Gottlieb Cleopatra Restoration

[Brettski]

Hi again,

I have picked up an old Gottlieb System 1 Cleopatra that needs a lot of work but was still working (just) when I got it.
Very much a wreck of a machine but still has potential, it has water damage on the cabinet and the wood is rotted so it will need a rebuild , back box is ok  but boards seem to have faults. The displays seem ok and then there is the playfield..

The playfield was covered in mylar that had yellowed badly and the adhesive had darkened in the wood grain which left it looking terrible plus all the inserts were sunken deep.
After removing the mylar it appeared that it had been repaired before and had paint touch ups which came off when I used Isopropyl alcohol to remove the adhesive which left the playfield in  quite a state..

I cleared the playfield busted out the paints and filled the inserts with clear and it is now ready for clear coating.

Here are some pics of the playfield repair which is the first stage of the project, depending on how it came up would decide the direction I would go in and so far I am quite happy with the results, looks like this might end up being a full scale resto but hopefully worth it.. more to come

Cheers: Brettski... :)

[Boots]

Nice work, should look even better after clearing
What is the filler on the lower left for?

[Brettski]

Thanks Chris..

The filler was used to repair that corner of the playfieled, the whole left front corner of the machine had severe water damage which also damaged that part of the playfield.

It is the area hidden under the apron so it was just a tidy up, I have painted it a close brown.. lucky it is hidden.. :)

[plong]

Talk about making strawberry jam out of pig Sh-t . What a fantastic transformation. Some people are bloody talented and you are one of them my boy. Roughly how many hours went into just the playfield ?

[Brettski]

LOL Thanks Plong!
Love your analogy ... :)

As for the hours spent there are way too many but I can't help myself, it becomes an obsession and takes over my life!! :)

2 full weekends and a few hours each night over a two week period, I took it slow to get it right.. :)
1 of the weekends was just getting the inserts correctly built up as they were very deeply sunk.

Thanks again for your comments, very inspiring.. :)

Cheers: Brettski... :)

[Strangeways]

Nice work there 

The playfield repairs around those bonus inserts it excellent.

The cabinet - We (HRP / APR) are looking to reproduce SYS 1 cabinets, and if there is enough interest, we will look at doing a small run - We need at least 5 cabinets. APR needs three and maybe a fourth..

This could be a viable option for this game.

[Brettski]

Thanks Nino,

It sounds good but I guess it comes down to price then shipping to QLD, if you can provide me with a quote I will certainly consider it..

I use acrylic paints like others do but I also have acrylic paint pens made by Posca, the black and the white are used mostly as the other colours don't match the playfield colours and can't be mixed. I paint all the base colours then black keyline with the black pen, let dry then brush lightly with a small amount of cabothane clear to seal it. You must seal it before you apply the coat of clear as it can drag into the other colours but not if you seal it first. You still need a steady hand but it makes life easier than trying to do keylines with a brush, especially some of the real thin ones. The tip is .07mm which works out great.

I have actually re painted around 95% of this playfield.. :)

Much appreciated.. Brettski... :)

[Brettski]

Here are some pics of the playfield after clear coat with KBS, it's hard to photograph being so shiny and the photo's don't do the finish any justice as far as seeing the depth etc as some of you would know.

Four coats of KBS Diamond Finish Clear Coat.. I will wait a week or more before hitting it with the polish..

Cheers: Brettski... :)

[Boots]

Looks very nice Brett
Did you thin the KBS or use it straight?
How long did you leave it between coats?
Did you sand it between coats?

[Brettski]

Looks very nice Brett
Did you thin the KBS or use it straight?
How long did you leave it between coats?
Did you sand it between coats?

Ok, no thinners it is straight from the can, conditions we quite favourable but will probably thin next time..

Left it about 4 hours between coats and sanded after the third coat mainly to remove dust specs etc for a final smooth finish.

2 coats yesterday, two coats today.. so the first two had over night to cure...

Sanded with P320 grit then 1200, unfortunately I have some dust specs on the final coat but should buff out, unavoidable but minimal.

I used an applicator called SHURE-LINE Handi Painter from Bunnings to apply the KBS and found it better than a foam brush to use.

see here..

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=13747.msg178529#msg178529


Very happy with what I am seeing especially compared to what it was like when I first brought it home.. colours are amazing.. :)

Cheers: Brettski...

[Brettski]

Update..

I was not completely satisfied with the results, a few areas had some streaking from not thinning the KBS so I sanded it and then thinned the KBS to 30% and gave it a final coat. Much better, completely flat so I recommend using the thinners especially on the final coat..

Now to wait a week and then give it a buff before reassembling the playfield. It came with a fresh set of drop targets so while the assembly is detached  I will replace them.
Time to get some parts orders in now that I know what I am up against and the direction I will take this resto in.

Also need to rebuild the cabinet as there is no base in it and the sides are rotted, as I said earlier this machine was a real basket case which gives me more determination to give it a decent go!

Backglass is bad but maybe not completely out of the realm of repair, I am thinking of trying waterslide decals to repair the damaged areas but will mean scraping back paint.
Ultimately there is not much to lose as it looks horrible the way it is, well to me anyway so a good attempt may reap a decent result otherwise short of finding a replacement at some huge cost I have a few other ideas up my sleeve such as vinyl print, translite or another idea is to photograph it then fix up in photoshop then have all the black areas (key lines etc) printed to vinyl and applied to a piece of glass then freshly hand paint all the colours back on to the backside of the glass or a combination of paint and waterslide decals..
It will be the biggest challenge of the whole project but not much to lose giving it a go..

I will keep you up to date regarding the direction of the backglass.

The best part of the whole machine is the underside of the playfield, it is in quite good condition which is odd as the rest of the machine is falling apart.

I will leave it at that at the moment because I think the fumes from the KBS are kicking in and I could end up with a backglass full of unicorns.. LOL

Cheers: Brettski... :)

Brettski... :)

[Brettski]

Ok now that the fumes have worn off I think I will leave the backglass for now and move onto the cabinet..

After a bit more thought and research I have decided not to rebuild the cabinet at this stage instead I am going to try a product called Earls Wood Restorer to solidify the rotted timber.
If this works it will save time and money, once this has been applied clamped and cured I can then bog the remaining rough areas then sand back to timber ready for fresh paint.

The biggest hurdle I have is trying to remove the metal rails without damage as they are still good and worth re using with a polish up. I am going to attempt to put a notch in the head of the twist nail with a dremel so I can hopefully get a screwdriver to turn it enough to get a grip with pliers, I will let you know how this works out.. 

Playfield is looking great, once polished should be even better..

Here are some pics of the cabinet..

Cheers: Brettski... :)

[Boots]

The biggest hurdle I have is trying to remove the metal rails without damage as they are still good and worth re using with a polish up. I am going to attempt to put a notch in the head of the twist nail with a dremel so I can hopefully get a screwdriver to turn it enough to get a grip with pliers, I will let you know how this works out.. 

The easiest way for me it to centre punch each nail and then carefully drill the heads off.
Once the rails are off I just use some wirecutters to pull them out.

[Brettski]

That sounds like the best bet Chris.. I will give that a shot!

Thanks again..

Cheers: Brettski... :)

[Boots]

just put some thick tape on the rails just in case you slip