Quoted from MrBigg:OK, I'm done mourning, and got another sheet of Whitewood. So here we go BDC Pin version 2.0
Already have better ideas...
Good for you! To quote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang "From the Ashes of Disaster Grow the Roses of Success"!
roses-of-success-chitty-chitty-band-bang (resized).jpgthat was faster than I expected hahha! Did you already playtest your design a bunch, or were you winging where some things were going? Your old PF still looks servicable if not.. I would suggest finishing the wiring on it as you woudl transfer that over anyway - and doing some playtesting of shots off the flippers to see about adjusting things. Just a thought... maybe you already did a lot of testing and I missed it though.
Great to hear you picked this project up again! I actually thought about your woodworking skills today as I finished up a really amateur looking contraption I built.
Quoted from ReadyPO:Good for you! To quote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang "From the Ashes of Disaster Grow the Roses of Success"!
[quoted image]
That is a blast from the past! Btw looking back that was a horrible movie for a child to watch, lol
Quoted from Mbecker:that was faster than I expected hahha! Did you already playtest your design a bunch, or were you winging where some things were going? Your old PF still looks servicable if not.. I would suggest finishing the wiring on it as you woudl transfer that over anyway - and doing some playtesting of shots off the flippers to see about adjusting things. Just a thought... maybe you already did a lot of testing and I missed it though.
So originally this was only, I repeat only a retheme... but, being the disaster I am, since it was too far gone, I took it upon myself to build a custom playfield, "just moving a few things around". We'll I went way past that as I always do, and boom, got in trouble.
The old playfield showed more cracks yesterday, and is bucked, and warped as well, so it will end up a wall hanger as my first, in my shop. It's worse than the pictures show.
Fortunately I only had the wiring started on GI and special lighting so I will transfer that, however with changes being made, I'm afraid some of the other wiring might be too short, or long, so I'll wait.
Haven't used flippers with power, but I have "thrown" the ball, and some of my old playfield shots were just not doable with addition of the ramp, and upper pick playfield. However, I am taking all that into account this go around with a sim, and since I have all the parts, will do a layout only, and fix those issues. This will be better, as I'm not blind going in this time. Now I have enough knowledge to be tremendously dangerous to myself!
Thanks for the input, and for following
Quoted from RonSwanson:Great to hear you picked this project up again! I actually thought about your woodworking skills today as I finished up a really amateur looking contraption I built.
My Girlfriend threatened me, and after a few days, I realized how many people were cheering me on locally, and how bad I want this, so here we go again.
At least this time, I have a little better understanding of what the heck is going on.
What kind of "contraption" were you building?
And here's my latest wood working skills, it turned out really nice...
Screenshot_20221124_081950_Chrome (resized).jpgQuoted from MrBigg:OK, I'm done mourning, and got another sheet of Whitewood. So here we go BDC Pin version 2.0
Already have better ideas...
You love to see it. 
Quoted from Cmartin1235:Intrigued. How are you doing your lights around the orbit?
They will be in the blocking the same way all the way around with LED rgb strip lights, then there will be 4 acrylic tubes coming through the playfield in each corner with lights in them under the playfield.
The holes are drilled now so you can kind of see.
20221124_155159 (resized).jpg20221124_165204 (resized).jpgLots of drilling and cutting today
Wish you could post videos here because my ramp, and upper tier finally, actually work!
Had to cut a new pick without a hole in it, but we'll worth it to see the ramp, and wire form, actually take a ball, and work.
This one is already way better in just its form than the one I dropped, and broke..
20221125_112332 (resized).jpg20221125_193505 (resized).jpgMore layout, drilled the plexi to accommodate the acrylic tubes coming through for supports, which I think looks really cool, can't wait to see those light up.
More plastic cut, and things are coming together.
Took some angle pics to show the tubes, and support work.
Center piece will no longer be a loop, or half circle ball guide, but will now feature an angle pass through on both sides to direct shots to the back.
However they will be narrow entrances like the small half circle was.
20221126_130310 (resized).jpg20221126_130324 (resized).jpg20221126_130339 (resized).jpg20221126_131036 (resized).jpg
Quoted from Cmartin1235:Nice wireworm. Where from?
Marcos specialties, but that's not the shape it came in. It was like a roller coaster.
Had to flatten it out, cut it, and flair the end. There's not much too these now that I have a couple, I'll probably build them next time.
Quoted from Cmartin1235:Intrigued. How are you doing your lights around the orbit?
You can probably see it better in this latest round of pics, but it'll become more clear as I cut the rod for the holes that are si ilar to the supports.
Only difference is they won't go through the lexan like they did.
Love what I've read so far!
Do you have a link to the Bluetooth sound board you have pictured here? I'm curious what it is and what it can do.
Thanks and keep up the awesome work!
Quoted from MrBigg:So let's continue with better news... I finished the coney island, and yes, it's a full restore nearly now, minus a bit of touch up on new wood installed in the back box. I'm knee deep into the Bigg Deal Cutoms build now, and I'll share some cabinet photos to keep this moving along, as well as a bluetooth custom sound generator, and music player that can be used for the machine sounds, as well as using it as a juke box when the game is not in play.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Quoted from ejacques:Love what I've read so far!
Do you have a link to the Bluetooth sound board you have pictured here? I'm curious what it is and what it can do.
Thanks and keep up the awesome work!
I bought it on parts express website, but they have since sold out. This is the same thing basically except mine doesn't have a flash drive.
https://www.parts-express.com/TPA3116-4.2-Bluetooth-2.1-50W-x-2-100W-Amp-Board-with-FM-AUX-In-and-USB-Media-Player-IR-R-320-622?quantity=1
Thanks for checking out the thread, it's been an up and down first experience for sure.
Have you figured out all the code and such to dictate the insert layout? I never saw what the plan was with code, thought maybe you were going to reuse the original ROMs but if adding all the inserts and redesigning that seems out of the question. So… cobra pin and mpf?
Quoted from Mbecker:Have you figured out all the code and such to dictate the insert layout? I never saw what the plan was with code, thought maybe you were going to reuse the original ROMs but if adding all the inserts and redesigning that seems out of the question. So… cobra pin and mpf?
Actually the aftermarket space invaders board will still work. Same amount of inserts, same amount of switches, removed two pop bumpers, and added two targets, so that will work out the same also.
Mostly everything is moved around, relocated, and repurposed. There were so many things on that playfield to use, it turned out to give tons of options.
Upper playfield is a reuse of a left side target that is now where the orbit shot is, so I just moved it as well.
One thing that will change, I added a sound board to be able to record my own game sounds.
Quoted from RyanStl:Awesome man. I just got caught up on this thread and when I saw the dropped playfield, my heart dropped. Glad you dove right back in. Love the thread.
It broke me for a few days. Really hurt my heart. I'm too deep to quit though, and this one will be better.
Thanks for checking it out.
Quoted from cwg29:So glad to see you pushing forward. For every mistake I've made during my homebrew it has always led to improvements.
I have learned a lot through that first playfield, and have slowed way down on my "rebuild".
The shots are already better, more options, and far better flow. Thanks for the encouragement, and I appreciate you checking it out.
Many improvements already.
I really like how you color the support rails and how it works with the rest of the color scheme. Don't see too much creativity in support rails like that elsewhere.
Quoted from TreyBo69:I really like how you color the support rails and how it works with the rest of the color scheme. Don't see too much creativity in support rails like that elsewhere.
I think they are just important as the rest, and should accent the playfield. Only makes sense if you're going to do a custom homebrew, that every piece be just that? I appreciate you noticing that, and thanks for following my train wreck journey!
#silverballredneck
20221209_172633 (resized).jpgSo I went to harbor freight (the official junk store of homebrewers everywhere) and bought me a miter saw stand, got a couple lazy suzan brackets from home depot, and some 1" square tube.
Built me a rotisserie to paint, wire, and install on.
Hopefully this will solve my "dropping, and breaking the playfield " issue.
20221210_111901 (resized).jpg20221210_113639 (resized).jpg20221210_121713 (resized).jpgQuoted from Pebble:Ok that's a super clever idea for a rotisserie that I may have to steal!
Absolutely, I'm a construction guy so I'm always coming up with easier ways.
Quoted from RonSwanson:What was the total cost on your rotisserie? I like it!
I think I have about $85 bucks in it.
1 harbor freight miter saw stand (25% off coupon) watch emails for specials
2 spinny things (lazy Suzanne hardware, boat seat hardware, etc. Boat seats work better but we're unavailable at moment
4' of 1" square tube (cut in half)
8 short 1/4-20 bolts, nuts, and washers
And 4 self tapping screws for securing one end, so only one I end is able to shift on you for table length.
2 pieces of 1" angle ( I used aluminum) about 2 feet long each
How is the hight to work with? Do you work on it flat with a stepstool or work on it with the play field horizontal?
Quoted from Cmartin1235:How is the hight to work with? Do you work on it flat with a stepstool or work on it with the play field horizontal?
At its highest its about 4 feet, set all the way down its about 2 1/2 feet. Mind you, those are 2' long tubes I added, so there is a lot of adjustment.
No step stools, it's very easy to adjust to good working heights. Need to spin it, raise it back up. It's literally two knobs, and done.
Masking, covering, painting, peeling, reveal all in one quick burst. Think I will do a thin clear to protect this next just in case I have issues painting the guitar necks. Really glad I had some paint left from last playfield, as I really like these colors without having to rebuy.
20221213_170931 (resized).jpg20221213_173847 (resized).jpg20221213_174433 (resized).jpgLatest update is its Cold! So instead of being able to finish paint, I'm doing planning on a couple items.
Bought some green lasers, and a prism ball. Lasers will go in front side of apron, and hit a rotating prism ball center area when special lights, sending green laser lights in every direction imaginable.
Found a couple cool fiber optic leds to line the ramps with and they are on order as well.
The south should be out of our random cold snap in a few days and go back to normal so I can begin the last of the paint, and clear coats hopefully.
Ummmm kinda concerned about laser light going everywhere - esp considering it will be bouncing back towards players eyes. I would avoid this, esp with a green laser which is more dangerous than red..but honestly would not mess with lasers at all esp if you’re attempting to refract / reflect them around.
Yeah, please don't shine green laser light everywhere. That's a really bad idea. They're even more dangerous for your eyes than red lasers. You could potentially really hurt yourself or one of your guests. Not worth messing with.
I thought of this as one of many gimmicky ideas I cycled thru. Original stimulation was from Premium Star Trek. Actual laser was obvious concern but ended up thinking a bright focused led would be safe to use. Then I was like I really want to see the beams. Need some fog. Multi friggen fog ball. Love it. They make micro fog projectors. But it’s moist so some mitigation is needed. Could suck some air thru to dry after. Still have a reservoir to fill though. Maybe if I… Just go back to building a pinball machine.
Fog on the pf is almost as bad an idea as fire on the pf!
Even with some system to clear it out by suction, it's going to coat surfaces with stuff you don't want to be coating surfaces with. It's why the technique is used in pest control.
The guy who made an Airplane homebrew used a vape pen to make fog inside the game.
It's a homebrew that won't get *that* much play compared to a typical game. Go for it (except the blinding lasers pointed at people).
The lasers are super low wattage, and not going to burn eyes out, or cut people heads off. I use them at work for beams on conveyors and such with a collector that tells a plc if the Beam is broken that an item has passed through. I'm sorry I laughed, but it'll be fine. It will hit a faceted sphere that will project harmless beams in short distances as it revolves on a 12 volt low rpm motor. Easy enough to put a kill switch for those concerned while playing.
That blind kid played a mean pinball, so maybe this is how that happened?
We are headed back to the mid 60s on weather again this week, so that should open painting back up, as it's much easier to warm my shop to mid 70s from 60s than it is from 7 degrees.
One thing about Alabama they say... " if you don't like the weather, just hang around a few hours, it'll change"
Quoted from MrBigg:The lasers are super low wattage, and not going to burn eyes out, or cut people heads off. I use them at work for beams on conveyors and such with a collector that tells a plc if the Beam is broken that an item has passed through. I'm sorry I laughed, but it'll be fine. It will hit a faceted sphere that will project harmless beams in short distances as it revolves on a 12 volt low rpm motor. Easy enough to put a kill switch for those concerned while playing.
That blind kid played a mean pinball, so maybe this is how that happened?
We are headed back to the mid 60s on weather again this week, so that should open painting back up, as it's much easier to warm my shop to mid 70s from 60s than it is from 7 degrees.
One thing about Alabama they say... " if you don't like the weather, just hang around a few hours, it'll change"
Paint is finished, some inserts installed, and nearly ready for the rest. Clearcoat will be next with an automotive 2k with hardener, and....
Does this seem vaguely familiar? Like we've already been here?
Anyway, necks are more realistic this time, and I added more to the Gothic flames this time, colors in front of rebounds, and used a few little things throughout. Maybe this go around, I don't drop it?
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/when-rain-washes-away-the-game/page/3 and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.
Seattle, WA
Kitchener, ON