NES/N64 portable, actually getting somewhere now!

cowsgoquack101 · Post by **cowsgoquack101** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:45 pm

My workspace is on my freezer. With about two or three system cases. My desceased cat Scamper is in there so it's kind of creepy to work... I miss my kitty.

Post by **Triton** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:48 pm

he painted it, i saw that in another thread, looked awesome too!

MR.MOD · Post by **MR.MOD** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:41 pm

Looks great! It looks like it was injection molded. I planned on doing somthing like that but I messed up epoxing the controller. Do you have any tips on gluing the parts together and using the bondo.

Fanboy · Post by **Fanboy** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:40 am

Oh, btw Gamelver, awhile back, I made a few posts under the geust name "Nintendo" You might remember that, you were one of the first people to respond.

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:48 pm

first use some epoxy t o get it stuck in the hole you cut out of the case (i like this stuff made by devcon called plastic welder) then just pack the bondo on then wipe away the excess with your finger. thats how i do it

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:44 pm

I prefer not to use epoxy. I have had trouble with it not curing or holding right, so from now on I only use superglue and hot glue, and only use epoxy when needed.

To make it look so nice I just dremeled off the controller parts, screen, excess N64 plastic, then superglued it all together on the case. Then I bought some bondo marine putty and crammed it into all the cracks and holes. Then I sanded for a couple hours

That...was not fun.
Then I put primer on it, smooth sanded, then painted it red. I did the same thing for the back, except I painted it black and cut a cartridge hole in it.

BTW, I made some EXCELLENT progress on this thing last week. I wish it would just put it self together while I sleep, but alas, it has no arms. Everything but the controller, cartridge, power and video wiring is done!

You guys might be happy to know that I have been taking pictures of the whole process, and I might be able to make it into a somewhat understandable guide during the summer. It was tricky to make even for me, and a guide would help a lot.

EDIT: MR MOD, long time no see! I was just using your PSone screen pinout the other day

For the controller, use superglue, I trust it more than epoxy. and about the bondo, be sure to use a lot (don't skimp), and overlap all the plastic you're applying it to by a little. When you sand you'll se that it's good to have excess.

MR.MOD · Post by **MR.MOD** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:24 pm

Thanks for all the tips. I think that i'm going to get back into portables again. I've just been busy with a lot of stuff. I had been working on a n64 case, but I quit because I didn't like working with epoxy. I just can't believe how nice your case turned out! It's a total makeover for the "Frankenstein Technique". I have a couple ps1 screens I still need to put to use, so there will be some portables in the future.

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:16 pm

Looks cool man keep us posted.

Dr.Weasel · Post by **Dr.Weasel** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 11:38 pm

G-Force
I was wondering if you have gotten this thing finished yet and if you have any more pictures to turn me on... I'm not gay, i was talking about your n-64p. Very nice paint job man.
-Hayden

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:58 am

Thanks. It's not quite finished yet, but I have soldered...um...2 wires so far.

It's a start. Once I get going it will only take me half a day to get it all done. So why don't I just finish it and get it done? I dunno... Fear of failure perhaps.

I added something I think most big portables should have, a heavy duty wrist strap. That way on the off chance this heavy thing slips out of your hands, the strap will catch it and break your wrist instead of the N64 on the ground. Brilliant eh?

sniper_spike · Post by **sniper_spike** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 3:57 pm

An N64p is worth more than my wrist anyday, WOOT!

Post by **Gamelver** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:11 pm

um, you'll keep your wrist you know

.....there will be an additional force applied to it, though. which might be irritating for a second, but when you realize it saved your portable, you don't care

.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:27 pm

Well yeah it's not THAT heavy. But even if it does break it the strap is on your right hand, so you could still play Goldeneye with your left hand while in the hospital!

Win/Win!

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:34 pm

Bad news

... Last night I wired the N64 to test it. I was using 8 1.2 2000 mah AA's (9.6V) with a TI 3.3V DC-DC converter (didn't forget the 100 uf cap). Anyways, it was acting really weird. I was using goldeneye and it was running fine from what I could tell, except the controller was doing completely random things without me touching it! (and this was a normal, untouched by me, N64 controller!). So I went over it and tryed it again. This time I got nothing but black video. I tested the fuse and got (IIRC) 1.1k ohms. So I jumped it and I got video again. So I turned it off to insert a controller, turned it back on, black video.

I think I have ESD N64 syndrome

Luckily I have one N64 left, but if that goes too, this project might be too costly for me to finish for a while. *crosses twitching fingers...*

Fanboy · Post by **Fanboy** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:39 pm

Hmmm... Interesting, when you find the answer, post it on portablestreet (see the post below jeroen's). It will most likely prove useful to future N64p builders (which is what portablestreets about)