re-touching the pinball playfield,..and protecting..."SPACE INVADERS"

[THE POKER BRAT]

i have a "Space Invaders" that i aquired recently,..pinball that has some little wear on the lower playfield,..and some other small areas,. i want to touch it up and protect it (the whole playfield) with mylar,or clear coat spray...what would you guys suggest?...i have already taken off all the bumpers, posts, lights, etc,etc,..its just a plain piece of wood with art on it,.. are there any reputable pinball guys out there with the things i need? and then some ...

1) what kind of paint?...where do i find it.

2) what kind of protectant?...ditto.

[Jeff AMN]

To be honest, you really don't need to clear coat it or mylar it. I guess if you do touchups you'll need to cover those, but if you keep the machine clean, keep new balls in there, and keep your playfield waxed it will be just fine from a protection standpoint. Home use games, if properly maintained, can get by with very little mylar and clearcoating is often a bit of overkill.

[shardian]

You can use enamel paints to touch up and not need clearcoat. I personally don't care for working with enamels.
you can use acrylic paints - which are cheap and have every color imaginable. easy to work with, and forgivable because it is water based. The downside to acrylic is that it needs clearcoated and the colors will change after a heavy coat or two of clear. If you go this route, match the color 100% exact, and then add the slightest touch of white. It will darken with clearcoat.


If you've already stripped it down to a bare playfield and have a workspace you can sand/paint in, then go ahead and do a full resto and clearcoat. It is fun and interesting, but you won't want to do it again when you are done a few weeks later.

[Xiaou2]

and keep your playfield waxed it will be just fine from a protection standpoint.

 You mean... if you dont Play them, or dont play them much?

 You have a spinning ball of doom in there.  That ball merely has to hit ONE metal
area and gain a scratch.  It then becomes a spinning sawblade.

 You going to replace the balls every 2 weeks?
 Are you saying No damages are being done?

 Damages Are being done.   And heck, wax may even expeidite it!  As the way will
trap particles inside of it.. and Ground its way into the field.   Wax breaking off all
over the place, and creating more dust and dirt that gets trapped all over the place...
such as in the subways, which can be very hard to remove.

 (which is why I prefer armorall over wax)

  If it was your brand new cars hood... would you mind that there was no clear on
it while the neighborhood boys rolled some heavy steel balls over it every day?

 TO each his own... but mine?  I prefer to keep the games protected well with either
new mylar, or clearcoat.   Especially since some of these games cost thousands of
dollars... and truely are historical and valuable masterpieces.