Final playfield? I know a guy who can get it silk-screened. Until then, all of it will be done with waterslide decals.

Base clearcoat done. Special guest: Metroid Pinball's playfield which I am also clearcoating.

The last time I cleared the bare wood playfield, the wood drank a lot more clear than I expected. I actually sanded through it in a few places. This time I doubled the initial coat from one can to two. I did an initial dusting/sealing coat on Monday, and also did a light coat on the bottom in hopes of sealing it a bit from moisture gain/loss. Should reduce any warping the wood may otherwise decide to do. I allowed this sealing coat to seep Into the wood and cure overnight for around 12 hours. It takes 48 hours to fully cure to the point it's ready for sanding. Then this morning I did two more coats to serve as the actual base now that the wood won't drink it. It's a continual learning process. Each time trying little tricks to see what give the best results.

Once the fumes had disapaited enough I put my dehumidifier into the spray tent with the playfields. This is new as I usually bring them into my basement overnight. I figure the dehumidifier wouldn't have to work as hard to dry a small tent vs my entire basement, and one less thing to go wrong moving them before they are finished curing. No sense exposing them to dust and the occasional bug (like the beetle in my BK2K) on the way in.

So now, two days of sitting. Sanding and decaling this weekend. I'll stream the decaling. I dont want to get clearcoat slurry on my cameras streaming sanding.
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Metroid!

Yes. You didn't lose track. I forgot the picture.

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I work incredibly fast when I'm interested and/or passionate about what I'm doing. There is a reason this game is so far along after so short a time.

Curing nicely. No suprises.

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Decaling today. Metroid is done. Finishing up Sonic tomorrow.

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Art installation is complete. Weather is looking good for clearcoating tomorrow.

Making good time. Confident I'll be ready with time to spare.

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The Cameo has a software suite that is excellent. It allows me to print the page with target marks that the machine scans for. I use a built in outlining tool to tell the machine what lines to cut and then load up the printed page into the Cameo. Then you hit go on the software and it will scan for the target/registration marks and adjust accordingly while cutting. It really works great. I went into more detail in my twilight zone restoration thread.

Printing error that wasn't noticed until after I spent 30 minutes applying the decal. I cut it off, and completed it with another small decal today. Check the new pictures.

Terrible picture. Better ones tomorrow, but clearcoating is done. Looks good now, but we will see in the AM

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Possibly the best clearcoat job I've ever done. Now I just need to leave it alone for a week. I should probably leave it for two, but I can get started on the bottom without bothering it. The sooner I can get building the better.

Several people have asked what my process was for this. Ill try to the process in as much detail as possible for future reference.

-----Day 1
(Sonic Only, not sure what Mark's playfield prep process was) First The playfield was sanded flat as per the normal process. I stopped with 600 grit to ensure the clear had a lot of tooth to the bare wood and inserts especially. It was then cleaned with high pressure from an air compressor, and then cleaned with naphtha and a microfiber cloth.

-This first day's objective is just to seal the wood. Bare wood likes to drink clearcoat and is very greedy if you give it more to drink. We let this cure overnight so the next time we clear it, it doesn't get absorbed into the wood. actual cure time is several days, so it still bonds to the next layers. We also still have a rough wood surface at this point. For restorations that are not bare wood playfields, I skip this day and only use 3 cans total, not 4.

-Playfields were placed in the spray tent. Cheap 6x8 greenhouse tent from amazon, and a tarp on the floor. This keeps bugs out and most of the over-spray in. Doesn't do anything for normal amounts of dust. You may want to consider a filtered air intake. I bought a greenhouse with windows in case I want to do this in the future.

-Playfields were leveled on their tables. level checked in multiple places as this is important.

-Another cleaning with naphtha.

-Spraymax can was activated and shaken for 4 minutes. This happens every time a can is activated. Can is also shaken periodically between spray coats. (Hold down low and shake side to side to avoid throwing droplets onto playfield.)

-1/2 can was used on each playfield, including a dusting of the bottom sides. I spray in slightly overlapping patterns, making sure to go passed the edge to change direction so you dont get edge pooling. I vary the pattern from horizontal, vertical, and diagonal. Never the same pattern twice in a row. I also alternate can orientation and direction (top to bottom vs bottom to top, etc.) If you get sputtering do NOT continue. Stop your coat, shake can, clean nozzle with your finger, try again. Make sure to hole the can around 45-50 degrees and not straight horizontal. helps prevent sputtering.

-Left tent, wait 1 hour

-Another 1/2 can each. A little extra concentration in the shooter lane. Other than that, same spray method. The method never really changes.

-Waited 3 hours, then placed dehumidifier in tent set to 50% (~70% current ambient)

-Left overnight

----Day 2
-Removed/emptied dehumidifier. 1/2 can used on each.

-Wait 1 hour

-Another 1/2 can each

-Waited 7 hours (until dark) then added the dehumidifier again.

----Day 3
-Emptied dehumidifier tank

----Day 4
-Emptied dehumidifier tank

----Day 5
-Playfields brought inside, Both had micro-bubbles in clear (expected) Wet sanded by hand sanding block with 600 grit. Continued until almost all shine was sanded off.

-Cleaned with surface prep solution then naphtha, clearcoat slurry cleaned out of switch holes.

-Waited 2 hours

-Naphtha again, decal installation began.

----Day 6

-Naphtha again, decal installation finished.

----Day 7
-Cleaning with surface prep and naphtha. light touch.

-Playfields moved to tent, leveled

-One last cleaning with naphtha

-Realized the naphtha cleaned off the paint touch ups I had done previously. Redid them in the tent. Allowed to dry for 1 hour while setting up.

-1/2 can each, waited 90 minutes, played VR mini golf league

-1/2 can each, waited one hour

-1/2 can each, waited one hour

-1/2 can each, waited 3 hours

-Added dehumidifier

----Day 8
-Took pretty pictures, basked in glory of perfection.

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EDIT:

I use the following PPE to ensure I dont die in the spray tent:
Full face respirator mask - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JZ1M10/ref=dp_iou_view_product
Air System - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MU2Z17Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title
Air tube - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WGQ3BKB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00
Nitrile gloves - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DPEGZ92/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title
Tyvek suit - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JZZTMGY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01

I pump fresh air into my mask from my air compressor roughly 50 feet away. Ensure your air flow is greater than your actual breathing rate so you have positive air pressure in the mask. This helps keep fumes from leaking in from imperfect face seal (because I have a beard.)

This always depends on the finish i achieve with the final coat. If it is someone elses game, has any defects, micro bubbles, or imperfections then I do indeed sand it down and polish it. If I get a perfect result I skip this step, especially when under a time crunch like this. Ive only ever gotten perfect results once before and it played great untouched. Id rather have a thicker clearcoat that is 95% level. I'm a competition player and if I cant tell that its not 100% flat, I doubt anyone can. If it remains an excellent finish throughout the first week of curing I'll be excited to be able to put that 5 hours of work elsewhere.

Curing week day 1:
Remapping lights
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Printing new right ramp
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Y'all were wondering about a topper?

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First one is a deviant art illustration which is similar to what I'm going for. Second one is the actual gameplay graphics, third one is my CAD design for the topper.

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Glass "paperweights" from ebay

Reassembly begins Monday evening. I'll be streaming it all (assuming the potential hurricane doesn't knock out my power.) Starting with the underside to give the clear an extra few days curing. How fast can we build a pinball machine? Interested to hear your bets. Last time from finished playfield to mostly complete flipping game was 6 weeks. This time, the wiring, ramps, and mechs are all already done and waiting to go back on. My money is on two weeks to flipping. But I'm also the one who thought the teardown would take an entire 3 day weekend and not 2x 3 hours.

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Art is expensive and takes a lot of time. This is not the final playfield. I need it ready for Chicago Expo and Pintastic. I fully intend to wreck this one too with changes, tweaks, etc. Only when I'm 100% happy with the game will I make a final playfield and art is usually the last step. The centerpiece was able to be finalized because it's not going to change. I hoped it would show that the concept art will eventually be turned into full artwork.

Schedule change. Got home early gonna break ground at 430 ET on stream.

Twitch.tv/Ryan_McSquid

Pretty good progress for one day. All lights installed except for the last of the 8 light sticks that needs a mounting bracket. Wire harness reinstalled as well with all stand-ups and rollover switches. Dimples in the bottom of the playfield aren't perfect, but they are close enough to convey useful information even if they can't be used. I'll be back to building and streaming tomorrow after work. Gonna finish the entire bottom before starting on the top to give that clear every hour possible of extra cure time. It looks SO shiney and new I'm excited.

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Those are light diffusers from JJP. They let you use surface mount RGB LEDs as GI