collinE's N64p W.I.P.

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:48 am

kasar wrote:I would really like to learn about how handle plastic for casing

Bacteria has a pretty good vac-forming log going you could read, along with pages and pages from others.

Plastic does make for the most professional looking cases (not bashing on wood or metal at all). That's why so many here use polycase.

I have no artistic ability whatsoever so it's been really tough to design a case for me. And you can see that there aren't any unique shapes or anything on mine, mostly straight edges that could be measured out.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:33 pm

collinE - Thanks!

kasar - Yes, have a look in Case Construction in my thread; my vacuum table is complete and proven to work. Cost me about Â£12 to make (about $22).

The plastic sheets I got are called Styrene or Plasticard, 2mm (0.080") thick. Really nice solid stuff. Size: 325mm x 220mm.

kasar · Post by **kasar** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:57 am

thanks guys, I will

22$? seems a nice price for a great tool ^^

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:59 am

Yes, Â£12 for making the table.

Then comes the rest of the costs:

Â£1.75 per plastic sheet.
Just spent Â£12 on 4 packs of clay and Â£2 on nice clay shaping tools.
Also just spent Â£5 on a spraycan of plastic primer, Â£5 for spraycan of metallic black paint and Â£5 for spraycan of metallic paint sealer.
Already got plastic weld glue, about Â£4 as I recall and also two packs of bondo at about Â£6 or whatever it cost (don't recall exactly)

Gets expensive!

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:43 pm

I'm pretty sure this will fit the front portion of the case. It may be off by a mm or two on one of the sides. If it doesn't fit, how should I shape it? hold it up to the flame on the stove and bend it with an oven mit?

Doesn't really give much depth, maybe a cm by the time I file it straight. I would have just done a flat piece, but I vac formed it so it'd have rounder edges and so I wouldn't have to bondo the cart slot on. Pretty plain, but what do you think?

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:52 am

Looks nice to me!

On my casing, (N64 not PS1) I will be making a mold too for the cart slot. Looks nice and integrated. It might be a big hassle though making the cart slot holder integrated into the casing initially, rather than being screwed into the case base, when it comes to mounting the wiring the cart slot; depends though if you thought about this at the time you made the mold.

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:07 pm

bacteria wrote:It might be a big hassle though making the cart slot holder integrated into the casing ... depends though if you thought about this at the time you made the mold.

whoops!

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:04 pm

sorry, no pictures w/ this update. The two sides of the case match up as best as I can get them now.

The solution to my problem of the uneven sides (I received no suggestions) was to heat the plastic on my wife's "grittle." Is that what it's called? The big flat pan thing you cook pancakes on by plugging it into a power socket?

Anyway, I set it to 200F and rubbed the plastic on its surface until plastic started to weaken and then used my counter to do the same motion until it cooled. It didn't work wonders, but it helped. The biggest problem was that I couldn't do it from the inside, only the outside.

At first I tried to heat an old fork on the stove and use that to heat the plastic, but all I accomplished was making a new spot to bondo later. I see this as a learning experience

There's about a hundred things I'd do different next time around.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:41 pm

"Griddle" not "Grittle". Not important though!

Best idea would be to trace out the case top and make sure your next mold is made to exactly those dimensions so both halves meet properly, that is what I will be doing on my casings.

Probably is too late for yours; how about using a hair drier to make the sides of your case rear soft enough to bend a bit without damaging it?

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:15 pm

this is the first time I saw this thread and just wanted to say this looks awesome so far
your case looks like it came out pretty good by the way

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:16 pm

Very nice!

Uhh, to elaborate on what I said about bondo/epoxy:

IMHO, there are two ways that you can franken case with bondo/epoxy effectively.

1. When you cut the original plastic and the case hole to be the exact sam size, and its a snug fit without bondo/epoxy, and the bondo/epoxy just makes it secure.

2. When you cut the hole in the case a little bigger, or the original plastic a bit smaller, or any combination in which there is at least a few mm in between the case and the original plastic, and then the bondo/epoxy fills the gap and provides the extra security. (The bad way which I was talking about is when the amount of room in between the case and the original plastic is too small, and the bondo/epoxy is too thin to bond correctly, or too thin to hold the original plastic and the case together.)

Uhh, sorry if that's hard to read or something, its been awhile since I've done definitive posts.

SS

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:21 am

bacteria wrote:"Griddle" not "Grittle". Not important though!

Best idea would be to trace out the case top and make sure your next mold is made to exactly those dimensions so both halves meet properly, that is what I will be doing on my casings.

Probably is too late for yours; how about using a hair drier to make the sides of your case rear soft enough to bend a bit without damaging it?

ahh, yess. Griddle. I think I was thinking of a skillet at the same time and I even almost put "skittle" which would have been even more embarrassing.

Tracing the case top would have been the best way to go and really should have been my first thought, but when you brainstorm too much, it seems as though you tend to forget the obvious stuff. And a hair dryer gets the plastic hot enough to soften it? That's good to know. I figured I was out of luck without a heat gun.

ShockSlayer wrote:Very nice!

Uhh, to elaborate on what I said about bondo/epoxy:

IMHO, there are two ways that you can franken case with bondo/epoxy effectively.

1. When you cut the original plastic and the case hole to be the exact sam size, and its a snug fit without bondo/epoxy, and the bondo/epoxy just makes it secure.

2. When you cut the hole in the case a little bigger, or the original plastic a bit smaller, or any combination in which there is at least a few mm in between the case and the original plastic, and then the bondo/epoxy fills the gap and provides the extra security. (The bad way which I was talking about is when the amount of room in between the case and the original plastic is too small, and the bondo/epoxy is too thin to bond correctly, or too thin to hold the original plastic and the case together.)

Uhh, sorry if that's hard to read or something, its been awhile since I've done definitive posts.

SS

That all made sense. I kinda went the #1 route. I wanted things to be as snug as possible before I filled it so that I could match up the pieces and get them even.

I thought pretty hard about it and just used the ABS cement as a filler. It was $2.50 at home depot for another small can. It bonds to the plastic well and will flex with the plastic. I've sanded about half of it and it looks really nice.

People, I'm almost to the part that I've been dreading the most. Painting! I really really want to use spray paint, but in all my life, I've never had success with it. I follow the instructions on the stupid can, but I've never actually seen how thick/thin I'm supposed to get each coat. Am I supposed to keep it so thin that I only speckle it with each coat? Do I really hold it 6-8 inches away? How fast do I pan from side to side? I plan on doing some digging on the nets, but anyone able to offer some good tips? This is the part that really makes it or breaks it for me.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:30 am

A hair drier should heat the plastic enough to be able to bend the plastic a little, although don't expect miracles.

I too will be experimenting soon with spray painting plastic. They say thin and even layers and plenty of them, and a light sanding between coats (especially if the coats are a little uneven). They also say to ensure you give the plastic a wash (and dry) before painting it.

I decided on going for a metallic finish, so I got some plastic primer spray paint, some metallic black spray paint and some metallic sealer spray paint. This will probably show up any imperfections in the case, however I should get away with it on my latest case, as there are no imperfections at the moment on it.

It is a case of experimenting with a reject case or a spare piece of plastic first and get used to the spray painting, then going it for real on your case and crossing fingers!

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 10:53 pm

Well, due to me moving this week, my dog having puppies, and a sudden onset of depression that has hit me like a "left"

hook, I'm going to have to halt the progress on my portable.

sorry, guys.

sdh · Post by **sdh** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:50 am

Liking the case!