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Post by lovablechevy on Jul 18, 2008 18:06:00 GMT -4
so the other forum is doing a portable contest. i'm gonna put my work log here so that it's documented some place. my idea (which will hopefully qualify) is to kinda remake the game gear. i want to do the somewhat difficult rgb out mod, implement a zenith 5" screen, and hard wire a master gear directly to the opposite end of the game gear cart slot. i hope to have it as close to an actual game gear as possible. i'll be using a zn-40 case to allow for a 5" screen. i was hoping to be able to use the game gear case itself, but there isn't nearly enough room. so basically, this will be a slightly oversized game gear, with much better screen, and a built in cart slot for master system games. another dual slotted portable. but, this one will go much smoother, i believe. i will have 6 weeks to complete it. the deadline is aug 31st. if nothing else, i should get a creativity award... i bet most the others will be nes or snes portables. guess we'll see! so far all i've done is order a bunch of stuff and brain storm. items purchased/ in pocession/needed game gear zenith 5" screen zn-40 case 2 adjustable switching regulators leds master gear all materials necessary for rgb out mod 3 polymer li-ion batties pcb circuit charger smoke gray krylon paint spare controller to steal board white decal paper the random necessities: solder, wires, epoxy putty, spot putty, etc...well, hopefully i can pull all of this off... i'll post some "concept art" later... not that i'm that great of a artist... but you know...
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Post by lovablechevy on Jul 19, 2008 14:25:27 GMT -4
ok, here are some concept drawings. as i stated before, i want it to look like a slightly oversized game gear. i think this drawing accomplishes it quite well. there are two sets of speaker holes because there is apparently a left and right channel when doing the rgb out mod. back side showing both sms and gg cart slots. size comparison. well, let me know what you think.
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Post by lovablechevy on Jul 20, 2008 18:04:32 GMT -4
well, today kicks off the competition. i of course don't have much i can actually work on right now. still waiting for the case and other things to get here... but, i did do the one thing that i was capable of doing. i hard wired the master gear to the game gear. i know, it looks kinda messy. those are a lot of rather close pins! that's the game gear version of dragon crystal. so i didn't fry anything! *whew* and that is the sega master system game golvellius playing. i couldn't get a good shot of the title screen. it's too dark for how the light is going through the screen right now. so, it was successful. woo hoo! i need to go back and secure a few of the connections and then hot glue them down so they don't come loose with everything i will be doing. one step down, several more to go...
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Post by lovablechevy on Jul 27, 2008 0:32:02 GMT -4
ok, so i was finally able to get kinda started on this today. i wasn't able to get nearly as much done as i was hoping, but it's still a good start. it's a good place to be at for tomorrow. the cut up gg case the screen hole so i don't have to attempt a perfect cut the mock up of the case design screen hole set in place screen hole epoxied in. now i need to wait for it all to dry, and sand. then after that, i'll cut and put in the gg case shells. tomorrow i hope to get the front basically up to the point of being ready to prime. we'll see... a big shout out to tibia who was there with me the entire time tonight. it's good to have company while doin project work!
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Post by lovablechevy on Jul 27, 2008 19:31:32 GMT -4
while i wait for the epoxy to dry, i'll write up what i've accomplished so far today. sanded down the rgb mod out allows for right and left speakers, so i had to make some right speaker holes. here is the pattern for it not perfect, but good enough. even has the dimples case cut to fit the gg case in gg case set in place epoxied in the epoxying did not go as smoothly as hoped. part is already separating away from the case. so after it's all dry and sanded down, i'll have to go fix that. but it's movin at a good pace.
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Post by lovablechevy on Jul 29, 2008 22:25:10 GMT -4
well, tonight has been rather frustrating. but, boy, i have learned some very important lessons. so, i started to sand it all down. and it was going great. then, i look back at one part that was done, and noticed something terrible! i thought the camera had captured it better than this... but anyway... what i had epoxied in was separating away! this sent me into panic mode! luckily, kroger carries super glue. and after having to stop many times to wash it off, wait for it to dry, and apply more super glue, i'm this far. i still have a lot of stuff to fix. i still need to super glue some stuff down. and i need to re-epoxy some stuff. and then spot putty. important lessons learned today: 1) perma poxy is not good epoxy 2) no matter how much time you think you might save by not super gluing your pieces in place before using epoxy, do it anyway. it will save you a lot of time and trouble later! i might still get some more accomplished tonight. just depends how long it takes for it to dry from it's "bath." ;D
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Post by lovablechevy on Jul 31, 2008 23:16:38 GMT -4
4.5 hours later... and i'm still not done with the rgb out mod. but my head hurts too much to continue this tonight. guess it'll just have to wait till tomorrow night after target or saturday morning. anyway, here's what it looks like so far. the top is completely put in place. i still have some traces to connect on the underside and then to wire it all up. i really hope this works. if it doesn't, i think i'm gonna pull all my hair out.
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 5, 2008 1:12:34 GMT -4
very frustrated as of late. can't get the mod working right. hopefully i'll be able to figure it out tomorrow. back of the circuit "completed" circuit getting only a b&w signal... at least i'm gettin a video out signal. now i just gotta figure out why the crap it's not in color... and i need to figure it out soon. no point in working more on the case till i figure this out.
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 7, 2008 1:32:18 GMT -4
just some pics for today. getting closer... just starting...
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 8, 2008 0:53:27 GMT -4
it's time for another update! woo hoo!!! not much to say about it, so i'll just get to the pics. "final" epoxy and sanding of that sort good old spot putty it's coming along nicely. starting to get nice and smooth. i anticipate about 1-2 more coats of spot putty. then comes primer and fixing the flaws that become obvious. after that, primer and paint. and more sanding, of course!
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 10, 2008 1:24:25 GMT -4
even tho i had to close at target today, i had a rather prosperous day! i set right to work as soon as i got up. i was able to set the 2nd coat of spot putty sanded down. i then waited for it to dry from it's bath. and then... primer time!!!! this was taken right after i got done spraying the final coat of primer. it got me so excited, i just had to do: a mock up!!!! of course, this was taken after work so that the primer had enough time to dry so that i could handle it. it's really coming together now! i just have a few minor defects i need to fix, paint it the correct color, add the decals, and clear coat for the front to be complete! i hope to get the front to the point of being almost ready to be painted tomorrow and to make a lot of ground on the back. haven't really don't anything with it yet... and i need to start on the top piece. luckily, since i am mocking the game gear, the bottom piece needs no modifications. simply primer and paint. woo!
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 11, 2008 0:28:09 GMT -4
so i was able to work for quite a while today. got pretty far. not as far as i really would have liked, but there isn't too much more i could have gotten done. i did want to work on the top piece, but kinda lost motivation. plus, i couldn't find part of what goes in it. and i don't have my batteries yet, so i don't know what size the ac jack will be. anyway... on to some pics... today was a lot of the back of the case. i was able to cut out the holes for both cart slots, glue them in, and bondo them in. took a lot longer and was a lot more complex than it sounds. the front actually got a lot of work today, but i didn't really take a pic since it looks basically the same in picture form. i fixed the minor flaws with spot putty. then, i put in the brightness buttons that i forgot previously. i then used primer again to get it a uniform color. noticed i needed to work on the brightness buttons again, so i did. that's why the pic above does not show it a solid color. the front is now ready for paint. so that's on the agenda for tomorrow. and sanding the back and other work for it. hopefully i'll get the case done pretty soon so i can go back to concentrating on the electronics. i still need to led mod my screen, get my circuit working properly, wire up the controls, relocate the ext. port, and wire in the battery. good times.
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 15, 2008 0:55:22 GMT -4
well, did as much as i could today... time just slips by too quickly... i *think* i got the cracks and small imperfections smoothed out. guess we'll see once i reprimer and paint. i cut the "wings" off the back of the case to allow for a thinner grip area. also, i sanded down most of the bondo used to put the two cart slots in. i then bondoed over the "wings" so i can get it all the same height and smooth. i'll sand that out either tomorrow or saturday. just over 2 weeks left... i sure hope i can pull this off...
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 17, 2008 0:51:06 GMT -4
i was only able to work a few hours today, but i have almost all day tomorrow and monday night. i should be able to get the case almost completely done in that time. *woo* the back has needed lots of help. so, i'm working on gettin it to what i want it to be. still not done, but this is the sanding i got done today. i also started painting the front again after fixing all the flaws. this was outside. i don't know why it looks so light. the artistic angle shot. to show the shininess and awesomeness of it! so, the front is almost done, case speaking. i need to sand and repaint. 1 more coat might be enough. it already looks really good. then the decals and clear coat. then i can get the controls and screen in. woo hoo! it's coming along!
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Post by lovablechevy on Aug 17, 2008 20:43:04 GMT -4
got lots done today. it's really coming together now. ;D i worked on the back a lot today. and i worked on the decal some. let's get to some pics! this is what the decal will look like so far. not done with it, just what it is as of now: thickness and layout references: the front is just waiting for the decals and clear coat. i love it when it gets to this point. things just go so much faster it seems!
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