The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: Brettski on July 25, 2016, 10:05:09 PM
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Hi all,
I picked up a 1976 Gottlieb Solar City recently that was an unfinished project with lots of potential.
The guy had painted the cabinet but after 3 attempts at the stencils he gave up and put it up for sale!
Now this suits me fine as I am ok at stenciling and just need to spend a few hours in Photoshop to get it right.
The machine works but has had the credit unit removed, I picked one up from Daniel (ddstoys) and the next thing is to work out what wires go where etc.
It needs a back box back door but thinking of just making a timber one, at least for the time being to keep the racket down.
It has a problem where it doesn't award extra ball but will work on that.
Playfield is quite good with great colours except for the white which has gone that crappy yellowy dirty colour. It also has a clear contact/mylar applied to most of the playfield, due to use it had the dirty line around the edge of the contact which I cleaned out with isoprophyl alcohol so now it blends really well. The previous owner had replaced flipper bats, pop bumpers, drop targets, white posts and rubbers so all I need is new plastics which are on their way from Pinball Rescue. I also removed the timber rails and sanded them and a fresh coat of varnish applied.
The apron has been freshly painted and a decal applied before I got it too.
The back glass looks good until you turn it on LOL, not too bad but the blue sections have flaked and the previous owner had re painted the blue sections and added led's.
I will clean off the blue paint and touch it up my way and hopefully it will look ok. I feel confident that I can fix this as it is no where near as bad as Charlie's Angels backglass and I was able to sort that one out.
I have started cleaning up the playfield as mentioned and will update as things progress...
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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Very cool pick up! I'll look forward to following your resto on this one. ^^^
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Looks real good to me - most Solar City have plenty of wear on the blue BONUS section, yours doesn't. Mylar can be a blessing sometimes.
Great pick up..
Mines at the neighbours house because I haven't got room
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Thanks guy's much appreciated!
Hey Retropin,
Any chance you could get me a couple of really clear shots of the credit unit and the wiring.
I have the schematics but also like a visual to help in these situations.
I have a unit to fit and the wires are there but as they say a picture paints a thousand schematics.. :)
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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Good starting point mate. Look forward to updates
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Very nice project there!
The playfield and backglass look to be in GREAT condition, probably the best i've seen on one of these games having restored a couple myself over the years
I sold mine a couple of years ago, still kicking myself but i needed the $$ at the time.
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My first ever pin and yet another one I regret moving on. Great game for the drop target fans.
Looking forward to following this one.
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Very nice starting point, classic drop target game should come up a treat!
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Looks like an easy restore for you Brett *%*
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Thanks everyone for your comments and encouragement!
Last night I repaired the issues with the back glass and today I speckled the cabinet ready for the stencils.
The backglass had repairs done by the previous owner, the translucent blue is around the castle thingy had flaked out and it had been painted in but once backlit it looked terrible. The previous owner tried using blue led's but they look crap too so I blocked out all the blue translucent using black over it and the results are quite good. Purists would object but what I had to work with left me no choice. I tried removing the touch up paint but started to remove the good paint so it was not possible. Anyhow if you didn't know or had nothing to compare it to it is quite acceptable.
It came fitted out with LED's which I didn't like so I DeLeded it!, looks much better as I just don't like EM's with LED lights. I have used them in under playfield inserts on Charlie's Angels but that's my limit.
I also started working on the stencil graphics (see pic below)
Not much left now, cabinet stenciling and new plastics and it is almost done.
I am going to try a different approach with my stencils this time, usually I trace it to a big sheet of vinyl but this time I am going to use A3 Laminating Pouches!
I have created stencils before from laminating pouches but not on pinball machines so I will see how it goes but feel quite confident I will get good results.
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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Today I stenciled the cabinet after quite a few hours of cutting the stencils by hand. It's not perfect but to the untrained eye it should look quite good when it's all back together.
The blue looks a little dark in the pics, it is probably a little darker than original but close enough.
I will finish the other side tomorrow and then put it back together.. in the mean time here is the latest pic.
Stencils were made from creating the artwork in Photoshop then printing out in banner form on multiple A4 pages then stuck together like a jigsaw. Using A3 Laminating pouches the stencils were traced and then cut by hand, using spray adhesive to tack to the cabinet and sprayed with Graffiti paint which is ideal for pinball cabinets due to the high pigmentation and range of colours. Look for Ironlak but there are others.
Stencil cost..
A3 Laminate Pouches - $9.95
Spray cans $8ea
Spray adhesive -$10
Total - $35.95
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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Looks great Brett!
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
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Very nice!
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Almost there!
Next I need to clean up the coin door while I wait on the plastics, also on the list is to re produce the relay and fuse labels for inside the cabinet.
Here is the latest pic of the machine assembled after painting.
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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Looks great Brett .
Never heard of Ironlak . Who stocks it ?
I am going to try your idea of A3 laminate pouches for stencils &&
Cheers
Dave
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Hi Dave,
Ok Ironlak is sold at skateboard shops etc, there are other brands such as loops. Much the same stuff really, high pigmented paint in lots of colour choices.
The product is used by street artists and mural artists etc and is sometimes stocked by some tattooists.
A3 laminates work well but just beware of intricate cutting and use a brand new xacto knife, also only spray just enough to cover. You can get different nozzles for the spray cans depending on the coverage you are after, like everything experiment first to get the idea. Another tip is to use spray adhesive to tack down your stencil but don't let it sit too long, remove the stencil immediately after spraying.
Another tip is to do the first colour then with the second colour cut the stencil up and do it in sections on the sides of the cabinet, also lay the cabinet so the side you want is facing up and you are working on a flat surface. Once again do some practice stuff first to get the idea of how it all works and feels. (it's the Vibe) LOL.
Biggest Tip, do not spray to heavy and remove stencils immediately.
Any questions let me know..
Regards: Brettski... :)
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Gday Brett.
Thanks a lot for the tips .
I have created stencils before out of cardboard and repainted 4 or 5 EM cabs (starting to lose count) using wall paint and roller method then spray with clear . They all came out pretty well.
I have just used sample pots for the 2 colours .
I guess in your case you didn't prep the cab did you , just sprayed over the base colour that the seller had put on it ?
Cheers
Dave
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Gday Brett.
Thanks a lot for the tips .
I have created stencils before out of cardboard and repainted 4 or 5 EM cabs (starting to lose count) using wall paint and roller method then spray with clear . They all came out pretty well.
I have just used sample pots for the 2 colours .
I guess in your case you didn't prep the cab did you , just sprayed over the base colour that the seller had put on it ?
Cheers
Dave
Yes Dave this time I had the luxury of the cabinet already prepared..
I had to repair the cabinet on Cleopatra as it was extensively damaged and also sanded Charlie's Angels and Strikes and Spares back to timber and started fresh with those.
The Ironlak spray is no more expensive than sample pots at only $8 a can.
Here are some pics of my other machines and as you can see the colours are great!
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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I also used the trusty Spackulator on this cabinet, I actually got a better result this time. ^^^
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I also used the trusty Spackulator on this cabinet, I actually got a better result this time. ^^^
Im guessing paint inside the bottle.. cordless drill on the end. Aim and fire.
If that's the case... that tool is friggin genius!
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Im guessing paint inside the bottle.. cordless drill on the end. Aim and fire.
If that's the case... that tool is friggin genius!
+ 1.. fantastic thinking there ()
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LOL cordless drill might be a bit over the top but like your thinking.. I might just give that a go! ^^^
Here is a video of it in action!!
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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I have recreated the relay and fuse labels for Solar City as they were all missing when I got this machine, here is the pdf file I made if anyone else needs to print them for their own Solar City.
Cheers: Brettski... :)
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Just caught up with this thread - amazing work there Brettski. Should inspire a few more restos for sure ^^^