Playfield how to protect?

Can of worms here I go. First timer so try not to crucify me for this.

I have an 81 Gottlieb Mars God of War. The game has Mylar covering about 80% of the field. I'm guessing this was not factory done because you can see in numerous spots where it does not align with things, one where it is even up off of the playfield lying against a post. The Mylar is cracked, bubbled and peeling up in numerous spots so I have decided to remove it.

My question is where to go from there. I've tried looking for these Pinball Protectors I've read about but it doesn't seem that anyone makes one for this Pin. The paint is in pretty decent shape (and will hopefully stay that way as I remove the Mylar). What should I do after removal and cleaning the residual glue off. For a machine which will likely only see light play in the home is cleaning and waxing enough to keep it in okay shape?

I tried reading things on here but about every 3rd post in a topic speaks to horror stories or reasons why you should/shouldn't do a specific thing with a specific brand of cleaner, polish, wax, etc...

Thanks ahead of time for responses.

#2 3 years ago

ROB

transprtr4u

Pinside+ Frequent

Edmonton, AB

10y 130K 8,398 3 1

If in good shape , I wouldn't remove the Mylar, you may get lucky but chances are you will do some damage to the playfield

Post last edited 3 years ago: “Autocorrect ”

#3 3 years ago

ACE

Dallas_Pin

Pinside+ Frequent

6y 105K 1,121

Canned air upside down to make 'freeze spray' OR a lightly use a heat gun to remove the mylar. Rubbing alcohol and flour to get rid of the mylar stickiness. Be careful with the removal as you may end up removing paint; work in small sections.

#4 3 years ago

???

Dan1733

Pinside+ Frequent

Mequon, WI

4y 75,900 998 15 1

These are great questions.

I've read pretty much every pinside post in history on playfield protectors. And still can't figure out if they make sense.

#5 3 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

OP
Quoted from badjoe82:
The paint is in pretty decent shape (and will hopefully stay that way as I remove the Mylar). .

Well that's the hope, but doesn;t always come true. I don;t know much aboot that era Gottlieb, so I'm interested to know myself.

Quoted from Dan1733:
These are great questions.
And still can't figure out if they make sense.

THey made sense on route back then.

#6 3 years ago

JPF

badjoe82

Inactive member

I’ve read about how to remove the Mylar and clean residual already. I’m fairly confident I can do that and am accepting of some paint loss in process.

The question was what about after. If just cleaning/waxing is enough or if I absolutely 100% need to send this thing off for professional coating of some form. I read a lot about clear costing but have about zero faith in myself not blowing that entirely.

#7 3 years ago

JPF

badjoe82

Inactive member

Quoted from transprtr4u:
If in good shape , I wouldn't remove the Mylar, you may get lucky but chances are you will do some damage to the playfield

The problem is the Mylar is not in good shape. Its in a shape I feel will be detrimental to play. It is peeling inside some of the top lanes, actually up from the field.

#8 3 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

OP
Quoted from badjoe82:
The question was what about after. If just cleaning/waxing is enough or if I absolutely 100% need to send this thing off for professional coating of some form. I read a lot about clear costing but have about zero faith in myself not blowing that entirely.

I'm ASSUming this is your only machine? Listen, this idea that every playfield needs to be re-cleared is a very very new phenomenon, and can be complete overkill. Mars God of War is not a great machine, you're going to end up spending twice the value of the thing "protecting" it. That's not factoring in being new (agian Assuming, no offense intended) and having to go through the LONG process of disassembling/reassembling the Playfield and all the wiring mechs etc.

Post some pics!

#9 3 years ago

JPF

badjoe82

Inactive member

Quoted from TheLaw:
I'm ASSUming this is your only machine? Listen, this idea that every playfield needs to be re-cleared is a very very new phenomenon, and can be complete overkill. Mars God of War is not a great machine, you're going to end up spending twice the value of the thing "protecting" it. That's not factoring in being new (agian Assuming, no offense intended) and having to go through the LONG process of disassembling/reassembling the Playfield and all the wiring mechs etc.
Post some pics!

Your assumption is correct. I am new. This is my first and currently only pin. I paid $500 so yeah, spending another grand or something crazy I would like to avoid. Pics attached. Not good close ups though.

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#10 3 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

Can't see much of what you're working with here...but I am seeing the round mylar around the pops coming up? Those can be cut off and removed completely.

#11 3 years ago

JPF

badjoe82

Inactive member

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-spraymax-2k-auto-clear-in-a-can-club

I'm off work now and took some better pictures. You can see one place is actually lifted and cracked. There is also a picture where the mylar wasn't placed correctly and is leaned up on a post. There's another spot like that (not pictured) as well.

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#12 3 years ago

JWF

Jesse-Fowler

Pinside member

Albany, OR

3y 21,900 6 2

I looked high and low for a playfield protector and can't find anything. I'm going to try doing searches in German next. Your paint is better than mine and mine doesn't have mylar on it. Have you seen videos of people polishing mylar?

I got my Mars God of War in July 2020 and have done a ton of work to it. I've almost spent what you bought yours for in upgrades and repairs so far. It's currently down due to a slingshot that burned up. I got a couple of coils coming from Marco to get it running again.

I think MGoW is a great classic and should be taken care of. The speech, call outs, rules, and ramp make it very unique for the time. My family loves it! Every time the hypherforce line is spoken, we shout out 'I made it to diaperforce!'

#13 3 years ago

CRG

Toasterdog

Pinside member

Clearwater, FL

11y 95,550 3,646 2 46

I’m no expert, but if it was me, I’d carefully try and remove Mylar with freeze method. Touch up as necessary and spray it yourself.

These cans are affordable and apply pretty easy. The results can be amazing and I think you would be happy you didn’t spent a bunch of money or time.

#14 3 years ago

ROB

RCA1

Pinside+ Addict

St Joseph, MI

11y 128K 8,679 28 11

Clean, wax, play, enjoy.
That mylar is coming up a bit, but doesn't look that bad to me.
Not every game needs to be perfect.

If you intend to make a showpiece out of it, pull the mylar, touch up, and clear. You will not get your money's worth back out of that effort, so only if the game is a forever keeper for you.

#15 3 years ago

JPF

badjoe82

Inactive member

Well for anyone voting to keep the mylar it's too late. I pulled it off yesterday. Freeze can method worked amazing; came up, no problems whatsoever. Started using alcohol and flour to remove glue. What a pain in the arse. I've lost more paint during the glue removal than the mylar itself.

Ef_1VQNWsAElLb2 (resized).jpg

#16 3 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

OP
Quoted from badjoe82:
I've lost more paint during the glue removal than the mylar itself.

Correct, that is standard.
Goodhting is you got a lot of black in the middle, and all over, so that will all be easy to touch up.

#17 3 years ago

JPF

badjoe82

Inactive member

Glue is all off now. All things considered everything still looks really good. The playfield doesn't look nearly as bad as some I have seen. What kind of paint do people use to touch up? Acrylic I've read is common; but any specific brands? How do people go about matching colors?

#18 3 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict