Stern Galaxy cab restore

[Mr Pinbologist]

G'day guys, here are some pics of the Stern Galaxy cabinet that i will be starting on soon, as i mentioned before.
This one belongs to the same guy who owns the Wildfyre pf i just finished. He bought this on eGay about six months ago, for about $600 i think, and had it delivered straight to my place so i could check it over and get it all going properly as needed. It pretty well worked straight up, as he was told when he bought it. All i had to do was to rebuild the power supply and replace some connectors that were hard wired, plus i checked the other boards and installed a remote battery holder to the MPU board.

At this stage all i have to do is the cab repaint. the pf has some wear but Martin isnt too worried about that at this stage, he just wants the cab done for now.
This repaint is part of the deal done with Martin when i got my Wms flash off him, after i pestered him for months trying to con Flash off of him
Finally he offered me Flash if i would repaint Galaxy for him... done deal i said 
 
anyway a few pics...

[Mr Pinbologist]

a few more pics... notice the planking in the wood on one side of the cab and backbox 
must've been exposed to weather or moisture on one side at some stage this is why im being asked to restore this cab, hopefully it should come up ok with a bit of hard work

[Mr Pinbologist]

yesterday i made a start by making the backbox stencils, as usual im using my white cardboard method, tracing the cab artwork onto tracing paper, taping that onto the cardboard, then cutting out the shapes. When i trace the art on the cab i always mark the edges on the tracings, and then the stencils, so that i have alignment marks, to ensure proper registration on the cab.

I'll start on the backbox now, by totally stripping it of all parts and stripping off all the old paint. notice too in the pics, in the pervious posts, the filler applied to the cab.. this was how the game was when Martin purchased it! looks as though someone started on a repaint and decided not to go ahead with it! anyway they may have saved me a bit of work hopefully.

I'll be working on this as well as my KISS pf, doing bits and pieces on one while paint is drying on the other!

[Strangeways]

One of my favorite SS titles - Great game !

Check the backglass - unless I'm mistaken, this will be the LAI produced machine - should be denoted on the backglass (although I might be thinking of Meteor). The Stern headbox is a pain to paint. The backglass surround is made out of chipboard, not timber, so it does not take to painting very well unless primed.

This particular cab looks to be badly scratched, which was uncommon to see on Stern machines. Their paint jobs were much more durable than Bally and GTB.

[Ballywannabe]

No, the LAI version of the Galaxy has the same backglass as the US model.  You can pick an Aussie built Stern if:

• It has a Aussie plug on the service outlet,
  there are dobs of red paint on all the screws under the playfield,
  the front door sits in a slight recess in the cab, and
  it has a LAI plaque on the end of the cab!

I have attached some pics of my 'Witch to illustrate.

cheers
Ian

[Strangeways]

No, the LAI version of the Galaxy has the same backglass as the US model.  You can pick an Aussie built Stern if:

• It has a Aussie plug on the service outlet,
  there are dobs of red paint on all the screws under the playfield,
  the front door sits in a slight recess in the cab, and
  it has a LAI plaque on the end of the cab!

I have attached some pics of my 'Witch to illustrate.

cheers
Ian

Ian - Thanks for the clarification. I do recall red dots on the screws on the Meteor and I will need to check the three Galaxy pins I've restored. The recess was something I did notice and I could not work out why this was done.

 

[Mr Pinbologist]

Im not sure if this game has the LAI plaque on it, just cant remember.. i'll have a look when i drag it out for the tear down

I know Cam's (big dog's) Meteor had one on it, noticed it when i had it here working on it.. and my Hot Hand has a LAI plaque as well.

[Mr Pinbologist]

Hi guys, I've made a bit of progress already with this cab restore; been working on this as well as my KISS pf, (working on this while paint, and/or inserts glue is drying on the Kiss pf).

Started stripping the paint off the backbox yesterday, doing the backbox first just because it was easier to start on it and get some progress happening
I ended up just sanding the paint off with 80 grit sandpaper, 1st pic shows where i have sanded half the paint off of the side of the backbox that had the planking in the plywood.

Initially, after discussing it with Martin, the games' owner, i wasnt going to replace the BG surround woodwork, after a bit more inspection, i decided that the side pieces of MDF would have to be replaced, as the edges were really rounded and shitty looking, so rather than try filling with bog, i decided replacing them was the go  
So off to Bunnings i went for some 16mm MDF to make the new side pieces from, as well as more sandpaper, filler and a couple of cans of Dulux white undercoat spraypaint.

2nd pic shows the new side pieces being glued and nailed on, the right side was done first, glue allowed to dry then the left side done. the top piece was ok so it was left alone. This was all done yesterday.  

[Mr Pinbologist]

Not much was needed in the way of dent/gouge repairing, only small ones that were filled with Polyfilla, allowed a couple of hours to dry and then sanded back with 180 grit sandpaper. Pics show the backbox almost ready for some undercoat.

[Mr Pinbologist]

After i had sanded back the whole backbox, it was time for the 1st coats of undercoat. I masked off the aluminium grounding inside the backbox, and after dusting it off gave it a couple of coats of undercoat so i could see what other defects i had to repair. The worst of it is, of course the side with the planking, so after this has dried i will sand this back and give this side extra coats to hopefully fill the cracks, it should work, as its looking much better already.

Tomorrow, if the paint has dried enough, i'll sand it back and fill any imperfections with Polyfilla or spot putty as needed.. oh and drill the hole for the backglass lock which i forgot to do before spraying

I should be able to get the black basecoat sprayed on in the next day or so
so until then.. its BACK TO MY KISS PLAYFIELD and get some more done to it!!

[mildflame]

looking good so far! 

[Boots]

After i had sanded back the whole backbox, it was time for the 1st coats of undercoat. I masked off the aluminium grounding inside the backbox, and after dusting it off gave it a couple of coats of undercoat so i could see what other defects i had to repair. The worst of it is, of course the side with the planking, so after this has dried i will sand this back and give this side extra coats to hopefully fill the cracks, it should work, as its looking much better already.

Tomorrow, if the paint has dried enough, i'll sand it back and fill any imperfections with Polyfilla or spot putty as needed.. oh and drill the hole for the backglass lock which i forgot to do before spraying

Have you tried Solver Maxi PSU?
It is water based and when you apply it with a 100mm foam roller it fills minor imperfections really well, it dries fast and is easy to sand.
It is not necessary to remove all the old paint as it sticks to any surface.
 

[Mr Pinbologist]

Finally got the backbox basecoat done!! after a few stuffups i might add 

Anyway now thats it's done i can get stuck into the cabinet and get that prepped for paint while the backbox paint is drying properly. I'm going to wait at least a week before i even think about doing the stencils on the backbox.

[Mr Pinbologist]

Time for another update.. its been a LONG time coming..

While i allowed the backbox paint to fully dry, i got stuck into the cabinet, first tracing the stencil designs before paint stripping the cab. I used paint stripper this time, to save a lot of sanding 

[Mr Pinbologist]

After the cab had been totally stripped and wiped down with Metho and rag, i left it overnight before sanding the cab back with 80 grit sandpaper and then filling the numerous dings and scrapes, i used Polyfilla for the smaller ones and builders bog for the larger ones. not much else was needed as the cab was still solid and structurally sound.

After lots of sanding, first with 80 grit on the builders bog, then 120, 280 then 400 grit sandpaper, then it was ready for the undercoat. I used White Knight brand enamel undercoat spray paint, first I put a couple of light coats to start with to see if i missed anywhere with the polyfilla, and applied some in any spots i had missed, then let it dry and block sand the filler back smooth, along with the rest of the cab with 280 grit then 400 grit before giving it a few more coats of undercoat.