Hi T2 friends.
The last puzzle in my Complete T2 restoration is done and my machine is finished after five years of work.
As some know I have complained multiple times about the *hit/crap quality nearly all reproduction parts are.
The only one who delivered quality and did not disappoint was Peter (playfield/plastic/decals) he knows what he is doing and its top-notch.
The last puzzle was my apron as you can see on the images below it was damaged and had rust under the paint so I had to restore it. The only options I found was vinyl stickers - in chrome or original colors. I want a original looking apron so I bought the ones in colors as an official reproduction/licensed.
There are two big problems with the stickers I bought.
1. The print quality is crap (surprise...)
2. There are "black" background around the colors.
The problem with #1 is bad but #2 is also bad as the black is way lighter than the black you paint. Making it very easy to see its a sticker and it is ugly.
So what should I do?
I turned to Pinside!
I asked for help on Pinside and a member helped me with my GFX and I got a complete vinyl sticker for the WHOLE apron.
Asked my local printshop to print it in high quality vinyl ($20) less than the garbage licensed I got.
My proces:
1. Sanded so it was flat and all rust was gone.
2. Two dents got some Dolphin Glaze and was sanded flat.
3. Sealed and then primed.
4. Sanded and I made sure it was flat and all issues where solved.
5. Painted it black.
6. Added the printed Vinyl (Heat was used to make it flexible for the lowered cards).
7. Clear coated with SprayMax 2K.
8. Orange peel and imperfections where sanded flat.
9. Polished to mirror.
Total cost? Maybe $35-40
Here are the images of before, under and after:
IMG_8673 (resized).jpgIMG_8674 (resized).jpgIMG_8676 (resized).jpgIMG_8844 (resized).jpgIMG_8962 (resized).jpgIMG_8964 (resized).jpgIMG_8969 (resized).jpgIMG_8968 (resized).jpg