Worklog First portable: The Wavecube

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Hey everyone, I've been interested in portablizing for a couple years, and just recently I have acquired most of the parts and tools I need to make my first portable. I have now been working on it for a couple of months, although I am moving slowly and carefully as this is my first big electronics project. I've been doing a lot of research and have gotten a lot of help from the guides and worklogs on the forums, so I am going to try to make this as a resource that others can use as well.

My plan for this portable is to preserve the feel of the original Gamecube controller by using a Wavebird as the base for the shell. For this portable I will be leaving out Bluetooth and Wifi and just focusing on Gamecube playability. Here are the specs that I will include in my build:

- OMGWTF trimmed Wii with MX Relocation
- 5" VGA Screen
- GC+ 2.0 in connection with original wavebird board/triggers, with T3 control sticks if possible to mod in
- x4 Samsung 21700s in 2s2p for maximum battery life and bulkiness
- Headphone output
- Low battery inidcation light

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So far I've bought a 4 layer Wii, added portablizemii, relocated U10, trimmed to OMGWTF, and put together my power system and regulators and connected to the board. I don't see any problems yet, resistances between voltages and ground all match those of an untrimmed wii, and voltages are all within 0.05V of the target voltage. Pretty soon I will be adding USB, adjusting my screen for a 5V input, and connecting via composite to actually test the Wii. I will also probably download BBloader once that is all done.

I'm working on the internals before I get too much into the case, but I also need to learn how to 3D model so I can create the middle of my portable and connect the wavebird halves on either side by frankencasing. I will update this worklog if I come across any problems, and whenever I hit a new milestone in development. I'm super excited to finally get into development on this, and I hope my journey can be of use to other newbies down the road!
 

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Stitches

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Wait, did you not install BBLoader before trimming?
 
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Wait, did you not install BBLoader before trimming?
I installed portablizemii in late 2019, before BBloader came out. Portablizemii worked completely fine before trimming so my plan is to just put my portable together like normal and then install BBLoader once I have a screen and usb and whatever else I need attached to the motherboard. I'm assuming that is possible to update a trimmed Wii unless I'm missing something?
 

Stitches

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Apologies, I didn't see that you already installed PM. Yeah you can install BBLoader over it no problem.
 
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I added the screen, usb, fan, and a controller port with minimal issues. I had some problems where PM wasn't fully booting half the time, but after moving the USB ground to another point on the motherboard it has worked since. Now I have started designing the case, and I also plan on getting BBLoader installed soon so I can switch to VGA.

So far this has gone pretty smoothly, I expected to hit a lot more roadblocks this early on but I still have a ways to go so we will see what comes up.
 

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Quick update:

I've been working a lot on the case, designing then printing then reiterating. I am very close to a final design, I just want to make the body a lot shorter, I overestimated the amount of space I would need for all the components. I should be able to get the case close to the same height as the original wavebird controller. With the handles not offering much room for components and the big screen/batteries, I am pretty limited with how thin I can make this.

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I'm pretty happy with how it is coming out, I'm going to continue working on the case models and finish up more of the electronics before I print again.
 

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Benge

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The case design look very promising, good luck for the assembly and sanding !
With all these big batteries it is not likely to be a bit heavy ?

Can't wait to see the end result :D
 
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The case design look very promising, good luck for the assembly and sanding !
With all these big batteries it is not likely to be a bit heavy ?

Can't wait to see the end result :D
Very heavy, just the battery circuit and case weigh in at about 1 lb / 450g. Definitely making a sacrifice here, but the first battery test gave me almost 6 hours of battery life.

I'm putting together more of the internals before I print my case again, but I have managed to shrink down my design quite a bit so far, I want to be absolutely sure everything is right before I start epoxying and sanding down the case
 
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Case Update:

Since my last update I disassembled all of the internals and resoldered them together in a way that will fit more tightly inside the case. I also added a small circuit that will light up an LED when the battery is low. I put a hold on the internals and shifted my focus over to the case, so that when the case is done I can connect everything in place without having to deal with transferring the entire portable circuit at the end.

In the past couple of months I have printed my final case design and have sanded, epoxied it together, sanded, built a mounting system for the LCD, sanded, added bondo, sanded, sanded, and finally painted my first layer of primer.

It's getting pretty smooth so far, I'm going to bondo some more and sand with a finer grit, prime, and then repeat again before adding color.

Prime1.JPG
Prime2.JPG


I guess i've done a little more work than I thought since the last update, so I'll try to update more frequently as I finish up the case and then my portable.

Progress pics:

IMG_8790.JPG

IMG_8616.JPG

I used this diagram for the low battery indicator:
low batt indicator.png

Epoxied case:
Epoxy1.JPG

Epoxy2.JPG

Bondo smoothing progress:
IMG_Bondo1.JPG

IMG_Bondo2.JPG

IMG_Bondo3.JPG
 

CrashBash

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Looking really nice dude, especially for a first time portable.
I'll have to keep an eye out for more progress and a finished result from you.
 
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Case sanding and priming are done!

After two more cycles of bondo, sanding, and priming, the case is looking very very clean. I primed today and plan on painting this coming weekend. I also have a homemade stencil for the gamecube logo, it isn't perfect but I think it'll add some charm to the portable. I'm troubleshooting the best method to paint on the logo and then remove the template, the tricky part is the pieces that go inside letters like O, D, and B.

IMG_9037 Prime coat 3.JPG


Logo troubleshooting:
I have a clear adhesive sheet that I cut the gamecube logo into with a cricut machine, I remove the letters and then place the template on the plastic and manually add the little bits inside the letters. So far I can't determine if it is best to remove the template soon after painting or after letting it dry more. I'm going to try a couple more times and hope I get a good result on the final case.

IMG_9046.JPG


And here's a picture of the case sanded before I painted:

sanded 2 400grit.JPG
 
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StonedEdge

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Awesome frankencasing work. Reminds me of the old years before 3D printing took over as the norm for rapid prototyping. Any thoughts on the final colour top coat you're going to go with? Following this one closely as I'd love to see you get it over the finish line!
 
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Awesome frankencasing work. Reminds me of the old years before 3D printing took over as the norm for rapid prototyping. Any thoughts on the final colour top coat you're going to go with? Following this one closely as I'd love to see you get it over the finish line!
I really want to keep this as close as possible to the original Gamecube look/feel, so I am going with the classic indigo color. I found some paint that is a very close match that should have a similar sheen once I clear coat over it.

IMG_9048.JPG
IMG_8969.JPG
 
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Top coat came out great, it's hard to tell in photos but this color is really rich and almost identical to the OG indigo. Just need to clear coat once the weather gets nicer and then I can start putting electronics into the case and wrapping it up.

IMG_9094.JPG


The chalky rough finish was an added bonus and makes it look really legit, but it did pose problems for adding the logo:

IMG_9108.JPG

I didn't consider this in my tests but the rough texture of the paint made it harder for the adhesive template to seal the edges of the letters, so the paint was able to spread into those little micro ridges. I'm still happy with the logo because I'm not really sure how I could do it better given the texture of the top coat. I may carefully use a small sponge to clean up the outside edges with some of the top coat.
 

Benge

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Wow it look fantastic <3 ! Very great job !
Can't wait to see it fully assembled
 
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Case is finished! After 10 rainy days I finally got a day sunny and dry enough to clear coat. I'm going to let the case cure another day or two and then wrap everything up. All that is left is connecting the MX Chip, wiring VGA, hooking up the audio, and connecting the controller. If no significant issues occur then I should be able to finish this portable over the weekend. I'll post another update or two before I close the case.

I used two light coats of Testors Glosscote and then two light coats of Testors Dullcote, I found that this brought out the color more than just using the Dullcote in my tests.

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IMG_9211.JPG

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