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Expired 6 piece Protectors for Twilight Zone TZ Stot now added

Expired Due to no activity
Colywobbles

Colywobbles

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5Years
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
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After buying the highly modded Hobbit from Beowulf (Tony) the most impressive and practical mod of them all was the set of plastic protectors that were fitted to the pin. They enhanced the overall look and made the whole PF pop with their fluorescent Green finish, so much so I ordered a set for my TZ from Germany and a set for my GOTG from the US for €65 and $50 respectively.

Although the GOTG ones were ok the TZ ones were very disappointing and didn’t come close to my Hobbit ones in many ways so I promptly returned them and after a right old hassle I won’t get into they eventually refunded me.
So as my good old Dad used to say “if you want something done, do it yourself” so my €65 refund and a further £1.5k saw me take delivery of a very nice 2nd hand laser cutter, a Surface pro 6 laptop and a version of Corel Draw x8.
So here I am 3 weeks later, owning a lot less hair and also a shade of lighter gray than before, along with sleepless nights and the feeling I have started college all over again on some sort of cad design course.
I think it was well worth all the effort as todays work saw my very 1st set of protectors for my TZ. I am well happy at how they have came out and the only downside is the cost to produce them hehe.

So what do you guys think?

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I have made them slightly oversize to help protect the original plastics but in turn I think it enhances the look and gives the PF more eye candy value. I can of course cut them flush but I prefer this way.
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Previously I had some lexan washers on which I bought that were made using a hole cutter by the looks of them
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Also anyone who has these bullet proof big boys on get them changed if only for the lexan type above as they damage balls which transfers to your PF if they get too bad. Oh and they also look ****e diffusing the light with horrendous dark circles in your lovely artwork unlike mine :thumbs:
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I only wish the pictures could do them justice as they look a lot nicer in the flesh

I’ve never really sold anything on here Bar a pinball however I’ve bought far too many the wife keeps telling me! My plan is try and recoup to some of my initial outlay selling them on eBay 1st with these TZ ones and the next 2 sets being IM & MB for my own pins. If I get any interest I will start and work through the popular pins and if any of you fellow pinheads here would be interested for either a cutting service from your own set of drawings or a set designed from scratch by myself just LMK

If I do sell any though the forum I will donate 10% to the site and give a further 10% discount and free postage to anyone wanting a set direct from here too. As for price I was thinking £19.95 for a typical set of 4 (2 slings & 2 out lanes) plus an additional 4.95 for each extra piece ie the rocket plastic on TZ. I think this is a fair price considering the ones I’ve bought overseas were double that.
I very much doubt it will pay for my setup but but TBH I’ve really enjoyed designing and producing them and hope it brings something to the table for our little community.
I do also intend do do some other stuff both Pin and non-Pin related as well as some engraving which I have only dabbled with ATM it all helps to fund my little startup.

If anyone is interested in a set for their TZ at the moment I have enough Acrylic to do 3 more sets but I will be ordering more very shortly.
 
Very well done, they look great! I made my own Joe's Diner plastic for Flintstones, that was cut with a hacksaw but it suited the art style of the Flintstones and you can't beat creating something yourself. A laser cutter would have made it much easier.

+1 on the lexan washers, it's the first thing I put on when get a new Pin, they are cheap and look much better.

Hope you manage to sell a few and recoup some of your outlay. If I ever need anything I'll hit you up.
 
Nice, I get all mine from Germany from Freddy’s. Yellow is my go to colour usually and they can make a staggering difference- first time I put them on afm was “wow”.

They certainly add to the atmosphere and ‘pop’ of the playfields/plastics, one of the very first mods on my list.

Certainly dedication getting your own cutter 😜
 
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They do look great, I'll probably take some off you. Tempted for the TZ ones and I don't even have one (yet).

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
 
They look great @Colywobbles . Well impressed and a bit ****ed off as I've bought a load recently.
What can your laser cutter cut? material wise.
Also what format can you import?

I'm going to do a strip down of my TZ so will be looking for a protector under the mini playfiled.
 
Vimtoman said:
They look great @Colywobbles . Well impressed and a bit ****ed off as I've bought a load recently.
What can your laser cutter cut? material wise.
Also what format can you import?

I'm going to do a strip down of my TZ so will be looking for a protector under the mini playfiled.
Click to expand...
It can cut wood & acrylics upto 10mm and a number of other materials but nothing metallic.
It also engraves on these materials as well as metal, glass and the likes.
It’s early days and quite a learning curve ATM although I have done some design using illustrator, photoshop and affinity amongst others this approaches it all a slightly different way using different power and speed setting of the laser to get best results.
The laser sorftware works with DXF files (AutoCAD) but as Corel can import almost any type of file and export to DXF ready for the laser any drawing package including the really good free ones like InkScape will be fine.
 
OK DXF .
Will be in touch in the future.
Not too soon as I just spent plenty recently :)
 
Very impressed, I also got mine from freddy’s but not in the set one for the rocket.

Did you flame polish the edges ?
Alan
 
I might be interested, they do look good.

Do they discolour the plastics much? Red & Blues tends to really muddy the plastic colours.
 
Monkeyboypaul said:
I might be interested, they do look good.

Do they discolour the plastics much? Red & Blues tends to really muddy the plastic colours.
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In my eyes they’re an enhancement but each to their own.
If it helps I can send a sample of a red and yellow sling if you pay for postage and return if no good
 
'Muddying colors' will be down to what light gets through the protectors, and what's on the plastic. You can see with those yellows on TZ that the yellow and orange parts of the plastics are very bright, but the dark blue is significantly muted. it works really well because the dark blue is supposed to be the dark part of the artwork anyway.

Some plastics will likely never fully 'work' with these kinds of plastics but essentially you need to choose the color based on what color is supposed to be the brightest on the plastics. If it doesn't match the playfield then you're out of luck...
 
Marvello said:
Very well done, they look great! I made my own Joe's Diner plastic for Flintstones, that was cut with a hacksaw but it suited the art style of the Flintstones and you can't beat creating something yourself. A laser cutter would have made it much easier.

+1 on the lexan washers, it's the first thing I put on when get a new Pin, they are cheap and look much better.

Hope you manage to sell a few and recoup some of your outlay. If I ever need anything I'll hit you up.
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Where do you get your washers from @Marvello?
 
They look great.

I bought a set of fluroescent plastics for my TZ from Pinball Center. They didn't fit, particularly the outlane ones that wouldn't sit over the top of the black riser things (if that makes sense).

I'd like a set please, including the rocket one. PM me your PayPal details or however you want to be paid.
 
You have to take the top mushroom edge of the black spacers with a small file but leave the guide so the protectors sit nicely if that makes sense.
It’s just the nature of the beast I’m afraid.
I can post photo of how mine sit before commiting if you wish.
 
If you could that would be great. That's principally the reason I sent the other set back, because I couldn't figure out how to fit them :oops:
 
Id be interested in a few sets for various machines once you get thungs set up.
What colours do you offer just yellow and red ?
 
replicas said:
Id be interested in a few sets for various machines once you get thungs set up.
What colours do you offer just yellow and red ?
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There’s a rainbow of colours what pin and what colours were you thinking and which pins.
I’ll be doing my next set in Acid Green for IM as it seems the best colour to go with the zombie theme
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Is there such a thing as glow in the dark acrylic? Could use some green outlanes and slings for my TAF :)
 
PBrookfield said:
'Muddying colors' will be down to what light gets through the protectors, and what's on the plastic. You can see with those yellows on TZ that the yellow and orange parts of the plastics are very bright, but the dark blue is significantly muted. it works really well because the dark blue is supposed to be the dark part of the artwork anyway.

Some plastics will likely never fully 'work' with these kinds of plastics but essentially you need to choose the color based on what color is supposed to be the brightest on the plastics. If it doesn't match the playfield then you're out of luck...
Click to expand...

I agree as I've just placed a blue in a BOP and they really dont stand out that much. I even have lit starposts.

Red and yellow seem to the best pop
 
Not sure on glow in dark stuff but it would prob be a small fortune in its own right but I’ll look into it. However believe me when I say these things pop and my pics don’t really give them justice.
The acid green ones on my GOTG may give you some idea although they pop even more in the flesh and it’s hard to capture in a pic for some reason

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Its hard to get a good camera pic but just looking at that I can see it pushing out some light :)
 
Colywobbles said:
Not sure on glow in dark stuff but it would prob be a small fortune in its own right but I’ll look into it. However believe me when I say these things pop and my pics don’t really give them justice.
The acid green ones on my GOTG may give you some idea although they pop even more in the flesh and it’s hard to capture in a pic for some reason

View attachment 85250
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Nice. That would look perfect I think.

Are outlanes and slingshots a standard size? If so, I'd like to get a full set of yellow (including rocket) for TZ, and acid green set for TAF.

Eagerly awaiting your photo of how the slingshot ones fit on the black posts.
 
Having seen Attack From Mars with these kinds of protectors in place, I will say to all that it's worth the hype.

The only machine I wouldn't consider putting them on would be games where the whole concept of the 'glowing outline' look goes completely against the table theme.

I would LOVE to see Spectrum with all four colours in place!!!
 
Happypin said:
Very impressed, I also got mine from freddy’s but not in the set one for the rocket.

Did you flame polish the edges ?
Alan
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No I don’t flame them for the simple reason they don’t look bad as they are and as someone mentioned can be damaged if cleaned with alcohol based cleaners. The ones I’ve bought from Mezel have not been flamed probs for the same reason I guess
 
Colywobbles said:
No I don’t flame them for the simple reason they don’t look bad as they are and as someone mentioned can be damaged if cleaned with alcohol based cleaners. The ones I’ve bought from Mezel have not been flamed probs for the same reason I guess
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Yours look much better than the ones I got from Germany... good work
 
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