Mitch's next project.. Zaccaria Universe

[Mr Pinbologist]

And finally some pics of the targets assemblies reinstalled into the machine. I have played a few games on her with the new targets and they work really well

Next on the to do list is the apron resto, and i still have to remove the wood rails from the playfield to tidy them up, and make up a new back box door (might be getting a steel one made rather than the usual plywood ones i usually make myself!! )

[goodolddays]

The new targets look great Mitch  Nice work 
Amazing to think that you were originally thinking of parting this game out and now look at it !

Cheers
Dave

[Mr Pinbologist]

The new targets look great Mitch   Nice work  
Amazing to think that you were originally thinking of parting this game out and now look at it !

Cheers
Dave

Thanks Dave, and yeah i was thinking about that earlier, how i almost scrapped the whole project at one point! it was mainly the backglass issues that had those thoughts crossing my mind. Its sure been a long haul getting the game to this stage, but its well and truly worth all the effort now.  

Im redoing the apron at the moment, it has been primered and painted, i just need to re-do the artwork, which i scanned into my PC before i stripped the paint off (more on this in my next update). About another week and the game will be finished!

[Mr Pinbologist]

Hi guys, another mini update: Apron restore..

1st pic.. the point of no return!! Stripping the old paint off after i had scanned the old artwork into my PC and tidied it up ready to print out as decals.
I used a clean n strip disc in an electric drill to strip the paint right back to the metal, these discs make short work of this! 

After that was done, i wiped it down with Prepsol and rags before applying several coats of acrylic grey primer.

Once the primer had dried, i sanded it back with 400 grit wet n dry paper in preparation for the white acrylic top coat. Once again i wiped it down with Prepsol before the paint went on. After the paint was sprayed on i put the apron aside and allowed the paint to dry overnight.

[Mr Pinbologist]

I used waterslide decals to re-do the artwork, done in about five sections to make the job easier.

1st pic shows a couple of the decals cut and ready to be applied. the last few pics are with all the decals done and after several coats of clear acrylic applied.

The end result is not as good as i'd hoped for, but for the most part i'm happy to leave it as it is. I only just finished spraying the clear acrylic on tonight, and i'll leave it for a day or so before refitting it back onto the playfield... nearly done.. not too much to do now... should be finished next weekend 

[ajlaird]

That apron looks great!

Did you use an inkjet to print out the decals?

[Mr Pinbologist]

Yes, printed them out on a photo inkjet printer and sprayed them with acrylic clear to seal the ink before applying them.

[ajlaird]

Yes, printed them out on a photo inkjet printer and sprayed them with acrylic clear to seal the ink before applying them.

Sounds easy enough! I guess the hardest part is cleaning up the scans.

[Strangeways]

Mitch - You make that apron restore look easy !

Where did you source the waterslide decal paper ?

[Mr Pinbologist]

a place called "The Copier Company" someone mentioned this place and posted the link here on AP ages ago, i cant remember who though

http://www.thecopiercompany.com.au/products.asp?id=127

[Mr Pinbologist]

Yesterday i re-did the shooter gauge, againby repainting and using waterslide decal for the art. Also i removed the wood rails from the playfield and sanded them back and gave them a few coats of acrylic lacquer.

And this morning i made the new instruction cards, downloaded them and printed them onto photopaper and applied some mylar over them to protect them.

[Mr Pinbologist]

The game is now complete! well about 95%. She plays reall sweet too! I might have to just make a few minor adjustments though.

Only things left to do are a new door for the backbox, the above mentioned adjustments (the top right drop target sticks occasionally). Also i want to do a bit more work on the backglass (Mr universe's head needs fixing up a bit), which i will do later on when i get a few other jobs out of the way.

EDIT.. and a new playfield glass as this one is a bit on the ordinary side

[Mr Pinbologist]

and finally some before and after pics.. unfortunately i dont have any pics of whole machine before any work was done

Backglass...

[Mr Pinbologist]

And playfield...

[pinnies4me]

Man, that looks sweet!! Thanks so much for sharing the resto this beautiful game with us, great job!!