Author Topic: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration  (Read 22599 times)

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Offline Strangeways

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Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« on: October 11, 2014, 10:27:36 PM »
This is a title I started 2 years ago, but I've changed the objective a few times which has extended the timeframe. I have a "special" admiration for Wedgeheads, as I remember them from my youth. I remember playing "Jacks Open", "High Hand", "Pro Football", "Sky Jump" and "King Pin" from my youth. I've restored a "Jacks Open" and "Pro Football" to a NIB standard (Nearly In Box) and this machine is gravitating towards the same result.

Objective

Started off 2 years ago as a "reconditioning", but as I started it, I noticed that there were a few issues that I wanted to improve. Starting with the cabinet and then the fiasco with the contact removal. After deciding to repaint the cabinet with licensed Flipperescue Stencils, I also had to address the playfield. More on that later..

Condition report

Cabinet - 6/10 - Initially looked reasonable, but then then on closer inspection, there were some structural problems and then the plywood was starting to peel from sections. The more I poked and prodded, the more I wanted to repaint it !

Playfield - 7/10 - Again, looked very good. When I started to remove the contact, I noticed areas had fissures - or small cracks - this is where the paint had separated from the playfield and was being held to the playfield by the contact. Once I started, I had to continue..

Backglass - 7/10 - Some peeling, but better tahn most I've seen. I'll address the issues and possibly touch up some areas.

Mechanical - 7/10 - Corrosion and seized steppers. Some serious relpated needs to be done - which I enjoy doing anyway.


Before Pictures








Playfield looks presentable ;








Interesting application of a "mylar ring" - using contact. Would not surprise me if my father once owned this machine..





The contact has shrunk over time





Contact has lifted in areas - this is one of the reasons I wanted to remove it.





Front Door - Not much can be done here - Replacement ordered !








Some serious replating and polishing inside the cabinet. but first it will need to be structurally repaired.





Mylar removal test area prompted me to work on the first areas with great success (short lived)








Some minor issues - not enough to worry too much about ;





Then the WORST nightmare of contact removal is realized - and NO - you can't stop as you keep thinking " this will surely end.."











The LEFT side is a complete disaster. The right side is reasonable.





Close ups of the really bad areas ;











The result is a reminder that restoration work is not always an exact science. But it represents a challenge to me that initially I was concerned about, but I have several ideas on how to repair the damage (Surf Champ restoration).


Here's an initial pass of color matching and touching up by hand. It looks interesting, but I won't be using this method.








More on the playfield later. It will be sanded to remove any more loose paint and then cleared to lock in the current artwork..


Cabinet


Many small defects alerted me to the fact that it was better to repair and repaint ;





Layer of timber was slightly lifting the artwork. some call it "character", but a vigorous cleaning of the cabinet light flake this paint off the cabinet !








Paint stripper applied !





Fast Forward to NOW

Paint has been removed. Stencils created and posted by Gav at Flipperrescue. Cabinet repairs and prep for paintwork done.








Will most likely lay down the primer undercoat within the next week or so (weather permitting).

End of part 1 !
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Offline Dimsims

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2014, 10:38:51 PM »
Gees...
looks like you got some work ahead of you there  *%*

Will be great to see this one finished, before and after photos.

Offline oldskool1969

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2014, 11:34:04 PM »
Clear coating this old girl too?
SC is going strong. My HH has contact on it but it looks like new, bummer for you and your client hey.
Another good thread to watch.
If it isn't broke, it isn't pinball.

Offline howzat

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2014, 11:44:51 PM »
Great post Nino
There would be so many hrs work in this  but the finished game will be worth all the effort

I think this is Andys game  Greenechidna     I really like looking at these restos      Howzat

Offline Strangeways

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2014, 11:50:09 PM »
Clear coating this old girl too?
SC is going strong. My HH has contact on it but it looks like new, bummer for you and your client hey.
Another good thread to watch.

Yes - the same approach as the Surf Champ. It was a minor setback, but I'll make sure the playfield rework will be worth the wait.


Great post Nino
There would be so many hrs work in this  but the finished game will be worth all the effort

I think this is Andys game  Greenechidna     I really like looking at these restos      Howzat

It is - and Andy has been incredibly patient. But it will be worth the wait. Just ask his namesake  #@#
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Offline Freiherr

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2014, 06:26:31 AM »
Look forward to see the end result. I remember the play on High Hand well when it was released as it was one of the most chalenging games at the time. Very popular title for both operator and player.
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Offline greenechidna

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2014, 11:33:45 PM »
Yeah, I've been waiting a while but it's ok.....I'm happy just to get this title and know Nino's doing the restore. I have no doubt It'll turn out the usual high standard.
High Hand is a top shelf wedgehead with great art and great rules. 16 well placed drop targets $#$  and 20k/special  in the kickout once you've knocked them all down

This'll be my last machine for a while... weve recently picked up a Volley and Mitch's Universe came last week....work started on the rec room with a wall coming down on Saturday so hopefully we will have the lions share done by the time HH arrives.

Nice to see things kicked off.... It looks a mess but not nearly as bad as the Pro Football. I hope it doesn't give you any more unexpected strife Nino.
 

Offline Strangeways

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2014, 12:15:56 AM »
Yeah, I've been waiting a while but it's ok.....I'm happy just to get this title and know Nino's doing the restore. I have no doubt It'll turn out the usual high standard.
High Hand is a top shelf wedgehead with great art and great rules. 16 well placed drop targets $#$  and 20k/special  in the kickout once you've knocked them all down

This'll be my last machine for a while... weve recently picked up a Volley and Mitch's Universe came last week....work started on the rec room with a wall coming down on Saturday so hopefully we will have the lions share done by the time HH arrives.

Nice to see things kicked off.... It looks a mess but not nearly as bad as the Pro Football. I hope it doesn't give you any more unexpected strife Nino.
 

Pro Football was a restoration that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I expect the same from this machine.

No strife at all Andy. In fact, I look forward to the Wedgehead restores more than anything ! The stencils are ready, the paint has been matched and I hope the weather will be warm this weekend  ^^^

The plans for the playfield are in place. I've been more than pleased with recent developments in clearcoats that suit EMs.
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Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2014, 08:47:23 AM »
Having been told by Andy he was getting this game from you Nino, i've been waiting for this resto thread!!  *%* Even with your playfield mylar removal woes (Andy had  mentioned to me that that had happened), i reckon it'll come up a treat when you're done, and i'll finally get to see and play one of your restored games when he gets it which i'm really looking forward to  ^^^ ^^^ (haven't played this title before btw)

Since Andy's slowly but surely been helping to whittle down my EM collection and building up what will be a nice collection when he's done, he has plenty of them to play in the mean time while HH is being done... having had about six or seven EMs i'm now down to ONE EM.. for the moment, that will change soon enough  *%*
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 08:50:00 AM by Mr Pinbologist »

Offline goodolddays

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2014, 04:53:23 PM »
I had a project one of these but moved it on a few months ago (without ever having had it running in the 2 years i had it LOL) because I since scored an El Dorado (also a non working project) , also because I have too many projects !

When I had the High Hand I was thinking of the possibility of adding another stepper or something , to allow targets to be reset when they were all down .
 Never thought the whole idea through, but I reckon a mod could be done .

Watching this thread with interest , Nino.
I need more room ! and more $$$

Offline Strangeways

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2015, 09:03:17 PM »
Repaint Update.

The cabinet was a mess, and some of the delamination I thought I'd repaired, came back to haunt me while prepping the cabinet (undercoat). I'd undercoat the cabinet and it looked perfect, and then 2 days later - a section would split. Sand back, repaint, wait 2 days, and then another section would be affected. Sand back, repair and then another undercoat and it was fine after 2-3 days, so I prep for base and as I'm sanding, I notice more problems. Wood is natural - it sometimes does not behave as it should !





The basecoat is now ready - I waited a full week with the cab in the sun to ensure there would be no more issues prior to the basecoat. No dramas here at all.








I painted the headbox base black, and then painted the webbing effect. I use a cheap touch up gun setup just for webbing. Works every time !





Now there is an interesting fact that is almost always missed with the EXACT colour and finish of a 1970's Wedgehead (different entirely from a 60's era game). The 70's Wedgeheads were in fact CREAM - not "white", "off white" or antique white". They ARE cream. Let me demonstrate ;

Here is a picture of my Sky Jump, with the cream area clearly visible behind the door. This area is the exact colour and finish. This is a PERFECT match to the base I used on my Pro Football restoration, and the original cream on the High Hand. You can see where some restorers get stumped - the original base cream is sometimes so faded, it disappears into the primer white color. These cabinets were primed during production OR the cream pigment from a base white fades leaving just the base. So here is the proof ;




Time to paint the RED sections. Pictures show the cabinet completely covered. Paint is airborne and FINDS its way into areas I don't want it to go. "Overkill" ? YES - I'd rather spend the extra time and materials doing the cabinet once rather than touching up areas from overspray !


Mask applied





Light coats - maybe a mist followed by two normal passes














Black Section


Same process as the Red sections





Cabinet completed !














Placed in the factory awaiting the next stage





A HUGE milestone in this restoration. A lot more work than usual, but the rewards far exceed the frustrations.

The stencils are Gavin's (Retropin) and were absolutely perfect - the best on the market.  ^^^



Playfield has been sent off for initial clear to lock in the existing paintwork. That process will be covered here in much the same way (and effort) as Genie.
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Offline turbo27

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2015, 09:32:13 PM »
Very nice work.
Love following your techniques, just a shame there has been less posts on restoration- way too busy I bet - work equals money not posts (unfortunately  <..>)

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #12 on: January 20, 2015, 10:46:35 PM »
Lookin' GREAT so far Nino  ^^^ ^^^ the webbing turned out really good too!!

Andy will be VERY pleased i'm sure  *%* *%*

Offline Strangeways

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2015, 12:10:24 AM »
Very nice work.
Love following your techniques, just a shame there has been less posts on restoration- way too busy I bet - work equals money not posts (unfortunately  <..>)

Thanks for the kind words.

Less restorations last year was due to the Business being set up and other Family Business' that distracted me. I also had A LOT of repair work AND the typical newbie that got burnt and needed help. Sad to say, I've already had the first "Christmas Pinball" booked in that was rushed out the door by a dealer and was not done properly. I'm a real sucker in that way.

EVERY single restoration I've done in since this forum began has been documented and will be posted. I'm a few behind (as in games I've done and moved on without starting a thread yet).

Lookin' GREAT so far Nino  ^^^ ^^^ the webbing turned out really good too!!

Andy will be VERY pleased i'm sure  *%* *%*

I keep a few touch up guns setup for different effects - one is webbing and the other is "splatter". Saves time setting up the same gun for different purposes. Loads of fun doing the splatter. Hilarious on humid days as the paint turns into "spider web" straight out of the gun (not suitable for painting a pinball) !

Andy has been a VERY patient and understanding customer. It was my idea to do the full repaint, and I'm sure it will be worth the wait for him as this cabinet looks great. Someone once said to me "art takes time". Looking at a cabinet repaint that took the Gottlieb factory 1 hour to initially paint, and my XX hours to do the same job.. I feel like a bit of a BS "artist" !
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Offline greenechidna

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Re: Gottlieb High Hand Restoration
« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2015, 02:48:03 AM »
Well look at that........

Good things come to those that wait.

Nice stuff Nino...sent a shiver down my spine when I saw it