PLAYFIELD RESTORATION

[Retropin]

I was going to offer this service in the new year, but circumstances have meant that it is offered a little early.

Ill be offering playfield restoration work to anyone that requires it. As far as i know, im the only person on the Eastern side of Australia offering this. This has been something i have been working towards for some time.
Quotes will be given based on pictures of damage to the PF's.

All work is CC'd afterwards.

I have a courier service that can pick the PF's up so long as they are boxed. Ill pay at my end or send coupons out to the customer, this keeps transport costs to a minimum.

The problem with this type of work is that it can be VERY labour intensive, but, in saying that, prices will be kept to a minimum. It has to be financially worthwhile to you the customer but also worth it to me.

So far this has been a labour of love for me and ive gradually refined my techniques down to what i consider to be extremely accurate  for colour matching etc.


Anyone wishing to know more about this service, please contact me through this forum.

Ill soon be offering BG restoration and reproduction also.

A little background about me ; I studied art at college some 25 years ago, have been collecting pinballs for 20 years and have restored many. I am a glass blower by trade( 22 years) but have also worked as a tattoo artist.


I did start a thread on PF restore but have been so busy i havent finished it.

Ill post some before and after pics later.

I hope this service will be of use to PA members - hoipe to hear from some of you soon.


Gavin

[Creech]

I wish you the best of luck with this venture Gavin. Thank you for offering your services to the pinball community. This sounds like a very unique and valuable service. Maybe you can post a portfolio of before and after pics to get it kick started. People can then see for themselves how good your work is.

[Strangeways]

This is great news to the community. One aspect of pinball restoration that is beyond my skillset is playfield touch up / restoration and clearcoating.

I'm entrusting Gavin with a Playboy Playfield that needs touch ups and clearcoating.. I'm looking forward to the results.

 

[Pinball Fixers]

I can definitely say that I will be using your services at some stage in the future Gavin.

Thanks for making this available!   

[Retropin]

And therein lies the problem,

Out of all the PF's ive worked on, ive never thought of documenting the progress till the last one.
Machines have always been restored then sold on without a thought to whats gone into them.

The pics below are from wild Fyre - Area was already damaged as seen in first pic. I then lost the detail when i removed the Mylar rings around the bumpers.
Area was filled with orange, then detail added.

Ill drag some more and after pics out..

BEFORE





AFTER

[Creech]

If that's anything to go by, you'll get lots of people wanting your services. Nice job. 

[Retropin]

Some More;

[ktm450]

Nice work Gavin, good luck with your business venture.  I'm sure you will be swamped with work 

[Strangeways]

I guess you either "have it" or not... Playfield restoration at this level is still a mystery to me - especially after having a look at those pictures..

 

[Retropin]

Thanks everyone, enquiries are coming in already.

I have a shop front that i run my neon business out of, people stand and watch me blow glass. I kinda like the idea of turning this into a pinball restoration shop. People can then watch me air brush etc, plus i get to play some pins through the day - LOL!

[Pinball Fixers]

WOW Gavin! That's awesome work! 

[Pinfan]

Excellent service to offer Gav.

Good luck with the venture and i am sure you will eventually be back loggged with 'pinball' work in your neon shop ! 

[cardwhiz]

hey gavin,saw your wildfyre restore on another site,awesome work,great idea to do somethink like that,ill be more inclined to buy machines with some playfield damage,and your in brissy,witch aint far from lennox head..and did you metion bg repro's..im after one of them 4 sure..flying carpet,i attemted a couple of touch ups..probably did more damage than anything,but im just happy to have a bg for it

[Retropin]

Yes, ill be doing BG restores. Not all are saveable though.

Secret is to use translucent paint and to do all work over a lightbox so you can see your imperfections immediately and rectify. Colour matching needs to be done on a seperate sheet of glass.

But badly flaking Bg's really are too far gone. Those with weak colours or particular colours that have disappeared ( thinking RED on Flash here) can be brought back to new condition as can scratches etc.


This service WILL be available soon - from new year onwards.

I need to post results i have here first

[pinnies4me]

Have you priced anything in the way of shipping? I have a couple of playfields I'd be interested in looking at having done. I'm in Victoria BTW.