I love my DS but I wanted a more unique look to the outside. I've seen only two other DS case mods so if I was going to do this it would be with only limited guidance. The first thing I did was find out if it was possible. I searched the Net and found this guide. Great! It's pretty detailed and showed me there was a pruduct available so I didn't have to use my original ds shell. So I found a source for these things on eBay: 'webstorez' and their ds shell replacement kit. I ordered four shells, 2 white and 2 black. Unfortunately I got 1 pink one! Anyway a quick e-mail and the problem was sorted with the other 3 on their way to me as I write this. Actually, it wasn't such a big deal as I could start work on the bottom of the case since it's white. I removed the screws from the GBA port plate and the sylus holder and made sure I kept them somewhere safe. I also took off the two rubber feet. I masked holes and then decided it would be best to mask off the whole back area and use a q-tip so i could hold the piece while painting. I wanted a Nintendo themed case and settled for a Koopa Troopa shell effect. The bottom is white but it's white paint over the plastic so I wet-sanded that down a little and put primer on it, sanded again and put down another layer of primer. Next step was laying down the bottom layer of paint. This is the paint I used. Probably not much use to you guys but it's a multi-purpose paint I've used on rubber and plastic before. I got a light brown colour and an off-white cream colour. It's getting pretty cold here so I ran the cans under the hot water tap for a while and cave them a really good shake. I then put on my new mask and proceeded outside to my custom painting booth which consists of a few old cardboard boxes. A few coats and this is what I had. pretty good. I'm not going to sand it down as it's only the bottom part and I think the texture is kind of nice. (not that I'm lazy...no no no) Next I got a thin roll of masking tape and masked the parts I wanted to stay dark. Like so... It was late by then so I called it day and had some dinner, lovingly prepared by my wife (no pics as I was so hungry). So today I put the lighter colour down in a few layers and I've just taken off the masking tape to reveal....ta ta raraaaa! I have to nip out now and pick up some clear coat. Thanks for looking!
Looks like you are off to a great start Just be careful you don't rush anything and let it COMPLETELY dry... if you put on another layer too soon things can be royally messed up...
That's good advice. It's been really hard for me to be patient and wait for things to dry and just do things right. I'm just thinking of how annoying it would be to mess up at this stage. I bought the clear coat and will be working on it tomorrow, after which there will be another update.
Jan 13th Mini Update So I've been juggling two projects and turning the apartment upside down in the process. I decided the make a start on the other panels so I've got as far as priming the top panel and sanding down the inside top panel. I really took more time and care over them this time and the top panel looks great and feels nice and smooth. I have to make another trip to get more paint tomorrow. Black for the bottom layer and green for the shell segments. Yeah yeah, it's pink now but it wont be for long.
Well things have been moving ahead, slowly. It's too cold to sit outside so I set up my little booth in the kitchen. Not much to say really. I put the primer on both the inside parts and sanded them down a few times. Next I put a layer or two of snow white colour. I put the layer of green that will form the base of the shell for the top part and I'll let that dry for a day and then put the mask on it. I also sprayed the inside top piece with a 'mysterious pearl' coloured paint (it's really called that). I don't think the camera captures the effect at all in this shot. I'll try to get a better shot next time. Even though I thought I'd covered up everything, when I tidied away my cardboard boxes, I found that I'd sprayed the kitchen floor Not to worry, a bit of elbow grease and some fine sand paper got it off no probs. Kitchen stinks now though. And we had snow today too!
I was up and raring to go at 12:40pm Hey I'm unemplyed at the moment. I designed the shell pattern on my computer and printed it out onto masking paper but I'm cheap so I used the economy print setting. Doing that made it a bit tough to cut them out but I managed it. If I had to do it again I would use high quality to make sure the lines on each side of the hexagons were perfect. Anyway, that's a not for next time. First, I laid out the pieces on the cover to make sure knew how I wanted them to look. Then, I used a craft knife to peel the tape from the backing and then applied them carefully to the cover. I used an ear cleaning tool (!) to make sure the tape was making good contact with the cover and that it got down into the nooks and crannies. Then I had to lay down the black for the colour in between the segments. I just did two layers with 30mins drying time in between. Unfortunately, I had to go to the shops and then cook dinner so I forgot to take a photo. I've done this crude mockup though. I left it for a good 4 hours or so while I ate that delicious vegetarian lasagne. Then, I sat down and using a craft knife and some tweezers, I carefully peeled the masking tape off the cover. Here's what was undernieth. I love this bit! I must say I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. The finish is quite smooth even though I didn't sand it. I'm going to put a coat of clear on it and then perhaps a final coat to give a nice glossy finish. This Koopa shell is really coming to life
No it's still alive and almost finished but I ordered 4 shells and only got one. I'm not totally happy with the inner parts which I've painted. I also just bought a DS Lite (which I waited 12hours for) and this one is going to my wife. So many more reasons which I won't bore you with. All in all a lot of excuses it will be finished though, sometime
Hey thanks dude! Since I read your Mod guide you inspired me to do this paint job on my case! Here's my project! Project Hydra Hey don't be afriad to enter my project discussion forum! I had to use photobucket for the images
why is it that there's a cotonbud attached on the cover of your unti? i'm wondering what is that for...
I've new parts for the inside arriving soon so I should be able to finish this up sometime next month.
Well this mod became quite tough due to having so little space to paint in. I had to paint in the kitchen or right outside my apartment. Then my wife got pregnant (sounds like she did it by herself ) so I thought I shouldn't paint while she was around. Then we moved to a new place...bla blah blah. Anyway, I've 80% finished but have some big problems to sort out. Main thing is the bottom screen won't display. It takes inputs but I can't see anything on it. Top screen is fine. I also managed to scratch the paint as the clearance near the hinges was so tight due to the added paint I'm frustarted with myself but the case itself looks great. I might try to get the screen working somehow and I can fix the paint but I won't bother for a while. I have another project on life support here at bit-tech too. I have extra shells left and I might do another one and use the things I've learned to make the next one even better. The centre piece of the hinge is fine but I haven't put it on since I may be taking it apart again. Same goes for the Nintendo badge on the top of the shell. Final (for now) pics Thanks for your interest everyone!
I really love the look of this. I'm glad you updated, I was seraching for this thread awhile ago. The project looks great, and turned out very well. Congratulations on a mod well done.
