Made some new playfield plastics today

[deep six]

One thing that was bugging me about my stern galaxy was the broken lower lane plastics. Someone had driven a couple of nails into the playfield in the past where the plastic was missing. Trouble is the ball kept getting stuck between the flipper and the nail.

Been wanting to fix this for a while now but finally decided to do something about it.
I pulled one of he plastics off and stuck it in the scanner. Brought the image into my drawing app and sat there for about an hour and a half hand drawing the graphic. Was pretty painful as there were a lot of small details, especially for such a small piece of plastic. I only drew the one side as I figured I would just reverse it for the left side.

I noted the image was screen printed on the bottom side of the plastic so even though I could just print out an image on white vinyl and stick it on top of the plastic it just wouldn't be right. I decided to print the image on clear vinyl, then flip it so when I applied the decal to the under side of the plastic it would show through correctly.

Once printing out the decals ( and it helps that I have a vinyl printer) the only thing that remained was to grab some perspex and cut it to size.

On the way home from work I called in at a local plastics supply store, they have a scrap bin with various size offcuts so it was a simple matter of finding a nice sized piece of scrap and I was out of there.
The piece I found was a couple of mil thicker than my sample but I figured the extra thickness could only be a good thing since it would be less prone to warpage and cracking.
Got it home, traced out the profile from the broken piece, adding a little extra to account for the missing broken bit and bobs yer uncle.



Luckily the two plastics were the same shape so it saved me on scanning and drawing to seperate decals. I simply used the first decal and flipped it. Its not quite correct as the left side artwork is different to the right but I didn't fancy another hour and a half drawing up a second decal.

When I applied the decals to the underside of the plastic I noted they were too transparent, so I added a layer of plain white under the decal to back up.
I didn't cut the new plastics out exactly to size so the is a little white showing trough from the underside from where the decal ends but all in all I was pretty happy for a first attempt. I can easily pull the plastics off and trim them down a little.



I now have the file saved for the decals so if anyone has a Galaxy and wants to make some new lane plastics I can print these out and post them.

Cheers

[Homepin]

They look GREAT! Well done.

[pinball god]

Good effort. Things used to be a little easier not that long ago where there was a website with scans of complete plastics for various games. I used to copy these scan for plastics I needed. I would spray white on the back of my decals and then cut them out and install on the Perspex.

[Mr Pinbologist]

Yes VERY well done!! looks really good 

I use polycarbonate plastic for making pf plastics, its a bit more durable and less brittle than perspex, but you've used thicker than original material so you should be ok. Anyway you have the artwork saved so you've nothing to worry about, you can easily make more if you need to 

These plastics are often cracked or broken on this title, I've got my eye on a Galaxy that has these plastics broken, which i may have the opportunity to buy soon

[ajlaird]

Good job, not too many people are going to notice if the decal is not quite right anyway! Much better than a broken plastic.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

I like Harry's signature on the playfield

.... ohh, your plastic looks good too 

[deep six]

Thanks guys for the kind remarks, Now I think I should do these again and get them spot on, scan the left side and draw it too.
But that is my downfall, I'm never happy with what I do so I end up getting in too deep and never finishing anything, for example my wifes 82 Pontiac which is sitting in the garage almost finished but not quite.

PG, is there a chance someone has archived the files of the scanned playfield plastics, I did read somewhere that these were taken down due to copyright issues which is a real shame.

Mitch, the plastics store I went to said the same thing about poly-carbonate, in that it was stronger and less brittle. They would have sold me a piece of this but there was none in the scrap bin and they have a minimum cut charge of $10, plus whatever the plastic is worth I imagine so I just decided to play with the scrap bit I got, I figured it only cost $5 so couldn't go too far wrong.
And no probs with the decals for your prospective Galaxy, I will gladly print you out a set and post them to you. just PM me when you are ready.

Cheers all

[Mr Pinbologist]

Mitch, the plastics store I went to said the same thing about poly-carbonate, in that it was stronger and less brittle. They would have sold me a piece of this but there was none in the scrap bin and they have a minimum cut charge of $10, plus whatever the plastic is worth I imagine so I just decided to play with the scrap bit I got, I figured it only cost $5 so couldn't go too far wrong.
And no probs with the decals for your prospective Galaxy, I will gladly print you out a set and post them to you. just PM me when you are ready.

Cheers all

Cool thanks for the offer  will definitely keep it in mind, and contact you if i end up getting it 

[pinnies4me]

 for example my wifes 82 Pontiac which is sitting in the garage almost finished but not quite.

Hopefully not since '82....

Great job with the plastics!!