Crazy project time again, and this time it’s with a can of spray paint! I wanted a blue Virtual Boy, so I made one. Photos are attached, and numbered, so you can follow along at home!
1. In order to take your Virtual Boy apart, you’ll need to find a way around those blasted security screws. It can be difficult to find a workable screwdriver, but it’s possible. It’s also simple to make one, provided you have a high-speed rotary tool like a Dremmel that you can use to cut a notch in a flat-head screwdriver.
Note: dasi clued me into the fact that a 4.6mm external Torx screwdirver will work out of the box. It’s just a matter of finding where to get one of those…
2. 8 screws need to be removed to open the case, while the remaining 4 are only there to hold the cartridge slot bracket to the other piece. After removing the 8 screws as marked, the black piece can be lifted off without dragging any system parts along with it.
3. Once you’ve got the black cover off, you’ll see something that looks like this. Never mind the Super Mario duct tape, I put that on myself to stabilize the flex cable for one of the displays.
Marked in blue are three additional, Philips-head screws that need to be taken out to remove the system from its enclosure, but are NOT needed if all you want to do is perform repairs on the displays.
4. The speaker mounts are not secured to the case in any way, so those can just be moved aside. Behind them are the display PCBs, which are secured to the display assemblies with two screws, marked in blue. You can access these screws without removing the system from its enclosure. The ribbon cable can be pulled straight out of the slot on the main board without damaging anything if you need to perform repairs.
5. The red eyepiece filters can be pulled right out of their slots on the red piece. There are rubber washers keeping the system in place on the red part of the case, but it is otherwise not secured in any way. I just used a screwdriver to pop it up off of its mounting posts, then lifted the whole thing out and set it on the table.
6. This is what the red piece looks like without the system inside. There are four remaining Philips-head screws holding the display controls to the piece.
7. After removing the display controls, only the red half of the case remains.
8. A couple coats of spray paint turn it into a blue half of the case.
9. When putting the system back in the case, you might encounter some difficulties getting everything to fit right. This image should help you with the trickier parts:
* Blue circles – The left speaker is attached with wire to the PCB mounted on the right side of the system. There are three notches on the back edge of the case where the speaker wire is meant to pass through.
* Green rectangles – The system main board can lift right up off of the display assembly. This is useful for getting that speaker wire in place, but putting it back together might be troublesome. On the top rectangle in the photo, you can see a number of clips. These fit on either side of the metal plate shown by the bottom rectangle. If you don’t get the clips situated correctly, the main board will not sit properly when reassembled.
* While it’s not shown in the picture, you may need to move the display controls around in order to get the corresponding parts on the system unit to fit into place. Otherwise, you won’t be able to push the system down all the way into the case.
10. Here’s the completed and reassembled system from an angle.
11. And here it is from the back.
12. And lastly, here it is as seen from the front. If only I could make it emit blue light instead of red light. (-:
The stuff I used was fantastic. Very simple, and it didn’t require a primer because it bonds to plastic.
This is the exact product I used: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/rust-oleum-paint-plus-2x-spray-glos-spa-blue-265153.html#.URQMUTvJzyM
I got my second controller in today to go with the blue system. More work to do!
Once again, numbered images are attached to this post.
1. The VB controller is held together with 10 Philips-head screws. Fortunately, these aren’t the ridiculous security screws the systems and cartridges are held together with. The screws are marked in the picture with blue circles.
2. Once the back cover is off, this is what you’ll see. And the mechanism that prevents the cord from being pulled out? A knot in the cable. Genius! There are six more, smaller, Philips-head screws that need to be removed before the buttons can be accessed.
3. Beneath the control board are two silicone button pads, which can be pulled right out of the controller. They are not interchangeable, though, since each of them is a different shape. Once uncovered, the buttons and D-Pads pop right out.
4. I used the same spray paint on the red A and B buttons as I did on the red half of the Virtual Boy’s case. This photo was taken immediately after applying the paint, so you can see that it’s still quite goopy looking. It’s very important that you don’t touch or otherwise disturb the paint in this phase before it sets up enough to transport.
5. After drying for a few hours, the buttons look WAY better. They’re still not ready for prime time, but they’re dry to the touch and can be handled without smudging the surface. Ideally, you should wait a full 48 hours before trying to do anything with a painted object.
6. Once reassembled, this is how the controller looks. The red buttons have been turned into blue buttons to match the parent system. Finally, a matching set!
As I become more familiar with the capabilities of this old hand-me-down camera, I find better ways to take better, crisper shots with more accurate colors.
The images I took of the blue Virtual Boy paint job in the first post do not fully represent the vibrancy of the blue I used. The image attached to this post is a pretty darn good shot.
