Bally Fathom Restoration

[ktm450]

Looks like a great PF, shame it wasn't cleaned before the mylar, but at least it has protected the artwork over the years

[Strangeways]

Whilst removing the playfield parts, I noticed that the mylar is too thin to be mylar. It is contact - what was used in the "old days" prior to mylar. It is also VERY thin, and the adhesive is VERY poor, leaving whole section loose. This tempted me ! So I tried a small section under a plastic (not seen), and it peeled off with ease. The contact is an inferior product with almost no adhesion. I think the low adhesion and the fact that it was laid down with the dust and dirt has worked in my favor. Here's the "test" section ;

Lower playfield





Upper playfield





It is basically falling off, an the underside (adhesive side) of the contact is so poor, that if I handed a section to you, you would not know which side of the contact was MEANT to have the adhesion ! It was almost "floating contact". So I removed it - it 10 minutes !

Here's what I'm left with - and I can now IMPROVE this playfield.











This has enabled me to look into the possibility of addressing the ball swirl and improving the playfield. Inserts are all level, so it should be an easy (yet time consuming) job !

 

[deadlydave]

Thats a real bonus Nino! Are you considering a CC for playfield or wax?

[pinnies4me]

That was a leaky break, be great to see this waxed or cleared without the contact, those amazing colours will  look sensational!

[Strangeways]

Thats a real bonus Nino! Are you considering a CC for playfield or wax?

I'm seriously considering a clearcoat. Regular waxing will protect the playfield, but I'm looking at attempting to remove the ball swirl, which will deplete the original varnish to the point where I might be risking paint loss. I'll see how I go.

[ktm450]

Great, that is a huge bonus, will come up a treat now 

[Strangeways]

After some practice with the airbrush and the clear that I'm using, I am slowly convincing myself to clearcoat this playfield. I've had emcouraging results with the Aces High and Buccanneer and I'm going to clearcoat an old playfield over the easter break for some experience. In the meantime, I've completely stripped the game of every nut and bolt and started to clean and polish varioius parts.

The lower cabinet has to support the heavy playfield (4 Bank targets), so it utilizes the supports used on the Bally EMs. The power supply is also located in the lower cabinet. First thing to do is strip the cabinet. Here's a "before" picture ;





The section between the head and the lower cabinet needed a new coat of paint. The grill will also be repainted. Sand with 100 Grit, then 240 Grit.





Mask off the area and give it a quick respay. The grill is also repainted at the same time ;





The lower cabinet "underside" was very ugly. There was some corrosion, and this needed to be arrested. I used a wirewheel on my cordless drill and grinded away the corrosion and surface rust. I prepped the area for something "a little bit different"





I use "rust guard hammer finish" for Stern Coin Doors, but I thought it would be GREAT to protect the metal from further corrosion. I only need one pass on this area - so I masked it off and gave it a quick spray. I was pleasantly surprised and I will be using this technique with all future restores !





Inside the cabinet is cleaned. The head support looks great !





Cabinet is cleaned and I'm thinking of filling in the area (near the tail) and painting over it. Very pleased so far ;





Very pleased with the progress so far !

[Mr Pinbologist]

looking good so far Nino.

I had the same issue with Kiss, the metal underneath the front of its cab was very crappy and rusty. I dont know why it never occured to me to use silver hammertone paint on mine after i cleaned it up  I used grey etch primer on the metal instead and left it at that, its looks neat enough as it is (but i neglected to document this step in my resto thread) 

looking forward to further updates, following this thread with much interest 

[ktm450]

Nice work so far mate.  What do you think the hole in the cabinet near the tail was put in for?

[Strangeways]

Nice work so far mate.  What do you think the hole in the cabinet near the tail was put in for?

Good Question - and I need to look into this. My Bally "Wizard" and "Ro Go" have exacty the same hole. Must have something to do with the European Export games, or something the local operator did.

[thefasteddy69]

Looks nice Nino and its great seeing a nice machine given the Nino treatment,

Could it be a credit button hole? Never seen it before.

[Boots]

Nice work so far mate.  What do you think the hole in the cabinet near the tail was put in for?

Good Question - and I need to look into this. My Bally "Wizard" and "Ro Go" have exacty the same hole. Must have something to do with the European Export games, or something the local operator did.

Ive seen a machine with a car ash tray (the type you have in the back of a bench seat) was mounted in the side.
Who knows why people do these things???

[studley67]

nino,how will a clear coat remove the ball swirl?for the younger members can you please explain.plus ballswirl,cracking,planking,shrinkage etc

[Strangeways]

nino,how will a clear coat remove the ball swirl?for the younger members can you please explain.plus ballswirl,cracking,planking,shrinkage etc

Clear coat won't remove the ball swirl, I'm afraid ! Hard work with Chux Magic Eraser and alcohol will be the first step. This will take time, and might remove some paint. It should improve the playfield.

Cracking and planking - not much can be done with the natural aging of timber and paint. The artwork is incredibly detailed, there won't be any touch ups. I MIGHT do the white areas with an "off white", or a yellowed white I found in the Jo Sonja range.

The clearcoat that I want to attempt will simply arrest any further playfield wear. It is all about preserving the artwork under the clearcoat. I'm hoping it will freshen up the colors a bit as well. It will be "trial and error", so this restore will hake a fair bit of time as I want to practice on a spare playfield I have picked out.

[studley67]

thanks nino,i hope mildflame is following this one.still awaiting consignment.