What was supposed to be a simple flipper rebuild on my Gulfstream turned into about 6 different projects. One area that was badly in need of attention was the upper playfield arch. I don't know if it was just faded from the sun or someone spilled something on it but it is supposed to be bright pink but was faded pink with white mottling throughout. I was going to repaint it but thought maybe I could polish it out.

Before

Closeup of damage, note the original color under the gate.

I cut some microfiber cloth and stuck it to the bottom of my random orbit palm sander. I ran that with some Novus 3. At first it didn't look like it was working. It was, but it was slow going. I removed most of the dirt and the worst of the discoloration that way. I followed up with some hand polishing with Novus 2 on a microfiber cloth. Finished it off with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound applied by hand and then some wax. Much to my surprise, I got it pretty close to the original finish.

After

Closeup, note the color match from where the gate was.

It took a lot of elbow grease and patience but the results were worth it. The pictures don't do it justice. It shines like glass now. Much easier than a repaint.

Nice and shiny! The white areas are reflections now, not remnants of the paint damage.