Time to wrap up the work on Apollo 13 and get it back into one piece for testing. First item on my to do list in this update is the rocket assembly, as it’s the last outstanding part of the playfield to get a clean. Then I can go through the process of getting everything back together (which is mostly the rails) and test the game. The end is in sight, which is exciting as I’m keen to play (…test) it. Time to get started! The rocket ship is the shot responsible for working towards the 13 ball multi ball mode. There is a ramp you shoot the ball up and a small assembly at the top which traps the ball, updates the countdown and then returns the ball back to the player. It is connected to a motor below the playfield, which performs a lift off and drops the ball into the large red ramp below the playfield.
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All posts for the month June, 2018
I’ve been so busy lately working on other peoples machines, I decided to set aside a few hours this week to work through a few “to do” items on my own games. One of the things I’ve been really looking forward to doing is installing the Aux flipper switch upgrade board to my BoP 2.0. What is this? At present, when you’re in the profile menus or video mode, where the flippers would be disabled in modern DMD games, they are still enabled in BoP 2.0. So as you play the video mode, the flippers are still flipping away when you press the buttons. Scott Danesi created a small upgrade board which hooks in to two extra switches on the P-ROC board (CPU board supplied with the BoP 2.0 kit) and allows the flippers to be disabled while still registering presses. The kit is really straight forward and can be installed by anyone.
Having worked through the lower and middle sections of the Apollo 13 playfield in previous updates, it’s time to turn my attention to the upper section. There aren’t that many assemblies to get through, but quite a lot of parts to remove, clean and then install again. So it’s still a time consuming process. My first area of interest in this update will be the pop bumpers. But before I can get there, I have a few things to remove. In previous updates I had already removed a couple of the blue rails, but now it’s time to remove the rest so I can get to the pop bumpers.
I have my Nugent Pinball machine for sale. Released by Stern in 1978, this is an Australian machine (manufactured by LAI). It still has the 20c coin mechs fitted and I have the original 20c coin pricing plates to include with the game. It has a credit switch installed inside the coin door to easily add credits to the game too.
I’ve had the game since December 2013. Since then I’ve been through the entire machine, cleaning and rebuilding all assemblies (flippers, sling shots, pop bumpers, drop targets, etc). The playfield has been stripped and cleaned twice during that period, with new star posts, rubbers, bulbs, flipper bats, pop bumpers and drop target decals added. All displays are working and bright.
I have also installed clear lexan washers to protect plastics from breaking. The game also has a brand new CPR (Classic Playfield Reproductions) plastic set. The game plays great.
The cabinet is solid and in great condition. A printed copy of the manual is included.
Machine is located in Berwick, Victoria. Price is $2000AU.
For more information on the work I’ve done with this game while it’s been with me, view the posts here:
http://www.enteryourinitials.com/category/pinball/nugent-stern-1978/
Please see photos below for game condition:
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Colour displays on pinball machines are awesome! That’s probably stating the obvious, but once you’re playing in colour, it’s hard to go back to boring old orange and be satisfied. The owner of this Apollo had been thinking of adding a colour display from ColorDMD and decided to go ahead with it. There are two versions of colour display you can get – LCD and LED. This one’s the LED version and comes with everything you need to get it installed – it’s designed to be simple to install. Let’s get that new Colour display installed and see how it looks!
