Hey everyone, it's Colin. How's it goin'?
In my video about installing a backlit screen in a Game Boy Color,
we left off with a shell that wouldn't close.
This time, let's see what it takes to fix that.
[♪ Music - Intro ♪]
So to back up a bit, this is the BennVenn 101 mod.
It uses a custom-designed interface cable to allow a replacement
backlit screen to be swapped into a Game Boy Color.
The problem is that the new display is thicker than the original.
So even with some trimming to the front housing to get it to fit,
it prevents the two halves of the casing from closing up completely.
Further modifications to the front panel are necessary,
specifically, removing material from the inside of the screen bezel to make it thinner.
I spent some time exploring a few options, including ways to sand it down.
But these all ended up being ineffective, tedious, inconsistent, or all the above.
But I finally came up with what I think is a decent DIY solution.
I went to the home center and picked up a few items.
First was a new rotary tool.
I already had one, but it only offered one speed.
The Dremel 3000 I bought is variable speed, and that ended up being really important.
Next was a set of bits for milling.
These are designed to cut side to side, and have a flat end on 'em.
And finally, the key to tie this all together is a Dremel Model 220 workstation.
It holds the tool vertically, and turns it into a small drill press.
It was straightforward to set up once I got it home.
I applied a layer of masking tape to the metal base to keep from scratching the Game Boy's front housing.
I lowered the Dremel into place, carefully lining up the bit so it would remove
just the right amount of material.
I grabbed a pair of earplugs and gloves,
then got to work.
[♪]
The end mill bit did a decent job making a uniform, flat surface,
but I gave the housing a quick hit with some sandpaper to smooth it and knock down the tooling marks.
And while I found this setup to be effective, it was definitely tricky at first.
And I went through several shells in the process.
If I set the speed on the Dremel too low,
then it had the tendency to bog down and sometimes snag on the housing,
causing the bit to cut straight through it.
If the speed was too fast, then it would melt the plastic instead of cut it.
Notice the wavy distortion here?
Getting a good result came down to a combination of the right speed,
feeding the piece into the bit very slowly,
and applying a lot of pressure to hold the housing flat against the base.
But with the bezel milled down, I turned my attention to the screen.
It's enclosed by metal panels.
I carefully unclipped the front panel and removed it.
This makes the screen overall just a little bit thinner.
I didn't remove the back panel though, since it's necessary to keep parts of the display together.
I started to reassemble the Game Boy and found that everything did start to fit better.
The gap between the front and back housing was gone!
But there was still no good way to keep it closed.
Modifying the front housing to fit the screen removes the screw posts.
Originally, the best choice was to simply glue the shell closed.
But there's a much better option now.
Retro Modding sent me a set of 3D-printed brackets that glue into the front housing.
They fit up and over the new screen to replace the missing screw posts.
Some trimming to the back housing is necessary.
Specifically, I had to make the screw holes and part of the IR window holder
flat with the cartridge cutout.
This didn't really need any special tools though, just a pair of flush cutters and a craft knife.
Also, the stock screws were too long and hit the back of the screen,
so I had to cut 'em shorter with a pair of nippers.
But these brackets work great!
They hold the top part of the shell closed, and also make it easy to get back inside if you need to.
With the housing closing up nicely, the power switch works properly too.
There's just enough room for it next to the screen.
However, it slides smoothly now,
because the part of the shell that gave it its normally clicky feel
got milled away to fit the display.
The final thing to address is the power LED.
The original one had to be removed from the circuit board to save space, but there's a cool solution for that too.
I was sent a pre-modded shell from Jellybelly Customs in the UK.
Not only was the front bezel professionally milled down,
but a tiny surface-mount LED was installed and gets soldered to the board with some thin wires.
The shell also came with 3D-printed brackets and a couple of really nice extras:
a custom rear label and glass screen cover, calling the console the "Game Boy Color Light."
That cover is even sized for the exact image area of the replacement screen.
So masking off the display itself isn't necessary.
Overall, these changes really help button up the console nicely.
I paid about $130 US just for the tools,
plus another $25 or so for all the replacement shells I went through.
That cost makes it tough to recommend milling the front panel yourself,
unless you already have everything necessary to do it or otherwise need the tools.
Thankfully, there's a more economical and easier option.
At the time I filmed this, both BennVenn and Retro Modding sell pre-modified shells.
They'll also sell you just the little brackets if you want, though if you have a 3D printer,
the .STL files that BennVenn designed are available freely.
Ultimately, this backlit Game Boy Color mod is still quite the feat of engineering and works really well.
Done right, everything fits perfectly and feels solid.
And over time, it's gotten progressively easier to put together.
It's certainly not an inexpensive mod,
but for many, it's well worth the cost, just because the results...
are excellent.
Big thanks goes out to Jellybelly Customs for sending that awesome modified shell my way,
and also to Retro Modding for providing the 3D-printed brackets.
I have links to everything down in the description.
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You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at thisdoesnotcomp, and as always, thanks for watching.