Retro Duo project! NEW PIC pg6! ALMOST DONE

[jdmlight]

Very nice looking case so far. What's the black stuff you're using? Is it easy to work with? Is it sandable/paintable?

Sorry for all of the questions, I'm just curious as I'm going to be starting a NES portable this summer.

[Triton]

the black stuff i am using is my own concoction i mixed up. it comes from the automotive interior world and is called Liquid ABS. all it is is abs plastic shavings disolved in acetone, mix it to the consistancy of paste and when the acetone evaporates you have soilid plastic instead of several peices stuck together with glue or whatever. it can be sanded painted etc just as well as the rest of the plastic because thats what it is! the BEST part is since it fuses the seperate peices into one solid peice you will NEVER get hairline stress cracks with bondo along seams anymore because there arent any seams!

as to the batteries there is room in the space behind and below the LCD for either AAAs or more likely li-poly cells

[DK]

Beautiful case but a Sega case for a Nintendo console.

Madness I tell you, MADNESS

[Meff]

Madness I tell you, MADNESS

Madness?
THIS... IS... SPARTA!!! xDD

[CronoTriggerfan]

Looks awesome, but until it works I reserve judgment, Johny boy.

[bacteria]

Nice work, interesting to see how it finishes. Screen looks tiny, is it? Interesting about the ABS plastic you are using, where would someone get this stuff??

I couldn't get anything in the UK but full sized SNES units (PAL), quite a lot bigger than the mobo you have!

[Triton]

you can get retro duos like i used in this for ~50$ shipped abs plastic is what 99% of electronic devises used for their cases! yea the lcd is too small, next snesP will have a 3 or 3.5" screen

[jdmlight]

the black stuff i am using is my own concoction i mixed up. it comes from the automotive interior world and is called Liquid ABS. all it is is abs plastic shavings disolved in acetone, mix it to the consistancy of paste and when the acetone evaporates you have soilid plastic instead of several peices stuck together with glue or whatever. it can be sanded painted etc just as well as the rest of the plastic because thats what it is! the BEST part is since it fuses the seperate peices into one solid peice you will NEVER get hairline stress cracks with bondo along seams anymore because there arent any seams!

So, where do you get/how do you make Liquid ABS?

[soundwave]

the black stuff i am using is my own concoction i mixed up. it comes from the automotive interior world and is called Liquid ABS. <b>all it is is abs plastic shavings disolved in acetone</b>, mix it to the consistancy of paste and when the acetone evaporates you have soilid plastic instead of several peices stuck together with glue or whatever. it can be sanded painted etc just as well as the rest of the plastic because thats what it is! the BEST part is since it fuses the seperate peices into one solid peice you will NEVER get hairline stress cracks with bondo along seams anymore because there arent any seams!

So, where do you get/how do you make Liquid ABS?

Acetone, available at any hardware store.

[jdmlight]

the black stuff i am using is my own concoction i mixed up. it comes from the automotive interior world and is called Liquid ABS. <b>all it is is abs plastic shavings disolved in acetone</b>, mix it to the consistancy of paste and when the acetone evaporates you have soilid plastic instead of several peices stuck together with glue or whatever. it can be sanded painted etc just as well as the rest of the plastic because thats what it is! the BEST part is since it fuses the seperate peices into one solid peice you will NEVER get hairline stress cracks with bondo along seams anymore because there arent any seams!

So, where do you get/how do you make Liquid ABS?

Acetone, available at any hardware store.

That's almost too easy...I'll have to try that. I figured that he had skipped some steps for simplicity's sake.

I'd assume that since the final product is ABS, it's fully sandable and paintable...perfect for a portable.

Sounds very promising. I'd bet it smells nasty though (mainly the acetone).

[rikitheshadow]

That Liquid ABS sounds like a great idea, but how well does it turn out when you sand it? I just think something like that would most likely create air bubbles and distortion in the ABS. So much so if I were like to sand it down and reveal like a giant hole caused by an air bubble it would sorta ruin the whole surface. I just don't see "if" something like that was to happen I just don't think that would be an easy fix in my eyes, especially removing it.

[khaag]

That's when the bondo comes into play.

This is looking great so far Triton!

[Triton]

to make liquid ABS:
1.take your peice of abs plastic and grind it up into as small of peices as you can, it disolves easier this way
2. put the abs peices in a sealable, airtight glass or metal container (i use a jelly jar or mason jar)
3. pour in a SMALL ammount of acetone, enough to mostly submerge the abs shavings, not enough is better than too much because it takes a LONG time to thicken if you mix i too thin
4. stir it and let it sit for a while as soon as its got the cosistency of honey or slightly thicker its ready to use!

when its hardened its texture is not perfectly smooth like regular abs its got lots of tiny itty bitty air holes in it, very seldom are there larger ones but yea, khaag is correct as to the use of bondo as a skim coat to cover it up, it does sand and take paint just as well as regular plastic tho, its just not quite as smooth, would probably be fine if you are doing a matte finish on the portable tho

[jdmlight]

to make liquid ABS:
1.take your peice of abs plastic and grind it up into as small of peices as you can, it disolves easier this way
2. put the abs peices in a sealable, airtight glass or metal container (i use a jelly jar or mason jar)
3. pour in a SMALL ammount of acetone, enough to mostly submerge the abs shavings, not enough is better than too much because it takes a LONG time to thicken if you mix i too thin
4. stir it and let it sit for a while as soon as its got the cosistency of honey or slightly thicker its ready to use!

when its hardened its texture is not perfectly smooth like regular abs its got lots of tiny itty bitty air holes in it, very seldom are there larger ones but yea, khaag is correct as to the use of bondo as a skim coat to cover it up, it does sand and take paint just as well as regular plastic tho, its just not quite as smooth, would probably be fine if you are doing a matte finish on the portable tho

Could you vacuum-form to get rid of the air bubbles? Would the liquid ABS still cure? (aka is the liquid ABS relying on the acetone evaporating in an abundance of air, or would it still evaporate in a vacuum (inexpensive DIY-quality vacuum, not scientific-grade vacuum))

[Triton]

the air bubble thing is pretty negligable. if your making a frankencase your probably going to be using bondo regardless (if you care about your case not looking like crap that is) so for me its a non issue. in a sealed container acetone will not evaporate so im not sure about a vacuum. it might be intersting to see its potential as a molding material like how people vacuum bag fiberglass things to molds for a high strength lightweight final outcome