Hardware 3DS XL Mod Plan

HalMotley

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Hey GBATemp,

I am thinking about buying a 3DS XL because I am attracted by the big screens which have real game and homebrew potential, but I really don't like the colours that are offered and I don't like the matte finish either.

Here's the list from my album:

Project which covers me respraying a 3DS XL with a new colour and decal using this tutorial (http://www.dcemu.co....y-Paint-Your-DS) and these materials:

3 cans of Krylon Fusion for Plastic spraypaint; Flat Black for the background colour, Clear to add the glossy effect and Flat White for the insignia.

Stencil with the Brotherhood of Steel insignia etched on to it.

ScotchBlue Original painter's tape to cover all the areas I don't want to spray.

Ammonia-based cleaner/paint thinner to clean the surface and remove dust/grease so the paint with stick to the surface. Though I may use alcohol instead.

Goggles and a Respirator for safety.

Newspaper/magazines to cover the spray area.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course this doesn't include the other things I want to do with my 3DS XL which are listed here: http://www.amazon.co..._rlist_go_o_C-1

Can you help me out? I am wondering whether to buy a replacement shell seperately, take the front panel off or be super careful when painting.

I know that few have even touched a 3DS XL since it has not been released yet but I would really like a unique 3DS and those skins and stickers are tacky!
 
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HalMotley

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Kinda besides the point, but I'm glad the 3DS XL has Matte finish. Every electronic should have that, it feels better in the hands.

I guess it's a preference thing.

I personally prefer the shiny and glossy feel that the 3DS has, but with the screen size of the new 3DS XL.
 
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Vampire Lied

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Nice idea! I wouldn't paint it with the guts inside. Too much danger of damaging it.
I would paint the original shell since replacement shells are usually of inferior quality.
If you want brotherhood of steel look, I wouldn't do black and white unless that's what you really want. The BOS armor or any logos you would see would be in dirty silver/grey or dingy green if you want to get the real fallout look. Also, matte finish fits the theme better.
Anyway, It's a great idea and I hope you'll post pics. :)
 

HalMotley

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Nice idea! I wouldn't paint it with the guts inside. Too much danger of damaging it.
I would paint the original shell since replacement shells are usually of inferior quality.
If you want brotherhood of steel look, I wouldn't do black and white unless that's what you really want. The BOS armor or any logos you would see would be in dirty silver/grey or dingy green if you want to get the real fallout look. Also, matte finish fits the theme better.
Anyway, It's a great idea and I hope you'll post pics. :)

Thanks for your endorsement, I will definitely post some cool pictures when and if I am satisfied with the result. :-)

I am still trying to figure out how to paint it, hence why I am here (GBATemp consists of awesome gamer people!) because aside from spraying my sweaty armpits with deodorant, I have no experience with aerosols and I also lack awesome art skills.
What I do want however is a 3DS XL which feels badass and unique, with the insignia of my favourite Fallout faction!

So how do you remove the top cover of a 3DS?
Because I figured that if I can take off the top cover successfully I can respray that, leave it to dry and not have to worry about any damage to the rest of the 3DS XL.
 
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ieatpixels

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Nice idea! I wouldn't paint it with the guts inside. Too much danger of damaging it.
I would paint the original shell since replacement shells are usually of inferior quality.
If you want brotherhood of steel look, I wouldn't do black and white unless that's what you really want. The BOS armor or any logos you would see would be in dirty silver/grey or dingy green if you want to get the real fallout look. Also, matte finish fits the theme better.
Anyway, It's a great idea and I hope you'll post pics. :)

Thanks for your endorsement, I will definitely post some cool pictures when and if I am satisfied with the result. :-)

I am still trying to figure out how to paint it, hence why I am here (GBATemp consists of awesome gamer people!) because aside from spraying my sweaty armpits with deodorant, I have no experience with aerosols and I also lack awesome art skills.
What I do want however is a 3DS XL which feels badass and unique, with the insignia of my favourite Fallout faction!

So how do you remove the top cover of a 3DS?
Because I figured that if I can take off the top cover successfully I can respray that, leave it to dry and not have to worry about any damage to the rest of the 3DS XL.
The top of the 3DS (the transparent bit) is actually really difficult to remove. Like extremely tedious for someone who's an expert in that kind of stuff.
Nintendo have mentioned that the 3DS saw difficulties in it's manufacturing process, Nintendo themselves find it hard to assemble.
I'm certain the XL will be much improved, considering how difficult it is with the original 3DS plus the fact that the XL version seems to have a much more simple design.

Looking closer, the 3DS XL seems to have the same little caps that the other DSes have. In the other DSes you remove the caps (usually damaging them) and there's little screws underneath that you simply unscrew then the top half of the unit comes apart.
17364.png


I bet we'll see custom cases out there for this thing if it's as easy to take apart as I suspect.

Also worth noting, the bottom panel of the 3DS XL, the battery case, is coloured too. So you'll wanna paint that.
I'm not sure how it's removed as I haven't seen a clear picture of the underside of the 3DS XL, but if it is indeed a full battery cover like it is on the 3DS, then it'll only take a couple seconds to remove.
 
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HalMotley

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Nice idea! I wouldn't paint it with the guts inside. Too much danger of damaging it.
I would paint the original shell since replacement shells are usually of inferior quality.
If you want brotherhood of steel look, I wouldn't do black and white unless that's what you really want. The BOS armor or any logos you would see would be in dirty silver/grey or dingy green if you want to get the real fallout look. Also, matte finish fits the theme better.
Anyway, It's a great idea and I hope you'll post pics. :)

Thanks for your endorsement, I will definitely post some cool pictures when and if I am satisfied with the result. :-)

I am still trying to figure out how to paint it, hence why I am here (GBATemp consists of awesome gamer people!) because aside from spraying my sweaty armpits with deodorant, I have no experience with aerosols and I also lack awesome art skills.
What I do want however is a 3DS XL which feels badass and unique, with the insignia of my favourite Fallout faction!

So how do you remove the top cover of a 3DS?
Because I figured that if I can take off the top cover successfully I can respray that, leave it to dry and not have to worry about any damage to the rest of the 3DS XL.
The top of the 3DS (the transparent bit) is actually really difficult to remove. Like extremely tedious for someone who's an expert in that kind of stuff.
Nintendo have mentioned that the 3DS saw difficulties in it's manufacturing process, Nintendo themselves find it hard to assemble.
I'm certain the XL will be much improved, considering how difficult it is with the original 3DS plus the fact that the XL version seems to have a much more simple design.

Looking closer, the 3DS XL seems to have the same little caps that the other DSes have. In the other DSes you remove the caps (usually damaging them) and there's little screws underneath that you simply unscrew then the top half of the unit comes apart.
17364.png


I bet we'll see custom cases out there for this thing if it's as easy to take apart as I suspect.

Also worth noting, the bottom panel of the 3DS XL, the battery case, is coloured too. So you'll wanna paint that.
I'm not sure how it's removed as I haven't seen a clear picture of the underside of the 3DS XL, but if it is indeed a full battery cover like it is on the 3DS, then it'll only take a couple seconds to remove.

Thanks for the insight, ieatpixels!

I managed to read a repair manual and the teardown on iFixit and I have to say the 3DS does look fiddly as hell to dissemble/repair without breaking it. The sheer fact you have to use a heat gun and a plastic opening tool just to get at the top screen is an annoyance. It also made me kind of go "Lol!" when you told me that Nintendo themselves were struggling to assemble it. :lol:

Fortunately, the 3DS XL (from that picture you provided, kudos for that btw) appears to be much simpler and Nintendo managed to avoid using tri-wing screws with the original 3DS so I doubt they'll start now. So I would expect that a standard mini-philips screwdriver for 4 screws at the top would be required and not much else (though I am getting an entire kit to be on the safe side) to obtain the top cover which I would be able to spray.

Anyways, I preordered a silver/black 3DS XL on Amazon and now I'll have to wait until August 7th before I can receive it. Fortunately, by then there will be at least a few teardown videos/guides and perhaps a repair manual or two to work from.

In the meantime, I will work on finding some accessories such as a charger, Acekard 2i + 32GB Class 10 MicroSD, a starter game (such as Ridge Racer 3D) and perhaps maybe a Class 4 SD card that's larger than 4GB (do I really need one?).
 

HalMotley

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Well I managed to find the photo of the battery case which I would also spray as well:


484422_2264719474559_451708565_n.jpg



I may create a separate stencil with all the text/marks/barcodes on it which would be sprayed on top to keep it realistic.

PS: Sorry it took so long to provide the picture straight here, took me while to figure it all out. Hope you can now, everyone! :yaynds:
 

jimmyemunoz

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Hey don't waste your money on a 'Class 10' micro sd card, and 32GB is completely overkill too. Sixteen is really the max of what you'll need, and class 6 is perfect.
 

HalMotley

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Well I kind of bought it anyway, but thanks for your input guys!

For those who are curious it is here on Amazon.co.uk (because I am British).

I wouldn't use Newegg because if I buy anything from America (or anywhere else outside of the EU) I have to pay copious amounts of money on shipping and tax!
 

Crimson Phantom

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Well I kind of bought it anyway, but thanks for your input guys!

For those who are curious it is here on Amazon.co.uk (because I am British).

I wouldn't use Newegg because if I buy anything from America (or anywhere else outside of the EU) I have to pay copious amounts of money on shipping and tax!
Holy crap that's a good deal.
 

DaggerV

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If I knew how to do a matt finish and not the glossy one, I'd attempt a youtube tutorial on an XL. Should research it i suppose.
 

HalMotley

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If I knew how to do a matt finish and not the glossy one, I'd attempt a youtube tutorial on an XL. Should research it i suppose.

What do you mean? I am just using Flat Black coloured Krylon Fusion for Plastic spraypaint which should provide the matte finish,

So you mean the 3DS XL when it comes out in USA right?


 

DaggerV

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Yeah same finish as the 3DSXL, I managed some foamy finish when I attempted it prior on the SP, no problem with glossy finish. If I got a 3DSXL I'll actually take it apart for that purpose. Hardware mod, not going to look much like a 3DS when I'm done though.
 
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HalMotley

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Yeah same finish as the 3DSXL, I managed some foamy finish when I attempted it prior on the SP, no problem with glossy finish. If I got a 3DSXL I'll actually take it apart for that purpose. Hardware mod, not going to look much like a 3DS when I'm done though.

Ah I get it now you were respraying a Game Boy Advance SP.
I would assume that the matte finish and plastic used was similar to that on the 3DS XL, so a can of Krylon Fusion for Plastic and an alcohol cloth would work fine.
At least that's what I am counting on when I respray the thing, but sometimes these things don't ever go to plan. According to ieatpixels though the top cover should be easy to take off due to the 4 screws beside the top screen, this would be taken off and then resprayed before being put back again.
Then I will look into how the heck I would be able to spray the bottom of the device, though ieatpixels mentioned that there would be screws there which would presumably loosen it enough to spray it.

Still looking for some stencils though that are laser cut, in the UK/Europe and inexpensive!
 

DaggerV

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Yeah, tried to do a matte finish on SP, ended up with something foamy, but I can get the glossy finish no problem, which I don't want. If I can perfect the matte finish on a system i don't care for I'll brave taking a 3DSXL apart.
 

HalMotley

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Just got my 3DS XL - the Silver-Black one is beautiful in person.

How did you grab one before the 28th July which is the EU release date?

If you want to be awesome and helpful though, I would appreciate some pictures (especially of the underside). :)


nice, i like how you are putting the brotherhood of steel logo on there :D good luck with your project.

Thanks for the endorsement!

I am still trying to find out how to get hold of the insignia as a stencil , figure out the measurements and unscrew the thing, so it's going to be a while before I can produce anything tangible.
 

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