Discs of Tron - mirror material needed

[Madoc Owain]

I have been looking on and off for some time for a source for the
reflective material on the inside sides of the Discs of Tron cabinet. It
appears to be some sort of vinyl backing with a thin metal film on the
front?

There is some material you can buy by the roll on eBay, I bought it and
found it's not as mirror-like as the original stuff. There's a
significant quality difference, and I'm trying to find something as
close to the original as possible for restoration purposes.

While it is reflective enough to read something in, it is not as smooth
a reflection as what you are getting from the original material. I don't
know exactly what the original material is or how they made it, but it
is as mirror-like as, well, a mirror.

The stuff I ordered, if you look at it side-by-side with the original,
is clearly being distorted by the glue backing it. I have the ability to
send samples of the old material out to people, if they think they have
a reasonable chance of figuring out what it is.

My methods of mounting the new material included:

1. Cutting out a piece, leaving the adhesive backing intact, and gluing
it to a piece of art mounting cardboard.

2. Removing the adhesive backing, gluing to cardboard.

3. Removing the adhesive backing, applying directly to GLASS, with
Windex applied to help smooth things out.

4. Removing the adhesive backing, applying directly to original EDOT
mirror material, just to see the difference.

All attempts described above ended with a distorted image, though the
material was as smooth and non-bubbled as possible.

I do have the ability to send out samples of the original material to
people (maybe you?) who have access to a variety of possible substitute
materials, and see if one of you can find an acceptable match.

Thoughts?

Regards,

M.O.
http://www.madocowain.com

[James Sweet]

I find it odd that the mirror isn't glass, I had a chopped off DoT years
ago and recall it had several layers of glass in there so it's strange
they would use something else for the mirror. Could you replace it with
a glass mirror? Glass shops can cut you a custom size for not much money.

[kevinp...@gmail.com]

Is it something like a Mirrored Mylar product?
I've seen some pretty good variations of this stuff, but it does
scratch easily if cleaned improperly.

http://www.mirrorsheeting.com/

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/items.asp?Cc=MY&iTpStatus=0&Tp=&Bc=

[chicodj...@yahoo.com]

I believe what you are looking for is called half mirrored glass.
Thats what allows the screen image to project up while the lighted
back lit translite is also on it. That's why there is a black section
on the traslight. So there is an area on the mirrored screen where
just the game image comes up. Stuffs pretty expensive and can usually
be had from a glass dealer/window repair shop. They can order it.
But its expensive.

[James Sweet]

Is that even the part he's talking about? I remembered the mirror that
reflects the monitor image as being plain glass angled to reflect the
image from the monitor. Been years since I was inside a DoT though.

[Madoc Owain]

I'm talking about the reflective stuff that is glued to the sides of the
cabinet, not the partially-silvered glass that is used to put the image
into the backdrops.

Thanks,

M.O.

[James Sweet]

Madoc Owain wrote:
> I'm talking about the reflective stuff that is glued to the sides of the
> cabinet, not the partially-silvered glass that is used to put the image
> into the backdrops.
>
> Thanks,
>
> M.O.
>
>

Oooh, yeah, that stuff, I'd forgotten about it, I don't recall what the
original was made of.

[don1400]

Hello,
I've been following the discussion on the EDOT mirror material. About
a year or so ago I replaced mine with .080" thick acrylic mirror that
I bought off ebay. The size was slightly thinner than the original but
it worked like a champ, came out beautiful, looks just like a glass
mirror. I bought 2 pieces 20X36 and took them along with the original
to a local shop that made signs from all different types of plastic.
They cut the new material identical to the original for $12 dollars.
I just checked ebay and I don't see anyone selling the stuff with .
080" thickness. There's lots of places selling 1/8" stuff, but that is
way too thick. To apply them to the cabinet I used spray spray
adhesive.
Rich Harkoff
Green Bay

[bso...@gmail.com]

I have ordered a chrome mirrored plastic that should turn out to be a
darn close match that is already adhesive backed.. I can cut the stuff
on the laser if it works out.