(Topic ID: 284540)

Questions about "Captain Fantastic"

By Waldron1943

3 years ago



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#1 3 years ago

I have a "Captain Fantastic" machine (four-player, 1976) that's been stored out in the garage for about 5 1/2 years, so it needs some work. I'm in the process of sizing up the job ahead and I have a few questions...I'm sure I'll think of more. Any thoughts/ideas, sources, advise, abuse or tips will be appreciated.

Image 1: There are 4 of these posts around the top of the playfield supporting the plastic panel. They definitely look wrong; they're 1 inch cylindrical posts with screw heads under the panel. I'm thinking these are supposed to be the 1 1/4 inch fluted posts; is that correct? Were they originally white?
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Image 2: This is the only post on the whole machine that's red; is that correct/original?
Yep...needs cleaning & new rubberYep...needs cleaning & new rubber
Image 3: These (2) targets are red; is that correct?
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Image 4: I know I'm best off replacing these clear plastic panels, but since I don't own a money factory they're far down the list. Is there a good way to clean these up?
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Can I get some help identifying this switch?
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These guides are obviously not a set; what are the originals supposed to look like?
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I know the slotted openings in the plastic panels near the outlanes are "difficulty" adjustments but what are the slots on this panel for?
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Yeah, the pic is kind of useless but...all the lights under the pinball machine flash except the one under the "A" in "Bally"...is it supposed to flash too?
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How'd Adolf get in there?
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#2 3 years ago

Looks like that red post is correct, as are the white ball guides.

https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=438&picno=16855

#3 3 years ago

Pinball trivia.... That machine was designed by Greg Kmiec. He liked to put one red post on his machines - as he says:

"We could not even put our names on the playfields we designed; of course, Dave Christensen later changed all of that. Prior to that though, I decided to put a single red post somewhere amongst all of the white playfield posts on every game I designed. It was sort of my signature, and I carried that symbol out on every game I designed throughout my career."

#4 3 years ago
Quoted from seeburg220:

Looks like that red post is correct, as are the white ball guides.
https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=438&picno=16855

Sorry; it's a crappy picture. The left one has a Bally logo, the middle two have a "vertical dash" and the right one has a cross molded into them. I was wondering which style was original. And thank you for the trivia, now I have a story to go with the red post. Oh, and another question: I see that the 1 3/16 inch fluted posts are common, but I measure the ones on this machine at 1 1/4 inches...is that the correct height, or am I measuring incorrectly and am actually looking at the 1 3/16 inch posts?

#5 3 years ago

Bally are the correct guides....

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#6 3 years ago

The posts in the back that support the plastics are also correct.

#7 3 years ago

The flat plastics covering the rubber ring areas are known as light shields. Obviously, you need to remove them to clean them properly. For me, the best way to clean plastics is with toothpaste. Get the plastic wet using tepid water (not too hot) from the faucet, dab on a bit of toothpaste, and use your fingers to rub the toothpaste over the surface of the plastic, which will remove all of the soot and grime. This works best if the plastic is wet enough to thin down the toothpaste as you work it over the plastic. This technique works on the printed side of the light shield as well. As long as you only use your fingers to work the toothpaste mixture, and the artwork is not already damaged (see below), you will not remove or harm the artwork. Repeat the process until all the grime and soot are removed, then rinse the plastic and dry it off.

Side note: You can clean virtually all of your playfield plastics with toothpaste, even those with artwork, without harming the printing. The only exceptions are the parts with hot-stamped printing, such as the point score legend stamped onto the center of bumper caps. You need to be very careful cleaning around that type of printing. I generally don't use any cleaning agents at all on hot-stamped printing. If I do decide to clean that area at all, I will only wipe very gently with a dry cloth.

Another important note on cleaning printed plastics: If the printing is already damaged (flaking or lifting off) then ANY type of cleaning will remove the printing. So you'll want to check the condition of your printing before cleaning. If it looks like the artwork has detached from the surface of the plastic and is flaking off, then to preserve the artwork, do not clean it.

The broken switch is a standard slingshot stand-up switch, with large contact points.

The white lane guides with the Bally art on them are very hard to find these days, which is why you often see them replaced with plain lane guides. The only place I know to get guides with the original art is to take them off of a salvage playfield.

Most of the time, you can tell if a #455 blinker lamp was supposed to be installed in a socket in the head because there will either be a concave dish-style counter-sink around the socket to accomodate the round glass bulb, or the top part of the socket will be sticking out of its mounting hole so that the round part of the glass bulb is above the panel face. If a socket is mounted below the face of the panel, and the panel around the socket is not dished out, then it's very likely that the factory did not intend for a #455 blinker lamp to be installed in that position.

- TimMe

#8 3 years ago

To clean the yellowed clear plastics, read this thread. Two methods explained here. 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and Clorox 2.
The peroxide and sunlight method worked very well for me. This is not meant for the top plastics with the designs on them.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/say-goodbye-to-old-yellowed-plastics

#9 3 years ago
Quoted from EJS:

Bally are the correct guides....

Thank you!

Quoted from EJS:

The posts in the back that support the plastics are also correct.

How odd, but I'm glad to hear it.

Quoted from TimMe:

The flat plastics covering the rubber ring areas are known as light shields. Obviously, you need to remove them to clean them properly. For me, the best way to clean plastics is with toothpaste. Get the plastic wet using tepid water (not too hot) from the faucet, dab on a bit of toothpaste, and use your fingers to rub the toothpaste over the surface of the plastic, which will remove all of the soot and grime. This works best if the plastic is wet enough to thin down the toothpaste as you work it over the plastic. This technique works on the printed side of the light shield as well. As long as you only use your fingers to work the toothpaste mixture, and the artwork is not already damaged (see below), you will not remove or harm the artwork. Repeat the process until all the grime and soot are removed, then rinse the plastic and dry it off.
Side note: You can clean virtually all of your playfield plastics with toothpaste, even those with artwork, without harming the printing. The only exceptions are the parts with hot-stamped printing, such as the point score legend stamped onto the center of bumper caps. You need to be very careful cleaning around that type of printing. I generally don't use any cleaning agents at all on hot-stamped printing. If I do decide to clean that area at all, I will only wipe very gently with a dry cloth.
Another important note on cleaning printed plastics: If the printing is already damaged (flaking or lifting off) then ANY type of cleaning will remove the printing. So you'll want to check the condition of your printing before cleaning. If it looks like the artwork has detached from the surface of the plastic and is flaking off, then to preserve the artwork, do not clean it.
The broken switch is a standard slingshot stand-up switch, with large contact points.
The white lane guides with the Bally art on them are very hard to find these days, which is why you often see them replaced with plain lane guides. The only place I know to get guides with the original art is to take them off of a salvage playfield.
Most of the time, you can tell if a #455 blinker lamp was supposed to be installed in a socket in the head because there will either be a concave dish-style counter-sink around the socket to accomodate the round glass bulb, or the top part of the socket will be sticking out of its mounting hole so that the round part of the glass bulb is above the panel face. If a socket is mounted below the face of the panel, and the panel around the socket is not dished out, then it's very likely that the factory did not intend for a #455 blinker lamp to be installed in that position.
- TimMe

Wow, thanks for taking the time to respond. Lots of good information.

Quoted from Mikala:

To clean the yellowed clear plastics, read this thread. Two methods explained here. 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and Clorox 2.
The peroxide and sunlight method worked very well for me. This is not meant for the top plastics with the designs on them.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/say-goodbye-to-old-yellowed-plastics

I'm going to try that, thanks.

Well, overall it looks like a semi-monumental job. Like any large project it's a matter of breaking it into many smaller projects. Thanks to everyone for your help, and (sorry to say) I'm sure I'll have more questions. May you all score highly and often (hehe)!

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