sudomod

Hi there, I’ve been lurking around this forum for quite a few weeks and thought it was time to start posting about my project.
I will need to come up with a better name later but basically it's a raspberry PI zero portable with a heavily modified New 3ds replacement case to make it more ergonomic (I get so many cramps from my 3ds and small handhelds in general). I’m thinking also to make it so that it can be plug into a TV and have a second controller to be able to play with someone. I’ve got a bit of modding experience under my belt, mainly with portabilizing PS2 console but haven’t touch this for a while and got tempted to do a project like this from seeing all the great handheld projects from this site.

Part listing

Case
New 3ds replacement case
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/272205880719 ... EBIDX%3AIT

New 3ds grip
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/162036881778 ... EBIDX%3AIT

Back and shoulder button from broken GBA (This seller as a lot of broken nintendo system to play with)
http://stores.ebay.com.au/japan4youstor ... 3055681014


Video
Dalian Good Display 3.5inch 5v screen Video version
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5V-powe ... 0.0.SehSqh

there is also a VGA version (Couldn’t resist to get this one too)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5V-Powe ... 0.0.SehSqh

Mini HDMI adapter
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/141959339555 ... EBIDX%3AIT

Audio
new 3ds speaker
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacement- ... 3641.l6368

Sabrent USB Stereo Sound Adapter
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/191979340467 ... EBIDX%3AIT

PAM8403 Audio Module
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/351634130386 ... EBIDX%3AIT

3.5mm Stereo SWITCHED PCB Socket from Jaycar ( radio shack Australian equivalent )
https://www.jaycar.com.au/3-5mm-stereo- ... t/p/PS0133


Battery
NCR18650B 3.7V 3400mAh 18650 Li-ion Battery

PCB Charger 3.7V 3A Protection Board
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/272001467151 ... EBIDX%3AIT

Adafruit Powerboost 1000C
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pow ... t/overview

microUSB Breadboard Adapter
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/222300087660 ... EBIDX%3AIT

various prototype board from Jaycar
https://www.jaycar.com.au/universal-pre ... l/p/HP9550

DPDT Switch
https://www.jaycar.com.au/sub-miniature ... h/p/SS0812


Other hardware
Raspberry PI Zero

Star Shaped 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub from Jaycar (Radio Shack Australian equivalent)
https://www.jaycar.com.au/star-shaped-4 ... b/p/XC4302

ION GO PAD Folding Computer Game Controller
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/252254005180 ... EBIDX%3AIT


Worklog

While I was waiting for the different parts for my case I started to do some small things like soldering the protective circuit to my battery and figuring out how to wire the audio jack.





I also had a play with one of those octopus USB hub but out of the 2 I bought one just didn’t work (most likely bad wiring) and the second one was only a usb 1 even if the eBay list was saying it was a USB 2.0. It’s probably why it was only a few bucks. Luckily I found in a Jaycar store ( radio shack Australian equivalent ) close by a nice and compact USB hub 2.0. By trimming the PCB it should end up be quite compact.





I then received my reverse monitor that I had ordered a month ago. One thing that I realised by playing with it was the viewing angle where not great and mine came with a dead pixel, I of course realised this only after the screen was apart Oh well at least the case is made of ABS so I will be using this for my Frankencasing later on. By doing a bit of searching I then found some Dalian Good Display screen at 3.5inch at 5v input which sound pretty good so I ordered those. In the past I had a bit of experience playing with there screen and usually they are quite good.



I then cut in big chunk the monitor case (only the back part) and submerged the piece with some acetone in a glass jar to create some ABS cement.
As always safety first when handling chemicals, you should be wearing gloves to avoid contact with this product.


After almost 2 month of waiting, I finally receive my new 3DS replacement case.



Started to do some fitting and cutting.


The result some nice runny ABS cement, this cement will start drying quite fast so you want to only open the jar when using it.
Also if it get dry just add a bit more acetone and mix it up.


Cut the case and tested the cement, it work quite well.




Next I went to cut the bottom part of the 3ds, gluing it to the bottom part of the grip and gluing the front of the 3ds case to the front of the grip.




I got a broken GBA a few weeks before, I really like the chunky shoulder buttons it has so end up cutting them along with the back of the case.
I did a bit of rough sanding, keep both part of the shoulder button case together with some blue tack and the screws and glue then in the case after cutting the space for them.





The last big part was to relocate the Dpad and placing the back of the GBA in the case






Next will be quite a lot of sanding, apply filler and more sanding. Also thinking about where to place the different ports.

Wow! Thats some work! Keep us posted!

nice work! given me an idea for what to do with some old spare DS lite shell pieces I have.

wow its great to see the different things people come up with!

Quiet the frankenstein you've got going there.

Thanks guys! It's alive, almost...

Just a small update, 2 round of sanding and filling. It’s getting there.





I’ve also glue a small piece or a left over plastic to cover the base of the shoulder button.

Looks great dude! Any progress since last post? I'd love to see more. Your case modding game is on point. Any tips for someone who hasn't done anything like that before?

thanks mate. Probably the number one tip is to have patience , it take quite a few round of sanding to have a smooth finish. Research and planning are also really import, the more you plan the less problem you will encounter. I could do a rough frankencase guide at some point if you guys are interested on the process

Update:
I’ve done a lot more sanding and filling on the case, still a bit more to go.
I've spend a bit of time planing and I have a now a rough idea of the port layout, the LEDs placement and the placement the parts inside the case. I also had a idea for the battery cover and the colour skims but will probably discuss this in an other post.

I received the two 5 volts dalian good display screens and and they fitted quite well in the case.



I just had to grind the bottom part of the screen section and slightly shave off a few mil on the left and right edge.





I’m still waiting for quite a few the parts which must be on the slow boat from china.

Looking good.

Would definitely be interested in a frankencase guide!

Beautiful looking casework. I would love to do something like this but I definitely don't have the patience for all that case work.