I've been tinkering with Retropi for a while now and have ultimately had some pretty great results. Even made my own arcade cabinet at one point. So when I heard about GBZ builds I immediately knew what my next project was going to be. So I went down the rabbit hole and started searching what was needed for such a project. I eventually ran across the mintypi and was originally going to do that until, some how or another I found out about Kite's Circuit Sword. I knew that this was the project for me! And how fitting was it that he was going to open up pre-orders on my birthday! it was fate! I put in my order within minutes of it opening up and waited.
Fast foreword to now. I got my board in and have sourced parts from all over the internet and the world to complete, what is now, my favorite tinkering project i have ever done. Since I had so much time to think about the project and how I would be using it, I settled on a design that would have 6 buttons and a joy-stick on the front and 4 buttons on the back for the L1 L2 R1 R1 buttons. I went this route because of the history of the games I like to play on my arcade. There are some Genesis games and Arcade games that use a 6 button layout that I like to play and I would also like to play PS1 games as well.
Some Back story on why this project appealed to me so much. I am a Flight attendant and I do not live at my Base. I live in another city. So every time I go to work I have to drive to my cities airport, catch a flight as a passenger, then wait at my base (usually a few hours) before my work trip starts. Then do all that backwards just to go home. I do this at least once a week. As you can tell, I have TONS of down time. Having a portable system like this is so perfect for my situation that there isn't even a good simile to put in here.
Now for the build
I got a the majority of the case parts from retromodding.com. I got the 3mm glass screen protector from them and in the end I wish they had a smaller border. The border cuts off the edges of the screen just ever so slightly that it's annoying when it's noticeable; but, it's only noticeable on some games so it's not that big of a deal.
I used Helders Megabat 4.5 for my battery. I cannot be happier with this choice! I've played my GBCM3 a lot now and on average I am getting about 7 hours of battery life. That's astounding!
I am also using HoolyHoo's AIO bracket and universal back button PCB. I ended up using the Back Button PCB upside down because I wanted my L1 and R1 buttons to be indented from the L2 and R2 buttons. Really this didn't create any issues at all except that if I want to turn the joystick D-Pad on/off using the function button on the Circuit Sword its L2/R2 instead of L1/R1. I never use this function, so it doesn't bother me.
The 3D printed STL files I used came from eltoozero's gethub. I ended up not using his exhaust ducking tho. I instead just opted for a vent cartridge from Ant. I also printed their joystick bracket. I found their stuff here on the sudomod forum under the Design Sharing (3D Printed) section. look for Ant's Circuit Sword STL Files (joystick, shoulder button, exhaust fan cartridge).
A note on 3D printing... if you don't have a 3D printer, check to see of a library around you has one that you can use. There was a library near me that had what they call a "Maker Space." It had multiple 3d printers, Laser cutters, sound booth, green screen room, and a lot more. The best part is that it's all free to use! the 3d printers could be reserved for 2 hour time slots, so whatever I wanted to print had to be done within a 2 hour time frame. There were also people there to help of you have never used such things before.
I am super happy with how everything turned out. I learned a lot with this project! Now that I have built one, if I were ever to build another I know of some things that will make my life a lot easier. After having it at work, I've already gotten people asking me to make one for them. LOL. Ultimally I think that this is a project that I will continue to fiddle with for a long time, and will keep me entertained for years!
I would like to give a special thanks to all the people that have put in a lot of hard work to make these projects possible! So thank you Sudomod community! Ya'll are awesome! An extra special thanks to Kite! Your circuit board is AMAZING! The gold standard when it comes to doing projects like this!
I know that was a long post, but now here are the Pics!
- All of the parts that make up the project
- parts all.jpg (2.38 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- 3D parts for the front
- parts front.jpg (1.82 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- 3D parts for the back (I ended up trimming the cartridge back some to make room for the back button PCB)
- Parts Back.jpg (1.78 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- Most of the case mods done
- cut.jpg (1.78 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- Testing the Circuit Sword
- testing.jpg (1.8 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- Front buttons and Screen going in
- buttons in.jpg (1.68 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- Assembling the Back of the case
- back prep.jpg (1.59 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- Almost done!
- almost done.jpg (1.68 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- Finished! (front)
- table.jpg (2.02 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- Finished (Side and back) I went for the optional volume wheel for more authenticity and easier volume control. eventually I will re-print the cartridge, but for now it's fine.
- table back.jpg (1.91 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
- my first time taking it to work! absolutely perfect!
- at work.jpg (1.69 MiB) Viewed 3025 times
