So I'm relatively new to the hobby, but almost the moment I was introduced to it, I've wanted to make my own homebrews, and try out some unconventional ideas. I've been working on the playfield design of this table for a long time now, but I'm finally getting around to actually building it. I've never owned a pinball machine, so I know this project is going to be extra difficult, and is going to be full of me learning lots of stuff, making mistakes (I've already made so many), and then trying again, and again, and again. Knowing that, I'm trying to stay on the simple side of things. This one isn't going to really have a lot of unconventional stuff, because it's probably wise to stick to what's normal first. If it goes well, I'm hoping to make several more that are unconventional/weirder, but we'll see how it all shakes out.

This machine is going to be about a bird's fight for survival in an extremely hostile world (the title is still subject to change--it's hard to come up with catchy names). I was originally going to not do any ramps (to try to keep it simple), but I can't do a bird theme without ramps. So... I added 4... which is probably a mistake, but I'm going for it. I'm trying to aim this machine at people who are unfamiliar with pinball, which is basically all my friends, and family. So I'll be trying to make it super easy to understand, a little "classier" looking than the stereotypical pin, and hopefully an easier shooting table. That being said, I also have some ideas for rules that I think will provide enough challenge for more experienced players.

Right now, I have a playfield layout I'm going to stick with (for the most part), all the pieces for a cabinet cut, and ready to be put together, my version 2 prototype playfield cut (I actually got this one CNCed, which was waaay better than cutting it all myself with a router), all the mechs, and hopefully all the boards/power supplies I will need. I've got a long way to go, but I wanted to start posting now. I have a lot of questions, and it seems like this will be a good way to get feedback, and answers that I can understand, and all that good stuff.

Here's my rough photoshop sketch of the playfield, and my CNCed wood n stuff:

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Also, does anyone know if CV is the only pin to have a rising pop bumper? I'm thinking about incorporating one, but if no one is using them I wonder if they are flawed. Like do they break a lot, or maybe they don't stay completely flush with the playfield, and could cause some ball trap areas? I'm also scared about trying to make it myself, so it'd be great if there were some out there.

Yeah, that’s not exactly what I’m looking for, but that is a super cool feature. Looks like a fun one

Gusher looks really cool, and that’s exactly what I’d like it to do. Thanks, I’ll have to look into how it works.

Alright, don’t judge me too hard for this super ghetto cabinet. I messed up the cuts for the joints, and a few others, so I’m basically just embracing the fact that this is going to be super ugly. The tape is hopefully going to provide enough of a seal to pour some epoxy in the gaps at the joints. I’ve never used pour epoxy, so this will be an experiment. If not, more super classy brackets, or something else, will be added I guess. By tomorrow the glue will be cured, and I’ll be able to try the epoxy, and see what happens.

By the way, this is just my test cab, so it doesn’t need to look amazing; it just needs to be able to facilitate some play testing. I’ll actually make the final cab look good.

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Got the epoxy poured, and it worked okay. I’ll need to spend some time getting the edges looking okay. But for now just waiting for it to finish curing.

In the meantime, I got the backbox glued, and clamped up, and a rotisserie built.

I’m also waiting for my high voltage power supply to come in. It’s been like 3 weeks, and it hasn’t shipped yet.

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Gotta do some sanding tonight, and then I’ll start attaching the ball guides, and mechs.

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Can anyone tell me where the playfield support brackets need to be in the cabinet? I’m not sure what the horizontal, and vertical placement should be inside the cab.

I got these ones from Pinball Life:

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Not much progress, but I was at Pinball Expo, so I only had a bit of time today to work on it. I fixed some mistakes, sanded the cab, and got it standing, which took way longer than I was expecting.

Tomorrow I’m glueing in the inserts, and then adding the mechs. I need to order some more metal for the ball guides, turns out I’m a bit short there. And I’m still trying to find out where to attach those playfield slide pivot brackets in the cab. I don’t know what height they’re supposed to be, so if anyone knows, please help me out here.

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Thanks, man! I’m not sure what front hangers I have. I’m pretty sure I just got some from pinball life. I’ll have to check the sizes. This test playfield thing is a great idea, and I’ve got some scrap I can use to make one

Yeah, dude! There’s a guy here doing a Zeppelin one too! I haven’t seen it on Pinside, but he’s been posting on YouTube

Oh nice. He’s going to sell me some wire form brackets, which is going to be really nice. He sent me some league info, and I’m hoping to make it to some this month. I got it cut at Artistic Wholesale Supply in Midvale. It was cheaper than I expected, and it turned out well, as far as I can tell anyway.

I’m an artist, so I really liked that I could export a dxf from an illustrator file, and use that to print. It saves me learning cad just yet. But we’ll see if I have to when it comes to the ramps.

I got to glueing the inserts today. I keep thinking I’ll do a little bit every night, but it has not worked out that way so far. It’s just slow going right now.

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Didn’t get as much done today as I would’ve liked, but got the inserts sanded, and most of the mechs, and all the stand up targets attached. I realized that I need to enlarge the hole for the bumpers; right now they barely don’t fit. The single drop target mechs are uncomfortably close together, so I’ll have to adjust that too.

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Got some posts, n stuff attached.

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So this is an Alien 180 ramp, and I’m not sure if there is a special way to attach it. Like that bottom lip is really intense, so I assume that I need to remove some of the playfield at the base, or attach a ramp plate, but I’m not really sure. I tried to watch videos of Alien being played but I couldn’t quite tell, but it didn’t seem like they had a plate there. I dunno; anybody here know?

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I’m also really mad that I somehow messed the cab up. I attached the lockdown bar, and it spills over each side a TON. So that’s great… don’t really know what to do about that right now.

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Huh, I guess I though the armor would be much thinner, but that would be awesome if it filled that gap. I’ll have to order some and check it out. Thanks!

Nice, thanks. Time to borrow the router, and get this done, and shave off a bit around the bumpers, so they fit.

Been super busy with other projects, but finally making some time to get back on this one. Spent some time prototyping ramps, got the bumper holes routed out, and the bumpers in, and routed a bit of wood out for the alien 180 ramp, and got that in.

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Thanks! I'm nervous for the next steps because I've never done any electrical stuff before, and it seems really intimidating. Lots of reading ahead. But hopefully I'll have it flipping soon, and I can test some ramps out, and move on to more permanent ones.

Does anyone know where the best place to find a support community/forum, slack, or something for P3 board installation? I’ve never done wiring before, and I feel like I need some help figuring it out so I don’t completely destroy these boards.

In other news, I did some minor cab adjustments, got the side armor on, the slider rails installed, the backbox secured, and I installed some stuff on the playfield so it’s actually ready to be put inside the cab, and wired up for testing.

It’s slow going, but I’m moving forward bit by bit when work isn’t totally dominating my time.

Thanks! I just used Illustrator, and saved out a dxf file, and the wood shop took care of everything else. I was already very familiar with Illustrator, so it was the easiest option for me.

Very slowly moving forward. Having never owned a pin myself, I’m learning a lot along the way. I did a ton of small things to the cabinet, and got the playfield in. Even though it still needs wired up, it felt like a nice accomplishment. Got the orbit done, but some of the rivets need redone because the ball hits them. I also got an on/off switch, a fuse, a fuse holder, a box to hold them, and a power inlet attached. I also put in the start button, and the shooter rod, but unfortunately my shooter rod is about 4” too short, and about 1/2” off, so I’ll have to adjust the playfield so that is oriented correctly.

I also realized my apron doesn’t fit with this lockdown bar attachment bracket, and my lockdown bar doesn’t attach now that the armor is on. I’ll have to figure out some solutions for that.

Anyway, some slight progress.

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Thanks! I'm really looking forward to that point, and it can't come soon enough. I'm using the P3-Roc.

Got a rough prototype done for the ramps, and did some minor touch ups around the cab to get it ready to be wired up. The goal is to have it flipping next weekend.

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