I recently finished clear coating a Gottlieb Target Alpha for a complete restoration in the works by Pinball Pimp. This playfield was brought to me already touched up and prepped. I sprayed one coat of Shopline automotive clear and let it dry and cure for 30 days.

Then I went to work on the inserts. All were sunken down beneath the playing surface and were filled in with brushed on clear coat (almost like eye dropping it in.) This had to be done several times because it kept slipping down into the cracks. Once they were built up and sanded, every black outline was repainted.

An extra step I had to do with this playfield was spraying an extra layer of clear coat on the lower wood colored area between the flippers. There was flipper drag in this area that broke through the original finish. To eliminate this, all that original finish was carefully removed before spraying. Automotive clear has this nasty habit of darkening the color of bare wood so this was the only way to make it all match. After spraying, this area was sanded flat with the surrounding areas and now looks seamless.

I put on one more final clear coat that was applied in stages (flashes) and was probably the equivalent to 3 or 4 thin coats. I let this cure for 6 weeks before a final wet sand and polish done with 2000 grit sand paper, then 3000, and 3M rubbing compound. It turned out especially nice and someone is going to be real happy with it. I can’t wait to put a game or two on it when the project is all finished. It’s going to play fast!