Tom playfield touchup recomendations

[elrikos]

Hi all

I'm likely going to be collecting a theatre of magic over the next few weeks and was after a little advice. The playfield has some damage to it around the illusions and "theatre" inserts which I'd like touched up. The illusion inserts have shifted slightly and cracked around their edges and as have the theatre ones. I've been looking around for a company who may be able to repair these issues for me. Trouble is they're all based in the USA and are quoting turn around of 4-6 months.

Does anyone know of a person/company who would be able to sort this for me? I'm loathe to use overlays and want an invisible job, ideally from someone who isn't in the states (shipping a pf is pretty pricey!)

I haven't picked up the table yet so can't post pictures, I will when I collect though.

Cheers

Rich

 

[Rus121]

Is the text on the inserts damaged? If so, that will be very hard to airbrush back on. It could be done, but you would need some real skills and patience to do so. Only other way is using an overlay (i hate 'em too). Shifted or raised inserts will require some gentle heating from the underside with a hot air gun to melt the old adhesive, then gently re-aligning with whatever tool you happen to have at hand (hard plast sanding block has worked for me in the past). I royally messed it up on a friends Wh20 once so be very careful with the heat if you try it.



Done a few touchups using createx 'auto air' paints. They dry flat as a pancake and dont 'run' when you apply a clearcoat. Some of the guys in the states doing the high end stuff are really very skilled people and their work would be hard to duplicate without a lot of practice first.

 

[elrikos]

Hi Rus,

the actual text itself is ok, its just where the insert meets the wood thats cracked all round. its full of dirt at the moment so im sure itll look better after a clean, but i guess the crack will always be visible withoput some touch up. I'd tackle it myself but the colour fades between gold and cream across the insert so it looks tricky! The theatre inserts would be easier i think as its just purple. Im just a little doubting of my artistic talents so figured id rather pay someone else to do a top job rather than bu**er it up myself!

I found these guys in germany. Has anyone got any experiences of them? http://www.pinball-dreams.com

 

[Replay]

I am surprised there is no one in the UK who can do this kind of work. I may also be on the look out for something like this in the future.

 

[Judge Dreads]

Around xmas I approached the guys who used to do fine custom artwork on bikes when I was in the motorcycle resto game, they could do it but were way to busy and said it would not be cost effective for them (worn MB pf)

, if you can't get a repro pf then it's the way to go but the MB needed rebuilding around the drac hole etc etc, buying a replacement pf was a better move.



The main block of inserts were also raised on my tom when I got it, rest of the machine looks stunning including the playfield and has obviously had very little use, it is pretty much the only machine I have owned with the insert lens lifting from the pf, they looked like small ramps all lifted on the same side (is this a TOM pf issue?) I placed a hard wood block on the pf, tapped them back down, re-glued them underneath and placed a thin layer of mylar over that area, seems to have worked well, protects the inserts, possibly helps keep them down and keeps the dirt out of the hairline crack.



Ironically the seller did not mention that about 8 of the inserts had lifted before I made the journey to collect and it was not obvious from the pics, the machine was in such awesome shape that it knocked the insert issue out of the equation, I gathered at the time that if a machine in this condition had suffered from raised inserts then it must be a common issue on this pf?



I found this post interesting as mine has the same flaw and is a mint example, can anyone elaborate, do TOMs commonly suffer from this insert lifting or are we a minority?



Cheers All

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

I found this post interesting as mine has the same flaw and is a mint example, can anyone elaborate, do TOMs commonly suffer from this insert lifting or are we a minority?



Cheers All

I had a TOM in beautiful condition, after the usual gunk removal, inserts were virtually perfect, no lifting. Though there was a very small area of wear on one of the letters in front of the trapdoor, presume from the kickout.



For the those interested in how prices have moved on ....sold if for 1350, shiny ,minty fresh with new trunk, gold saw etc .............. 4 years ago