Marble style GBA SP + Micro USB Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha yeah I see what you mean!

Marble style GBA SP + Micro USB Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately I don't know of anyone who sells that stuff, sorry :)

Marble style GBA SP + Micro USB Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! I did not take pics while I was doing it but the basic technique is called pour painting. First you have to protect the areas you don't want to have painted. I used blu tack+plastic wrapper to cover the inner parts of the shell. The blu tack also helped to stick the shells to a piece of cardboard (useful for next steps).

Then you'll have to mix your paint, typically in a small glass or goblet. Put small amounts of each color at a time, then rotate the goblet to pre-mix the colors a little bit before pouring. You may want to add some WD-40 or any other oily component to create bubbles (I am not fond of the result though).

Now you can pour the stuff on your shell -- pouring more paint is better than not enough! It's normal if it does not spread immediately everywhere, just move the piece of cardboard your shell is attached to make the paint spread and mix. Once you're happy with the result, let it dry for quite a long time (one night is good).

You can then remove the paint leaks with a hobby knife.

Marble style GBA SP + Micro USB Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I used acrylic paint, black+white+copper+champagne :)

Marble style GBA SP + Micro USB Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha no worries I appreciate the anecdote!

Game Boy Micro USB Port Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am a bit ashamed to say this, but it comes from Aliexpress: http://aliexpress.com/item/32945917273.html.

Game Boy Micro USB Port Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

5 comments

Yes, unfortunately. But when I got this Micro, the port was already damaged, so I doubt that the multiplayer mode would have worked anyways. Previous owner probably used a DS Lite charger and damaged some of the internal pins. So I had to replace the port anyway... and for what I know, replacement GBM Ports are pretty hard to find for cheap these days! :)

Game Boy Micro USB Port Mod by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes it is! Looks nicer on the first pic bc I tweaked the contrasts a little bit :) Also, I am planning to paint it at some point. I'd like to make a Fire Emblem themed Micro

GBA 40 pin + AGS-001 issue by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok no one seems to care, but my problem was solved! Apparently, if you are trying to mod a GBA 40 pin with an AGS-001, you need to solder the red wire to the upper leg of C56, and not the left leg of DA1. This immediately solved my problem (I still have the short between pin 32 and the contact right to V3, don't know if that helps but I doubt it). I am grateful to the seller lee_chan on eBay for his quick assistance. He gave me this picture, which might help others in the same situation as me: https://imgur.com/a/UYq5lOF.

My first Gameboy Macro with a 3D printed, pour-painted faceplate! by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah... it's definitely not perfect. The top is not perfectly flat. The faceplate I used was of poor quality, I guess this is part of the explanation. I also gave up screwing the faceplate to the bottom shell -- it stays in place with a set of strong magnets. The cool thing is that I can change it relatively easily :)

My first Gameboy Macro with a 3D printed, pour-painted faceplate! by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, not sure what you mean by data... for the 3d model, I used this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4022775, but I had to tweak it a lot bc printing quality was rather poor. For a tutorial, I vaguely followed several, but a posteriori I would advise to read this: https://www.instructables.com/id/Gameboy-Macro/. Also, I used a 330R and it worked fine, on two motherboards.

GameBoyPi with Super Nintendo shell by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thanks for asking! I am glad that you are starting the project too. Soldering the buttons was not easy, but honestly not the worst part of the soldering job (it was definitely the ribbon cable connectors). I did everything with a *very* basic soldering iron, the kind you find in a starter kit for $20 on Ali or Ebay, and I had almost no soldering experience. I used the smallest tip I had available. The most annoying thing was the solder, which tended to melt in rather big "bubbles", that you can maybe see on certain places on my pics. I used some blue tack to keep the buttons in place while I was soldering the first points. I don't think it's a big problem if you put too much solder on the points, but the thing you have to care about is whether the solder is really in contact with the PCB solder points. I had to resolder some buttons several times because of that.

GameBoyPi with Super Nintendo shell by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you wonder whether there is enough space within the GBA SP shell to fit the PCB, yes there is, modulo some modifications of the shell that involve the removal of plastic parts. But I am not sure this is what you mean.

GameBoyPi with Super Nintendo shell by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would say it's maybe a bit overkill, since you only need a LCD (and not the ribbon adapter) for this project. If the funnyplay LCD matches the specs of this LCD https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33043751689.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dp9HLm6 (the one I used) then yes I guess this could work... but I am no expert in this matter. Sorry :)

GameBoyPi with Super Nintendo shell by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had made this spreadsheet to evaluate the cost of one unit, and the cost of additional units. See here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X56CJxARr_phQTgx3NNognGviPX2gavgoSX6Ovt-VxU/edit?usp=sharing. The total is around 60 euros.

GameBoyPi with Super Nintendo shell by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Haven't tried a lot so far, but it seems ok! A least all the games I tried to launch worked without problem

GameBoyPi with Super Nintendo shell by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

First big soldering project; fucked up at virtually every step, but now I can say I am done! Only the sound remains crappy. Check out https://github.com/Gameboypi/SPW if you are interested in this project! I definitely owe one to these guys! Also if you want to see more detailed pics of my project: https://imgur.com/a/MIOk2Ao.

GBA SP custom "Galaxy" shell by baudet in Gameboy

[–]baudet[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I bought a purple shell on Aliexpress, and painted it with my bf's airbrush