Decisions decisions...

Located a Barracora backglass but it has some peeling around the perimeter, not in the actual artwork. Already been sealed, but touchup still possible.

Also, located a high res scan of a NOS glass which I can pay a nominal useage fee to get a copy and then try and do the translight with machine slave's help.

What's the best route???

A translight will never have the vibrancy of screened ink on glass.  If the flaking is in the opaque areas, touch up is pretty straightforward too.

Quoted from Andrew

A translight will never have the vibrancy of screened ink on glass.  If the flaking is in the opaque areas, touch up is pretty straightforward too.

Is this an assumption or based on your experience with several pins? Do you have pictures to point out the differences?

Quoted from wbradley

What's the best route???

Backglass

Backglass.  Always go for authenticity when given a choice. A little wear is character, while a perfect substitute is just that, a temporary solution .. waiting for an authentic replacement.  

Quoted from kia

Is this an assumption or based on your experience with several pins? Do you have pictures to point out the differences?

I should have clarified that it's not *just* an issue of medium (translite vs. direct ink on glass), but also a matter of silk screening vs. ink jet process. Over the years I have seen at least a dozen attempts to recreate a backglass from a scanned image (off the top of my head, I remember seeing people make translites for Pinball Pool, Paragon, Superman, Seawitch, Haunted House, Space Shuttle, a few bingo machines, and reproductions of the translites for DE Star Wars and Fun House) and not once did the end result compare in vibrancy or sharpness to the original silk screened image - especially when back lit.

Ink jet printers have certainly made great advancements in recent years, but even the most advance printers I know of can only apply 6 different colours + white.  Compared to the 10-12 pure colours used to silkscreen a backglass, even if you had a perfectly vectorized image, it will never look the same.  There is a reason why silk screening is still so widely used for high quality printing.

Certainly ink jet translites have there place.  With old bingo machines, where a replacement glass is near impossible to find, it is certainly better than nothing.  They're also a good temporary fix until an original can be sourced.  However, enough Baracorras were made that with a little searching, a little patience, and a little luck, original glasses can be found.

Well I have made up my mind. Buying the glass AND the scan. If needed, I will use sections of the scan to fill in chipped areas on the glass but hoping that will not be necessary.

Either way, getting the glass.