The above pic isn’t a new Wii U controller from Nintendo – it’s the product of the 2013 Portable Build-Off Challenge over at the Made By Bacteria forums. Every year the Bacman forums hold a contest to build the best portabalized console, and like every year this year’s entries are top-notch.
One of the more interesting projects this year is a handheld PlayStation 2 put together by [Gman]. It uses a PS2 Slim motherboard and a dualshock 2 controller along with a 4-inch screen to stuff an entire PS2 into a convenient handheld gaming device. [Gman] ditched the CD drive and opted to play games off the USB drive, a clever substitution that really reduces the size and power consumption.
In our humble opinion, the best looking console mod is the one shown above by [Bungle]. It’s a portable GameCube stuffed inside a handmade case with a WiiKey Fusion that allows games to be played off an SD card. It’s an amazing build, and we can only hope [Bungle] will make a few molds of his case.
The entire contest has an incredible display of console modding expertise, and is well worth a look.
Yikes, those builds look great!
Does anyone know some good place where i could learn more about making such smooth plastic enclosures?
Go to the forums the contest is on. There’s a whole section on case modding. Plus there’s a bunch of build logs you can look through.
Definitely bookmarking for that. It’s one thing that is a “holy grail” of being able to do for 3d printing as a hobbyist. Any ideas for techniques to do that are great.
I’ve got a guide of mine that I made up that’s on MBB and my site. It’s a few years old but it’s a good start if you’re looking to get into case making or portable making for that matter. Have a look over if you’re interested!
http://downingsbasement.com/my-guides/perfect-portable-casing-guide/
I believe if you print in ABS you can use acetone (acetone vapor) to smooth the print.
http://hackaday.com/2013/03/02/more-acetone-vapor-polishing-experiments/
http://hackaday.com/2013/03/23/smoothing-3d-prints-with-acetone-vapor/
those are some really nice portables
Modding like this is a fun and fulfilling hobby. As was mentioned by a previous comment, the site has a lot of guides to show people all the general techniques they need for such work as well as some specific guides too. Come to the forum and join us! (don’t just surf, please feel free to contribute your knowledge to the site too!)
Many thanks indeed Brian for posting this article, much appreciated.
BTW, I am making a new domain and site which will make the guides far more accessible too and in a more polished format as well; it is a WIP at the moment, keep a tab on the site for more details! ;o)