I have been approached recently to do a restoration on a Solar Fire that is in really bad shape. After looking through these posts, it appears there are several owners that could use a better playfield but it's unlikely CPR or others are going to reproduce them. To restore a playfield of this complexity requires a lot of time but if I can do several at once (at least 3), it can be cheaper per playfield. I'm adding this post to gauge interest. How many Solar Fire owners would be interested in a playfield restoration and clearcoat? Depending on the condition of your playfield, cost would be in the $800 to $1,500 range. Please post here or PM me if interested.

Thanks,
Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields

I have received a few replies about this project and I think we can probably make it happen. We will only need good 'core' playfields - ones that have solid wood that has not been water damaged or separating too badly. We can reinstall or replace inserts and the existing paint does not matter. They just need to have a decent wood substrate. If you have a candidate and are interested, please contact me!

For the most part, we will be sanding and repainting the entire surface. If a playfield has decent existing art, we may use our normal processes to restore that playfield or section. We do not use decals, overlays or water transfers to restore anything. We do not use computer printers either. Just old fashioned spray guns, screens and paint.

Playfield reproduction companies have been taking some heat lately due to their diminishing quality. I believe their quality slipped when they started using computers to print this art. I regularly apply decent clear coating on their products and can attest to the poor color and coverage on their computer printed playfields. We took over from HSA and learned how to restore playfields with real paint, just like the OEM manufacturers used. I'm hoping we can get this project underway and see if we can scale the restoration process up to save some games with painted art as it was originally intended.

Thanks for your interest,
Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields

Bob,
We will be screening the half tones. The finished product will look just like the originals, only with our clearcoat as well. They will never wear again.

So here is the plan. We will be taking playfields for this project in September. Some people have mentioned having more than 1 set. Plan to have your playfield(s) ready to ship to me the first week of September.

Email me at [email protected] with your name and how many playfield sets you will be sending in September. I have several of you on a list with Pinside handles but I'd like a more definitive list of prospects. If you want your playfield done but haven't contacted me yet, do it now. No deposit is necessary. We can do as many playfields as people can send.

This will cost $900 to $1,000 per playfield set plus return shipping. The only thing that changes the price is how much insert and wood repair is required for your playfield. Paint wear is irrelevant. You will get your playfield back. It will have all new art and our polished clear coat finish.

We have never done a project like this before so I'm not sure what the timeframe will look like. We intend to have them done before Christmas, if all goes well. No promises though. I will probably document it on this thread as we proceed.

This is not something we can do now and easily do more later. The process requires several playfields to do economically and if this works we will move on to another title next. If you want an economical Solar Fire restoration, now is the time.

Thanks!
Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields

September has arrived and if you want to get in on the Solar Fire playfield restoration project with us, now is the time. Please send your fully stripped playfield sets (remove all the wiring, light sockets, tee-nuts, etc.) as soon as possible. I've got 3 sets here now and several more on the way. We can handle as many as people are willing to send. This will likely be a one-time chance, we don't plan to keep the screens once they are done. Cost will be $900 to $1,000 per set, depending on what insert problems your playfield has. The ones I have so far don't need much insert work. You will receive your playfield back when finished. I'm reluctant to post my address on a public forum so message me, email me or check our website for shipping information.

On a separate note, I need some information on the plastics issues so we can color match what is out there. We will only be using one set of colors for this project and need to match them up. I suspect the original or NOS plastics may, as often is the case, be faded. I understand CPR is remaking these plastics? If so, I can contact Kevin and match his colors. I'll probably need a few original plastics along with any reproductions to compare to the original playfield art colors.

Since this is our first go at a project like this, we are building the tools and jigs to facilitate the work. I'll be documenting much of the process on Pinside but be patient. If it goes well, we plan to do 1-2 larger scale restorations like this per year. It seems there are several titles that need playfields but are not big enough volumes for playfield manufacturers to reproduce them. In any case, we are excited to be doing this.

Thanks,
Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields
[email protected]

So, as of October 9 we have 10 playfield sets in house to restore. That's a great number for us but if there are any others out there, get in touch with me now.

We are trying to get some other playfields finished up but have started building extra racks for these and planning the art reproduction. Will be getting them cleaned up, sanded and replacing necessary inserts soon.

A little side note, they were not produced in a consistent fashion! I suspect it's rare for anyone these days to get more than a couple OEM playfields all in hand at once. As we were discussing how to build a tool to hold the playfields as they are screened, I discovered the multitude of holes and art vary in placement by as much as 3/16 of an inch.

In summary,
The playfield blanks are consistent in external dimensions.
The holes through the playfields are consistent in spacing from each other. Not all are the same shape though. A few are round, other playfields may have some that are somewhat oblong. Not worn oblong but cut oblong. Slingshot kicker holes, for example.
The "collection" of holes and corresponding art, in comparison to the blanks edges, can vary up to 3/16 side to side or top to bottom.
The art is centered on the holes, not the edges.

I suspect this is due to different manufacturers making the same playfield titles but not sure. In any case, we caught it early and getting the art to line up properly will not be an issue. It may explain why some games play a little differently than others though!

It will take us several weeks to get these all fully prepped, develop the art and build what we need to screen the art. I'll post more information and some pictures before we start screening.

Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields
[email protected]

Just a quick update for those that are curious. We have been trying to catch up on other playfield work but the Solar Fire project is coming along. George, my artist, is making good progress on getting the files assembled to make screens. The playfields are sanded and getting new inserts where necessary, should receive their initial clear coat by the end of the month. I expect we will start the screening process sometime in January. This is kind of like painting a car; the preparation work takes most of the time, actually applying the paint is quick. I will have some photos to post at that point.

So I've been contacted by a couple Solar Fire playfield owners and an update from me is overdue. I'd been holding out with hope to post a few photos and I'll get to that soon. As usual, things are running behind schedule. I have 16 Solar Fire playfield sets now, including one of my own. Won't be taking any more but may start a list for a second run in the future if demand warrants it.

I currently have all the playfields, save 2 sets, prepped and cleared with an initial coat. Part of the delay has involved inserts - I've replaced over 300 of them in these 16 playfield sets. There are 44 inserts in the main playfield and 12 in the upper, 56 per game. So from a total of 896 inserts, I replaced about a third. I knew they would need some but didn't anticipate that many! In any case, they are looking like pretty good blanks now.

The art package is digitized and we've printed the color layers on paper. Working on getting the sizing and alignment right, which is typically more trouble than we expected. I envy the people that originally made this type of stuff - I think it would be easier to just draw from scratch than it is to use Photoshop and Illustrator to model photos of old, worn out playfields. The original playfields were also far from perfect so we're trying to fix a few of the legacy issues.

The plan is to start screening white on the uppers next week. Depending on how that goes, we will add another color or two and then another layer of clear. We often add layers of clear between colors to protect the work we've done in case the next layer has problems. These playfields have 8 color layers and I expect they will be cleared 5 times, with the top color layer (black) being covered with 2 clear layers.

Once we have all 8 color layers created to our satisfaction and acetate negatives printed, I'll sand off the remaining 2 playfield sets and get all the screening done. I've given up on time estimates because we are absolutely overwhelmed with work and I'm deferring new projects until at least mid summer. This project is a new venture for us and I intend on getting it done correctly. I'm taking the Nintendo approach; we will do the best we can and release the product when it is ready. That being said, once we get the art correct it will move right along. I plan to post some photos when we get the initial layers on and clear them a second time.

Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields

We have started screening both the upper and lower playfields and I thought some photos with this update might prove interesting. As you look through them, keep in mind the screening process is essentially a bunch of layers that don't always appear logical when compared to the finished product.
This is also the first time we have attempted to screen full playfields. There are flaws that will be corrected as we go and color layers alter the color that screens above them. Many of the inks are semi-transparent for that purpose.
IMG_9513 (resized).JPGOriginal lower playfieldIMG_9520 (resized).JPGAll paint removed, many inserts replaced but no clear coat yet. You can tell which inserts were replaced by the color of the wood around them.IMG_9592 (resized).jpgBare wood has been clear coated and sanded, Base white applied.IMG_9530 (resized).JPGOver 300 cracked and damaged inserts replaced!IMG_9526 (resized).JPGOriginal upper playfieldIMG_9585 (resized).JPGUpper with paint removed and initial clear coat applied.IMG_9586 (resized).JPGUpper with base white applied.IMG_9587 (resized).JPGUpper with white and yellow applied. The yellow blobs will become lettering when the black is layed down. Black will be the last color layer and they will really change then. Some yellow lays under red to alter the red, other yellow streaks are part of flames.IMG_9595 (resized).JPGUpper with gray and green added, also another layer of clear to lock these layers in place. Clear will be sanded before applying the next 3 color layers. There are a total of 8 different colors on these playfields.
The green is largely a base layer under blue stippling that will appear aqua with the finished product. There are also green stripes on the spaceship wings. For some reason, the actual gray is not so dark and the green is much brighter than shown in this photo! Poor lighting and a cheap iPhone camera? I'm certainly not a photographer.
We had problems with insert alignment on the green layer; they will be corrected by hand before the next layer of clear is added. Doing these in small batches allows us to utilize some of our normal restoration techniques on these playfields as well.

I meant to add a few photos of the actual screens as well but forgot to take photos of them. Will try to add some next time.
We will be screening the initial 3 colors (yellow, gray and green) onto the lower playfields next, followed by 3 more colors (red, blue and violet) on the uppers after they are sanded and the final 2 uppers are worked on to get them even with the rest. (We held 2 playfield sets back to use as patterns for the art.) Black will be last, screened onto a clear layer of its own.
At that point we will assess and repair what we find on each playfield, then add 2 more layers of clear to finish them off. We have all the art and color layers sorted and in computer files. The remainder of the work is just getting it onto screens, then onto the playfields between clear layers, finish clearing the top surface, final sand and buffing.

I get an occasional request just to check on the progress and that's fine. If any of you have questions about the process, colors or any of the technical stuff, please do that through this forum so everybody can get the same information.
As for a timeline, all I will say is we are doing this in addition to our normal workload, it's our first time and even though screen printing has been around for decades, it's not the easiest thing to do. I think most of the difficult work is behind us but that can be a dangerous thing to say! More than anything, we are trying to put out a product that will make all of you happy when you do receive them back.

Thanks,
Tim Crowley

I haven't seen any manufacturer markings and the Solar Fire production run was small so perhaps only one vendor was used. The insert placement varies up to 1/8 inch, which is a problem aligning screens. Most are acceptable but there are a few errant ones. There is a big difference between 1981 playfields and those made today!

Color matching in playfield restoration is always a moving target and in a case like this, there is no perfect solution. We try to find examples of original colors under star posts, obscure corners and any other areas that we can find. In this case, there wasn’t much. We also look at a lot in internet images but cameras and computers do alter colors to some degree.
I did have an opportunity to view and photograph in person a beautiful Solar Fire playfield set that had been restored by Bill Davis. I can tell you Solar Fire was much more vibrant when new and the pigments did not hold up well over the years. Both the original plastics and playfields have drastically faded.

The green we used did darken considerably after I cleared it, which is not unusual. It is presented unadulterated in small stripes on some spaceship wings but everywhere else in conjunction with blue halftones. Using 2 colors in close proximity changes how your eyes perceive them.
Looking at the uppers in person, the wingtip stripes look spot on but the bigger scoring blocks look a bit dark. Same color, different area. We have done a trial screen of the full upper to get a look at some of these issues and I’ve added that to this post. Parts of it look great, other areas are terrible. That’s why we do testing.
On this test screen, the red looks pretty good, the purple is great, the blue is close but not there yet and we’re still not sure about the green because the blue half tones were such a mess that no aqua color comparison can be made. The red half tones are equally bad. We are changing the dot size in the half tones, altering the blue, fixing a bunch of alignment issues in the black and will do another test then. Doing this work on the upper will translate directly to the lower and it should go faster. It’s been kind of nice to have these smaller uppers to play with.

Looking forward to what I expect the final product to be, it will be a huge improvement over the playfield you sent but it will not be perfect. No playfield is. The colors will be the best match we can make but will be a compromise because we don’t have access to the original color codes or the enamel and lacquer products used back in 1981. That’s another issue; water based pigments have taken over and they don’t compare well to oil based paints.

Getting replacement plastics will be helpful because the original yellow has faded to tan and none of the blues or reds will match. Old plastics won’t be terrible but not great either. If someone chooses to make new Solar Fire plastics, we can provide Pantone codes to match what we’ve done. I have not been able to get a response from CPR about this project but would be happy to work with them.

This was probably not the best playfield to for us to start full screening with because Solar Fire art was a complex pattern to screen, even for the OEM suppliers of the day. We are getting there though and appreciate everyone’s input going forward. It’s all part of the pinball journey we are on.

Thanks,
Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields

6A77E1D3-BA63-40C2-AE57-DEF0F06407CB (resized).jpeg

Incidentally, the black screen we used in the above photo was a fairly early image and will be vastly improved by the time we screen them all, so don’t panic about that.

Work is progressing and I intend to post several photos soon. This post is a small update and some discussion about the screen-printing process and some things we have encountered along the way. I hope it helps and isn't too boring.

Update
With luck, the lowers will receive red, blue and purple Friday then get cleared and be ready for black. The image for the black lower is still being refined but is coming along.
We have all the color on the uppers except black and finally have an image for black that should work well. We plan to do black on the uppers by the end of the weekend and at that point the uppers will be done except for final layers of clearcoat.
I'd offer a few pictures now, but these things look far less than perfect until they get the black and it's going to be easier on everyone to see a progression of photos that show an end product.

How this works
Back in the day, playfield art was created by hand and images were done with drawings or simple photography methods. Each color layer had its own layout which was transferred to a black negative on acetate. That negative was used to transfer the image, via light-sensitive emulsion, onto a screen for printing. So, each color had its own screen, and they would stack up to create the entire image.

We still use part of that process today, the difference being images are fabricated in a computer and the acetate negative is printed with a wide format printer. To reproduce art, we use programs like Photoshop and Illustrator.
Photos of an original playfield are taken and entered into the programs, then each color layer is separated to create a layer (file) for that color. The layers are again stacked to provide the full image. This all sounds easy enough, and it is when you have pristine photos with obvious color separation like black and red. It becomes more complicated when you have images that are not complete (worn playfields) and colors that are so similar that the computer cannot separate them very well. For example, computers have a hard time separating dark purple from black. They do it, but it doesn't start out very well. It's labor intensive to sort through each color file and fix what the computer doesn't understand.

Sizing is also an issue. If the photo taken was exactly centered and perpendicular to the playfield, great. They never are. If it is off somewhat, the computer creates a file that is a parallelogram or whatever it likes. Then you get to play with converting raster images to x-y files and other fun stuff.

Once you have screens created for each color, it's a straightforward process to screen each color in turn and create the full image. The pitfalls are in sizing, alignment and color behaviors. Sizing is fairly obvious; each layer must be sized to match the playfield and the other colors. Alignment seems obvious but becomes complicated when manufacturing tolerances come into play. You might have noticed that many older games have inserts that are mismatched with the overlying art. They didn't have computer driven CNC machines in 1981. All these were cut by hand, with templates. You know the black circles around inserts? They exist to cover variations in manufacturing.

Color behaviors in screen printing is an interesting topic. It is not as straightforward as it seems. Since the colors are stacked, there is significant labor and cost involved and they always tried to minimize the number of colors used. Most playfields use a total of 6-8 colors and two of them have to be black and white.
Since the artist only had a few colors to use, they would combine their selected base colors to make an extra color. Blue on top of green can make turquoise, but to do that the blue must be somewhat transparent or it is applied with stippling (many fine dots). If you use transparent blue, it will affect all the blue on the board. If you use dots, there are limitations on what the screen can produce. This also applies to fading. If you use an airbrush, fading from red to orange to yellow is easy. Lay down a base of yellow, airbrush red and with a little practice you can cross the orange spectrum from solid red to no red (yellow base). Screen printing uses the same concept but has the limitation of how fine a dot you can produce on a screen.

Some of you have asked me about how we match colors to what the factory artist used. In this case we looked at original playfields (mostly faded, worn and dull), NOS and restored playfields (colors look good in person, harder to be exact with photos) and plastics (as worn and faded as the playfields). At the end of the day, it's an educated guess.
Actual color creation is the art of mixing base colors together. You've all seen it at Home Depot. Take a gallon of white, dump in some yellow and black, you get tan. On Solar Fire we used the Pantone system. A stack of swatches from which you can pick your color and it will tell you what base colors, and the percentage of those colors, are needed to create the desired color.
The paint world mostly uses base colors called "process colors". From a collection of about 16 process colors, you can create any hue imaginable. In order to simplify things, many artists will use at least some process colors as-is. The white, yellow, purple and black on Solar Fire are basic process colors. The gray, green, red and blue are Pantone colors mixed from process colors. With some practice it's fairly easy to discern process colors. Mixed colors are another story.

Things we have learned along the way

Screen printing is like golf. Looks fairly easy, maybe is harder than it looks to get just right.

Solar Fire was a terrible playfield to start on. The art is somewhat complex, the playfield edges and inserts vary between boards and the factory screen printing had lots of errors. Trying to sort that out with a computer has been a challenge.

Instead of asking for all the playfields at once, we should have collected a couple to use for the creation of files, screens and color selections then accepted them all for work when we had everything sorted out. Thanks to your patience it is working this way, but we could have reduced customer turnaround by doing it differently. Next time we will have a better plan.

Just because you get a collection of computer files that looks good on a monitor doesn't mean it will translate well in the real world. We have created dozens of images the screens could not handle and/or did not fit the playfield as intended. Back to the drawing board, many times.

Color processing and ink behaviors between 1981 and 2023 is not an easy translation. What I wouldn't give for oil-based paints. Water based paints may be environmentally friendly and have come a long way, but they still suck.

Hand screen printing is a dying art. Most the products available today are designed for small hobby projects or for clothing and paper-based goods, much of that printed by computer-controlled monster print machines. We have made most of our tools, which means we are doing it with the same technology they used in about 1950. It works but we are inventing the wheel all over again.

I suppose some of this sounds pessimistic, but I don't mean for that to be the case. Things are actually going well and we are learning a lot. I do want to thank all of you that have playfields with us, and I appreciate your interest and patience along the way. Should be some good results soon.

Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields

Thanks for these recent words of support and allow me to expand on some of the topics just mentioned!
This certainly hasn't been a burden of any sort. I'm happy to be exploring an area of playfield restoration that hasn't been done but seems to be a need for. Like any endeavor, a lot is learned early on, and it will get easier with experience.

We undertook this because we do use photos and small scanner capabilities to reproduce graphics and complex art in the restoration process. We did a Gottlieb widebody Devils Dare that needed flames reproduced across the entire playfield and was far bigger than 8.5x11 so it was done in pieces. A nightmare to get matched up. We figured doing it in one shot would have been easier and that's when Solar Fire came along, so we are giving it a go. Scaling up from 8.5x11 to the full playfield size seemed to be a logical step but we quickly learned it's a bit different animal.

What we've learned is big screens require different tools. sethbenjamin mentioned wide body scanners. They do exist but demand is so small that the machines, produced in very small quantities, are big and stupid expensive. They also produce an image much like a photo, so manipulating either one requires similar talents. When we align a small screen to print something on a single playfield, we just eyeball it. If it's off, just wipe it clean and try again. That doesn't work with full playfield screens. Alignment is a holy grail in large format screen printing. We knew that but it took some screwups to figure out what that meant.

Printing on new playfields would be much easier in some respects but harder in others. The end process of screening would certainly be easier which is why CPR, Mirco and others have never used old playfields. The drawback is what it takes to produce playfield blanks.
Making a new playfield today requires CNC routers and other big-ticket equipment. Then you have to find decent wood which in my opinion, based on the experience of Stern and Mirco, is now impossible. Once you have the tools and wood, you have to produce CAD files accurate enough to cut the playfields, then populate the inserts (still by hand) and drum sand them flat. Not insurmountable but takes time and money.

I've just started working with Wade Krause, a high-quality playfield reproduction manufacturer near Fresno. Wade has been great in both sharing information and taking on a small project for us. To make a reproduction playfield financially viable, it takes sales of probably 35 or more playfields. We are doing 16 Solar Fire playfields that include upper and lowers. I'm guessing CPR refused this playfield because their Solar Fire backglass sales indicated they would not sell enough playfields, especially complex dual level playfields at a higher price.

I received a water damaged Midway Raceway playfield for restoration that was too far gone to restore. I contacted Wade and asked if he could produce a blank (or several) and we would rescreen the art on it. He agreed to do that and is now in the process of making 6-8 blanks for that game. We are going to do the art screening (much easier than Solar Fire) and clearcoat them. My original customer will get one, the others will be offered for sale by LVP with hopes that a few people will want them. I don't plan to do this again with such a low demand game (Raceway is a cool game but extremely scarce) but we may occasionally try to fill the niche of high demand, low volume playfield production, if Wade is willing to continue producing blanks for us.
With Solar Fire we have also learned enough about original playfield condition and quality that we could do this again on old playfields by using a more educated approach than we started with on Solar Fire.

I can talk endlessly about color matching but it's usually not an issue. We've learned how to please customers in the restoration process. On this project, people are looking at computer images (very misleading) and partially completed work. I'm pretty sure when all of you receive these playfields the only issue you might have with the colors is they are brighter than you remember. That's common with playfield restoration. On EM playfields, we often repaint the entire playfield because many colors have faded or darkened.
Solar Fire was actually a colorful game when new, but the playfields had worn and faded to the point where the black, which is plentiful, had taken over what you see. Color is all about perception.

The past week has produced some good results and a new twist that is being resolved.

Last week we intended to screen blue, red and purple onto the lower playfields. We re-use screens all the time; in this case there are 4 screens available for the uppers and 4 larger ones for the lowers. 2 coarse mesh (180) and 2 fine mesh (305) for each set. We are still learning how the mesh count affects emulsion and ink behavior. In any case, after burning the blue-red-purple images we discovered artifacts from the previous images was affecting the new images. We have since learned how to prevent that and the screens will be ready to go in a day or two.

For the uppers, we were able to screen black, which is the final color. The results were good. One of the advantages to doing a small run like this is we can also do touch ups individually, which has also been done. Now the artwork for the uppers is done and they have received the first of 2 coats of clear to finish them. We did them first because they were smaller (slightly less complex) and we knew the learning curve would be easier on them. Now that they are done, the lowers should turn out faster and better.


One of the playfields as we received them. These photos could be any of the 16 playfields we worked on, they are not all the same playfield.
One of the playfields as we received them. These photos could be any of the 16 playfields we worked on, they are not all the same playfield
After sanding bare.
After sanding bare
White base coat applied.
White base coat applied
Yellow applied directly over white.
Yellow applied directly over white
First three colors applied with a clear coat layer to protect them. I opened up the holes in each playfield to remove the paint bridge.
First three colors applied with a clear coat layer to protect them. I drilled out the holes in each playfield to remove the paint bridge
Playfield with all colors except black applied and cleared.
Playfield with all colors except black applied and cleared
The final product with one layer of clear. They will all be sanded and have another layer of clear applied, then wet sanded and buffed.
The final product with one layer of clear. They will all be sanded and have another layer of clear applied, then wet sanded and buffed


So the uppers are essentially finished. These photos are pretty low resolution and the playfields will look better when you have them in-hand. That being said, we worked with images of the original playfield art which was far less than perfect. We corrected what we could but between their mistakes and ours, the Solar Fire art package does not hold up very well to fine scrutiny, so my recommendation is just don't look too close!
In reality and all considered, I think they look pretty good. We typically concentrate most on the parts of a playfield that will be seen in a finished game and these, while not perfect, will look pretty good. With the clear coat they will not wear and should be shiny and vibrant for decades to come.

It has been a while, sorry about that. The uppers are done, the lowers have everything except the black which has been proving difficult to get everything lined up properly. We also have 2 lowers that have significant insert "movement", meaning their inserts aren't in quite the same place as the other 14 playfields. Finally came up with a way to segment the art and get them done separately but not have to make an entire screen just for them.
Part of this recent delay is related to us trying to get caught up with other playfields. I've also been in Alaska rounding up a container of coin op equipment to bring down and peddle. Mostly jukeboxes and video, not many pins.

I had hoped to get the lower black completed and all the clear added this month but it looks like that may not happen. I do expect to get the black on and at least one layer of clear, but they won't get the final layer of clear until August. Then they have to age 3-4 weeks before I can sand and buff them. When the black is on I will post some photos of the lowers. I'd really like to get these finished up and out of here!

On the plastics, I don't expect CPR to do them anytime soon. If any of you know of other plastic suppliers, send me your thoughts and I'll try to contact them. I don't think it would be a hard set to reproduce for someone in that line of work.

Tim Crowley
Las Vegas Playfields

Things are getting close but will still take a bit to finish up. The uppers are finished with the exception of sanding and buffing. The screening is finished on the lowers but we have quite a bit of touch up to do, which is in process now.
I’ll be in Alaska until August 20 completing an equipment purchase project while my artist, George, finishes that color work. When I get back I’ll apply the final coats of clear, let that age then sand, buff and ship them. I expect to be shipping them the end of September.
I don’t have any contact with CPR and am not heading up the plastics effort, but I might get more involved after the playfields are shipped.

IMG_0042 (resized).JPGIMG_0043 (resized).JPG

Here we are. It's been over a month since I posted anything, I have excuses but none of them are any good!
The news is all the artwork is complete. The lowers all have at least 1 coat of clear over the art and it now is just a matter of adding more clear, finish sanding, buffing and shipping. Uppers have been done for a while now. I don't know that I took many decent pictures of the lower process but when I have more time I'll add what I can.
I expect to ship all these out in October. For those of you in Southern California, I'll be making a run out there for several reasons and will be able to deliver your playfields then.

So most of the playfields are in the mail now and owners should be receiving them next week. I'm waiting to see what all of you think before deciding if we will attempt to do this again.
For my part, I think they turned out well for a first effort and they will look good in the games. The art is good but not great, the clear coat came out well, it took too long and I think using old playfields as blanks may have been more trouble and expense than cutting new wood. We did learn a lot.

So the deal on making licensed reproduction parts for Bally/Williams games requires permission from Rick at Planetary Pinball. I’ve never spoke with him about that but he seems to be a pretty reasonable guy and I’m sure a license could be obtained at a fair price. He can be a stickler about quality, and rightfully so.

Making quality plastics is not as easy as you might think. If any of you want to do this, make sure you use the correct plastic (CPR learned that the hard way) and inks that adhere properly. I’ve never done it. I can help with color selection.
You don’t need a pristine set to scan. Once you have the images, you’ll have to separate the color layers into separate files, repair the image flaws and make sure they size properly. Color quality in the scans is irrelevant unless you want to computer print them. When screen printing, the color is all in the ink selection. All you need from the computer is quality images to make screens with.