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New Star Gazer & Seawitch Playfield Production

By greatwichjohn

11 years ago

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2,551 posts
197 Pinsiders participating
Latest reply 8 months ago by nocreditdot
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Seawitch Stern Electronics, 1980
Star Gazer Stern Electronics, 1980

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#876 7 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

Quoted from Drano:
-new white target faces for zodiac targets (I worked with Bob Langelius to make these in opaque white and yellow since he already had the mold and was making translucent ones for Bally games)
...
-new spinners (a friend powder coated and screened new ones for me)

Hi, are these white faced zodiac targets going to be generally available that you know of?

My SG only has one original spinner so I'll looking at painting and/or decalling the other 2, or possibly all three if necessary so they will match. Can you provide more details on how you/your friend did yours (maybe in a new topic)?

Thx!

3 months later

#929 7 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

OP
Quoted from greatwichjohn:
Sorry guys for not a update in a month or so. I have been under the weather with my right foot, & have seen a specialist & getting a injection. I will be doing a test print soon ( Seawitch), next month to make sure everything is ok before mass cnc cutting is done. For over a year I have not taken a prepaid deposit on playfields, due to all the crap going on. Almost all Star Gazer prepaid playfields have been done, & only a few waiting. I have many people looking for one, & I haven't taken any more money until they are ready to go. Seawitch prepaid guys are first in line, unless seconds are available this year. Anyone interested are told to wait, & don't prepay!
Looks like myself & others won't make Allentown this year.

John, really sorry to hear that you are ailing. Best wishes for a swift recovery!

7 months later

#1070 6 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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Quoted from Redketchup:
repro pop bumper cap with decal!

I've got two good originals and missing the 3rd. The repro cap isn't the same shade/thickness so it looks very different when lit. I'm probably going to have to replace them all with new ones with stickers.

Seems like it might be not that hard to manually create the ridge lines with a hot nail or something, then paint in the lines? Anyone tried that?

#1075 6 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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Quoted from bluespin:
The hot stamp lines (ridge lines) are raised, not indentations. Same as the pop bumper caps for Seawitch

Good point. I wonder if it might be feasible to 3D-print the pop caps?

1 month later

#1145 6 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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Quoted from cottonm4:
And this all begs the question: With a Greatwich play field and a Greatwich back glass, how original would a restored Star Gazer when compared to a Meteor that has been converted to a Gazer by using a Greatwich play field and back glass?

...ya but it would be missing the magic “Hippy-chick” dust they sprinkled the games with at the factory.

11 months later

#1442 5 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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OP
Quoted from greatwichjohn:
Please keep updating your purchase. Still searching my storage unit for the master list from years ago. Just found out my foot surgery is next week (Monday) since there was a cancelation. I have been waiting for 1.5 years now. So I will be getting more help with production the next 9 months. Info sent to printer for final correction of top bonus X.

Good luck with your surgery John!

1 year later

#2061 3 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

Quoted from j_m_:
officially autumn begins in less than a month and it's been 60+ days since the last 2 playfields were shipped out to any of us on the prepaid list. and while I will still continue to patiently wait for my playfield, I really don't have high hopes that I will see it this year. maybe 7 years waiting will be the charm

"And woe to them that hesitate
I hear good things come to those that wait
Who ever told you that one lied
And time is never on our side..." - Steve Earl "Time is Never on Our Side".

6 months later

#2315 3 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

For reference, here are a couple of pics of my stock PF + plastics with my new one from John overlaid.

IMG_9750 (resized).JPG

IMG_9752 (resized).JPG

So yeah, the light cyan color used in the center star, in front of the drops, and around the constellation animals is much darker in the new one. Note that the new cyan shade matches the color used on the plastics better than the original does.

Overall the background color isn't bad though, but it would be interesting to see one with a shade of blue that matched the plastics.

1 week later

#2335 3 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

Quoted from cottonm4:
Are these CPR plastics or are these original plastics?
Your plastics, in this pic, look to be a lighter blue.
[quoted image]
Than the one in this pic.
[quoted image]

Interesting question. You had me wondering too at first as I know I have a set of repros that I picked up for my eventual restore. But I just checked and the repros were all still in their sealed package. I pulled out a repro sling to compare and check this out:

Stock sling
stock sling

Reproduction sling
reproduction sling

Stock plastic on left, reproduction on right, on stock PF
IMG_9779 (resized).JPG

Stock plastic on left, reproduction on right, on Reproduction PF
IMG_9778 (resized).JPG

Obviously the lighting really has an impact on the apparent shade of the PF plastics. To my eye, my stock plastics and PF are a decent match to my repro playfield. However, my reproduction plastics are certainly a darker shade of blue than either?

Could there be different Star Gazers out there with distinct blue coloring?

#2338 3 years ago

KWF

Fytr

Pinside member

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Okay, one more batch of comparison pics and then I'm done, I promise!

The lighting really changes the shading of both the plastics and the PFs on this machine.

Here's the stock PF, no GI, and no flash on the camera (left sling plastic is reproduction):

OldPFNoFlash (resized).JPG

And here with the camera flash:
OldPFFlash (resized).JPG

Repro PF and no flash:
NewPFNoFlash (resized).JPG
Repro PF with flash:
NewPFFlash (resized).JPG

Quite a difference in hue with flash vs without.

And another comparison shot of both PFs, with flash:
BothPFFlash (resized).JPG

Those both look good to me color-wise. I'll be interested to see how the new shading looks.

Something quite disturbing is that the "apparently" darker blue reproduction plastics are actually a lot lighter shade when lit from beneath (left sling plastic):
ReproPlasticLit (resized).JPG
I'm not sure that I'll use these plastics now, given how they washed out they look when lit.

#2341 3 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

Quoted from miracleman:
"Something quite disturbing is that the "apparently" darker blue reproduction plastics are actually a lot lighter shade when lit from beneath (left sling plastic)"
Looks like the repro plastics should have had 2 passes of color and only got 1 before the white backing. Are they cpr plastics?
The other factor is you're using white (led?) lighting, 1smd blue leds may help bring the color back in where needed.

The repro plastics are from https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-plastics/star-gazer/.

I would never install blue leds for GI lighting (color-wash, poor light production, etc.). Fortunately, my original plastics are in pretty decent shape so I will just use those.

#2350 3 years ago

KWF

Fytr

Pinside member

11y 101K 3,412 8

Quoted from cottonm4:
I just texted my contact in Dallas who owns one the Star Gazers I was talking about. It is dark blue with dark blue plastics and a dark blue apron.
This pic is current. About 30 minutes ago.
I think the dark blue apron looks so much sharper than the light blue apron and wonder why Stern chose to use 2 different colors.
[quoted image]

That PF looks the same shade as my original, as shown in pics above, at least to my eye.

1 week later

#2355 3 years ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

OP
Quoted from greatwichjohn:
So I am still waiting on any blue corrections for both titles. I have been working on sanding playfields, & getting them ready for printing in April. Pro#16 & 17 are still here for Seawitch discounted.

John, I thought you posted previously that you were working with a secret cabal of "insiders" via PM on these? Is that not happening?

1 year later

#2516 1 year ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

Can someone shed some light on the current PF reproduction situation with Fantastic Pinball? I know they were to pick up the mantel from John but I looked and can't find any other threads, FB page, or their website with anything useful on it. I keep seeing posts here that seem to indicate he/they are making PFs, but it's like I'm missing half a conversation or something.

#2518 1 year ago

KWF

Fytr

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11y 101K 3,412 8

OP
Quoted from greatwichjohn:
Fantastic Pinball, Greg Walker in Ottawa, Ontario. Do a search. Playfields keep getting done in batches.

Search where? I found the website, but it's basically useless, no specific information on it for anything, really. I tried the Contact Us page and got no response so far (http://fantasticpinball.com). I don't understand why this is such a secret?

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