Complete Special Force - Military Hospital 🚑🏥🪖🎖️

[Ashbo]

Martin has been, but my wife and father got her set up so for me as I'm layed up in bed at the moment. Can anyone guess what game she is?

It's a Bally....and it's on my signature.....doh!!!!

Looks like I can't do anything for a week, so this is how she will stay for a bit. Don't tell anyone, I'm busy buying parts on my phone

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Special Force

Love that game, had one for a while. The exploding pop bumper huts ! The virtual rockets you fire to knock down drop targets ! The crazy sounds. Wonderful world under glass Chuck Norris 80s jungle design from Dennis Nordman . Whitewater style whirlpool helicopter ! Its ace.
In fact the backglass on my old one looked very like that one ...wrinkly ! I wonder could it be the very same one ?

 

[Ashbo]

Special Force

Love that game, had one for a while. The exploding pop bumper huts ! The virtual rockets you fire to knock down drop targets ! The crazy sounds. Wonderful world under glass Chuck Norris 80s jungle design from Dennis Nordman . Whitewater style whirlpool helicopter ! Its ace.
In fact the backglass on my old one looked very like that one ...wrinkly ! I wonder could it be the very same one ?

It could be yours, mine has a cabinet front that looks like it's spent time in a van with @David_Vi....proper stoved, that'll need fixing.

Plastics look pretty ok, some chips but perfectly passable.

Brand new displays too look awesome.

Just dropped a couple of hundred euros on rails, standups, rubbers, flippers, earth braid, backbox bolts, green leds, fuses...I can't wait to get to power her on ...

But I do need to attack the rusty bits, clean then work on the broken body and backbox.

At €250 for decals I will make do with the ones it has.

May be a while, need to stay in bed for 6 more days first...grrrr

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

It could be yours, mine has a cabinet front that looks like it's spent time in a van with @David_Vi....proper stoved, that'll need fixing.

Plastics look pretty ok, some chips but perfectly passable.

Brand new displays too look awesome.

Just dropped a couple of hundred euros on rails, standups, rubbers, flippers, earth braid, backbox bolts, green leds, fuses...I can't wait to get to power her on ...

But I do need to attack the rusty bits, clean then work on the broken body and backbox.

At €250 for decals I will make do with the ones it has.

May be a while, need to stay in bed for 6 more days first...grrrr

Such a cool game. I’ll see if I still have pics of mine …. Was about 10 years ago now Jesus …. how am I still doing this

 

[Ashbo]

Such a cool game. I’ll see if I still have pics of mine …. Was about 10 years ago now Jesus …. how am I still doing this

Would be awesome if I'd did belong to you a decade ago, it would be like seeing it age over time

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Would be awesome if I'd did belong to you a decade ago, it would be like seeing it age over time

Mine was running on a borrowed MPU .
When I sold it it was with the original problematic MPU it came with when I got it - no interest here at the time , think it went to someone in the midlands via eBay for about £250.
I bought if from a guy in Portsmouth for 200 I think .

 

[Ashbo]

Mine was running on a borrowed MPU .
When I sold it it was with the original problematic MPU it came with when I got it - no interest here at the time , think it went to someone in the midlands via eBay for about £250.
I bought if from a guy in Portsmouth for 200 I think .

I await the joys of testing the mpu. Fingers crossed....Still not an expensive machine (to buy anyway), could easily double it's cost to me in parts shopping her out and still stay out of trouble with the boss.

Loving these eighties Bally Midway pins. They get a bad reputation but I think they rock!!

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

I await the joys of testing the mpu. Fingers crossed....Still not an expensive machine (to buy anyway), could easily double it's cost to me in parts shopping her out and still stay out of trouble with the boss.

Loving these eighties Bally Midway pins. They get a bad reputation but I think they rock!!

Special Force one of the better 6803, Strange Science another.
Horrible cabs and that ridiculous touchpad menu system though

 

[Ashbo]

Special Force one of the better 6803, Strange Science another.
Horrible cabs and that ridiculous touchpad menu system though

Yeah, the cabs don't look great, but in a line up you don't see them. Why worry about art you can't see? I'll add Beat the Clock to the list. It's been played to death since I got it and it just gets better and better.

Fibre board construction....yeah...compared to Bally Williams no where near the same class. Doesn't stop it playing pinball.

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Could only find 2 pics - sure I had more but it was a long time ago - prob not the same one but you never know. Don't think that many around - I went years only ever seeing the one I had. I think @Calimori came and played it once

Edit - apologies hijacking yr thread with my old game tales

 

[Ashbo]

Could only find 2 pics - sure I had more but it was a long time ago - prob not the same one but you never know. Don't think that many around - I went years only ever seeing the one I had. I think @Calimori came and played it once

Edit - apologies hijacking yr thread with my old game tales

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Don't apologise, this is awesome. Acknoweging the history of our toys is a massive part of the hobby. Finding out where they have been and who has played them is brilliant. Yours (possibly ours) was in much better condition back then.

There is identical damage to the brown right plastic. A chip just at the top of the shooter lane (I think).

Can't get a photo just now but imagine two sheets of Mylar (lower and upper), with lots of dirt and rust. I'll compare once I can clean properly.

 

[Calimori]

Yes. Awesome fun game and great sounds.
I was following the thread and wondering if it was the one I played at yours. I haven’t seen one since.

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

If this was the one on EBay recently then pretty sure not my old one . The cab sides were more faded on mine.

A couple have popped up on eBay the last few years but I have never seen another in the flesh. Not even at a Show.

 

[David_Vi]

It could be yours, mine has a cabinet front that looks like it's spent time in a van with @David_Vi....proper stoved, that'll need fixing

Owwwww


All the best, I don't know this game! Looking forward to seeing it

 

[DanSeldon]

Could only find 2 pics - sure I had more but it was a long time ago - prob not the same one but you never know. Don't think that many around - I went years only ever seeing the one I had. I think @Calimori came and played it once

Edit - apologies hijacking yr thread with my old game tales

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That would look great sat next to an Operation Wolf arcade cab.

 

[Ashbo]

Owwwww


All the best, I don't know this game! Looking forward to seeing it

Sorry sir, without a picture of my own, it was the best way of describing it. Looks a good game, should be ready for play in a few months

 

[Ashbo]

That would look great sat next to an Operation Wolf arcade cab.

Omg, I loved that game as a kid, was no good at it mind. Now I know why I was immediately drawn to this one....whoever says pinball purchases are driven by nostalgia - 100%

 

[Ashbo]

If this was the one on EBay recently then pretty sure not my old one . The cab sides were more faded on mine.

A couple have popped up on eBay the last few years but I have never seen another in the flesh. Not even at a Show.

Yes was eBay this week. I'll get some pics taken soon and we can resolve

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

I always wanted to track down a SF Girls back glass !

That is you mission soldier - find it and bring it home

 

[Ashbo]

I always wanted to track down a SF Girls back glass !

That is you mission soldier - find it and bring it home


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Ha ha, by the look of them they are working for Putin now!! Lol, and the cap stuck on with hairspray. So 80's . It's worth having both backglasses for the comedy value

In fact the 2000's equivalent would be Special Force Girls....call now £1 a minute.

 

[Ashbo]

Couldn't resist sneaking downstairs this morning.... This is the state of play.

1. Mould, seems to be a running theme with pinballs. I'll be stripping everything out of the cab first and clean thoroughly. There is a crack in the bottom of the backbox I plan to repair by glueing some ply underneath to give some strength back.


2. Boards look ok to the eye. Great new displays but beware the wire connectors hanging loose....

3. Playfield under Mylar and vey dirty. I think we can see the front line between two sheets...

4. Side rails, replace....

5. Fix the front of the cab....(recruiting my dad to help I think.). It looks worse from underneath apparently, but I can't crouch at the moment so I await that pleasure soon.

6. Sort out which buttons are needed...

7. De-rust and airbrush the grill. Crying out for cammo paint job?

8. Strip the playfield, clean, polish everything.

Then replace flippers for black Bally, replace all 0.047uF ceramic caps on switches, replace rechargable battery with cr2032 and a blocking diode. New rubbers, new stand up targets, new balls, new green led GI, new incandescent inserts, new fuses, new t-moulding.

Then, we will turn her on and see what she does......

Possibly Krylon on the backglass too. To remove the Mylar and clear coat or to leave sleeping dogs lie????

 

[Ashbo]

Backbox photos attached

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Medic !!!! Man down

That’s def NOT my old SF. Good luck

 

[mufcmufc]

Jesus, that one has been deep undercover in the jungle by the looks of it

 

[Ashbo]

Jesus, that one has been deep undercover in the jungle by the looks of it

Trench foot and other tropical diseases no doubt. Unknown psychological damage. This one needs close monitoring

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Couple of weeks it will look like one of Todds

 

[Jay Walker]

Re. the two buttons on the l/h margin of the front - the white one is the proper start button. The other's probably been added by some fool who couldn't set Free Play.

I see a bit of re-cycled 'woodwork' inside the back box, top left corner. Similar to scraps of earlier cabinets seen in Williams/Bally Wpc era games.

In contrast to the side rails, the front moulding doesn't seem too bad. This era Bally games usually suffered severe wear on the ends, Nordman's other game of the time, Party Animal, springs to mind.

On the subject of poor cabinet materials, Bally made a point of including a picture/drawing and the remark "Rock Solid with mitre joints and 65% more ply" in the flyer for the slightly later Heavy Metal Meltdown.

I enjoyed Special Force at the time. An attendant at the Marina arcade, knowing I was the highest score holder, told me a young woman had got to enter initials for a high score but couldn't see it and her initials displayed. The l/h rocket button calls up the highest scores when in attract mode. The right hand one begins an instruction mode.

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Yes was eBay this week. I'll get some pics taken soon and we can resolve

The guy did well to hide the worst on the listing

 

[Ashbo]

The guy did well to hide the worst on the listing

Ah, the starting price gave it away. I'm very, very happy with my purchase. It's totally as expected. I entered the agreement with eyes wide open. She will be beautiful again.

 

[Ashbo]

Cutting away all the bloody uniform to see the damage....


Bit of rust under the top...


May have found the issue on a flipper...


Need to source some shorter screws...


Looks like previous attempts to remove Mylar with a Stanley knife were unsuccessful...


But there is know other way around it, this Mylar is getting removed....this weekend...