Pinballorama #10 - Touching Up Pinball Playfields

[@chrisdagger6295]

Great video thanks! I'm getting the courage to tackle a restoration on a '73 Jumping Jack. Love the idea of the clear tape to match color. I might instead try it with some 3M transparent Post It notes.

[@SevensPinballorama]

Even something like cellophane or plastic wrap would work.

[@KevBoneT]

Steven, thanks so much for the info. You have given me Courage.

[@SevensPinballorama]

You can do it! Find me on Facebook and drop me a line when your start working on it. I'd like to see.

[@troyhill4270]

Thanks! Great video, informative and funny! That tape tip a fantastic idea!

[@StephenCampanella-f8v]

Thank you for your video, it is extremely helpful! I just bought my first pinball machine (Bally’s 1976 Hang Glider). I would like to restore the playfield. Could you tell me which paint (type, and brand) is your preferred type? I know you mentioned both latex and acrylics. Also, what is the paint sheen that matches best? Thanks for sharing!

[@StephenCampanella-f8v]

One Shot sounds like a bit too much of an investment right off the bat for me.

[@SevensPinballorama]

Yeah. It's a bit pricey to just get a handful of the basic colours you'd need. That said, One Shot is all I use now.

[@MRNBricks]

Thank you for this.

[@Roadsurfer2k11]

Color matching is no joke.. took me 3 nights and 6 different blues to try to closely match the blue on Kings of Steel. The issue is with a light on it, it seems a bright blue. But no light and it's a deep blue with purple hue. It's nuts. I ended up just sanding down the bottom completely rather than touchup. I can see where you'd have more nicotine at bottom as usually people might have had an ash tray sitting at bottom of the machine. I noticed when using magic eraser it picked up yellow also

[@SevensPinballorama]

I think one trick to good colour matching is good white light. I have a mix of light sources in my shop. LEDs of several different hues (some more yellow, some more blue) and florescent tubes. When I paint, all lights are on. Ideally, out in the sun would be best, but that't not practical.

[@Roadsurfer2k11]

@@SevensPinballorama true.. I'm just using what I have which is a led desk lamp, a standing lamp with 5k lumens led bulb, and another portable 5k harbor freight Braun worklight. As soon as I added the worklight sitting on the table pointing down it was sufficient. The brush marks I didn't see until sun shown through the window lol. It'll all need sanding outside

[@SevensPinballorama]

@@Roadsurfer2k11 What are you painting? Acrylics? If you are, you can diminish brush marks by thinning it a bit more and doing more coats.

[@Roadsurfer2k11]

@@SevensPinballorama I'm on an extreme budget right now out of work so it's Americana and craftsmart acrylics from michaels/hobby lobby. I have verathane ultimate water based polyurethane to go over it once it's a few days cured. The clear worked well when I restored the pin legs but I used enamel paint. The sanding won't be a problem, I put about 3 brush coats on. Im making a plywood board with the color match recipe (drop ratios) so in future I know exactly the colors to do. Once it's done I'll use it to test the clearcoart before I apply it to the playfield

[@ryanstroh2963]

Do you have a video on painting/redrawing a graphic correctly? Ex from this video, the correct markings from Big Guns and Ace's costume. Those spots were bare before but you recreated the graphic seamlessly.

[@SevensPinballorama]

For Big Guns and the KISS machine, I just painted it freehand looking at pictures (Actually for the KISS machine there was a brand new unused playfield next to me I used for reference). There is another trick I used on my Black Knight retheme where I didn't want to entirely freehand sections. I printed the item I wanted to transfer and basically turned it into carbon paper (sort of). That process is in Episode 5 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ona4qXagrKqZf5Y

[@carldin63]

Fantastic info. Really appreciate you taking the time to put it up. One question re the nicotine staining, I assume that despite your best efforts of cleaning in preparation for the touch ups there was still some residual staining impregnated in the paint Have you found better preparation methods over others?.

[@SevensPinballorama]

I found if the paint is discoloured or stained, there really isn't an easy solution. From what I've run into, it's usually pretty mild. Once the glass is on and the lights from the machine are powered up, you'll never notice the slight shifts in colour. That said, I have seen sections that, for whatever reason, are severely discoloured (IE; UV fade). If it is surface discolouration from some elemental cause, it can sometimes be lightly sanded out using Melamine foam.

[@TBayJay]

First, I just want to say thank you and that I really appreciate your videos. I'm about to start cleaning up my Williams Blackout and I'm planning on using 1 shot. My playfield isn't too bad so it will just be filling in some cracks and cleaning up some marks on the cabinet. I'm curious if you ever thin 1 Shot and spray with an airbrush.

[@SevensPinballorama]

Thank you. I airbrushed a bunch of 1 Shot on my Black Knight retheme. It works great. I thinned it using their "flow enhancer". Since the pigments on 1 Shot are so rich, it covered really well. If you are masking with frisk, I found more lighter coats and spraying kind of dry were better. Probably should wear a mask while doing it. It's pretty stinky (and THAT kind of stinky usually means bad for you).

[@lj666ful]

Any recos on how deal with sections of paint that are brittle and flaking? I have done touch ups on regular wear no problem but I have one that has a section about the size of a playing card that is very fragile and I’m worried anything I do may cause more harm than good.

[@SevensPinballorama]

That's a tough call. If it's fairly clean and looked ok, I'd probably just clear coat it.

[@calebbell5018]

Looking great!!!

[@PinballWorkshop]

Awesome video! I tried mixing paint for 2 hours and never got close. Now, I just stick to electronics... :(

[@Sam-qi4hm]

Have you finished the video on clear coating the play field yet?

[@stevenrose4930]

Thanks for the tips!

[@wigwamswe]

Good info

[@scottfindlay2625]

The automotive is not as toxic as you are leading up to.. i've sprayed it for decades, you must have a tight sealing respirator and a highly ventilated area but most people don't have access to that so the automotive clear in the can is almost as good and any automotive paint supply store can make them up for you there about 10 bucks a can... just NEVER NEVER NEVER use Polyurethane that is very toxic and needs special respirators and can lead to isocyanate poisoning which will be with you for life. above all don't mix acrylics and lacquers or you will lift all the paint and kiss your playing field goodbye. I've also had excellent success using small airbrushes for artwork like this and a simple fan in the garage will suffice and a respirator. just a pain to mask off things.

[@russellgibson3070]

can you buy the one shot paint and hardner at home depot or Michaels?

[@SevensPinballorama]

I'm in Canada and I've not seen it at either place. They have it at KMS tools in the Vancouver area. I got some at Blicks art supply in Seattle - and you can order from their website dickblick.com.

[@russellgibson3070]

thank you for your help

[@KevBoneT]

@@SevensPinballorama Canada? That explains why you are so darn nice (=

[@SevensPinballorama]

@@KevBoneT If we aren't nice, we don't get our maple syrup rations for the month.

[@IMRROcom]

Still only 8 tick marks

[@williamdooly4111]

How do you remove flipper sun fade

[@SevensPinballorama]

In this case, it is the original varnish or clear on the bare wood that has discoloured. I think you'd have to remove the varnish to get rid of it.

[@williamdooly4111]

Seven's Pinballorama that's what I thought, I have sanded as much as possible the marks are still there but very light now and blend in much better

[@SevensPinballorama]

I'm working on a new video right now clear coating the playfield at the end of this video. I spend a little time at the start of the video dealing with the flipper marks. Basically, I sanded the crap out of it until they faded. The new video should be out in a couple of weeks.