How much left over from 1 can I would have doing a Fish Tales mini playfield? How many coats you guys do? 3-4?

I go real slow and thick, do one full playfield and I'd say that leaves me a little under a quarter of the can left.
So I'd say you could do 3 good coats of your mini playfield then have enough for a medium-thin coat of the playfield.

When you guys redo a playfield with overlay and then clear coating, how do you handle the screw holes and wire form holes in the playfield? Do you drill them out after all is done?

I take an old poster or some butcher paper and attach it to the playfield before I put the overlay on and poke holes in the paper where all the small holes are. then after the overlay is on I line my paper up again and poke the holes with something sharp. I think this kind of helps any water trapped under the overlay to get air and dry instead of sitting under there and soaking into the wood. then I clear and poke them through again. Or drill the larger ones. I think the most important part is making a template, once the overlay is on and cleared it can be tough to find those holes sometimes.

Question.

So I just sprayed my PF. Light first coat heavy second coat. I'm noticing orange peal. Do I sand then spray a final coat?
Or spray final coat over orange peel then sand buff?

Thanks for any advice

I would block sand lightly with 1000 grit wet or dry sandpaper. sounds like too heavy of a second coat or sprayed too closely .

I put three light, but wet coats on it last weekend and used about 3/4 of the can. I still have to sand it flat and do the polish thing, but I think or at least hope this is it for spraying.

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Has anyone used this to do just part of the playfield? I have a playfield with wear that I would like to touch up with acrylic paints.

I assume the process will be: Clearcoat the wear spots, paint wear spots, clearcoat over the paint...?

Curious if it would be too obvious that just certain places are clearcoated and not the entire playfield. Thanks!

Why would you not spray the whole playfield?

I would think his playfield is still populated.

Yes the playfield is still populated and I would like to be able to just repair this one spot (about the size of a silver dollar). Hoping to be able to just spray/brush this one spot , paint it, then clear again.. if that is the correct process.

Okay. Because you still have to take it outside because it is very dangerous.
You also have to cover EVERYTHING you don't want clear on because this stuff goes everywhere.
Remember you can clear the whole playfield by only removing the stuff on one side and not the bottom.

Well....maybe I just don't clearcoat, paint the touch ups on the wear spots, and don't clear over the paint. I think I have read to not use acrylics if you are not clearing? Decisions are hard.

Why not at least clear the area with rattle can clear then?

That was my initial idea/question, is that OK to do or will it look bad to just have this one spot cleared and the rest not cleared? Don't want to make it worse than it already is.

Touch up with acrylic, wax and protect with some Mylar?

+1

If you want to do it right, clear everything. If you want to do spot repairs, then use Mylar etc.

Thanks guys, that is what I'll do (mylar). Do I need to do anything to the wear spot before painting with acrylic and putting mylar over it? Or just paint on the bare wood?

So I have been doing some experimentation over the past month with this stuff as I have been meaning to for awhile. I have found that even though it has a limited time before it completely hardens in the can that you can extend this time in cold storage. I stretched an entire can to almost 3 weeks time by storing it in the back of my refrigerator. Now, I am not sure what my temperature is in there so I'm sure your mileage will vary. I was able to clear a mini playfield, a full size playfield, and two 1/24 scale model car bodies. In the end I was left with maybe 2-3 oz's of clear. I sprayed it out onto a test piece of black painted styrene to check for clarity and got tons of tiny bubbles, so if you plan to try this like I did and you have 2-3 oz's left throw it out. I have found that in a 60-65 degree climate the clear will last in the can unsolidified 3-4 days tops.

That is very good information. Thanks

Yves

I hope I didn't miss this someplace, but has anyone compared the 2K Glamour Clear to the 2K Rapid Clear?

In the spec sheet it says the 2K Rapid Clear will dry in 1.5 hours (and if using a heat lamp can be sanded after 10 minutes) where as the 2K Glamour takes 12 hours. It also says that 2K Rapid Clear is Urethane-based so, I don't know if that means it would tend to yellow over time (still a novice with this stuff)?

Anyway, just curious if anyone has messed with both of them for a comparison..

Cheers!

All modern 2PACs are Urethane based. The Poly urethanes that are much safer to use are the ones that tend to yellow. That being said, the new ones that specifically say they are UV resistant really do not yellow much that I can see. The oil based traditional ones even say on the label now that they 'amber' over time. Overall clarity of 2PAC is still better and it is tougher.

Appreciate the info. That is a nice little nugget that I can tuck away in my brain!

A couple of months ago I called a technical rep from SprayMax to ask a few questions. I was having problems with out-gassing while filling my severely cupped inserts. He suggested multiple light coats with an eyedropper allowing it to cure 48 hours between coats. He also suggested I do it in a temperature/humidity controlled environment instead of my hot garage. While this sounded like great advice I mentioned I would need to do at least 3 or 4 coats which with the recommended cure time would mean another 3 or 4 cans. He stated I can safely extend the life of the can to 7 days if I kept it in the fridge after activating it. I mentioned that I noticed my previous can was still liquid after 4 days at room temperature and was probably still good. He said that while it was still a liquid at that point the product inside the can was starting to cure and if I cut the can open I would find lumps of crystals. He said the liquid was mostly the propellant and not a usable product. I was fortunate and was able to fill my inserts with 4 coats and stayed within the 7 day window without any problems. It has now been three weeks and the can still has liquid in it, but I wouldn't use it. I need to throw it out.

Just picked up a pinbot that im considering clearing and touching up. Would the steps be...

1. Remove everything from topside of playfield
2. Lay a light coat of clear then lightly sand
3. Touch up paint and apply slide decals
4. Lay more clear and sand

Also, im wondering if any of you guys have tried clearing over decals. I would like to use the pinbot decal set for the maze section(commonly worn) and perhaps a few inserts. If so, would you go with non-laminated then?

You'll want to review Vid's excellent guide before you start: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration

see the bottom of page one and what happened to my xenon overlay. But it can be done. Ive cleared over both matte laminate and glossy laminate with no problems. The matte laminate is kind of frosted looking over inserts but once you clear it it turns clear like glass.

Hello,

How long time to wait between 2nd misty coat and sanding even?
Is it like 2 hours dry time between coating and sanding?

Final sanding or between coats?
The clear is still very soft for some days (depending on temp)

Sanding between coats to make the coat level.

I would let it cure for a week or two after first heavy coat.

Love this stuff!!!

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With only 1 can, can I?

Put on a light coat,
Wait 12h, sand,
Put on a wet coat,
Wait 24h, sand,
Put another wet coat.

What protective mask do you guys use. I use a 3M 6000 with organic vapor cartriges. I also use swimming goggles. I was thinking if its worth upgrading to a full face respirator.

I think I am going to for my next paint job. Worth it in the long run

Wet coat?

Potato, patato. Yes wet coats.

When you guys put on wet coats, do you spray 1 heavy coat or 2-3 medium wet coats with a few minutes flash in between? Or both gives the same result?

I would say one can is not enough at all.
But it depends on how much you have to sand off to get it flat.

I always spray one or two light coats and wait a little before I go in for medium/wet.

Anyone done a cabinet this way? I'm giving it some thought.

Older or newer? Might be way too shiny if older! If newer, still shiny, but might "fit in" a little more. Also might get a little texture if getting in the nooks and crannies any older game might have.

I clear my cabinets because I use auto paints that are all matt finish. The clear add the shine and a lot of protection. They all look great. I started using 1K clear spray cans which is much cheaper than 2K cans and the finish is also good.

I have progressed now to 2K gloss clear with proper spray equipment same as I use on the play-fields. The gloss on the cabinets shrinks back quickly to a semi gloss look.

Sorry Otaku buddy too much speculation. You need to restore some cabinets and gain this experience as time dulls any finish.

See below examples;

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Nice mirror finish on those Major League, I can practically see 2 machines.

Yes, but the clear is dulled a bit so only one game left in the stable now.

I have done 19 playfields with these cans so far, and even have been able to do a widebody Gottlieb with a single can, so it is definitely doable. On average I can lay down 7-8 coats per field. I do two light coats and let those set for 2 minutes each and then I lay down the remaining coats back to back with zero issues. In the end I only have to wet sand with 1200 grit, polish, then finish.

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I guess it is very flat from the beginning and no sunken inserts or insert lines? Because if you sand between coats one can is not enough(for me)

I'll have some levelling to do and do not want to be half way done with only 1 can in hand.

So I have a beat up rollergames that needs new insert decals, which means it needs to be clearcoated. Ill be getting a proper setup someday, but until then im limited to a small corner of a basement, and outside. This stuff seems like the way to go, but im worried about contamination. Id have to do this outside, I don't have the space to build any kind of safe, properly ventilated spray chamber. If I did this on a sunny, 60+ degree day, other than good spraying technique what should I do to ensure decent results? Surely not everyone in this thread has access to a temperature controlled cleanroom...

Id bring it to an autobody shop, but the waterslide decals need to go on after the first light clear, so id end up going twice, and probably end up paying way more than is necessary. Thoughts?

I have sprayed it outside with okay results. You still need to wear protection though.

I prefer cooler temps to warmer. I tried using the stuff when it was too warm and ended up with a bunch of micro bubbles that I had to sand out.

I have a respirator, goggles, gloves, etc. I have asthma so I wouldnt screw around with fumes even if this stuff werent so nasty, just no indoor space to do it. I saw someone use a canopy and tarps, I could probably make that happen. many have posted that spraying when its too cold gave them microbubbles, do we still not know the best temp for this stuff?

http://can.spraymax.com/fileadmin/download/spraymax/spraymax_tmb/spraymax_tmb_gb/TMB033_US.pdf

68 farenheit or 20 Celsius