N64 ver. 3 update (pictures)

superdeformed · Post by **superdeformed** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:00 pm

Well after spending several months working, redesigning things, and generally procrastinating, I've finally (mostly) finished my third and quite likely final portable N64. I was aiming for a happy medium between my previous two versions, and I think what I came up with is significantly better than either of the others. Vacuum forming the case made a pretty big difference too

. Anyways, on to the pictures...

Front view of the shiny blue case. Eventually the buttons will get covered/painted, but I ran out of time before I had to start packing for school.

More of the front. There's a sheet of acrylic over the screen to protect it from scratches, pressure, finger prints, etc...

The back with the battery compartment (still the typical 7.2V RC pack). The two halves of the case are held together by two screws in the back, as well as an edge on the inside (which also aligns everything).

Bottom view. Eventually there will be a break-out connector (DB9) for the controller ports, and a switch (on the right) to turn off the internal controller.

And, of course, playing OoT

. The screen is modded with 6 LEDs (and the luminance clamp jumped until I have time to add a pot).

Overall dimensions are 8.25 x 5.75 x 2.75 inches (not including how far the cart sticks out, which isn't much as you can see in the first picture).

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:06 pm

Sweet, lookin' good man. Love the color!

One thing though is that the speaker holes are kind of random. That, and the cut for the screen don't look very straight.

None the less, great job!

superdeformed · Post by **superdeformed** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:35 pm

The holes for the speakers were marked and divided up inside a circle (ie not random), although I think I did go a little overboard

. As for the cutout for the screen, the edges are all straight, but the bottom is warped out a little (hey, it was my first time vacuum forming). The reflection from the paint and contrast to the plastic that shows through the acrylic doesn't help much in that area.

Gump-in-space · Post by **Gump-in-space** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:44 pm

Awesome! I wish I could make something like that!

Post by **gannon** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:01 pm

I'd love to see more of the battery cover/how you did it

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:48 pm

Great job! Hope you love portable oOt!

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:50 am

wow! that is one crazy cool case, how did you make your mold to form it?

and what brand paint did you use on it? (if you did paint it i cant even tell)

that is awesome

Harshboy · Post by **Harshboy** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:06 am

Looks nice. Good Job

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:10 am

awsome! great case and the screen looks fantabulous. love the sparkly blue

Krepticor · Post by **Krepticor** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 11:47 am

yes please some detai on your case would be nice

Post by **marshallh** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 12:29 pm

Good job! Nice paint job.

Do you want this to be moved to the News forum?

superdeformed · Post by **superdeformed** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 1:32 pm

Thanks for the comments everyone! For the case, the mold is made out of layered 1/2" and 1/4" MDF (medium density fiber board, available at homedepot). It's great stuff to use if you want something with a smooth finish without having to coat it with something. The basic shapes were cut using a band saw, and the outside corners were shaped using a file/sanding block. The inside corners were formed with bondo/dremel/lots of sanding. Unfortunetly, the mold is at home so I can't take any pictures of that. As for the paint: rustoleum plastic primer base coat, top coated with rustoleum metallic blue.

I did get a couple pictures of the battery set up though:

The battery rests on the two aluminum supports (which hold up the cartridge slot). The white plastic tube is to keep it from sliding back into the case or into the cart slot wires.

The battery cover is pretty simple (sorry for the crappy pic, I haven't found the macro function on this camera yet). The tab on the bottom slips into the case and it gets held in place with one screw at the other end. It can come loose if you pull on the end, but it's pretty hard to do by accident because of the shape of the case. I think eventually I'll add on to the tab so it can't move at all.

Also, one pic of the guts:

Almost everything is mounted on to one bracket, which is held to the case by two screws on either side. Z, R, start, and the speakers are hot glued in place (with a significant amount of extra wire in case I need to take it apart). There's also a headphone jack hiding in the bottom right corner (when viewed from the front).

Also, you can move it to news marshallh. I guess that is the proper place for finished portables. Thanks

.

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:52 pm

Wow, nice work! Very organized wiring, I admire that, and vacuum forming looks so much better.

Are you going to put the original buttons on?

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 7:47 pm

Looks great. The first picture made me a bit worried due to the glitter, but it's not really that bad in the rest of the pictures.

May I ask how you made the edge?

Post by **Sparkfist** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:09 pm

It's soo blue...

Really nice case, that's one of the best I've seen. Very impressive having a battery cover that both curves with the case and isn't held in place with velcro/magnets.

You also have the best game playing. But then again you'd have to have never owned an N64 to not know that.