=================================================================
Original post:
I have a secret to admit - I've been holding out on you guys. I didn't want to post anything until I had some good stuff to share. I just now completely finished the case on my second revision of the Nintendo SuperBoy (portable SNES) so I thought now would be a good time to start a worklog. All that's left is wiring up the electronics and mounting them in place. I expect to be done soon-ish.
I didn't post many, or any, "making of" pictures of the first SuperBoy because I was making it for a portable building contest here on the forums. I documented the whole thing, however, and put the pictures in my YouTube video of the portable. Since there is no contest this time I'm reverting back to my usual "post way too many pictures" routine.
This portable features a Retro Duo that I long thought was dead. It's been sitting in my junk pile for a long time, and one night I decided to give it another try just to see if it was truly gone. Much to my surprise it started right up. No idea why it didn't work for me before, but hey! Free SNES!
One important note - I've made this completely in my apartment with only a drill, an X-Acto knife, and a set of files. No paint, no bondo, and NO DREMEL. A Dremel would have sped things up quite a bit, as I have gotten pretty good with one over the years.
Perf board makes an excellent guide for drilling speaker holes:
The two-tone color scheme is because I had two cases, one with a messed up front and one with a messed back. I combined the good parts and tossed the bad ones. In this shot, I am in the process of filing the R and L shoulder button holes.
Tight fit!
Comparison shot! I play the original SuperBoy almost daily. Currently working on Yoshi's Island and Super Metroid. Notice where the speaker holes on the new portable is compared to the previous one. This is due to the placement of the controls. In order to fit a dpad in this case with a PSOne screen, some things had to be moved around from the original design.
I've heavily modified the screen to get it to fit this project. That involved doing an LED mod, chopping up the board to make room for the controller, replacing the volume and brightness controls with some very tall tact switches, and last night I removed the anti-glare layer via hailrazer's method for a super crisp, bright screen.
Let it soak for three hours, occasionally dripping some fresh water on top to keep it moist, and then peel off the anti-glare plastic sheet.
Think it's reflective enough?
Is there a difference if I got my retro dou from play and trade? I heard something about it somewhere.