The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: Pinfan on July 13, 2009, 12:16:30 AM
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OK- Where do we start !
This cab was a mess. I took this project on simply because the bg and the playfield were in decent condition plus its Star Trek ! OH and it was DAMN cheap too ! &&
Will not mention to much atm as i will let the pics do the talking.
This is how it was purchased !
Everything was painted white, as the headbox pic shows. Side rails, door and bg were the only things not to be butchered. Thats not to say that there was no paint on the side rails door and BG ! It was bloody everywhere !
Even the legs and bolts were painted ! *.*
For some reason i can't seem to find any cab pics of how it was purchased ( painted white ) but i figure you guys will get the gist of it with the headbox pics.
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LOL!!! Was painted white with the legs on?? Unreal! !@# @.@ !@#
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He he... think of it as a blank canvass :)
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He he... think of it as a blank canvass :)
You're not wrong !
This is where there is a twist in this restore.
Will announce it when we reach that stage ! <.>
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I'm hanging to see the PF!
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Some playfield shots with a semi strip job in the process.
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That PF is in amazing condition - I don't wanna know how much you paid for it.
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Well i won't tell you then ! &&
To add a little more info which i had left out from the beginning, this was a double ST deal. You got it. 2 Bally Star Treks for the price of one... %$%
Being a MASSIVE Star Trek fan I had big plans for this restore as i plan on it being a keeper and in the near future you will see why.
Out of 2 ST's i planned to make one NICE one. The other was to be sold off. ( Already sold, gone to Perth about 1 1/2 years ago)
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That playfield is in realy good nick for a Star trek machine. Most that I have seen really do have badly worn p/fields, For a thirty year old machine its in top condition apart from the paint job. At least thats a easy fix. Looking forward to the restore pic's
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You probably have already sussed this out, but in case nbot, there are stencils available for this game-
http://www.pinballpal.com/products/stencil/#Star
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I can never get my head around why people paint pinball cabs white !
This is the best ST PF I've seen in years - the bonus area is always worn to wood around the inserts.
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Playfield looks fantastic! ^^^
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I can never get my head around why people paint pinball cabs white !
This is the best ST PF I've seen in years - the bonus area is always worn to wood around the inserts.
Its not perfect by far as there is a little wear around the bonus 10 and 20 inserts, nothing to serious, yeah but not perfect.
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Going to attempt a cab resto down the track (which I am clueless about)... Will watch with interest!
Why the hell did he paint it white?
Did his wife want it to "blend into the room"? (I am NOT showing this thread to my wife - she would probably think it's a great idea!!!) &^&
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OK- so we see the cabinet and headbox needs to be stripped off of this horrendous white paint so we start with the stripping.
Cabinet, Headbox and legs took a total of 8 hours. 8 hours was just to strip the white paint off.
If people think this is easy and mindless work, well its not. Its very tedious. &^&
You've got to be on the ball, can't leave paint stripper on it for too long if you wish to 'TRY' and keep the artwork underneath.
I didn't need to try and keep the artwork as i had intentions of redoing the cab and h-box anyway so i went all out and tried to strip all of it but as i found most of the original artwork was well and truly embedded onto the cab, so i sanded that off....that's a later post.. #@#
WARNING, if you are using paint stripper wear a mask. It nearly knocked me out a couple of times !
Its smell is quite potent and can give you dizzy spells, ALSO make sure you wear gloves as it can start to burn through your skin and glasses of course for eye protection !
Me being the person i am i passed on all of the above, but do not take my warning lightly ! !@)
Pics are of the cab,headbox and legs stripped of the white paint.
Look how vibrant the cab colors are ! This to me indicates that this machine was painted early on in its life.
Its a shame that the paint stripper took bits and pieces of the original art with it.
You can also see from the dates in the pics when this restore was started. Will be explained in another post... *%*
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And some more pics ! Cab and headbox colours were unbelievable !
Stripping the paint revealed a very clean cab underneath.
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Someone painted over that !!@ they really deserve a head kicking how bright is that cabinet.
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Someone painted over that !!@ they really deserve a head kicking how bright is that cabinet.
Tell me about it !
Hey Daniel, I noticed in your Gottlieb parts for sale thread that you have a Star Trek. Is that yours ?
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Sadly No it isnt mine !!!
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Sadly No it isnt mine !!!
No probs mate... If it was yours i had some spare bumper caps for you .... &&
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Well i may just need them he didnt sound to keen on me spending more cash to try get it going so it may end up as mine
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Fantastic! #*#
This game will come up perfect.....now spill ya guts and tell us how much you payed for the 2 games :lol :lol
IMO this is one of the best SS Bally pins ever made and did I pump some money in this game when she was on location in the late 70s/early 80s.
Keep the updates coming!
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Tony- I am a HUGE ST fan and this is the only reason why i have a Bally of this era ! @@^ ( flame suit on )
They have shallow rule sets and get boring fast...That includes K,P.....moving on...... #@# #@#
Once the white paint was removed from the cab i had to tackle the factory layer of paint so i fully sanded the entire cab down back to bare wood.
This was a tedious job as the sand paper sheet on the sander kept on getting packed up with the factory paint, meaning the paint would fuse itself onto the sheet, making it a time consuming task.
Not entirely sure but am assuming that there was lead in the factory paint at that point in time... To me this could be the only explanation ! Any ideas ??
I underestimated this task as i allotted a 2 hour time slot for it... BOY was i wrong ! @.@
This took me about 6-8 hours and i went through at least 8 sheets of paper from the sander. ( belt sander was used )
Believe it or not i found a metal pin with a 5 mm head as a patch on the front of the cab that was covered over with some filler also the cab had been previously patched up in other areas with filler before the stencil kit was sprayed, this was done by and from the factory... !
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Great work!
I was getting worried I was the only one taking paint off!
Can wait for the rest of the photos....
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While i was sanding the cab i gave the inside and underneath a quick sand... Why not ! :D
The pealing layers of ply underneath the front of the cab was simply glued and clamped back together.
The metal pin that was embedded into the factory cabinet !
More pics...
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The metal pin is to stop the coin return button putting a ding in the cab if you open the front door too hard.
I have also stripped my Star Trek (A grade playfield, C grade cab) but my mate (Pinfrog) is going to weave his magic on mine ^^^
cheers
Ian
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Ahhhh thanks for verifying that !
Makes sense now ! @.@
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Ahhhh thanks for verifying that !
Makes sense now ! @.@
I think all machines of this era from all manufacturers have this tack in place for the exact reason mentioned - to stop the coin door plate or button dinting the cab..
It takes HOURS to do this kind of work - and you need to be dedicated to the task - which you have shown here in bucketloads !
The more time you put in - the better the results.
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Now that i have a back to bare wood cab and head i am ready to apply the undercoat.
I used the coat and sand method ! Spray 1 coat and then sand in between coats.
3 light coats was given.
I wasn't to careful or to fussy on colour match as it was only an undercoat.
But before i sprayed the undercoat the cab was repaired in areas where it was needed.
If you take a close look at the head the top, back and border is the finished product however the sides just had a lick of paint. There is a reason for this as i chose a different method to the conventional when it comes to older SS cabinet restores... More on that later. *!@ %$%
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What no overspray on the fence or the house *.* you must be doing something wrong *)*
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Nice work there Pinfan, hey, what great use of that old TV trolley :D
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I must add to the previous post that the neck was painted too. For some reason i forgot to take a pic of the finished product. You will get a glimpse of that later. @.@
Anyway, in between coats on the cab and hbox i used my time efficiently and started to prepare the legs for undercoat and then to go on with the top coat.
I stripped the legs back to bare metal of its ugly white paint. I gave them a light sand, cleaned them with Shellite and was on my way to spray the undercoat.
The first coat was a coat of spray putty and undercoat as one. Its a filler putty and undercoat in the one can. It fills and hides any little imperfections if applied correctly. Put it this way i was very happy with it.
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What no overspray on the fence or the house *.* you must be doing something wrong *)*
I try and be real carefully Daniel but don't worry i make a mess at times too ! %.%
Can't help myself !
Nice work there Pinfan, hey, what great use of that old TV trolley :D
Thanks Evro... however that is not a tv trolley mate. The bottom half is half of an old make up stand that the wife was planning on throwing away which once i saw it i knew what it could be used for and the top half is a cut off from an old laminate kitchen bench top which served my purpose. &&
Put a couple of L brackets on the bottom of the leg where it meets the base for support, 4 ply strips screwed from underneath the top which rest on the legs and have a look at her now ! ^^^ #@# ()
Multi purpose movable workable trolley, especially made for my pinball resto's ! %.%
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2 coats of the undercoat was applied and then sanded ready for the top/final coats.
Another 'pinfan' off the wayward way of thinking moment, i chose to spray the legs not with the traditional Bally charcoal however i chose a metallic charcoal. Its a shade or 2 darker than the traditional Bally charcoal but has metallic in it...
I love this colour as i had experimented previously on Bally legs. They come up a treat and i was very impressed with the final finish so i chose to stick with it !
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Finished product with a dusting of clear.
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Ooooh, I do like those legs...... ill be committing this one to memory and using this technique myself... thanks for the tip!
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Very very nice indeed Marco!....
I thought this resto was going real-time too! (til I saw dates on photographs!)
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Thanks Marty.
It was started December 07 and its still going !
Just little bits and pieces left now...
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I decided early on that i wanted to finish the cabinet before the playfield got a looking into.
So with cab ready for the artwork and the legs all painted up it was time to finish the cab !
Instead of then conventional make your own or purchase new stencils i decided to.........
um....eeerrr....well.... do decals..... there i said it ! !@)
After one of my previous restores, with making my own stencils and repainting the cab i wanted to go in the direction of decals. I spent way to much time creating the stencils and repainting the cab.
A big thank you to 2 very kind gentlemen who helped me with the process of redoing and printing the artwork. No money was exchanged for the re-creation or the printing of this artwork.. Very kind gestures from 2 very kind gentlemen. Again a BIG thank you !
So i had decals printed up....
This is why the cabinet and headbox had a light paint ! && &&
Pics of the decals...
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Marco,
Mate those decals for the cab look sooooooooo cool ^^^....was wondering why you sprayed the cab white @.@
Keep the updates coming and I'm hanging for a game on Star Trek now! Oh the memories *%*
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I'm the first to admit that I don't particularly approve of decals on these classics @@^
however, they are 1000 X better than a white cabinet, and the machine will look great when finished.
Keep the updates coming, Marco. Great work so far !
^^^
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Well i agree with Nino but shit they look good ^^^
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I'd like to add that I would never discourage anyone from using Marco's techniques using decals. I know he is a perfectionist, so if it is good enough for him - then it must be 10/10 !
Anyone remember wotto's magical Black Knight ? ^^^
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I'm the first to admit that I don't particularly approve of decals on these classics @@^
however, they are 1000 X better than a white cabinet, and the machine will look great when finished.
Keep the updates coming, Marco. Great work so far !
^^^
Well i agree with Nino but shit they look good ^^^
Aaaahhhhhh boys, i used to think like that too ! *.*
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Looking forward to seeing the finished resto on this one, you have done a great job with it Marco.
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Are you planning on donating it to the Star Trek Hall of Fame?
Insane attention to detail - top job, top class! @@*
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So.... i have a older SS machine ready for decals...Boy did i cop a lot of flack about it...
"it should be sprayed like it was in the factory" was one quote i was adamant to prove wrong !
My only remark to these skeptics was wait until the finished product !
I had no idea on how it would turn out as i had never seen it up close and personal in the past, all i knew was that i wanted to avoid respraying and stencils at all cost ! ( Its not that bad really just tedious ! *%* )
I was going to do it WET method, this is the reason why all the sides that were going to have the decal installed needed a light coat of paint, so the cabinet would not soak up the water.
You can either clear the cab or paint it. As you guys have seen i decided to paint it as i thought it killed two birds with one stone as the corners were already painted and so was the back...
The reason i chose the WET method of decal installation was simply because i had a little time to play with the decal IF a boo boo was made as opposed to no time with the dry method.
My particular decals were cut to size with not much to no over run what so ever, so i had to check and recheck and make sure it was not going to be a mess !
So armed with some hot water in a spray bottle with a hint of washing detergent,an old lint less clean rag and a plastic squeegee i was ready to rock and roll...
I decided to do the headbox first and i spent about 15 minutes aligning the decal on the first side for the first time.
15 mins you say, yes a very LONG time ! Just wanted to be sure. @.@ :D
The way i installed the decals was to line up the decal as best i could. Once i was happy i clamped it down protecting the artwork at the same time.
Once i was happy with the clamped artwork i peeled about 1/8 of the artwork and cut the backing off, starting from one side, in my case it was from top to bottom. The skinny or narrow part of the artwork is where you should start from. eg the width of the headbox decal is more narrow than the height.
Once i had stuck down that initial 1/8 of the decal i sprayed a fine mist of water onto where the decal was going to be installed.
So slowly pealing the backing off, leaving the decal curved over and hanging over the section which has been completed, and at the same time with my plastic squeegee i was rubbing the decal on. In the meantime all the bubbles where being pushed out as was the water leaving me with an entirely smoothed out, stuck on decal.
Once i had completed another portion of it i would then cut the backing off as the longer it gets the more it gets in the way. I continued with this motion until i completed the installation.
I took my time with this and highly recommend for you to do so if you decide to do it ! It can be a nerve racking task with the cost of replacing the artwork after all...
I hope this makes sense, anyway hopefully the pics will do the talking....
So the headbox gets the decals installed !
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Thats looks so good Marco
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Excellent - Now what's the secret to matching the base color to the Decal color - The Blue is "spot on" !
^^^
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Excellent - Now what's the secret to matching the base color to the Decal color - The Blue is "spot on" !
^^^
In my experience - many many many many back and forth re-prints of sample spots until you get it right.
Looking good Marco *)*
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As good as it looks in the pic it is actually 1 or 2 shades off...
I actually used the correct Star Trek colour code for the blue and had the colour matched for it. The paint for the border of the head box that is.
I am not fussed at all as its close and the quality is superb ! #@#
But as Wotto mentioned and as i am sure you have done this yourself Nino, MANY MANY MANY trial and error colour matching prints on the same material/vinyl you choose to print on,until your satisfied, and even then it depends where you get it printed from....
IMHO i think it would be almost impossible to colour match spot on for any machine if you were to go the route of decals....A small price to pay for the final product i reckon....
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I was one of the guys who quitely thought "Marco is crazy" for going down the decal path on this pin. I now eat my thoughts as this pin looks outstanding decalled. You think the pics look great, in person it looks better.
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Continuing with the same method as the back box i did the cabinet !
All up it took about 1 1/2 hours to complete the cab as i found it allot easier than the headbox. Larger scale maybe, not sure, but was quite content with the outcome. @@*
No part of the decal was messed up and the operation was a success.
A LOT easier than i initially thought ! $#$
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Thats looking so good with and with less effort than doing stencils ^^^
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More pics to follow !
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And more pics !
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Marco,
That is looking great mate. Cant wait to see pics when its all together. #*#
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Side rails were re grained and polished and installed with new twist nails.
The plastic trim that holds the glass that sits in the side rails was cleaned in the channel with nifti.. All the gunk was removed and the glass slides in and out like its on rollers... :D
Legs also installed. New flipper buttons and cabinet switches were also installed...
I use Gottlieb cabinet flipper switches for all my games. They are more robust and seem to last an eternity.
Of course new leg bolts and levelers to spruce it up a little more !! #@#
***EDIT***
Another thing i forgot to mention is that when i install legs on my older games i use thick weather/bear seal on the back of the legs where they screw onto the cab to lessen the impact or damage to the cab. So instead of using the leg protectors i use the seal instead. Its hidden, its cheap and it works !
Oh yeah ! Notice the freshly sprayed black neck !
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Looking good @@* How about some 3" leg levelers for the rear though - she will play SLOOOOW with the back that low %$%
cheers
Ian
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It does look VERY nice Marco.
Just a thought though,.... with the decals, i was always worried about the edges on the front. With body contact while playing, the decal will begin to come away from here first.
Maybe next time a machine like this has a decal make over, it might be best to get the print in one long line.
In other words, the whole thing is attached from LHS to front to RHS.
With the machine standing on its back, it wouldnt be too hard to apply. The other beauty of this also is that the artwork could be tweeked so everything on the front and sides lines up perfectly.
Once again... you could get them printed with the laminate over the top... gives extra mechanical and UV protection
So long as this was applied with the wet method to allow fine adjustment, i see no issues
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Just a thought though,.... with the decals, i was always worried about the edges on the front. With body contact while playing, the decal will begin to come away from here first.
Maybe next time a machine like this has a decal make over, it might be best to get the print in one long line.
In other words, the whole thing is attached from LHS to front to RHS.
Would the decal 'bend' and remain seated nice and tight at the edges but?
Surely it would ( over time ) want to pull away from the corners at the front and sides if it was one big piece?
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Absolutely..
Would be the same as a vehicle wrap but much much simpler.
To ge a good sharp line like the edges of the cabinet, you gently warm the vinyl with a hair dryer... it then laminates itself to the object it is covering.
Its just printed vinyl and so same basic principals apply.. main one being that the surface to be as smooth as possible, which is why some sort of clear coat or varnish be applied to the surface to make it very smooth... youll get much better adhesion this way.
How long will the decals last??? Depends..
How much did you pay for them??
If getting decals printed then ensure that the vinyl being used is 10 year caste... anyone doing real cheap vinyl work is more than likely using banner vinyl or similar... guaranteed for 6 months only.
10 year caste is 10 years full sun... now thats some statement especially in a QLD summer.
But if the rules of application are adhered to, then on a pinball.. 10 years is no problem
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Looking good @@* How about some 3" leg levelers for the rear though - she will play SLOOOOW with the back that low %$%
cheers
Ian
It does have 3 inch levelers at the back Ian and they are adjusted 7/8th of the way... !@# !@#
All my games are like this as i like fast action ! ^^^
It does look VERY nice Marco.
Just a thought though,.... with the decals, i was always worried about the edges on the front. With body contact while playing, the decal will begin to come away from here first.
The decals are firmly sealed on the edges and i don't see to much trouble with these pulling away .. It was the trimming of the decals that gave me a little grief, not as easy as i thought. Was quality material and a lot tougher to trim than i anticipated !
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Inside cab parts were stripped cleaned, tumbled and installed.
I also gave the speaker cover a quick coat of paint.
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The haziness on the metal is my finger marks touching the freshly polished metal... This was cleaned after all was installed.
There was also a few screws and a little bit of braid which i was to lazy to remove and tumble as i forgot to in the beginning, these were taken off and done by hand.
more pics...
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Wow. 1st class job Marco. Every nut and bolt has been polished to perfection!
Can't wait to see the finished product.
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Great Job - what a fantastic transformation !
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A superb job. Congratulations Marco. You should be proud. ^^^
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The door was stripped cleaned and polished. So was the ball shooter assembly. Metal nuts,bolts and screws all come out of the tumbler and all was re-assembled and installed.
This totally completes the lower half of the cab ! @@*
Was a very long process but well worth it !
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Better than factory, great job.
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Better than factory, great job.
Thanks Dave.
Heaps of time was spent on this particular restore and i hope people can appreciate it and enjoy it at the same time.
People like Nino, Gavin, (who has been hiding of late <..> ) Ian, Nick, Tony, Millsy and lets not forget Daniel %$% and the others put up restore threads to motivate and teach people. Usually you pay for this info.
I like the others want people to take the plunge and get their hands dirty as in the end the sense of pride is overwhelming.
Yep sure i knew what to do where to start and how to do things BUT you always learn different techniques from different people, which still amazes me today.
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You should be very happy with the way this has turned out, looks fantastic @@*
Looking forward to your next one.
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That front is stunning Marco the door looks brand new i can only hope Strikes turns out that good ^^^
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Better than factory, great job.
Thanks Dave.
Heaps of time was spent on this particular restore and i hope people can appreciate it and enjoy it at the same time.
People like Nino, Gavin, (who has been hiding of late <..> ) Ian, Nick, Tony, Millsy and lets not forget Daniel %$% and the others put up restore threads to motivate and teach people. Usually you pay for this info.
I like the others want people to take the plunge and get their hands dirty as in the end the sense of pride is overwhelming.
Yep sure i knew what to do where to start and how to do things BUT you always learn different techniques from different people, which still amazes me today.
Part of the reason this site was started was to encourage restorers and enthusiasts to share their knowledge and encourage other enthusiasts to "Have a go". Restoration is not hard. You just have to be motivated, passionate, patient and have an understanding family.
What is important from my point of view - is that we have ANOTHER machine, restored to its full glory - which otherwise might have been parted out or dumped. Now it is a center piece of a collection and the thread is an educational resource for the next guy to marvel and learn from.
If "I" (and others) have influenced you - then this thread is important as YOU will influence the next guy..
No one has EVER told me - "The Hobby is dying".. It is growing !
Well done, Marco - Great restore.
$#$
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Totally agree Nino. The other great thing about restores like Marco's is that the bar is raised yet again and that serves to push the rest of us to match or better this standard with own restores.
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#*#
Top class.
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Thanks for the kind words guys... ^^^
As Nino has mentioned, anyone can do this. You just need to push yourself to start because once you do you can't stop. :D
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Marco,
Amazing! :D Just spent a fair amount of time just checking out that last batch of photos!
I'm not familiar with your pinball background (sorry if I missed it) - don't tell me this is your first restore? *.*
If not your first have you gone to this level of effort for any other games?
Simply stunning mate - full marks and very inspirational to the lot of us (wish I had the time, one day... #@#)
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Marco,
Amazing! :D Just spent a fair amount of time just checking out that last batch of photos!
I'm not familiar with your pinball background (sorry if I missed it) - don't tell me this is your first restore? *.*
If not your first have you gone to this level of effort for any other games?
Simply stunning mate - full marks and very inspirational to the lot of us (wish I had the time, one day... #@#)
Thanks Tony. Yes more time would be nice. As its been stated before this restore was started in December of 2007. :D :D :D :D
At the expo i actually pulled up Michael at the dinner and asked him to introduce me to your good self and as we were looking for you someone had said you had just literally walked out the door.. Apparently missed you by seconds ! !@)
I have restored many pins but to this level maybe a handful.
I'm not a public person so to speak and i posted this as per a request from Nino. I've always said no to him and this time i thought why not !
My first restore was on my Rocky which i had created the stencils for and repainted the cab.. Hence the reason i wanted to steer away from stencils...
It was restored in the days before i had a digital camera, and am not looking forward to scanning all the pics, the few that i have.
And would you believe that the Rocky is not completed yet !
I am currently waiting on a Rocky Bg to finish off my restore and the game was restored about 7 years ago... :lol :lol :lol :lol
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Kind of wish that I took pics of the restores that I have done. Tried once but found myself picking up the camera every 5 mins. Can show a lot of final resto pics *)*
I find myself looking at this thread everyday waiting for more pics, silly as I know what the end result looks like.
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Kind of wish that I took pics of the restores that I have done. Tried once but found myself picking up the camera every 5 mins. Can show a lot of final resto pics *)*
GGGRRR DAVE ! !@# ^&^ &^& !^! @.@ #@#
How many times have i told you ! () #@#
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I know what you mean Dave... it's a bloody distraction having to pickup the camera every few minutes, especially if it's an expensive one and you have greasy blackened paws.
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Unbelievable work - as good as new, maybe even better.
Two things that scare me about such restorations:
A) Time - that represents an awful lot of hours of work
B) Money - if you go the whole hog (new plastics, new decals, new backglass) I imagine it will set you back a tidy sum
At the moment I am probably more interested in grabbing a few more pins to play rather than to restore, but I can see that when you end up with a finished product as good as this that there must be a tremendous feeling of achievement.
One day I will do a restore, just not yet.
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Marco, well done mate..that looks great.
How many hours do you estimate you have spent all up, if you dont mind me asking!
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Marco, well done mate..that looks great.
How many hours do you estimate you have spent all up, if you don't mind me asking!
Funny you mention this Dean as i had worked this out yesterday ! :lol
What you see to this point in the restore i estimate around 50 hours of work ! @.@
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OK- its all down hill from here.. Not faster just easier ! :lol :lol :lol
Head gets reunited with the cab. After 25 or so years of storage they finally meet again !
All hardware was pulled from the tumbler and installed onto the head and light board. The light board was also reunited with the headbox.
The light board, inside metal sheeting of the back box, display holders, globe sockets, wiring harness and board brackets were all thoroughly cleaned and installed.
I even put the hold down bolts in the tumbler ! :D
The power driver board was rebuilt and the transformer was installed. I gave a quick coat to the transformer cover.
All displays were tested and repaired if needed and installed. All boards were rebuilt and installed.
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more pics...
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And just a couple more.... #@#
This was the last hurdle before we got to the playfield !
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You have to be proud of that effort Marco looking bloody awsome ^^^
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This is where the fun begins.
Before i start this was my first restore with a rotisserie. Let me tell you it is a life saver. It made my life so much easier and i reckon i saved at least a few hours using it.
If you have not got one yet, GET ONE...cheap enough !
Playfield was decent to start with. Not perfect but reasonable enough to leave alone and not mess with !
Playfield shots as i am stripping it !
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last pic is of the playfield 95 % stripped !
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Great work Marco @@*
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With the playfield fully stripped all metal parts were put into the tumbler.
Every mech was going to be cleaned and fully rebuilt.
Before i cleaned the top of the playfield i turned my rotisserie over and cleaned every single light socket with a tiny wire brush attached to the dremel.. I also cleaned under every single insert. Windex and a q tip or better known as a cotton bud by us aussies...
Made the world of difference. This little minor detail of cleaning under the inserts is worth every minute spent on doing it.
OK- on with the cleaning process...
First clean of the playfield was with multi purpose orange spray and a soft toothbrush.
second clean was with shellite to get rid of all the residue of the orange spray..
Next i went over the entire playfield with the magic eraser and isocol. Light colours really shows ball swirl and The yellow bonus ladder on ST is notorious for this.
I then proceeded to do minor touch ups to the playfield.
After i was satisfied with the playfield i proceeded to give it 6 coats of wax. 3 hot coats and 3 normal. ( meguiar's wax )
I had heard of this technique of hot waxing the playfield.. Apparently the wax is supposed to give a thicker coverage.
The process requires you to put a coat of wax on, heat it up, let it sit for a few mins and then take it off as you would a normal coat of wax...
It takes more effort to remove the wax once heated and i would say it did leave a thicker coat but very minimal.
Would i do it again. Yes as i did noticed it seemed to fill in any imperfections with one coat of the hot wax where normal waxing would have taken 2 to 3 coats.
1st pic is after all the touch up work was done.
2nd pic is one coat of the hot wax heated and waiting to be taken off.
3rd pic is immediately after the hot wax was removed.
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After 6 coats of wax.
Take notice on the last pic where the flash is next to one of the pop bumpers.
Was very happy with the outcome and the wax made the world of difference to the playfield.
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Marco,
Mate I'm really enjoying these updates! Keep them coming *%*
You must be very proud of these results....they are simply awesome!
You might have to wear cotton gloves when you get to play it!
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Marco,
Mate I'm really enjoying these updates! Keep them coming *%*
You must be very proud of these results....they are simply awesome!
You might have to wear cotton gloves when you get to play it!
Thanks for the kind words Tony...
I find myself just going over to the machine for some visual pleasure ! :lol :lol Sad but true....
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Marco,
Hope to see this game in the flesh one day, don't think it would have looked this good when it came off the production line, great job!
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Marco,
Hope to see this game in the flesh one day, don't think it would have looked this good when it came off the production line, great job!
Thanks Tony..
You're welcome anytime mate...
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Marco-what can I say!! I just found this thread and its just awesome, not much work getting done tonight(don't tell my boss) as i've spent the last 45 mins drulling over your magic/big pat on the back- mate you have done an awesome job..
Peter
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Pop bumpers and slingshots were fully stripped and rebuilt.. Brackets, plungers and associated metal was pulled from the tumbler with astonishing results...
Installed most of the metal posts and hardware also.
In the first pic take notice of the pop bumper brackets compared to the drop target assembly which has yet to be cleaned.
New coil sleeves and new fiber and metal yokes replaced the old originals..
Oh BTW i know there is only one screw holding the ball gate, was excited and immediately snapped a pic. :lol
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I had the pleasure of seeing this machine "in the flesh" @@*
Very bloody nice and a game that I would be proud of if I restored it myself.
Excellent work - Best ST I've ever seen (and I've seen plenty)
@@* @@*
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Thanks for the kind words Nino and thanks for the visit... ^^^
Forgot to mention that the pop bumper rings were also put into the tumbler and came out with astonishing results...
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Looking Great Marco its really making me think i need u tumbler ^^^
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Daniel for the small investment it is worth every cent.
I have done about 15 machines with my tumbler now and don't know how i did it initially without it....
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Was time to pull apart, clean and rebuild the drop target assembly..
the standard method was used.. What fit into the tumbler went in what didn't was done by hand.
I don't know if any one else has tried this but i decided to try and protect the new drop targets from getting to old ugly wear line. Instead of using the conventional method of mylar i sprayed 3 thick coats of triple thick on the printed face. Has put a nice gloss shine on the targets...
Will update after so many games on how the targets pull up.
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Cleaned and put back together...
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Installed back to where it belongs ....
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Nice work, and great pics Marco
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Marco,
Do you have new or reproduction caps for this game? Are they available?
If not and you are after a set let me know via a PM
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Thanks for the offer Tony. ^^^
To answer your q the caps are available and were purchased new from PBR.
Thanks again...
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Playfield posts, metal and plastic, were cleaned and then re-installed and the game was re-rubbered.
All spot targets were cleaned and re-installed.
Every switch plus every switch contact was cleaned and adjusted to my liking.
New flipper rebuild kit with new flipper bats....
Plastics were cleaned with novus 2 and re-installed..
New bumper caps also installed....
Apron and ball shooter guide were also cleaned with novus 2 and re-installed.
The playfield now sits completed on the rotisserie waiting to be put into the cab.
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Getting close to completion, is this too good to play now?
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It was time to pull out the backglass.
From memory i had no recollection of the fine details of the BG all i remembered was that it was a fine specimen of one.
Well once i pulled it out i revealed an above 9 out of 10 BG ! ( nothing is perfect && ) I was stoked as it was almost Perfect ! ^^^ Some very minor imperfections but not noticeable at all ! #@#
Well was quite happy now and decided to complete the upper part of the restore by reuniting the backglass to its original resting place.
I cleaned the back of the glass with Novus 2. This is a little trick i use to make the light glow more pronounced through the back of the BG . Very gently i clean every square inch of the bg. I was lucky as there was no flaking and no patches of missing paint so this was easy. It can become very tedious if a bg is not perfect.
I also purchased a new lifting channel and new trims from zjww45 who is a member on eBay US. From Memory one set was worth $23 US.
I installed these trims, cleaned the front of the glass with windex and put it back to were it belongs.
Love the colour on this BG.
Pic 1- dirty back of glass ! #@# Not that dirty to begin with...
Pic 2 -Bg cleaned with Novus 2...
Pic 3 New and old lifting channel...
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All new #47 globes were installed into the light board to protect the bg in the future.
I always put flashing globes/#455's behind the title of the bg to all my restored games, to add a little effect to the game.. Something small but effective !
Was very happy with the condition and the outcome of the glass.
All that is left now is to install the playfield back into the cab, fine tune the machine, some minor details to attend too and start PLAYING SOME GAMES !! :D :D :D
Getting close now ! $#$
Backglass installed and with some light behind it.
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That backglass is awsome
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Great work!!! #*# +1 that backglass is mint
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Man thats unreal Marco - VERY nice Star trek - gotta be the best in town *)*
That apron could do with some nice cards but %$% #@# %$%
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Amazing work Marco, absolutely stunning ^^^
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Man thats unreal Marco - VERY nice Star trek - gotta be the best in town *)*
That apron could do with some nice cards but %$% #@# %$%
In due course my friend.... ()
Amazing work Marco, absolutely stunning ^^^
Thanks Matt.
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When i initially started this thread i set out for it to be more of a pictorial.
Pictures ..... sometimes..... describe better than words and i thought it would in this particular case.
All the switches had been previously cleaned and gaped to my liking, all transistors were tested and boards rebuilt so i wasn't expecting much fine tuning.
So with everything raring to go i placed the playfield into the cabinet and hooked everything up ! @@*
BANG ! she fired first kick ! $#$
GAME IS COMPLETED !
Pics of the completed and playable game. There will be a few so please be patient with the loading ! :D
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And more pics.... ^^^ #@# ()
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Some night shots.. :D <.> *%* %$%
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More random pics.. :lol :lol :lol I think you'll get the gist of it by now..... $#$
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MORE ! :lol :lol
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After playing around 250 games on it in a week *.* it developed a minor issue. The start/credit switch would intermittently work. Like i said was a minor issue in being the connector pin.
Besides that it has operated flawlessly ! @@*
Now with the help of one kind resident artist ( we all know who that is ^^^ cough cough WOTTO ) and one of my personal touches, 18 months later i finally finished the game !
With the triple thick on the drop targets I will post the results at a later date. Lets give it some more gameplay shall we... %$%
In pinball terms.... GAME OVER .....
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#*# $#$
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After seeing Daves reply I forgot to mention that a new glass was supplied by himself, Silverball... %$%
Just to complete the quality of the game and for $30 i thought why not ! Makes the world of difference...
Thanks mate..
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You must be happy with that Marco, looks fantastic, great job mate ^^^
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Good stuff, Marco..
Told you that you could "do it" ..
$#$
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Great Job Marco looks better than new. And even on a rough looking game new glass makes everything look shiny and new ^^^. But yours looked great without glass aswell
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Thanks guys....
Yep very happy with the outcome. #@#
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Yeah - that turned out unreal Marco #*#
Gotta fix that yellow in the cards for ya but - its too dull.
But I have to re-do em from pretty much scratch this time to do that.
One day soon.
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Saw this machine as it was being restored and finally got around to playing it last night. The best example of a Bally Star Trek you will find. Looks great and plays fast and snappy..........even my wife kept wanting to play it more.
Sooooooo much attention to detail, not Marcos first restore either. Great work once again. I,ll even swap my prized Police Force this one. &&
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Beautiful machine....!
Luv the green flipper rubbers.
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Beautiful machine....!
Luv the green flipper rubbers.
Thanks mate..
Was between green and orange and i stuck with the green.... *%*
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#*# #*# #*# #*# #*# #*# #*#
I've just found this thread and read it from start to finish. What an absolutely beautiful restore job! Congratulations Marco - you should be extremely proud of what you've achieved. I'm a long time Trek fan and remember playing this machine in my youth so it brings back fond memories. Hope to see this in flesh one day. It's simply awesome! ^^^
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^^^ ^^^ GREAT JOB ^^^ ^^^ ^^^
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#*# #*# #*# #*# #*# #*# #*#
I've just found this thread and read it from start to finish. What an absolutely beautiful restore job! Congratulations Marco - you should be extremely proud of what you've achieved. I'm a long time Trek fan and remember playing this machine in my youth so it brings back fond memories. Hope to see this in flesh one day. It's simply awesome! ^^^
Thanks PeterW. You're welcome anytime...
Looks like we have similar interests..
Next up will be my ST 25th.. && *)*
^^^ ^^^ GREAT JOB ^^^ ^^^ ^^^
Thanks Peter ! ^^^ You're also welcome anytime mate....
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Just visiting... I'm nearly complete with my STBally restore here in the states:
http://www.austinmodders.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2316
and my first page comment is:
"WTF! Whose bright f'in idea was it to paint the cabinet white!"
Your cabinet looked a million times better than mine... mine was faded to grey and the paint was flaking off in areas. But someone thought it's be a perfect idea to paint it white.
:vomit:
Your PF was in ideal condition too - again compared to mine.
Page 4: Booo! decals! Real men restore the paint! :P
Page 7: wow - that wax turned out nice.
Very nice work. The cards were a nice touch... as is the keychain.
So; where's your STNG pin? ::runs away as I think I poked a bees nest:: !*!
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Just visiting... I'm nearly complete with my STBally restore here in the states:
http://www.austinmodders.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2316
and my first page comment is:
"WTF! Whose bright f'in idea was it to paint the cabinet white!"
Your cabinet looked a million times better than mine... mine was faded to grey and the paint was flaking off in areas. But someone thought it's be a perfect idea to paint it white.
:vomit:
Your PF was in ideal condition too - again compared to mine.
Page 4: Booo! decals! Real men restore the paint! :P
Page 7: wow - that wax turned out nice.
Very nice work. The cards were a nice touch... as is the keychain.
So; where's your STNG pin? ::runs away as I think I poked a bees nest:: !*!
WOW - I just checked out your restore - ^^^
Get over to the intro section and tell us about yourself ;
http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?board=2.0
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Thanks for posting John.
Was my aim to get you here... <.>
i wanted every one to see John's restore... Very nice work. :D
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Thanks for the warm reception - posted in the intro thread as requested.
Marco - keep up the good work. Nice to see another restore done differently.