Now that the
Star Trek Conventions are out of the way; Attention returns to the Upper Playfeild where I begin by disassembling all the top componets as like bottom PF; it will get automotive clear coat to protect the PF... and some touchup paint.
Click Images for hiRez
Unlike the lower PF; the upper playfield had some serious sinking playfeild inserts; so these ares are going to need to be fixed as well as the areas near the PF window which have been rubbed to wood.
To raise the inserts; I used a heat gun to loosen the glue in the insert and the used a nut driver and a rubber mallet to raise them. Once I had them above the PF; I used a metal ruler and the mallet to "level" the insert to the PF. If the Insert was really loose; A couple were; I used some clear glue around the insert before leveling.
Once the inserts were level; I created some arrow shaped outline templates in corel draw; then proceeded to cut them out on the laser cutter out of transfer paper. I then carefully layed them over the inserts to redo the outlines:
Applied black enamel with a testors pen:
While I was at it I touched up other areas of the PF... namely the black where the turbobumper mylar use to be. Also touched up the areas around the PF winder were there were chips and wood showing through.
Finally removed the transfer tape:
With the touchup complete; I put 4 coats of automotive Clear Coat with 20minute flashes between the coats. Then I sanded the PF flat - begining with 100gril orbital, 150grit orbital, and then 220 orbital. There were still some areas around the inserts (between inserts and wood) where there were some valleys so I used some clear and a small artist paint brush to fill with clear coat. 4 more coats of clear now that the PF was level. Then 220grit orbital, 400grit, 500, 800, 1000, and finally 1500 grit hand sandings of the clear coat. Then rubbing compound, polishing compound, and then carnuba wax to make the PF shine.
With that the upper PF mechanical restoration is complete.
