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Playfield Clearcoat

Absolutely superb article ,Thats finished me off, im going to get a playfield and have a bash,just for the hell of it

Looking back at it, I didnt really need a pinball machine or even a playfield to test / try all those processes out, you really just need a bit of Plywood. Unless you want to try colour matching and image touch ups.
 
For us home/hobbyist restorers, I really like the lexan protector approach demonstrated by moonbus and others - cheap, safe, instant clear, non-destructive and levels to boot. Does that negate the requirement to clear at all @Moonbus ?
 
This was my first pinball machine back in 2016. I wanted something to experiment on and get dirty with, unfortunately in my ignorance I bought a machine they only made 250 of so I felt obliged to tart it up.
I started with the intention of painting it but ended up using water slide. I used 1k and 2k Upol and also made a ploycarbonate playfield overlay because, why not hey...

Full story here...
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-magic-circle-semi-sympathetic-playfield-restoration

Short story...

Started with this
View attachment 59227


After trying to paint it by hand I spray painted the yellow
View attachment 59226


I then needed white background as most of the text was white, this was my biggest issue, no cheap way to print white
View attachment 59225


Made water slide decals to replace all the ink
View attachment 59224


Ended up with this
View attachment 59223


In game..
View attachment 59222 View attachment 59221 View attachment 59220
Cracking read and one hell of a job man - well done!!!!!

Cheers

kev
 
For us home/hobbyist restorers, I really like the lexan protector approach demonstrated by moonbus and others - cheap, safe, instant clear, non-destructive and levels to boot. Does that negate the requirement to clear at all @Moonbus ?

If it was a machine that is going to be moved on I think it would only be proper to finish the job and clearcoat. Any future owners may remove the lexan protector and then any repairs will be left unprotected and the ball will chew through them. For something that would otherwise be firewood the lexan protector is ideal as like you said its a lot less dangerous and equipment intensive than clearcoating.
 
Just read both your threads on pinside, great read, and made me buy some liquitex paints and get my hand held scanner out for Star Trek Bally
 
I’d love to hear feedback about any playfield restoration people do from now on, did it go well, what worked and what didn’t etc.
I’m going to try a Fish Tales playfield soon so I will be posting here.
 
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