Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (
More info?)
"miracleman" <psychospence@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1127945365.228581.141170@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Are the pf's going to be the correct thickness, unlike the Fathoms?
> (thank goodness someone posted the difference here before I started
> working on my pf swap! screws through playfied = BAD)
The thickness of the whitewood *starts out* correctly before the entire top
surface & plastics are taken down by sanding. However, the result (after
1/16 of an inch comes off) is a whitewood that is thinner than it should be.
Now we're aware of the risky screws problem, and we're making sure that
NEVER happens again. The solution involves getting custom plywood made with
a double-thick top layer, which is meant for cropping down. Namely the same
wood that Stern uses.
> My Fathom pf also had two places/gouges that were not filled with
> putty, and the artwork ink did not go down into them, so I'll have to
> touch that up and seal before swapping pf's.
The sanding system (and the wood stock) used on Fathom was not the best.
Another set of problems that won't happen again. The wood that was ordered
was highly recommended by the supplier, but turned out to have way more
surface defects in it than anticipated. It was a AAA grade plywood, and
little things didn't start showing up until late stages in production. Now
we know that the wood can get so much better than what was sold to us as
being "premium grade". We are buying an elite sanding system that will not
be so hard on the woodgrain. It will not create gouges. It will be 10
times the sander that was used on Fathom.
>Any chance you'll do
> another run (since the first one sold out) and I can get one that IS
> 'better than nos'?
Illinois Pinball should still have the 10 in stock that were shipped to
Gene. Maybe they will sell you one. That's up to them.
>I want to buy new pf's from you and others who might
> make them, but I do want them done correctly. I'd also like to know
> which version of 'vault artwork' is to be used on a pf before I buy
> one.
It's good that you are particular. That is the challenge that we now want
to live up to. The vault artwork will be examined and compared to actual
playfields before used, as this was not done before. Nobody (including
Gene) considered anything odd about the set of 11 Fathom screens coming out
of storage. Once you find Fathom art, you assume it was the ones used in
production, especially since it was indeed the factory art. Make sure that
if a bunch of Tom Dick & Harrys pop up over the next few years making
playfields that you certainly ask what the origins of the artwork are. If
it's Bally/Williams, and isn't from Gene Cunningham's factory artworks, it's
made on a computer hand-tracing a scan of the playfield. Then a whole other
can of worms opens up for problems there.....
>Again, the early run artwork used for Fathom was acceptable, but
> an unexpected factor none the less.
> I am happy the door is finally creaking open for this stuff to happen,
> and will support the company when possible.
Take comfort in knowing that real pinball enthusiasts/collectors are at the
helm of directly working on our projects now. It won't be passed into the
hands of third parties, as the project leader sits back and takes all the
credit of making it. You have to have pinball people getting their hands
dirty, and going to bed with sawdust in their hair
We hope everybody
in the community sets the "acceptable standard", as we have now tried to
achieve with stepping this thing up a notch. We hope that everybody will
demand original vault artwork when it is available, direct pin enthusiast
involvement, custom genuine "playfield wood" being used, shying away from
hired shops doing the critical work, and question how the quality is going
to be as immaculate as possible - and what steps are being taken to ensure
that. If not, we're going to see "third party Fathom projects" happen all
over again. Not with us, though!
KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
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