Sorry
@strongs_uk, I've been buried up to my eyes with work for the last week or so and consequently pinball has had to take a back seat.
All of the below is my opinion and won't be the same view held by everyone, you can do whatever makes you happy with your own machine!
Theres only one type of lamp worth using for playfield GI and thats the Comet Opmax, nothing else comes close.
http://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/opmax.htm
I've used natural white in T2 because its a sci fi theme and has cold coloured artwork, (greys and blues.) Most playfields look better with sunlight though as its a little less harsh. I NEVER use coloured lamps for GI unless it was supposed to come that way from the factory (half the GI in Black Rose is red for example.) I know a lot of people clearly have a very different view to me because I see loads of coloured GI at every show. Sorry guys but it looks ****e to my eyes! The whole point of GI is to illuminate the machine so you can see the ball and the artwork as the artist intended. Colouring your GI makes the artwork look pants and the ball harder to see. All of my tables are just as easy to play in a pitch black room as they are in daylight. If you can't see the ball easily when playing in a pitch black room then you're completely missing the point of GI! (The clues in the name lol)
For the translight I use the frosted versions of these:
http://www.cometpinball.com/Comet-Pinball-2-LEDs-p/2led.htm
They're cheap and provide even illumination so that the artwork doesn't look spotty like most cheap LEDs do. Spotty translights look pants. Same story regarding colour here, just don't do it unless you want your machine to look cheap and tacky. Not even red ones behind the eyes as you can't get the red light exactly where you want it, it just spills out all over the place.
For the inserts I used a premium 2 kit from Pinball LED (
@alchy) but replaced the blue LEDs in the kit with natural white.....because you guessed it coloured lamps where they don't belong look pants. The only exception to this rule that springs to mind is the "worm hole" insert on STTNG, purple looks pretty cool there. (My ones currently white but I'm going to change it to make it pop a bit more.) T2 is the only table I have where I've used premium 2's and they're pretty good. I don't think they work any better than a bare SMD for insert illumination though and the large faceted lens makes them difficult to fit in some places so I probably wouldn't buy them again.
Generally speaking I'm not a huge fan of mods, but subtle ones are nice. T2 is by far my most modded machine and compared to some it may as well be standard, sometimes less is more! Anyway the mods I have installed:
Brite Eyes in the skull: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3256
Illuminated eye plastic over the left ramp, T1000 on the center targets, illuminated saucers and illuminated HK ship from Dreads.
I did modify the HK ship mod though by replacing the blue LEDs with white because I felt the blue looked out of place. I also tied the 5 LEDs to the target lights below rather than it just continously "scanning" as long as the machine was switched on. Its a far better effect IMO and isn't distracting when you're trying to play the game. Does anybody really want to have bright blue flashing LEDs in their face when the whole table goes dark when you're playing a video mode?
The HK mod has the added benefit of providing great protection to the thin plastic from airballs.
I've also installed a Pinsound board too and Flipper Fidelity speakers. I love T2 but its a basic game so its nice to have the option to switch between the original sounds, reorchesterated and OST from the movie at will.
I'll also be fitting PDI glass when the next batch finally arrives!
Anyway I've tried to take a few pics of my T2 to give you an idea of how it looks but its not easy to accurately capture what the naked eye can see. The spread of light is far more even in reality.
Hope this helps and doesn't cause offence to anyone because none was intended, its just my opinion.....
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Thanks for the info!
