Well, this winter I decided to try to tackle the Kiss playfield. It was alot of work and requires patience waiting for each stage to dry....
2008-11-15: New Playfield Overlay Installation:
Before removing the hardware, top and bottom, take alot of pictures. This will help later. I use a digital camera and keep the laptop handy so I can easily refer to it later.
Before removing the hardware, top and bottom, take alot of pictures. This will help later. I use a digital camera and keep the laptop handy so I can easily refer to it later.
I built 2 rotating stands so I could work on the playfield on the table. These stands are great for this. I then built a frame out of 2x6" boards and mounted the playfield to it, using the existing holes in the playfield. This way I could leave the majority of hardware attached to the back of the playfield.
Prepping the Playfield
I stripped it down. I used a palm sander with 400 grit and sanded the playfield almost to bare wood in most spots. I had to glue a couple of insert back in place. I then sanded it down with 600 and subsequenty 2000 grit over the lenses. I washed it all with alcohol. I put a coat of sprayed on varathane and scuffed it off. For the white, I initially used acrylic with a brush. This turned out terrible. I sanded it all off because the brush strokes were evident. I suspected this would happen. Using 1/4" wide masking tape, I masked off the areas requiring paint. Another thing to note with this is you don't want paint lines after you put down 2 coats so I had to sand the edges a bit to ensure that they wouldn't show through the mylar. A good tip is to use old bulbs in the sockets when spraying so that they don't get paint in them. I took a bunch of pieces of tracing paper and marked the holes where the metal rails were installed. This is important because they will disappear as you go forward....take more pics.
I stripped it down. I used a palm sander with 400 grit and sanded the playfield almost to bare wood in most spots. I had to glue a couple of insert back in place. I then sanded it down with 600 and subsequenty 2000 grit over the lenses. I washed it all with alcohol. I put a coat of sprayed on varathane and scuffed it off. For the white, I initially used acrylic with a brush. This turned out terrible. I sanded it all off because the brush strokes were evident. I suspected this would happen. Using 1/4" wide masking tape, I masked off the areas requiring paint. Another thing to note with this is you don't want paint lines after you put down 2 coats so I had to sand the edges a bit to ensure that they wouldn't show through the mylar. A good tip is to use old bulbs in the sockets when spraying so that they don't get paint in them. I took a bunch of pieces of tracing paper and marked the holes where the metal rails were installed. This is important because they will disappear as you go forward....take more pics.
Painting the White
Once the white was down, I scuffed it with 600. I then sprayed on another 2 coats of varathane. I used spray on because I don't need it thick, it dries quick and I had it available.
Once the white was down, I scuffed it with 600. I then sprayed on another 2 coats of varathane. I used spray on because I don't need it thick, it dries quick and I had it available.
Overlay Drop Down
After that I was ready for the overlay. I had the overlay that is considered the "good" one which is the partial one, with the exposed ball lane and white areas. It is 175.00 US and purchased at Arcade Shop. It is very, very nice quality. I put it down using the methods I found on line, http://www.pinballmagic.com/oldsite/overlay.htm using the spray bottle with water and soap. This was tricky and took numerous tries. I had no air bubbles at all. It worked out great.
Final Coats of Varathane, no turning back
After 2 days, I scuffed off the playfield with 800 grit, just enough to remove the shine. I used a tack rack after ALL sanding on every step above. Using the appropriate foam brush, I brushed on 4 coats of Diamond Finish Gloss Varathane. Wait 1 day at least between coats. If it goes on too thick, it will have a brown tinge to it. After the 4 coats, I gave it 3 coats of wax. It is super smooth. It looks really good.
Summary
2008-12-13: The overlay was a good experience and a learning process. This is not an easy thing to do for the average person. It is alot of work and you need to have a high level of patience. I redid the white stage 3 times...I have alot of experience with paints so that helped. It is not perfect, but very nice. I will definitely be able to do it on the next Kiss.
2008-12-13: The overlay was a good experience and a learning process. This is not an easy thing to do for the average person. It is alot of work and you need to have a high level of patience. I redid the white stage 3 times...I have alot of experience with paints so that helped. It is not perfect, but very nice. I will definitely be able to do it on the next Kiss.
Some points to consider:
1. Plan your moves!!!
2. Don't use a brush to put down the white. Spray it on.
3. Mask off the area where the ball shooter lane is and around the top. Also, tape over the inserts lenses, the rollover trough slots and the bumpers as well so that the wood shows through when you put down the overlay. Lay the overlay down to get an idea of where the wood is going to show.
4. Remember to mask off the inside edges in the drop target/target slots when spraying your white as well. I also put masking tape along the outside edge of the playfield so when it is lifted later, it looks clean.
5. Don't get hung up over a spec in the clear here and there. Remember to scuff between coats and USE A TACK RAG. When complete, you can wet sand and scuff off the spots with 600 grit or even 2000 grit and polish them out.
6. Remember that it will look like crap if you don't spend time cleaning the hardware so expect alot more work later.....
7. Did I mention to take alot of pics???
8. Also, if you screw up you can just buy another overlay and start over lol :).
