TAG - Thunderbirds Pinball - parts update thread

[Retropin]

Aye.. unsoldering the lamp socket..GONE!

[robm]

The unsoldering was fine...it was the freaking re soldering and trying to staple the poxy leads back down that drove me nuts!

[pinball god]

The unsoldering was fine...it was the freaking re soldering and trying to staple the poxy leads back down that drove me nuts!

people always say how difficult/frustrating it is to do pop bumpers, but have to agree, the pissy part was always the resolder and staple part 

[Retropin]

True... how many bumper skirts have I melted with a soldering iron reattaching the bulb feeds?

[pinball god]

True... how many bumper skirts have I melted with a soldering iron reattaching the bulb feeds?

dunno how good you are at soldering, but me, hmmmmm. So many times I'm concentrating so hard, that the smell of plastic, wire insulation catches my attention coz the shaft of my iron is leaning on stuff while every appendage I have is trying to hold the pop bumper light wires in place  

[Homepin]

Some more springs were delivered today and they fit perfectly.

Note that this is our test mechanism and the metal parts have not been plated.

[Homepin]

We are pretty happy with the mechanisms we have designed up. All pretty basic and simple and NOTHING here that "re-invents" the wheel. Just good, solid, SIMPLE engineering that we trust will be reliable and easy to maintain.

There have been lots of mods since these pictures were taken and also please note that these are engineering samples so none of the metal parts are plated.

 


 


 

[pinball god]

Hi Mike, are those metal targets? Excuse my ignorance, but if so, have such targets been used before on any past pinballs? Also if metal, they obviously wouldn't break like plastic ones but what about deforming/bending?

[Homepin]

Hi Mike, are those metal targets? Excuse my ignorance, but if so, have such targets been used before on any past pinballs? Also if metal, they obviously wouldn't break like plastic ones but what about deforming/bending?

They are CNC milled aluminium and (so far) our tests have failed to break or bend any. We have subjected them to quite a lot of testing and also several different types of finish.

[Homepin]

Yes, a REAL, mechanical knocker!

[Wiked]

Great work Mike! ...... I'm happy it will come with a knocker.   It's one of the reasons I don't like Stern's.

All real pinballs comes with a knocker.

[pinball god]

Great work Mike! ...... I'm happy it will come with a knocker.   It's one of the reasons I don't like Stern's.

All real pinballs comes with a knocker.

I like knockers but I don't think it would be a deal breaker in not buying a Stern. I think I'd grab a metallica in a heart beat, knocker or no knocker. But yes great work Mike in including one  

[Homepin]

Injection moulding is a tricky business. The picture of the blue part is an early test moulding of our Pop Bumper frame and it clearly shows "wrinkling" or an uneven surface finish on the exact place it should be flat. This inside area is where the metal parts mount and ideally needs to be dead flat.

We inspected several parts from other manufacturers and found them to be much the same with the uneven surface finish causing some assembly problems.

The second test part (not in the final colour we will use) shows a part made with a plastic batch that has an additive that prevents this shrinkage in the finished part - MUCH better! It gives the part a pearl or slightly fiberglass look.

The assemblies fit together EXACTLY the same every time.


   

[solar value]

Mike just posted this link on his facebook page.

http://www.licensing.biz/news/read/thunderbirds-are-go-gathers-momentum-in-new-zealand-and-australia/042577

Funny thing is, look at the resemblance between the guy who wrote the article and the main Thunderbirds character, creepy!

[Homepin]

Mike just posted this link on his facebook page.

http://www.licensing.biz/news/read/thunderbirds-are-go-gathers-momentum-in-new-zealand-and-australia/042577

Funny thing is, look at the resemblance between the guy who wrote the article and the main Thunderbirds character, creepy!

LOL - I didn't notice that but you are right.