Beginning Apollo restoration

Half Life

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Now that I've completed my Eight Ball restoration it is time to jump in on Apollo. Take a look at a few of the pictures and help me decide the best method to correct the planking on the playfield. Should I use the "smear" technique or airbrush? Keep in mind I've never done either so they both would be a new skill set for me. I am leaning toward airbrushing because this game is a keeper for me and I think it would be fun to learn. Notice in the last pic the previous owner's attempt at painting the green section.

The machine overall is in pretty good shape cosmetically. Usual dings and scrapes on the cabinet, not bad really. Game is in working condition but very dirty inside. The backglass is in pretty good shape with a few scratches.

So, I am appealing to the keepers of the sacred knowledge. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or tips you may provide.

Phil
 

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That's kind of a tough one. On one hand you'll want to remove as much dirt as possible before touch-up and magic eraser is a good choice for that but you've definitely got some loose paint there that will come off with magic eraser.

I would probably carefully clean it with magic eraser knowing that some paint will lift and fix it at the touch-up stage. I would also remove the existing touch-ups. Either way it looks like you'll have a loose paint problem to deal with. What it looks like after cleaning will dictate what process will be best for touch-up.

My $.02
 
What it looks like after cleaning will dictate what process will be best for touch-up.

My $.02

Finished cleaning with Magic Eraser and alcohol. Wiped it down with Naptha after that. You can see what I'm left with. The three pictures are of the worst areas as best as I can tell.

Lindsey, how would you tackle this now? Mask and airbrush or smear technique? Also, how would you remove the old touch up areas?

Thanks.

Phil
 

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I would try the smear technique on the planking and possibly mask and airbrush the larger areas.

Removing the original touch-ups could be a tough one. It really depends on how well they're stuck on. I was kind of expecting them to come off with the magic eraser. It also depends on what kind of paint they used. If it's acrylic some alcohol on a rag might take it off. I wouldn't go too crazy with chemicals though. Something like goof off might work but you might take all the original paint with it. I probably wouldn't go with anything stronger than alcohol personally but someone else may have a good method. If the original touch-ups are really stuck down you might be able to sand them and touch-up over them.

Above all be careful. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how delicate the original paint can be in a situation like this.
 
Ok, a little progress and an update.
Completely removed all top side components and cleaned again with magic eraser and alcohol. Wiped that down with naptha to see what needs work. The pf has a good bit of planking in certain areas but not as bad as it once looked. I did note some loose/flaking paint in two small areas and will need to address those. I used the smear techniques on the areas affected by planking and all of the colors except yellow made a noticeable difference. The yellow did not do so well and that may be attributed to pigmentation in the paint. It could also be that the wood underneath is actually sucking up the paint.

Because of that I decided to break out the artist brushes and am working on filling/leveling those areas. Once I get that completed I plan on shooting a thin layer of clear over the entire playfield to seal it and prevent further paint lifting. The clear will have to wait until I get the new heater installed in the workshop since the last one decided to totally quit.

I've attached a few pics to show some progress.
 

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I'm going airbrush... but you knew I would.

That planking is bad... The only area I see the most problem with airbrushing is the Blue sky area, that detail will be tough. The rest of the play field looks like it is straight forward enough.

VB,
 
I'm going airbrush... but you knew I would.

That planking is bad... The only area I see the most problem with airbrushing is the Blue sky area, that detail will be tough. The rest of the play field looks like it is straight forward enough.

VB,

Yep, the planking is bad but only in a few spots. The smear technique has really leveled that out a good bit. The blue sky area will be a challenge to airbrush but not so much so. It will just take longer to mask it properly. Time I have plenty of and am in no hurry since I want this to turn out well. Plus I'll be learning as I go. You're right, the rest of the playfield will be easy to airbrush.

Half Life
 
Why a magic eraser instead of just some novus and elbow grease?

Also: what can be done about planking? Anything?

I have learned from others (reading many posts on different forums) that magic eraser and alcohol really get a playfield clean. The magic eraser is slightly abrasive and can do damage if not used carefully. The alcohol as a wetting agent makes the job a little easier. I'm sure it could be done with novus and elbow grease but for a really dirty playfield this does the trick.

As far as the planking goes (again from what I've learned by reading and asking questions) to try to repair it can be done in a few ways. One is the smear technique; smearing the paint across the planking to fill in the gaps. Another is to carefully fill in the gaps using a paint brush with a fine point; especially useful for small areas of touch-up. Lastly, you can simply mask off the area and use an airbrush to repaint the entire section. The goal for all three mentioned is to bring the level of the area back as close to original as possible. After that a finish coat of clear would be needed to protect the restored area.

For this restoration so far I have actually used all three techniques so I could get practice on each. I'll probably end up putting more time into this machine that what it is worth, but for me it is a keeper plus I'll learn a new skill set. Isn't that is what this hobby is all about?

Half Life
 
Hi there, keep up the good work! I've always wanted an Apollo pin but have not been able to scare one up around me. I'll be watching your progress.

Tom
 
Update 1/19/11

Finally got the new heater placed in the shop and getting back to the restoration. Continued to fill in the areas that suffer from planking. You can see some differences in pigmentation from the new paint versus the old. I'm not so concerned about this as all of the colors will be fresh paint when I'm finished so it should not be noticeable. One more light sanding and then a coat of clear to seal what's there. The clear coat now is necessary to prevent further paint flaking, plus it will provide a good base for the airbrush phase. But before the clear I need to do a few small areas of bondo work.

I picked up a HP 4600 See-thru Scanner from Ebay for $26 and am going to try to do some waterslide decals like VBtalent did on his machine (thanks for the tip). So far the scanner is working well. I import the scans in Macromedia Freehand to do the vector stuff.

I have been practicing using my airbrush and will do so a bit more before I am brave enough to spray the playfield. I'm having a blast with this phase of the restoration and am excited to see how it turns out.

Half Life
 

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What a deal, $26 bones for a scanner... nice get.

PF is looking good keep up the good work.

VB,
 
Update 1/31/11 Part 1

Sorry that the updates are not coming in a timely manner. I am taking my time on almost every phase of the playfield restoration since this is new territory for me. Anyway, here goes....

First, I sprayed two very light coats of clear on the field to seal the existing paint. I do not want to lose any more that what already was lost due to the planking. Next, I masked off the red areas using frisket and then used an x-acto knife to cut out the area to be painted. I then applied some blue painters tape around the perimeter of the removed frisket to provide a bit more protection. I then used some painters paper to cover the entire playfield. I used the x-acto knife to remove the paper (using the previously applied painters tape as a guide and as protection from the knife cutting into the playfield). After that I applied more painters tape around the cut out edges of the painters paper. Probably overkill, but since all of this is new to me, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Takes more time to do it this way, but I have plenty of that.

After the playfield was completely masked off I sprayed several coats of the red. The coats were light as I'm still getting the hang of thinning the paint well enough to spray through my airbrush. I am now fairly comfortable with using the airbrush but the paint mixing is still a bit tricky for me. Getting the right consistency is something I'm learning as I go.

Half Life
 

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Update 1/31/11 Part 2

And here are the results:
 

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A couple more:
 

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Update 6/11/11 part 1

Sorry for the delay in adding more to this thread. A short time after the last post I came across a "basket case" AFM that I couldn't walk away from. Put the Apollo on hold and worked the AFM, bringing it back to life.

Now back to the Apollo. I've actually come a long way, basically back to putting pieces back on the playfield. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here are a couple of pics of the yellows masked off just like I did the red areas.

I found that I was getting some leakage under the edges of the frisket and determined it was due to a couple of things. First, I found that the exacto knife blades are not really that sharp as to give a good clean cut. They also dull fairly quickly. When they dull they begin to tear the frisket rather than slice it. The tearing will actually start to pull the edges up allowing paint to seep under them. I found that I could take a plastic squeegee and push the edges back down. However this added a bit more time to paint prep.

Since I had some experience (US Navy circuit board repair school) with using scalpel's I decided to purchase a #3 handle ($5.00) along with a box of 100 #11 blades ($14.00). The steel in the scalpel blades is of a better quality and tends to last longer before getting dull. I also don't have to apply as much downward force to get through the frisket. Overall the cuts are much cleaner. I find I don't have to spend the time with the squeegee pushing the edges back down due to the precision cuts of the scalpel.
 

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Update 6/11/11 part 2

And the results of the yellow repaint. After each color was completed I sprayed a very light coat of clear to lock that color in. It was mainly to provide a barrier in case I needed to make a repair to the color just sprayed. I didn't want to have to sand something only to cut through a previously "finished" color. Each clear coat got a light sanding to ensure adhesion of the next color.
 

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Update 6/11/11 part 3

I continued using the same masking process for the applying green color. A very light clear coat was added here as well and sanded after it cured. Here are the results pics:
 

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Update 6/11/11 part 4

Fast forwarding a bit. For the white areas I used the Americana Titanium White. What a remarkable difference after it went on! Seemed like the playfield came alive again. The white really stands out. Clear coats after each color here as well. Here are both the white and dark blue area results.
 

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