To continue the Playboy pinball thread about clearcoating, Sylvain wrote:

Ian,

Wow, nice work, congrats !

Please let us know if you would consider doing similar quality retouching (and maybe clearcoating)
for some of our playfields in the future... if you are interested, when you get spare time, of course.
(incidentally, do you use acrylic paint ?)
I am sure there will be a demand (I have a few PF for sure needing that service).

Just make sure that you quote an upfront fair price for both yourself and the PF owner,
so that you do not get low-balled like your mame building 'bad' earlier experience...
(but price hopefully still competitive compared to the well-known US playfield restorers).

Please post or PM. I am interested in this type of service.
(heck, I would even fix a machine/boards for you +/-$ as a trade if wanted).

Thanks and Cheers !
- Sylvain in Ottawa.

Sure, I am considering it, but this time, it would be easy... no playfield in hand and no cash, no work done. Yes, I use acrylics but I am by no means a pro like Bill Davis or any of the others redoing playfields these days. I can do some decent touch-ups, but I want to do a couple of playfields for myself first before actively doing complete jobs.

And as for cost, it all depends on what there is to do. A clearcoat job on a standard sized stripped playfield is not that much work. On a populated playfield (well, under anyways), it is much more cumbersome. Add the widebody factor and a multi-level factor and it can add up a bit.

But the budget-killer is touch-ups. The Mars God of War playfield I did for BZM was easy color-wise as most of it was black, but there was a lot to do, as most of the top part was flaking off bad, and I retouched all the white that is generally under plastics. That took me about 8 hours of work on and off. That included light sanding, thorough cleaning and touch-ups. Playboy had less wear, but it involved lots of extensive graphics and color matches. I have about 14 hours of work on it, on and off.

And as for insert graphics, I am still at a newbie stage with Photoshop and I don't know if I will be ready for a recent pin soon, but I can do my best for now.

So the key to having your playfield done is to send me a crapload of pics, and details on exactly what you want and don't want fixed.

And as for my testing phase, as stated I am working on 3 playfields right now (an Alien Poker on which I am struggling to get the mylar off, a Meteor, a very rough donor from Azatotht, and an old Evel Knievel which should end up near mint when done and will be sold probably on Ebay with an insane-cheapie reserve (something stupid like 75$ to start) unless someone on MAACA wants to buy it). If I am satisfied with the results, then I will do others, with no deadlines (it is ready when it is ready...).

If interested, email me with pictures of what you got, and I will be able to tell you if I can do it, or if it is way out of my league.

Wow... there seems to be a big interest on the clearcoat business. 7 people already have inquired. Looks like I will be doing some if I like my test results. I will post pics of the results anyways, and you can be the judge.

And as for the Evel Knievel playfield, TwilightZone has shown interest in acquiring it once done, so he has first dibs.

Ian,

I'm not surprised with the interest in Clearcoating.

It enhances a PF in many ways.

I was just curious though, for a straight-forward
unpopulated PF clear job, (no touch-ups, just clear ),
how much do you think you would charge ?
(..I'm just looking for a ballpark price, ...nohting I'd commit you to !  

LMK,

Thanks,
Steph

I must have missed some stuff here....

Sparky, you have an Evel Knievel playfield????

One thing most people miss when doing a cc playfield,glue all the inserts because if they move after it's done you will have a hard time fixing it.

Quoted from Steph

Ian,

I'm not surprised with the interest in Clearcoating.

It enhances a PF in many ways.

I was just curious though, for a straight-forward
unpopulated PF clear job, (no touch-ups, just clear ),
how much do you think you would charge ?
(..I'm just looking for a ballpark price, ...nohting I'd commit you to !  

LMK,

Thanks,
Steph

Somewhere around 80$ if it is a standard pf, a bit more for a multi-level. Depends on the cost of the clear.

Quoted from Bally Boy

I must have missed some stuff here....

Sparky, you have an Evel Knievel playfield????

Yes I do... you see the top part of it in the Playboy restauration thread in the Projects section. It barely has any wear... just really dirty. I also have a Meteor playfield and 2 Alien Poker playfields I could do.

Quoted from poolman

One thing most people miss when doing a cc playfield,glue all the inserts because if they move after it's done you will have a hard time fixing it.

That is CRITICAL. If I get a playfield and that is not done, I have to do it, no exceptions. I did it on the Playboy playfield and it is a good thing too because many had sunk in or were even popping out to the slightest touch. Any inserts which are sunken in will look bad once cleared.

Besides, most sunken-in inserts have wear on the playfield around them, so they need to be leveled and glued before being touched up. A cleaning with q-tips and glass cleaner never hurt either!   I have only bought 1 pin in the past on which the inserts were cleaned. Often a neglected area.

HOLY CRAP! Seems now everyone wants an EK playfield! !!! Looks like I will be looking for old and busted playfields here and there from now on...  

Ian, I applaud this initiative and I understand the good intentions here, but unless you want to do this out of the goodness of your heart forever, I'd suggest charging a higher price and making it more worth your while. Your time is important and a service like this is in high demand. $80 is a generous price, imho, and I don't think you're looking to do this out of generosity. I'm not suggesting that you should gouge everyone, but I think your time is worth more than that. The clear alone would cost you at least half that much per playfield, I would think.

Know what I'm sayin'?

My meager two cents.

Corey

I started to work on my stern ali project cabinet is done , now is the playfield that have major wear a lot worst than the kiss playfield I have seen post around I will try to get a digital camera and take piccs I hope my job will look good I would welcome any advice to do this job ! It is so beat up that it is imposible to ask anibody to do it ( $$$$ involved would be a lot more than the pin value ) good luck in your new area sparky . If I had $$ I would ask you to do it

Bill davis started out charging $100 per playfield....

for fellow maaca'ers, you should be charging at least $400 & up.

you'll sleep easier at night.  

Quoted from cooke

Ian, I applaud this initiative and I understand the good intentions here, but unless you want to do this out of the goodness of your heart forever, I'd suggest charging a higher price and making it more worth your while. Your time is important and a service like this is in high demand. $80 is a generous price, imho, and I don't think you're looking to do this out of generosity. I'm not suggesting that you should gouge everyone, but I think your time is worth more than that. The clear alone would cost you at least half that much per playfield, I would think.

Know what I'm sayin'?

My meager two cents.

Corey

I hear ya, but like I said, since I am still in the testing phase, it is not the right time to give a concrete price. What could happen is a cost for the job + materials if few concrete jobs come in. Plus, keep in mind that a simple clear job involves a bit of sanding and the equipment to do it, which I have. Technically, the more orders I get, the less it would cost for the job, as I can buy the clear by the gallon and not by the small can.

And on top of that, like I stated, I will not deal with shipping. That is a HUGE hassle. So I don't have to go to the post office or parcel service to pick it up, then do the work, then pack it again nice (since most send it in crappy packaging), then drive back to the shipper to send it out. That takes time.

And since there is a small network going on through MAACA meetings and such, there is little need for locals to ship. They can drop it off or pass it on to someone that will eventually see me. So by eliminating the logistics, the cost is lowered.

And then there is the professionnal aspect. I am not Bill Davis. I can do DECENT touch-ups, not invisible ones. I don't have an airbrush (yet) so I use a good old brush and lots of patience to fill in solids. What you would end up with is a nice playfield with an excellent clearcoat job on it. I can't guarantee the work, as it is possible to hit snags (like Playfield Renovations who had to redo a ton of System 11 playfields as the clear hazed on the inserts for some reason).  

Will it be 80$? ... 100$? ... 50$?  Time will tell. When I make it official, THEN I will confirm a price for a simple clearcoat job. And as for making money for my time, the expensive jobs will be touch-ups... that takes time. Clearcoats time-wise are easy... I could do 5-6 in one evening.

IMO clearcoating add good value to old 80's playfield and no more wear for the 25 years old, dry and often tiny cracked paint. Without clearcoating old 80's playfield wear very fast. With nice touch up and clearcoating they look better then they were new. I have 2 clearcoating project in my hand and i plan to make the rest of my pins this way no doubt about it. I strongly recommand clearcoating if you have this kind of 25 years old pins !!!

OK... I have clearcoated Playboy and Mars God of War.

Results:

Playboy is very nice. Some touchups show a bit but nothing a non-die-hard-collector would complain about. Smooth as a baby's butt. Nice shine to it.

Mars God of War...... O      M     G!!!!  THIs one REALLY came out awesome! The playfield REALLY has come back to life! This hing was BADLY flaking all over uptop, and the black all over the place was not as deep as it could be. But the clear on this one with 4 coats of DuPont looks like a mirror!!! The black is REAL DEEP black. This playfield looks BETTER than new! It did flake a tiny bit between my touchups and clearcoat, but barely noticeable. With this playfield in his game, BZM will freak!

So I learned a lot with these two playfields... on to more tests!

OK... here is the next test... Evel Knievel! This one will be quite a challenge. Most of the art is intact and actually very nice. The challenge lies in the ultra-bad chemical stains on the top part of the playfield. Someone dropped a highly reactive product on the playfirld at one time and it literally ate the finish on the playfield, and stained deeply the wood. I have included pics. I started scrubbing it a bit with a Magic Eraser and contrarily to Playboy, the grime came off like nothing... and so did some art. The paint is very old and dried. This thing is begging for a clearcoat...

So after a decent scrubbing, I started sanding the top part of the playfield... I am as low as 150-grit with my Mouse sander and it is much better, but still stained. I mihgt have to paint some grain over it. Should be fun.

So as you can see, this playfield will need a lot of work, but if I can make it nice and find an insert for it which is missing, I will then proceed with clears.

This being said... if anyone has a playfield on which they really want a clearcoat and are willing to give me a playfield, let me know. Send me pics by email and I can give you a quote for a complete job, or merely a clearcoat. Email me at sparky@maaca.net  .

Here are the pics...

And post-scrubbing and some detail from up-top...

Quoted from Sparky

This being said... if anyone has a playfield on which they really want a clearcoat and are willing to give me a playfield, let me know.

Factory Fresh LOTR PF   (... still crated )

Are you up for it ?  

Check you PMs

Steph

Quoted from Steph

Factory Fresh LOTR PF   (... still crated )

Are you up for it ?  

Check you PMs

Steph

Why not... this would be a test for me as well on a newer playfield, but I firmly doubt there would be a problem.

Well, so far so good for the EK test, but I am learning that some jobs are longer than expected, so I will have to keep an eye out for that later on.

I have so far sanded and bleached (!!!) the playfield for a total of 4 hours. Remenber the top of the playfield which was blackened by a chemical stain? Well, I removed as much as I could with light sanding, applying bleach and rubbing down, then sanding more. I have decided to retouch the top area with paint. I found a color match which should match the wood once clearcoated. I will just sand it very lightly to match the texture a bit.

I also did a color-match test on the lower part of the playfield. I retouched the entire area in front and around the left slingshot to give a contrast of the difference. This only took me 45 minutes in total with the color match of the wood. I haven't painted the black lines yet, but I like what I see. Once this one is done, I am opening for business.

I may not be able to bring Evel back from the dead, but at least I can bring back one of his dead playfields!!!  

OK guys... here is the situation. The EK playfield is taking a long time to retouch as it needs a TOTAL repaint... and I need to test clearcoat techniques PRONTO. So here goes...

The EK playfield will only get a partial paint job, unless someone REALLY wants a pristine playfield. I am using this one as a guinea-pig, so it won't be perfect unfortunately... I am practicing techniques. Once done, as I stated, Twilight Zone gets first dibs, and then Tuborg if Duane turns it down. I don't have time to make it super nice due to me wanting to get this thing off the ground.

And here is another offer... if you have a junk playfield that you don't care about, contact me, and I will clearcoat it for dirt cheap if you want it on your wall. Offer goes to the first 3 that give me a concrete YES.

This being said, Steph, your LOTR playfield, since it is a test, I will do it for 50$ only...

... and again, if any of you have a playfield you want to have retouched and/or clearcoated, and would like a quote, send me a request by email at sparky@maaca.net with pictures, and I will try to give you an estimate. Please be clear on what you are looking for (pristine condition or simply make the play-area nice (and not touching up anything covered by hardware and plastics).

Clearcoat alone will be 100$ flat. This will include a light sanding, cleaning of any residue, and clearcoat. Any touch-ups, playfield component dissassembly, insert levelling, wood fix and mylar removal will be extra.

I rather not use any shipping due to the sheer trouble and cost of it... that is where the MAACA network may come in! The advantage of this? ...

YOU DON'T HAVE TO REMOVE EVERYTHING FROM UNDER THE PLAYFIELD, AS LONG AS EVERYTHING ON TOP IS OFF!!! Since shipping is not used, thus weight is not a factor, leave everything under the playfield, as long as nothing sticks out from the top. I use foam plugs to cover all light sockets and components. You can build a small rack out of 2x4s like I did for Playboy to help support the playfield and keep it level, or I can build one for you for 10$... this will also protect anything under the playfield from getting snagged.

Clearcoat will be a very good quality automotive clear such as PPG. Minimum 3 coats.

If anyone wants in, PM me and email me the pics... I can get your PMs from work, but estimates will be done from home.


Sparky

Quoted from Sparky

This being said, Steph, your LOTR playfield, since it is a test, I will do it for 50$ only...

Sounds good.

I've got a trip planned to Mtl at the end of August.

I'm thinking of bringing it then.

Thanks,
Steph

Quoted from Sparky

... I also have a Meteor playfield and 2 Alien Poker playfields I could do.

Anyone need an Alien Poker playfield? I started tinkering with the nice one I have last night... I could never remove the damn mylar off of it in the past, and all of a sudden last night, it started cooperating. Seems to be REALLY cheap mylar too... it is yellowed and can be peeled off by hand slowly, but with freeze spray, it breaks in small pieces when pulling it off. I managed to pull off 40% by hand with no spray and with very minimal art coming off in about 1 hour. So I might continue this way. This playfield has some wear around a couple of pop bumpers, but otherwise excellent.

If I finish removing the mylar this week, it gets cleared with Meteor and EK.

As for the cheapo clearcoat offers, I still have 2 openings left. Tuborg will have his Sinbad playfield clearcoated, and so will Steph's LOTR. If you have a playfield you want clearcoated AS-IS, contact me. I am doing it at a loss just to test the clearcoat on playfields. I would really like a System 11 playfield if anyone wants one clearcoated... I hear the problem lies with clouding on inserts... I want to make sure it is OK.

I'm planing on doing my Banzai Run at some point, but I'm not at that stage yet, but it also needs more work then just a clear coat and there is the upper playfied as well.  

Hey Ian If you ever want a guinypig playfield i have a few i could donate to the cause.

Quoted from ethous

Hey Ian If you ever want a guinypig playfield i have a few i could donate to the cause.

Send me your dead...

And to answer a question, no, I am not out of the hobby, and yes, I will be clearcoating playfields. If anyone wants an estimate, PM or email me at sparky@maaca.net

Clearcoating order board is now open if anyone wants to have theirs done. I am doing some final tests this week and will be posting up some pics of before and after...

A basic clearcoat job will be 100$. This, as previously stated, includes any light sanding (for clearcoat adhesion), and clearcoating.

Email me at sparky@maaca.net for any quotes for touch-ups, insert fixes, etc.

I can also repaint a cabinet if needed. Preferably old-school stenciled cabinets, as I am not equipped to do any decals, nor do I want to. I doubt many will go for this cabinet service, but I can still do it if anyone wants theirs refreshed.

Quoted from Sparky

Clearcoating order board is now open if anyone wants to have theirs done. I am doing some final tests this week and will be posting up some pics of before and after...

A basic clearcoat job will be 100$. This, as previously stated, includes any light sanding (for clearcoat adhesion), and clearcoating.

Email me at sparky@maaca.net for any quotes for touch-ups, insert fixes, etc.

I can also repaint a cabinet if needed. Preferably old-school stenciled cabinets, as I am not equipped to do any decals, nor do I want to. I doubt many will go for this cabinet service, but I can still do it if anyone wants theirs refreshed.

Excellent job Sparky. That PF looks great.  I have a BK in decent shape.  When you decide on a price, let me know.  I would be interested in getting mine done in the future.

What kind of cost is there to ship a pf to sparky?  Can anyone take a guess?  Also, what about from US to Canada?  I'm curious.  

Quoted from Firehawk734

What kind of cost is there to ship a pf to sparky?  Can anyone take a guess?  Also, what about from US to Canada?  I'm curious.  

I believe he already said he will not deal with shipping.  It's a "local" service..

Mike

I have decided that for MAACA members, I can ship, but make a decent crate/box for it. I guess I will go through the trouble of shipping for my boyz. Worse case, I bum 5 bucks off of you for packing materials and for the trouble to bring it to a shipping store.

But be prepared... shipping a playfield is pricey... especially if the bottom of it is still populated.

Quoted from Firehawk734

What kind of cost is there to ship a pf to sparky?  Can anyone take a guess?  Also, what about from US to Canada?  I'm curious.  

Well, CPR have a business account and ship a bare playfield in a cardboard box for 35$ or something like that.

Since I have no business account, nor do I have anything for packing these, I recommend the buddy system. Send it to someone that will pass it along.

I checked with the CanadaPost website (it gives an idea...). A package masuring 55 inches X 24 inches by 2 inches (a packed, completely stripped playfield) weighing 8 pounds is 45$ by snail-mail package (10 days ) or 60$ Xpresspost. Keep in mind that you will pay this TWICE. Shipping can be reduced by passing the playfield on... like if I go to TO, I bring it, then pass it on to someone going to like let's say, London, and so on.

... so yeah. Shipping to MAACA menbers only.

Quoted from Firehawk734

What kind of cost is there to ship a pf to sparky?  Can anyone take a guess?  Also, what about from US to Canada?  I'm curious.  

I've had some playfields shipped around Canada and the US.  Cost can really vary by the type of packaging you have.  Cardboard is cheaper but may not be as durable.  Last ones I shipped to the US were in a wooden crate (thanks Adam!) and they cost quite a bit more...but it was quite heavy (and really durable).

I do not know what the US postal service would charge you to ship cross border.  $50?

Here is to give an idea of some work... BZM's Mars God of War playfield.

The good: no huge wear spots

The bad: big insert wear, MASSIVE FLAKING uptop, wear around the pop bumpers, and faded with wear.

BZM didn't want a perfect playfield, just clean. I did do a couple of minute mistakes, but overall, unless you don't stick your face to it, you won't see them. The whole job took me about 13 hours of retouching.

I fixed the bad flaking up top, repainted all the yellowed white under the covered areas back to a nice white, retouched all the insert areas after relevelling them, sanded the wooden areas to make them nice, sanded the ball holes and retouched the paint around them including the ball tracks, retouched all the faded colors to make them vibrant again... yeah, I think that is it.

Well, here are some pics of AFTER (forgot to take some before...)

First one, the center bonus insert area. Every insert had bad flaking around them. The word BONUS was half gone right above them in the yellow area (which was worn bad). This tool a long time as I repainted the wording... with a needle!  

...and up top, it was flaking real bad... I couldn't even touch it. I repainted it all and fixed the ''ball track''. I repainted the white up top as it looked like crap. It is what made me repaint the white everywhere... Insert areas were bad too. Looks nice now.

Here is a shot of the planet area... worn rough but art was still there. I did repaint that center white area as it was cooked nice and yellow.

... and the unavoidable ''mirror'' photo... I love it... Nice and shiny, and I didn't even wax it yet.

Can't wait to get my LOTR CC'd !!!

Your CC looks awesome Sparky...


Steph

There seems to be quite some interest... If ever any of you want to ship your playfield to me, here are my coordinates:

Ian L. Fitzpatrick
1535 Saint-Jean
Saint-Lazare, Qc.
J7T2S2

I will go on a first in-first served basis, but then again it depends on what needs to be done. I prefer clearcoating in a single batch. Makes it easier. I have a few confirmations of playfields coming, but nothing in yet.

I thought you didn't want to deal with shipping.  ?

Quoted from cooke

I thought you didn't want to deal with shipping.  ?

Too much demand... but like I said, if you want to ship a playfield, weigh the cost. You pay for shipping TWICE, and it is expensive if you don't strip the whole playfield. They are much heavier then.

As long as you send it to me in a somewhat reusable packaging, I can deal with it.

You up to attempting my old Addams yet? It has mansion wear and a few other spots that are a bit nasty. Biggest issue is it is one of those TAF pf with the tiny cracks. If your up for a challenge let me know.

I had seen this machine when Jim had it was rough shape.
So now looks allot better i can say.

Quoted from Sparky

Here is to give an idea of some work... BZM's Mars God of War playfield.

The good: no huge wear spots

The bad: big insert wear, MASSIVE FLAKING uptop, wear around the pop bumpers, and faded with wear.

BZM didn't want a perfect playfield, just clean. I did do a couple of minute mistakes, but overall, unless you don't stick your face to it, you won't see them. The whole job took me about 13 hours of retouching.

I fixed the bad flaking up top, repainted all the yellowed white under the covered areas back to a nice white, retouched all the insert areas after relevelling them, sanded the wooden areas to make them nice, sanded the ball holes and retouched the paint around them including the ball tracks, retouched all the faded colors to make them vibrant again... yeah, I think that is it.

Well, here are some pics of AFTER (forgot to take some before...)

First one, the center bonus insert area. Every insert had bad flaking around them. The word BONUS was half gone right above them in the yellow area (which was worn bad). This tool a long time as I repainted the wording... with a needle!  

Quoted from necro_nemesis

You up to attempting my old Addams yet? It has mansion wear and a few other spots that are a bit nasty. Biggest issue is it is one of those TAF pf with the tiny cracks. If your up for a challenge let me know.

If your up to paying for it let me know  

I am still free for any job, nothing has come in yet, not even an email for an estimate, other than MrHide for a playfield and cabinet.

Contact me if you are looking to have something done. I just got caught with a 400$ bill to fix my fridge that croaked this week, so any work would be most welcome!  

Quoted from Sparky

If your up to paying for it let me know  

I wasn't looking for a freebie. If you want I can bring it to the tournament and you can have a look over it and give me a verdict before comitting to it.

Quoted from necro_nemesis

I wasn't looking for a freebie. If you want I can bring it to the tournament and you can have a look over it and give me a verdict before comitting to it.

Sounds good. Anyone goign to the tournament can bring any playfields along.

...hopefully I will have one job to pay for a hotel!  

Quoted from Sparky

Sounds good. Anyone goign to the tournament can bring any playfields along.

...hopefully I will have one job to pay for a hotel!  

If I am not away for work, I don't mind at all you staying here and saving yourself a few bucks.

Black Knight cabinet and Jungle Queen playfield in the house! First official jobs!!!

....and paid in advance too  

THANKS AGAIN !

For any playfield clearcoat or cabinet paint requests, please forward them to my email at sparky@maaca.net or PM me, I get them as emails as well. I will be offline from MAACA for a while so I won't necessarily see any posts written to this thread.

Thanks to all for showing interest! Remember to send me lots of pics if you want an estimate.


Ian

So I will be heading to the Canadian Pinball Championship due to demand for clearcoats. If you want to have yours done, bring them there or email me at sparky@maaca.net for a quote right away. Make sure to send me lots of pics.

Again, since no immediate shipping will be necessary, you will NOT have to strip ther playfield completely. Just make sure nothing is on top. No need to remove everything from the bottom.


... and watch out for my website on clearcoating soon.

The website is coming... I will post the adress once it is 100% up. All details will be there, including pricing. I have set the clearcoat job at 150$... with a special MAACA member rebate. (cheap blatant bribery to entice to join MAACA...) I will see if my costs are at least covered, as I have bought a lot of supplies to do this properly. I don't want to go half-assed on this.

With the sale of the machines, I have ordered me a new airbrush kit and other little supplies, so I am up and running.

I'll definitely be sending you my Magic PF for clearcoating once I've finished fixing the drill holes (@#$%!!!!) and touching it up..    I love how the clearcoating revitalizes the colours on these things

To answer a question on how I protect everything under a playfield with all the mechanicals under it, here is how. I build a box around everything under. Makes it much easier to work on the playfield as it can lay flat, and I can easily stand it up. I use the existing holes in the playfield to screw it in the wood, so no drilling.

Thanks for the pictures Sparky, I hadn't thought of simply using the existing screw holes! Question, though. What do you use to cover up the holes in the playfield?

Quoted from fasteddy

Thanks for the pictures Sparky, I hadn't thought of simply using the existing screw holes! Question, though. What do you use to cover up the holes in the playfield?

If you mean holes with light sockets, I use foam ear plugs. Works like a charm.

Dude you're a genius...and this is what makes it so wonderful when you find someone that has passion for something.  They do it correctly, no shortcuts, and they do it because they love it.

Quoted from Firehawk734

Dude you're a genius...and this is what makes it so wonderful when you find someone that has passion for something.  They do it correctly, no shortcuts, and they do it because they love it.

Like my grandpa used to say... do it once, do it right.

OK, so the first playfields should be all done this week, and I will hold on to them for maybe a week or two to ensure full curing and see the end results. I am doing 7 playfields all at once, including Tuborg's Sinbad, Mrhide's Jungle Queen and last but not least, Steph's gorgeous LOTR. This is the one I am being EXTRA careful about (understandably).

I also have 3 playfields I am retouching at the same time, others to clearcoat, now just agreed on a deal for 2 cab repaints and 2 playfield clearcoats for 1 member, and I have another that wants me to restore an EM.

This being said, I really want to take a couple of minutes to thank all of you for the opportunity to do this. I take VERY seriously the fact that you entrust me with such work, and I intend not to let anyone down. I hope I help you guys out as much as this is helping me out.

And I will make a promise right now... when I get my collection built back up one day, there is going to be one hell of a party... count on it!!!

Can't wait to see the LOTR !  

If I ever get the "balls" the take the TZ apart, that will be my next CC request...

Cheers,
Steph

Quoted from ALJO

What does this price include?

Light sanding, cleaning to remove any wax (no Magic Eraser job...just a good wipe-down) and the clearcoating itself.

OK... to save a lot of hassle, if you want an estimate done, I will need the following, no exceptions:

For a playfield, 7 pics:
- overall view
- upper right
- upper left
- middle right
- middle left
- lower right
- lower left

For a cabinet
- overall side view
- front of cab
- left of cab
- right of cab
- rear of cab
- left of backbox
- right of backbox
- front of backbox

I unfortunately cannot give a good estimate without this information. So if you ask for a quote and find it high (even though I am half the price of Bill Davis, and I am willing to work with a populated playfield), please keep in mind that I can adjust the quote to match the job once I have the playfield or cab in hand, and I may even refuse to do the job if the info initially given is erroneus thus voiding the quote, or I will be honest and tell you straight up that it isn't worth spending the money.

Still not sure? I encourage you to contact Bill Davis, NWOJedi and Playfield Renovations and get a quote. I hate to say it but I could turn around and charge 250$ for a clearcoat and charge extra for merely scrubbing a playfield for 5 minutes, but I won't. Not my style. As many of the stores do, I dare you to compare... and don't forget to add double shipping costs for your playfield. No MAACA-shipping-network that goes to these guys.

Sorry for the "legal" jargon, but it is necessary in light of recent events. Please keep in mind that I do this on my VERY LITTLE free time, and the time I spend arguing on quotes is time I lose to do the work.

Quoted from Sparky

Sorry for the "legal" jargon, but it is necessary in light of recent events.

Geez... ,  I hope people aren't giving you a hassle over clear-coating...

Set a price, stick to your guns ,
... and if people don't like it, they can send their PF's to Bill Davis and expect it back in 2012.... for 2x-3x the cost...

Personally, I think it's great to have someone local  [...sort of... ] to do this.

I eventually hope to have all my keepers CC'd ...



Steph

Quoted from Steph

Geez... ,  I hope people aren't giving you a hassle over clear-coating...

Set a price, stick to your guns ,
... and if people don't like it, they can send their PF's to Bill Davis and expect it back in 2012.... for 2x-3x the cost...

Personally, I think it's great to have someone local  [...sort of... ] to do this.

I eventually hope to have all my keepers CC'd ...



Steph

It happens. Some don't want to pay much, which is fine, I fully understand. So I recommend then that they clean and retouch the playfield themselves, but I offer no guarantees on how the CC will look in the end since I have no quality control over the cleaning process.

And if you really don't want to pay, take the playfield to a local body shop and have it CCed there. You won't save much since the painter looses a lot of CC when washing the gun (painters HATE painting little things...), but you might get lucky.

How much to touch up this?

... actually, that playfield still has value. It is:

1- a PERFECT candidate for an overlay... it is already sanded!

or

2- a perfect opportunity to make your own KISS artwork!

Quoted from jonny_eh

How much to touch up this?

..for those who ever wondered about the purpose of mylar....



Steph

Wow... I have barely started and I am already expanding!! Due to great demand, I have decided to turn my empty gameroom into a storage area and pinball playfield touch-up area. Playfield stripping and cleaning as well as cab painting will be done in the workshop upstairs.

The reason? 6 complete pins coming in on Thursday!!! And the beauty of it is that one stays! I worked out a deal and I keep a PINBOT!  

So I won't be so bored anymore!!!

Quoted from Sparky

Wow... I have barely started and I am already expanding!! Due to great demand, I have decided to turn my empty gameroom into a storage area and pinball playfield touch-up area. Playfield stripping and cleaning as well as cab painting will be done in the workshop upstairs.

The reason? 6 complete pins coming in on Thursday!!! And the beauty of it is that one stays! I worked out a deal and I keep a PINBOT!  

So I won't be so bored anymore!!!

Pinbot is a great game!!!  Why I sold this game to macak????    

Just for reference's sake, I don't want to post every project that I get done (unless you want me to...    ) but here is a pic of a Silverball Mania playfield I got from Monkeybug. A member came here recently and saw it, saying there was no way in hell I was going to clean that due to it being very dirty.

WRONGO!

Let this be a tip to all that think that their playfield can't be cleaned and salvaged... When I am through with this one, it will shine more than the chrome off of a 20-inch spinner mag on a pimped-out Escalade...

5 minutes of scrubbing, here is what I got. Left side is cleaned:

Quoted from Sparky

5 minutes of scrubbing, here is what I got. Left side is cleaned:

Sweat.  So simply just magic eraser and rubbing alcohol.  How much paint do you lift while scrubbing.   On the Sinbad you cleaned for me - I did some magic-erase + alchohol but I was too nervous as the erase was turning orange from the paint.

I like seeing the projects personally.

Quoted from Tuborg

Sweat.  So simply just magic eraser and rubbing alcohol.  How much paint do you lift while scrubbing.   On the Sinbad you cleaned for me - I did some magic-erase + alchohol but I was too nervous as the erase was turning orange from the paint.

I like seeing the projects personally.

There lies the compromise... either lots of touch-ups but the rest that is there is clean, or all the paint stays but looks bad.

... first clearcoating batch is curing in my basement. I had a few issues with fish-eyes on the older playfields (probably some wax or contaminant left over) but I fixed it. I have also decided to use a higher quality clearcoat than I used previously on some test fields. The clear is a bit pricey, but it comes out like a mirror. VERY nice.

I will take a couple of pics when I am satisfied that they are done.

Let me know when I can come and pick up the whole thing ... althought Medvet: when are you planning the trip?!

Quoted from Sparky

... first clearcoating batch is curing in my basement.
I have also decided to use a higher quality clearcoat than I used previously on some test fields.
The clear is a bit pricey, but it comes out like a mirror. VERY nice.

I will take a couple of pics when I am satisfied that they are done.

I'm "tingling" with anticipation to see my LOTR !



Steph

Quoted from Steph

I'm "tingling" with anticipation to see my LOTR !



Steph

That is the last one I am doing... tonight! Due to minor issues with contaminants on the older playfields, I want to make sure I have everything perfect before doing that one, as well as AlienAgent's Pinball Magic and Addams Family and Adam's TSPP. I don't want to see a damn fisheye or bubble anywhere. But I expect it to be flawless, never having been waxed or rubbed with any compound. The older pins are trickier. I will be washing way more thoroughly. I scrubbed Monkeybug's Silverball Mania and BattlezoneMan's Black Pyramid real good so those should be easier.

Quoted from Sparky

That is the last one I am doing... tonight! Due to minor issues with contaminants on the older playfields, I want to make sure I have everything perfect before doing that one, as well as AlienAgent's Pinball Magic and Addams Family and Adam's TSPP. I don't want to see a damn fisheye or bubble anywhere. But I expect it to be flawless, never having been waxed or rubbed with any compound. The older pins are trickier. I will be washing way more thoroughly. I scrubbed Monkeybug's Silverball Mania and BattlezoneMan's Black Pyramid real good so those should be easier.

What my Sinbad was the sacrificial playfield?      I'm sure it looks awesome Ian - and either way I'll be happy - and glad you are learning through the process.   I'm not sure how you could have cleaned up  Sinbad anymore without going to the whitewood?

Anxious to see the results, too.

Quoted from Tuborg

What my Sinbad was the sacrificial playfield?      I'm sure it looks awesome Ian - and either way I'll be happy - and glad you are learning through the process.   I'm not sure how you could have cleaned up  Sinbad anymore without going to the whitewood?

Anxious to see the results, too.

Yes and no. Yes, your playfield was a test. It is why I am paying half of the costs of clearcoating it and no charged labor. No because I corrected the problem. It looks very good.