first GBZ... clear or black?

[Hellweaver666]

Hey folks,

I'm shortly going to start my first GBZ project. I got a Circuit Sword Lite from Kite in the last batch of pre-orders but had to have it delivered to my family in the UK as I live in a country that was outside the allowed destinations. So by the beginning of November I will have my CSL in hand. Everything else I may need I have had ready and waiting for some weeks now, from cases and buttons to 3d printed parts and even some tools that I didn't previously own plus one of Helders big ass battery packs (via Galaxy Gaming).

When I started buying parts for this project, I decided to go with an "all black" stealth look and bought a nice black case from Aliexpress plus matching buttons. Then I had an idea... I ordered a clear case, buttons and cartridges with my intention being that I would illuminate the case using some little neopixel bars that I've had laying around and a tiny arduino board. I spoke with Kite and figured out how to get the power I need from his board to get the little guy up and running and all in all, I think it'll be pretty easy and give me a GBZ with a unique trick that I haven't seen in other projects.

Since then I've seen a few people mention that working with transparent cases can be kind of a nightmare because all of the hotglue etc required can be seen from outside and I'm starting to have second thoughts.

What do you folks think... should I go for it and try the transparent one or just go straight for the all-black?

[KonnorJ]

The transparent sounds like a good idea, if you use 3d printed brackets you shouldnt need much or any hot glue. Go for it see what you think and since you have both already you could always switch over if you dont like the clear.

[Bear_with_a_toothache]

Clear. I did Black, after considering the same options. I now want clear. I plan to do clear or multicolored 3d printed parts to showcase the build. I was also thinking to only have back facing LED’s visible when playing.

Also, please would you share your info for neopixels. I was wanting a lit option with neopixels. Are you doing an Adafruit board?

[Hellweaver666]

Hey, I'm using a tiny Arduino clone made by 4tronix in the UK (I bought it a while back on a whim and finally have a use for it). You could use any kind of tiny Arduino compatible. You could use an Adafruit Trinket or Gemma as they're both tiny and will easily slot into a spare place on your build. For LED's you could cut up some standard LED strips. I'm using the Adafruit Neopixel Sticks. It's a little row of 8 neopixels on a single PCB that can be daisy chained. I'm probably going to use two in my build.