I am kicking off my next Bally SS restore this one is Voltan Escapes Cosmic Doom.It is a pretty rare game at 365 units made back in early 1978.
This will be a very pure style restoration utilizing all the original parts and manually repainting the cabinet.
Manual repaint being necessary since no stencils are available and it will help highlight some processes few show .
The playfield will also require a fairly extensive refinishing .
Anyway should make for a very interesting and informative series that will be captured here in pictures as well as on youtube in videos.
Right now just the preliminary pictures.

Christopher Hutchins

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Other side.

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Front.

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Thanks for the heads up.My life just got a little easier.

Here is the first video in the series that will capture this restoration.

I understand that completely and you could throw AFM and a number of others in there too but I have to admit that I *almost* turned this TAF into my next feature restoration.

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Part two is now up .
This primarily deals with rebuilding the connectors,how that is done and why it is important.
I think this series will flow better than ones I have done in the past since I have a bit more experience documenting them now.

Pictures of the current progress for the sake of documenting it here outside of video as well.

All connectors have been rebuilt.It is a very time consuming and tedious job but there is no way around it on these early solid state Ballys.

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This is a very cool game that deserves to be restored just as much as any other game that someone is willing to put the time effort or money into.

The lamp panel is refinished and rebuilt.
First is evaluation and teardown.

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Refinished.
Cleaned and reworked the displays .New strips were made for them and I reflowed the header pins.

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All metal was polished.The harness is soldered back into place and this panel is closed out.

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Backglass was cleaned and new channels were installed.The metal channel was tough to remove and had to be forced off.

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Will start getting into the playfield removal and restore next I think

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Just a standard sticky back felt cut into the correct size strips.
Another alternative that might be a little closer to what as on there originally would be strips of Pinbits drop dead foam but it is a little too thick I think..

Lots but I just haven't had time to put it all together for a video or post lately.

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Part 4 video is up.Deals with teardown and cabinet evaluation as well as the general plan of attack.Part 5 is editing and will be up shortly.That will deal with stripping and repairing the cabinet.

No I don't have a scanner and I am not really computer savvy .Everything I do is all manual labor stuff.

Part 5 is up and it starts to get a bit more interesting. Really tough to capture a 200 hour plus restore in a series of 10 minute or less videos without missing something here and there or having 200 parts but hopefully it covers some basics and at least shows a decent evolution of the project as it takes place.

The playfield is now cleared for the first time.
These pictures show the steps prior to that .The Mylar was removed in the pop bumper areas,the holes were cleaned the surface was sanded and cleaned as well as possible without losing paint and art.

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From that point the shooter lane was sanded and shaped then some rough hand touch ups were done to the most obvious wear in an effort to make somewhat of a blueprint and base to work off of for the more detailed repaints to come. These touch ups are not meant to be exact just something that is better than bare wood sealed under the first clear .

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The other obvious wear spots here and there were also rough in.There is much more to be done but this was a good foundation to clear over .

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The clear is applied and still wet when these pictures are taken.
This first clear will seal the loose paint and wood fibers,help fill various low spots and wear.Start leveling inserts and more importantly give a more durable surface to sand tape and paint on.

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Pull the nails out of the bottom where the metal plate is.After all the nails are out a light tap on the side breaks them free from the floor.After that tap a putty knife between the center brace/cash box divider and the pry it forward..

Back to the cabinet .
The repairs are complete.
I did make an effort to clean up all the joints and construction of the cabinet by reworking the seams.

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Now it is primed and guide coated.
Minor things that pop up here and there are addressed with a little putty(the blue stuff).

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Starting to sand it down now and work the grain out of it.

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Sanding is complete and it is nice and smooth.A bit more grained on the back of the head than the rest of the cabinet but it will paint clear and sand out as the process continues.

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Everything is prepped for the base coat of white and the speckling pattern to follow that.Once in place that will be cleared to seal it off from the future stencil work since the speckling is kind of a one shot deal and hard to perfectly duplicate in small spots should there be an issue of color leakage during stenciling.

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The white base is down and the speckling pattern is done.I went with a titanium type color to better accent the colors to follow.Original was just a little more on the gold side so it is a reasonable change and not too drastic.

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Ready to clear and then cleared.Full gloss this time around since I will be sanding it and further painting anyway.
Will let that set a couple days and work on other parts of the game.

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Back to the playfield.
It is sanded and prepped for the first true round of repaints.
Red first.
Masking the capes off on the lower was a chore as expected but worth the effort.

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Now for the next thing I felt would be tedious.Masking and refinishing the yellow.

Then the white in the GI areas.I didn't do it on the interior of the playfield because I think the aged skulls look more correct than bright white ones then on top of that the banners and areas with fine detail and lettering would be tough to improve unless they really needed it.White has a tendency to look like it is floating or 3 D if there are a lot of little details to be cut out of the masked areas.

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At this point some minor hand work is done here and there but it cannot be further masked or air brushed because the risk that poses to the work already completed so I am ready to clear it again.

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Second clear is applied and this should be what is needed to finish leveling out the surface and inserts so I can concentrate on those and other repaints the next time around.
While it cures I will be continuing the work on the cabinet and stenciling it.

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The middle area shows the most improvement at this point but the orange and inserts are yet to be done.

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The upper areas in the pop bumper section are also much improved.The little planes and dithering were hard to work with but came out fine.

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A material like frisket.Will be covered in the videos once updated.

Cabinet is sanded and ready to stencil.

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Second color is done and it is umasked.
I went with a little redder shade for the magenta and a more vivid shade for the purple.
Some of the colors are hard to get a lot of pop out of if you try to do an exact match they can look washed out.That is mostly because I use an auto base and they could have used a lot of different types of paint at that time.

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The head is a pain because the stencils are off.Will take some manual rework but nothing that can't be handled.A tape measure and pencil plus a good grade of tape and razor blade is all it takes.

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The second purple stencil was not too bad once I had all the correct alignments in order for the first stencil.
The other side was finished at that time and I can move to the front.

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Now for the worst part.That is the front.The front stencil is terribly incomplete and off badly on one side so it is used only as a loose guide to recreate the art.
The purple stencil for the front was probably the worst attempt of making a stencil I have seen.It was missing entire sections.Not sure if they just weeded it wrong or what but if I did not have a large arsenal of tools and a skill set that deals with this type of thing daily they would simply be unusable.

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Now the cabinet is ready to clear for the second time.This will be done in full gloss once again as I start working towards leveling all edges and sealing the color work before the final repaints,corrections and matte clear application.

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Second clear is applied.Not too much effort put into a flawless application at this point since it will be sanded once again but it is a nice finish overall .

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Part 6 was put up the other day and begins the playfield restore.

Part 7 is up now and continues the cabinet restoration.There is some info in there .Tough to make a true how to video out of any of these projects because the work has to take place without worrying about what we can capture or missed along the way but each time I try to give something up here and there that might not have been covered previously or shed some insight to the thought process.

Yes.The only game in town on these right now.The vendor can be hit and miss but these are definitely a miss on the front and head but well done on the sides.
With only 365 potential sales to be made on these particular stencils maybe accuracy isn't important to them but it is frustrating.
I can't/don't complain I just make them right manually but could see where it would piss people off..No time for that nonsense over here the show must go on.

Part 8 is up now and further captures and explains the playfield restoration process.

The cabinet has had the final reworks and final clear application.There is a little detail left to do like blacking out the neck of the lower and finishing the floor with a light overspray where appropriate.
First the cabinet was sanded with a soft interface pad and 800 grit sand paper.
After that it was masked so I could tighten up the magenta color in both the bordering and the shade.I wanted a reddish base but a little more on the purple side of it.

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The other corrections were made where needed.

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Now unmasked and with the backglass in the background for comparision.My ultimate goal is to pull the cabinet close to the backlass in color but also bridge the gap between the contrast of the cabinet and the playfield.
To explain ....The cabinet has a purple and pink like scheme,the backglass is much more of a magenta and the playfield has none of the pink nor magenta it is red and purple based.
The effort put in helps make everything work better together as a total package.
It is ready for the final matte clear at this point.

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Final matte clear is applied.
Matte clear is the standard full gloss clear but with an additive that flattens it out.How much depends on the ratios used of full gloss clear to matte clear.
I like to go with a nice gloss that is lower than full but just a little more than semi so it is not gloss but has a sheen and muted reflection.
At this point the clear is not dry but after 16-24 hours will be at it's desired gloss level.

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No I use felt trimmed behind the legs on this era.

Felt on painted cabinets, the newer Stern protectors on decaled cabinets.The plastic ones specifically on WPC-95 cabinets and the metal or plastic ones on WPC cabinets.
Reason being that the rear leg locations on WPC-95 games are lower and so the protectors hang off the edge about a 1/4 of an inch .When using the plastic Stern protectors you can easily shave them down.When using the metal ones you have to grind them.

It is more than that but depends on a lot of different factors so the true cost is rarely known until all is said and done.

Urethane based primer,paints and clears.All automotive and catalyzed which means there is a hardner and/or a reducer added to each one.This is insures that products are chemically reacted so they dry quickly and completely unlike one part components found in spray cans or other oil and water based paint products .

I just could not get comfortable with my red color choice so I hit it one more time.The third time was a charm in this case.
What a pain to mask and match!
I was able to add a little more detail into the stencil work and further tighten up some line and perfect the surface so it was a blessing in disguise I suppose.

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Now unmasked . The neck was blacked out and the final matte clear was applied once more.Three nice coats this time around.
Small accents added to the stencil since these are supposed to be feathers.
I did leave the hearts and drops of blood the redder shade.It is subtle but works well.

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Head and lower should be ready to rebuild in the next day or so.

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Final on the cabinet.Now on to other things like polishing the hardware so I can get it back together..

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I used the original cabinet .There are two Voltans here one is very rough so I pulled it out for reference as the project evolves. .

Some parts by hand,others in tumblers,ultrasonic cleaners,nickel plating and on and on.
Basically I just look at each part,the condition of it,it's purpose and location and try to figure out the best method.

Part 9 is up now and begins the cabinet stenciling process.As can be seen from the pictures and post there is much more to come on this subject from where this video leaves off.All documented and in the process of being put up there also..

Yes that was done a few different times during the process.

Part 10 is now up.Deals with the color and stencil corrections.

The metal plate on the bottom is cleaned up nicely.
The bracing for the cash box is back in place and I have done what I could with the floor.

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Now the cabinet is in the rebuild area.

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Thanks!
On the nail holes.Once the cabinet is primed,painted and cleared numerous times they are very tight.Additionally the replacement nails are a bit longer.I will be getting into the nails during the rebuild.
I am always in my workout clothes.They are the best work clothes in the world.Nice and comfy,easy to move around in.

Now back to the playfield.
After the clear settles in a few days the surface cracks and masking edges pop up.
At this point it is then sanded aggressively again and prepped for the next round of repaints.
The first thing I want to do on this round is tighten up the previously roughed in areas that were bare wood and painted by hand.I address the purple first.

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I missed taking a picture of the orange I masked and repainted because it was so tedious by the time it was ready to spray I had filmed it but forgot the still picture.
Anyway orange was painted as needed or as could be done well then I moved to the wood tones.all this was well documented in video and will be put up once I get a chance to .
All natural woodgrain was saved and enhanced with the rework while the ground in dirt and cracking was eliminated..

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The playfield is about ready to clear once again in the following pictures.These highlight the work to date including the orange and some closing in of the insert borders although the black work still truly lies ahead.

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Now the third clear application is in place.

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I will let this clear application set a few days and work on other aspects of the restore plus my other projects of course.

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Part 11 is up now and gets more in depth into the playfield restore.

Part 12 is up and continues the playfield restore process with things like painting wood tones and another application of clear.

Christopher Hutchins

Glad to hear it .I am going to try to document the best I can exactly what goes into this even if it takes 50 videos.

No but it sounds cool.I always have a hard time figuring out what is best.Sticking with the original stuff or making well thought out improvements?I usually end up with a mix of both if left on my own.Otherwise I let the owner be the guide.

Got the final rework and clear done on the playfield.

Sanded it nice and flat.
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I had one insert that kept absorbing the clear on the previous applications to tend to.That was filled with filler and repainted after cleaning.
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Now cleaned up and ready for the final clear.
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Final clear is freshly applied but should not settle in too much at this point after it dries a few days.

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Here is what I come out with.I have done what I could without overdoing it.I feel like the insert borders look correct not unnatural and that the new repaints blend in well with the old areas I couldn't properly address.
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Moving into the center.
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And finally up top.
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With all the major stuff in place/curing/taking shape I am ready to deal with the coin door.
Now normally I would just gut it send a lot out to be plated,put a new skin on and make my own harness but on this particular restore I want to use as much as I can of what is there and do as much as I can naturally.
It is really about different styles methods and possibilities.
First we have the starting platform.
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Now gutted and focused on different parts and methods.
First what needs to be blasted.
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Taking what I can clean and putting it in the ultrasonic.
Laying it out,blowing it dry.
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Polishing the parts as well as I possibly can.Had a little help because the oldest boy wants money
He did good on that coin return.
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Working the skin over.That reads so wrong I know but what else to call it?

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