Puckman, the Italian Bootleg restoration...

[Level42]

Thanks Spyri, yup, that's exactly it ! It also matches with my presumption with the old picture that showed the "circle".

I re-assembled it like that now, but I remembered I ordered a new grommet from Bob.....gotta dig it up.

Man, the joystick looks SWEET now !

[Spyridon]

Update?

[Level42]

Next week !

CPO is done, just need to finalize it with Rich !

PCB has been fixed by RobinHolland !

Have time to work on my games about the entire next week !

[Level42]

Hey, who changed the title ?
 

[Level42]

Couple of says ago, there was a package in the mail:




Now what could that be ?  

Video Pinball V2.0 mmmmm, nice cards !!!!


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I LOVE IT !!!! BRILLIANT WORK RICH !!!!!   (The Kiss patch is meant for a friend who's a big fan)


Details, no flash:


With flash:

[Level42]

More pics:






Time to get out the original !

VERY VERY VERY NICE !



NOTE THAT RICH DID NOT HAVE THE REAL COLORS TO MATCH !!!! HE ONLY HAD SOME PICS OF MY ORIGINAL !!!

So....how do the colors match ?

Well, we have to check with the original and exactly UNDER where the buttons have been protecting it from sunlight. There was even still protective foil there when I removed the buttons so the colors there should be still almost 100% original.

Without flash:


With flash:


I think it is VERY VERY VERY well done. The blue and the red are as close as you can get IMHO. MAYBE only the yellow is slightly off, but as mentioned, this was done without any direct color matching. I am VERY happy with the result !

Now comes one of the favorite parts of this hobby: removing the old CPO, and they used VERY good glue on the original.....

[Level42]

Found a new (to me) GREAT way of removing a CPO:



This is a BRILLIANT idea if I may say so myself.

Previously I've been using a heat gun, knifes, putty knifes, wirewheels, sanding discs (loads of them) and combo's of these and it was ALWAYS a struggle.

I had noticed that after my friend welded the 4 studs for the original Pac Man joystick on the CP, the CPO had become loose because of the heat of the welding.
So.....I figured, let's try to heat the CP up VERY hot and see what happens.

It worked out GREAT. In the video you see I can only pull small parts, but this is because it was on an inside bend. The other bigger sides went much smoother. The very big plus is that there is NO glue residue.

[Level42]

End result without any further work done. There are some small places with some residue. I blame that on doing this method for the first time and the lot's of holes around the joystick hole.

Otherwise, the panel would be ready to put the CPO on, totally free of residue (but I like to paint my CP's for protection first).

[Level42]

Time to fill up the ugly original AND non-original joysticks holes:

First I cover the back with some tape. Not sure if that is the best idea, but I had it around it was quick...



I've been using too little bondo in the past so this time I won't make that mistake:



Now, I need to sand it of course. I will also paint the CP even though it originally never was painted. Although the size of the CP seems to be a perfect match, I don't want any metal to shine through on the sides AND the welding seems to have introduced some rust....

I also need to make an extra hole for the fire button. Yes the plan has always been to put a 48in1 in this cab. However, recently my friend Robin did what I never expected: he got the original bootleg PCB running !!

However, I had already decided to put a yellow button on the yellow dot (hence the cross-hatch on the CPO, it shouldn't normally be there) so now I will have to go on with this. So I decided to make this one switchable between the original PCB and the 48in1.

So....what I'll need to order is a Jamma switcher and a hole punch I measured the holes and they are 30 mm. I'm a bit surprised that this is an exact metric size. The yellow button I ordered from Bob fits exactly.

[Spyridon]

That overlay turned out nice.  I'm surprised that the overlay is a full cover for the panel including the black part.  I would have thought this would have been similar to pac-man and only been the top part.

[Level42]

OK.....well my friends........today it was great weather, the wife was away all day so that meant........hobby time !

Decided to finish the Puckman panel because....the wonderful CPO deserves so.....


First I sanded the CP:


Since the panel was never painted before I completely sanded it all over...


2 layers of primer, 2 layers of black paint...


Applied CPO, went pretty well:


Look how nice the color of the (fully restored !) original Midway Pac joystick matches with the CPO and buttons !!

Does it look great or what ? I'm so proud that all the sizes were EXACTLY right ! Pretty amazing considering all the variables possibly involved...


Soooooo....next step is creating the extra hole for the extra button. I had doubted wether I should make the hole before I painted and installed the CPO, but thought this way I could get an exact position....so pilot hole drilled, first 3 mm, then 10 mm.



Install the hole punch exactly in the center....


And then as I started turning in the hole punch............well words are not neccesary:



[INSERT ALL THE WORST CURSE WORDS YOU CAN THINK OFF HERE PLEASE]  :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:


So....what went wrong ?

Well...the hole punch has two sharp "points". I thought they had "grabbed" enough so that they wouldn't turn.....but they did and doing so it tore the CPO around the projected hole .....

Sigh....

Madly I tore the complete CPO off. I did finish the hole though....at least I've got it at the right spot Ha-ha-ha..... :evil: :evil: :evil: :'( :'( :'( :'(


Well.....I guess rich still has the file....A costly mistake indeed.

While I removed the CPO I also discovered that the primer hadn't set very well to the metal. Most parts the metal was completely bare again when I pulled it off. This was an el-cheapo primer and I'm going to ditch it ASAP.

I do think I may have been a little bit too impatient to do all the steps pretty quickly after another. I should have allowed to let the primer, the black paint and the CPO to cure much longer. But I had time now and I was on a roll so....

O well...Rich is getting a new order.....

[RayB]

This should go in the Wiki. 

[Level42]

Yeah....

Learning from mistakes is what we do....

Anyway, Rich made two new ones (just in case he said..... ) and soon they will be on their way...

In the mean time I can prepare the panel again and a bit more patiently.

[JustMichael]

Hopefully he adjusts the yellow to more yellow than orange this time too!

[Level42]

Mmm, I think he has already printed them and I'm really not that anal about it.
It's a bootleg after all....I'm crazy enough to invest so much into a bootleg

[JustMichael]

Ask him and if not then...

[Level42]

I e-mailed Rich it and he's working on it !

 

Thanks for the little push JustMichael....I guess I would have forgot without your suggestion !

[Spyridon]

Hey, do you guys remember when Level42 used to post on this forum?  Ah, the good old days.   

[opt2not]

Hey, do you guys remember when Level42 used to post on this forum?  Ah, the good old days.   

Agreed.

[Level42]

Heh.....thanks guys

[guy113]

Hello

and sorry to wake this old thread.


I recently bought a copy of this same bootleg PCB.

Since you have the corresponding cabinet and wiring,

can you post the PCB wiring, please ?

Thank you very much for help.