Pinball what a hobby

[Matrixnetuk]

Twilight Zone a small write up of my experiences so far

Picked the machine up just before Lockdown end of February and a friend advised me that’s gonna cost you a small fortune to maintain………. I laughed and said that’s ok its part of a new hobby
With enforced Lockdown I decided to go to town on TZ and yes its cost a small fortune so far lol

New Plastics Fitted (Came with Machine)

5V Reset– failed within days of getting it home new 5v Module fitted ..shipped from the US DOH!

12v & 5V component re-build kits will do this at some point

ULM + LM3 Chips …Switch matrix failed in April lol ULM solved it immediately phew

New IDC GI Lighting Connectors (Pinball Heaven)---originally these were hard soldered onto the pins

Full Comet Led Upgrade (Pinball heaven)

New Rubbers and Plastics (Pinball Heaven)

Full Backbox Flat ribbon Kit (Pinball Heaven)

New Remastered Trans light (Xianek)—original had a few bits of art missing and my OCD kicked in

New Speaker Panel (Xianek)

Pin2DMD (Madnat) ----great upgrade and group buy was awesome

Full Set Fluorescent Protectors (Collywobbles)---have you seen the price of replacement plastics!

New Spiral Magnets (Pinball Mania)—original 23yo magnets were battered

Full Cliffy Set (Gopinball)—few splinters showing in areas so these are perfect

Gumball Steel Balls (Ebay) ---15mm Pachinko balls look great

Diverter Magnet Mod (Recycled from a Coin Mech )—simple mod and very effective

New Invisglass (Neil McRae)—original glass was scratched, chipped and loose fitting

Ingo Clock Upgrade (German pinball Modula)—Forum advise get this done J

Mini Playfield Switch Upgrade (Durzel)---lovely looking upgrade if you ask me

Reinforced Drop Targets (Pinball Shop NL)—an absolute must for the Slot machine and Clock targets

Back Board Spiral decal (Ebay)---Brightened up the rear of the machine no end

Blue Super Bands + Posts (Pinball Shop NL)—still in trial but im finding shots can go airborne off the posts

New Balls (Pinball Heaven)—had to be done following a full deep clean of the subways and playfield

Bespoke Apron Cards (Mikonos)—Old crappy paper ones had to go

Spare TZ Scoop (Paddy the Greek)—just in case the weldment fails

Leg Protectors installed

Heavy Duty Lockable Castors fitted to back legs ….as I have limited space and need to be able to move the pinball around on my own

Other mods n tweeks I’m considering:-

Mirror Blades

Additional Backboard Led Lighting

RGB Light strip fitted to the new speaker panel to highlight the Twilight Zone Logo

Speaker Lights

Pin sound looks like a great mod

Upgrade Speakers at some time

Maybe a Home Rom Upgrade

Have to say Im very new to pinball ownership and am absolutely loving the whole experience regardless of a few head scratches along the way

This forum has been brilliant so far too great community thank you

Will make a donation very soon

Cheers

Stef

 

[Hullshark]

Photos please Stef

 

[Andydn]

Photos please Stef

Clothes on preferably, take some pics of your machine too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pezi_pink]

Fantastic @Matrixnetuk, would love to see some pics. Sounds like you need a few more machines!

 

[M4carp]

Working on mine again this week, finally got it flipping about right. Great game when everything is working the way it should.
I think pinsound is great on this but I have got the original board that sounds better than the latest plus. I also have plus’s in other pins that sound ok.
The CPC mirror backglass is pretty good on this unlike some I have seen.
Led ocd or Afterglow board if you have insert led’s, looks much better to my eyes anyway.

Yes, some pics would be good.

 

[Kenny Taylor]

Yes, lets see some photos of this lovely pin..

 

[Matrixnetuk]

Just need to tackle the Mini Playfield Switch Upgrade in the next week ...im not really experienced enough to do a "full shop" type jobbie so have just replaced and upgraded as i went along
will post a load of pics of the entire Pinball as is ...i do have a few before pics so could add those as i go
Cheers for all the comments and support folks

 

[Matrixnetuk]

I will post up more pics of the individual jobs completed / upgraded but here are a few pics of the main table taken tonight

 

[carl lawrence]

Fantastic job but........ what we all really want to know is when is the next machine arriving and what will it be

 

[Matrixnetuk]

Thanks Carl,
your comments are much appreciated I would dearly love another Pinball and i cant help but check out whats for sale (everyday lol) but its just a matter of space really my games room is currently full of fruit machines a diy arcade 60-1 and more importantly a beer fridge
Im old school so would if space, money and the opportunity aligned would probably go with an Adams, Creech, Indiana Jones,T2, LW3 or Bram Stokers :-D

 

[Toxteth O'Grady]

That looks fantastic @Matrixnetuk what a great machine.

 

[ronsplooter]

just a matter of space really my games room is currently full of fruit machines a diy arcade 60-1 and more importantly a beer fridge

Ditch the fruity's, problem solved

 

[M4carp]

Very nice
My son managed to smash the bottom left corner of the slingshot protector at the weekend with the power ball

 

[Paul]

Thanks Carl,
your comments are much appreciated I would dearly love another Pinball and i cant help but check out whats for sale (everyday lol) but its just a matter of space really my games room is currently full of fruit machines a diy arcade 60-1 and more importantly a beer fridge
Im old school so would if space, money and the opportunity aligned would probably go with an Adams, Creech, Indiana Jones,T2, LW3 or Bram Stokers :-D

Before you ditch any fruities you need to let me know in case i fancy any. Is the rulezz you know

 

[Matrixnetuk]

I had to release some great machines to bag this TZ
JPM Mk1 Nudge Double Up Deluxe
JPM Topup
JPM Mk1 Red Eachway Shuffle
Bell Fruit Blue Cops n Robbers
Maygay Donkey Kong
Maygay Simpsons Blue

well worth it mind :-D

 

[Paul]

I had to release some great machines to bag this TZ
JPM Mk1 Nudge Double Up Deluxe
JPM Topup
JPM Mk1 Red Eachway Shuffle
Bell Fruit Blue Cops n Robbers
Maygay Donkey Kong
Maygay Simpsons Blue

 

[Matrixnetuk]

Quick Vid on YT of where i am, today

 

[Monkeyboypaul]

Looks lovely!

May I offer some feedback?

• Your start button still has a incandescent bulb in it.
• An AfterGlow/LED OCD will be money well spent for your LED inserts.
• The LEDs in your GI are probably masking an admittedly minor GI effect when the machine calls out for the Powerball (i want it back). It also dims for jackpots. GI OCD or the Afterglow GI equiv will restore that, or use incandescent bulbs.
• Get some mirror blades! They look ace.
• Hard to tell, but is your ColorDMD working? I could only see Black & White DMD effects.

I reckon a Gumball light would look cool too

PS - do you have any JPM impact fruities? I still miss my Big Bucks and Banker...

 

[Matrixnetuk]

Great feedback
The start button is a nightmare its absolutely rock solid i cant actually get the spinner washer off the back ...I will tackle this again though and fit an LED
OCD is on order with Mr Davy Stumblor
oooh wasnt aware of the Gi dimming fault so really looking forward to the OCD fit
Mirror blades have to be done they do look awesome on other Pins i was waiting for Mr Collywobbles however i may go down the Xianek route
I have set the Colour PIN2DMD to Black n white until a colorization becomes available i wasnt that happy with the 4 x colour option

Sorry I have nothing later than 1989 in the fruity department however i do have a Big Bux lampshade weirdly
cheers
Stef

 

[Monkeyboypaul]

oooh wasnt aware of the Gi dimming fault so really looking forward to the OCD fit

The afterglow won't solve it - has to be a standalone GI device. GI OCD, or the AfterGlow GI equivalent version. It is a very subtle and minor effect though.

Ah it's a PIN2DMD - fair enough. ColorDMD is currently streets ahead for TZ on that one.