# The Story of my Getaway (Christmas Special)

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-12-25  
**Duration:** 31m 17s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qa1fVkVGSI

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy chronicles a multi-year restoration of his Getaway pinball machine, documenting failed attempts to create custom clear inserts with applied decals. After over a year of experimentation with insert replacement, clear coating, and water slide decals that repeatedly failed due to degassing and opacity issues, Hardy ultimately abandoned the original playfield and purchased a replacement to complete the machine, settling for a standard restoration rather than his vision of a one-of-a-kind original.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Cary Hardy purchased the Getaway machine in early 2016 at Texas Pinball Festival for an agreed-upon price after initial negotiation — _Direct account of purchase circumstances and timeline_
- [HIGH] Replacing all inserts with clear inserts and custom water slide decals created persistent degassing and opacity problems despite multiple clear coat attempts over 1+ year — _Extensive visual documentation showing repeated failures with bubble formations and visibility issues in insert areas_
- [HIGH] Hardy used a blowtorch method to remove decals which damaged the wood, requiring stripper chemicals and sanding to repair — _Explicit description: 'I tried a method that I don't recommend you do and that is with a blowtorch. Yeah it it got them off but it really left a really bad residual behind'_
- [HIGH] Classic Arcade decals for inserts cost $50 per order, prompting Hardy to scan them and create water slide versions to avoid repeated purchases — _Direct statement: 'these classic arcade decals are 50 bucks a pop' and decision to scan for digital copies_
- [HIGH] Hardy eventually purchased a second, backup Getaway playfield from auction at Texas Pinball Festival as a fallback option — _Reference to 'another getaway machine that I purchased at auction at Texas Pinball Festival'_
- [HIGH] After abandoning the original playfield restoration, Hardy decided to purchase a new playfield entirely rather than continue experimenting — _Direct statement: 'I'm buying a new play field. I'm done with it.'_
- [HIGH] Hardy's goal is to have the Getaway machine ready for Texas Pinball Festival but acknowledges uncertainty about meeting that deadline — _Stated intention: 'My goal is to have this thing ready for Texas Pinball Festival, but it is yet to be seen if I will accomplish that'_
- [HIGH] The total restoration effort on the original playfield spanned over a year before Hardy decided to abandon it — _Explicit statement: 'that whole span of pictures and work, that was over at least a year's worth of time'_

### Notable Quotes

> "The tale of how one man wanted his machine to be original but the battle to do so would be much more than he had anticipated."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Opening narrative
> _Sets thematic framing for the entire restoration saga_

> "Fuck it."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Mid-narrative
> _Represents emotional turning point where Hardy gave up on original playfield_

> "I tried a method that I don't recommend you do and that is with a blowtorch. Yeah it it got them off but it really left a really bad residual behind."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Early restoration phase
> _Documents failed technique that created additional restoration work_

> "What if I'm able to get all of these inserts today but I made them clear instead like a transparent kind of like these right here... what if I replaced every insert in this game with new clear ones like these and then I would be able to led color this any way i see fit"
> — **Cary Hardy**, Insert conception phase
> _Shows initial enthusiasm and creative vision that led to the extended restoration attempt_

> "The clear was too hot for the adhesive on these decals is the only thing I can assume because they started really lifting and gas started just basically coming out from underneath the decals."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Critical failure phase
> _Documents the degassing problem that plagued the restoration_

> "I wanted so badly for this play field to be the first of its kind. And essentially it still is the first of its kind. It just doesn't look as good as I want it to look."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Late-stage reflection
> _Reveals the core tension between originality/uniqueness and quality/aesthetics_

> "If I'm putting this much time and effort into something, guys, I want it to really look good. If it wasn't my machine, then I wouldn't care as much, but it's something that I'm going to be looking at, looking down at for years to come."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Decision rationalization
> _Explains the psychological burden of perfectionism on personal restoration projects_

> "I'm buying a new play field. I'm done with it. I mean, it was going to be nice to be original, one of a kind, but I'm honestly just done with it."
> — **Cary Hardy**, Final decision
> _Explicit statement of abandonment of original playfield approach_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | YouTuber and pinball restorer documenting multi-year Getaway restoration project; channel focuses on pinball restoration, modification, and troubleshooting |
| Getaway | game | Williams pinball machine purchased in early 2016 that is subject of extensive multi-year restoration with custom insert modification project; now being restored with new playfield for completion |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Annual pinball event where Hardy purchased his Getaway in early 2016 and later purchased a backup playfield at auction; Hardy's stated goal is to have Getaway ready for future Texas Pinball Festival attendance |
| Classic Arcade | company | Vendor/manufacturer of premium pinball insert decals at $50 per order; decals were central to Hardy's custom clear insert vision but had opacity and adhesion issues |
| Williams | company | Original manufacturer of Getaway pinball machine; Hardy references 'Williams gray' paint color matching challenge during restoration |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Playfield restoration and customization, Insert replacement and decal application techniques, Cabinet refinishing and paint work, Clear coating and protective finishing
- **Secondary:** DIY pinball machine restoration documentation, Perfectionism and scope creep in restoration projects, Water slide decal vs. printed decal application
- **Mentioned:** Texas Pinball Festival community and acquisition

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Narrative arc moves from enthusiasm through frustration to resigned acceptance. Hardy expresses pride in attempted innovation but deep frustration with repeated technical failures. Final sentiment is mixed relief (moving forward with backup plan) and mild regret (abandoning original vision). The retrospective framing allows for some humor and perspective, but underlying emotional fatigue is evident.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Hardy utilized pinball community resources (Pin-Side forum documentation, buddy assistance with decal scanning/water slide creation) for troubleshooting and cost-reduction strategies (confidence: medium) — References to Pin-Side thread documentation, buddy scanning decals to create water slide versions, and implicit community engagement through YouTube channel
- **[design_philosophy]** Hardy's original vision was to create a one-of-a-kind Getaway with clear inserts and custom LED-compatible decals—a personalized, innovative restoration approach (confidence: high) — Explicit statement: 'I wanted so badly for this play field to be the first of its kind' and detailed explanation of clear insert concept with LED color customization capability
- **[product_concern]** Classic Arcade premium insert decals failed to provide sufficient opacity when applied to clear inserts, even when doubled/layered, creating persistent visibility issues (confidence: high) — Multiple photo comparisons showing transparency problems and statement: 'They're on there. They're not very opaque. you can see through them but what if I doubled up'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Dramatic shift from enthusiasm about custom insert innovation to frustration and eventual abandonment after 1+ year of failed attempts (confidence: high) — Transition from detailed planning of clear insert concept to explicit statements like 'I'm done' and 'Fuck it' after repeated failures
- **[technology_signal]** Persistent degassing and opacity issues with clear coating over water slide decals on inserts made the custom insert approach technically unfeasible despite multiple experimental approaches (confidence: high) — Repeated documentation of bubble formations, gas pockets, and visibility issues across multiple clear coat sessions; Hardy's observation: 'The clear was too hot for the adhesive on these decals'

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## Transcript

 Greetings and Merry Christmas to you all and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So if that sounds jolly to you then jingle that subscribe button down below. Since I started building this channel I have been asked many a times about my getaway that sits behind me lifelessly. I haven't disclosed the story behind this machine but I feel that maybe now the time is right. The tale of how one man wanted his machine to be original but the battle to do so would be much more than he had anticipated. Through years, trials, and tribulations I would work on this machine until the time finally came where I said... Fuck it. For those of you that don't already know, I have a pin-side thread that was going over my documenting of restoring this particular machine. And since it was a couple of years ago, I don't have actual video footage of me doing these tasks because at the time I wasn't trying to do videos or YouTube. My primary objective at that time was to just document, take pictures, and have good before and after because I wanted to fix this machine up. I bought this game back in early 2016. It was actually at Texas Pinball Festival, and they wanted a certain amount for it that I disagreed with. But I gave them my phone number in case they changed their mind. Probably about two or three weeks after Texas Pinball Festival, they contacted me to let me know, hey, if you're willing to pay this much, then it's yours. and since it was the payment that I agreed to pay them in the first place then I was like hell yeah I'll do that. Bought it, put it in my home, eventually I ended up moving and there was a big span of time where the machine really just sat there and did nothing until I got my new home then I got here I had it up and going for a few months and that's when I decided you know what I'm going to make this thing look sexy. So when first starting out what I wanted to do was to do a restoration on it but I didn't really know how far I was going to go into it till I started taking it apart and telling myself hey you know what I'm going to fix this you know what I'm going to fix this. So since I don't have any video we're going to go through the pictures that I have on my pin side thread and just kind of talk about certain things that happen. So here's the machine whenever I took the legs off. I'm ready to go to start taking this thing apart. Got the head off of the machine now and here it is sitting on the table play filled out cabinet by itself. Now some of these pictures are going to be out of order because whenever I posted them they weren't in order. So I had my label maker right here because I think I was labeling the cables and wires and stuff just to make sure I didn't lose track of where things were going. Empty cabinet and okay so this is whenever I was removing the decals from the cabinet. I tried a method that I don't recommend you do and that is with a blowtorch. Yeah it it got them off but it really left a really bad residual behind so I had to resort to some more drastic measures in order to get this wood down to where it was sandable. This is just going over some of the pictures right here. I think this portion right here is probably where I didn't use a blowtorch if I had to take a guess. You can even see in certain areas right here where I cooked the wood a little bit. Man. So it's fun to look back on this to see some of the trials and tribulations I speak of. here it is outside and this is when i start using the the stripper to get the adhesive off so i've got it all taped up to make sure it doesn't go off the sides because i'm going to need a lot of it this was after the first usage i want to say because it took multiple sessions of this residue stripper to get it off and that's one side done right there and then i think that's after sanding as well it cleaned up so here's the other side and i think i had to bring it inside due to the fact that it was raining or something like that we got it taped off and now i'm doing this side just showing you how much i had to use and that is what i used in order to get the residue off this is just going over some of the pictures that i took during the time of taking everything off showing all the parts that I'm going to have to patch up. This is a big old gouge that I ended up causing when I took my side rails off. The side rails got removed and a big old chunk of wood came with it. Trust me I was a little upset about that but we fixed that. Some more leg impressions. Some damage right there and this is just me going over basically some of the before pictures some wood putty doing some bondo work right here trying to square up the cabinet again and here is during the big old chunk of wood that got removed with the bondo in place this is not sanded yet more areas of bondo all around it I think that's after the first sanding and then I start using a spray primer right here this still hasn't been sanded yet yeah it still hadn't been sanded yet and i guess at some point in time i sanded and then i went on to using black paint now this time i'm only using black paint i got a little bit of run mark right there pretty sure i sand that down um but i use black paint mainly just around the corner edges i don't need to have a bunch of black paint through the whole sides or anything i didn't need that the decals were a dark color so it wasn't like it was gonna bleed through there's just some more images of the cabinet after being painted I think this is when I painted the inside what the back of it looks like now and that's with the new stands on the back right there nice and shiny now these are all the items that I took to the powder-coater because like I said I was expecting to get this thing flipped over and turned around pretty quick so I was really excited when I sent all these things off to get powder coated and here is when I started to work on the play field I want to say no first I did the transformer took the transformer part I know this picture is out of order uh because i ended up i ended up priming it taping it all off painting it black and so now the transformer looks all nice and clean and that's when i primed it backbox time so yeah these pictures are going to be a little bit out of order but sanded all of this bad baby down primed it up painted and then I get my decals in Start putting on the decals. Got the side portions on. Decals went on pretty good. I didn't have any major issues or anything like that. I think I had some points where I was a little concerned, and I ended up having to contact the people that sold it to me. it just looked like at certain areas were like wrinkled or something and I was like what the hell's going on here and they informed me that I need to apply more heat with a heat gun and I should be able to straighten it out so I did and it worked so the decals went on pretty good and here is the powder coating job that I've done with these I hope they can pick it up pretty good here on the camera. I did a candy apple red with metal flaking in it. That doesn't do it very good justice. Let me show one that these have been done. The rest of the powder coating. The key ignition mod. This is when I went from the traditional leg plates to the new ones. I have a video on that. I also have a video on using these leg protectors. Strongly recommend it. Machines back up on all fours. New speakers in place. Transformers in. Tilt bobbers in. Start connecting some of the wire work. Now, here's the coin door. Now, I've had years to think about this now guys but I plan on doing away with the whole front of this being red I more than likely will keep the coin insert area right here red as well as this portion right here but the actual door itself I'm going to end up doing that black it just seems like it might be a little too much red here in the front so I'm going to try to even that out me putting the coin door all back together again me refinishing up the topper completely dismantling and cleaning out the shifter getting the topper light spinner all cleaned up there's the beacon dome right there all nice and shiny and re-clear all I really did was just use this triple thick Rust-Oleum glaze and it did pretty good and there's the front all back together again looking at it in these pictures like i still haven't actually got a really good look over this machine guys so what i'm actually scared about is that eventually once i start really digging into this cabinet again i'm going to see things that i want to improve on so looking at this dome right here i'm going to have to do some work on it. There's me doing some work on that. This is with the light mods that I've got on here to light up the under cabinet as well as the backbox. Looks like it's out of Stranger Things or something. Yeah. So this is when I start dismantling the play field. Not too much to go over here just going over some of what i see that i'm going to need to be working on or fixing or touch-ups or whatever getting this thing cleaned up and everything so that's where the majority of the play field taken apart and that's with everything off of the play field top side at least oh okay so we skipped a whole portion right here so at this point right here this is when i start going it over with a fine-tooth comb pinpointing out every little defect that's in here because my OCD starts really kicking in I start seeing all these little micro issues that I'm seeing in my inserts and then I started thinking about it I'm like what if I'm able to get all of these inserts today but I made them clear instead like a transparent kind of like these right here that you see in the beginning of your rpms what if I replaced every insert in this game with new clear ones like these and then I would be able to led color this any way i see fit so let's just say for instance i wanted this to change rpms at a different color than what we currently have on here what if i wanted the better spectrum little stuff like that i started getting the idea of all that and i'm trying to figure out which one or why i did what i did and part of the reasons why i did what i did was because of the lifting inserts that I had going on right here. I want to say, you can see right here, I've got insert issues around, around here, here, here. There was, there was just, there was insert issues. And I was like, I'm going to do all new ones. That shouldn't be too hard, should it? So this is where things started to get a little ridiculous. So I ended up taking out all the inserts. I didn't have any big issues with that actually. I didn't lose any chunks of play field or paint or anything, which is usually a worrisome on people's parts, but I was able to get it out of there and this is what it looked like whenever I removed it. So this is the method that I guess I was using at the time. This is whenever I got my inserts in. So whenever you first get your inserts in, they're going to be nice and shiny and you don't want that. You need to get these sanded and roughed up so these little things that you see right here we don't want those in here as well as the number that's right here this is a number seven we need to sand this down so we don't see those things so this is after I did all the sanding for all the inserts right here so they're all nice and foggy this shows you the difference between before and after on sanding now this is me starting to put the inserts back into the game. I don't know if I glued these just yet or not. I think I was just setting them in there at the time, but I could have been gluing them. And there's the machine with all clear inserts. I kept these colored, the stoplights, because I was like, what's the point of me putting all clear in there when I'm going to eventually put red yellow and green in there I'm not going to change up the color of stoplights that doesn't make any sense so I went with red yellow and green inserts for this machine now what I really would have loved if they still made jeweled inserts if I could have gotten jeweled inserts for the stoplights that would have been pretty much close to perfect but they don't make them anymore more footage of the clear inserts in there that gives you an idea of what the machine would look like now this is where I clear coated the the plate field and the first session overall went pretty bad because there's There was a lot of negative space in where all the inserts were at The clear coat kept sinking into the crevices around all the inserts So you had a lot of, let me see if I can get a close enough shot in here. You can see where all the inserts are at right here. Plus a lot of orange peel and everything as well. Yeah, this first session did not go very well. this is me I think checking up on it after 24 hours or so just trying to see what it looks like this looks really good this must have been I don't know okay yeah so this is after sanding so it's like after I put down a lot of clear and then sanded it I was good to go on it being flat and had my first layer of clear down so now what I'm doing is applying the classic arcade decals to these inserts now at first glance these inserts look pretty damn decent they look pretty good because they are nice colored matched very opaque meaning I can't shine light through them and you can see through them they're pretty dark so this is me at the time getting the decals on these inserts and this is I think when I start going through getting all the decals on all the inserts I think at this time this is when all the inserts have been covered with the new decals I'm wondering if this is before or after my clear for this session because I'm already seeing what I'm about to talk about on this picture right here there is a crummy job of me trying to color match a Williams gray which is pretty damn difficult to do this is not the end result color that I did ended up going up with trust me it matches a lot better now I'll have to show the picture to you so this must be with the other play field that I have a video on so yeah this play field right here is another play field that I eventually bought but here's this play field and the funny thing is is that I ended up patching up this hole and like painted over it and stuff and then I came to realize via the comment section that there is supposed to be a post that's there so I was like crap so it was all in vain yeah this is me painting right here trying to get it all matched up and everything this gives you an idea idea what it was going to look like with those inserts in there and this is what kind of got me worried a little bit at the beginning was the fact that you could see through the words they weren't very opaque this is some before and after work right here the usual wear spot in this game and this is where i believe i applied another coat of clear over these inserts and i got this major negative reaction with the clear. The clear was too hot for the adhesive on these decals is the only thing I can assume because they started really lifting and gas started just basically coming out from underneath the decals. I got a real bad negative reaction and it just got bad. It was hideous. I had to sand, pull all those decals off. There's all those decals right there. And there's another getaway machine that I purchased at auction at Texas Pinball Festival. And this is just me going through. I've got a video on this already, guys. These are all the images I took of this particular play field and me getting it all masked off. Even though my inserts were having issues, I started to think about it. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to brighten up the white portions on this game. So I decided to mask everything off and airbrush all new white on every area of this game. That is just me getting everything all masked off. And here's what it looked like after I painted it. All the white areas were nice and bright white again. Except for whatever the hell happened right here. I think I ended up having to paint that again after sanding. Or that wasn't painted yet. Yeah, this wasn't painted yet. Like I said, some of these pictures are not in order. That makes sense now because I was like, wait a minute. Because, yeah, all right, there we go. So, yeah, that's after painting. All nice and bright white again. All right, so at this point, I think I'm ready to clear again. And this time I cleared the other play field. And this is me putting another layer of clear over the clear inserted play field. Honestly, that looks pretty crap. At least in this particular spot. A lot of orange peel going on right there. but it was flat and so this is me once again trying the classic arcade decals again now let me say that these classic arcade decals are 50 bucks a pop the second time i ordered them i actually had a buddy of mine scan them in that way i had a digital copy of them because i had a fear that I was going to be blowing 50 bucks at a time out of new decals. I decided to scan them in and eventually make water slide decals if I needed to. And this is actually what I did. So yeah, once I ordered them, then I had them shipped to my buddy and he scanned them all in and I printed out water. Oh, I think he printed them out actually the first session. Yeah, I think he printed out water slide decals for me. So these are all water slides. And I've got a video on how to apply those as well. And this is me going over the shooter lane. Because I decided to airbrush the shooter lane to give it a darker wood color. This portion right here looks pretty crap, but you've got a piece of wood that goes over that and no one's going to see it. otherwise shooter lane looked pretty damn good got all water slide decals on this is doing some patchwork on the other play field before and after on that this is after doing a clear coating job with the water slides uh first coat went very good because i didn't just spray down a thick layer i did like a mist coat i was reading up on that the best method is to do a mist coat and then wait 24 hours to see how it does i don't think 24 hours i think it might have been like 10 minutes like you spray mist coat over the machine wait about 10 minutes to see how it reacts and i think eventually i just kind of slowly built up where i had a nice clean coat so yeah this is whenever I had water slides on there. So looking at this in retrospect, I think at the time I was pretty pleased. I was like, yes, it's looking pretty good. I was like, finally, I'm gonna have a good looking machine. Yeah, these pictures are out of order. Then, after maybe 48 hours, I start seeing this in almost every insert. And I'm like very depressed at this because this does not look good. I think I did this as a test piece by just brushing on clear just to see how it reacted with it Not sure what my end result was on that But yeah, as you can see, all these little holes throughout all of the font. So this is when I was like, what if I double up on the water slides? They're on there. They're not very opaque. you can see through them but what if I doubled up and layered the water slides on top of each other maybe then it would look good enough so this is me starting out I think I did these bottom two right here and it was very difficult to get these right on top of each other to where it looked good but here's the first two and it didn't look too bad you could still see where they weren't lined up very good and a little bit of the holes through them though but they were more opaque this is a before and after job right there me doing the uh shooter lane on the other playfield because here's my thing is that i had this playfield as a backup as just in case i got tired of spending time dealing with this damn thing i could just fall back on another playfield because I was just really wanting this one to work, guys. So this is probably after laying down a second layer of the water slides on top of each other. And this, I want to say, is when I went back to the classic arcades, I think. But this time around, I tried to do something different. I went back to the classic arcades once again. and I put down literally a mist coat we're talking like just over the machine just to see how the decals would react to it if it was an immediate thing if it took hours what and then I think 24 hours later I put down another mist coat and then another mist coat this is like over the course of like three or four days of just kind of getting a nice little sheet of clear over these decals so the playfield looked like this inserts were all covered up everything seemed to be going my way but i think i'm already starting to see what we're about to see and that's like a little air pocket right there this is on the other playfield other playfield was good to go because i didn't mess with the inserts and then we're back to this one so at first glance everything looks good that's what you think at least it's got a layer of clear on there but as you can see we're getting this bullshit again degassing from the inserts all around starting to look crappy again I mean you can even see it up here on these all through right here here here here yeah through all the inserts and this is just to show you the opacity or lack thereof at the time that was dissatisfying to me and that's after i double layered it and that was where i kind of just gave up guys i was done i was like i've had enough i've had enough of this play field i just kind of wanted to just throw it to the side and just not think about it i needed the break i needed to stop messing with it And the thing is, that whole span of pictures and work, that was over at least a year's worth of time. And then I haven't really done much with it. But the last few months, I decided, you know what? I'm going to try to tinker with it again. Maybe I can get it going again. So I decided to get the play field out once again, get it all sanded down once again, all the way down to where the top layer of those first water slides were off. And I worked at it and worked at it, and I was really hoping to be able to rejuvenate this, clear it again, and just be content with it. but I wanted so badly for this play field to be the first of its kind. And essentially it still is the first of its kind. It just doesn't look as good as I want it to look. If I'm putting this much time and effort into something, guys, I want it to really look good. If it wasn't my machine, then I wouldn't care as much, but it's something that I'm going to be looking at, looking down at for years to come. And whenever you're restoring machines, You're going to find that since you are the person that did the work, then you are the person that's going to be able to find every single defect. And it's going to be just right there in your face the entire time because you are the person that did this. You caused it or you decided to take the easy route. And so now you know what to look for. The layman people probably won't catch these things. And I got tired of standing. I was done with it. I was like every damn time. I just, I'm done. So that's why I say that eventually it came to a point to where I just said, screw it. I'm buying a new play field. I'm done with it. I mean, it was going to be nice to be original, one of a kind, but I'm honestly just done with it. I want to be able to put this machine back together, have it be a great representation of the game, and be able to play it. And then I can move on to other projects. So there you have it. The story of my getaway. But where one story ends, another one begins. Now begins the journey to make this machine whole. My goal is to have this thing ready for Texas Pinball Festival, but it is yet to be seen if I will accomplish that. So feel free to join along in my future journey by hitting that subscribe button down below. That way you can be notified whenever I upload something for your viewing pleasure. Until next time, guys. Peace out. So as you can see, this is going to require a little bit of effort. My initial plan is to take everything off of this and clean it and attach it to the new plate field. I want this thing to look brand new top and bottom. I just realized that I'm actually missing something on this so So I need to put in an order right now. You know I honestly thought that this was going to be a pretty easy swap. But as I get deeper into it I see that this is actually going to be the exact opposite. you

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 002c32e2-b417-427d-92db-7c390519b122*