Beginning Apollo restoration
- Thread starter Half Life
- Start date
Update 6/11/11 part 6
Ok, all playfield painting is finished except for final clear coat. But before I get to that I need to replace all of the lettering that I just painted over. Taking a page from vbtalent's Cleopatra restoration (thanks vb!) I used my playfield scanned images to recreate the lettering on waterslide decal paper from Papillo.
I was able to get a refurbished HP 1518 color laserjet from eBay for $65 since I didn't feel comfortable using the much nicer Ricoh Laserjet at work. Learning from vb that these decal sheets tear easily, I printed out several sheets of the decals. I had a couple areas where the lettering was white on a colored (either red or blue) background. Since the laserjet cannot print white (it actually does by printing the absence of colors), I used white background decal sheets. When doing these the tricky part is in matching the background color of the decal to the painted area it is being applied to. For these areas I used an old printers trick which fools the eye and brain into thinking there is no difference. The secret here is to pick a color your that color printer can print that is as close to the background color as possible. Once the decal is applied it is very difficult for the eye to note a difference as it is a subtle change. The key is to trim the decal as close as possible minimizing the color difference edges. If you look close enough at the red area in the last picture in this set ("300" and "When Lit") you can pick up the edges of the decal. If needed, you can touch up the edges of the decal with a sharpie of the same color to make them disappear.
Ok, all playfield painting is finished except for final clear coat. But before I get to that I need to replace all of the lettering that I just painted over. Taking a page from vbtalent's Cleopatra restoration (thanks vb!) I used my playfield scanned images to recreate the lettering on waterslide decal paper from Papillo.
I was able to get a refurbished HP 1518 color laserjet from eBay for $65 since I didn't feel comfortable using the much nicer Ricoh Laserjet at work. Learning from vb that these decal sheets tear easily, I printed out several sheets of the decals. I had a couple areas where the lettering was white on a colored (either red or blue) background. Since the laserjet cannot print white (it actually does by printing the absence of colors), I used white background decal sheets. When doing these the tricky part is in matching the background color of the decal to the painted area it is being applied to. For these areas I used an old printers trick which fools the eye and brain into thinking there is no difference. The secret here is to pick a color your that color printer can print that is as close to the background color as possible. Once the decal is applied it is very difficult for the eye to note a difference as it is a subtle change. The key is to trim the decal as close as possible minimizing the color difference edges. If you look close enough at the red area in the last picture in this set ("300" and "When Lit") you can pick up the edges of the decal. If needed, you can touch up the edges of the decal with a sharpie of the same color to make them disappear.
Attachments
Update 6/25/11 part 7
Next I decided to begin work on the cabinet. It was pretty banged up with gouges, cigarette burns, deep scratches. Two of the corners needed glued and clamped. The original paint job was showing its age as the white areas were really mostly yellow, even after a good scrubbing with Mean Green.
Since cabinet stencils do not exist for this machine i decided to make my own. I purchased a roll of Velum (translucent) and cut pieces for the cabinet sides, front and backbox sides. There are only three colors on the cabinet; white, blue and orange. Looking at the original paint there is a white base coat (with silver spatters to simulate stars) followed by the blue and then orange in that order.
I laid a sheet of the Velum down on one side, taped it in place and traced the blue areas first using a sharpie. I then laid another piece of Velum over the first one and traced the red.
Half Life
Next I decided to begin work on the cabinet. It was pretty banged up with gouges, cigarette burns, deep scratches. Two of the corners needed glued and clamped. The original paint job was showing its age as the white areas were really mostly yellow, even after a good scrubbing with Mean Green.
Since cabinet stencils do not exist for this machine i decided to make my own. I purchased a roll of Velum (translucent) and cut pieces for the cabinet sides, front and backbox sides. There are only three colors on the cabinet; white, blue and orange. Looking at the original paint there is a white base coat (with silver spatters to simulate stars) followed by the blue and then orange in that order.
I laid a sheet of the Velum down on one side, taped it in place and traced the blue areas first using a sharpie. I then laid another piece of Velum over the first one and traced the red.
Half Life
Attachments
Update 6/25/11 part 10
With the stencils made it was time to get rid of the old paint. To do most of the stripping I used a product called Motsenboker's Lift Off Paint & Varnish Remover. It is a "green" product and worked really well. I applied it over the paint with a cheap brush and let it set for about 10 minutes. I then used a metal edge scraper to remove the paint. I found that because of the thickness of the paint it took 3 applications of the stuff to get the majority of the paint off. I followed that up with my random orbital sander with an 80 grit pad then a 120 grit pad to remove the rest of the paint and get the cabinet smooth.
Next I filled the gouges with bondo and sanded those smooth. Here are a couple of pics after this process.
Half Life
With the stencils made it was time to get rid of the old paint. To do most of the stripping I used a product called Motsenboker's Lift Off Paint & Varnish Remover. It is a "green" product and worked really well. I applied it over the paint with a cheap brush and let it set for about 10 minutes. I then used a metal edge scraper to remove the paint. I found that because of the thickness of the paint it took 3 applications of the stuff to get the majority of the paint off. I followed that up with my random orbital sander with an 80 grit pad then a 120 grit pad to remove the rest of the paint and get the cabinet smooth.
Next I filled the gouges with bondo and sanded those smooth. Here are a couple of pics after this process.
Half Life
Attachments
Update 6/25/11 part 11
Next step was applying the white paint (Valspar Enamel rattle can). After that I used an old graffiti artists trick to create the stars using Valspar Metallic Enamel spray paint. To get the splatter effect for the stars you basically turn the spray can upside down and apply enough pressure to get the paint to come out of the nozzle in droplets (just on the edge of full spray). This creates a splatter pattern of various size spots. It is a nice effect once you get the hang of it.
After that I applied my home made stencils and began cutting them out using my scalpel.
Next step was applying the white paint (Valspar Enamel rattle can). After that I used an old graffiti artists trick to create the stars using Valspar Metallic Enamel spray paint. To get the splatter effect for the stars you basically turn the spray can upside down and apply enough pressure to get the paint to come out of the nozzle in droplets (just on the edge of full spray). This creates a splatter pattern of various size spots. It is a nice effect once you get the hang of it.
After that I applied my home made stencils and began cutting them out using my scalpel.
Attachments
Thanks VB.
Putting it back together now. Finished the playfield and working on the backbox. I have learned a ton by doing this and am very pleased with how it's going. I've got a few more restoration pics to post and then some pics of the finished product. I can't wait to play a game on it.
Half Life
Putting it back together now. Finished the playfield and working on the backbox. I have learned a ton by doing this and am very pleased with how it's going. I've got a few more restoration pics to post and then some pics of the finished product. I can't wait to play a game on it.
Half Life
SgtSmackaho
Well-known member
Amazing work!
Looks fantastic!
Looks fantastic!
