Im all for USEFULL modding, and building electronic gizmos, but getting them to look good is sometimes a bit hard. Hot glue, Epoxy, and cardboard arent the best eye candy. As we all probabbly have seen, Ben's Portable Consoles look freggin' sweet! Unfortunateally, not all of us know how to deal with resins and silicone molds, let alone get our hands on the stuff. And im sure most of us wont get out hands on any kind of milling machine or laser cutter. Drills and Dremels are usually the key choice for most of us.
I would like to compile some tips, tricks, and tutorials on how to make good lookin' cases. Lets hear some stroies and see some pics and URLs on how to make our mods look as good as they work... crap I guess mine are gonna need more bakery string and hot glue then.
Tips on making project cases and enclosures.
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Tips on making project cases and enclosures.
Last edited by Foxx373 on Sun May 15, 2005 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Auto Body Filler
I have used Car Body Filler (Bondo) to make project cases. First I take all my electronics and I mask them, then I make a crude shape of what I want it to look liek out of some fine mesh screen. I apply a layer of Filler, then sand. I keep doing this until i get the shape and size I want. Other times I have made Inverse Molds out of Styrofoam. I carve out what I want, then line it with wax paper, or Aluminum Foil. I mix the filler, pour it in, then use a female of the dog species' back massager from the 70's to get all the air bubbles out. Sand, prime, paint. I have used clear or white urithane paint to add a nice "candy shell" over it then i paint as usual.
This also works with Epoxy Putty. And for small stuff like Memory Cards, you can use plain 5 minute Epoxy.
I took an xbox controller and made a Mem-Card USB Adapter so I can use USB stuff on my X.
I line'd an old dismembered controller card slot with foil, added my adapter board with USB Jack, fulled it up with epoxy, let it set overnight. With a little abuse i was able to pop the new adapter out. I sanded it to be a bit smoother and to get all the foil off. It looks decent, and it works like a charm.
This also works with Epoxy Putty. And for small stuff like Memory Cards, you can use plain 5 minute Epoxy.
I took an xbox controller and made a Mem-Card USB Adapter so I can use USB stuff on my X.
I line'd an old dismembered controller card slot with foil, added my adapter board with USB Jack, fulled it up with epoxy, let it set overnight. With a little abuse i was able to pop the new adapter out. I sanded it to be a bit smoother and to get all the foil off. It looks decent, and it works like a charm.