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In Progress Rocky & Bullwinkle Shop Log

Did you ever get anywhere with the spring? I found one that may be about the right size. If you could give me some dimensions I'll check.
 
Well I'm trying to get the sound PCB working on mine, then the flipper board

Power and CPU are sorted, display board is intermittent, but I think I know the cause so will sort that when the rest works

then it's major clean up and polish time! (and sort out the new nell plastic to sit on the log)

thought I should get it working before worrying about making it look presentable, but hope to have it ready for the UK Pinball party this year (if it happens)
 
Paul said:
Better plan - Go on holiday in the USA and you can then bring the parts back in your hold luggage.... :D
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Well i'm hoping to be out that way in 2016 but i'd rather have it sorted before then. I think the glass channels are around 5 foot long too so maybe a little lengthy to squeeze into my baggage; and no clue if they'd arrive home in one piece. Just so much to consider.

elrikos said:
Did you ever get anywhere with the spring? I found one that may be about the right size. If you could give me some dimensions I'll check.
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Nope. I got prices to have two made (they only do them in pairs) but it was £40+ so I figured i'd hang fire for now and revisit it later. If I have to end up having one made then that's what i'll do. I'll keep the other as a spare.

Approximate dimensions are shown in the image below, although i'm told that the shaft the spring slides over isn't actually 19mm in diameter but in fact the spring sits loosely over it. There was also a comment made that the entry and exit angles of the 'arms' on this spring aren't quite correct. Personally I suspect it would still fit but possibly there wouldn't be enough tension to return the mechanism to it's starting point. It really is a bit of a p**s poor design.

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Well the replacement arm for my Rocky Hat Trick animation arrived at the weekend. The photo below shows the issue with the old one. From the front there are a number of very visible pot rivets and looking behind you can clearly see why. Someone who's had it previously has done a pretty nice job of patching it up but my OCD has really been bugging me and the rivets on the front keep catching my eye.

2014-05-07 21.24.09.jpg
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Anyway, my OCD finally got the better of my so I ordered a repro from Jeff at Classic Arcades. These are made from PETG so are much harder wearing. Alas it looks to me like the colour registration is a little off. The one i've removed closely matches the colour of Bullwinkle in the mirrored backglass. I'm not convinced if this isn't going to also bug the hell out of me. I guess we'll see. Here's a comparison of the two side by side. The artwork is a close match but the brown isn't quite right.

2014-05-07 21.24.45.jpg

Ordinarily this would have been fitted by now, but whilst i've got the arm removed I figured I should do something about the mechanism which constantly scratches the nose on the backglass. I've heard that if I had 1-2mm shaved off the screw and the post that support the arm then that should be sufficient to prevent the problem occurring. I don't have much in the way of tools to do that job here so i'm going to take the parts into our workshop in the next day or so and get them to grind a couple of mm off for me. Then I can refit the arm and that's another job off the list. I'll keep the old arm somewhere safe so if it really bothers me I can swap it back in.

2014-05-07 21.25.36.jpg
 
You're not the first person to be slightly underwhelmed by Jeff's Classic Arcades, Inc. I ordered a set of 7 drop targets, 4 bop bumper caps and an apron decal for my Bally Paragon. The red "bang" drop targets are double stamped, the black "Boars head" drops are slightly too small (and the plastic of all the drop targets just feels a bit flimsy and bendy compared to the rigid milky white of the originals), the bumper caps stamps aren't well centred and the apron decal is below par. The ORAJET vinyl isn't "ultra thin" and it's also slightly textured instead of glossy smooth. The red and yellow pin-striping has noticeable angles around the corner and isn't symmetrical - you can tell it's been drawn in a basic graphics package by an amateur. The colour register is also off. Whilst the issues with the drops and caps are minor, partly a matter of taste, and likely unnoticeable once fitted, the apron decal is, for me at least, unusable. It would do if you had to get by but I'd rather live with the authentic patina of my slightly aged original apron.

Here's a Flickr album of close-up shots showing some of these defects:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterduerden/sets/72157638855237853

And here's the current eBay listings for the parts I bought. All told after postage, import duty and Post Office handling charges a total cost of £75:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paragon-Pinball-Machine-Drop-Target-Set-/301088888750
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bally-PARAGON-Pinball-Machine-POP-BUMPER-CAP-SET-NEW-/300951973915
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARAGON-Pinball-Machine-Apron-Decal-Set-/300745640758

I've heard good and bad comments about Jeff's business and I wouldn't say he's intentionally attempting to rip anyone off, but I think someone else could do it a lot better and am quite surprised no one has (I'm thinking of the guy who owns Homepin setting up his pinball factory in China from scratch - his stuff is top quality). The problem for us in the UK is the cost of returns is prohibitive.

I guess you just live and learn...
 
I'd heard similar comments myself to be fair, but i'd ordered my replacement Lion plastic from him and it was spot on.

I know from experience that getting colour registrations to match can be a PITA and I don't know in this case if the previous parts were subject to any fading. Either way i'll live with it for now.
 
Glad to hear that, just ordered mine!

I had to have the arm, since the one on mine was completely missing

What I need next is a Nell image, to make a replacement otherwise the log will look very lonely when I get around to cleaning.

CPU sorted, sound now works, just need to sort out the flipper board (and put a new DMD in) and it's electronically sorted - then comes take apart, clean, polish and tumble!!

I'll put the DMD from one of my other pins in when ColorDMD decide to support it - the rumours are that they are doing two I own, so whatever one happens first ...
 
Wiredworm said:
I know from experience that getting colour registrations to match can be a PITA
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You're so right on that! I'm trying to get colour matches from RGB scans of a playfield to CMYK colours for printing playfield decals. Only way to do it is create a whole range of colours that you think match and then have them printed on a test decal.

After re-reading my post it does sound like I've been a bit heavy-handed on Jeff's business. I understand he provides a service for what is really a low volume market but uses some pretty expensive equipment. The apron decal definitely wasn't up to standard, but the caps and drops are better are passable. Certainly better than heavily yellowed, worn, burnt and cracked originals! And with NOS parts becoming ever rarer, or unobtainium, will eventually be the only option.
 
Result.

The push button housing I needed has turned up in stock at Marcos. Those things were thought to be unobtainium.

I've slung an order in for that, a new Boris Button and a rotolock despite the high shipping prices. Woo hoo!!! :-)
 
Yeah they've got quite a few bits. It's just a shame some of the stuff I need is so large and makes shipping it from the USA prohibitively expensive.

At some point I need a new playfield glass and the side rails. No chance i'm paying for those to be sent over. I'll most likely look at picking up the glass from Andy if I happen to travel down near Rugby at any point. The glass rails look like they might have to come from Norway at the moment via Copenhagen.

Be good to get the new button and housing in place and then during the summer i'm hoping to look at patching up the back of the cabinet before rebraiding it and reinstating the original roto lock mechanism.
 
Yup Rudi. The plan is that during July or August i'm going to strip the playfield and head off it again and cart the main cabinet outside. Then i'll replace the back end, reinstate the rotolock, give the internals a damned good clean up and paint before then patching up the hole on the exterior and redoing the ground braid. Once that's all done it's just a small matter of sorting out the damage to the artwork.

I reckon that little lot should keep me busy for a while. Oh, and i'd like to get the glass tracks and glass replaced as well around the same time.
 
Macro said:
What I need next is a Nell image, to make a replacement otherwise the log will look very lonely when I get around to cleaning.
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:oops: Sorry Macro. I think you're still waiting on me with this one.

I did make a start and then work went nuts and we had problems at home. It totally dropped off my radar.

Will see if I can remedy that in the next week or so.
 
It's a lovely table Carl and although some don't consider it a 'prestige' table i'll happily throw my money at it to make mine as nice as possible whilst I get moved and to a place which has room for more Pins.

In other news I can happily atest that the delivery service from Marcos is bloody fast. I grumbled a LOT at the shipping being $40. But to their credit the item was only shipped yesterday and it's due to be delivered TOMORROW. That's 2 days door to door from the US to the UK. That's pretty snappy.

Now I just have to hope the missus is in when they turn up.

Wish me luck with C&E. I have a feeling if UPS are delivering then I can expect a bill for that of at least £10-£30. How they can include the delivery charge when calculating VAT is totally beyond me.
 
yes, it can be a real pain, although the bit I object to is parcelforces £12+ "for presenting it to customs on my behalf" - that often exceeds the import duty!
 
According to their website UPS charge around £12 for collecting the customs charges. Only thing I think i'm due to pay on mine is VAT but at £9 it means the total cost will come in at £20. Pretty steep when the parts only cost $40 (which is, what, about £30?).

They appear to calculate the charges based on the whole value including shipping which seems very wrong to me - in my case the shipping was almost as much as the cost of the items.

In other news - woo!! I found a new button housing I needed!! :D
 
I hope it's easier to fit on yours than it was on mine!

whoever pinched the housing also took the brackets it mounts on, and the replacement I had didn't come with them.

I got some some mini shelf bracket things from B&G (about a £1 each) and modified those to make it fit.
 
I've had mine removed from the table as I patched up the borris button at the same time. The brackets are all there and are fine; it's just the plastic housing which has been smashed to bits.

Parts have arrived now so I can get the Boris Button and Housing fitted sometime. Think I need to change the LED i've fitted inside though as the frosted dome is a bit of a tight squeeze due to it's length. Might grab a replacement I think.

Which reminds me. The GI still needs swapping out for LEDs and I have some inserts which also still need doing. Not saying i'm fully sold on LEDs in all cases but I think the cartoon art and vibrant colours on this one make it a good fit.
 
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did you get zapped for import ?

I just got a bill for £14 for the Lion plastic - that makes about 60% tax (although of course it includes royal mails £8 rip off handling fee)
 
Yep, I got stung big time. Part of the problem is they calculate the taxes based on the cost of the items plus shipping. I paid the $40 for the UPS 1 week service and paid a lot as a result. Then the robbing b'stards at UPS charged an extra £12 for collecting the fee. Total charge was £20.35. Pretty steep considering my parts worked out to cost about £25.

Still, i've got the button housing which I thought to be unobtanium. So i'm at least happy about that.

Now the bad news.

I was dicking around with the machine earlier on and had the backglass lifted out. I'd put a bit of tape over the damage to bullwinkles nose to stop it getting worse but as the mechanism for the arm is stripped out right now I thought i'd careful lift the tape and start thinking about how I could touch in the missing area.

Yeah, well it seems I wasn't quite careful enough as i've managed to lift even more paint off. So it looks like i'll be investing in some brown and black glass paints to see if I can fill it back in and make a decent job of it. I'll do my trial runs on the front as if the colour match is out then I can simply wipe it off and try again. I realise I need to take a lot of care because the colour will dry differently to how it looks wet. So the idea is to be very precise when mixing up the colour batches so I can hopefully recreate the right colour once i've found what combination is needed.
 
Wiredworm said:
So the idea is to be very precise when mixing up the colour batches so I can hopefully recreate the right colour once i've found what combination is needed.
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save me some, I've got a scratched nose as well ...

although my plan to fix it was to print on some transfer paper from my colour printer, then once matchec, apply a transfer to the back - I got some laser print transfer paper from craftypaper to try out

so, start with lots of squares of various oranges on one sheet for comparison, and then pick one. the some white behind that.

anyway, getting nearer, hopefully just the flipper board to sort out and mine is ready for playfield dissasemble and clean!
 
If I go the painting route then I'll be sure to save it for you.

But you just reminded me that I've got some clear vinyl that I got for making repro plastics so I could equally try a similar idea to you. That might well be worth a try.
 
Parts arrived from Marcos but i've decided against fitting them for now as I want to do a fair bit of work on the cabinet. I noticed that the Boris decal on the launch button isn't straight so i'm querying that with Marcos. In the meantime i'm also on the lookout for bolts for the new rotolock section I bought.

Next up I need to grab the replacement glass channels and a cord cup. Once that's done the whole cabinet needs stripping and cleaning before having the braid refitted (the old one has a segment which isn't fitted properly). But all of this won't be done until i've refitted the back end of the cab and fixed the shark bite in the corner. I'll do this once i've gathered together all the parts needed.

The idea is that i'll strip the lot down and give it a damn good cleaning before painting the cabinet inside, applying a new braid and then rebuilding it. So that's hopefully going to happen during July or August.

I've got a fair list of bits I need again which surprised me given that i've already done a fair bit on the machine. In summary the jobs needed are:

1. Replace the GI in the back box with LED's. I'm going to use cool whites for most of it but with blue behind the curtains.
2. Replace the back end of the cabinet and fit a new cord cup, cord and rotolock.
3. Clean/paint the inside of the cab. Polish up/clean any bits in the cab at the same time.
4. Apply a new braid and hook it to the Rotolock bottom section.
5. Fit new glass channels
6. Replace the glass with a nice pristine piece
7. Replace the lift trim at the bottom of the backglass because it's got a split in it
8. Fit the new Bullwinkle arm (already had the fitting filed down by 1-2mm to prevent more damage to the glass)
9. Fix up the paint job on Bulllwinkles Nose

I think that little lot will keep me going for a while ;)
 
Been a bit quiet lately. There's still plans afoot but right now i'm gathering bits together needed to sort out the cabinet. As mentioned previously the new button housing arrived along with the Boris Button. Andy has hopefully sorted me out with some glass rails; they could be about half an inch too short but to be honest that should be fine as i'll just mount them so the gap is at the rear and I doubt it will be even noticable. Certainly better than the chewed up ones I have now.

I need to grab a staple gun, staples and a reel of braid in readiness for the rebraiding of the cabinet. Finally a cord cup and some milliput and then I finally should be good to go.

In the meantime i've found a couple of plastics online which are in better condition than mine so I reckon I might grab those too. One is an original shooter cover which i'll use to replace my repro one. I'd like to keep my plastics authentic if at all possible.

I've also shaved a few millimeters off the screw that holds Bullwinkles arm in place and then refitted the repro arm from Jeff at Classic Arcades. This shaving of the screw should move the head further away from the glass and stop it doing any more damage to the backglass. The plan is to touch the paintwork up on that at some point; I reckon a trip to Hobbycraft in Leeds might be in order as I know they stock a fair range of glass paints.

One question I do have is what's the best way to clean and shine my plastics? I didn't do them when the table was stripped but i'm thinking about doing a full stripdown again (this time including under the playfield) to give everything a proper deep clean. This is because the playfield is already filthy again.
 
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plastics - I usually use Novus#2 on them, both sides, certainly worked OK on my other pins.

I just need to sort out the flipper board on mine, then it's time for cleaning / playing.

need to sort out some new side rails at some point, but will wait until something like the pinball party so I can collect them.

who knows, if I finish it in time I may bring it along ....
 
I was really hoping to make Pinball Party this year but it falls on my birthday weekend and the missus has already arranged a big party for my 40th. Ho hum, hopefully next year.
 
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