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Mills clone

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:33 pm
by catapultman

20210406_134815a.jpg

Hello
Sorry if this has been covered before (I'm sure it has, but I can't find anything).
I bought a machine a little while ago and although it's great fun, I thought I'd find out some info about it, and there is the problem - it's labelled as a Mills, but it looks like an almost identical copy of the Sega Money Matador badged as a "Berkeley".
Am I the proud owner of a Sega Mills Berkeley machine, :D or none of these?
I'm also thinking of getting some of it re-chromed. Can anyone recommend anyone to do this? I'm in north Essex.
Thanks for any help.

Re: Mills clone

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:38 pm
by treefrog
There probably was quite a few companies who made clone machines, Berkeley being one of them. I have had many variants and have one now with large embossed JCW on all the castings.....

In terms of chromers, I am in your area, but cannot recommend anyone, but there are loads of people have recommended around the country if you do a search or look in Services & Supplies. You may want to consider a good spray job like hard enamel paint instead, could work out cheaper and cover pitted parts that chrome will never work on.

Re: Mills clone

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:28 pm
by coppinpr
A nice looking machine! As Tom says a lot of us have had one of the Sega clones at one time or another. They all have what amounts to a Mills mech (which is all but the same as the sega anyway) the two main giveaways are they never have the "Sega" logo cast into the lower front casting and (for some reason I've never known) the top rear bonnet on a sega will not fit on a clone.. does it have its lights? Is the top light box glass broken, its a good one, if it's broke a repro might be nice, and a better designed lower JP glass. I agree with Tom, re-chroming a bit expensive for a machine of this value, If the coin tray is in a bad way it can look good in black if well sprayed

Re: Mills clone

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:00 am
by brigham
I sprayed the coin-tray silver on one of mine, but in hindsight, black might have been better.
The Berkeley tends not to have ribbing in the polished cabinet side strips, they are flat-faced.
I've seen that 'pin-up' top box artwork before; done by a travelling showman based in Hetton-le-Hole, Co. Durham. Is there a Durham postcode painted prominently on the inside of the case?

Re: Mills clone

Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 11:00 pm
by catapultman
Hi
there are no lights in the top box or any trace of wiring in the main body and yes there is a crack in the glass which is a shame , unfortunately the coin tray has been hand painted with what seems to be Aluminum paint and is very rough so the coins have to be picked up rather than slid out.
I would like to make it look nice as its likely to be my one and only for now.....
any idea where i might get the decals from , or a repro,
what is JP glass ?. there is no post code inside the case i can see , although Ive not been brave enough to remove mechanism from the case yet
its also missing a lock on the back,
any advice welcome

Re: Mills clone

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:07 am
by treefrog
Not sure what decals you mean, but the award plate has been modified for the change to the 2p coinage, looks hand done. The jackpot would have been the window at the bottom in white, which will have been removed, again when coming through decimal conversion. The top sign would have had some other award plate originally and modified with the ladies during conversion and would have been custom made, so you would need to do the same if you needed to replace.

Cannot see the back door lock hole, but the below type locks are cheap and normally work on Sega and Mills machines....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUALITY-BRAS ... SwFqZeps8j

Re: Mills clone

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:37 am
by brigham
Top-box glasses of various types are readily available 'used' from members here.
Simply ask on the 'Market' page. Same goes for lighting gear.