Playfield touchups... need some advice.

vbtalent

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I'm trying to touch up my Cleopatra playfield and went to spray it this weekend with acrylic that was cut with reducer. After the acrylic was thinned and sprayed with my Badger the coverage is horrible, at the rate its spraying it will take like 20 coats to cover anything, what am I doing wrong here?

I could use some experienced help with this one...

I'm to the point of thinking about trying to spray enamel from a spray can but don't know if I can spray on top of acrylic and what the effects will be when I try to spray clear on the whole thing.

The other thing that bothers me is that the playfield has some wear around the inserts and is showing bear wood, does this need to be filled with something or just painted over and forget it?

VB,
 
went to wall mart and bought one of those children's paint kit for 8.99 or whatever

i mix my paint and touch it on a piece of clear to see if mix is right before actual application

black sharpie pens are great
and
they have many different colors too

after all that i go one step further and spray automotive clear on the playfield for some diamond plate action
 
http://www.marvin3m.com/clear/index.htm
A review was given of several clear coats ... don;t think a person should be using sharpies if clear coating is planned.
Excerpt:

What All the Products Did (or Didn't) Do.
To be honest, all the clear products tested basically worked well. They were all very similar in most regards. Granted some were better, but they all basically worked. Here's a list of what they all did or didn't do.
  • Smeared the Sharpie: every product did this. When using automotive clear coats, a Sharpie pen can not be used for touch ups (heck Sharpies smear pretty easily with Varathane too).
  • Smeared the Testors paint: every product did this too. Testors enamels can not be used either to touch up a playfield.
  • Incredible gloss: every product test just had great gloss.
  • Incredible hardness: I could not find any one of the six products tested that was harder or softer than the others. I tested hardness by taking a pinball, and dropping it from a height of 8 inches onto the clear coated playfield. All six products dimpled very slightly from this test, but did not crack.
  • Incredible smell: all the products smelled really bad when applying them.
  • Quick drying: all the products dried quickly. All could be rubbed out within 8 hours, and were completely cured in 72 hours.
  • High solids: all products were "high solids". This means they don't use much thinner, and each coat applied does not evaporate much. This is done to minimize the VOC (volatile organic compound) when sprayed to under 5 pounds per gallon. This was largely a pollution concern.
  • 3 hours shelf life: all the products had about a 3 hours shelf life when mixed. So don't mix more clear coat than needed.
 
[*]Incredible smell: all the products smelled really bad when applying them

thats the isocyanate gas you smell. cyanide gas should be prevented from entering your lungs with a mask with organic filters and your eyes with wrap around goggles as that gas is attracted to wet surfaces especially your eyes

my opinion is if you are touching up a playfield, its a goner in terms of collectability or even originality. who cares if the sharpie runs a tiny bit. plus it kinds looks cool if you spray at an angle and go into it hard. heres a photo of the last PF i sprayed. you can see the wispy from the marker but compared to the touch ups, its nothing IMO

i did notice that ace hardware had the clear in cans. be careful as they sell 2 different clears, one is clear but the other one is foggy or hazy. the hazy can be used for backglasses but if you can get the clear its all around better

if you decide to spray it, make sure you cover the holes with corks and you will have to make your own covers for everything else so you dont want the clear dripping down into the switches etc and remember to sand the playfield before you spray with some 1600+ sandpaper(and wipe the dust away). yes i said sand the playfield, gives the clear something to react and cling to and like magic the scratches will go away. highly recommend clearcoating makes it look FANTASTIC
 

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Stop now. Read this:
http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/index.htm

An air brush is meant for detail work, not spray bombing a clear coat.

You guys mis-understood, I'm not spraying clear with an airbrush, only the touchups are being sprayed with an airbrush. the clear will be sprayed with appropriate equipment and in an appropriate location with the necessary precautions taken.

My problem is with the coverage and the actual application of the touch ups.

My 2 main problems are coverage and wear around the actual inserts...

I was trying to follow the "Jumping Jack Restore" (http://www.passionforpinball.com/jjresto.htm) since he had such incredible results... anyone know who he is?

VB,
 

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Okay, I see now.

You have to fill that wear. Personally, I built up and wear spots during the clear coating process. You can't do that if you use automotive, but you can if you do the spray can method.
 
coverage and wear around the actual inserts...

the playfield is ruined from a collectors point of view, no ?
the hope is someone will manufacture new playfilelds until then...

just paint the matched paint color on with a small brush as best you can

put the inserts in and sand the whole playfield
shoot it with clear which will fill in any low spots and make the PF level

matching colors is very difficult
if
you can fix that problem making it look perfect
you
might as well counterfeit currency cause you'll make more money
 
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funny... :>)

I realize that the PF is pretty much a lost cause but its also a learning experience, that's how I'm approaching it.

So, what would you fill the edges with?

Also, when spraying touch up paint with an air brush what has been your past experiences with coverage?

Is there a difference between Acrylic and Enamel, can they be combined and then cleared over?

Thanks,
 
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Envirotex!!

I have had great success with Enviortex for making a smooth rock hard surface. if you want info on it let me know.....
 
I googled it . It would be interesting to have you give us your step by step approach and maybe some pics?
 
In the PinRestore guide Clay makes mention of a using either water thin super glue or a product called U-Pol "High Viscosity Dolphin Glaze" (#BAGDOLHV). This is an auto body product, and works great for filling imperfections in a playfield. You can fill the edge, sand it smooth and then your paint will blend with the old paint very well.

Looking forward to more pictures of the restore!
 
I never thought of using glaze for a filler... I don't think U-Pol "High Viscosity Dolphin Glaze" (#BAGDOLHV) is available in the States, any alternatives? I'm really getting a bit over whelmed since this isn't going according to my plan. :<(

I tried shooting a little more paint last night and the coverage just isn't there. I'm guessing user error or my Badger airbrush isn't what it used to be. Maybe it's an equipment error and I need to look into a different/newer air brush.

My other thought was to try and use the decals I had created with a white background (http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=118059&page=4)

VB,
 
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I've always just shot some clearcoat into a plastic cup and painted it on real thick in those wear spots. It all comes out in the wash once you do the actual clear.

That's the problem I have with automotive clears - they are so thin that they are really only good on perfectly flat platfields.
 
craigmack, I'd do the same thing if I were you...

I tried cutting the paint a bit more tonight and it seems to be spraying much better 4:1 seems to be a good mix, I'll keep playing.

I'm now wondering if I should shoot a base coat like white or black before shooting the yellow, anyone have any thoughts?

I picked up some spot putty tonight also at the local automotive store... I'll try a test spot and see how it works.

VB,
 
I would put down a base coat of white, it will let you get a true yellow match. Yellow seems to be a really hard color to get looking right and not dirty or muddy if on bare wood. Looking forward to hearing about the putty. The wear on my game looks almost identical to the pictures that you have shared so far, its crazy!
 
You can also try to use Automotive Spot Putty.

From the pinrepair guide about the Gottlieb 2001 touch up:

http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/2001pf.htm

[FONT=verdana,arial,helv,helvetica][SIZE=-1]Next the kickout hole wear needs to be filled. The kickout wear is so bad, the ball has dug divots in the wood. This must be leveled out before any touchup can be done. I usually use U-Pol High Viscosity Dolphin Glaze for this task. But in this particular case, the divots are pretty minor, and I'm just using Automotive Spot Putty to fill the divots. It took about three layers to get it flat, with block sanding between the layers. [/SIZE][/FONT]

He talks about it in some of the other playfield touch up guides also.
 
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