Hey All,

long time lurker here, but first time ever posting. My brother and I have finally decided to embark on the project of making our own pinball machine. We have a couple machines that we upkeep and also repair when needed so we are aware that this will be a significant undertaking but since I am a very hands on builder and my brother is extremely tech savvy we figure this would be a great project for both of us. I personally think this build log will be a fun way to keep track of the build, our thoughts, or be a good place to ask for help when we need it (because we WILL need help eventually probably)

We always knew we wanted to make a game eventually but it was never a priority, but when we went to the recent show out in PA we found a donor cabinet and pretty much agreed that instead of buying another machine to take home we would finally start our own. We also pretty quickly agreed on the theme of scooby doo and bought the cabinet.
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So I started the tear down since there was some water damage on the cabinet base.
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My brother said he wants a pretty stout shaker motor in this thing possibly. so. couldn't ignore the old water damaged particle board (or whatever it was). Proceeded to tear out the old material to find that the machine looks like it had grooves to hold it in, like the 4 cabinet panels were built around the base which makes sense but makes replacing the piece kind of hard. while deciding what to do I started the arduous process of getting the old graphics off and fixing up the dents and dings in the cabinet.4 tear down (resized).jpg5 graphic removal (resized).jpg

finally decided that I was just going to cut the bottom lip out and then glue and screw a new base in that was more solid and substantial. so got a sheet of premium plywood and cut out a new base for the machine. At the same time we thought it would be cool if we can different color legs and metal parts on the outside to match the theme, why not right? were going full custom anyways. So we spray painted the parts we bought at the show just to start to figure out what colors would work better.6 new cabinet floor (resized).jpg7 new cabinet floor inside (resized).jpg8 spray painted legs (resized).jpg

After FINALLY getting all the old graphics and adhesive off, i body worked the entire cabinet. tried to make it as clean as i possibly could, basically treated this like a cars panel doing filler primer, body filler, spot filling and my god... the sanding... so much sanding. 9 body filling cabinet (resized).jpg10 final touches (resized).jpg11 full primed and ready for color (resized).jpg

so we were ready for color. or the base color. we had an idea of what we wanted but neither of us are graphic designers so. we were kinda winging it like the rest of this project. first we tried a florescent green which looked horrible, then we tried a blue that we thought might look good but that sucked too,14 blue cabinet (resized).jpg we finally found something that reminded us of the mystery machine Rustolium Vintage Teal. 15 teal cabinet (resized).jpg this was the color difference between the two16 color difference (resized).jpg

so teal worked great for what we wanted. next hurdle would be to make our own backbox since our donor didn't have one. so used more of the same plywood sheet to make our own backbox. i based the design on the measurements from my brothers Adams Family machine 12 homemade backboard. (resized).jpg bought a new lock and took some finagling but i got it work eventually. glued and screwed the backbox all together and then did some body filling then also gave it a coat of paint13 oh yeah, its all coming together (resized).jpg

we also got new buttons and side rails, and then painted the bolt heads orange just to see if it looked cool and we dug it.

so next challenge. Cabinet art. So like I said earlier Graphic design is not really my Forte, but downloaded GIMP and gave it my best shot. we found some art and character designs that we really liked and started going through some designs. My brother thought maybe it should just be a silhouette of the gang running and i wanted to have like a Simpsons pinball party style thing where all the villain's are in the background with the gang in the foreground none of them looked very good or fun ( just too busy). I had the idea to make the cabinet just semi look like the mystery machine. cleaned up all the characters and we agreed we liked this one the best. i even included my little brothers idea of the running silhouette on the front as an accent. 17 side cabinet graphic (resized).jpg 18 front graphic (resized).jpgto everyone we stole the images from online we are sorry... and thank you lol.

next we went to a print shop and got the designs printed out. kind of a nail biter seeing whether or not my measurements were correct but man im so thrilled with how this turned out.my little brother was just holding in the shooter so we could see if we wanted it purple too or if we were going to leave it black 19 front graphic applied (resized).jpg20 side graphic applied (resized).jpg

we didnt do a perfect job of decal application but man. We still love how this is turning out. for now im working on making the graphics for the backbox now and also we sent out all of the metal parts to get actually powder coated. so for now we are in a waiting game until we get those parts back for progress on the cabinet. 21 front close up (resized).jpg22 side close up (resized).jpg

i know there is a LOOOOONG road ahead of us but man, as a start i think this will be fun. 23 a pretty good idea of how this thing is gonna look (resized).jpg

as for the actual game design we have a lot of Ideas, but nothing solidified. that's all still in talks as far as balancing fun with challenging. we have enough plywood left to make a blank table to start prototyping ideas and shots but for now we are gathering ideas and discussing what we want. maybe an upper playfield? maybe some cool Scooby Doo based toys? maybe a bash target? not sure. as far as the story of the game we think it should Obviously be Scooby and the gang unmasking villains. we wanted to do the Scooby Doo Where Are you villains but voice lines with laugh tracks sound dated and its actually a slow delivery. we think the What's New Scooby Doo from the early 2000s is more fun as far as colors, line delivery and music goes at least for the feeling of the game we are trying to go for. plus we can play faster music to accompany game modes.

Thank you for reading! well update once we get parts back from the powder coater and when we have a more solidified table idea.

yeah we thought as much, but I'm not super worried since its glued and screwed to the sides, those center trusses, and the little wedges on the inside of the machine. plus we figured if the manufacturer felt comfortable making it out of that participle board stuff that this plywood would be more than enough. but if we ever do another one, taking the back off to slide a new bottom in would probably be much easier haha.

thanks for the kind words, I hope we can make something fun. only time will tell I suppose!

so we are talking about the backbox graphics while we wait on the powder-coating (2-4 week delivery time). I had an idea about having the cabinet art where Fred is pointing up at the backbox and then villains adorn the side of it. Problem is its hard to find images of the villains from the original show that aren't super grainy or look kind of funky. Since we also aren't basing this on the original show we aren't sure we should even have the original rogues gallery on there. but they are iconic. so decisions decisions. This was attempt number 1 but My brother isn't feeling it, and honestly I'm kind of there with him...but only kind of 24 back box idea (resized).jpg25 back box idea 2 (resized).jpg

The black portion would be the angle of the backbox so you can see what the final graphic would be. again it was a super rough attempt that was slapped together and unfinished like the ghouls wrist but at this point we are thinking of hiring someone to either draw 1 main centerpiece villain, a different one on each side.... or a collage of Villains.
its one of those things where we don't know what we want but we will know it when we see it. it just needs to fit the style of the existing side art. and maybe having Scooby and shaggy on the machine twice is redundant? like pull them off but leave the villains and replace it with a cartoon pinball? or a flower? flower on a pinball? maybe just blank space? a stripe of green? while my brother hires someone to do art he wants I'm going to keep trying to see what I think would look good. it has to fit the limited space we have first and foremost

Thank you all for the kind words! We've been looking at machines we really enjoy and trying to think of ways we can incorporate things we find fun about them paired with new original ideas. Since we are building from the ground up, there's alot of progress. we are pretty sure progress will slow once we get into the nitty gritty of playfield design/prototyping/and programing.

I'll have backbox art updates later but for now I used the remaining plywood to make a playfield that we can start to put flippers on.20210820_212011 (resized).jpg

Just needed a break from staring at a monitor. Its our first stern box so we didn't know what brackets we needed or that we would need playfield sliders. So those are now on order 20210820_212108 (resized).jpg20210820_233610 (resized).jpg

Need to cut the bottom for the clearance for the buttons and the plunger.

Eventually we will probably have inside blade graphics made up. I think a storyline for the game that i personally keep coming back too is the gang are trapped in a mansion and need to unmask "X" amount of villians which would each be a game mode, in order to escape. That might limit us on what villians we could choose though because we would like to play clips from the show on a monitor in the backbox to accompany game modes.

At this point we are just throwing ideas out there to each other and seeing what sticks. And watching alot of Scooby doo episodes haha.

Haha thats awesome. We thought a cool multiball mode could also be "split up and search for clues" maybe well have multiple multi ball modes. We just have a list going for now. I know my brother really wants a to have a randomized under the playfield tunnel to 3 different pop up areas to mimick the door gag when they're running from villains.

KenLayton yup already have a lock in place and im looking for the stern playfield measurements to cut the recesses for the buttons and the ball trough

im not sure those pieces on the side were actually supporting anything, they were also water damaged and falling apart. I didn't do a good job of showing it but they were like a cardboardy material like the base and I could pull it off with my hand20210821_191853 (resized).jpg

Im not honestly sure what they supported but they sit much lower than where the playfield is.

Also love the mystery machine man! Absolutely love it

Back box art update! We are starting to agree on a design. Got rid of laughing shaggy and scooby because it didn't make sense to me to have them on the outside of the cabinet twice and added the mystery machine flower instead. My little brother also really likes the different villains on each side. Little brother also said having "scooby doo" again on the backbox is a little much which yeah i could see it. Don't need "scooby doo" on every panel but not having something on the top feels lacking so I might doo that green accent border that the cabinet has on the bottom.

This is just a super rough draft and the characters are not done. Lots of clean up needed but its for sure a step in the right direction in my opinion.

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Theyre cool characters lol but no I don't think we are going with them. I think we are pulling from "Whats new Scooby Doo" and maybe some of the movies.

These are the basically the final product that we have agreed to. I still need to do some more clean up but that's where the final characters will be sitting and pretty much what they look like. When its ready my print shop normally has a week turnaround time. 26 backbox final right (resized).jpg27 backbox final left (resized).jpg so its pretty much almost done.

We are still just waiting on the powder coating to get done for the outside metal parts as well so I'm pretty sure we've done what we realistically can for the cabinet until we get parts back or more things like the LCD screen or boards inside, or heck even new grounding strips.

The playfield I cut out is 3/4 thick plywood from the leftover cabinet wood and the other playfields we have on our other machines are only 1/2 thick (whoops). Normally I wouldn't care but it looks like some of the mechanical stuff like the playfield scoops or pop bumpers need the playfield to be 1/2thick, so to make life easy that's what I'm going with. gonna go to Home Depot and get a new playfield cut so that I'm not buying a whole sheet again.

last night we discussed Inside game theme as well as how the game modes will work. whether it should be just generically themed Scooby doo or if it should be like a haunted Mansion. we are leaning heavily towards haunted mansion, where sections on the playfield are themed like Library/Graveyard/Study/Basement/Kitchen. we are also trying to incorporate an upper playfield as well into the mix and some cool shots. I think we are agreeing on 3 flippers on the main playfield and maybe 1 on the upper playfield. We just have ALOT of ideas we want to try out so for now What we will do is have this board be the prototype (will probably be very ugly in the end) and when we are really happy with what we have I will make a CAD model so that we can get it all CNC'd out for repeatable and pretty results. but for now ugly and fast is the name of the game. I also have a 3D printer so we can figure out ramp shots or other things like that before we make a vacuum form buck for some nice clear ramps (or maybe translucent purple or green). But for now the Little Brother is now working on buying and getting the flippers and slingshots at the bottom to work before we start doing more playfield prototyping.

I've seen people make CAD programs or virtual pinball versions of their game before they start so they have a clear roadmap ahead, but truth be told I have a hard time playing a virtual game after playing the real one. so. we are probably going to stick with real life prototyping over virtual development.

as for the game types I think it should be something like 9 villains are the game type and you have to complete 1 tasks on the playfield like "hit this target before the timer runs out" or " get over X score" then once all 9 have been completed you play a longer game type based on one of the movies like "Cyber Chase" or "Zombie Island" or somethin. where in order to beat the BIG villain you have to complete 9 tasks as opposed to the previous 1 task per villain. Little brother has some variations of the idea that are also good though. like 3 activities per villain and then a wizard mode. which is also cool and I'm not against.

as a little side note We have 2 machines that the playfields were designed by Pat Lawlor, it was purely by coincidence that the donor RCT cabinet was also a playfield design by him so we thought maybe it would be a cool idea to have his signature rails that lead to the flippers or the drain. 3 on the left 2 on the right, 1 drain each side. not trying to copy him. but maybe a cool homage? could be fun.

anyways that's the journal log for the project at least for today since SOME progress was made. nothing too crazy exciting for now

dropped off the files to the printers today so they will probably be ready by next week. so hopefully the backbox will be looking cool with the villains soon.

so now on playfield stuff.

first thought it we want to have a 1 way orbit going around the outside of the playfield. entrance on the right side leaving the left side, and the left side exits the underneath the first upper playfield.

I had the idea that we could do an upper playfield, but then it hit me that it would be really cool if there were 2 upper playfields. one lower and then one higher so we are prototyping the idea right now (albeit with wood that's too thick for this to be an accurate prototype) but we are just seeing how much the higher player blocks the main playfield. there's probably a good reason we haven't seen the idea implemented on production games but it could be super sweet if we pull it off.

to make life easy we have called the main playfield "playfield 0" second higher one is "Playfield 1" and the highest playfield is "Playfield 2".28 playfield prototype start (resized).jpg The idea is for you to shoot up into playfield 1 and then complete a task in order to get to playfield 2

playfield 2 probably needs to be about 2-3 inches longer to be a mini playfield kind of like the family guy machine29 basic overlay (resized).jpg and we need to figure out what the goal actually is once you are up there something that's fun and rewarding. we also still want to have some playable space under playfield 2. maybe not interactive space though like where active target shots need to be but it could be the space for pop bumpers or something to that effect.

we are seeing if we have the space to mount the flippers underneath the playfield 2 or if we have to mount them under playfield 0 and just run really long poles up to playfield 2. or maybe it just flat out doesn't work and we scrap the idea. but its a cool idea to us and it would be siiiick to try. Its something I haven't really seen

I ordered 2 Stern 500-6543-OT flippers, not sure what the OT stands for, or any of the other abbreviations for that matter

With this current set up a center shot ramp would probably be the easiest shot to make so it, so for the time being the shot to playfield 1 is a center ramp shot. 30 ramp idea (resized).jpg once the ball completes the eventually decided task up there (maybe like a bash door) the door becomes available and then allows you to load the ramp on the backside which would have a solenoid to launch it up to playfield 2.31 playfield 2 feeder ramp idea (resized).jpg

My brother had an idea that I'm warming up to more and more about having playfield 2 just have a self contained ball, so that the playfield 1 shot actually locks the ball under playfield 0 and then playfield 2 plays with a different ball. it might save us some space behind so we might try that idea too and that way playfield 2 could be a reward that's given at any time. I don't know if we have the space for it but I am willing to try it.

lastly we are talking about having a shot that goes to an under the playfield ramp that goes to a diverter that will be randomized and just send it to a trap door pop up like theater of magics trap door. except you don't know which one it may come out of. and we are thinking we can use that system as an incorporated ball lock so like it holds it under the floor and then diverts the balls to the other trap door to either shoot or also lock. the idea would take up a chunk of space under the playfield but we could call it the basement shot and or tie it to the random door gag that the show does.

sorry if any of this was hard to track, we are still in the stage of getting ideas on paper or super super roughed out in IRL with cardboard and foamboard.
we also still need to figure out what we want to do for the middle of playfield 0. there needs to be good shots and fun stuff to do on the entire board. not just the back

Measured the other flipper assemblies and the answer is no. They will not fit under playfield 2. So looks like the super long flipper post option is it. Since its going to be mansion themed I can make some covers that look like old timey haunted house banister posts and then put some grooves on the bottom for some rubber bands so that they can act as a stationary bumper. And take a hit
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Here theres just 2 pieces of vertical plywood to represent where the posts would be. Also i made playfield 2 a tad longer.

I have some more parts on order so we are slowly and surely putting more and more puzzle pieces together. Also the powdercoaters called to say it will be ready "soon". Definitely beats the 3-4 week delivery time they quoted me

Hey all. Been working on getting the cabinet completed while also working on the playfield. But I could use some help with finding the part number or where I can buy this piece 20210828_141825 (resized).jpg

Its the bracket that locks the stern spike 2 speaker/display board and is the lower support for the backglass. Dont know the actual name of it though.

Powder coated parts came back. I don't mean to toot my own horn here but I really love how this came out. the color is Textured Sinbad Purple and Gloss JuJu orange both from prismatic powders. The Shooter plate is also purple, just not on the machine in this pic 32 powder coated parts came back (resized).jpg I'm still waiting on the side graphics which they should hopefully be back this week. also changed out the orange start button for a yellow one to match the side flowers. I added "Jinkies!" just for fun but that will probably change (or at a bare minimum the font will) 33 jinkies (resized).jpg

My little brother is working on sourcing a power supply and computer to control the flippers and all the stuff we would eventually like. once he does that we will start testing playfield shots on our first test board.

while he's working on that, I'm going to continue to work on the back box display. We both agreed we want an LCD screen to play parts from episodes during a ball lock or during gameplay, and then just be the scoreboard too. unfortunately it was an afterthought so our back box is wider than modern Stern boxes so we can either buy their panel and then use 1/2 inch spacers on the sides which we don't think will look too good, or make our own speaker panel and back lock bar that fits our machine. either that or just remake the backbox to fit Stern parts... but where's the fun in that? This is a cool opportunity to do some new manufacturing processes for us with custom designs fit to the machine.

we are still working on playfield design while all of this is going on. The way I see it is the stuff I'm doing right now would need to get done at some point anyways, might as well get the cool stuff done first and then work on the longer term things like design/prototypes and implementation. Should be Fun

Thank you so much! its been a ton of work and time just for the cabinet so that feels great to hear that, its What I was going for.

I've been following your build too and its looking great man, and coming together so fast too.

Small update. We have some parts in, but realized we need way more. So I got enough to get some slingshots put together and a couple other things we know as a bare minimum we would need while prototyping.

My little brother bought an LCD screen, a control unit and a power unit for the screen. All the scoreboard display panel parts and brackets will be coming tomorrow (minus the actual panel) so I can do the basic mock up. Im going to design our panel based off the stern spike 2 display system but make it wider to fit our machine and also put our own custom touches on it.

Still waiting on the side graphics to be done printing. Nothing to do there but just wait.

I have also been working on making a CAD file of the lower part of the playfield so that we can get our first actual white wood CNCd out, just getting the lower playfield done up so we can figure out shots with working flippers 20210831_222948 (resized).jpg

As a not so short side note I was using a template for the playfield off IPDB, just for the cut outs of a "modern stern" machine on the bottom for the ball trough, flipper cuts and drain. But then remembered the idea about using pat Lawlor drain lanes and wanted to see how he actually gets the two lanes on the left and one on the right. 20210831_223018 (resized).jpg turns out he just uses a 16GA piece of metal instead of the 1/2 inch wooden side wall to the left of the shooter lane, then moves the slingshots and flippers over to the right by about 1.25 of an inch or close to that. It adds up to just enough space for 1 more lane.

Most modern machines have the flippers off center favoring left side but Lawlors machined have the flippers centered true to the cabinet. Im probably the only one that finds that interesting but just something cool to point out at least in design work. Always looked at it but never noticed kinda thing.

Anyways thats pretty much today's update.

we were planning on doing something like that, just havent done it yet, but we at least have the plan haha. glad to have you following!

We are still trying to figure that out. We are thinking we are going to go with Fast and run mission pinball? but we aren't sure. Really that's what my little brother is figuring out right now while I work on the hardware and physical stuff.

Mini update, Little brother got the LCD screen up and running and said its good to go. His photo not mine haha. 20210901_141214 (resized).jpg

My other speaker brackets and parts are out for delivery right now so ill have a mock up of the back panel done tonight

Thank you all for the kind words!

So I've been getting the layout pretty much set for the display panel. Still working on it actually but im at a good point to show off the work I've done.

We got the parts in. A screen bracket that the screen will be stuck into, an acrylic screen protector, speaker mounts, hinges, some spacers and a lock.Resized_20210901_164622 (resized).jpg

I measured everything up and started making 3D models of the components to see how it will all fit together. I did this because I need to know where the mounting holes will be in relation to the display panel. Pretty much the components will sit like this on the panel 20210901_193703 (resized).jpg

I had some issues with the stern speaker mounts not fitting the outside edges of the display panel so I wound up cutting about 1/4 inch off of one side. that solved some major spacing issues. 20210901_192913 (resized).jpg

It doesn't look like much because it doesn't have the sides or holes on the display panel for the speakers. Dont worry there will be. 20210901_220533 (resized).jpg20210901_220515 (resized).jpg

All of the small holes in the display panel are just there to locate bolts so I can weld them in place then grind down the front smooth. Then off to powdercoating.

Super long story short, this is basically a stern spike 2 display but different dimensions with different ways of mounting the brackets to the panel, all just to fit our back box which was measured and copied after the Addams family backbox.

Im now looking into places where I can now get my display panel laser cut then bend the side and top tabs. Should be fun! Hard to get design work done though when you have the other machines staring you down20210901_223115 (resized).jpg