It looks like after I get done with all these Space Shuttles it's on to a bunch of Comets.

It seems to me that when they were brand new, they were screened with fluorescent colors? They were a cash cow and we put a lot of them out there, but every one I see now, the playfield is in just terrible shape. Faded, planked and the un Mylared areas are just chalk.

I think I'm just going to re screen the playfields rather than a conventional restore.

Does anyone remember, or have an actual un faded playfield to reference?

I got sent on the road by my employer, so I've not made much progress.

The artwork, I've been told, has been completed.

A set of screens is burned (one for each color) and the playfield is re-manufactured. I found a shop with a monster 38x52" press that screens plywood signs. It has laser registration, so the playfields will actually be better printed than the slop from 30 years ago.

I figure that with a real clear coat and buff out (something the orig never had) they will run ~$500, or clearcoat them yourself for $350.

Once I'm back living at home, and I approve the test panels, there will be some kind of announcement .

I won't keep it a secret, I promise.

I tested 2 of them with a black light and they seemed just very slightly reactive.

I wondered if they simply had faded.

It might be fun to screen them with UV inks and then wire black light strips to the playfield flash relay. When the playfield goes black, the UV comes on.

Exactly.