Thanks swinks ! I’m official

Thanks Monk — I probably have other things I should have been doing some of the time but when I get going on a project I may get a little obsessed haha. Can’t keep up with some of these other guys though - last starfighter came together so damn quick and I’m super impressed with swinks and his CAD skills and awesome surf theme pin.

Divertor is def. staying, I’m a big fan of that. Right now I don’t see much on the chopping block - I’ve got a plan for most mechs but we’ll see how it plays when wired up.

2/22/18
Not too much done today but I was wondering if there’s a fight club font as that’s what I’d like to use for the display. lo and behold there is indeed! (See below). Fired up a document to start getting higher level details down defining all shots/mechs, modes and how they work, finale, etc. I will go into more detail on each mode later (defining sounds/lights/triggers,mode enter/exit,etc.) once everything is functioning. Also will do seperate document for scoring. Not super interesting to post about, but here’s a shot just to show the fight club font (at top):
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Worked a bit on 2nd wireform. These are really a pain to bend exactly. The first is easier but the 2nd is hard to match. Can’t wait to get them brazed and in place though - will be satisfying to complete.
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Thought about that - not specifically a shot but purposely trying to go down an outlane to start something.. interesting twist to start a mode. On side note, I remembered a couple good quotes for drains:

“This is your {game} and it’s ending one {drain} at a time”

“On a long enough time scale, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero “

Lol so true so true, I will add that tonight - the first rule of fight club Pinball is that you don’t talk about fight club Pinball.

2/24/18
Errands today mostly, running around town to find a torch and brazing rods. Had to order rods in the end but picked up a torch and got another form mocked up for fit:
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Pinball life order delivered this morning as well — love opening these packages. They do an awesome packing job. Unfortunately it’s like Costco - you can’t get out without spending $200+ and wondering how the hell that added up so quickly. Have flipper mechs for lower Playfield now so I can start getting that laid out on wood.
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Also - the stern lane guides. These things are sweet - did not realize the posts are integrated into the guide, that’s a smart design! Pulled out my larger wms ones and fitted the sterns. Yep - that will do it I think, 4 lanes with s few adjustments for SOAP. Sweet!

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Thanks Fortytwo — I just tried to rubber them only to discover the rubbers were loose on the smaller side. Then I also discovered I somehow did not order 3/8 rubber in my shipment and I don’t have any. Grrrrr.

2/26/18

Feeling behind now.. copper brazing rods and flux came today and my wireforms both need 2x more wires bent for each.

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Was going to graze Friday, but then this arrived from Bulgaria:

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What’s inside?!? Ordered 4 weeks ago and I’ve completely forgotten. Let’s open Er up:

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Dragon packages this stuff pretty good - but it’s akso all used so you never know exactly what you’re getting although it’s always a great deal imo, just got to be willing to clean done stuff up and adjust or replace an opto here or there.

Here’s the haul in package #1:

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My pops, up post, lane save kicker, 5 bank, some extra spinners to try, a variety of vuks, and a huge 1-ball trough from flipper football (possibly for lower Playfield but rethinking that after seeing it’s size.

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Interesting to see how differently these mechs were designed as well— vuks:

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Unfortunately I’m still fitting the new lane guides so I’ve got lots to do before getting back to wire forms now. Aaand- still package #1 about a week out. Somehow customs held it 2weeks extra. No idea what else I needed but apparently there’s something goodies in it

3/2/18

No time to braze today, spent morning finally getting upper lane guides fitted correctly, installed matching pop bumpers, and did some post/rubber work.

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Then went back to wiring— want scoops hooked up so I can see where they are firing to.
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Been a long time since I’ve wired.. forgot where I left off. Added a 3208 board to my collection- what a rats nest already:
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Added this guy near the Playfield to get a few optos going:
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Finished by getting the middle scoop coil in my config file and successfully firing from it with a simulated (keyboard) switch for the moment. Next up is my left scoop so I can decide where to cut a hole for the 5bank drops.

Just added up my driver needs - I’m at 40 with 2 flasher circuits, and 3 servos.. still a couple things I wanted to add on lower of though so likely 44 drivers & 4 servo total. Damn that added up fast!! Hard with 5 flippers- that’s 10 drivers burned already. Still feels like I have to be mid-adding though lol. What a mess of cable this will be!

Lol Fortytwo - project wiring mayhem I like that. Def a version 1. I like how you are layering yours out I will follow suit when that time comes.

That’s true - but you run into the stern coil buzzing issues that way (single wound). Could go sys11 on the upper Playfield upper flipper— but for the lower pf I don’t want them firing unless the ball is there. However, those might actually be a good candidate for single windings.. will depend how close I am on drivers but nice option.. could get back 3.

3/3/18
Christmas again - final package here from Bulgaria.

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Lots of mechs, what is all this stuff?!?

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Wow, lots of options now.. certainly more than I will use but I like having options. Hopefully I will have a second build down the road that I can use some of the extras on..
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Ok, fun times but back to work on wiring for now.

Thanks grivin !

5hrs of adding to the rats nest today. Connectorizing most mechs for easy removal and swap.. takes time though. Brought up 48v and ground to Playfield to lessen wiring needs. 6A6770C9-784E-4578-B1CB-6FDF54C0AD5C (resized).jpegD5D3A5BF-74F3-4E9A-8B82-987644828D68 (resized).jpeg

3/4/18

Another 6hrs today, got 5 bank installed and reset coil wired, some posts in, more targets, spinner:
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Left kickback:
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and changed out my gottileb lift ramp mech for far superior jackpot mech with a locking up position (dropped back down with mini coil) :

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Did a lot of scoop position testing with SLO-mo as well.. nice to have a couple working now + pop cooks wired (just need to wire switches). The 5-bank has a mini coil that drops the middle target — going to be a jackpot multiplier shot to a saucer or just a hole that drops down to left vuk more likely..

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Also decided to leave guides OFF the left upper ramp so a slow shot falls back down into the left orbit lane.

Vuk is going in next and will protype first subway.. unless I get caught up wiring pop bumpers

Wireform brazing getting delayed.. going to try and get all pf holes cut first and finish up anything below them first.

3/7/18

Hard to get things done in the weekdays with work. Few things though-

Cut some more holes for subway entrances and vuk. Then today, got a couple presents in the mail:

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Thank you Aaron and Dave fastpinball !!!! Trough boards to replace my wms ones that are giving me shit all the time. If this fixes my issues I’m gonna be stoked!

Also:
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Few random things for testing. Found a wide top drop target replacement for my capcom slim ones — stern/dataeast ones. Gonna order 5 in black.

Also working on lower pf design:

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Not final but a concept for now. Kind of an afm style middle shot, with 4 loops on the sides and spinners and targets. Want it to be fun.. no idea if this will be fun until I proto it though. Will prob be a bit wider than standard lower, with standard mini flippers.

Mmm- 2 opto switches for the mini loops too.. 17 switches

Working on subways now.. using s few parts I had - hacked this into 3 pieces:

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Top scoop goes here after some bending and drilling:

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Back subway #1 hole drilled - just enough clearance below to get around back to the far right side to my behind the backboard vuk. 9E9B7076-7F82-482E-A54C-75799FDC6B4D (resized).jpeg

Pl parts in - some extra hardware and rubbers.. ordered a few samples of stuff in diff colors to try out too. E324A153-FF98-4B36-84CA-4923374FCA30 (resized).jpeg

3/11/18

Couple hours today -

Back to foam core and hot glue for a bit to work out subways before I attempt origami on some plexiglass with a heat gun to bend it into shape.
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Subway fitted and feeding vuk:

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Bit trickier on this one as it rolls against gravity. Tight fit with 5 bank drops back in:

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Two more feeds to this vuk to do next. Also tried out the roll-over style drop I got for testing — should work good but will be a bit of fitting work. 75C31C7D-05C7-48F9-ABA7-F32D12E98B93 (resized).jpeg

3/18/18

Cutting, bending, drilling, and grinding today. End result isn’t pretty but it’s functional - subway shot is complete from under the left ramp to the billboard lock on my backboard.

Started today with an issue - the wood pf supports to keep it at 6.5 degrees are now in the way of progress. Subway needs to fed thru them.
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So- sawzaw time (and drilling, etc.)
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Good to go now:
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Grinded and bent the crap out of this piece
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To get this first section:

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Second section will be this wireform after some more transformation. Found it laying around here..

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And we’re golden! Feeds around to a vuk.
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Mocked up the vuk shaft and the feed ramp for the lock:
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And the flip side - the mock billboard. Using a up/down post sideways to release locked balls for now.. will eventually be a servo mech. The motorized billboard will likely be one of the last pieces as I want to get this thing shootable first.
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Have another idea now for a small upper Playfield that the mayhem (billboard) lock would feed.. will experiment down the road with that one.

Thanks all for incouraging words I have ideas but it kind of morphs as I go along. I’ve been fortunate that no mechs have interfered yet, although I’m getting sone tight fits as of late as more things come together. Hadn’t thought much about ramp count- just 3 but there’s 5 paths because of divertor and under ramp flap + 4 subway entrances. Not quite the flow that demo man has though ha!

Few days this upcoming weekend to hopefully get wireforms built and installed so it’s shootable again. Will be exciting to get there + some wiring so more mechs work.

Awesome — Hope you do a build thread! And steal away

Yeah it’s probably embarrassing how many times I’ve watched it lol.

3/22/18

Battling the final segment of subway. Super tired of doing subway work - luckily I got thru it mostly.. minor tweaks from here on out (on this version at least).

This is the housing under the sckyscraper lock that goes up and down.
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The balls fly down the shaft pretty damn quick so I’ve got a metal guide going in there.
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Got that working pretty good - the final piece is from this shaft about 6” to a vuk under the Playfield that fires up to an upper subway portion. There was no way to directly hit the other subway portion - this section is much lower. The benefit is that I can stage two ball locks here with the Optos - probably have a 3rd switch for the final lock.

So- the final section:
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Yeah that seems to do the trick. Bit of work to get it perm. Attached, and we’re good.
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This is right side up- under the Playfield looking at completed subway.

Installing some Optos next and I should be able to repopulate ramps up top.
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View from above all that - scyscraper in full up and full down positions.

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Ha! I wish! I think by June I should have things working.. but no real code and no inserts yet. For sure planning on 2019 show though.

Thanks for the offer! I’m trying to fit an old gottileb saucer/kickut hole and if I can’t get it I’d be looking for an alternate design - wms might do the trick if you have one of those around?