thinking & making

  • Hotwiring old flaky bulb sockets

    Hotwiring old flaky bulb sockets

    A number of sockets on Surf Champ were flickering or not even working. Thanks again to pinside for the recommended fix that I used to do 16 sockets.

  • EM playfields are heavy

    EM playfields are heavy

    Gearing up to do some work on Surf Champ. I’m going to switch out the flipper coils (back to original), and while I’m at it I’m going to fix a bunch of bulb sockets. May possibly do a pop bumper refresh but I’m not sure if I have the requisite parts on hand for that.

  • Taxi repairs and upgrades

    Taxi repairs and upgrades

  • Updating Star Wars code

    Updating Star Wars code

    First time ever updating a modern pinball machine. Pretty neat stuff. I wish I had made note of some of the settings first, but i think I got it set back just fine.I gotta say, Stern really did a great job with all of the maintenance related stuff on this pin.

  • Vectorizing Team One fundamentals

    Vectorizing Team One fundamentals

    I’ve built every element on the playfield into vectors, setting the stage for a document that will serve as a full scale design template. VERY close to handing off to my partner in crime who’ll be doing the playfield art for this project.

  • More Team One vectors

    More Team One vectors

    Added the plastic posts, drop targets, and wood rails (just barely shown), and made the inserts the correct colors.

  • Team One, vector reconstruction from trace

    Team One, vector reconstruction from trace

    After trying to find a place to scan my trace for a few months with no success, i finally decided to scan it in piecemeal and stitch it back together in Photoshop. After i got that done and tweaked the image so measurements were extremely close to 1:1 with the actual playfield, I started vector…

  • Putting in pinball work

    Putting in pinball work

    Tomorrow I’ll go through Funhouse and that’ll mean I’ve got 8 machines nicely dialed in.

  • Millennium Falcon mod (final)

    Millennium Falcon mod (final)

    Wanted to post the final version with properly sculpted lens (I sanded down the excess), including the vertical striations etched in with a dremel. It’s tied to some controlled lighting right now but after playing a premium on location that was lit the whole time I think I’ll end up moving it to a persistent…