what NOT to do on PF touchups (aka "should have listened..."

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#1 7 years ago

OP

???

Tommy-player

Inactive member

Boiling Springs, SC

9y 24,400 51 2

Lets just call this a cautionary tale to newbies. Spent a lot of hours reading inside forum advice on various issues that have helped me immensely. Tackled a Bally playboy that had a beat up cabinet but watched the videos from Jeff at PinballPimp and it turned out great (many thanks Jeff!)

Just got a bally strikes and spares that had lots of wear on the play field. Not up to a full playfield swap so thought I would try touching this one up. After reading virtually ever post on techniques to use I took a shot.

As the title suggests, maybe I should have read a bit more. Searched everywhere to get recommendations on "out of the bottle" colors but everyone suggested I try mixing. Not being an art major my amateur attempts at acrylic color matching didn't exactly match. The color difference was made even more noticeable when I had the bright idea to clear coat the PF (obviously another poor decision on my part)

I did try several paint pens by craftsmart that I got from hobbylobby and found the yellow and black were perfect color matches . The red was close but allowed me to trace all the small red letters so they looked good.

Again, should have read the part where someone said "don't use polyurethane clear coat" as it reacts with certain touchups. Including the perfectly drawn black lines that bled EVERYWHERE. Looked like my wife's mascara on our wedding day!

Needless to say these are just rookie mistakes. Going to sand it backdown to bare wood and start over. Did I mention that I'm looking for a PF overlay?

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#2 7 years ago

CDY

cody_chunn

Inactive member

Mobile, AL

9y 64,800 4,520

Everyone started out with mistakes. You'll do much better next time, and then even better, and then...

Don't sweat it.

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#3 7 years ago

JJZ

toyotaboy

RandOM Pinball

Allyn, WA

12y 184K 11,929 3 14

I assume you didn't clear to lock in the original artwork before you started touching up? You "might" be able to recover some of the artwork regardless (at least partial artwork as a guide) if you sand very carefully. Another option: scan the entire playfield as is, trace it into vector artwork, and create layered masks.

Honestly, most playfield touchups I've done are on EM's and I've had good luck with water-based polyurethane (doesn't smell either):

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#4 7 years ago

JIG

jwilson

Pinball Art Prints

Toronto, ON

9y 106K 5,051 6 7

Sand it all off and put on an overlay.

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#5 7 years ago

JJZ

toyotaboy

RandOM Pinball

Allyn, WA

12y 184K 11,929 3 14

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=PP&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PPS-CA-1128-159

http://www.starship-fantasy.com/playfields/Strikes-Spares

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#6 7 years ago

OP

???

Tommy-player

Inactive member

Boiling Springs, SC

9y 24,400 51 2

fantasygoat, I am looking for an overlay but can't find one anywhere. Hoping someone takes pity on the newb and locate one for me.

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1

#7 7 years ago

RAR

beelzeboob

Pinside+ Frequent

10y 182K 20,677 1

I took my glasses off and it looks terrific.

Great work!

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1

#8 7 years ago

RUF

rufessor

Pinside member

11y 66,400 2,062 6 10

Dont feel too bad- You should see how well things come out when you redo it a few times. Sand carefully and you should be ok. Dont try to sand it all off- I bet you can take off the black fairly well... But yes- glasses off it looks fine ?

Return to the battle and update us with your progress-you shall conquer eventually.

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#9 7 years ago

CAT

Butterflygirl24

Pinside member

12y 84,575 1,450

You can save that you don't need an overlay...sand carefully, touch up around the areas that ran...in future never ever use Sharpies or paint pens on anything that gets cleared...Paint entire areas not just spots...
FYI sometimes it is easier to pick the closest color...and paint the entire area. That way your colors will all match.
You got this... Don't give up!!

Phoebe

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#10 7 years ago

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ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 236K 31,330 268 14

Unfortunately, shortcuts tend to have drawbacks, which is why then tend not to be recommended.

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#11 7 years ago

MEL

Superchicken

Pinside member

11y 56,150 639 15 7

This is the only thread you need to pay attention to on this subject:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration

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2

#12 7 years ago

KEN

radium

Pinside+ Frequent

Covington, LA

10y 93,550 4,153 12 2

I've put lipstick on enough pigs to know its most important to stabilize playfield first... Clean off dirt/oil/adhesives, repair wood damage, secure or replace inserts, clear/sand/fill until COMPLETELY LEVEL.

If you learn to do this right, the playfield will be in solid shape. THEN you start repairing art and it's much easier to get good results.

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#13 7 years ago

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ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 236K 31,330 268 14

Quoted from radium:
I've put lipstick on enough pigs to know its most important to stabilize playfield first... Clean off dirt/oil/adhesives, repair wood damage, secure or replace inserts, clear/sand/fill until COMPLETELY LEVEL.
If you learn to do this right, the playfield will be in solid shape. THEN you start repairing art and it's much easier to get good results.

The problem here was that paint pens react and bleed with clear coat and poly.

By Tommy-player

7 years ago

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