Back onto the playfield restoration, more specifically, the blue/green areas in front of the slingshots. I tried several times to hand paint the area, but it was never a perfect match and it was too obvious. I decided to repaint the entire area, which required the use of the frisket, a scalpul and a steady hand.
Initially, I rubbed back the existing varnish with a green scotchbrite and then applied penetrol with a rag and let it dry for a week (only needs to dry overnight, but I was busy on other games). I cut a sheet out of frisket and set it in place. I then had to use the scalpul and cut out the area where I wanted to paint. Here's a couple of pictures before I painted ;
You can see the hazy areas where the frisket is cut out (a better angle).
I mixed the paint and thinned it to flow through the airbrush. I was a little thinner than usual, I was only interested in getting the paint to flow with more control and it worked a treat. Here's a picture of the areas AFTER two or three thin coats. Note I've left the mast for the dark blue area intact, but the frisket from other areas is removed and NO overspray ;
Here's a picture of the area I just repainted. Dried slightly darker / greener but I noticed that the original paint had faded. It will look great under a clearcoat.
The finished sections in front of the slings. MUCH better result. The effort was well worth it - I really didn't like the areas worn to wood. I still have a bit of an issue with the left hand side sling area, as the paint was worn to wood AND there was a divot of wood removed. The clear will level that off.
Now I have to work out a plan for the dark blue and white writing. Not sure how to tackle this yet !