Picked up a routed Stern ST for a nice price, and am bringing it home tomorrow. Other than being very dirty, everything is in nice shape except this unusual bit of playfield damage.

My plan for repair is this:
1) Clean PF, and clean dirt out of damaged area
2) Put down some varethane on the bare wood so paint does not seep into wood
3) Use acrylics to touch up as best I can, or possibly use a water decal if I can gin something up.
4) Varethane over touched up section
5) Install small mylar square over area of fix. (Is this necessary?)
6) Wax playfield, replace balls, enjoy!

Is this the right approach? Any other suggestions?

Also, is there a way I can protect the game and play it a bit -before- I get that fix in, without risk of damaging it further? Don't want to mylar and risk damaging it further on removal. Could I do steps 1 and 2 above, and play it a bit with the varethane over the worn section, while I figure out the painting details?

Thanks!

image (resized).jpg

No way to know for sure, but my thought was that maybe someone dropped a tool on the playfield, but didn't protect that spot before letting people play?

Yeah, it's really weird. Especially since other areas of the playfield show little wear. The left side saucer looks great, for instance.

Oh, good to know! Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to read that whole thread and catch up on what Vid thinks, and maybe I'll re-ask my question there.

It's such a small section, I'm not too terribly concerned about the colors being slightly dulled. This is a touch up, not a full playfield restore. But, then he said that the Varethane doesn't hold up well. (Does that matter if I'm going to mylar over that section when done?)

So, I'll see what he suggests. Unfortunately, very heavy duty auto clears and all really aren't an option in my space. So, doing the best I can under the circumstances works for me.