Thanks for your comments and feedback. This was 'on the bench' for about two months. I warmed up by tackling the pop bumper rings. I've done a lot of these in the past and so they don't scare me at all. What did scare me was getting the correct art work for the girls' legs, the Gottlieb sign, and especially the Sultan's face on the playfield (which was almost all missing.)
As I said my wife Kerrie did the Sultan's face. I got a mate in the USA to send me some close-up shots of the face and the ladies' legs. I got the Gottlieb sign by this method. I took a photo of the Logo from my Queen Of Diamonds (same logo, but with different writing. I then worked on this using Microsoft Paint (believe it or not). I've since bought Photoshop but have not yet used it for anything. When I'd done about as good as I could do, I sent it to Decal Specialists. John there was real helpful and did a bit to it as well. It's not perfect as the white colour could have been more cream, and the red colour could have had a bit more 'orange' flavour to it. But that's the price I paid for not photo-shopping it all before it went to the Decal Specialists.
I've found that the hardest part of this type of resto is to keep believing in what you're doing and keep on rubbing it back and applying further coats of clear to get it really flat. There comes apoint when you can convince yourself that it's done, but then I force myself to do it another 10 times. By then it's flat enough and you can then focus on a couple of finishing coats. I didn't spray at all for this. I used very good brushes which don't leave streaks if your technique is ok. I've learnt that dipping the brush in water (then shake off most of it) lets the clear go down pretty even and free of lines and streaks. Also, as much as possible do only one or two passes with the brush. If you keep on after that the clear is already drying and it will show streaks if you keep on trying to improve it.
It's no worries if you don't like some part .... just rub it back again after it's dried and have another go. I also waxed this playfield when all was finished. ... just like they did in the good old days. I've found that waxing (beeswax) a playfield is a great way to look after it. It worked back in the 50's and 60's and it still works today.
The decal is a great option for difficult areas. If you leave a slight 'hollow' where it's going, then you clear over it when it's dried and that raises that area to the surrounding areas. .... make any sense??
Yes this game was the one that Tony, from the Pinball Shed had on Ebay last Sept. I was in the USA then but told him I'd buy it when I got back. He waited and the deal went smoothly.
I like this game very much. What I don't like is the ugly multi-player cabinet that it's in at the moment. I need to find or make a woodrail cabinet for this classic Gottlieb single-player. Anyone got a cabinet that would work?? If I have to I'll make one myself but would rather restore an old Gottlieb box/head if I can find one.
That's the short story of this resto. Still happy to answer any questions that anyone has. Every restoration is different and every one requires a specific 'battle plan' to get the job done to a good enough level. But I was always happy to do this machine as I knew it to be a 'pearler' of a game.
........... only a few weeks till the AFL starts. I'm thinking that it could be a very good year for the Sydney Swans. ... as the blind man said .."we'll see."
