Thanks.
I paint matched using acrylic paints of various quality, and in some cases, a very fine brush.
I went back and forth on the clear. Auto or outdoor Varathane. After speaking with a pinball friend of mine who does lots of repairs (and has seen lots of different playfields) he suggested I go with Varathane Diamond Exterior. Someone he knows has used that many times and had very good results. I decided to give that a go.
Since Meteor isn't a rare title, I wouldn't feel that bad mucking up an already rough playfield if the attempt went south.
I gave it a fine misting for the first coat, let that dry for about an hour, then gave it a heavier coat. The next day I gave it another heavy coat. The third day I gave it a lighter coat except for the areas that had indentations - mostly the planking, some areas that had previous major paint wear, and the inserts.
A few days later it felt dry enough to light sand, so I gently hit it with 800 and 1500 grit paper until most of the orange peal was smooth then cleaned it well with naphtha. Then hit it with a final coat.
A few days later I sanded it with 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 - then gently buffed it to the current shine with Novus 2. In a couple weeks if it is cured enough, I'll go at it with Novus 2 again, wax, and reassemble.
I'm just starting on a Skateball machine now. I've decided to buy an airbrush because there are more areas on Skateball with large patches of solid colour. On Meteor I didn't paint the sections under the plastics. I wish I had. I'm going to hit these with white on Skateball using the airbrush.
Purist Trigger Warning!
I am also playing around with making some sections UV reactive (mostly the bright green and the yellow and red scrolling detail). I did a quick and dirty test with UV paint and a brush. You won't notice the UV paint on the playfield until you light it with ultraviolet. I still haven't decided if I'm going to do this, but the airbrush would be required for a modification like this.
I think I'm planning on going with the Varathane again on Skateball.
My quick UV paint test. I wasn't concerned with staying in the lines as I was removing it later. The paint is REALLY uneven with a brush. Also, this is three coats. Putting down Frisket film, cutting, and dusting with a fine coat of UV would take a fraction of the time.
