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White water playfeild planking

S

Steve's Arcade

Member
Feb 25, 2016
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Grimsby
Hi everyone,

I need some advice on what to do with my white water play field. All of the art is in good shape just a bit faded and a small spot that is warn through. The playfeild is parking though and some of the inserts are raised up.

I'm looking for advice on what to do. I think I have a few options.

1. Clean it was it and just play it as is.
2. Strip it down, clean, level inserts and DIY clear coat. I have never done a clear coat or relevel inserts so I'm a bit scars to do it.
3. Strip it and find someone that knows what they are doing to do the inserts and clear coat.( maybe learn something from a pro)

Let me know your thoughts.

Steve
 

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Chris Bardon

Chris Bardon

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2012
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I suppose it depends on what you want to do with the machine:
-If you just want to play it, and it's playing OK, leave it as is, content that it's a 26 year old game at this point, and still going strong. You can take steps to protect it from further wear if you want, like adding a couple of bits of mylar and keeping the game clean, but there's no need to go nuts.
-If you want to learn how to restore a playfield, and don't mind taking the risk of messing it up, then you can try to do it yourself. Clearcoating isn't for the faint of heart though, and if done badly, can make the game play worse. There are lots of experts out there though, so if you want to learn, and want to invest the time, you can go this route.
-If you want to have a museum-quality game that looks like it was untouched by human hands then you can send the PF out for restoration. Not sure who the go-to expert is these days, since I think most of the usual suspects seem to have retired, but if you do go this route, prepare to wait months (or years) to get it back, and it'll cost you.

Option 4 is to just buy a new PF (looks like Marco has them for $1100) and start your restore from there. That should also give you an idea of what you'd want to spend to fix an old PF.

If it were my game, I'd just leave it as-is and keep playing it.
 
DRANO

DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
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That planking is a pain in the ass to fix. Magic eraser and alcohol may get it clean if you go with the grain. If you get most of the dirt out of the cracks, it should look okay. Just don't pull up the paint.

Since you already got the protector, just do the best job of clean-up that you can and maybe do a small acrylic touch-up on that kickout wear.

I bought a Mirco reproduction playfield for mine and they used to be about $599. Can't belive they are over $1K now :eek:
 
S

Steve's Arcade

Member
Feb 25, 2016
39
7
8
36
Grimsby
DRANO said:
That planking is a pain in the ass to fix. Magic eraser and alcohol may get it clean if you go with the grain. If you get most of the dirt out of the cracks, it should look okay. Just don't pull up the paint.

Since you already got the protector, just do the best job of clean-up that you can and maybe do a small acrylic touch-up on that kickout wear.

I bought a Mirco reproduction playfield for mine and they used to be about $599. Can't belive they are over $1K now :eek:
Click to expand...

Ya my playfield isn't in that bad of shape that I can justify the cost on a new one. I don't even think I'm going to bother to try and do a touch up. The area is so small it just doesn't seem worth it. I'm not running a museum :)

I'm just going to fix what's broken and be happy that I found a whitewater that I didn't have to pay a crazy amount for.
 
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DRANO

DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
2,827
519
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Mississauga
Steve's Arcade said:
Ya my playfield isn't in that bad of shape that I can justify the cost on a new one. I don't even think I'm going to bother to try and do a touch up. The area is so small it just doesn't seem worth it. I'm not running a museum :)

I'm just going to fix what's broken and be happy that I found a whitewater that I didn't have to pay a crazy amount for.
Click to expand...

I think that, if you're going to cover it with plastic, and you're already going to the trouble to tear down the top of the playfield, might as well perform the best cleanup possible. A little magic eraser and alcohol followed by some Novus will work wonders. A dull dirty playfield under plastic will still look dull and dirty.

As for the kickout wear... your's is small and mostly in the black portion of the art. Even if you were not confident to touch it up freehand, I'd use a couple of pieces of scotch tape to border in the black section and just run a black pen or some black acrylic paint on it. Peel the tape and you're done. All this represents maybe an extra 1hr of work... max. In the grand scheme of a top-side teardown, that's nothing.

Just my two cents.
 
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