The Aussie Pinball Arcade

Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:39:49 PM

Title: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:39:49 PM
 I love the “robot” style voice in this game “Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?” In this case though, it’s “Do you dare to enter the Black Hole restoration that will take about 15 years to complete?”


When I bought this game, the seller told me about the playfield wear, which was quite bad. When I asked about the cabinet, well, that too let the game down!! Anyway, it was cheap and playable, which back then was unusual for a Black Hole.


The short version of the other part of the long story is about 15 years ago I bought a playfield in the USA, had it shipped over to the then most prominent restoration company, paid a hefty deposit and was promised  a 13 week turn around….. about 10 years later I got the half completed playfield back…


Anyway, I now have a very nice restored playfield ready to go, so I got into the cab restoration so I'd have somewhere nice for the playfield.

It does mean saying goodbye to Sean, Stu, Ace and Reidy - any of you guys still out there?
 
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:42:02 PM
Lots of CUSTOM holes and dings.

Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:43:45 PM
Paint came off very easily.
Note that Gottlieb happily painted white over black...more on that in a moment.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:45:12 PM
My bother had one of his guys mix me some auto acrylic to the right colour. I had already added the "stars" before I took a shot of the blue. Did the stars using an electric toothbrush!
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:47:22 PM

What is it with these stencil guys?? The last one I did (Joker Poker) had so may issues I needed to work around.
Now these ones - different supplier - well, seems the idea of using something like a measuring device was outside scope - hopelessly short of the correct length.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:49:56 PM

But came up fine with a little tweaking.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:52:58 PM

But then it got worse.
For some reason, these guys made the decision that it would not be appropriate to paint white over black. Instead, they produced the stencils so that the black was added *after* the white, meaning that where they crossed through the letters, the user was expected to be able to line them all up. Without the help of registration marks, andd notwithstanding that they had their measurements not quite right either!





Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:54:25 PM
Anyway, I decided to jigsaw the various areas so I could match the crossovers better. Considering the size of the stencils, probably made it easier in the long run.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 07:55:09 PM

In the end I was happy with the final result.

Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 13, 2019, 08:01:38 PM
Last bit.


Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: ddstoys on May 13, 2019, 08:45:43 PM
Looks unrea mate well done


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Steevsee on May 13, 2019, 09:53:42 PM
Looks very nice. ^^^
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Cursed on May 13, 2019, 10:03:52 PM
Wow! Just....wow!

Can't wait to see this thread unfold. Love Black Hole.

Thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Mr Pinbologist on May 14, 2019, 09:01:07 AM
Lookin' good so far  ^^^ 


I'm working on a Black Hole atm, cabinet is rooted and i've been supplied with a donor cabinet to repaint.
And yes the black stencil was definitely done first and that's how i'll be doing this one i'm doing.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinball god on May 15, 2019, 12:02:18 PM

What is it with these stencil guys?? The last one I did (Joker Poker) had so may issues I needed to work around.
Now these ones - different supplier - well, seems the idea of using something like a measuring device was outside scope - hopelessly short of the correct length.

I call it the pinball hobby. Wrong sizing, wrong colours, wrong artwork and that goes for stencils, plastics, apron decals, you name it they get it wrong. I think Stevie Wonder oversees most of these runs lol

Eventhough you had all the hassles, I think you really well and the cab has turned out fantastic. Great work and great result
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Crashramp on May 15, 2019, 05:21:24 PM
Awesome, love Black Hole. Sounds like a bit of trauma getting the cab right but it looks so sweet now.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Strangeways on May 15, 2019, 09:34:11 PM

What is it with these stencil guys?? The last one I did (Joker Poker) had so may issues I needed to work around.
Now these ones - different supplier - well, seems the idea of using something like a measuring device was outside scope - hopelessly short of the correct length.

I call it the pinball hobby. Wrong sizing, wrong colours, wrong artwork and that goes for stencils, plastics, apron decals, you name it they get it wrong. I think Stevie Wonder oversees most of these runs lol

Eventhough you had all the hassles, I think you really well and the cab has turned out fantastic. Great work and great result

Try dealing with this on a daily basis ! It is like Stevie Wonder alright - without braille..
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Strangeways on May 15, 2019, 09:34:45 PM

In the end I was happy with the final result.



Now that looks VERY nice !
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: ktm450 on May 19, 2019, 09:50:53 AM
Wow a lot of mucking around, at least the end result looks fantastic  *%*
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: goodolddays on May 20, 2019, 03:17:08 PM
Cab is looking great Nick  ^^^ .. look forward to the rest of this thread . Will get back to my long term Black Hole project machine one day soon
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 20, 2019, 07:20:38 PM
Thanks guys. Just got back from a little break and keen to press on with this.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 25, 2019, 04:48:31 PM
I haven't fired her up yet, but in case there's a fire, thought I'd better finish the photos anyway!

The most unpopulated restored playfield.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 25, 2019, 04:49:13 PM
And some glamour shots.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 25, 2019, 04:50:26 PM
Some more
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 25, 2019, 04:50:56 PM
And done!
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Cursed on May 25, 2019, 07:09:57 PM
looks awesome, let us know if you need a fire extinguisher!  !*!  %.%

Thanks for sharing, hope to maybe even play it one day.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: ddstoys on May 26, 2019, 05:59:11 AM
Very nice.  I know you’ve always loved this machine good to see it finally get the love you always wanted to give it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinnies4me on May 26, 2019, 02:58:02 PM
Thanks guys. No fire alarms fortunately. A few switch tweaks and re-seating a connector, traced a couple of wires broken during the swap, and its all good to go!

Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: ktm450 on May 27, 2019, 11:56:58 AM
Looks awesome, such a great game  ^^^
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Crashramp on May 27, 2019, 06:33:29 PM
Beautiful! Thanks for posting your pictures.   ^^^
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: Strangeways on May 29, 2019, 10:43:57 PM
Awesome restoration. Inspires me to start my BH.. One day ! BRUTAL multiball.
Title: Re: Do you dare to enter the Black Hole?
Post by: pinball god on May 30, 2019, 01:04:01 AM
great work but now I think its time you brush up on your gameplay techniques Nick lol