The advantage of this new thread over the other one (Continued playfield issues with JJP and Stern By f3honda4me (1 year ago)) is that this one only has 30 posts. I just can't bring myself to read the 1041 new posts in that other thread - but I was keeping up for a while.

I do believe, that we have come to expect super high gloss, mirror-like surfaces on our new games and this drives manufacturers to exceed the recommended layer thicknesses of the paint suppliers rather than apply multiple layers (which would be expensive). It also means these surfaces show every imperfection.

I always liked JJP because of DI. That game is just it. I can‘t get too excited about their other offerings, though. I did find Willi Wonka more fun than the modern Sterns, however (maybe I just like Pat Lawlor, who knows). I guess I‘ll just wait until this playfield issue is resolved before I buy a new pin again - I am really curious what‘s causing it. I do have my theories, though and I‘m quite convinced it‘s avoidable.

No question, isocyanate based hardeners for 2 pack pu paints are unpleasant and I do not want to work with them at home, but they are not outlawed in EU to my knowledge (example - https://www.lackundfarbe24.de/de/Metalllack/Haerter). EU legislation is very much focussed on reducing solvent emissions, thus water-based systems (including 2 pack water based systems) are very widespread. If you have equipment to remove organic solvents (such as butyl acetate) from the off gas you can use solvent based paints.