Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sizzling The Zizzle

As mentioned earlier, the play field is a little sparse and needed a few things to spice it up. Here are a few cosmetic mods I've done so far (more to come later).

Before:

After:

Let's take a little tour of the play field, shall we?

Firstly I thought the slingshots needed some decals. Originally they were transparent with the green print of the play field surface showing through. They just looked boring so I made my own, picking up elements from the original teaser poster art. The jolly rogers are used for the targets, as well as the spinner.





Here are the newly adorned targets...




Added some store-bought decals to the back wall and the ramps.




For the skull ramp, I decided to sculpt my own skull out of Super Sculpey to make visual sense. When the machine yells, "Shoot the 'Skull Ramp,'" you know where to go.



For the spinner, I thought it would be great to have Jack the Monkey be sitting by it. This also makes better visual sense because whenever the ball moves through the spinner you hear a monkey cry (actually it's a chimpanzee call, but who cares). I made a crude, but acceptable Jack, again, with Sculpey, holing the cursed Aztec coin necklace. Yeah I know, wrong movie but again, who cares.



The latest mod I did was adding textures to the inside walls of the cabinet. I made some Photoshop composites of what gives the impression of Davey Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman, complete with barnacles, starfish, and coral. Printed them out and mounted them. I think it really makes the play field come to life.




Added some pirate-themed labels to a couple areas. First one up is the canon battle ramp...



Also added one in the "Cannibal Island" area since I never felt the original labeling was very clear. And just to spice it up a bit more, I added a miniature die-cast canon I had sitting around.



One of my favorite touches... a replica Aztec coin from the original Pirates film mounted atop the ball-save bumper. It's high up enough above the height of the ball so it doesn't affect the ball path in any way.



That's it... for now...

13 comments:

  1. Outstanding! I was thrilled when I found your blogspot. I bought a Zizzle sight unseen off a Craigslist ad that had no photo thinking it was the POTC2(the one with all the added decorations). I was disappointed when I saw it and found out it was the first addition. But, I bought it anyway ($125.00) so some kid could go to summer camp. Now, I've been on a trek to enhance the game and I'm grateful for your amazing webpages on the Zizzle. You've really inspired me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many congrats. If yours is in good condition (all bumpers work, flippers are good) then you got a pretty decent deal. What you have IS the POTC2, but first generation. The one with the extra lighting is for POTC3. Same play field and electronics, but different art and extra lighting and decor. You have the same one I have on this blog.

      Delete
    2. I gotta tell you something. As I'm sure you're well aware, there are a bunch of these machines out there. But since Zizzle folded and has zero resources available on-line, there are LOTS of us out here that appreciate the machines for what they are, but have no place to go. I wonder what this blog spot will be like in a few years. To me, it's almost like some sort of underground, classic car club restoration site. And the dude running it is a monster! I certainly don't have the money or knowledge to restore or mod out a 1957 Corvette. However, I kind-of look at the Zizzle like a Volkswagen. You either like and appreciate them for what they are, or you don't. Either way, that won't stop an enthusiast from taking a little throw-away something, and tricking that thing out to where family, friends, and anybody who see's it wouldn't say, "That's one cool little machine". I wouldn't know hide nor hare where to begin with a full scale pinball. But because of this web site, I'm shopping on-line for figures, decor, props, and other things to mod my machine out as well. Maybe sometime down the road, readers could provide photos for your consideration to post.

      Delete
  2. Could you elaborate a little more on the photoshop composite impressions of the Flying Dutchman? I would love to be able to do that. I've searched the web over and can't find any artwork like that. It's really does help set the mood for the play field.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get all my textures from a site called cgtextures.com. Membership is free and they have tons of nice photographic textures you can use, including the wood texture I used. Do a Google image search for anemones, barnacles and starfish. My recommendation, use good paper (preferably glossy card stock) because my wall art is all pealing off. :(

      Delete
    2. Blogspot is not letting me log in with yahoo.

      Hmmm. Couldn't find it at cgrextures. Even tried their search. Wood. Planks, etc. They might have pulled it. I google image searched for "anemones, barnacles and starfish". The only thing that really comes up is this site. lol.

      Delete
  3. What a great site! I can't do all the things you've done, but my Zizzle Pirates could sure use some of that Davy Jones wallpaper. Could you provide a link that I could click onto that would take me to the place you got yours? I can't find anything like it at cgtextures. Thank you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi to the owner of the blog .Can you email me. Ty

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fantastic post, thanks for sharing. From your youth you can still hear the bells ringing, see the lights flashing and remember the excitement of achieving the highest score on the pinball machines at the arcade. So, you have decided to invest your time and money in having your own home collection to relive those thrills.Ghostbusters pinball machine


    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow Nice post, thanks for sharing. Pinball is on a kind of seesaw right now - on its way out in some states and a rage in others. But once the bug bites, it's an addiction few want to leave. All it needs is quick reflexes, and it can keep you suitably occupied for hours.Pinball Machine Mods

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for sharing everything you've done to your pinball machine! Do you have the digital files of the artwork you made you'd be willing to share so we could print and use them as well?

    ReplyDelete
  8. It would be really kind if you could share your files with the small contingent of hardcore zizzle pinball fans!

    ReplyDelete

I welcome comments and suggestions, but please, keep them informative, honest and courteous. Anything deemed inappropriate will be promptly removed.