Prior to painting your pinball machine cabinet, it must be stripped, repaired and sanded. How to prep your pinball cabinet.
Materials Needed
* Disposable gloves.
* Face mask. Protect your lungs from the dust and paint fumes. Not just paper mask. Remember that you have only one pair of lungs.
* Sawhorses.
* Microfiber towel.
* Tac Cloth.
* Fine sandpaper. We use anywhere between 600 and 1000 grit. If you have to remove drips, then 220 or even 180 maybe needed.
* A hand held vacuum is nice to have to remove the dust.
* Blue painter’s tape. Different widths are good to have.
* Something heavy to hold the decals in place. We use full paint cans.
* Squeegee. Sometimes included with the stencils.
* Scissors or sharp blade to cut the back side of the stencil.
* Leg protectors to protect your work.
Paints
* Primer. Recommended is Kilz Oil based primer spray cans.
* Paint. The toughest choice. We have had great luck with big box store ‘rattle can’ spray paint. Others prefer Montana brand paint. Original colors were likely semi-gloss. Gloss will look great, but not original.
Pinball Pimp says that ‘Acrylic Enamel Spray Is Best‘ and recommends gloss. We use gloss.
| Note: Check with the stencil supplier for paint compatibility. Pinball Pimp says do NOT use Lacquer based paints on the stencils. It will not work well when applied to the stencils. Read the can label carefully. We have a bunch of Montana ‘Synthetic’ cans that we cannot use as they have lacquer. Any paint should be OK for the base. |
Cabinet Repair and Preparation
The surface to be painted must look perfect. Any imperfections will stand out and bug you, after it is painted. See the cabinet preparation section.
Lightly sand any glossy surfaces prior to painting. 600 grit.
Prior to painting, use a microfiber towel, vacuum then wipe the entire surface, including the interior, with a tac cloth.
Priming the Cabinet
Prime the entire cabinet, including all or most of the interior.
Follow the spray paint can shaking instructions. Position the cabinet so the part you are spraying is down, to avoid drips (more experienced people can skip this). Use your mask and face protection.
Let the primer completely dry overnight. If you have any drips, let them dry overnight and sand them out.
Sand the rest lightly with the fine grit sandpaper, vacuum, then wipe with the Tac Cloth.
Applying the Base Coat
The base coat is the color that is most prevalent – white in this example.
If you have only limited spray can experience, then we recommend doing only one side at a time so that you are always spraying down. This minimizes drips. And practice on scrap wood.
Follow the recommendations on the can. Don’t do this inside nor in the sun. A garage works. Put the cabinet on two saw horses, with the garage door open.
If you need a second coat, follow the can instructions. – apply after 20 minutes and no sanding is needed. Let dry over night, a light sanding and Tac Cloth required.
The worst thing to do is spray too thick a coat. You can always add more paint.
The base coat must cover the primer. The green example required a second coat.
Be sure to apply the base coat on the inside of the cabinet and the inside (at least the edges) of the backbox. This color will be visible above the playfield or along the backglass.
Once your base coat looks perfect and is completely dry, lightly sand with the 600 – 1000 grit sandpaper. Vacuum and Tac Cloth.
The Decals
Important points:
* Make certain you are happy with the base coat. And that you lightly sanded, vacuumed and wiped it clean.
* These decals have to be spot on. Small bubbles are not crucial. Folds are a problem.
* The pro’s will put the decals on the entire cabinet and spray all at once. If you are new to this, try doing one side at a time.
* If doing one side at a time, you will need to tape off the edges and, in most cases, apply newspaper to the other sides.
* Many designs run around the corner. That is where continual alignment is crucial.
* Get help. It is tough for one person to apply and remove the decals.
* Timing is important. We leave the decal on for 8 – 10 minutes after spraying, then remove. Any longer and the paint will be too tough to remove the decal.
* While removing, sometimes a ‘string’ of paint will occur between the decal and the cabinet. Have your assistant grab that before it falls to the cabinet.
* Rely heavily on the instructions included with the Stencils. Pinball Pimp.
* If not doing all of the decals at once, there is a strategy:
– Do both sides of the cabinet, then ‘fudge’ the front decal to align the colors.
– Work around the cabinet in a counter-clockwise direction.
This second strategy can work, unless your alignment is poor. Then it compounds the decal ‘drift’.
Applying the Decals
Note that the stencil for the first color (after the base) to be applied has a hand written ‘X’ on it. After painting, when removing this stencil, insure that the ‘X’ is left behind. That will align the second stencil color.
Roll out the decal onto the cabinet. As with the Pimp instructions, trim (at least) the corners to remove the excess. Or trim the entire excess with scissors or a sharp knife.
Set the stencil on the cabinet. Align the corners with the cabinet. If the stencil does not perfectly fit the four corners, leave the top imperfectly aligned. The top edge is covered by metal side rails.
Once you get the alignment close, put a heavy paint can in the center. If doing the long side of the cabinet, use two paint cans. Carefully align the corners perfectly with the cans in place.
Take your blue painter’s tape and place it across the narrow width at about the 1/3 to 1/4 point. Make sure that this painter’s tape securely locks the stencil in place. You should be able to lift up the short end, drop it back down and it will still be aligned.
The careful part: You need two people. Lift the short end up to the painter’s tape. Peel the backing away starting at the end. One person holds the end up (no sagging), the other peels the backing down to near the tape.
Using scissors or a sharp cutting tool, cut the backing close to where it is taped down and remove. Do not cut the stencil.
Starting at the tape (NOT the end), use the squeegee, and press the decal onto the cabinet towards the end while the other person pulls it taut. Don’t obsess over bubbles, but do not allow wrinkles. Work from the center painters tape to the end.
Remove the painters tape that was holding the decal in place.
Lift up the other end. As one person holds the stencil up, the other removes all of the remaining backing. If any remains, reach underneath and remove it.
Base color is white.
Starting from the center, use the squeegee and press the decal down, working to the other end. No wrinkles!
Stencil is applied. Cut off any remaining stencil overhang.
Squeeze any bubbles out that are near the cut outs.
Use painters tape along the edges.
Where there are gaps in the stencil along the edge, be sure to put painters tape along there too.
Paint The Decals
When you finish the spray painting, start your timer. We found 10 minutes worked on a warm day. Wait too long and the paint or paper will tear. Too soon and the paint will smear.
It is only necessary to spray over the part of the stencil where the base coat is visible. This is a view of the previous stencil with green over the white base coat.
Note that a second coat is not possible as the decal is destroyed in this process. It maybe possible to touch up sections with a paint brush, but that is to be avoided.
Remove The Decals
It is better to have a second person available to help.
Start removal ~10 minutes after spraying is completed.
The paint will remain tacky at this step. Do not touch it nor let anything fall into the tacky paint such as painter’s tape or removed decal.
First remove any painter’s tape. Remove the portions that do not have paint on it first, followed by the portions that have paint on it.
Start on one corner and lift up the decal. In cases where the decal is cut to the edge, two sections of decal must be lifted together. It is crucial to lift the decal in a deliberate manner, not quickly, but continuously. Do not allow any section of decal to fall back onto the cabinet.
If this is the first decal, there will be an ‘X’ left behind during removal. Insure that this alignment mark tears off in place and remains securely attached to the cabinet.
If a ‘string’ of paint forms between the decal and the cabinet, have the second person grab it and prevent that paint from falling on the cabinet. If it does fall, leave it for now.
Remove and roll up the entire decal.
The Second Decal
The second decal, which has the third color (base color, first decal, second decal) goes on just like the first decal, with the exception that the ‘X’ leftover from the first decal leads to precise alignment of the two decals.
Note that it is not so much as the ‘X’ itself that must align up, but it is the cut out piece from the first decal that aligns with the hole cut out in the second decal. This alignment is crucial or the two colors will not mesh together properly.
Once the ‘X’ and the cut out are aligned, the corners should line up with the decal corners the same, or the decal will be tilted.
Paint this decal just like the first one.
Then remove this decal just like the first one.
Note in this example how the green and orange colors are perfectly spaced so that the white background is the same size between the two colors.
If any decal color was disturbed, or if a ‘string’ of color fell on the base color, touch it up with a small paintbrush now.
The Front of the Pinball Cabinet
The front has its own challenges:
* The space for the coin door needs to be filled.
* The colors that follow from the side, through the front to the other side.
Prior to applying the decal over the hole of the coin, that space should be filled. White foam insulation cut to the space works well. We have used cardboard, too, taped on the inside of the cabinet.
If you have done both sides first and the alignment has been perfect, then the coin door decal will align with the sides. If it is off a little, this decal can be ‘fudged a little’ to make them align. If the legs interrupt the flow of the decal, then alignment is not important.
Our decal was cut in half (left-to-right). The bottom part was orange while the top part was green.
The Front of the Backbox (Head)
The sides of the backbox are done just like the sides of the cabinet.
The front of the backbox can be a bit of a challenge placing thin decals on either side of where the translite would be. Otherwise, the backbox is painted just like the cabinet.
The Finished Product
After completion, let the paint ‘cure’ for at least one day. A few days is preferred, so it hardens.
Reinstall the hardware. Get leg protectors to protect your ‘new’ cabinet.
External Links
Pinball Pimp Video – A useful but too brief video on the application of the stencils.
Tips and Instructions – Pinball Pimp downloadable PDF. Right-click to download.
Pinball Pimp – The home page of the most complete source of pinball cabinet stencils.
How Long Between Coats – Rustoleum spray paint information.