Arcade Collecting > Pinball

A way to clean paint off of plastics? *SUCESS!!*

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Keroppi:
No, mainly because I can't remove the backglass yet. Older pins like this one have heads/locks that open from the back. I have to unlock/open the back of the head to remove the backglass (which is locked in place). Because of where it sits, I just physically cannot get to it right now. I am not worried about the paint on the front of the backglass at all. It will come off no problem. But I also don't see any reason to pull it until I am ready to give it a full refresh, which means an order of paints, brushes, and triplethick. Until then, I figured I'd give the stuff I can reach easily (ie plastics and playfield) a bit of attention.

Keroppi:
Well I cleaned the playfield today. I HIGHLY recommended against doing it like I did, unless your playfield is in a similar condition, and/or you're planning on giving it a similar treatment (repaint/refinish)...I used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser+Rubbing alcohol. It will clean the dirt out of the cracks/ball swirls, but bear in mind it's the equivalent to light sanding, so you would never want to do this to a decent playfield. This one was already splitting and in piss poor shape, so really it helped it if anything. If I restore, the playfield is now ready for touchup paint/leveling, then finishing. If I retheme it, I just wasted a couple hours of time that I could've accomplished in 10 minutes with an orbital sander. It took the rest of the black paint off, but refused to remove it from the cracks. I tried my best, and it just ate it ALL away in that spot (remember, it's like sanding?):



You would be amazed, however, to see the difference it made on the weathered playfield. I did the right half first:




and done:



You can see some of the damage this machine sustained in the last 35 years in that last shot. Of course, full res pics of these + more can be found in the current album: http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/Keroppi_667/

I am still on the fence on this one, but I can definitely say it looks 1000 times better. Should I restore it?

Mauzy:
If you have the time and patience (neither of which I would have...), you should. If nothing else, it would prolly help you fetch a few more bucks if you go to sell it in the future...

Keroppi:
Well, I have patience, but I'm not in it for the money. I really have no plans on selling any of my pins in the forseeable future. It would be a no-brainer if I actually liked the theme, but I don't really care for it. All in all it would be easier to restore than retheme, because I already have (now useable) plastics, a fair backglass, and only touchup paint and finishing. To retheme it, I would have to replace all the plastics, backglass, pop bumper tops, etc, and sand the playfield/cabinet entirely bare. A lot more work, to be sure, but it would give me a totally custom one-off machine that I would enjoy/be proud of a lot more. Also it would also be much more expensive. Its just that the machine is in bad shape, but not too far gone. It makes the decision really hard.  :banghead:

shardian:
Go for a restore. Your work so far is excellent. and a 2nd on the magic eraser - It is like night and day on a badly ball swirled playfield.

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