Wms Stellar Wars Backglass tidy up

[Ford Fairlane]

wow those reds really pop! well done!

[Mr Pinbologist]

wow those reds really pop! well done!

They'll pop even more once the white light diffusing layer of paint goes on 

[Caveoftreasures]

I have watched this thread with interest, thinking about my 1978 Phoenix backglasses.
1 x backglass needs this type of repair and the other is 90 percent and fine.

Watching your excellent work has given me some knowledge that i previously didnt know existed.
Its good to know that a backglass has options rather than being junky.

Congrats on your great work and thankyou for sharing some great techniques.

[ddstoys]

Love your work Mitch always love your threads

[Mr Pinbologist]

Thanks Cavey and Daniel for the kind words 

Not all BGs can be saved this way, only ones with solid colours, what i think is called  "line art"  style like this one and most older ones.
Glasses like Kiss, Lost World and Paragon etc come to mind as glasses that these repair techniques will not work, due to the way they are printed.

Wont be too much longer and this glass will be done! Had to stop work on it temporarily, as i'm in the process of building another playfield rotisserie. I have need a second, bigger one to take bigger PFs, like Ian's Genie pf that i'm starting on soon (these are about 5 inches longer that a standard pf and wouldnt fit in my old wood constructed one)    the new one is being built out of steel.

Speaking of Genie, i will be redoing the reds in the BG for it as well  will be done probably after the pf is done..

[ktm450]

Awesome job 

[Mr Pinbologist]

Backglass is now DONE!! and back in Ian's game

Sorry i didn't get any pics for the rest of the resto efforts, camera battery was flat so i only managed to get a couple of the finished glass.. well as much done as i was able to do that is!!

2nd pic is of the glass back in his game and lit up.. the pic doesnt do it justice as its hard to get a good pic of the glass backlit... looks way better in the flesh 

[ktm450]

WOW! Very nice work

[studley67]

please, what product do you use for the white diffusing layer,damien

[Steevsee]

Just checked the original pics again.

Hard to believe it's the same backglass.

Amazing and inspiring work.

[howzat]

yes the pics dont do it justice    it looks fantastic lit up its very vibrant  and it pretty well looks  as it did back in the day when it was new        great job        howzat

[Strangeways]

Top notch as always, Mitch 

[Mr Pinbologist]

Thanks for the kind words guys  

It did come up pretty good, there were a few sections i had to leave alone so there ARE a couple of bits where there is still some red fading or minor cracking, but they arent really that noticeable, its nearly impossible to make them look like new.

I did cheat in one lit section (the large cracks in the blue and black in the before pics) since i couldn't touch it up and make it look nice backlit, i sprayed a silver mask over these sections from the back, so as to block out the backlighting completely, that way i didnt have to worry about trying to match the translucency of the blue paint to the original which is practically impossible. After consulting Ian about doing this he was happy for me to go ahead with that little mod (which is permanent btw.. once done its on for good!). Some of you may not like this approach but there really isn't much else that can be done other than leave it as is and have light shining thru the cracks! I'll be exploring other ways of repairing these areas in the future  

please, what product do you use for the white diffusing layer,damien

Damien, I use Power Plus brand acrylic white primer for the diffusing layer. (bought fron Super Cheap Auto).
Not much is needed, only a light coat is needed otherwise it can and WILL block out too much light!! I usually spray only just enough so you can still see some of the colour behind it when its applied. Even with a light covering it still brightens up the colours nicely from the front of the glass.

below are the before and after pics so you can compare;

[Mr Pinbologist]

.

[Mr Pinbologist]

I'll try that again... quoted myself by accident modifying the previous post, then went to delete and add more info and ran outta time  

I wanted to add that i ended up doing a LOT more on this BG than i originally intended. Ian was most concerned with the red and yellow in the game name, and the see thu bits and would've been happy to have those done and nothing more, but i ended up going a little further than that... as per usual for me  

I ended up doing more of the red and yellow, plus a lot of the light blue and whites as well, in particular the white and blue spaceships which were scraped clean and sprayed/airbrushed.

I even ended up deciding to try out some new paint i bought recently, Trident brand airbrush paint, which worked out well for me!! This stuff is compatible with most automotive finishes which meant i was able to spray the white diffusing paint over it with no dramas, in effect sealing it nicely