Making a mask for the black lines around the electric chair
Following on from my experience of making a mask for The Power insert, I decided to try my hand at making a more complex one for the black lines around the electric chair hole.
Once again, I started with the photo grid, but this time I had to cut out a frame, as I was using the grid on my actual playfield, where several components are still mounted (and therefore getting in the way!):
Frame around electric chair hole (plus glass to keep frame flat)
I took this photo, loaded into Photoshop and then corrected the size and perspective:
Electric chair hole corrected for size and perspective
I then manually traced the black outline:
Mask outline for the black around the electic chair
I then remembered, however, that I have left the mylar on the playfield and I really didn’t want to go painting the mylar, so I took this into account and created a new mask:
Mask around electric chair, taking the mylar ito account
This was then the mask I used on the playfield. It was difficult applying it to the playfield, however, as the weight of the mask above the hole actually pulled it into the hole thereby pulling the sides of the mask inwards. As such, I had to really try to pull it taught at the sides and make sure it stuck.