Dreamcast-Talk.com

Hi,

I was wondering if somebody would be able to give advice on how to paint a DC controller,

I brought a DC a few weeks ago but the controllers are really grubby even after cleaning them 2 or 3 times, I know the controllers are next to nothing to buy brand new, but would like to make a Crazy Taxi style controller, think it would look really cool when finished. So yeah, advice on what paint to use and the process i need to go through to get a decent finished result.

Thanks,

Well..how intricate of a design are you planning?

I was thinking Yellow background with Crazy Taxi written on it in the same font as on the case & then possibly if not to difficult a black & white Chequered stripe across it or going around the edge of where the front and back of the controller meet.

Marty wrote:I was thinking Yellow background with Crazy Taxi written on it in the same font as on the case & then possibly if not to difficult a black & white Chequered stripe across it or going around the edge of where the front and back of the controller meet.

Wow, you've got quite an imagination! I've never heard of anyone wanting to paint thier own Dreamcast pad. Have you thought about painting a controller with a JGR theme?

Marty wrote:I was thinking Yellow background with Crazy Taxi written on it in the same font as on the case & then possibly if not to difficult a black & white Chequered stripe across it or going around the edge of where the front and back of the controller meet.

Your best bet would probably be spray paint and doing your best to stencil out the logo. If you try to do it by brush, it's going to come out really unevenly (at least that was what happened to me, no matter how hard I tried). I can't remember the specific type of spray paint. Try inquiring about this more over at the Ben Heck forums. Those guys are console painting/modding wizards.

MrSega wrote:

Marty wrote:I was thinking Yellow background with Crazy Taxi written on it in the same font as on the case & then possibly if not to difficult a black & white Chequered stripe across it or going around the edge of where the front and back of the controller meet.

Wow, you've got quite an imagination! I've never heard of anyone wanting to paint thier own Dreamcast pad. Have you thought about painting a controller with a JGR theme?

If i do a good job of the controller i was thinking of doing the console as well, but getting some white LED's both sides of the controller ports and some red LED's at the back so it looks like a car yes i am a big fan of crazy taxi.

I'm not a fan of JSR, to me it just feels like a chore to play it, the controlls are awkward to use, the camera angle sometimes is pritty bad,

I would just rather play something I can just jump into and enjoy, Crazy Taxi, 18 wheeler, Tony Hawk. etc etc.

comradesnarky wrote:

Marty wrote:I was thinking Yellow background with Crazy Taxi written on it in the same font as on the case & then possibly if not to difficult a black & white Chequered stripe across it or going around the edge of where the front and back of the controller meet.

Your best bet would probably be spray paint and doing your best to stencil out the logo. If you try to do it by brush, it's going to come out really unevenly (at least that was what happened to me, no matter how hard I tried). I can't remember the specific type of spray paint. Try inquiring about this more over at the Ben Heck forums. Those guys are console painting/modding wizards.

Thanks for your help, I Was thinking a stencil would be best for the logo as well, i'm not to concerned if i mess it up as it will be my first go and i'm sure there will be problems that arise, I have just bought 4 new controllers for like £16 including postage.

I agree with comradesnarky, spray paint and stencil. I used to paint a lot of Game Boys and a good quality car paint seemed to adhere best to the plastic. Never use hobby spray paint though, that stuff sucks.

tosk wrote:I agree with comradesnarky, spray paint and stencil. I used to paint a lot of Game Boys and a good quality car paint seemed to adhere best to the plastic. Never use hobby spray paint though, that stuff sucks.

whats the best brand to use?? Do you know if Halfords still have a range of spraypaints, as they would probaly be the best place??

I reckon Halfords would probably be a safe bet. I got hime from Motorserv (I think), can't remember the brand name. Halfords own would probably do the trick, its pretty good stuff

Marty, and Idea for you; Find this toy, and consider having fun with it.

I too am a crazy taxi fan. I have the above toy (its a rather large remote controlled taxi), as well as the three main taxies from the 3 games. Each has been a custom case mod - the 3 small taxis are wireless controller receivers with the headlights as indicator lights, and the larger toy (pictured) I'm currently working on fitting a PS2 slim inside (with the lifting hood being disc-access).

This project has been on my backburner while I finish others, but I know it will fit, and I know it will work, and will be awesome. I'm going to build in a wireless Katana and 8mb memory card, but wire the 2nd player controller & memory card slots to the exhaust of the car.


Now for yourself... IF YOU FEEL CONFIDENT in your abilities, I'm also fairly certain that the dreamcast can fit inside this toy.

You will need to do a few important things for this to work for you;

1.) Deeply consider limiting the # of controller ports. Astetishcs are obviously the important issue here, and having four ports lining the car can look unattractive.

2.) Know how, or have someone skilled, in soldering. If you want to fit a dreamcast in that toy car, you will have to separate the optical gd-rom from the main board (how it normally fits), and give it some breathing room. You could possibly find a ribbon cable that fits correctly, but that might be difficult - you will need to find the pins coming from the mother board to the gd-rom and wire them together, as space wise I don't think the gd-rom will be able to sit directly on top of the mother board as it does in the stock dreamcast shell.

3.) If you want to have access to the modem / bba port, you will have to do exactly the same thing as above - lengthening the original connection with wires. This is even harder as this port has many pins to put together. This isn't important at all if you don't use the modem or want to use the bba.




I was considering doing this exact mod myself, but decided to use my PS2 slim since I really don't play with it as much - and would like to conceal the Sony device since I'm a Sega fanboy. (that and there are also two native indicator lights on the ps2 slim, so I can have blinking headlights and taillights separately)