Quoted from Deaconblooze:Man, that's glorious. Well done.
I always limit myself to fixes and good shop jobs. I just don't think I'd have the patience to finish something like that out. And I hate prep/paint. But I am tempted after seeing something like this.
It’s a lot of work.
The advice I always give (when asked ..) … even though on this Stars I didn’t actually do this myself, because it didn’t work and was totally f**ked … but generally …
1/ make sure the game works 100% before pulling it down. Then you KNOW it worked before when it doesn’t later. 
2/ do the PF first. Get that in there. Get it working 100%. So easy to take them in and out on these games.
3/ Only do one project at a time! (he says as he just did 4 at the same time lol!) Ideally - try and get a weekend spare and smash out the whole playfield swap job over the weekend. Take 20+ pics of each side because you will forget what post goes where. I guarantee it. I split the playfield into sections and take photos of everything. Both sides. Takes a few minutes - can save hours.
4/ if you’re going to all the effort to restore a cabinet, do it properly. Half the ones I see are sorta half ass. May as well not do it if you’re going to go half ass. Screw the cabinet joints together. Fill the holes. Make it as smooth as possible. I’ll post a pic below of what this thing looked like during the process. It took a whole weeks work to get the cabinet smooth. A combination of Sterns shitty plywood and 3 different layers of paint (with some melted promo stickers in the middle of the paint layers) made it a nightmare.
5/ if you’re spraying the stencils - spray light. If you put on too much paint you get that thick edge and it looks like ass.
6/ don’t let the stencils sit around too long. 3 mths max I reckon. I’ve had a lot of problems lately with stencils going super adhesive after sitting around. I’ve got a Lost World here I just did thats had a lot of the first paint layer pull up with the stickers (they’re over a year old) Always use the stencils ASAP when you get them.
7/ personally I don’t like Rustoleum spray paint. Doesn’t spray well. Maybe try Molotow. We have a local brand that I use.
8/ I used to spray the cabinets in 2k myself - I now get a car painter to do it … only costs me $100 more than I can buy the materials for. And he does it better, in his spray booth. I do the stencils myself with spray cans. The cabinets cost me around $225-250 USD to have sprayed (all up, including paint) - I do all the prep work before taking them down there.
Hmmmm think that’s about it.
Oh …
9/ child labour is free. Use it wherever possible.
rd
6B6BD6C8-02A2-4413-87E7-775653BF52BE (resized).jpeg211D0C70-B47C-400D-80E3-B4DDB9126A58 (resized).jpeg3257A895-9994-41E9-8AF4-D87D9AE1469B (resized).jpegA52D8271-2EF8-47EB-B58D-9AE3CAD84A16 (resized).jpeg
St. Louis, MO
