Uh oh!! Either I did something wrong or this was inevitable but I ran into an issue removing the mylar (?) from the playfield. I question whether this stuff is actually mylar because it is not as rigid as the mylar I am used to removing. So first I removed some traditional mylar around the pop bumpers. No problems at all. Next I started on the rest. This stuff doesn’t want to budge! I used an entire can of freeze spray with no success. A whole can normally would have removed at least half of what was there. So I fell back on the old method, heat. I use a hair dryer, NOT a heat gun to attempt removal. I have removed mylar with heat in the past with no issues… but as it goes with pinball nothing is a constant 
It was going great until I got to the top of the playfield. The area of the playfield with the repair inserts, beckoning me to remove this horrible mylar that has obscured its view for years, would prove to be my downfall.
See the A insert, 4th from the left? The screened ink lifted off the insert! NO! That’s the worst thing you can see when removing mylar. That wasn’t where the horror stopped either, check out the rest of the damage:
Not the best mylar removal job I have done that’s for sure. Now I say mylar but I don’t think this stuff really is mylar. Its much thicker and not as hard. Whatever the stuff is it was the devil spawn. As things go with these types of projects I have to move on, no more wasted thoughts on what could have been. So how am I going to fix that? It’s experimentation time!
Luckily the majority of the inserts with damage have no art on them so I believe I can make it look pretty nice with a bit of care and attention. I know what I have to do first, I need to fix the A insert. I took some thin CA glue and wicked it under the insert It didn’t come out perfect but it looked much better (Wish I took a picture!). The inserts in front of the time expander will need a bit more work. I know I need to clearcoat it but with what? In comes two products to the rescue: Minwax Polycrylic Clear Gloss and Duplicolor Paint Shop Lacquer clear:
I ran out and bought a quart of Minwax Polycrylic last night and tried it out. I have the satin version of this product and it is excellent for protecting wood, I typically use this stuff to coat the inside of a refinished video game cabinet to lock out any smells that might be there from being in an arcade for years. The first step was to remove an insert from one of my parts playfields, in this case a Funhouse playfield. (Note I won’t be removing the inserts from the Dr Who playfield to repair it, too much risk with my skill set). I sanded it down with 320 grit and finally finished it up with 1200 grit sandpaper to make it nice and smooth. Next I put it back in the playfield and with a pipette I put some of the Polycrylic on top of the insert:
The Polycrylic is applied with a pipette
It looks milky when wet and dries clear. Here is what it looked like after drying:
It looks pretty nice and clear. There is a bit of bubbling from the drying process that will hopefully sand out as seen here:
But it is nice and shiny!
I bought a quart of the Duplicolor Paint Shop Lacquer clear today at my local Advance Auto Parts. I will do a similar test tonight and post the results.
