Restoring Supersonic

[Grefla]

Onto my next restoration project. Time to make this supersonic look “Supersonic”.

 

Here are the “how it started” pics  and the first bit of cabinet repair  I’ve leaned to love builders bog.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Grefla
Updating to a restoration thread instead of a question.

[Grefla]

Just an update. Decided to go rust oleum 2x. Limited range, but primary colors seem ok. 
 

so yellow - sun yellow

red - apple red

blue - deep blue. 
 

 

Laid down the yellow and the first pinball pimp stencil on ready to go. 

And the red is down. 

Followed by the blue. 

[AskJacob]

Looking fantastic mate!

[Autosteve]

I've had 3 Supersonics over the years and none of them ever had cabinet paint problems. Get colour scheme that never seemed to suffer from fading.

I will say it has one of the prettiest backglasses also.

[Grefla]

34 minutes ago, Autosteve said:

I've had 3 Supersonics over the years and none of them ever had cabinet paint problems. Get colour scheme that never seemed to suffer from fading.

I will say it has one of the prettiest backglasses also.

This one needed a repaint. You are right, not faded, but the red had discoloured to orange (as it does with all of them), the head box yellow had also discoloured compared to the main cabinet( same serial number) and there was lots of wear and tear to the paint on the main cabinet. 
 

It will look much fresher in a few days when I’ve finished the blue. Then just letting it sit for a few weeks before hitting it with clear coat. 

[Grefla]

Starting to put her back together after letting the clear sit for a week.

[Grefla]

Backboard insert repainted and cabinet reassembled. Legs - Stripped, sanded, primed, painted and cleared to match transformer cage and coin door. 
 

just a bit of playfield restoration to go. 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Grefla

[Grefla]

for this one I decided to colour match the legs to the game  so for Supersonic they had to be red 

The leg on the right showing the original rust and tatty paint. 

The leg on the left stripped and ready for paint. To strip the leg I have a length of PVC storm pipe capped at one end and with a screw cap at the other. Filled with double strength vinegar from Woolies. I sit the legs in there for 2 weeks and then take them out and spray they off with the Karcher. The paint just flies off. 
 

Then I used SCA primer filler and a quick sand with 800 grit followed by 2 more coats of primer, sanding between each. Helps to get rid of the little scratches. 
 

Rather than use the rust oleum for an exact match I used Gloss red Australian export from SCA as its 1/3 the price of rust oleum. 
 

finishing off with 3 coats of crystal clear coat. Not sanded to leave a powder coated appearance.  With the leg bolts fresh from the tumbler it’s looking slick. 

The coin door. 
 

taken apart and all mechs cleaned, decided to colour match the back plate to the legs and transformer cage. 
 

I used the same steps, primer and sand x3 then paint, followed by a few coats of clear. 
 

before:

 

After

 

[Grefla]

Playfield….

I was surprised to find the rails were a pink, but it ties in with the pink on the plastics. 
 

the exposed rails were dirty and dark, and faded light in others  

 

The pictures on the flyers for the game show the rails to be a deep pink. I had heard a lot about Montana paint. I found that they had a range of pinks so I ordered the closest I could find(difficult on a computer screen!) and went for Montana black - Punk pink. 

The rails were sanded primed, sanded etc until the imperfections were gone, then I hit it with the Punk pink.
 

I must say, the Montana black is amazing to paint with. Thick and even cover on 1 pass. I have found my new favourite paint!  
 

When laid down it was a lighter shade than I expected, but I like it.  I gave it 2 coats of clear, which made it pop. 

 

it looks more fluoro in the photo than it actually is. 
 

I got the playfield back together and the pink rails look great with the pink in the playfield plastics. 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Grefla

[Grefla]

The spinner was looking worse for ware so time to give it a fresh new look  

 

sanded with 800 grit to smooth and then a couple of coats of good old SCA primer filler  

 

then a few coats of Matt white, followed by 3 coats of clear  

Edited October 30, 2021 by Grefla

[Grefla]

I’ve put the decal on and it’s looking as good as new.  It was a fairly thick sticker, my question is, should I put some clear coat over the top of the sticker?   
 

[Rich]

the ball will chip the paint away from the bottom edge over time, your call but i reckon it's easier to have a few spare stickers, and just replace when needed, or a piece of mylar?

you may already be planning it, but that self tapper metal post that protects the wire from the spinner to the leaf blade underneath should be replaced with a washer under the base, or even stronger is replacing it with one that has the thread that goes through the playfield to the underside and a nyloc to hold in place, if there is room underneath? And still using a washer under the base, that metal post gets a hammering, as you can see.

https://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/530-5005-00.html

[Grefla]

I thought I’d share how I restored the legs. I’m probably telling you stuff you already know but here goes. 
 

First I made a tube of storm water pipe capped and sealed at one end, screw cap at the other. 
 

I sit the legs in there, in double strength white vinegar, for a week or 2. 
 

When they come out the paint is blistered. I then hit it with the karcher and it comes right off. 
 

Could only put a very short video up to show you. 

 

 

[Grefla]

And finally, inside in the warm!  Sat next to Medusa and looking mighty fine!