I forgot about Playmates. When I think of Domino (which recently left my game room), I always associate it with Grande Domino and forget about Playmates.

Alberto

Haha. You were a step ahead of me. No way Lariat's imagery
is that of an Add-a-Ball state. You had it all along!

I hope to finish up tuning this in after the Holidays. I would like to sell it then, and am curious if there is any interest in this title.
Work done so far is; original legs sand blasted and repainted original color gray, entire playfield stripped, cleaned and waxed, all original plastics are intact with no damage, all lamp sockets wire wheel cleaned. All switch contacts were polished, every relay was disassembled, switch contacts polished, new coil installed where needed, new head was fabricated with poplar by experienced cabinet maker, all score reels broken down, cleaned and lubricated. I need to order a piece of playfield glass for.

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A true "Wow" game according to Tim!

First coat of Varathane after gluing all the inserts back (think they're in the proper places!), then touch ups.

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YES IT IS, AND THE VERY FIRST ONE!
but don't tell j.r. won't hear the last of it..

That was my Lariat, which has an NOS backglass that I got from Mayfair a long time ago. The ruleset differs a LOT from Wild Wild West! Ty and I came up with a plan to have the two side-by-side so that you could see the differences. Also, this is the Lariat has the meters so that score adjustments can be based on actual data. (See https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pintastic-2019-buy-sell-party/page/15#post-5073322)
.................David Marston

Set this pin up in the shop today. Not working after sitting untouched for 20+ years. All steppers are frozen. There’s a couple hacks on the coin door which hopefully don’t affect the game being able to play.

First I need to get the steppers working again.

Alberto

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Gunked up stepper units most likely will all need to be broken down and cleaned. Pretty common.

I just finished rebuilding a Bally Monte Carlo. This game was in pretty sad shape, from what I could tell it was stored for at least a decade in an unprotected shed. There was a lot of visible weather damage, and all the PF inserts were either sunk or loose and had to be re-glued. And of course, there was an old rodent nest just to round things out.

Fortunately, the game was complete and in good enough condition to bring back to life. The owner didn't want any cosmetic improvements, so I just cleaned everything up as best I could. That's why some of the metal trim parts still show pitting in the decorative finish.

- TimMe

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Thanks Paul!

For the playfield art, you can still see the scars in the artwork near the kick-out holes, so no, there was no artwork restoration on this one. The PF surface just got a very good cleaning and waxing. I did put a bit of natural wood stain on the scars around the bumpers to make those less visible, and then put mylar rings around the bumpers to protect that part of the PF going forward.

I had to remove all the inserts and flatten them, they had all gotten sunk as well as badly cupped. When I re-installed them, of course I made sure they were level with the PF.

One trick when re-installing inserts with black keylines around them is to use a black Sharpie to blacken the edge and the upper part of the vertical sidewall of the hole in the PF where the insert goes. You also want to blacken the edge and the upper sidewall of the plastic insert itself. That way, when you glue the insert back in place (assuming you use wood glue) when the glue dries and becomes semi-transparent, the keyline around the insert stays nice and black. Without doing the Sharpie trick, you tend to end up with a visible gap-line around your inserts. This trick works good with other dark colors, too, such as when there is a red or green keyline around an insert - you just need to use the appropriate Sharpie color to match.

- TimMe

Great job Tim! After gluing in inserts, I shine a light through the backside of them looking for any light bleeding. I then inject wood glue from the top of the insert where light bleed is. Wipe excess off with a damp paper towel, let dry, and finish with touch up.

Thanks Chris, and thanks for sharing this tip. Your cosmetic work on playfields always looks amazing!

Happy holidays - TimMe

Repopulating a Queen’s Castle today…

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No play until rebuild done…

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That peacock artwork is pretty amazing!

You are welcome Tim, and Happy Holidays to you as well

It's a beautiful game! This is the first time I've ever seen the Queen's Castle game.

But I still think the peacock on Gottlieb's 1940 Paradise backglass takes the prize:

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- TimMe

After touchup and clearcoat, finally making progress on repopulating the playfield on Big Deal. Flippers, slingshots, and both drop target banks all set. All drops are new, and I put on white star decals, thanks again to TractorDoc for those!
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Fast draw playfield swap. De-rusted and cleaned components ready for fastening.

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Well, the Lariat had some issues, but all straightened out and plays fine.
The "Score/Balls in Play" card was ripped, just waiting for the new one to be
completed and she'll be 100%. A repro bg will also be coming her way..

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L-t-L up next. Although the bg has a replay window, this is
the AAB version..

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The left lane kickback is more fun than winning a game.

Yes, I'd have to agree, especially for home use (but for me more fun either way)..
Just start going through the head. I see all the 0-9 lights minus the 0 is
wired. I would think that's how the added balls are displayed, but it looks
as if the most added balls that can be accumulated at one time is 4 (maybe
5), so I'm not yet sure exactly what all the 0-9 is all about, but will once it's
all gone through and gets plugged in..

Just finishing up a refresh of this 1948 Exhibit Supply Co. New Contact.

I plan to finally post a game play video of this beauty when it’s done over on the woodrail thread.

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Finally finished with 4MBC. Pretty cool game-when everything works right. My biggest challenges were the on kicker at the left drain and trying to figure out why the rollover buttons weren't working right. It took a couple of days, but finally figured out on the schematic that the center button switch is normally closed(I had adjusted it open). As for the on kicker, someone had moved the kicker housing up about a half inch. I replaced the coil, coil sleeve, and spring. I then put the housing back to the factory holes. Working great now, but the key to it working well is the rollover switch adjustment. If not adjusted properly, the ball won't eject, and the coil will fry, (as shown in pic).
The only question I have is regarding the slingshot switch gap(that scores points), for the kicker coil. Every once in a while the 10 pt relay sticks when the ball is bouncing around down there.

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Yes, had the same with my Fireball. Fine adjustments...

Cleaning up a buddy’s Bow and Arrow playfield
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Man that thing cleaned up nice!
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Just finished my first playfield swap. Special thanks to Ken for encouragement and a few special tips. Sorry I didn’t take more detailed pics.

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Had a chance to go through the ‘47 ESCO Mystery I picked up… I’ll get some photos into a post on woodrails soon, but thought I’d share this today… Haven’t seen this notice tag before… hope I don’t see it again

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As if EM schematics weren’t hard enough….

Well, it’s called „Mystery“.

Very cool. I’ve been working on a ESCO Contact (see post above). I was lucky enough to get a schematic from Steve at PBR. No wiring colors on the drawing! Definitely made it more challenging.

Lucky!

Been doing a repair on a Bally bonus unit...
Typical stripped screws, part of the coil stop assemblies.
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Bought in 2013, in my storage during 8 years and just finished the restoration to operation of my Drop a Card.

Next step : Paintwork maybe in 8 years !

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4MBC looks good!

Thank you.

Too bad this wasn't standard practice in the 60s and 70s. 43 years later it's in my garage.

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Repaired, cleaned, waxed and back in the lineup. My dad is gonna be happy
Big thanks to Ryan1234 for all the help!

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I’ve got a pretty nice 1974 Gottlieb Top Card that I have never shopped out. I decided today was the day. Photos show pf just after I stripped the top side. Looks pretty good for a game with just over 15,000 games played. Local Seattle game from Music Vend. Pop bumper bodies, skirts, posts, and flippers from PBR, new plastics from Pinball Rescue before they shut down. All the screws and other metal currently in the tumbler with walnut shells and chrome polish. Clean and wax the playfield tomorrow, and when the metal is polished in a day or so, put the game back together.

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Well, the AAB version Loop-the-Loop is pretty much ready for the line up.
Instruction card should have this week, and a repro backglass coming in
before long. The backglass presently in it came from the Relay version and oddly
enough, the ball count goes up to 7. Replay versions should go only to 5..
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Bally experimented with a 7 balls per game setting on some replay models in the mid-1960s. Here's an example:
https://www.ipdb.org/files/1989/Bally_1967_Rocket_III_Replay_Model_Adjustments.pdf
I'm not near my trove of schematics right now, so I can't check Loop the Loop.
.................David Marston

Life got busy with a kid in 2017 and the EM's sat idle for the most part. Can't believe the hobby has grown even more than where it was a few years ago.

I picked this one up several years ago for $250. Fun game and a keeper for me so time to get back at it, have a bit of brush work to do.

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I wasn't able to get the AAB's schematic, so I got a copy of the Replay's version.
That schematic states 3 or 5 ball play. I haven't yet looked at the adjustments in
the Replay version machine that I have, but perhaps it's an early (maybe late)
model and it is adjustable up to 7 balls..
Have to take a look come warmer weather..

T.W. up next.
I'm primarily AAB, but I've heard
good things about this pin..

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Rightly so.

Steady progress on my Fast Draw restore. New coin door needs installation, then main board rebuild and head mechanics with new sockets. The original backglass is a 7-8 with a bit of red paint loss. Trying to get Shay to run some with the orange Indian dress, he claims some came in white but the only ones I have seen that color were his reproductions. Anyone ever see an original in white??

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Captain Fantastic

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Um, the logic is all missing

Ha... It's a work in progress. It's all there. Told the friend I got it from I'd make it right (pic before the teardown)
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