OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

The pieces coming off the playfield are starting to pile up.
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Leaning towards warm white LEDs to compliment the yellows/reds/oranges on the playfield. No matter which/what type of bulb things are starting to look much brighter.
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I even had help in case I dropped something down in the cabinet!
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Next up -- time to do something about those bulbs under the inserts.

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

No numbers in mind yet -- will have to give some thought to a price. . . or maybe even trade potential.

Thanks Davi -- my efforts to clean up and refurbish will likely be far inferior to yours. I couldn't help but notice Judge Dredd is at the top of Comet Pinball's home page and it looks to be utilizing spotlights. I've never used them before but JD might be a good candidate.?

Thanks Mitch. I hope not to disappoint!
Spent about an hour playing Paragon several days ago. I'd say the honeymoon is over but I'm not ready to push it out the door yet!
Not much progress today. Sitting here at the office on my day "off" while I wait for a call back from tech support for the practice computer software. Time that could be better spent removing and polishing ball guides!

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

Are pictures better than words? Usually yes.
A quick reminder of before:
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Then after:
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Personally I think Davi did a fantastic job of adding detail and realism to the crane while preserving the look of the original design. Someone should hire him for this sort of stuff!
I'll try to get more detailed pictures later -- these were taken as proof of concept.

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

A couple days in and Taxi is still playing well.
Being more of a player's condition game I'll probably not attempt a photo shoot to highlight the playfield wear. Instead I tried a couple pics with a new GoPro camera to get a feel for how it (the camera) works. Perhaps one day I can graduate to pinball video. . . but I'll start with pictures first.
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OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

Sprayed first coat of clear today.
I'll give this a day or so to cure before sanding flat again to apply the second coat. So far all the touchups are looking good under the new clear.
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Poor form to clear over the Hologram decal? Probably. I did not think I'd be able to remove it in a way so that it could be reused. . . and it is under the apron.

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

bonus points if you can find the empty spot

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

Those arrow inserts are so dark I had to check and see which was Zone 2 in the photo archives.
You are quite the detective!

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

I've given my situation some thought. I think I've come up with a good compromise for a solution.
After giving the playfield a stare down from many different angles I've decided I like the blue bumper in its current location. If you look up the playfield from the player's perspective I think the blue bumper is a nice contrast to the red flasher lenses that your eye follows up the ramps. A red bumper cap just sort of makes it a long chain of, well, red. The blue bumper also ties well into the blue path under the spinner on the playfield.
In theory I can still get the message on the DMD to correlate -- all I have to do is swap signal wires on the legs of the blue and red bumper lamp sockets. Much easier than swapping out the entire bumper assemblies at this point, a better looking layout to my eye, and one more little custom touch that makes this game "mine."
Thanks again for pointing this out to me!
EDIT: As I'm thinking about this more, all I really have to do is swap the wires at the connector. . . even easier than desoldering/resoldering!

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

If I am thinking correctly I there are two wires to each bumper lamp, to each bumper solenoid, and also each bumper switch. If I wanted to cheat I could simply swap one set of wires -- the ones that light the bumper. I would switch them at the connector where it plugs into the interconnect board (switch places where the blue/red "activation" wires sit on the connector). This way the correct color bumper would be lit when the DMD says it is. The opposite/unlit color bumper would still score the 3000 points if I don't switch the wires on the actuation switch and solenoid though.
In reality I don't know how much of a problem this would really be -- its not like the player can really aim for a specific pop bumper while playing. I'm thinking the scoring is all due to random rattling around in that area anyway.

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

With Earthshaker cleared from the workbench I saw the opportunity to tear into my next project. . . sort of. This will not be a all-in, full "chapter" in my thread -- more like a simple shop job with a couple posts of before and after. The next big project will come after this one!
A number of months back I had the opportunity to pickup a wish list game within a couple hours drive. I only had a couple fuzzy pictures and what the owner knew of the game (not much) to go on, but the price was reasonable so I took a chance and brought home this Stargate.
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The previous owner had kept it in his garage for a number of years but the game booted up and played -- which is more than I can say for some games I've brought home. For the record I had to remove the upper cabinet to fit the game in a Jeep Liberty (my winter pin hauler).
Of course when I bought it home I had to look over some of the fine details. I pulled the glass and while a bit dusty the underside of the playfield did not show obvious signs of damage or corrosion.
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Inspection of the upper playfield found components to be dusty and dirty. The lighting was dim and rubbers were a bit stiff (the upper flipper had nothing on it until I installed a temporary ring). Anubis had lost his ears at some point.
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I replaced the dim GI with natural whites from Comet. I also replaced the insert bulbs with the same. This was a good improvement. . . except that it highlighted more of the dust and dirt.
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I put quite a few plays on the game in this state. . . until I was tired of reading the message in the dust under the pyramid.
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With Earthshaker back in its box I decided to give Stargate a tune up. . . and the workbench soon started to fill back up!

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

For Fun:
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When I was picking colors I had a near exact match for the light blue. I may have taken some liberty in choosing a more bold darker blue, and looking at the cabinet now I can say I really like it. It looks sharp next to the light blue and black.
Looking at the cabinet now I can say taking the time to prep it and re-stencil it was worth it. It may have added a month or two to the project time line, but it will add a good amount of visual appeal to the finished product.
If all goes well I might make tomorrow leg day!

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

under playfield blue is the same as the darker blue on the cabinet. When the playfield is lifted it all comes together

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

Discussions quickly escalated from replacing the board to an overall refurbish of his game.

OP

Quoted from TractorDoc:

I opted for a clear insert to compliment the crystalline waters of Frontier Falls.