Gottlieb Genie Restoration

[Steve2010]

Thanks Nino.  If you did not have access to an airgun, do you believe the toothbrush method would still be the best approach?  I don't own one, and probably would try to attempt the best manual means.

[Strangeways]

Thanks Nino.  If you did not have access to an airgun, do you believe the toothbrush method would still be the best approach?  I don't own one, and probably would try to attempt the best manual means.

Certainly will work - but you need a stiff brush and a small amount of paint.

[Strangeways]

On to the playfield. It has had a few coats to seal in the current artwork before it deteriorates any further (previous update). Now the plan is to restore some of the art that needs doing. This is a time consuming process, but I find it enjoyable.

First, the whites need to be repainted. They are dark, ugly and yellowish in areas. I use a frisket and cut around the edges. I will go over the black lines later ;





Here's a section scraped by the metal lane guides ;





A close match with the purple, and a couple of quick coats ;





I usually do sections of the same color ;











Mask removed and paint dried ;








Some yellow as well ;





STRAIGHT after I finished the yellow, my airbrush died. So time for an upgrade ! Meanwhile, I've done enough to "lock in" my work so far. So it went off to be cleared and this is what I got back ;





The black lines around the purple need to be done and the HARD part will be the red sections. But the good thing is that the work done to date is locked in. I can correct what didn't work out and also progress to the next stage.








So i have to wait 3-4 days and I'll resume - with my new airbrush !

[oldskool1969]

Nice! And you appear to be very happy with your clear coat guy.
How does an airbrush die though?

[Strangeways]

Nice! And you appear to be very happy with your clear coat guy.
How does an airbrush die though?

The gun has a cup which screws into the side of the airbrush itself. The there's a shaft which connects the cup to the airbrush. It has a thread. The shaft separated from the cup, and I could never get the cup to sit upright. I had to lightly tap it in every session - which is wasting time ! Eventually, the needle also had started to bend at the end and instead of buying new needles, it was better to buy a better gun.

[plong]

Hey Nino playfield looks great. Wondering what type and brand of paints do you use for your touch ups. Cheers Paul

[Strangeways]

Hey Nino playfield looks great. Wondering what type and brand of paints do you use for your touch ups. Cheers Paul

Jo Sonja paints. Easy to use acrylics if you can paint match (which my wife does for me as I have no idea !).

[Crashramp]

Hi Nino, I meant to ask when I saw it but the half lockdown bar on the first page, I've noticed on another Gottlieb wide body machine that the lockdown looked like it had a join in the middle. Did they use to just cut down two regular lockdowns to make one new longer wide body lock down or was there another story behind this?

[Strangeways]

Hi Nino, I meant to ask when I saw it but the half lockdown bar on the first page, I've noticed on another Gottlieb wide body machine that the lockdown looked like it had a join in the middle. Did they use to just cut down two regular lockdowns to make one new longer wide body lock down or was there another story behind this?

These extra widebody games have a joint in the middle. The housing is all one piece, but it looks like GTB trimmed two standard lock down bar covers to make one.

Update on this restoration ;

My Airbrush died 4 weeks ago.
I bought a new one. It was DOA (Dead on arrival)
A week later, I received the parts to fix it
The parts didn't fix it
A week later, I received just another Airbrush - as a replacement and as a sign of goodwill from the seller
After an hour of using the second airbrush, it developed a different problem than the original. I didn't want to make one out of two, so I sent it back.

I'm currently reading reviews on the professional airbrushes, and I'll have one by next week. $400 + 

However, I did finish up the latest touch ups and it is off to get cleared this week, so i will be waiting for a week anyway !

[ktm450]

Looking good so far mate, that cab looks amazing they are a lot of hard work 

[Pauly540]

Hi Nino,
I'm sure your mega busy with other projects/factory setup.
Just asking about Genie as you said after putting new GI white down (quote) "I will go over the black lines later ;"
I'm currently doing the same thing and Iv'e been eagerly waiting/following this particular thread, so I can follow/copy, your amazing work.   

Any progress/tips?
Cheers, Paul.

[Strangeways]

Hi Nino,
I'm sure your mega busy with other projects/factory setup.
Just asking about Genie as you said after putting new GI white down (quote) "I will go over the black lines later ;"
I'm currently doing the same thing and Iv'e been eagerly waiting/following this particular thread, so I can follow/copy, your amazing work.   

Any progress/tips?
Cheers, Paul.

At several stages, I've had to "lock in" my work with a clearcoat. This is time consuming, but it ensure that if I make any mistakes from that point on, I don't mess up the previous work. The black lines are done in sections - I don't like laying down colors and then painting the black line straight over as there can be some bleed into the colours. So I usually leave the lines until last, or in sections "away" from other colors. I use Tamiya adhesive tape to create the lines and curves. I'll document the next stage in more detail !

[Strangeways]

It has been a while..

More playfield touch up work. In particular - larger areas that had minor imperfections, but I wanted the areas to look a bit better ;








After another clear coat, block and clean up, we are ready for the next session of touch ups. This is the last opportunity to clear up any issues. Mainly lines, text and smaller problems rather than larger sections. Inserts will be finished off in this session.





Mask is applied and then enough paint to cover the area








Inserts done - still some work to do, but I wanted to get these "out of the way" !

[Crashramp]

Looking good Nino, this is going to be stunning once it's finished.

[Strangeways]

Not happy with the lettering (numbering) in the bonus area (1000, 2000,3000, etc) - so I've scanned the numbers and Gavin is going to make a set of stencils for me. It is probably a little bit overboard, but I want this playfield to look absolutely perfect. This will be the hardest part of the touch up process, and I left it until last. I can visualize the area repainted - and i think it will finish off the playfield restoration prior to the final clearcoat. It should look amazing when done.

In the meantime, the old playfield will be stripped and prepared. I've already ordered most of the parts, so this should come together quickly.