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Pinball Leg Revamp: Using hammertone paint


AskJacob

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Hi all,

 

I'm re-doing my rusty/scratched Magic legs, they were originally a silver/grey hammertone finish.

 

I got some hammertone paint today, but I have never used it before.

 

Anyone got any good tips? I'm sure there is some link between the application (how thick etc) and the size of the hammer pattern - the original is quite a fine pattern.

 

The can is pretty llimited in the instructions!

 

Cheers

Jacob

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Hey boss,

 

Right behind me is my Championship Sprint which I revamped with Hammer Finish. Its cool stuff and super tough wehn its a couple of days dry.

 

http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2001/10876724/20981934/351983298.jpg

 

The only tip would be to not put it on to heavy and shake it really well.

 

I also did my Taito coin door:

 

http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2001/10876724/19356211/349890981.jpg

 

Its fucking magic I tell ya!

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ok

 

here is what i do with legs

 

firstly, get one of those wire brushes from bunnings that attaches to a drill (about $6) and use it to grind back the rust - it is a messy process so use eye protection, gloves and a mask - i have had the brush hit bare flesh and it hurts so please be careful (i know i am pedantic but don't want anyone hurt by my advice)

 

after that - lightly sand the legs and then blast with an air compressor to remove grit

 

prime

 

lightly sand if your primer is too thick etc

 

paint

 

I have done absolutely brown speckled legs with this method and it hjas worked a treat. You do need to get the rust off with brush though otherwise the paint just won't stick - it also smoothes the legs out a bit

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Yeah this can says 1 step, no primer but I am a bit wary of using no primer.

 

It is "White Knight Rust Guard Hammered Finish" - perhaps not the top shelf brand but was not the cheapest they had :lol

 

Am sure to remove rust, - will also be removing the remaining original paint first too.

 

Spacies, your pics gave me faith that a damn fine finish is possible, thanks for that.

 

Will report on progress as I go!

 

Cheers

Jacob

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Make sure you prep your surfaces well for this stuff. Also, be very careful of applying it too heavy, if you get a drip you need to sand the lot back and start from scratch, you can't just sand back the drip as you'll get an uneven looking hammertone which is quite noticeable.
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OK so thanks to Spacies and Narf for showing how their hammertone came up.

 

All in this took me about 1/2 a day, including a timewasting trip to bunnings.

 

I just typed all this up and clicked some stupid thing instead of post, so lost it - so this version may be shorter than old one :D

 

Here is what I had to start with - 4 crappy looking legs, 2 with stripped levellers stuck in them:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03734.jpg

 

I ended up having to cut both the levellers off, there was no way they were coming out any other way:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03735.jpg

 

I used diggers brand stripper (comes in a yellow can) and it seems to work great. This stuff is nasty, and burns. Use gloves, and keep an eye on them as it will eventually get though latex and start to sting. That sting goes to burn quick :)

 

Here is how the original hammertone looks literally 20 seconds after applying the stripper, this worked much better than I expected:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03736.jpg

 

So here they are with the paint removed. I used steel wool to scrape off the paint, it was pretty easy to do. Check out all the rust that had wormed around under the paint:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03737.jpg

 

So the threads were buggered in the feet of my legs, so I had to backyard hack them. First I had to drill out the old threads:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03738.jpg

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03739.jpg

 

And then clamp on a leveller nut:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03740.jpg

 

And weld the nut on (I am really out of practice with my welding). As the thread is now on the inner fold (it was originally on the outer) of the foot, I seam welded the fold together for some extra strength - probably not necessary, but I had the welder out... (and forgot to take a pic!)

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03741.jpg

 

So, the next was a quick once-over with a wire brush in the drill:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03742.jpg

 

Be careful, I wasn't paying attention and it got caught on a weld and got away from me:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03743.jpg

 

Next (no pics needed for these) I gave the legs a wipe over with rust converter. This stuff smells like a fart and burns (it is phosphoric acid) so gloves and outside with this job.

 

Left it to dry, then wiped down with acetone for a final prep.

 

To be continued in another post (thread image limit hit)

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Continued....

 

I then constructed my high-tech spray booth...

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03744.jpg

 

The instructions said to put down a wetting "mist spray" - this is what that looks like:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03745.jpg

 

Then you immediately lay down the full coat. it should look like this: (the hammer effect shows up in a few seconds after spraying)

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03746.jpg

 

And some texture showing close-up: (with bad weld :) )

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03747.jpg

 

Here they are all drying:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03749.jpg

 

30 mins later, and they can be gently handled and setup to paint the other side... I did the insides of the legs first so that the show-piece side is done last, so I don't need to worry about overspray or needing to mask the bolt-holes.

 

Here they are drying:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03750.jpg

 

Another closeup:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/Stern%20Magic/DSC03751.jpg

 

 

All up a relatively easy job. The White Knights hammertone I used didn't need a primer and had better coverage than I expected. Was around $12, and there is slightly more than 1/2 a can left, so call it 8 legs or 2 machines per can.

 

Cheers

Jacob

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Dude, nice job on those legs... but more importantly, what kind of camera have you got? Those are awesome photos, especially with the blury background but clear foreground etc.

 

SLR?

 

Nope, but I could buy a damn good SLR today for the money it went for in the day. It's a Sony F707, http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscf707/

 

Bloody top camera, too big to take everywhere but closest to an SLR I have ever had. Very "manual" manual modes for a digi-cam, and a LOT of glass for good pics. Full control over F stop from f2 -f8, shutter from 30 seconds with noise reduction to 1/1000 sec, EV compensation, 10x optical zoom, and a focus ring that works like a real one, even if it is fly by wire...

 

I paid $650 for it as a factory second in 2002, it was retailing for $1900 at the time:o

 

Can only take a max of 128mb memory stick, but I love this camera, and will not not retire it for a sexy new little model!

 

Even used the nightshot to navigate in the dark in a cellar once :D

 

Good macro ability too:

 

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/askjacob/DSC03495.jpg

 

Cheers

Jacob

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  • Super Moderator
You did well!

..You have nice legs.. originally rusty grey now dyed hammertone grey...

(comment encouraged by personal ads in 2nd photo):)

 

just as long as your not Vincent from Darlinghurst:lol

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just as long as your not Vincent from Darlinghurst:lol

 

Haha that's a cracker - didn't notice it was the stupid message section of MX - some freebie newspaper they hand out at train stations here.

 

Thanks for the comments guys, and yes, I won't put them on till next weekend at the earliest - I need to order some levellers anyway :)

 

Now to sticking my head back in the cabinet!

 

Cheers

Jacob

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  • 5 weeks later...

Magic

 

Hi Jacob

 

Legs came up great, the beauty of using hammertone paint is that it covers up any marks or damage.

I am also slowly restoring a Stern magic (stalled at the moment) i opted to gritblast the legs and coin door (at work) and have them all powdercoated black .

I then had all the coin door chrome pieces rechromed and it came up a treat.

My cabinet has quite a bit of damage and the playfield needs touching up in quite a few places and as i am no artist i either have to learn or get help.

good luck with the rest of the restore.

 

John

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  • 1 month later...

I used some of this hammertone paint today to make a piece of ply look like a metal panel on a MAME cabinet conversion... I also used it to spruce up two control panels where the semi-gloss paint just didn't look even.

 

The coverage and effect of this paint is awesome, so contrary to my other reviews of Rustoleum paint (ie, it SUCKS), I give this one the thumbs up... HOWEVER I got to about half a can and it stopped spraying... these dudes really need to work on their spray nozzles or something.

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