Hardware Switch new 3DS shell

[Nommert]

Hello There,

I have bought a new 3ds ( no xl) a few months ago. Unfortunately I bought it in white, and I would love it if it was black instead of white. Is it possible to make a shell swap happen? I've seen a lot of tutorials of shell swapping for the New 3ds XL, but not for the normal version.
I am also unable to find any black new 3ds shells/housing on Amazon, eBay, replacement suffer shops, etc.

I would really appreciate if someonr could give me advise on this one. I don't want to buy a new 3ds only for it's colour, since I am quite attached to this one.

Thanks!

 

[Flying Scotsman]

It's possible, yes but is very tricky. The ribbons connecting the screens to the motherboard are the absolute worst (you have to be very careful with them). The swap is more a less the same for the XL and smaller N3DS - the XL is just a larger model (not much is different internally apart from the screen size). You'll find more guides for the XL as people (including myself) like to find limited edition shells for those times when we want to swap them over without getting a new 3DS every time however.

Regarding shells, you could try out Aliexpress but I could only find XL replacement shells (including a Majora's Mask one... so much for getting one for £250 on eBay when I can get a cheaper XL and swap the shell out...). Seems like it's been like this for a while (XL's being easy to source parts for) as a reddit thread from over a year ago asked the same question, and they didn't find any parts for the smaller N3DS either.

 

[Nommert]

It's possible, yes but is very tricky. The ribbons connecting the screens to the motherboard are the absolute worst (you have to be very careful with them). The swap is more a less the same for the XL and smaller N3DS - the XL is just a larger model (not much is different internally apart from the screen size). You'll find more guides for the XL as people (including myself) like to find limited edition shells for those times when we want to swap them over without getting a new 3DS every time however.

Regarding shells, you could try out Aliexpress but I could only find XL replacement shells (including a Majora's Mask one... so much for getting one for £250 on eBay when I can get a cheaper XL and swap the shell out...). Seems like it's been like this for a while (XL's being easy to source parts for) as a reddit thread from over a year ago asked the same question, and they didn't find any parts for the smaller N3DS either.

Thank you so much for your reply, your answer is very helpful to me :-) It is great to know the New 3ds Xl is built similar to the new 3DS. The shells are indeed almost impossible to find (haven't found them at all to be honest). But the great news is I found a shop in my country which will replace it for around 55 euro's, but it is still too expensive. Although I think the price of a full housing replacement kit won't be cheap either. Is it maybe possible to take the ds apart and paint the shells? I have found lots of tutorials of this on the new 3ds xl, but also lots of stories which claim the paint will wear of and it won't look very good either :c

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Thank you so much for your reply, your answer is very helpful to me :-) It is great to know the New 3ds Xl is built similar to the new 3DS. The shells are indeed almost impossible to find (haven't found them at all to be honest). But the great news is I found a shop in my country which will replace it for around 55 euro's, but it is still too expensive. Although I think the price of a full housing replacement kit won't be cheap either. Is it maybe possible to take the ds apart and paint the shells? I have found lots of tutorials of this on the new 3ds xl, but also lots of stories which claim the paint will wear of and it won't look very good either :c

It's possible, but yeah - it'll wear off on areas which see a lot of movement (like the corners where your palms are when holding it etc) however.

If the prices of the XL shells are the same as the smaller 3DS, the cost of a shell is about the same (maybe 5-10 Euro's cheaper at best) so 55 Euros for a shell + them fitting it is a really good deal if you ask me.

I've never painted things like this before (so someone may disagree/give better advice), but you could try spray paint for plastic models (the stuff I got for a few models seems to be pretty hard wearing) and put a final spray coat of clear lacquer onto it which should help prevent wear. Although in saying that, the price of paint for plastics is pretty expensive so getting the shell replaced is probably the better option (and cheaper too!).