Update time!!!

Thanks to my wife for bringing the kids biking, she left me some quiet time at home to tinker around the garage... she said it herself that it would be great to get the graphics on the Playboy as I put a lot of time and hard work on making the cab look nice and clean... I love that woman.  

So here it is...  over a week ago, I finished painting the entire cab with a fresh coat of white. Now comes the time to finally lay down some graphics.

First off, I want to give a huge thanks to Magneto (Luc). He came over recently to take pics of the FG playfield (he has one he wants to fix...) and we got to talking about paint. I told him I had an HVLP I bought from Princess Auto but had no idea on how to use it. He then told me he had the exact same gun (!!!!   ) and gave me a quick rundown on how to use it, and what consistency of paint I should have. He said he painted his motorcycle with it ( a SWEET 73 Triumph Bonneville!!!) and it came out great. Because of him, the whole thing went down flawlessly!!!

I taped up the cab and layed down the graphics for the pink (... Fuschia Berry!!!) on the side. I mixed the paint with Varsol in order to obtain the thickness of about 10% cream. Put it in the gun and tested it on some cardboard panels I got from the dollar store. Ready to go...

I did use some stencil spray tack, but HATED IT!!! It made the acetate warp somewhat, so I ended up using lots of old nuts and bolts to hold it in place. 2 thin coats later (with 4 hours dry time between them) and voil�!!! The pink is down, and looks great!

I then did the coindoor area and it went smoothly. Then I said, hey... why not do the black! So 4 hours after that, I did the black on the side. Oddly enough, I had a harder time with a spray can than my first attempt with an HVLP!!! My second coat on the side was a tad too thick and bled just a bit... but it still looks way better than the factory paint, which had an insane amount ov overspray! On one of the included pics, you see part of the head laying on another pin in the pic of the side of the cabinet... nice paint match!!!

Now, I have one side done, and the first coat of black around the coindoor. Second coat will go on tomorrow morning. Too tired now and more prone to mistakes...

Once the paint has dried a week on one side, I will lay it on my hydraulic table (covered with leftover subcarpeting... keeps from scratching) and do the other side. I will get started on the head next.

Last pic!

...I am really enjoying the cabinet work... It has even convinced me more than ever to restore that fire-damaged Eight Ball!!!

Looks awesome Sparky.  I know a lot of collectors like the original patina of cabinets - but seeing a freshly painted 80's game makes you think of how they must have looked in the arcades originally.

For HVLP gun is it a standalone setup - or do you have a monster compressor?   I'm just trying to figure out the right setup to get for myself.   I have no need/room for a big compressor (I have the pancake one) - but would love a spray gun painter.

Quoted from Tuborg

Looks awesome Sparky.  I know a lot of collectors like the original patina of cabinets - but seeing a freshly painted 80's game makes you think of how they must have looked in the arcades originally.

For HVLP gun is it a standalone setup - or do you have a monster compressor?   I'm just trying to figure out the right setup to get for myself.   I have no need/room for a big compressor (I have the pancake one) - but would love a spray gun painter.

I have a small 2.6 gallon Porter Cable portable compressor. Works fantastic for 99% of jobs. I used to have a 13-gallon one but it was hardly portable and ended up croaking. I like this small one way better.

As for the original paint, if it is decent, leave it, but I must admit that a new paintjob looks REALLY nice.

OK... I finally finished painting the bottom cabinet last night. Overall, I am satisfied, but of course my straight lines are not perfect, and there is just a bit of overspray, but as I have stated before, it is MUCH better than the original paint job. It was the worst factory paint I have ever seen.

My advice? If you don't mind spending 140$ and don't want to take the time to create stencils, buy the ones from PinballPal if your machine stencil is available. I will be getting a stencil kit for Eight Ball to see how much better it is.

I have polished all the metal parts for the cabinet and washed all the other parts, so I will be reassembling it tonight. I should be starting on the head now, but I have asked my painter to clearcoat a few playfields next week, so I will get cracking on playfield retouches soon enough.

Pics to follow.

I have a 10$ coupon for pinballpal if you want it ...

Quoted from Mrhide

I have a 10$ coupon for pinballpal if you want it ...

Thanks! I may take it... Eight Ball will get an overhaul soon enough. I am just waiting on CPR for the playfield/plastics/backglass kit. I am PRAYING it will be produced...

OK, small update... I started doing the finishing work on the bottom cab. Here's a breakdown:

- removed the rust and 30 years of crud off of the lockdown bar mechanism
- buffed the siderails to a shine and reinstalled them, along with the glass channels
- installed all the hardware which passed through my polisher for 3 days (every single part)

Looks good so far. Once done, I will bring it in the gameroom to clear the space so that I can work on the backbox. Pretty much all that is leftbefore the playfield work... the completely refurbished boards are waiting to be installed, and I have 5 tested and fully functional displays for it. Backglass has already been sealed.

I shuld finish the cab tomorrow night, then get the playfield done. It will be clearcoated soon.

Last two update pics

Nice cabinet resto, thanks for the pics !!  

You're doing a great job Sparky!!!

Eric

ma t'envoyer mon cab de black knight