Question about repairing scratches, marks, burns etc. on frames

[Blastronaut]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I think it might deserve its own thread. I'm working on acquiring a frame that has some of the decorative paint scraped off, as well as scrapes on the shooter dial and scratches in various spots. Is this typical of units imported? Or do the units folks normally get from importers look brand new? And if they are typically showing cosmetic damage, what do you normally do to touch them up and make them look new? For example, is there touch-up paint or a type of paint typically used on frames? Can you get it from the frame manufactuers? Or third-party vendors in Japan or elsewhere?

I am very eager to get my hands on this unit, but I just want to make sure that there's something I can do to restore it and make it look brand new, because it will look amazing in my place.

[MrGneiss]

Well I've been pretty lucky..besides one with a tiny broken piece on the speaker grill all of mine have been in pretty good shape..

But no matter where you get it from there is always a chance of scrapes and marks but its usually just some cleaning thats needed..

Worse damage does happen but thats usually from shipping in the US rather than 3 months sitting in a parlor..But even then most things seem fixable..

I know I'm not being very helpful, but it probably won't be until lots of pictures of the affected areas are posted that the most useful suggestions will start coming in..

But for now, here's what I do..

To make an old machine look brand new again the first thing you need to do when you get it is to plug it in right away, then spray it down with a garden hose, sand the whole thing with 220 grit sandpaper..then rub in a good thick coat of WD40 and buff it to a shine with a car polisher!! If you unplug it at any time during the cleaning process it wont work!!

And one last thing, please do not do any of the above, Please!!

[Drunkenclam]

I believe that any thing can be fixed, with enough effort, time and money.
Plastics can be repaired with filler and fine sandpaper, But getting a good colour match might be hard. It might be better to repaint everything in the colour. Than end up with 2 different shades of white or silver.

[emmadog]

as others have stated above, it all can be fixed. also you need to take into consideration any experience or lack of will affect the outcome.
usually the hardest part is color matching which can be tedious. if the scratches are fine and the surface is plastic then they can be removed with fine grits of sandpaper and novus 2. if they're deep then they need to be filled but that also means things will need to be painted. unless you're doing a full restoration then i'd probable leave it as is. painting plastic is tricky and adhesion promoters need to be used to bond the paint with the plastic and there's no guarantees it will work. i've turned cigarette-damaged plastic trim pieces to like new using the above info but i had an old parts machine to trial and error techniques on.
if the material is wood or metal then it's a much easier job and again the hardest part is color matching.

[Blastronaut]

Wow, thanks for all the great advice! This is a 2009 V-Trigger frame...but if the frame is actually comprised of molded plastic, then the marks SHOULD be removable. If nothing else, I will try to make it work with just cleaning, and take pictures of anything that doesn't come out. Incidentally, I'm blown away by the detailing on the V-Trigger frame, which is why I'm so adamant about trying to make it look like new again.

[emmadog]

it's most likely made of ABS plastic which is what older machine's plastic parts were made of. the marks are removable but there may be a fair amount of work involved. if any areas need to be filled then the filler and that entire part will need to be repainted because chances are, it will be hard to color match and if just the repaired area is repainted then it will be obvious as the colors will be different. the pics below show a full restoration i did some time ago. the ashtray and trim area above were deeply gouged and burned and all the plastics were very discolored. i took a dremel with a burr (sp?) bit to grind out the charred plastic and a fine bit to reshape the plastic where needed. then i used a plastic specific filler putty and wet sanded everything back down, applied adhesion promoter, and then painted. i have a pantone color guide which is very handy for color matching and they also have a great app. for me though, i didn't have to try and blend in a small area with the surrounding areas, i redid the entire plastics as they were all discolored and the original factory color was preserved on the non-faded, underside of the plastics. my goal was to recreate the original factory look.

[DaStooge]

I agree with emmadog, Novus plastic polish works wonders.

[Blastronaut]

Well, I guess the best I can do right now is get me some of that Novus polish (already ordered) and see what I can buff out. I'll take pics of it before and after, and if something is still looking bad, maybe I can get some advice on it.

[emmadog]

Novus 2 is great stuff. I use it on playfield cels, pinball machine playfields, and of course plastics but it's for fine scratches. Novus 3 is for deeper scratches but I don't use it and I prefer sandpaper instead. In short, Novus 2 is more of a polish and will bring back that shine that the smooth plastic has on these machines after the other work is done.

[yose]

Toothpaste works to remove some scratches on plastic also.

[hanabi]

I use Novus too!!

I usually buy the set of 3 (Novus 1,2,3) and it's used for my pinballs and the pachis and anything else that needs sorting too

[portercbl]

Novus is the best! For color matching, go to a crafts store and look for all of the different colors of Sharpies. You are bound to find one that is real close to the color
you want to match.
Jerry