How to paint a pinball machine

[cl...@kiwi.gen.nz]

Hi all.

I've just written some instructions on how I touched up the cabinet on
a faded pinball machine.

I may very well be re-inventing the wheel but in case it's of use the
instructions are here:

http://remote.kiwi.gen.nz/PinballPaint/

Kind regards... Clark

[Steve Vassiliadis]

That looks great.

Did you touch up with a brush or did you spray the paint on?

If by brush did it streak at all?

[Al Warner]

That is actually really impressive to me. I had a friend use sharpie
markers on a No Fear once and that actually looked decent but this is night
and day better.

Good idea!

Al

<cl...@kiwi.gen.nz> wrote in message
news:1154841464....@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...

[cl...@kiwi.gen.nz]

Hi Steve.

Yep I brushed it on and there is slight streaking, the second coat
fixed most of that. My original attempt was good old marker pens but I
don't recommend them. They are not colour fast and as soon as alcohol
(meths) hits it, it smears. Also the marker pens seem to have a fine
grainy pigment when applied that becomes more noticeable over time as
UV works its evil magic.

Ideally one would mask and spray but that's just too hard and not
needed for most things. Flipping the cabinet on its side and being a
bit heavy handed with the glass paint would be easier and would avoid
brush marks. The brush marks would be lost in the light flood work
that would be where you paint. Sounds good in theory but I haven't
tried that yet. :)

Cheers... Clark

[beaver]

Very nice result. I have used Sharpie's in the past, and have looked
for translucent paint without success. Is this paint resistant to
alcohol?

Edward Cheung CARGPB26
www.edcheung.com

[ArcadeForever]

Clark, that looks great!!!

thanks for posting..

-AF

[cl...@kiwi.gen.nz]

beaver wrote:
> Is this paint resistant to alcohol?

Hi Beaver.

A good question, I hope so, being dishwasher safe and all but to be
honest I haven't attacked it yet with alcohol. I'll paint up a swatch
tonight and attack it with meths tomorrow and let you know (& update
the website). I don't feel brave enough to hit my pin directly with
it. :)

Cheers... Clark

[chuckster]

Nice job! Can you use this paint in an air brush? I have a No Fear
that is faded and I think I may try this process on the sides.

[movierev...@yahoo.com]

This looks great!

How would it work, though, if the cabinet colors weren't completely
faded out? If the red was faded to pink, and you painted over it with
the transparent red, would it still give you the same finished color as
it would if it were faded to white? Also, what if the original was
faded more in one area than another? For example, if the B in Black
Rose had fade in the top portion of the letter but only a little fade
in the bottom? Would you paint the whole thing, and it would turn out
uniform?

Thanks,

Mark Malmberg - Ceres, California

[beaver]

movierev...@yahoo.com wrote:
> This looks great!
>
> How would it work, though, if the cabinet colors weren't completely
> faded out? If the red was faded to pink, and you painted over it with
> the transparent red, would it still give you the same finished color as
> it would if it were faded to white?

No. I do not think so. These colors are translucent. So the
underlying color DOES matter. If an area is completely black in the
background, it will stay more-or-less black. It is is white, or pink,
it will be a different observed color.

If the colors were opaque (like regular acrylics) then it would not
matter if the underlying color is faded or not.

>Also, what if the original was
> faded more in one area than another? For example, if the B in Black
> Rose had fade in the top portion of the letter but only a little fade
> in the bottom? Would you paint the whole thing, and it would turn out
> uniform?

Nope. At least, not in my opinion.

BTW, I have used translucent paint before. It was with Sharpies on an
IJ:
http://www.edcheung.com/album/album06/Pinball/ij2.htm#sharpie

Edward Cheung CARGPB26
www.edcheung.com

[cl...@kiwi.gen.nz]

Hi Mark.

It doesn't seem to matter if the red had faded completely to white or
whether it was still red. Over painting with the same colour will
result in the correct finished colour. I know exactly what you mean
and on the Mousin' Around machine it was exactly as you describe: faded
at the bottom and ok at the top. (Sadly I didn't do a "before" photo
of that machine). So long as it's the correct colour all will be fine.

Cheers... Clark