1959 SAMPLE PINBALL by Gottlieb

Alan Lewis

I found this sample pinball machine at an antique mall in Irving, Texas. Being a sucker for the 50’s space theme graphics I bought it even though the cabinet had been repainted. This web page is the story of bringing the pinball back to original appearance.

Serial Number showing Sample

Here is the BEFORE/AFTER appearance:

The AFTER photo shows both the extensive backglass restoration and the cabinet repainting. To see how I restored the backglass click here. The cabinet repainting is below.

The first disassembly of the machine proved to be difficult. The playfield glass had been sealed to the wood rails and front and rear rails with a thick application of RTV Silicone. They did a good job as far as weatherstripping standards go!

After I started stripping the paint I uncovered a previous repaint. The dark blue/black was a hand brushed enamel and underneath this was a powder blue/white spray paint job. This first repaint was stuck like glue! It did not want to come off.


Backbox first repaint	Cabinet first repaint

The first repaint looked something like this (computer edited approximation).

Anyone recognize this handiwork?

It may have been done by a route operator in the 1960’s to change the wood appearance to be more modern to compete with the new metal rail pinball designs.

After the repaints were stripped I could see the original paint job pretty well. But it was so beat up and disfigured by the paint stripping that I decided that an original repaint was my best option. Tracing paper was placed over the original graphics and a full size tracing was made. This tracing was then transferred to posterboard for the mask.

The backbox was painted using stencils:

The rectangular cutouts are for holding the stencil down to the cabinet. Low tack masking tape is put across each hole and pressed down to hold the stencil in place.

THE MAIN CABINET WAS A DIFFERENT STORY:

Rather than make separate stencil type masks for each shape I decided to make a jigsaw puzzle type mask. This way I only had to cut one mask to do all the shapes. Only those mask pieces that uncover the next area to be painted are removed. Then they are put back and the next mask pieces are removed.

I reused the side mask for both sides. It did not curl from the first painting (smooth surface out) so I let it dry completely and then turned it over for painting the mirror image on the other side. Worked perfectly.

THIS IS THE SIDE MASK (NOT COMPLETE AND RATHER MESSY AFTER TWO USES)

Below is the front mask assembly. All shapes were cut from one piece of posterboard and pieced together like a puzzle. (NOTE: The cabinet was painted with the base yellow over the entire surface first).

The cutouts interlock perfectly for perfect masking and remasking. Identify where all pieces mate when you cut the mask so it all fits perfectly.

All mask pieces applied, covering entire front. Those covering areas that are supposed to be yellow are never removed.

Mask pieces covering orange areas are removed and the orange color is applied. After dry put mask pieces back to paint next color.

Remove mask piece covering area that will be painted blue. Other mask pieces are still in place.

FINISHED FRONT

PAINTS USED:

School bus yellow: Plasti-kote industrial spray

Chrysler Orange engine enamel spray: Plasti-kote

Navy Blue: Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch spray

LEGS AND DOOR: Chenille: Rust-Oleum American Accents spray

DOOR TRIM: Hammered Silver spray

All metal pieces were grit blasted with 40 grit AlO2, then glass bead blasted.

PLAYFIELD REPAIR

BEFORE AND AFTER POP BUMPER REPAIR

Repair damaged wood with stick epoxy and sand flat

Use water slide decals to cover damaged areas

Put clear mylar pop bumper discs over decals

EMAIL ME

RETURN TO FRONT PAGE