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STERN COSMIC PRINCESS RESTORATION


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Hi everyone,

 

First time restorer, long time listener here[emoji41]

 

Bought my first project pinny, a 1979 Cosmic Princess(woot!), looking forward the journey.[emoji2]

 

Sending the boards off to Ken, so that is sorted but the playfield is the main area of concern for me.

 

The mylar is peeling off and bubbling. From initial investigations (and a little gentle pulling) the bits that are lifted and the immediate surrounds are coming off easily and without artwork.

 

It seems like I haven’t got a choice, but I’m a bit unsure about removing it. Apparently there is a 50/50 chance of peeling off artwork. [emoji33]

 

I’ve heard can depend on the year the pinny and in turn the chemical composition of the playfield layers. Also, where and how it was stored.

 

It hasn’t been loved for a long time but It doesn’t look like it’s sat in the sun for years. The cabinet and playfield (from what I can tell through the filth) don’t look badly faded. Looking also the terrible cutting and laying around the rollover target I’m wondering if the Mylar was applied by an operator as opposed to the factory. I know they were knock-down kits sent to Australia so I guess that makes sense? Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing....[emoji848]

 

 

What do we think chaps? Is Mylar removal the only option or can you clean/re-stick and/or trim off the bad bits?

 

Cheers!

 

 

Image1557275185.738947.thumb.jpg.d9342d79a8b8f06a8abcb589efbc7dc9.jpgImage1557274786.205368.thumb.jpg.609264cb48917dd4e66d528c4a7ba114.jpgImage1557274800.092567.thumb.jpg.9d30feef4b5cf4fc069c498ee3d5b3ca.jpgImage1557274843.879666.thumb.jpg.a9a6f9abf868c82505ff6a5d67310a89.jpgImage1557274855.729870.thumb.jpg.9ebb396629d64f80d53b9d31d627c520.jpgImage1557274869.232912.thumb.jpg.731847a3252b0917a7d03c04612e49a6.jpg

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Aussie Arcade

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With mylar removal be prepared for the worst. Are you prepared to have to send it off for a full restore job?

 

I was prepared to bare the cost of a full playfield restore and as it turned out that's exactly what has happened. The mylar removal bombed and ruined a lot of the artwork.

 

The end result is that it will cost me around $1K to have the playfield fully restored.

 

So just weigh it up.. to what level do you plan on restoring this pin to.. would you be happy just to clean up the mylar as best as possible or worse case completely write off the playfield removing it and bare the cost of sending it off to be restored?

 

In any case good luck with the project! Looks like fun

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There is plenty of advice out there on removing mylar. I have seen heat applied to soften the glue and I have seen freezing done to remove mylar. I think slow and steady either way. My Card Whiz had its mylar removed before I got it and it lost some artwork. If the playfield is toast with the mylar on then you have nothing to lose. Just be careful in your approach.
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Another method to remove the Mylar is just put it out in the sun ..

It worked well as I had no paint lost...

 

Sorry for the thread hijack...

 

Looking forward to your restoration..

Edited by Pinoffski
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If the playfield was already wearing when the Mylar was applied, you're likely to pull up a tonne of paint.

 

I've done it twice, once went really well - Diner, once went really badly, which was a Black Knight that probably had Mylar applied in the mid to late 80s.

 

If you see any planking under the Mylar, forget it, you're either sending it to Savage or buying a repro.

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I agree with @Pinsare and @sleazius on the two areas.

Mylar removal is a crap shoot but I've found the older the mylar the more chance the glue/tac is on its way out so if there is no planking or flaking already under the mylar your cahnces are good IF it was still summer and you could rely on the sun.

The sun method works well as it warms the whole PF (plastics and everything else removed) and not just localised heat/ freeze.

 

Now having said that I ruined a Flintstones PF. Experience now tells me I had it all stacked against me:

1 - It was late autumn/ early winter. (didn't know about the sun method then)

2 - used my wifes hairdryer and tried to rush it as I was afraid of melting inserts -doh?

3 - At the time the FS was only 10-ish years old and a newer mylar/glue - still had a mighty hold on the PF.

4 - I started down in between the flippers instead of test trying a piece up the top out of sight.

 

All lessons I've learnt but mylar removal and I just nod at each other from the other side of the street.

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All lessons I've learnt but mylar removal and I just nod at each other from the other side of the street.

 

 

[emoji23]well put mate, I think I’ll give it a good clean first and think about that later in my restoration career!

 

Thanks for all the input everyone. [emoji482]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Aussie Arcade

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if that is all the problem is I'd just clean up around the edges and not take the risk. once you strip it back, deep clean and replace and clean all the plastics.

 

as jeff said above, I have had mixed results

 

don't take the risk 'cause if it goes to shit then it needs several hundred to be restored.

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i would remove that.. in the sun as suggested by others

 

based on others of the same era i have done it has all the signs it wil come off easy but leave a lot of glue residue. go really slow. the damage is caused when you go too fast on a cold bit.

 

a bigger issue you wll find than a stray spec of lost art is that its masking the sunken inserts.

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if that is all the problem is I'd just clean up around the edges and not take the risk. once you strip it back, deep clean and replace and clean all the plastics.

 

as jeff said above, I have had mixed results

 

don't take the risk 'cause if it goes to shit then it needs several hundred to be restored.

 

Thanks for weighting in mate, any suggestions for cleaning plastics? I’ve heard that Novus #1 is good or will Shellite (Naphtha) do the job? I’m planning on using Shellite for the playfield....

 

 

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Boards removed and ready to be packed up and sent away for some lovin. [emoji10]

 

Image1557843129.135905.thumb.jpg.04a29a6fdec7eefe8bfbee0dfd96e90f.jpg

 

Removed the displays and gave the inside/outside of the cabinet (plus the backbox) a good clean while I was in the neighbourhood. The colours on cabinet/inside of the cabinet are surprisingly bright and look pretty great already. There is a bit of wear on the side art but nothing too drastic. 🥳

 

 

Three of the five displays have burn marks and/or have come apart so I reckon they are cactus! Promptly ordered a set of five displays from Tangles.

 

 

Image1557843391.564786.thumb.jpg.9228d7a8a8781d566a6a3c80bc799bd6.jpg

 

Image1557843427.705841.thumb.jpg.1337bf01373dff2091460bbbdb4bfb49.jpg

 

Found this flyer online. This will be my “Holy Grail” mission, if anyone knows of the whereabouts of any “Photomat” units I will be very interested!

 

[ATTACH]147964[/ATTACH]

 

Love the idea of this technology, does anyone know much about these units?

 

I’m assuming it’s a Polaroid photo system and that it’s a world (pinball) first to have a camera taking a photo of the highest scorer?

 

 

 

 

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UPDATE:

 

Ok, I took all comments on board and got stick into stripping the playfield. All the plastics and metal posts etc have been removed, bagged and labelled. [emoji736]

 

There were a couple of sections of Mylar that had already lifted and so I was going to trim it back and clean around it. With a bit of careful pulling the Mylar came off super easy (initially, even without the use of a hairdryer) and (in a discrete section) did not take any paint off whatsoever.

 

Image1558078836.778757.thumb.jpg.b674964c0e819f103e1e19afe6ed97ed.jpg

 

Image1558078862.028058.thumb.jpg.4c8930ff61b6a23f4213b20ce657a4eb.jpg

 

Soooo, the long and the short of it is I successfully got all the Mylar off without taking off any artwork🥳(well, a few tiny flakes, but nothing noticeable). To be clear, I wasn’t going to, but it came off so easy that it really had done it’s time. It was applied after a few years of use by the looks of it, some of the minor playfield scuffs were underneath.

 

Image1558078909.514468.thumb.jpg.58759f648750424bee63a9a07beabe17.jpg

 

A few questions, if you please:

 

1) What’s the consensus on cleaning and waxing the playfield as is?I’ve heard that with HUO a regularly waxed playfield will last for years without further damage.

I’ve looked into clear coating and it looks a bit beyond me at this stage but I do have access to a vacuum press to re-apply Mylar (or something similar?). I am however a bit unsure how an entire playfield would fare under heat and vacuum pressure? I’ve sealed a back glass before (to prevent further flaking) but nothing wooden....

 

2) what’s the recommendation regarding cleaning playfield metal posts & screws etc? Can you use a vinegar bath similar to the legs and coin door?

 

3) Finally any advice on ball swirl marks? Thinking Shellite then Novus #2?

 

Cheers!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Aussie Arcade

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  • 2 weeks later...

UPDATE:

 

Removed all the plastic posts and put them through the top drawer of the dishwasher in the cutlery basket. They were pretty good but I finished them off by scrubbing with a toothbrush in soapy water to get all the rubber goo off. Now they look great! [emoji92]

 

Image1558934852.933800.thumb.jpg.69554fc2cc550ecdd46855313d13340f.jpg

 

 

Also soaked all the metal playfield parts in vinegar to get rid of rust etc.. Had to meticulously bag (containerise) them up to keep track of what goes where:

 

Image1558934975.683431.thumb.jpg.b9ac058ff3cc2190bfb385d92dc59bb9.jpg

 

Soaked them for five days (purely because I wasn’t able to get to them sooner) then cleaned off the residual gunk and polished up the parts that will be visible. I was going to use Mother’s Mag Auto Polish but had an “out of stock” issue when I went to the auto shop. I bought Autosol metal polish instead and am very happy with the results. [emoji3]

 

Image1558935323.558634.thumb.jpg.9f7d2cbded4cb8ecbf022f13fca4a202.jpg

 

I’ll aim to tackle the playfield next or deal with the legs and coin door....[emoji106]

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  • 3 weeks later...

UPDATE:

 

Righto, done s whole lot of things since my last update:

 

Got the boards back from Ken plus the missing sound board[emoji2] Looks like he’s done a great job but the “big power up” will be the true test. He had a fair bit of work to do on the driver board particularly, he reckons it had been stripped for parts at some stage. I noticed there were a bunch of transistors missing when I packed it up to be sent away.

The best improvement he made was to add an LED battery to the MPU board (which holds the high scores) the old one’s are notorious for leaking and causing corrosion. Anyhoo, should be all sweet now!🤞

 

IMG_1668.thumb.jpg.27b2ed7f177a10d17f4c8854ac0d1b71.jpg

 

 

Metal playfield parts have been soaked in vinegar for a couple of days then polished with Autosol. They’ve come up nicely. I’ve also done the lock down bar (which has come up ok and will do for now).

 

Image1560503837.890106.thumb.jpg.05fab01f35280fc80ca62df7d17ba037.jpg

 

Playfield has been given a serious clean as well, a three step process:

 

Image1560504197.567613.thumb.jpg.60c7311d0d54ff2adff4216e60809fb8.jpg

 

I primarily used the flour and isopropyl alcohol method to remove the mylar glue which worked a treat:

 

Image1560504015.920484.thumb.jpg.e0bfe4da294bce59fcf9257a89936ee6.jpg

 

Image1560504038.921319.thumb.jpg.b574cc256c323cf79d757199f7a52f0d.jpg

 

I then cleaned the playfield with Shellite (Naptha). For the record, I had a go at removing ball swirl marks with Novus #2 but it didn’t really make a difference. I have read you can remove these marks with isopropyl alcohol and a magic eraser but it can take off paint [emoji848]I’ll live with them for now methinks.....

Finally, I waxed the playfield twice with Meguiars Caranuba Wax. I realise it is not always necessary to wax twice but I felt that after many years of neglect she deserved it! It really looks and feels great. Can’t wait to flip...

 

Image1560504706.347308.thumb.jpg.2d212f144cae04da9b4b81cc550120c8.jpg

 

Image1560504729.369536.thumb.jpg.d1e5f1b615e5f36fdbe8841478af3911.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Aussie Arcade

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  • 1 month later...

Just visiting from your tech support thread on the game. Looking forward to the day I can bring mine out of storage and work on it but until then, seeing your game pictures bring me a smile :)

 

I have an updated ROM for the game that fixes a factory spinner scoring bug, removes some of the dead ends in the game and adds some other features. PM me if you're interested.

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