New B&W Aquisition: Midway 280 Zzzap

Are you planning on touching up the red or are you going to leave it as-is?

Eventually I will make stencils and airbrush the cars. For now, I just want to get it together and working correctly. It spent all winter in the paint booth, and the last 2 months waiting for the boards to get sent, get fixed and get reinstalled. Time to dial it in and just play it for a while.
 
Installed the WBL, but not sure it's right. Things are brighter for sure, but they still don't look bright enough and now they don't look the right color:

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Compared to using a BLB without the mirror:

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I am thinking the SI mirror isn't half-silvered enough.
 
Installed the WBL, but not sure it's right. Things are brighter for sure, but they still don't look bright enough and now they don't look the right color:



Compared to using a BLB without the mirror:


I am thinking the SI mirror isn't half-silvered enough.

Man, that is going to look amazing when you get it right.
 
I think you need to turn the brightness down on the monitor. A lot.

That has nothing to do with it. The brightness has been turned down until the blacks are black and the whites are white. Even when the monitor was off you could barely see the backdrop. Maybe you're just not used to seeing clean monitors and mirrors.
 
That has nothing to do with it. The brightness has been turned down until the blacks are black and the whites are white. Even when the monitor was off you could barely see the backdrop. Maybe you're just not used to seeing clean monitors and mirrors.

IDK, my SI seems to be looking fine. You have to be doing something wrong.

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IDK, my SI seems to be looking fine. You have to be doing something wrong.

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Do you have a pic of your 280 Zzzap? That looks like Space Invaders which is a different game. I am not sure if you were following along, but the mirror in my 280 Zzzap game came from a different game. Ironically enough, it came from a Space Invaders, or so I was told. It is not original to this game. Maybe it wasn't original to the game it came from either. I have no idea, cuz I bought it from someone and had someone else drop it off. This game came to me with no mirror, so I had to install the one the guy brought me, after having it cut to size at the glass shop. I would love to know what you think I could be doing wrong. The scenery is in place, the mirror is in place, the bulb is in the fixture and the game is on. I've tried both blue and white black light bulbs. I just think this mirror isn't letting enough light thru the back. Here is a pic of my SID with the same bulb and supposedly the same mirror:

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Basically the same set up, so why does it look so much brighter/better? Again, here is the same 280 Zzzap with NO mirror. This is how it should look with the mirror, but doesn't for some reason:

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Ok rub it in that I don't have that really cool game.

You are positing the mirror isn't right, clearly there isn't anything physically different from the setup of zzap versus si. Monitor and glowing backdrop along with a half silvered mirror.

You know the mirror in your SI cabinet works, but the mirror in zzap (supposedly a SI mirror) doesn't work.

My only thought is to put the mirror you have in zzap inside your SI and see if it has the same problem as it did in zzap. Or do the reverse, but that would be difficult because you said the mirror needed to be cut to fit.

At least that way you would know if the problem is that a SI mirror is different.


That is what I would try. Process of elimination. The mirror you bought might have been from a gun game like T2.
 
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Ok rub it in that I don't have that really cool game.

You are positing the mirror isn't right, clearly there isn't anything physically different from the setup of zzap versus si. Monitor and glowing backdrop along with a half silvered mirror.

You know the mirror in your SI cabinet works, but the mirror in zzap (supposedly a SI mirror) doesn't work.

My only thought is to put the mirror you have in zzap inside your SI and see if it has the same problem as it did in zzap. Or do the reverse, but that would be difficult because you said the mirror needed to be cut to fit.

At least that way you would know if the problem is that a SI mirror is different.


That is what I would try. Process of elimination. The mirror you bought might have been from a gun game like T2.


I totally agree with everything you've said here.
 
I totally agree with everything you've said here.

Wow I am flabbergasted.

Now for a little rub. I suggested that you try your SI mirror on page one. ;)

Did you try and see if you space invaders deluxe mirror fits in the cabinet? It would make sense if they had a standard size. It is worth a try it is ready enough to take it out of your SI deluxe.
 
Before cutting the 2 inch strip from the big blue gel I bought, I decided to experiment and cover the whole monitor with it, just like in AD. I like it:

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Compared to all white:

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I'll try that. The possibilities really are endless.

For instance, you could rig up a little overhead shot of a Z car that's black-light reflective and have it hover over the road a little and maybe even rotate left and right a little when you turn the steering wheel! That's what I would do.

Edit: I guess it should really be more of a 3/4 rear view overhead shot.
 
Love seeing someone preserving one this era of games. What a contrast if this was next to a Cruisin USA, but very cool game.
 
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