Didn't like the blocky clear strobes on either side of the playfield, and found these on Amazon for a few bucks from China. Popcorn buckets. My hope was to create custom brackets out of Lexan, drill the bottoms of these out and use super bright white LEDs in them. Worked like a champ! Much brighter in the video than in real life - it looks blinding in the vid but is actually appropriately bright.

IMG_4057.JPG

Vertical Video Warning (sorry!)

Also put in the roller coasters on the two ramps, all LEDs with some mixing up of the cointaker kit, red DMD, NVRAM, updated ROMs, fixed Opto with aftermarket Opto receiver and transmitter, yellow powdercoated legs and new hardware, new troll because the old one was nappy, and a couple extra playfield GI lights as the center of the playfield was pretty dark..

So all in all it's running really nicely for my first pinball machine, and since I got it for $400 I had plenty of funds to throw at it. I'm probably a grand into it now, so before you go talking smack about it being an RCT, for $1000 all-in, in this condition, I'm doing alright

Adam

Thanks! I was just in DC - ate at... Zatinya? Which was great. Then to NYC late last year to catch WD-50 before it shuttered and Le Bernardin. Both awesome, awesome meals. (Also picked up new cooking knives from Joel at Cut Brooklyn!)

Ok back on topic - the troll is simple - 3 zip ties but you only need to re-attach with two, one on each leg. Look for a troll between 2.5-3.5" tall excluding hair. Get an original Dam brand If you can. The post he is on has cutouts for the heels and butt, and it fits the DAM trolls the best. Others should work fine though as long as the size is right.

Adam

Pinballchef - first things first - I was a Shun guy too until I got my Cut knives. Still love Shuns. Check out http://www.cutbrooklyn.com. I love them. And so does Alton Brown

The pop caps are tricky. I nearly didn't install since you have to lift the left ramp to get in there, but I figured I'd make it work. I cut the red top lens on by bandsaw to fit correctly, and slightly filed the board so it didn't hit the Chicago loop. Then the blue cap was taller than stock and causes the ball to jump the ramp and go off track. I marked it where it was under the left ramp, and took it out to the belt sander and brought it down some. You actually can't tell by looking at the machine but it made enough room that the ball now lunches and travels perfectly.

I got the premium non-ghosting LEDs off Cointaker and haven't noticed any ghosting or noticeable flicker. Machine looks and works great.

I also added an 8" external powered sub underneath which is about like having a shaker motor now. Nice thumps!

I'll find and post the popcorn from Amazon momentarily...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00J2X0DEY/ref=yo_ii_img

Sorry I should have added that I used the Bright Caps. The blue bulb was out anyways so I needed to get in there to replace it. Only took a few minutes to loosen up that ramp. 4 screws or so - no need to remove the full ramp.