Firepower pf wear and protector?

[FinalFight]

Just wondering what the best way to deal with this wear spot on firepower it looks like someone's had a go in the past and it's came off.
The playfield isn't bad besides this it does have the odd slightly cupped insert though so was thinking of fitting a protector any recommendations and tips?
Thank you

 

[kev a]

Got one from playfield-protectors.com for my Mando, looks like they do one for Firepower, fitting ain't too bad, should be a doddle on Firepower, just lays on top, but doesn't move about, they do change the gameplay a bit, more spin, ball seems to glide more than roll, especially after cleaning.

So far have 2.5k plays since fitting, its held up well enough, but a lot of micro scratches if you look at it with the right light, but not really noticeable from a normal playing position.

Looks pretty good for a Firepower, some seem to have no art left at all between the slings, be tempted to install the protector and just enjoy the patina IMO

 

[DAD]

If you are fitting a playfield protector make sure each of your pop bumpers is individually fused.

I held a league meet at mine and on both Flash and Warlok the protector moved enough to hold down the bumper skirt which then blew the associated transistor on the driver board

The "Special Solenoids" ie bumpers, slingshots on this era of Williams games are not "one-shot" but stay activated as long as the switch is closed.

Mind you, my protectors are first generation and thicker than the ones supplied now so this may no longer be a problem, but I would add the fuses just to be sure

 

[kev a]

If you are fitting a playfield protector make sure each of your pop bumpers is individually fused.

I held a league meet at mine and on both Flash and Warlok the protector moved enough to hold down the bumper skirt which then blew the associated transistor on the driver board

The "Special Solenoids" ie bumpers, slingshots on this era of Williams games are not "one-shot" but stay activated as long as the switch is closed.

Mind you, my protectors are first generation and thicker than the ones supplied now so this may no longer be a problem, but I would add the fuses just to be sure

I think mine is the thinner 'new' version its still quite rigid though, would imagine if it slid over a pop bumper skirt it could hold it in the activated position.

 

[FinalFight]

If you are fitting a playfield protector make sure each of your pop bumpers is individually fused.

I held a league meet at mine and on both Flash and Warlok the protector moved enough to hold down the bumper skirt which then blew the associated transistor on the driver board

The "Special Solenoids" ie bumpers, slingshots on this era of Williams games are not "one-shot" but stay activated as long as the switch is closed.

Mind you, my protectors are first generation and thicker than the ones supplied now so this may no longer be a problem, but I would add the fuses just to be sure

Hi David I was going to message you about this I remember you putting a post up about it a while back any more info on how to do this properly?

 

[FinalFight]

Thanks @kev a I will check them ones out
I still don't know what to do about the wear though I think it will annoy me a bit just because the rest looks good

 

[kev a]

I would think with a playfield protector over the top, normal acrylic would be fine for touch ups without any laquer, colour matching is the really tricky part, especially as the paint changes quite drastically as it dries

 

[FinalFight]

I would think with a playfield protector over the top, normal acrylic would be fine for touch ups without any laquer, colour matching is the really tricky part, especially as the paint changes quite drastically as it dries

You think the acrylic paint pens might be better if i can get the background matched first?

 

[kev a]

You think the acrylic paint pens might be better if i can get the background matched first?

I think you would need liquid paint to be able to mix for the right colours TBH, saw a video once with a guy doing a Firepower, will try and dig it out
Edit, found it....

 

[ronsplooter]

Acrylic paint is fine if you're getting a play field protector. That area of the play field is so busy that it should be pretty easy to blend in as long as you aren't miles out with the colours. If it was me I'd get a base white down matched to the play field and the use a photo from ipdb to figure out the pattern.

 

[FinalFight]

Thank you for the help guys

 

[Asiapinball]

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Set of 48 22ml

This Liquitex Basics 48 x 22ml Set comes from the world’s bestselling brand in acrylic colours, offering reliable quality at an affordable price. This set goes even further, to bring you 48 colours at less than half the individual price.

www.cassart.co.uk

I have this set of acrylics for touch ups.

There is even an unbleached white in there which is really useful for lightening a colour without making it too white. Some colours are absolutely spot on with no mixing. It appears that playfield manufacturers used a lot of "spot" colours straight out of the pot.

 

[David_Vi]

@DAD advised me about the pop issue when we got a Flash. I bought 3 in line fuses with the intention of soldering them to the coils.
However being distracted I never got round to it and one ended up being used elsewhere.

I did test the pops and move the protector around with no issues. I think the newer ones are better. Obviously it's better to be safe than sorry but I haven't had an issue on Flash yet .

Diner has a protector and for a while one of the pop skirts did get caught under the protector but it hasn't happened in over a year. I simply adjusted how much it could move.

 

[FinalFight]

Thank you for the links and tips I was speaking to David .. going to keep an eye out for the weebly solenoid saver board I suppose even if the protector doesn't get caught it is a good idea to have it anyway

 

[Asiapinball]

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Set of 48 22ml

This Liquitex Basics 48 x 22ml Set comes from the world’s bestselling brand in acrylic colours, offering reliable quality at an affordable price. This set goes even further, to bring you 48 colours at less than half the individual price.

www.cassart.co.uk

I have this set of acrylics for touch ups.

There is even an unbleached white in there which is really useful for lightening a colour without making it too white. Some colours are absolutely spot on with no mixing. It appears that playfield manufacturers used a lot of "spot" colours straight out of the pot.

As an example of the use of "spot colours" by manufacturers here is a shot of some touch ups on my cftbl. I used 3 colours from my set of 48 straight out of the tube without any mixing to touch up the yellow black and turquoise between and below the L and M in film. 2 of the yellow rectangles are completely repainted. The turquoise was a perfect match.

I clearcoated locally as they discuss in the video and because this is a later clearcoated playfield I used gloss clear and once dry blended into the existing clearcoat using 2000 grit (and spit which i have found to be best lubricant) with very light pressure then novus 3 then novus 2 then novus 1.

In the pic of the whole playfield there has been various touch ups and localised clearcoating and it has all been blended using 2000 grit and then novus 3 2 and 1 to get a shine. It is yet to get 3 applications of carnauba wax to finish.

Whilst you will not be able blend the clearcoat as i did because firepower playfields were not clearcoated you can do a very good job of blending and getting a sheen on these older unclearcoted playfields using novus but don't apply a load of pressure as it can take the paint off very quickly.

 

[Asiapinball]

And to get the feathering of he clearcoat so that you don't get a masking line I build a ring of masking tape around what I want to clear where the inner part of the ring sits about 1 cm off the playfield and is just a little bigger than what you have touched up. Mask off the rest of the playfield so that you don't get over spray (not done in my pics as they were just to show the technique for you). Then work circularly around the ring (e.g 12 oclock, 2 o clock, 4 o clock etc.) spraying 1 pass at a time holding the can at an angle to the playfield like in pic. If you do it this way you get clearcoat on the touched up areas which then feathers across the untouched areas that you can blend to a shine using novus (or 2000 grit and novus on clearcoated playfields).

 

[FinalFight]

Wow thanks for the tips you done a great job on the cftbl! Really hope I can get the firepower looking good actually wish I had the bottle to clearcoat the whole pf when done I love the glass look