Lend a hand, pinball from scratch!

DPtwiz

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Hey, Jpopson on here, fellow collector and also the guy who does the awesome paintjobs for me is doing a pinball completely from scratch. I know he's spent a ton of money out of pocket and has a ways to go. I've donated my time/skills to helping with the cabinet and playfield, can you guys pitch in? The goal is to have this machine at CAX this year!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497254986/building-a-home-made-pinball-from-scratch
 
He wants $3500 in "donations" from other people to build a pinball machine and he already has the PROC and computer? Maybe I'm missing something but that seems like a hell of a lot of money for pinball parts. If you're not factoring in time as a cost I just don't see spending even half of that.

I'm sure we would all love other collectors to fund our projects. Seems a little unrealistic.
 
Its not just parts. It is the silk screened artwork, the mile of wiring and the countless amount of odds and end things that can chew through money. The P-Roc and Beagleboard are the least of the costs involved!! LOL

But thanks for taking the time to look anyway. Also, I dont get $3,500.00 in the end after Kickstarter and Amazon take their respective chunks of that money!!
 
I've been working on a custom pinball machine for myself as well. I didn't realize I could ask other people to pay for it...
 
I've been working on a custom pinball machine for myself as well. I didn't realize I could ask other people to pay for it...

I'm all for making my own game as well...but I think I can do it for only $2500, lol. Seriously I appreciate the idea, and you have every right to have a kickstarter and see what you can get. That being said, I don't think you are going to get a bunch of people to contribute.

What is the theme of the game that you would want some contributors face on it?
 
Its not just parts.

Obviously.

It is the silk screened artwork

You have a point about cost there but how realistic is it to do custom screened art for one game? If you're planning to involve a professional artist and printing company then you might even need more than $3500. Again, seems a little unrealistic.

the mile of wiring

I would definitely be re-using wire from parted out games. If nothing else, for the huge array of color codes available. Not to mention saving hundreds of dollars of other people's money and countless hours of my own time.

and the countless amount of odds and end things that can chew through money.

Right. I know what that stuff can cost too because I've bought it all as well many times over. I still feel like $3500 is way more than a minimum budget for a custom pinball machine (you're building yourself) especially when you've already spent $500-$600 and especially when it's other people's money.

The P-Roc and Beagleboard are the least of the costs involved!! LOL

Actually, the P-Roc and Beagleboard are far from the least of the cost. I'm not really seeing what's so hilarious about that. If you're smart about it you could do the whole playfield (not including art) for what those 2 pieces cost. Personally I would probably use a PC over the Beagleboard. The cost/horse power ratio is going to be a lot lower and you've got all kinds of room inside a pinball machine. Things like sound, etc... will also be easier because you have way more expansion options (sound cards, etc...). I would also be buying a couple parts games to use for parts. With your budget you could even get a couple blown out System 11 playfields for parts and still have a pile of money. Those mechanisms are about as good as you can expect. With some new linkages, sleeves, stops, etc... you've got a kick ass pile of parts to work with and something to start with in terms of a harness. You also haven't spent thousands to do it. You'll need a driver board too. Gottlieb system 3 is the best bang for the buck (IMO) and should do what you need. Take a look at the schematic. It's a great overlooked option for custom pinball. There are lots of options.

Money and parts are only one piece of the puzzle. Hundreds of hours and a lot of skill are also required. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

But thanks for taking the time to look anyway. Also, I dont get $3,500.00 in the end after Kickstarter and Amazon take their respective chunks of that money!!

I'm going to guess that's a pretty small percentage.

I know! We should do one where people give $3500 to me and $3500 to you and we'll both build one and film a build-off show about it. Now there's an idea I can get behind!
 
You might also consider getting an artist to air brush the art rather than screening. That could be way cooler than screened art or could even be done to look like screened art and conceivably be a lot cheaper. When I figure out how to add hours to the day I'm planning to have a tattoo artist do mine ;)
 
I clicked on the Kickstarter link and had trouble understanding the vision.

I didn't see a video, just a still photo of videogames.

The text didn't tell me what the game was... a theme people could emotionally buy into? (or not buy into). It seems vague. 'Save Pinball', 'Save the Rain Forest', 'Reelect Obama', 'Obama - Don't Make The Same Mistake Twice', something, anything.

And what happens to the game? It goes on tour, how? How do you pay to move it around? What shows?

What about a charitable aspect? Like the game gets donated after the tour? Besides the IAML here, there is Tim Arnold's Vegas Pinball Museum, the American Classic Arcade Museum, etc...
 
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