I polished my LOTR with a yellow pad and Griots fast correcting cutting compound. Started with machine (DA) and realized that was a mistake fairly quickly - now have to go back and clean out every light socket / hole in the PF. Working by hand with the same 3" yellow pad, I could minimize material splatter, but as expected with the machine making many more passes than I could, it took me much longer to achieve the same correction I did in the areas I used the DA. The advantage of the DA being work time & uniformity, though increased time also yields increased uniformity when it comes to hand work. Looks great in the end.

You'd have to be either applying king-kong pressure and/or using an odd application medium to do more harm than good with compounds like Novus 2 - wet sanding yeah you could get into trouble quicker both in terms of messing up application and potentially simply more aggressive abrasion depending on grit. At the same time I wouldn't recommend Novus 2 for regular cleaning, based on the general mantra of "start with least abrasive and work towards more abrasive" to accomplish whatever job you're doing.

well no disrespect but just by reading your first line I can tell you were learning on how to polish on your first try, it is best to not practice on your machine. You always cover holes and things you dont want polish to go on or you run into this. I am comfortable doing it and have more experience, still, for inexperience people, you can achieve better cleaning by not using novus. Novus is not mean to be used for this, this is someones idea at one point and it got propagated but it is the equivalent of using coke to removing a rusted bolt lol.

And no, doing it by hand will always leave swirl marks visible to a spotlight (not naked eye) or sunlight, use a flashlight if any. Like I said, you won't see them in a game room but it does not mean they are not there, some PF colours will be better at hiding the imperfections your are introducing, you are basically cleaning the pf by polishing by hand which is the worst way of polishing anything. Novus is aggressive type of compound, it is not formulated for clear coat and if you are anything like me, who cares about paint, that is where the issue is. Ignorance is bliss, respectfully, if you cant see it then power to you.

back to the original PSA:

people are seeing improvement in tk performance after cleaning - whether with novus2 or with wizards mist and shine

What's clear is that you've never actually used Novus 2. It is a very fine plastic polish. It will not damage any clear coat.
Novus 3 on the other hand....

Been fighting the right guide return since I bought it, finally fixed. Probably no need to taper the plastic wedge, but I did anyways. Black sharpie on the exposed end, pretty much invisible now. Slow rollers now hit right flipper 100%, kick outs from the pop bumpers hits left flipper 90%, right flipper 10. I was getting bounces to the left outlane previously.

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Yes I have. "Damage" will depend on your interpretation. Are swirl marks damage?
Last, plastic is harder than Sterns clear. You do you! Cheers

If you're making swirl marks with Novus 2, then you're doing something wrong!

I know.. smh... I should have left the methodology of cleaning vague. Didn't mean to open that can of worms.

While it's great to understand and engage in best practices in cleaning your playfields, even if you happen to escape the endeavor without imparting any micro-marring on the clearcoat, the reality is that the heavy steel balls you pay good money to bash around will take care of that for you either way in short order.

There is truth to that. My gripe is seeing people unknowingly using these products thinking they are the one stop shop for cleaning a pinball and they go to town not realizing what it does to the clear.

Although swirls and marring will be introduced by the ball - this is correct - the damage a microfiber towel does when using with your fingers is actually surprisingly high. Art and the mix of colours do a great job hiding these imperfections that are introduced by hand.

Ultimately not terrible in the world of pinball however if you ever find yourself cleaning too harshly by hand, you will be introducing a lot more damage and scratches than what you are trying to remove.

Again. Just a thought.
Most of the vehicles I worked on had damage that was introduced when either waxed or washed by the weekend warriors. More damage was then added when trying to be fixed by hand.

Let's carry on with other Stranger Things now.
Cheers!

Neat option, and awesome to offer the file.

*As for my set, It's an incredibly long wait, but the list is still open in the thread (though may be some time gap once I get to that "overflow" list portion).

If anyone is curious how I came to my tank design (not shown in the mod thread), as you can't see the entire tank in the show, I researched renders of the lab to see what the rest of the tank may have looked like (using the show version as best I could [full size handle, riveting, etc.], with some change for new sizing, particularly for the top to look right at that scale). Also opting for a post-ravaging, stripped paint/rusting appearance, as the white as seen in the show stuck out like a sore thumb in the machine.

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You're absolutely right. In earlier posts I already explained that I only got ball chains, albeit with a near 100% success rate. I tried almost all settings and measurements of the rod without any success. 2 Days ago I waxed the playfield, and only clusters after that, now on 8 or 9 consecutive clusters. Happy camper now.

So only Billie, my staffy, could appreciate the infinity door mod at her height....so went with a backlit rgb effect panel instead...came up great. Also added a neat external volume control that fits in the coin reject button.

One of the members here asked me to try and create something to replace the upper beacon. After creating the glowing ooze bumper cap mod for TMNT I thought I’d try my hand at creating the Radioactive Container from season 3 of Stranger Things. The container fits perfectly in the anti-ball trap plastic and looks like it came from the factory IMHO. This mod is available in my store if anyone is interested. It comes in 2 flavors of green. This is showing the dark green version

Here is a kicker protector for all 3D printing guys. It's thin but it should protect the kicker hole edges better than nothing and we have to see how long it will last

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6554780

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Funny you say this, my GOTG magnet was really wonky for a while and going back and forth with Stern they told me to add an extra washer under the playfield to bring the magnet closer, that didn't really do much. As weeks went on I cleaned the playfield and the magnet worked perfectly! Now every time its starts not working correctly I just throw some Novus down and back to %100! Weird but whatever.

And you used Novus 27, right?

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/NOVUS2-8

After Novus 27:

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Actual picture of Novus 27

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I have the same issue, these works for you??

Thanks, I got the uv kit refunded and secured one elsewhere who had stock.

Still have the topper and shooter on order with cointaker but concerned how long this may take also

I have a spare shooter if anyone wants it at cost. I accidentally ordered two.

I have a new premium with the IC reader in the triangle cut out on the apron. I want to move it to the coin door, put an original triangle plastic in and backlight it. I make my own coin door kits and the LED backlight is no problem. I just need that triangle plastic or a good scan of the original and I can't find it anywhere!!

Please somebody either sell me, lend me or send me a scan of that plastic. I can't handle the way it is.

Comparison between Titan glow in the dark and the Radiant Things kit....
Maybe they look different in the game but the radiant rings are a huge disappointment.
Considering ordering a couple Perfect Play in a few different colors to see what they look like.

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Perfect play purple...the best

Have you got the link to the radiant things kit?

You don't want them

Why? Are white or purple? I don't like the titan kit in UV green, because when the UV lights are working is stunning, but the rest of the game are a little bit ugly.

I put translucent perfect play on all our games now. Easier to have one color in my inventory, more light comes thru them too.

Do they glow under uv light like the photo above?

Yeah I was gonna order a couple different colors and see how they look under the uv

They are white and under the uv they don't do anything

Here they are in normal and uv light. The uv pic doesn’t show it great but they glow nicely in person.

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Maybe you somehow got a normal, white ring set by accident? I love the look of my radiant rings with the UV kit.

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Mine work too. Not sure what is going on with his and the white looks fantastic. The green is too much and doesn't really match.

Count me in as someone who really likes the look of my radiant rings. Had the glow in the darks and the radiants are way better looking. They really pop under the UV light!

Purple looks fantastic, where did you buy it?

Any picture in white with natural light?

Radiant Rings powered off, powered on, and with the UV lights flashing. (Is there no way in test to have the UV lights stay on??? I couldn’t figure out how to do that). The UV picture doesn’t really do it justice. See the difference in color at the bottom right of the flipper? That’s how they all look when UV is all the way on.

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They look awesome in other people's pictures. That's why I ordered them. But I'm not getting the same bright results other people are showing.

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Did you get your kit from Wish?

Your rings don't glow.

Anyone else think they will never ever reach the Final Showdown ?

In 2 1/2 years owning the game I have only got to one of the mini wizard modes once …. and the game crashed during it

I’ve had Total Isolation 2 a few times. My high score is about 1.4 billion

Ok I don’t play it that much - a few games a week at most . Many weeks not at all - I don’t play nearly as often as I used to but I think the older I get the more I just suck at pinball

Is that an Alonso helmet on your profile picture???

I got his autograph a few years back. By itself and then with Phil Hanson and Lando Norris when they were co-drivers for the Daytona 24 hours. Alonso was pretty friendly. I still think if he’d been in better equipment he’d be at the top of the list of F1 drivers.

I suck so bad I have my games set to 5 ball.

Yes it is, i have the Official Schuberth Replica helmet of Fernando Alonso and Bell of Nico Rosberg.

I see on your profile 24h Lemans Logo, i went to Lemans last year, i think is the better race of all times.

Hey, I went to Le Mans last year too! Going again this year. If you’re going back we should meet up. This will be my sixth Le Mans. It’s my favorite event in the world!