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work in progress, will i ever finish?


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Howdy,

 

As some of you know I started a pinball project a while ago. Well more of a conversion, I made quite a lot of headway into that project but due to unforeseen circumstance and availability of some parts <budget related> I have put this on temporary hold.

 

Thanks to one AA member a major side diversion project was instead undertaken, pretty much along the same lines as above, except a title change was made.

 

I am treating this project as hobby related as there is no commercial sense in what I doing. Pushing yourself into different skill sets, trades and abilities is never a bad thing and I love a challenge, of course a damn good excuse to buy new tools is never a bad thing.

 

So here is some of what I have done and I will try to keep an update of my progress for any that might be interested. Of course I have not mentioned any titles <seems to be a theme on here at the moment> so instead I will post some obscure (early) pictures initially and the astute will have no problems guessing the title.

 

photo-1.JPG.87ec21d1b21d910d5358c60a8cc14de0.JPGphoto-2.JPG.4177d34d55d58387024d70afe482ab16.JPG

 

 

More photos to come over the coming days, I am afraid I have not taken a lot of progress pictures but I am sure that shouldn't spoil a good or bad story.

 

Cheers

Paul.

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Here is my current up to date progress. It is looking more like the finished product, still so much to do.

 

 

 

 

2134976229_SAM_0077copy.thumb.jpg.b88509e99695c192255607d31180781a.jpg

 

 

 

To get this far was quite involved but that was the point,

 

Playfield was repaired and clear-coated.

 

I ended up making myself

 

All the standoff hex posts

the lane guides

the left VUK return

ramp flaps

3-bank target motor bracket and cam assembly.

all the lamp PCB's imbedded with full wave rectified led modules < shown in another post>.

a full set of WPC95 boards <AV,CPU and power/driver>.

a set of dies for pressing hollow rivets to re-work targets for the appropriate type on AFM.

martian brackets x4

 

 

Still left to do

 

Wiring loom

some tidying up of Apron <respray and decals>.

cabinet repair and artwork, still an NBA-FB.

shaker motor and audio upgrade

finalize topper design <truly unique design>, hope it works as planned.

some extra manufacturing of bracketry, back board <including unique artwork>.

wire return lanes and associated brackets to mount to ramps.

above playfield switches, flashers, and lamps.

redesign of mothership and small ufo light effects.

 

...many other things I have probably overlooked.

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Excellent work Paul !

would be nice if people appreciated the amount of work involved to manufacture specialised parts !

 

congrats on a fantastic effort

 

Please keep us posted

 

Cheers,

Ando

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Update....

 

 

I have finalized wiring and testing of the lighting loom, also finished off the last of the lamp(led) pcbs. It looks great going through the attract sequence. This objective was to motivate the build as nothing looks better than flashing lights right?.

 

The 7-opto pcb is wired (not shown) so all optos should now work including the popper ball senses.

Half way through the left wire return manufacture, coming along nicely.

finished off a few metal brackets that were required.

Apron stripped and repainted, awaiting new decals, originally from a Congo.

 

With so many parts sourced from many different places, machines and home made, maybe I should have started with a "Frankenstein".

 

I will upload some pics as I keep progressing.

 

783531457_SAM_0085copy.thumb.jpg.3db2b727ea7dded3d6f5f4995d360bfe.jpg

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Awesome work!

 

Totally missed this thread, probably due to the title. If you ever decide to build a game again from scratch, next time title it 'conversion of Fastbreak to blah', I guarantee so many more people will see it.

 

Try to take some more photos of your progress at each step so the anticipation builds as well :)

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another update for those who are following my time sink.

 

I am more than finished with the switch loom now, pretty much leaves the power driver/solenoid/flasher loom to go after that.

 

I have finished the left wire form return, except for the flasher mount. Considering I have never worked with 4mm (6 gauge) stainless steel wire before I am stoked with the results. Tig welded of course, never done that before this project either, still a great excuse to buy a tig welder.. well I thought so anyway. Wire form needs to be polished and center mount needs to be "adjusted", since I didn't have an original to copy from I sort of improvised. It fits the pinball like a glove and the ball travel is smooth and sharp.

 

Will start on the right wire form soon.

 

384650401_SAM_0086copy.thumb.jpg.01f1df06706fa20dfcd8e7c92f5441e6.jpg179660540_SAM_0096copy.thumb.jpg.b6b8fe563475188ffc7f48dbe1b5865d.jpg

 

stripped back the apron and painted that ready for decals.

 

Have to work out the dimensions for the back board ready for mothership bracket attachment. Also want to do a somewhat unique decal/scene on the back board. Anyone feel free to take some measurements of the cutouts if you have some time. I would appreciate the input.

 

Will make the martian brackets soon for the 4 x martian poppers. Not sure what to do about the aliens yet, original would be nice but not fully sold on them yet.

 

Cheers

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Have to work out the dimensions for the back board ready for mothership bracket attachment. Also want to do a somewhat unique decal/scene on the back board. Anyone feel free to take some measurements of the cutouts if you have some time. I would appreciate the input.

 

Cheers

 

 

I can offer up something if you want to save some time/measurements for the backboard and decal.

 

This is the original wood backboard I took out of my AFM when I swapped it over to a transparent illuminated version. I also applied an aftermarket decal to it (it is originally blank).

 

It's all yours if you want it. If you prefer to take the DIY from scratch route, I can do the measurements you need no problems.

 

Let me know which you prefer. :)

 

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Edited by matts80
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Matt,

Had a flu for a bit which had me avoiding the garage and thus the pin. Finished the switch matrix wiring and soon to start the solenoid/flasher wiring. Thinking about how to tackle or at least what order to do some of the remaining tasks. Might try to start the right return wire form over the weekend, see how I go.

 

Also too many distractions, I am being strong in not playing with (doing up) my very nice looking HS2 which I picked up on the weekend.

Havent had a chance to procure some 13mm thick polycarb or perspex as of yet to do the backboard.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Well it's been a while since my last update, had a chance to get some stuff done recently. As you can see from the pictures it is almost done ( except for cabinet works).

 

My hope is to play it fully functional over Xmas.

 

Recently fabricated,

right wire form return lane

middle ramp entry switch bracket assemble

3 x small saucer mounting brackets

some ramp protectors

flasher pcb back plate and safety cover.

modified the left wire form return for better fit on left ramp mount post.

mounted all flasher sockets, made some 3W cree flash units.... damn this things are bright.

mounted the alien poppers.

 

Whats left to do,

make alien brackets to mount them to poppers

finish wiring top playfield switches and flashers

make cover for mothership solenoid.

wire in small saucer led mods, made my own chaser unit for this.

cabinet and apron decals

organise a translite

speakers and new lense for a "Bally" speaker panel to replace the "Willliams" one I gold leafed that is currently installed.

 

 

Hope to have an update soon.

 

1911238133_DSC_3911copy.thumb.jpg.487f17d0d54443ee9bbd375fb4c1829c.jpg1075401478_DSC_3910copy.thumb.jpg.96c49c8aab4b031d34d3a7c741fa04bc.jpg240149342_DSC_3909copy.thumb.jpg.c383eb8f91ed8c865de131bc249a1e17.jpg510545792_DSC_3908copy.thumb.jpg.5806b69f01f694a29efc6ceba0bfd672.jpg

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Well the list is now shorter than ever.

 

Finished the alien brackets, the aliens are now installed

flashers all done on custom proto pcb's

switch matrix and lamp matrix finished wiring.

solenoid and flasher wiring all finished.

launch button installed and wired.

 

All functions tested.

after a couple of minor adjustments to switch bank it is all working.

 

Played a heap of games last night, all functions worked!!

 

The project is certainly not over as I have to do some cosmetic things like decals, translate etc.... but by far the bulk of it is done and dusted, and it is playable which was the immediate goal before xmas.

 

great game, love the theme and heaps of fun to play.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read the thread.

Will post some further pictures when I get it completed.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I have a set of cabinet decals on order to make it look the part but I was looking for an excuse to learn some airbrushing.

Apart from a few practice exercises this is my first go at airbrushing, not unhappy with results, it would just take way too long to do the whoe cabinet which was my initial plan.

 

 

IMG_0689.thumb.jpg.8df4cd06498c42cafca92b47b167d0bd.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Amazing stuff.

AFM is my dream pin, I think it will stay that way until I win the lotto.

I love the idea of changing over cabs from one game to another. I i were ever to dare tackle such a project it would have to be AFM or medieval madness.

 

Great work

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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