Hi Vid,

As discussed, here are the pictures of my Fish Tales playfield. Some planking. Is this fixable so I can touch up and then clear? I noticed the image is not solid color but rather dotted on the blue and orange part, I fear it can't be touched up. Is this playfield always going to be a player's condition? Should I look into a new CPR then if wanted better? If it's salvageable, what should be the process?

Thanks!

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Isn't the blue and orange area a gradient pattern?

So in these images, the solid color would be light blue and the dark blue would be ALL half-tone dots decals?

Sounds tricky

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Also, will "light sanding" take care of the bumpiness here and won't show up through the clear or something needs to be done?

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If you got to apply frisket over an area that's already been touched up with water slide decals, how to prevent the frisket to lift the decals?

Is it 100% necessary to strip of parts the back side of a playfield to clearcoat? How to deal with it then? remove switches, plug holes?

Hey vid,

About storing playfield, I guess any piece of wood would work as rails to straighten the playfield? Hard wood most likely.

Do you simply screw along the sides and top and bottom or at a few place in the middle as well?

Most importantly, do you use exiting holes for top side rails or screw in fresh wood? Does this leave holes when the playfield is ready to use?

Any pictures how you do it?

Not sure I understand this part, sorry

Oh ok! The endgrain of the rail, not the playfield...

Like that I guess. Screws #8 in the same holes as the top side rails. Careful not to go through. Mine are poplar wood 1"x2".

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This won't prevent twisting though, any solution?

Hi Vid,

I'm restoring my Pinbot and decided to bite the bullet and refinish my playfield as well. The playfield had factory mylar which removed pretty good. As you can see in the pictures, I got very little paint loss except a few places and got some planking as well.

I through fully cleaned the playfield with magic eraser and alcohol. I still have to sand the shooter lane.

I intend to airbrush solid colors wherever is needed. I needed to patch 2 holes with bondo and I sanded flat.

There are a few screw holes the have the top layer of veneer cracked and split as you can see in the pictures, should I do anything for those?

Is it mandatory to clear before airbrushing?

Can I base clear with water based spray can varathane and do the final clear with 2pac? Then I can only take the playfield to a paint shop when I'm totally done.

Basically, from what what you see and hear, what would be my next steps?

Thanks!

-G

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Cheers mate

Hi Vid, I'm about to start trying to find a local paint shop to do the base clear coat over my Pinbot before I do touch-ups. What should I look for or avoid?

Type/Brand/Mix of automotive clear that are OK and not OK, Any type they are using?

Amount of clear to apply and how since it's probably going to be their first playfield. Or does it make a difference?

Basically what question should I ask when calling? I'd like them to take my playfield anytime they plan on doing clearcoat on other automotive pieces so they do all at the same time for minimum cost. To make it simple for them, I thinking saying I got a fancy flat piece of 2'x4' plywood to 2pac. Would that work you think?

Thanks man.

Then I'm going to ask here:

Is there anyone here in the Montreal area that clears playfield?

I think I found my guy. Thanks!

I sent my playfield for base clear coat and built a neat transport/levelling box. I did not strip the underside. The brackets on the sides are strategically placed so they do not hang on anything on the playfield. I thought I would share a picture.
-G

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Yes it just sits on it. It could be screwed through the "L" bracket but no need really unless you want to flip the thing. The playfield cannot slide out of the frame. Also, when sitting, the playfield sticks out a little so the clear can reach the edge. The frame is slightly wider than the playfield anyway.

Yes, sitting on top of sawhorses would be perfect. The playfield will sit leveled this way. The frame is 9" depth so plenty to clear all the hardware underneath the playfield.

Vid, the guy who does my base clear coat said that I could seal my color touch-ups myself with very light coats of acrylic lacquer between colors and only bring him back the playfield for final clear. That sounds like an ideal situation to me.

Would you advise against it or it is OK to use lacquer under those circumstances?

Got my playfield back from the clearcoating dude. Overall very happy. He did some black touch-ups using the wipe method to fill the cracks on bare wood as my playfield was quite dry. Make a world of difference.

The base/seal coat was very thin as suggested I believe and filled in the cracks and insert as expected. Leaving a rough but sealed surface.

I'll rough up the surface and start my painting.

What grit should I sand with, I read from 400 to 800 depending on who I ask to.

Before:
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After:
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You can check out my restoration thread and back up a few posts to get more info on my playfield process. I'm just doing was others have done really... aka ask Vid.

Hey Vid,

Naphtha seems not always available here in Canada. Any alternative? Is camping fuel the same? Like this:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/coleman-naphtha-fuel-946-ml-0760093p.html

From Wiki: Coleman fuel is a mixture of cyclohexane, nonane, octane, heptane, and pentane.

Well it seems my base clearcoat did not adhere very well. While installing my first frisket mask and peeling it off I noticed some flaking on the edges. I wasn't sure if it was glue from the frisket or the frisket itself, perhaps the clearcoat.

I did a test under the apron area. Maybe I was too aggressive with the exacto knife but the clear should not lift that easily... Now I'm afraid painting over this the clear to see the base clear to starting to lift and ghost all over the place down the road.

?

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It still smelled. I contacted my clearcoat guy and said he advised me not to sand or work the playfield for at least 2 weeks. I guess my bad.

I can understand the clear is still soft but will it adhere more as it cures? How long should someone wait for the playfield to cure?

I guess I did cut through even though I put very little pressure on the blade. I did not expect that.

Medium, that was 8 days ago.

It smelled if I put my nose right in it, smelled slightly more as I sanded.

I'll give it more time.

Hey vid,

I recently had my playfield sealed with 2pac and started my paint touch ups. Once in a while, when I remove the frisket (even though low tack) it lifts the clearcoat from the edge where I cut the frisket (it scored the clear). Basically creating a ghosting effect. I'm now very careful when cutting the frisket but still it scores the clear.

A few places, I just use my xacto to remove/scratch the ghosted clear as it's not sticking to the playfield anymore but I wonder if when I clear again if the new clear will run underneath those and I'll be all good?

I fear the original seal coat will start lifting after I'm done. What do you think?

Like this example:

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I find sanding with green scotch-brite to give tooth between colors gives me satisfying result as my playfield is still not flat. How does it compare with actual sand paper?

Anyone knows if we can buy waterslide decal by the sheet?

A seller from eBay currently sells single sheet for $2.30. We'll see how it turns out... I should also check print shop as you suggested.

Very good deal, shipping is a killer to Canada. Thanks for the lead.

I had the same issue with my Createx White and Grey opaque touch-ups to a way less intense level though. Just slight wrinkling when seen from sideways.

Others colors did not do that at all. White and grey had the less time to dry before doing the clear.

Hey Vid,

Can I apply water slide decal right over an airbrushed painted area, then final clear? Or I need to apply some clear over the painted area before doing the water slide decal?

Also, I understand that the first coat of clear over waterslide decals should be a light coat to avoid melting the decals. What about a light coat, wait 20 min and then do a first heavier coat of clear? Would that be enough time?

Thanks buddy.

Can I clearcoat at any humidity level without problem if temp is OK?

I plan doing CC this week end in my shed but it will be raining and high humidity. I can install a deshumidifier to try to lower it.

Does finger oil repel clearcoat?

Hey Vid,

I finished my paint touch-up and did my first 2 coats of clear (spraymax 2k in can). After the first coat, an issue appeared over the white and light grey touched-up areas, see after sanding:
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Happened mostly at the edges but I could see some wrinkling in the white and blue as well.

Even in this picture, the white was done months apart using a different paint (1st time createx, 2nd time spectra-tex) You can notice the different tone white.IMG_5853 (resized).JPG

I bit the bullet and repainted the grey, will redo all the white next. Now, in order to avoid this happening again, what when wrong?

Too much clear on the initial coat over paint? Too much/thick paint?

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It happened rather quickly I would say, by the time I went for my second coat (12-15 min flash time) it was there.

Is it possible that clear sipped underneath the paint and lifted/cracked it. Like if too thick of paint absorbed some clear and wrinkled?

Like if the clear melted the paint and then shrunk it. I don't know really.

Just trying real hard to avoid that again.

Yeah. And instead of doing 2 coats with 1 can, will probably do 3-4 lighter coats. I'll only do heavier coats in the final shot (3rd and last can)

Yes there was. I sealed my touch-ups using it in-between coats.

I was suggested to use it.

That is exactly what I'm doing now. Except I'm redoing light gray and probably blue/green/orange near the top of the chest as well...

Lessons learned. The hard way. Practice makes perfect... and feed-up.

As I'm redoing some of my touch-ups, I figured I should post a video of how I cut frisket mask with an xacto knife. I am no artist and a beginner really but I guess it shows with a little patience and steady hand anybody can do it.

Tips I may share:
-Hold the knife lightly, no need to press hard, be gentle.
-Use you other hand to steady your motion. Like I play guitar, I use my pinky to add some control to the movement and slide along the surface better.
-When doing rounds, I prefer to start with my wrist bent and unwind, not the inverse. Bend as much before getting unconformable, you can get a good stretch with the same stroke. Move your body as a whole.
-Change position to get best approach and best lighting. Do not get lazy standing in one place.

I use Createx and an Iwata 5mm and even though I was suggested to shoot straight from the bottle (especially with 5mm at 40psi), I had more success thinning the paint to milk+ consistency with my special mix of water, 99% alcohol and flow improver.

2/3 water (distilled), 1/3 Isopropyl alcohol (99%), a few drops of flow improver. That is for about a 100ml bottle

Some use some glycerin as well and some drying retarder. (few drops)

Hey Vid, after clearcoat, do you shave a layer of clear before driving your pop bumpers nails through or because they are bolted from the underside it is not really necessary? As long as they sit flat?

Hi Vid/All, what do you think of this playfield? Should I be worried about the insert wear? Should I stay away from this potential buy as there are way better IJ playfield out there? or not?

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Hey Vid, is it necessary to wet sand before polishing. I find wet sanding makes a mess and rather prefer dry sanding if I can. Will I acheive the same result or past a certain grit, dry sanding just won't work? Thanks!

Vid, is there any problem starting the final sanding (before polish) with 400 grit at some high spot area? Then move up 600-800-etc.

Gotcha. I filled some low spots with an eyedropper before doing my final wet coat and I feel I would get over those bumps quicker with coarser grit.

Hey Vid, I got a new CPR in storage for my next project. I'm wondering if I should clear/varnish the backside to keep it clean and easier to clean in the future? What product do you recommend? Any type of varnish? Should I sand before to make it as smooth as possible?

Thanks!

Now you stripped the top side, I would bite the bullet and remove the Mylar and clearcoat the playfield. Even if it requires some touch ups, it will look amazing.

Thanks to this thread, Vid and others, I'm done with my playfield restoration. Would have been impossible without you. Thanks again!

Before:
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After:
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I used Liquitex Acrylic Professional Paint Marker with success and decent color match. Does not cover as well as spraying paint though (ex: around inserts, light might shine through) For playfield it's fine.

This guy but with a medium size tip:
https://www.amazon.com/Liquitex-Professional-Paint-Marker-Carbon/dp/B00BSR916I/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2_m

For you guys using the HP4600 scanner, does it run on windows 7 (drivers)?

It's not cleaning with naphta?

You can always wipe with a solution of bleach white to kill the mold. Perhaps?

I'm sure I'm stating the obvious but redo the whole blue area, not just spot fix-it. Then even if color is off a little it will look good.

Turned out great!

Anyone here 2pac clearcoated modern Stern games?

I'm getting an AC/DC pro with Aurich's Helen decal, I'm wondering how it would cope with 2 PAC clear.

Covered the same issue here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinbot-restoration-underway/page/3#post-3803668

Pm me, I can find the font I used for you.

Not a huge deal imho.

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