Out of curiosity, is there a way to "darken" the wood (underneath the flipper areas, in their resting position) to match the surrounding wood?
Yes there is. A lot of careful sanding and then some touch up work on any paint affected areas. In this example, I'm not going "all out" as we have changed scope to clearcoat the playfield, so I needed to keep it affordable. The shooter lanes on these are always a problem as they are milled through 2 or more layers of ply. If any dirt or wax is lodged in the wood-fibers, then it is incredibly difficult to remove without vigorous sanding.
So it can be done, and it just takes more effort.
