Here are the pictures of the Gameboy I purchased on eBay:
The unit was a bit dirty, with some residue from what I assume were stickers. The batter cover was held on by tape, which I can only assume was from the beginning of time. Additionally, it looks like something (which I hope was a dog) chewed on the battery cover. It's missing the tabs on the bottom of the cover, as well as the tab at the top, but it stays in pretty well. So, after gutting the thing, I washed the case and was able to get it pretty clean.
I used Wermy's method of tracing the button holes on the NES controller and transferring the graphite to the case. I used wax paper, which worked fine. The buttons were by far the hardest part of the project so far. I dremeled out most of the button hole, then used a knife to finish them off. I'm a perfectionist, so I was meticulous when it came to the button holes and the screen.
I've used a dremel in the past, but not for a while. What I did not expect was the molten globs of plastic flying at me when shaping the case. Luckily, I survived to tell the tale.
This is my first project like this. I've soldered a bit before (some work in electric guitars) but nothing on such an intricate scale. Hopefully it'll go well. My Raspberry Pi, Teensy board and a set of helping hands are coming in the mail next week, so we'll see how good I really am at soldering!
On a final note, I'll share the conversation I had with my wife about the project earlier:
Her: "So...you took it apart...and then you're just going to put it back together again?"
Me: "Yeah, but it'll have a new screen, extra buttons, and it'll let me play basically any game I want."
Her: "...did it work before?"
Me: "No, it didn't."
Her: "And you paid $25 for it?!"
We'll see how it plays out.
Thanks for reading!
