Last night I finished buffing and polishing the Space Mission. It had been two months since sanding and doing a medium cut buff, which was more than a month after the last round of clear was applied. I was hoping that waiting longer for the clear to cure and using a better tool would give me a better result, but ultimately it didn’t make much difference. The problem is that there is a blotchiness in terms of the level of polish that the playfield is capable of (almost looks like insert ghosting). It is certainly my mistake – proabably because the first couple rounds of clear i applied were not thinned out, but after that my coats were thinned about 15% in an effort to get a better flow – i’m guessing the hardness of these coats is different. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be anything that can be done about it now.
The good news is that it’s flat as hell and is going to play like a dream. The slight difference in shine should become less prominent over time, and I’m also hopeful that when the machine is lit with playfield lights the problem will be less noticeable. That said, i am very hesitant to use this method in the future on other playfields. I had hoped to do Spanish Eyes myself, and maybe even Blackout. If i can’t get a good result on the next playfield I will just have to suck it up and pay somebody to do it with a proper 2-part auto clear. I will probably do my taxi with this method, or perhaps Spanish Eyes, as second test.
I am still proud of my work, but with a twinge of sadness.
Next step, prep the screw and nail holes for repopulating using a brad point drill bit (so that the clear doesn’t lift when putting in screws). Hoping to have this fully playable in a couple of weeks (maybe sooner given the upcoming long weekend).