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What do most people clear coat their em’s playfield with (if they do clear it)?
What is used to be the most authentic?
I’m clear coating a playfield that has a lot of white and was testing out my three clear coat possibilities on a white painted board. Varathane, Minwax Polycrylic and Spraymax 2k were sprayed side by side and the Varathane showed a LOT of yellowing, the polycrylic yellowed a little and the Spraymax was quite clear.
On my white test board sprayed with the oil Varathane, Polycrylic and Spraymax 2k:
- 2k was the most brilliant
- Polycrylic was less brilliant, slightly warm, easy on the eyes.
- Varathane was almost a dingy yellow.
If thinking of their looks in terms of lighting:
- 2k was like white LEDs
- Polycrylic like slightly warm white LEDs
- Varathane like old incandescents
If the 2k and Polycrylic weren’t side by side the differences wouldn’t be so apparent.
Quoted from Boslaw:Are you spraying polycrylic from the can or brushing it on (or something else)? Are you using water based? Semi/Matte/or Gloss? Sorry for all of the questions - I'm thinking of taking this route for the safety factor. The playfield I'm doing it on is a high production/low value pin that was previously trashed so no need to spend a ton of $ on it.
If I do use use it, I’ll use gloss Polycrylic in spray cans.
I do like the low risk of using the water based Polycrylic. Judging from my test board I thought the quality of it was great and it was easy to use. It yellowed just slightly and I think the gloss isn’t as brilliant as the 2k. This might be better for an EM.
Quoted from pinheadpierre:I have to disagree with approaches that attempt to knock down the gloss for an EM. I remember what they looked like new. They were glossy and well saturated. The trouble is that the lacquer finishes held neither their clarity or gloss for very long. It is also important to consider the available technology at the time. They used industrial lacquer. Cars in the EM era were also painted with lacquer, albeit likely higher quality than was used for pins. I have done several EMs, one with lacquer and the rest with 2pac. The 2pac wins hands down in my book. Water based finishes are what they are: user friendly alternatives which offer less color saturation and somewhat lower gloss as a tradeoff.
Pinheadpierre, this is revealing info about what the pins looked like when they were new. Thanks! Great info from the kind folks here in the forum!
So, from what I’ve read and researched, I’ve decided to go with the Spraymax 2k gloss. I would like to think that the early pinball manufacturers would have used 2pac or similar if they had the technology.
I’ve constructed an air flowed mask using a full face swim mask with the snorkel connected to a 20 foot hose and then to a fan. It supplies fresh air to the mask and will vent out anything else. Inexpensive and it works.
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Torrance, CA