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Powder coating decorative Stern side armour

VeeMonroe said:
The official Stern side armour for Godzilla seems to have gold detailing.

Anyone with any of the side armour for Led Zeppelin or other pins with detailing know whether you can, or how you’d powder coat that? Or should I stick with the existing side armour?

Godzilla Side Armor – Officially Licensed Stern Pinball Machine Product – 502-7147-00 – Little Shop Of Games

littleshopofgames.com littleshopofgames.com
Click to expand...
I had the TMNT Stern Side Armour and Stranger Things Side Armour.

Loved them both.


You can grab them usually from Hemisphere pinball on eBay. Comes to over £300 landed cost (after delivery and import fee's).

Just be aware if you ever go on to sell your pin and you add these on people have a hard time wrapping their head around the added costs and just think you might be piling on costs for your pin. If you plan to keep your pin then its a mute point.

Here's some before and after shots of the TMNT to give you an idea.

PXL_20211021_192511185 (1).jpg


PXL_20211021_201327225.jpg

PXL_20211021_193821087.jpg
 
VeeMonroe said:
The official Stern side armour for Godzilla seems to have gold detailing.

Anyone with any of the side armour for Led Zeppelin or other pins with detailing know whether you can, or how you’d powder coat that? Or should I stick with the existing side armour?

Godzilla Side Armor – Officially Licensed Stern Pinball Machine Product – 502-7147-00 – Little Shop Of Games

littleshopofgames.com littleshopofgames.com
Click to expand...
If I had a GZ premium, this is the route I’d want to take:
Look what @CHRIS B PINBALLS did to this one, looks amazing.

I’d give that naff official stuff a wide berth
E84E39F0-F911-4A8B-AF5B-FB63C2C5F014.jpeg3810DD6C-B335-4A31-BE74-77AD6836B307.jpeg332558A5-6A84-4824-9031-A452772558B4.jpeg
 
Thanks!

I was thinking of getting the official armour, which is plain black with gold hydra detailing, and then powder coating it metallic dark blue at some point - so, it would be metallic dark blue with gold detailing.

I’ve no idea if that’s possible without ruining the gold detailing!

When I’ve spray painted miniatures, I use masking tape to demarcate areas and that normally works with the risk of smudging. I don’t know if that works with powder coating, as well.

I’m expecting to keep hold of Godzilla (cross fingers), so hoping my habit of modding stuff isn’t too much of a problem. I am keeping a record of how much I spend on mods, as well.
 
s000m said:
Just be aware if you ever go on to sell your pin and you add these on people have a hard time wrapping their head around the added costs and just think you might be piling on costs for your pin
Click to expand...

VeeMonroe said:
I am keeping a record of how much I spend on mods, as well.
Click to expand...
Adding mods to any machine is a personal choice - I wouldn't expect to get the money back on anything you spend. The one major exception is probably a colour DMD to replace the stock red/orange ones.

I certainly wouldn't add £300 to my evaluation of a pin because someone has added cosmetic side rails, or powder coated it. Same goes for any number of other cosmetic mods, and if you can't remove them to return the machine back to original they can actually lower the value.

I spent approaching 2k adding to my Met Prem - including cut out side rails (back lit with EL paper), cut out back box hinges, custom painted sparky, custom grave markers, UV reactive side and cabinet art, UV flashers, and many more 'off the shelf' additions such as ramp decals, snake protector, colour matched LEDs, etc. etc.

Despite the fact it looked fantastic, according to everybody who saw it, it didn't add 2k to it's value when it came to sell.
 
Wayne J said:
Adding mods to any machine is a personal choice - I wouldn't expect to get the money back on anything you spend. The one major exception is probably a colour DMD to replace the stock red/orange ones.

I certainly wouldn't add £300 to my evaluation of a pin because someone has added cosmetic side rails, or powder coated it. Same goes for any number of other cosmetic mods, and if you can't remove them to return the machine back to original they can actually lower the value.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice :)

I'm keeping the record for us - just so I know how much I've spent.

I've made a deliberate decision that I don't really want to have a revolving door of pinball machines for the most part and, as such, I'm happy to mod with that in mind. I'm not modding anything that's a known temporary resident and, out of our current selection, I don't see any of the three leaving anytime soon.

Given the play that our pins receive, I think by the time I intend that we sell, the value will also be dependent on other things apart from the mods (e.g. age and condition).

Getting back to the point, has anyone with coloured cut-out detailing on side armour managed to powder coat it without damaging the detailing?
 
If it has detailing inside like the little shop of games example….
That’s just a backer paper/card by the looks of it.
Just remove it before powder coating the metal then replace afterwards.
 
Sako-TRG said:
If it has detailing inside like the little shop of games example….
That’s just a backer paper/card by the looks of it.
Just remove it before powder coating the metal then replace afterwards.
Click to expand...
That is good to know. I thought the armour was pre-painted. If it's just a card/cutout, then it's easy to deal :)

Thanks! :D
 
I would take a look at them first the older side rails where lazer cut with a backing behind gb got Le sw
But now most of the modern ones are just a printed affect on a side rail no actually cut outs in the rail
 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
I would take a look at them first the older side rails where lazer cut with a backing behind gb got Le sw
But now most of the modern ones are just a printed affect on a side rail no actually cut outs in the rail
Click to expand...
Thanks @CHRIS B PINBALLS! :)

It *looks* on the picture like it's laser cut with a backing card, and not just a printed effect, but it's hard to tell - I admit. I don't know when I'll get to see one in real life to check though, so I might have to risk it... :(

I guess, if I end up having to powder coat the side rail and then hand paint the gold detailing back on, it might be worth doing as I imagine it'll probably be easier than it was hand painting this little guy!!

Adeptus Mechanicus.jpg
 
I would take it to a decent powdercoaters and ask them what they can do with it, and discuss your ideas.

I have powdercoated two of my machines (Big Buck Hunter and Stranger Things) and I have been very pleased with how much better it makes them look. I think powdercoating is one of the best mods you can do (maybe except the non-reflective glass).

On looking at that side amour, I assume that is just a cut out, with card or foil behind it (my Star Wars LE was just white card behind it, before I installed the light up mod).
 
You could always do away with the gold and further customise.

The silver is just a gift bag cut up, the green is EL paper which lights up.
Lots of different colours and options.
 

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