playfield update

So I finally feel like I've got the space filled a bit better.  I still have targets to put in front of the edges of rails, but that's a small detail.  In order to get up to the balcony, you have to aim for the orbit, which allows you to shoot into the far left with the right flipper.  This path (not shown) will go up a small ramp, and dump into a hand that pulls the ball up to the balcony.  If you drain, the ball travels down the violin neck (decided to get rid of the body as this takes up too much playfield space), which feeds into a subway tunnel and pops out into the right dead area.  I haven't quite figured out what I want to do with this space yet (if I had multiball, this would be an ideal spot for ball locks).  Couple more toys I've added since are a drum set that spins on the left, and a microphone to the right (will make the distortion sound when you knock it over).  I also want to add stage lights in the upper right to make it feel more like a concert.  Haven't decided if I'm going to just mount them stationary, or actually have them rotate during the game.


Also here's the violin neck I got off ebay

Cabinet finished painting

Not going to bother posting a photo of it, you know what a williams cabinet looks like I'm sure.  I've got the new artwork ready.  Decided to photoshop the background out this time, as well as keep the decal away from edges, legs, and rails.  Here's what the new side artwork is going to be, I think it's much cleaner:

Pays to prime

So I never really believed in primer.  I always thought it was a waste of money, if you sand a surface properly you shouldn't need primer.  Turns out, unless you sand perfectly you'll never get a good surface.  So after seeing how great the goonies cabinet looked after priming, I decided to spend the $6 on a pint.  I'll be damned if it doesn't make a difference.  It really helps level out the surface, and you can see how much more the cabinet sheens.  Granted I only have 1 coat on, it's already obvious how much better this cabinet is going to turn out.




















Also got my new aluminum angle and made another bracket, I think it will work quite fine.  I should be able to adjust the mounting screws while the switch is still mounted.

Got a new donor cabinet

So rather than trying to make my current cabinet work (which has no slant because it was built just after the EM era without ramps or 2nd levels), I managed to get a donor F-14 cabinet.  Granted it was free (and I'm grateful to my friend that gave it to me), it's so stripped it only has the side rails.  I'm gonna have to source a coin door (one on ebay for $5 right now), $16 on leg threads.  I may try to re-use the stern lockbar and lockdown mech since a new williams set is going to set me back a good $140.  I mean it's not ideal, but's not like I'm restoring a williams game, I'm building a custom game.  Standard width is standard width, so really any lockdown bar will do.

Spose it's better this way, all stripped so I can do this cabinet the right way this time.  I'm currently gluing the loose wood in the front with clamps squeezing them together.  Once that's dry, I'm going to attempt to use some bondo I bought a little bit ago.  Wood filler works ok, but it tends to be crumbly and doesn't always sand so well.  After I thoroughly sand it inside and out, I'm going to go through the trouble of priming first, more sanding, then final black coats.

Sort of sucks I'm having to not only redo the cabinet, especially the $60 in decals are going to waste on the cabinet.  I mean I'm not too bummed about that last part because honestly the bottom cabinet artwork isn't adhering so well.  This time when I do it, I'm not going to have any decals behind metal.  Heck, I'm not even going all the way to the edges, I'm literally doing a big sticker with gaps between any mating parts.  I'm also going to glue it down well so it stays stuck.

Anyway, here's the donor cabinet:

I'm realizing this cabinet is a good 4 inches longer, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I have to adjust my playfield

I've also decided to JUST order a violin neck instead of an entire violin.  I figure it will be much more flexible if I simply make the violin body out of some layers of plywood and attach the neck.  I won't be restricted by size, and I'm not ruining a perfectly good $35 violin.  I'll still have to order some tuning pegs, but that can come later

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-hand-carved-Student-Maple-White-Violin-Neck-4-4-size-Violin-Parts-/271539302949?pt=String_Instrument_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f3900f225

Switch + bracket = some progress

So made my first prototype switch assembly.  Not happy with the stock material I had on had (too small and radius' are getting in the way), so I have some slightly bigger 1/8" aluminum channel on it's way (without radius').  Here's a quick video: