[WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

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MickeyMustang
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[WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by MickeyMustang » Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:58 am

Hey all,

I know there are some other guys doing a similar thing, but when I started my second GB zero build 2 weeks ago, I decided to print my own case. I looked around and didn't find any (finished) GB zero case with the original measures of the GB. So I decided to give CAD a try myself.
I used OpenScad to create the 3D model and took the measures from an 'original' chinese case and changed it to my needs and according my skills as I only started using CAD 2 weeks ago.
Below you can find the results, at least the top part of the case. Tht buttom will follow soon.
I played around quite a lot and printed several loops. In the end I had to sacrifice the original look to make it printable (mainly the 'sloped' parts around the buttons didn't really work out).
Additionally to the case I'm aiming to make the build as clean as possible. Therefore I made something like a frame for the screen. I added a bed for the screen control board and a bed for the teensy.
On top I will cover the lower part and make similar 'beds' for the amplifier, power strip etc.
The Pi itself will be screwed to the screen frame. There is also a small frame for the audiojack. So far the design seems to work for me. Still a lot of improvements to implement though.
So far I have been using PLA, which gives a quite nice surface when printed on glass. I will try to spray paint the case and see how the surface will look like.
I also might want to try ABS and put it above some acetone so see how that would like.

Any thoughts on that? Any recommondations? :)

// update 2017-09-08

So I worked on the case for quite a while now and and after lots of fine tuning and countless prints I am almost done.
I'm really happy with the result. I designed it in a way so I almost won't need any hot glue. It's tailor made to the parts that I am using, but it should be fairly easy to adjust it to whatever other parts I might use for future builds.

Maybe I will implement some status LEDs in the empty catridge. Let's see.

I tried different techniques to give the case a nice finish and I decided to sand paper it, refine it with putty and spray paint it. The pictures show the almost final case before all the refinement. I will only do that, when I'm sure everything is how I want it to be.

After I finished the GBZ up, I will share my STL files with you guys :)
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P.s. in the meantime I learned how to use the spoiler function here in the forums..^^
Last edited by MickeyMustang on Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:06 am, edited 3 times in total.

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YaYa
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Re: CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by YaYa » Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:08 am

You can also sand paper with water from 200 to 1000, slowly, to give it a soft finish ; before painting.

Nice job already, looking forward for the back shell !
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Re: CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by neolith » Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:58 pm

Oh, this looks good! I am curious to see how your case turns out!
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Re: CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by YaYa » Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:06 pm

Sorry, posted at the wrong place. I apologize :mrgreen:
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MickeyMustang
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Re: [WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by MickeyMustang » Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:11 am

I was planning to add status LEDs in the cartridge. Is there any way I can do so with a powerboost 1000c. I saw in Veterans build that one could use the generic powerboost to realize that, but I didn't find a solution with the adafruit powerboost. Anyone any idea? I think it would round up the whole set up..

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Re: [WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by neolith » Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:26 pm

Oh, that's a very clean print! Nice!
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Re: [WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by mrdude42 » Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:45 am

Looking cool. Thanks for the post!

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Re: [WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by Al3x360 » Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:49 am

Nice build, i see you have room for all the things you need . unfortunatelly for me , the board if the screen is attached to the screeusing strong tape , so i ant use your "design solution" . i'll try to find SPI screen to do the same . I found one on Ali for EUR 10 (https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/Raspberr ... 0.0.J3QWuE ) . you have to rework on the item but it seems to be a 340 x480 screen unter 10 euros .

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Re: [WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by MickeyMustang » Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:01 am

Hey, took me quite a long time to get back to this and I spent a lot of time on optimizing the appearance of the case, but I think it looks pretty good for a 3D printed case. (Maybe I overdid it with the fill density at 100% with the last prints, because it took like 8 hours to print each side, but I wanted to be sure it will be sturdy enough). After printing with PLA I used putty, sand paper, primer, sand paper, several layers of spray paint and a lot of patience to smoothen the surface of the case. The front of the case is done, all components soldered together and everything is working fine so far, even though I had a bad time with audio and the usb hub. Next step is putting the missing components in the back case and close it. I hope to be done by end of next week. After that I'll share my files and maybe put a short 'manual' together on what I learned during working on this.
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Re: [WIP] CAD designed and 3D printed GB Zero case

Post by moooarcuuuus » Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:13 am

What a beautiful holder. :D
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