door skin, regrained and new decal:
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Quoted from PantherCityPins:Too cold to paint so I’m working on the coin door and replacing the rectifier board.
So, you are rectifying the rectifier situation?
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:So, you are rectifying the rectifier situation?
it has been rectified!
Quoted from Atari_Daze:How did the side rails turn out after sanding / re-graining ?
Not bad overall. They don’t look brand new but I’m happy with them.
A couple shots of some further filling on the cab. Primer always reveals spots you missed when filling the first time.
In this case there is a very pronounced grain on one side of the cabinet. This is gone over with glazing putty to hopefully smooth it out a bit.
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Also there was a lot of planking and wide grain on the top of the head. I know people won’t really see it but it gets filled as well.
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Primer will be allowed to dry for about 24 hours and then hand sanded with a block. Hopefully base coating can happen Tuesdayish.
Thought I might share what I’ve learned about Harbor Freight HVLP guns over the last 24 hours in case anyone else decides to go this route.
First, comparing the green and purple guns; here is what you get in each one:
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The purple gun is $15 regular price, green gun is $25 regular price. There are differences, the purple gun has a plastic air director piece and a soft brass collar whereas the green gun has the nozzle screwed directly to the chassis (I assume the air channels are formed into the chassis itself). Also (and this is KEY), the green gun comes with the wrench that is required to remove the nozzle for either gun. The nozzle has a 19 mm slot that is narrow and too thin for a standard wrench. Why Harbor Freight doesn’t include that tool in every one is beyond me.
So, I originally bought a purple one but got a green one as well once I realized the wrench was not included. You can buy a spray gun wrench on Amazon for $25 or so but that’s the same cost as the green gun with the wrench. No brainer. The purple gun with the regulator ($25) also comes with the wrench, just not the cheapest one.
The green gun comes apart easier than the purple one. Main issue with the purple gun is that whatever assembly material they used at the factory REALLY makes it hard to get the nozzle off the first time. In fact the brass collar will unscrew before the nozzle does. The only way that I found to remove the nozzle from that brass collar without galling the collar is to use a 3/8” hex key into the back of the collar and the wrench tool on the nozzle. Then it came off.image (resized).jpg
Lastly, make sure you disassemble the gun and clean it thoroughly with warm, soapy water first. There is all kinds of gunk inside the parts from the factory.2BD810EE-4A4B-49D1-80C6-E4EECF007B3A (resized).jpeg
After all that you should be good to go. My plan is to use the purple gun for color and the green one for clear.
Quoted from PantherCityPins:Lucked out yesterday and grabbed a very cool early Stern game for a super cheap price.
Looks very cool, thank you for saving another game!
Finally!! The weather clears and I can basecoat this game!
I’m using a new paint for this one, it’s a water based hybrid paint from Sherwin Williams. It’s a little pricey at around $45 a quart but I was able to do the entire cabinet and head with half a quart so it covers well. Not sure when I will use the rest of this white but whatever. It’s water based so easy cleanup and self leveling. I thinned it about 10% with tap water for the HVLP gun. I got semi-gloss for this machine, it sanded really nicely, we’ll see how it stencils in a few days.
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Quoted from Atari_Daze:Hmmm, something's different, just can't put my finger on it. [quoted image]
Name change!
Started stenciling today. I’m using a darker shade of blue because I think it matches the playfield better. I’m using Montana Black spray paint for the stenciling, works amazingly well. I used Rustoleum 2X before but it tends to bleed more under the edges of the stencil and requires more touch up work. Montana Black dries quicker and doesn’t seem to bleed nearly as much.
I did have one small area where my basecoat pulled away from the Kilz primer when pulling the stencil off, I’ll have to touch that up with a brush. Overall it came out well, the stupid shoes are not easy to pull without things tearing and dragging into the paint. Have to have contortionist hands!
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Full disclosure: I’m having a decent amount of problem with this urethane enamel pulling away from the Kilz primer. I wondering if sanding the Kilz to 400 grit was too smooth and not enough tooth for the topcoat. Anyhow, I really liked the way the urethane enamel sprayed and laid down but if it can’t take the stencil adhesive without pulling free it’s gonna be a no go. For now I’ll let everything dry and airbrush in corrections after the red is stenciled.
When I have repainted and stenciled cabinets I sand them down to 400 grit and have never had the paint come off with removal of the stencil.
I usually wait a good day or two to let paint dry before using the next stencil.
Make sure everything is super clean before laying down the stencil and paint.
I also use the same paint manufacturer for all different colors to make sure there is no problems.
Quoted from timab2000:When I have repainted and stenciled cabinets I sand them down to 400 grit and have never had the paint come off with removal of the stencil.
I usually wait a good day or two to let paint dry before using the next stencil.
Make sure everything is super clean before laying down the stencil and paint.
I also use the same paint manufacturer for all different colors to make sure there is no problems.
So this was Kilz primer (oil base) with Sherwin Williams Urethane Enamel trim paint over it in semi-gloss.
Dunno.
I think I may try an experiment on a scrap piece of wood and stop at 220 grit and see what happens.
The good news is this paint airbrushes pretty nicely with a little flow improver in there so I can fix everything.
If that doesn't work I will go back to oil based basecoats.
Did the red on the front of the cab today. More base coat adhesion issues. Grrr.
It’s pretty ugly at this point, lol. I’ll sand back a section, tape off the shapes and respray the colors. Then I can tape off the white and airbrush in the problem areas. Going to set me back a few days to fix these problems but I want it to be right. Definitely going to topcoat with a polyurethane given all these adhesion issues.
Still should be on target to be ready for TPF, I will switch over to finishing the playfield once I get the paint fixed and it is drying. Hoping to have the paint corrected in the next couple days and clear the cabinet Saturday or Sunday.
I think I’m going to stick with oil based basecoats from here out.
Paint repair is done I think. Sanded back the delaminated areas and then taped off and airbrushed in more white. Had to get the consistency of the paint just right for it to airbrush reasonably but after some trial and error I’m satisfied. I’m going to leave this to cure for several days before I decide on whether to top coat with satin polyurethane.
image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgMaking progress. Game is on its legs, ground braid installed, backbox is on, boards are in. Cleaned the cabinet harness tonight and installed new power cord. Stripped, rebuilt and refinished the tilt board. Stripped the apron and shooter gauge, repainted in the same color red that is on the cabinet and then installed new decals. I painted the light board a couple days ago and put that back together tonight. Side rails are on.
Left to do is installing the coin door, running all the ground straps for the cabinet, installing a new speaker, flipper buttons, etc. Then finishing off the playfield and a power up. Should hopefully flip the switch this weekend.
Here’s a few teaser pics, more to come this weekend.
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Alright, we are nearing the finish line folks! A few last gremlins to chase, new displays are ordered, and the sound is messed up (I suspect a bad PROM chip which has been ordered).
Here are the glamour shots:
BC6E547B-C463-479F-A879-44EE7DC2E542 (resized).jpeg5611A4D6-8B5D-44B7-9DA5-EDBF13F49ACA (resized).jpeg4D1BCF6B-9D5E-49B0-90A0-089302A8E35C (resized).jpeg6DE40893-FC22-4913-B13D-3169B114E49A (resized).jpegFE25E90D-C462-49BC-8F57-C243823C4F43 (resized).jpegA9567CDF-C78B-487D-BB9D-C95FF510F1B7 (resized).jpeg
E0EE5E7E-9B14-4884-9581-5F746F33E06E (resized).jpeg
6DB2C203-4383-40E8-9EBA-D7847B25B3CC (resized).jpegFFE4271E-B33F-482F-AFC7-9DCD2EEC1520 (resized).jpeg4BFBB12C-FD42-412F-B505-0E0989103A39 (resized).jpegQuoted from Mr_Tantrum:Got a little blurry there in the end, but Meadowlark & Curly would be proud.
Fixed it. You’d think with three cameras in a phone one of them would be in focus…
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:Those colors really pop on the cabinet and playfield. Very visually pleasing restoration in every aspect.
Thanks I appreciate that! I was going for slightly blingy but not over the top.
Quoted from Xenon75:PantherCityPins did you have a different pinside handle in the past?
Yeah I was Pinball_Gizzard before. Decided to switch because I’m doing so many restorations now.
Game is dialed in and now for sale. Will be taken to TPF and entered in the judging competition there.
Next up is the cabinet restore and repaint on Gottlieb’s Pop-A-Card!
I’ll be in Hawaii next week on vacation so probably no updates for a week or so.
Alright! We are back from Hawaii, recovered from jet lag (took a few days) and ready to go!
Globetrotters is all packed up and ready for TPF. Next project is…Pop-A-Card!
This game is a commission from a local customer. Playfield was stripped and sent to Vegas Playfields for restoration and clear coating back in early December. I’m hoping to get it back in the next few weeks. In the meantime I will get the cabinet all done.
Here’s where I am starting with the cabinet:
image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgQuoted from PantherCityPins:Little side project today, got the Freefall film mounted to the backglass and trimmed. Looks perty gud!
[quoted image]
Every time a I see a Freefall post Tom Petty is singing in my head . . . I can't stop it.
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