Dude... stop... stoppp... STOPPPP!!!
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I need to shoot some clear soon before I lose temps in Ohio. I plan on doing the first application tomorrow after work when it'll be 70 degrees. Ill wet sand it on Thursday, and plan on shooting again on Friday when it is 77. after that the temps are in the mid 60s and and lower and will probably keep dropping as the month goes on.
Does this seem like a good plan? Is that enough time for the first application to dry/cure to handle the second?
Ive watched a bunch of videos on YouTube with car guys using this stuff and sanding within in hours but it seems all that goes out the window with Pinball, I dont get it.

I plan on doing just enough passes to get it glossy, and even. I'm not trying to bury this in an inch of clear.

Sweet, good to know. Thanks man!

So I’m literally in the middle of laying this stuff down. Did 2 thin passes waited 15 minutes and just did my second series of thin passes. Looks pretty good so far.
In 15 more minutes I’m going to lay down a top medium coat to get the correct sheen then let her dry.
I’m only doing the saucer of the Mata Hari for a hardtop install. Sucks that this whole can becomes crap after 48 hours.
I think if I sand it later and try to finish it tomorrow I’ll be rushing it. But I’m only going off of what happens with spray paint.
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Edit 15 minutes later:
Ok so this is after the 3rd pass. Looks pretty good. Do I really need to sand this and add more to it?
I mean how deep is clear coat supposed to be?
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This site cracks me up some times. You’d think in a clear coat thread there’d be little to no drama. I’m trying to get some legit help with a knowledge transfer from people that have used this stuff and all people care about are side rails being left on a project playfield

As it dried it lost its glass look and I got the orange peel effect. So should I wet sand and do another run? Or does this polish out?
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So I checked this out this morning, and its odd, it looks like that ripple effect is under the surface, the top looks like glass but from above you can see through to the surface of an orange.

That helps, I dont mind putting the work in if itll look good, im just nervous of having too much clear here. My existing Mata Hari playfield was cleared pretty thick and the saucer looks like shattered glass so im trying to keep it as thin as possible to avoid the same damage. I think I'll start at 1000 grit to knock down those peaks under the surface and go up

man i really thought i was being conservative on my 15 minute layers too, ok ill just clean up whats there and not add anymore

The issue is timing and temperature. I have an extra can uncracked in reserve so I can definitely add more, however if i laid down a coat yesterday, being that this Friday is the last day in the foreseeable weather forecast that I will have temps above 65 degrees, is yesterday to this Friday enough time for the existing layer to cure enough for me to hit it with more clear and not wrinkle the base coat?

so whats funny is the surface is as flat as can be, if you look from an angle it looks like glass, but that texture that you see seems to be under the surface. So it sounds like i need to sand it all off it thats the case?

Screw it, ill just sand it with 800 tomorrow and lay another coat on friday if it works it works, if not im used to this not working out so whatever. I'll report back Saturday morning with good or bad news

I have half a can in the mini fridge in my basement

That’s exactly what I was wanting to get out of it. Just enough buy more time.
On Tuesday as I did the saucer I also sprayed a test board to get the feel of the can. So I took that board and sanded it last night. Today I took my can from Tuesday out of the fridge and laid down an application the same way I did on Tuesday but instead of waiting 15 minutes between coats I only waited about five. Minus the impact craters in the wood from doing a drop test a few weeks ago this application looks like glass and has dried like glass too. So what I’ve learned here is this stuff can be laid down one day, sanded the next day and coats added on day 2 with no wrinkles or other issues.

Sanded after 1 day
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3 passes 1 day after sanding.
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Ignore the crater like mentioned before.
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Saucer sanded with 800 grit and now I’ll give it 24 hours for the exposed sanded clear to dry and tomorrow I’ll finish this up. But tomorrow I’m using a new can. I’m not going to experiment with how long this refrigerator practice works.
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Edit after posting this I realized I should sand around that lip to give the new clear something to bite on to.

I restored a Mata Hari last year, had it clear coated. The clear ghosted over almost all the inserts and several other parts of the playfield. So I’m taking this extra blown out playfield and getting it ready for a hardtop.

This thread explains where painting the saucer black originally came from:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/did-i-ruin-my-playfield-by-accidentally-sanded-down-to-the-next-ply

This thread is for the full restoration:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/i-thought-she-was-a-dirty-girl-before-i-stripped-her-down

I’m only clearing the saucer and shooter lane because I’m not risking the same thing happening to the inserts again under the hardtop.

That ought to do it!
I got the higher end respirator from Ace hardware. It’s was like $45. Has the pink filters. I don’t smell anything when I used this stuff or other spray paints prior to this. And I have an annoyingly great sense of smell. I hope this ace brand mask is working for me. Guess I’ll know in a decade.....

Yeah I'd rather risk raw-doggin' one of Charlie Sheen's ex's than breathe this stuff in

Alright it’s done. Looks perfect minus the 2 pieces of dust that settled on it during the last coat. Nothing can ever be easy for me I swear.

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Lol thanks George! I’m such a cry baby.

So even though I only did a 4” square with this stuff I can see why everyone loves it. Minus the toxic dangers it’s a pretty affordable way for a common joe to clear a playfield and get some really nice results. It’s making me contemplate touching up the playfield in my Shangri La and giving it a go. That would have to be a spring project though. Pretty sure the temps are locked out of range after today.
What happens if you spray this stuff in the 40s and 50s? I’m just wondering the harm of laying down the coats, letting it set for about and hour and then bringing it in doors like I just did today?

I think that might be a little over zealous, this stuff cures in a couple days and their website states the flash period is like 15 minutes. There’s a bit of a difference in smelling the product after it dries versus directly inhaling fumes from the aerosol.

Someone chime in on this but here’s my plan:

Playfield is touched up and inserts glued back in.
Going to spray a light lock coat pretty much slight overlap single pass then wait 15 minute.
Do a second light coat with slight over pass in a perpendicular direction. Wait 15 minutes.
Then lay down a hammer coat and basically just empty the can.

Wait a week. Sand playfield with 500 grit. Not to level just give tooth for next can.

Repeat process again 2 days after sanding.

Sand to level, then apply water slide decals and repeat the process to cover the decals.

Sand, cut, polish, buff, wax and so on

What are you using in the eye dropper?

Yeah I meant product name and details

Nice!
Thanks

Could do all the touch ups first, that’s what I did with my Firepower I’m about to clear.

Ahhh I see what you mean. Only issue I had with that was when I did the red stripes on the planet. I repainted those parts that lifted by hand though afterward.

What brand of waterslide decals are you guys using with the SprayMax? I tested out a few and they look terrible. They didn’t have any reaction to the SprayMax, I did 2 light coats then buried them and they look like crap.

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I’m not sure if that’s a serious question but yeah I did.

It’s laser jet ink style water slide.

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After some deeeeeeeep digging on this site I found a convo between someone else and vid. The problem was on my test piece that I cleared, I sanded the clear with 600 to rough it up for the next layer of clear. (Which is gospel according to anyone that does clear coating) but apparently you don’t want to sand the area the waterslide goes on so the decal can adhere best. Or polish the area for the waterslide and leave the rest sanded for the next coat.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cloudy-insert-after-water-slide-decal#post-4819402

According to vid you lay the decals down unsanded and sand around them.

I’m kind of puzzled why he wouldn’t have explained that in the ultimate restoration guide, seems like a major piece of info to know.

Is your water slide the yellow insert? How did you go about it? Sand around or not sand at all?

Silverstreak02 Looks good!
So I went back to my playfield I’m clearing and sanded a small area from 600 and stepped up to 2000 then novus 2.
MAJOR improvement!

I guess I’m good with paper I have. Now just need to figure out where to get them printed.

I tired them before and the dude went on and on about not being allowed because it jams the printer. If they’re still open during this distancing crap maybe I’ll try again. I’ll risk covid for a pinball machine.

I just leveled the inserts to prep for waterslides and it’s obvious under the surface where clear was dripped. Not because it sits higher but because it’s almost got a clouded look to it. Do these blobs ever go away or is this some precursor to areas that’ll eventually ghost or what?

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Well I talked the dude at Staples into printing the water slides for me, I had to do some awful things and I’ll never be able to look at myself in the mirror the same again but at least Firepower will get finished sooner

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Well this is a catch 22

I sanded playfield with 1000.
Then I sanded the insert areas up to 3000 and polished for the waterslide decals.

Now I have all these areas around the decals that are polished that need sanded. I cant wet sand because it’ll lift the decals and when I dry sand around the inserts it basically is just scratching the hell out of the clear.

How do you guys do these waterslides???

Am I supposed to sand around all the decals now? Seems like it’ll take a year to do that and I’ve never seen anyone do this in any other thread.
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I will be doing that however I needed a smooth surface for the waterslide to lay on.

This is exactly what I did.

Sanded playfield level and smooth with 1000 grit

Polished the areas for the decals.

Problem is the half inch to 1 inch of polished clear surrounding the decal needs sanded down so the final coat of clear will lay down and it’s a major pain to sand so intricately around the decals all the way to the edge.

Especially wet sanding around a waterslide.

I followed this direction and it sucks....

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How do you get rid of the scratches from sanding?

I’ve tried an orbital buffer and by hand and I’m still left with this from my last block sanding of the 3000 grit

Just looks hazy

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Yesterday was the final coat

So what I’m finding is I’ll get a flawless look using the Ultimate Compound and a pad in a swirling motion but when I go to buff and wipe up the product the microfiber is leaving those tiny scratches. I’m in a catch 22 right now. I’m looking at a sweet playfield covered in a thin layer of compound that I cant wipe off.

In this pic it’s got a layer on it. I cant wipe it off or I have to start over. And these are brand new microfiber hand towels I’m pulling right from the package.

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I did the best I could with the Ultimate Compound. I tried it all over again by hand and pressed significantly harder than the first time. Showed some improvement, still think it could look better. I’m giving it a day then I’ll use the polisher.

I was on board until this piece, the company I work for just ordered an extremely large number of masks with no problem for just one department out of 100s of areas also ordering. Professional construction, medical, and essential companies have access to PPE from distributors way sooner than the general public sees when it trickles down to walmart shelves and amazon. If people are being "forced" to work around those hazards, then thats an issue with their management or union to address. People in those jobs arent shopping for their crews PPE online or in public big box stores. The 15 people in our hobby that spray a few cans of clear a year arent putting professional workers in dangerous situations.

To add to this I would suggest using a bit one size up on the clear in reverse, once through the clear then switch the bit to the actual (smaller) size for drilling into the playfield

I would say just a little more than a dusting, it’ll look kind of crappy and you’ll think you did it wrong. That’s how you know it’s right.
Wait about 10 minutes or so and do that again.
Wait about 10 minutes then stray a nice medium-ish bed to start getting that glossy look. Depending on how much clear you are adding you just keep doing that.
Sand a day or 2 later then do it again.

I’m restoring a BSD playfield that has some pretty significant planking. Is it worth finishing with seriousness or should I forget it? I’m afraid after a while the clear coat will ghost because the wood is too soft and not secure. Anyone have a really bad planking situation that is holding up under the clear?

There’s people who have been to the moon then there’s people who use the metrics system

Found this in my paint cabinet. Forgot I bought it last year before I moved. How long is this stuff good for?

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Wow 5 years is pretty good. Thanks guys!

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Actually… naptha is a bar of soap that is terrible for playfields
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Naphtha is the good stuff
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Yeah I feel bad for you guys that live where its banned, this stuff is a necessity

i was going to ask if you can purchase outside and have it shipped. Smoke'm while you got'm itll be a matter of time before that gets shut down too

Don’t worry you have to sand and recoat anyway. After my 3rd playfield I realized the first can doesn’t matter. Tomorrow block sand it with 600 grit (or 400 if you want like said above) and do another can or 2 and repeat that process until you’re happy. This stuff is fool proof and to have a perfect finish on the first spray is unrealistic.

I was trying to find the video in my watch history I saw but I’m not having luck. I heard someone explain that triple thick is a “glaze” that’s different than traditional “clear coats” which sets on silk screened glass differently. Something with the solvents and the product itself has better results.

2 Part is pretty “hot” I imagine if you went too heavy you could cause lifting and ruin a perfect back glass. I learned the hard way when I tried to “preserve” a perfect glass using 2X Rustoleum clear coat as noob.

Stop at 600 dont go higher before you spray, Ive mentioned this several times on your other thread, you need to leave tooth for the new layer.

You’re so close on fixing them!!! Just keep wet sanding those spots they’re starting to open up now. And yeah clean that dust out of those holes. Or keep sanding until the craters start thinning away. this thing is going to look amazing!

Don’t drip anymore just flood the area once you get all the holes sanded

I know you don’t want to hear this but you need to sand them holes open more. When you wipe them with naphtha how do they look?

And by flooding I mean if you are doing a pass from left to right and it take 2 seconds with your speed… Just pause on the insert for one extra second. Do that each coat with your next can. Just giving it a little bit extra each coat so it pool a little in those areas and level out as it starts to set and flash.

What I’ve learned (because all my playfields always had cupped inserts and odd wear spots and are never flat) is the first can or 2 is just the foundation. You spray your first can to get a membrane so to say for the beauty coats.
After your first can wet sand with 600 then drip the inserts and other low spots with a separate 2 part clear coat that you mix up in a cup.
Once the puddles dry, scuff them up with 600 then start laying down your other cans until you have it looking how you like. Then start the block sanding process.
Who cares if the first can or 2 look like crap you’re just making a bed. That 3rd or 4th can is where the magic happens. Hell my freaking firepower was such a shit show it took me 9 freaking cans. But I was chasing fish eyes and burying water slide decals. Took a lot of layers.

Another playfield done with SprayMax

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Thanks Pablito350 i definitely under estimated all I needed to do to restore that one and the curveballs it threw at me weren’t fun. I’m digging where I’m at with it now though.

Same set I use. I love having the separate clear on hand for drips.

You might want to reach out to them to verify it’s the updated version. I would put money on it that it is but let them tell you for sure.