Dr@No's fun filled (and often long-winded) restorations

[Menace]

As I mentioned last night around 2am when I was burning these Roms for you, I was just as invested in getting this thing working as you were... And it's not even my game! Glad I could be a part of this journey, and add another story to my growing list of pinball tales. It's the stories behind the games that keep it interesting.

D

 

[DRANO]

As I mentioned last night around 2am when I was burning these Roms for you, I was just as invested in getting this thing working as you were... And it's not even my game! Glad I could be a part of this journey, and add another story to my growing list of pinball tales. It's the stories behind the games that keep it interesting.

D

So true.
At the end of the day it's just a machine... and not a very desirable one at that. And let's face it, this is just a drop target... not an entirely new proto design.
But there's still something special about being the first couple of guys in nearly 30 years (and likely the first outside of Bally's factory) to ever play HMM as Daniel Langlois intended. If he were alive I'm certain he'd be pleased... or at least mildly amused at how excited grown men got over a drop target

Thanks again for rushing to burn these! Now I really want to get this pin to like new condition again!

 

[Menace]

Thought I'd share the drop test video, just so others can actually hear what it sounds like when two grown men get excited over a drop target. Enjoy...

D

 

[WARLOCK]

Awesome gents!
Can't wait to play it.

 

[DRANO]

Got some updated code last night. Should be able to test it by Friday night if all goes to plan!

 

[DRANO]

So, the code for my proto HMM is still in progress. Still trying to sort out some bugs.

In the meantime I decided to tackle a small project I've been wanting to do for a while.

I always wondered how Scared Stiff would look with black rails and lockbar. If you know the artwork, the main cab looks like the crate from the game with a section of black above. I was hoping to blend the trim into this black area... also, it's Elvira, so black seemed appropriate.
I sent some parts out for powder-coating and installed them last week. I think the effect is nice. I may leave the legs chrome just to maintain the top to bottom contrast. After that was done I installed a colorDMD that I had still in box waiting for a home. I think it looks pretty sharp.







After that, I took of the coin door in order to perform a custom paint job.
I certainly didn't come up with this idea... lots of guys have done it before me. I grabbed a composition that I liked from the web and copied it with my own little touches. Now, I'm not usually a fan of this kind of stuff, but I really had fun doing it and think it makes for a pretty unique look. Just a couple more little adjustments and SS will be ready to move downstairs for a proper stint in the game room.

 

[Fifty]

Mind = BLOWN.

Nice job.

 

[DRANO]

Thanks Tim!
It's hardly an original idea but I'm happy with the result for sure

 

[Seven]

I like it.

I've been toying with the idea of continuing the cabinet art to the coin door. I might do something to my Pinbot since the entire cabinet needs to be repainted.

 

[DRANO]

I like it.

I've been toying with the idea of continuing the cabinet art to the coin door. I might do something to my Pinbot since the entire cabinet needs to be repainted.

I generally prefer a stock look... but SS was the exception to the rule for me. It was begging to be done.

 

[spiroagnew]

Not often I enjoy being a glorified delivery boy, but with cargo like this! No problem!!!

 

[WARLOCK]

Boo-yah!

 

[Menace]

We will get this game running *just right* eventually... and as with all things software it never works perfect right out of the gate, or even the 7th, 8th or 11th time out of the gate!

D

 

[Rascal]

That SS is very nice.I love the coin door artwork. You do some fine work Drano.

 

[DRANO]

That SS is very nice.I love the coin door artwork. You do some fine work Drano.

Thank you sir. I normally don't condone such gratuitous modification, but I always wanted to try this on an SS.

I've gone all of April and May without posting here.
If you've seen any of my other threads (on various forums) I opted to create separate threads for my conversion project (Fireball II to Fathom) as well as my Batman 66 retheme that I'm doing in partnership with Monkeybug. That has sort of kept this thread a little empty as those two project take up a substantial amount of my time.

Also, this year's trip to Allentown saw a lot of new project pins come in and I've been dealing with those and deciding what's staying and what can go.

My recent projects include:

-Firepower II that was DoA
-Stern Seawitch in need of a good shop and some light playfield work
-Stern Star Gazer that has been in my shop for months. It's getting a cab refresh and I'll take this opportunity to touch-up and clear the playfield too
-I now have 2 Stern Quicksilver. Both are slated to get some love and I'll be keeping one and selling the other
-and of course, my Cactus Canyon still lies in pieces all over the garage

Add into all this 4-5 playfields that I need to get working on and there is still plenty of work to go around outside of the aforementioned Fathom/Batman stuff. And... I haven't even touched on all the cool woodrails I have waiting

I got some parts for the Firepower II last Friday so I've been getting it working 100% this last week. Last night I decided to tackle the playfield cleanup. It's in really nice shape so I just wanted to get rid of the ball swirls, remove the half-moon mylar (that was placed over the ball swirls) and then do a few small touch-ups and wax to make it really nice. I did the freeze method to remove the mylar, soaked some paper towel over the area with goo-gone to soften the glue and used a plastic razor to scrape it off. Then I used a magic eraser cut into small squares and soaked with some Bleche-White to get the pf clean.

 

[fantasygoat]

Where do you get Bleche-White in the GTA?

 

[DRANO]

Where do you get Bleche-White in the GTA?

You don't

In fact, you don't get it anywhere anymore. There are tire cleaning products at CT that say they contain Bleche-White (not sure how that works?) but the true Westley's BW formula was changed a couple of years ago even in it's native USA. It no longer has the same cleaning power it once did.
At that time I was lucky enough to find a Pinsider that had located a stash of the original 'good stuff'. We bartered for some parts I had and I was able to secure a case of the stuff. Let's just say I use it VERY sparingly. This stuff is awesome for getting pinball parts clean. It's probably also highly carcinogenic as well

 

[fantasygoat]

Dammit, that's what I figured. I'm not having any luck getting these ball swirls out of my Paragon and was hoping that might be the solution.

 

[DRANO]

Dammit, that's what I figured. I'm not having any luck getting these ball swirls out of my Paragon and was hoping that might be the solution.

I've had good luck with Simple Green or Mean Green on Melamine foam (Magic Eraser).
Some guys say to use it fairly dry, others say to go really wet. It all depends on your playfield and how much it absorbs.
The trick is to get to a consistency where the foam glides a bit, but still has some bite. Too slick and you're doing nothing. When you start to see it form a brown sludge, wipe that away, inspect the ME to ensure it's not totally clogged up and do another pass with clean ME and a bit more liquid.

The bad part is that these products have water and you really should not be adding water to a wooden playfield. This is why guys have been using alcohol with ME for ages... but it doesn't work quite as well. If you have a particularly damaged/flaking/delicate playfield (like a really old woodrail) I would use the alcohol. For anything that had a better sealing coat or clear (1980s and up) I think the Simple/Mean Green or Bleche White will be okay as long as you don't drench it. Of course, don't let liquids sit on the surface for long periods of time.

 

[fantasygoat]

I've been doing alcohol, I'll try the Simple Green. Thanks.