I have no skin in this game but I'm guessing the post in the girl's eye was due to the presence of the three #44 bulbs right around it, and Williams likely figured the heat of the bulbs would cause the plastic to warm and buckle, the post & nut instead keeping it where it was supposed to be.

Jumping in here. I think the default set will be not to have the eye hole as located or repositioned. An owner can always drill one if they desire as the post just isn't necessary. This way also omits the need to drill a new hole in the playfield.

Since all sets will be produced the same (just too much of a pain to do one off hole positions for people), if there is a 100% consensus among buyers that a second hole must be there and everyone can agree on where it goes, then I would certainly be open to doing it that way.

That's a valid assumption. The extruded acrylic I use will not warp nor yellow from the heat of the bulbs if you stay with incandescent and certainly not from LEDs.

Not sure if it has been stated yet, but I'm targeting $250 per set including US shipping. While I don't want to discourage anyone from buying extras, for those of you who are thinking of buying an extra set just for a backup, it's not necessary. My plastics are more durable than the originals, won't yellow, and won't warp. However, if you have multiple Solar Fire pins and/or plan on restoring ones in the future, then by all means buy as many sets as you want.

Just to layout how things will work from this point forward:
1 - Currently in testing phase with shapes, hole locations, etc. Everything is being made to properly fit the reference pin. Each individual may have the need to slightly offset a hole, etc. based on tolerances of their specific game.
2 - Once the shapes are locked in then the art process will begin. All art will be 100% digitally redone by hand. We are not using the actual scans. Because of this along with modern print processes and materials, there will be some minor variations in the appearance, color, etc. but we will remain true to the original as best we can with some exceptions (primarily we will have contiguous border patterns around perimeter of all plastics).
3 - Once art is completed we will share previews with the group.
4 - At this time a final price will be set, payment instructions will be provided (PayPal Friends & Family or Check will be the only 2 options - of course cash if you happen to be local) and a deadline for payment will be set within a short window.
5 - Once payments are closed and the number of sets are finalized, then I will order materials. My estimate would be that all sets would be completed and shipped from 4-6 weeks from time we close orders. This allows a couple of weeks for materials shipping and a week or two for production. All sets will be shipped via USPS with tracking.

Doing a project like this is a major investment of time and effort on my part, and I know that those of you who have never bought plastics from me before may have questions before you are comfortable with ordering a set. By all means, you may post in this thread and/or PM me with your questions. Pinball and making mods is my hobby in addition to my full-time job, but I try to accommodate everyone and communicate as best I can.

Mr_T messaged me this AM with the very same idea. I'm going to go lay it out and rescan it now so Mr_T can retrace it.

Unfortunately, this is not going to work due to the required cutout in the plastic for the gate swing. Just puts the hole too close to the edge.

Here is a top down look at the plastic and the gate swing.

Top down look at plastic, swing gate and post (resized).png

I would say just leave the eye hole out completely, and don't move it, no need to create any more holes in the playfield.

I don't think I would particularly need an apron decal, but I would probably take one just in case.

Also, if there is room leftover on the sheets when cutting them out, a keychain would be pretty rad to have.

splickety_lit We agree on the holes, will look into a keychain. I have a solid idea there.

I'm in for apron decals. Probably 2 sets

Willie68 I would be in for 2 plastic sets and apron decal.

Thanx Drew

Put me down for 2 plastic sets an 2 apron decals

I need one set, please.

Solar Fire owners, this project is really ballooning. Therefore, we are going to take most of the progress & details offline. If you are interested in any of the pieces we are considering (plastic set w/ keychain, apron art w/ shooter cover, and custom apron cards) then please PM Willie68 or me and include your email address. Moving forward, we will communicate directly with each person if/when there are specific details that need to be addressed.

If you are interested and have not yet been added to the list, then please PM Willie68 regarding your interests. It will still probably be a couple of weeks before we are ready to announce when we will be closing orders and requiring payment. We are making good progress on everything, but regenerating the artwork involved in this project is extremely time consuming.

My apron card concept. Will probably use same background for instructions, but I'll have to see what I can come up with.

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I assume most all games are in home environments on free play, so should I have "Special Awards Extra Ball" on the instruction card or "Special Awards 1 Credit"?

I always go with either Extra Ball or a score bonus for Specials on my machines, depending on how drain-monster the game is.

There is also the option to leave that line off the instruction card to make it more universal.

An option with some of the 80's hair salon space ladies on it would be cool. Or one of the faces from the side of the cabinet.

For the Special/Credit in text on the card, I would leave it off altogether unless there will be multiple versions.

Yeah that was my thought as well. 80's space ladies. I have an image in my head, have to see if I can flesh it out. Didn't want to just copy paste if possible since it gets redundant.

Just some quick AI's for ideas. Obviously any of this would need to be blended with the art style on Solar Fire.

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I seriously do love the space ladies/bird creatures art on this machine a WHOLE LOT.
It’s one of the things that has attracted me to working on this project from the start!

I’ve been considering making a hoodie or tshirt using the cabinet stencil art. This machine is just so *of its time.* I love it.

Agreed, does anyone here know why the game was limited to 750 or canceled? My only guess is that it's blatant use of Battle Star Galactica Cylon Raiders might have landed Williams in some licensing hell. Perhaps they moved forward with the art expecting to get licenses, but never did? Then there's clearly a Death Star albeit with legs coming out of it. It's brilliant. And you have to see the center piece plastic without the hole going through her eye. She's striking.

Who knows the lore of this game?

I think it just came out at a time when Williams, and pinball in general, wasn't doing as well. It's a funky game, with funky art, and frankly the playfield isn't the most attractive thing ever. We can look at it now and see how unique and interesting it is, but my opinion is it just didn't really fit in at the time.

The early 80s were a booming time for video games. Pac-Man, Missile Command, Frogger, Ms Pac-Man, Defender, Donkey Kong. Those were getting more quarters in arcades than pinball machines at the time.

if someone is looking for a solar fire with very presentable playfields. I'll be listing one soon. plays 100% playfields are above average condition. But will need one of these plastic sets being made.

Greetings fellow Solar Fire citizens. I have reached out to Chris at Pinball Replacement Parts about the possibility of creating replacement lamp boards. If you are unfamiliar with his awesome products check them out here (https://pinballreplacementparts.com/). Chris said he's up to the task, but obviously he has concerns on interest. Availability time is about 6 weeks. I'm down for a set, is anyone else interested? Below is a quick concept idea I threw together. Again this is just a concept, not to scale, doesn't reflect final product blah blah blah. If nobody has ever used these I'm telling you they are a game changer. I recently used a set on our Stern Meteor and it really simplified and cleaned things up. Chris (HEP) also used them on his Bally KISS builds as well as many other builds on this YouTube channel. Give Chris a shout if you are interested and let us know here also so we can gauge go/no go prospects.

Thanks
Solar Fire Playfield Underside w Light Board Concepts (resized).png

Yes on all of the above, but the time line is more like 6 weeks to make new designs. I have easy access to a solar fire, which makes the job MUCH easier. Why not, Williams early SS is my first love. Would I own the awesome foursome? In a heartbeat. I have the easiest two to get.

Chris thank you for the corrections, I went ahead and corrected my original post to avoid confusion. Six weeks! All the better!!! Again I'm in. CaptainNeo said he has a Solar Fire with nice playfields for sale minus plastics should you or someone want to grab it up. Plastics are something that's being worked on. Honk at me if there's interest in that.

I had been thinking to use the Roy G Bev “Yoppsicles” that work with WMS, but could be convinced if this options will be people’s preference and if having a couple more sets in the queue was a tipping point.

Also, what are the awesome foursome? Black Knight, Firepower….?

Black knight, Solar fire, Pharaoh and Jungle Lord

I'm certainly willing to go a different direction on the apron cards if that's the consensus. I think working the style and coloring of the playfield into the cards with 80's sci-fi ladies is a good idea.

Ah, of course. I’m a huge fan of Pharoah, been itching to restore one of those!

What image generator and what prompts did you use for these? I'm not getting anywhere with Adobe Firefly, it refuses to generate guns, and about 1 in 10 is a Caucasian woman even thought I specifically prompt for it. The vast majority based on the prompts I've entered look like Japanese anime.

Can you feed AI the actual artwork?
I’m guessing it isn’t able to be that creative to riff off existing art in a specific way?

On some you can, but again having issues with Adobe Firefly actually creating the art in the same style.

I'm using MidJourney

Prompts are variations of: "1980's female dark cyber punk space ranger with laser pistol at the ready in the style of a color graphic novel only using colors black, blue, green, red, tan, and white plus half-tones and gradients"

Also: "A full body silhouette of a 1980's female cyber punk space ranger with a laser pistol at the ready in the style of a graphic novel"

On the latter the thought was a couple silhouettes of opposing figures on each of the cards.