Project Log: Berserk - The Black Swordsman

[Hazer]

Between Kypes and the game themes done by Ramon (Zelda, clerks, etc) and all of the mods posted on these forums, I decided to do my own case. My favorite anime of all time has been Berserk. Yes, a guy with an impossibly huge sword kills everything in his path, but the series has such an intense character developement to it. And who knows, maybe if I do a good enough job I can inspire the right people to make a Berserk Wii game   

To start, I have alot of planning in this. I combed the internets for ideas and previous works. I was surprised at the lack of posted Wii mods. Anyway, most of my ideas have some influence from my research and I hope to give credit for each inspiration as I post the progress of my Wii.

First idea: Berserk is Red, and Red is Berserk. Red case. I can paint it. I see the Talismoon red chrome case and change my mind. My painting skills and tools are not professional grade, so the red chrome case will look better in the end. I will have to put windows into it. Very thin walls on these cases. Lighting will be hard. I will not get the desired effect if I etch images.

Then it occured to me. I like clear cases but I dont like how just a plain clear case looks ... plain. I love the look, but it just doesnt have enough personality on its own. I am stuck on the idea of red chrome. I find a Red Chrome vinyl Wii kit on Ebay. Thats IT!!
A clear case with Red Chrome finish. Why? Because it can be edge-lit! I have done quite a few projects with lexan and edge lighting LEDs. The difference between spot-lighting and edge-lighting is quite literally night-and-day. And I mean it, you can see edge-lighting in the day where you can barely see spot-lighting unless its dark. The effect is well worth the effort. So lets get started:

Etching with a dremel freehand is difficult to get a real nice image. One problem I hate is finding an adequate mono-tone image to etch. But I have a great fanart image that I want to put on the side of the case with some light effects. So here is my compromise: Color printed transparency:

 

Carbon paper is for people who dont have an artists hand when it comes to dremel action (Me):

 

 

The next part is getting the lighting right. Normally, i have done this by glueing 3mm LEDs into the edge of 5mm Lexan. And, I find ways to cover the edges afterwards (rubber molding, aluminum corners, etc). The case for the Wii is 2.5mm and I dont have the luxury of drilling the outside edges and leaving wires on the outside. The only way to get this to work is to drill an oblong hole in the face of the case and glue the LEDs sideways:

 

Its a good start. 6 LEDs to light the bottom should do. Oh, I originally wanted to use purple UV LEDs but I tried this method on some scrap Lexan with the same etch in it and the UV LEDs just were not strong enough. I defaulted to blue because it was a good contrast to the Red Chrome. Now its time to attach the transparency and do a test light:

 

 

The two images above are daylight and night shots to give an idea of how good the edges light up even during full light.

[Hazer]

Next step: The internals. I have a crystal fontz 4x20 LCD that I had inverted awhile ago. Normally, the backilght color dominates the screen and the text comes out dark. Inverting the display means removing the polarizer layer and putting on an new one so that the screen is dark except for the text. So now the text lights up on a dark background. I will have to find a way to mount this onto the case. Somehow. But for starters, lets get some wiring done:

 

 

I plan to power the LEDs off the 12V bus from the incoming power supply instead of the 5V bus. But I dont want the LEDs lit all the time so I use the 5V bus to energize a relay and run the 12V through that. I should tell you by now I have already determined what was going on the LCD display. The Dreamcast had an accessary called the VMU. I thought it was the coolest thing. It was a memory card with a simple LCD screen that would show game images/titles while you played different games. That is what I want to do with this LCD. I did not want to just simply send out static text, I wanted it to change with the game inserted. I was able to find a way to read the gamecode from the homebrew scene and borrowed (stole) the code and spent 3 weeks making it work. So now I have a microcontroller that reads out the gameID and then decodes that to search through a lookup table to get the 20 ASCII characters that make up the last line on the LCD. Half of the controllers memory is dedicated to storing 100 Wii titles. I got the gameID codes from savegame sites. Now the fun is how to attach this rather large LCD (there is so little room to work with on these Wii cases).

cut cut cut

I need room. The heatsink shroud is in the way....

Better.

[Hazer]

More wiring. I plan to use all 8 datalines. Sometimes the 4 dataline method used with HD44780 LCDs will make them lock up. I preffer using the 8bit method. Its easier to code anyways. I need to use a connector so I can take the top off for updating the program code and not have to desolder the wires.

 



A little more work to securely mount the LCD.

 

[Hazer]

Interesting story for this next part. When I went searching for a clear case, I found one on Ebay for $20. It was a Hong Kong seller. I waited 6 weeks before emailing that the case never came. So after thinking I got ripped off, I went and found a US supplier for the XCM ii-chameleon. As it was, the case I ordered did not come with extra hardware or the base and I was going to have to shell out some cash for those pieces anyways so I ordered the CM case.


They both arrived the same damn day.....


Ah well. It turned out to be a good thing though. The Hong Kong case was crystal clear. The XCM case is slightly clouded, and they did it on purpose. They include LEDs and a DVD drive heatsink with a hole in it. I had fully planned to dremmel out a hole from the original heatsink and paint it, but this was just as well. They clouded case so that the lighting would show up better, but I dont need it. I preffered the crystal clear case. I only want the lighting to glow on the edges and the etches. I did find a good Berserk monotone image that would work great for the round hole in the heatsink.

 

This time, it will be harder to keep in the lines. The face of Gatts is of particular intrest. I did a test run on that same piece of scrap before going at the case itself. What I found was that for the face, I could etch the image in deeper around the nose and eye it it started to make a 3D effect.

 

And now to do the front LEDs:

 

My first real mistake. I tried using superglue to fill in the spaces left behind by the LEDs in order to reduce the occurance of bubbles in the vinyl. Some ran down into the etched area and I had to spend 2 hours using plexiglass scratch remover and polisher to remove it. You can see it just to the right of the face:



And now some test lighting and skin application:

 

 

The more I get done, the more I like how this turns out. There are three different effects on this. When the Wii is off, the case looks nice with the Red Chrome finish. When the Wii is turned on, the edge-lighting high-lights the red chrome during daylight. And in the dark, the lighting is pretty decent on its own.

[Hazer]

The front face/DVD gate:

I look through both sets of buttons and find one set has the power LED lightguide on it. I use that one. I want to cut the power symbol out of the skin on the button and have that green/red light shine through on the button.

 

I also want to add a secondary colored LED for the DVD gate so I glue one into the face:



This one will be under the microcontrollers control, and effects are still TBD. At this point though, its time to assemble the Wii and see how it looks initially even though there is still alot of detail work left to go.

 

 

 





I could not be any happier about how the lighting came out. I was getting more and more worried it would start looking gaudy or that there would be so much light that everything in the entire room would have a blue tinge to it. But it actually came out just right, and I have to admit that it was more luck than strategic planning.

You can see that the XCM lights are on in some of the pics. You can see the difference between edge-lighting and spot-lighting. I plan to have the XCM LEDs under the control of the mcirocontroller also. Sometimes the lighting complements the rest of the case and sometimes it does not, so I want to be able to turn it off when desired.

[Hazer]

Its time to do the base. More sideways LEDs and for a change of pace RED LEDs. I also want to have the brand on the front.

 

Now, I have mentioned that where the LEDs get glued in I dont have a completely flat surface for the vinyl skin. I have worked with vinyl decals on sign material before so I expected this kit to be much thicker than what I actually got. Its about 2-3 mil. About 2 to 3 thousandths of an inch. Paper thick. If that. I am used to 7 to 10 mil. That is more like those stickers you put in your car window. I decided to look around for some thicker vinyl in red chrome but the thickest I could find was 3 mil. Uggh. So I order some of that as spare (I now have ten feet of it. I need another project). Now, the transparency sheets I used for the color image is about the thickness I wanted so I apply the skin to that and cut out the shape. I find some spray adhesive that allows me to reposition within the first 30 seconds before curing and try it out.

 

 


It came out rather well. It was actually easier than applying the vinyl by itself and now the bubbles are completely gone and I have no problems with the spaces around the LEDs. So I go to fit the Wii into its base.........The side of the LCD hits the base before it can seat properly.

 

I hate it when I overlook the obvious. As Ive said, I did alot of research. I did not plan each part of this case as I went along, I made decisions based upon the whole presentation and dumped ideas because they would not fit with the rest of the aesthetics. So completely missing this was a personal peeve. Luckily it was not too bad to recover from.

 

I came across a Wii mod where I saw a video of case that when the guy lifted the Wii out of the base, the base lighting turned off. I was very impressed with it. Most base lighting uses a USB cord and I dont want a USB cord hanging out the back. I also dont want a plug of any kind hanging out the Wii or have the base permanently attached. So I raid my closet for an old cordless phone and cradle and steal the necessary parts:

 

 

Now the base lights up only when the Wii sits in it, and no cables/wires/plugs. Again, I stole yet another great idea from someone else ... without any shame. 

 

So that is where I am currently at. I have wired the XCM lights to the controller and now they change thier 'mode' whenever you insert a new disc. I still have some minor vinyl work as finishing touches. I also have reprinted the transparency and plan to redo the entire bottom of the case with the method I used on the base in order to get rid of the 'bump' you can see where the skin covers the transparency edges. I plan to make the transparency have the same shape as the skin and apply a new skin to that. The use the spray adhesive and cover those LEDs. I also disabled the extra LED I added to the DVD gate, it just did not light up the gate itself. I have some SMD LEDs and I think I will add them to the stock blue lights and do it that way.

I also have clear controller shells and vinyl for those, along with the necessary SMD LEDs to do the 'Smart A Player indicator mod' where the LEDs will match the player indicator hand on the TV screen and also light up the A button in the same color. I will keep this thread updated as I finish this up. I am hoping wihtin the next 2 weeks tops. Thank you for reading this far into my journey, and please feel free to steal any ideas for your own mods, I certainly have done my share.

[redryno1221]

  AWESOME!!!Great Work  , keep it up.

[Jumbo]

That is by far the best Wii i have EVER seen in my life....you are amazing and i have to say  KEEP IT UP!!!!  Trophy For U

[zbblanton]

wow thats a sick wii.

What kind of paper did u use to etch with i just starting learning about engraving.

[2XElite]

alright you've heard my comment before but, nice frekin wii man, especially the lcd and graphics i got a question tho, where did you get that thing to light up you leds? can you send me a guide or something, ive tried just using wires and it didnt work, i always saw ppl using a plug or something, also do you have any extra clear cases? ill be willing to buy them 

[Hazer]

What kind of paper did u use to etch with i just starting learning about engraving.

Regular carbon paper from Staples (office supply store).

alright you've heard my comment before but, nice frekin wii man, especially the lcd and graphics i got a question tho, where did you get that thing to light up you leds? can you send me a guide or something, ive tried just using wires and it didnt work, i always saw ppl using a plug or something, also do you have any extra clear cases? ill be willing to buy them

I took apart an old cordless phone (landline kind that sits in a charger base) and stole the charger contacts from the phone and the base. The tabs are glued to the Wii, and the charger 'points' are in the base.

I got my case from here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Shell-Case-Faceplate-Full-Repair-4-Nintendo-Wii-Crystal_W0QQitemZ130236976109QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130236976109&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

The difference is that it is crystal clear. But it is also from Hong Kong and takes forever to get shipped.

The Talismoon Stealth may be a better choice for local delivery. It also comes with tranpsarent feet. But both these cases do not come with bases. If you get the Talismoon case, you can find a place that sells the base seperately.

[Hazer]

Small update:  I am getting closer to a solid finish. I have mentioned before that I was not entirely satisfied with the way the left winodw turned out. The transparency was great, but the skin did not cover the edges as I had imagined. I printed the transparency again, but this time cut it to the same shape as the entire side of the Wii. I then placed another freshly cut skin over that with the 'window' and applied the whole thing using spray adhesive.

 

It came out much better than the original pass. So, I just cant leave those controllers white now can I? Transparent shells and more skin? Why not?

Naked:

 

I had to replace the player indicator LEDs.

 

I also have a red 3mm LED under the speakers. I will be cutting out the Brand and etching the plastic underneath to light it up. I will also run wires from the player indicator lights up to the A button and have it color coded with the player indicator also.
I finished alot more vinyl detail all around, including covering the bottom of the front cover. The red from the base was bleeding up into the Wii, so I completely covered the bottom so that the blue and red lights were segregated.
I have some multi-color LEDs on order, and plan to rewire the DVD gate. That will then conclude the project.

I may not document the final touches. I plan to make a video instead when its 100% completed. In the meantime, here are links to full-size images the semi-final state:








Thank you for letting me pimp my work 

[Tri-edge]

you should try to etch out the wii logos on the wiimotes otherwise it doesn't look right

[Aricado]

There is a sword of the berserk game on dreamcast.

[VoX]

That is near GOD-LIKE! Wait, I think it surpasses it!

[redryno1221]

The wiimotes are a perfect match to the wii and came out so beautiful...    

[whuthefxk]

how did u supply power for your LEDS? is it points on the mobo?  wut is the limit of leds it can hold for 3mm and 0603 led?   thnx alot and FANTASTIC WORK!    

[Hazer]

Thanks again for the positive feedback.     

There is a sword of the berserk game on dreamcast.

They also have a Japanese version for the Playstation 2. They never ported it over to the US, but maybe it could get remade for the Wii????

how did u supply power for your LEDS? is it points on the mobo?  wut is the limit of leds it can hold for 3mm and 0603 led?

In the second post of the log, you can see some wires on the bottom of the mobo. The red and black ones were soldered directly to the incoming 12V power supply. All of the LEDs are in groups of 3. That way I drop 9.6V across 3 in series and not load the system and keep wire count down). I used a small PCB relay to turn on the LEDs. The 5V from the USB header (white wire in same pictures) turns on the relay. After I had done all of this, I researched the specs and found out I could draw 500mA from the USB header anyway. Good thing since the LCD backlight draws 200mA and was easlier to connect to the 5V system rather than the 12V bus.

As far as I know, there really is no difference in current draw between 3mm LEDs and 0603. The SMD LEDs are easier to find space for, but harder to work with. You can install as many as you want, as long as you do not exceed say 500mA on the 5V bus (or the 12V bus too). That would come to about 25 LEDs on the 5V bus individually. Or you can run them in series like I did on the 12V bus and you could use 75 of them. Thats for Blue/White/UV. You can have alot more if they are Red/Green/Yellow/Orange.

[Skullmaster]

How did you cut the vinyl? or did you buy a skin and then cut the edges off

[Hazer]

You got mail.


Short answer: Bought a kit and trimmed it to what I wanted.

[whuthefxk]

could i just connect 0603 leds directly to the red and black wire ( + - ) with the resistor? would it stay on when the wii is turned on only or is it always on even with the wii off?  what is the usb one for? 

sorry if im a noob at it. i just started with modding wii.  so far i got a xcm chameleon II case. i also got the pulsevu2 chip and want to install it just too the xcm led lights.  would u know how to hook it up so that like just the blue leds on the case is sound reactive?


THNX ALOT!!!!   

[Hazer]

could i just connect 0603 leds directly to the red and black wire ( + - ) with the resistor? would it stay on when the wii is turned on only or is it always on even with the wii off?  what is the usb one for?

The red and black wires are connected directly to the jack that the power supply (the wall cord) plugs into. It is on all the time and is the 12V bus. The USB port has a 5V bus that turns on only when the Wii turns on (green light on power button). This is where most people get thier power.

sorry if im a noob at it. i just started with modding wii.  so far i got a xcm chameleon II case. i also got the pulsevu2 chip and want to install it just too the xcm led lights.  would u know how to hook it up so that like just the blue leds on the case is sound reactive?

The chameleon case gets its power for the LEDs directly from the DVD drive connector (the 3.3V bus). The LEDs are RGB 0603 LEDs that are controlled directly by a microprocessor. It may be possible to tap directly into the blue side, but I dont know how the PulseVU wires up, and would have to be powered at the same voltage as the LED controller (3.3V bus) in order to work properly. This means you would have to wire the Pulse VU to one of the 3.3V test points on the motherboard, and you would have to cut the tracks on the chameleon PCBs that drive the blue part of the LEDs (they are single LEDs that have all 3 colors in them and the chameleon mixs them to get 7 colors). This means that the color mixing on the chameleon would get messed up.

My suggestion would be to wire up your own LEDs for the pulseVU and leave the chameleon controller alone.

[Ch4rL13]

Very impressive, it seems you are quite the coder to make that lcd work.
The etching is very neat and the red film adds a good touch.

[whuthefxk]

just wanna double check with the usb points.



the red is + and black - for the points on the top right of the photo right? 


thnx.

[Hazer]

Sorry, but no.

The black is -.
The white is + from the USB.
The red is 12V that is on all the time, even when the Wii is off.

I wish I had a better picture to show where to get 5V from. There are points on the underneath of the mobo that are marked +5V.

[whuthefxk]

ok thnx for clearification! hopefully wen i get time i will show mines off >.<

[psppunk]

this is great, i love it 

but!

you shouldve used a computer controlled router/dremel to do the etching and cutting
i know they arent cheap, but theyre relatively easy to build

look em up on instructables =]

[Ch4rL13]

Can you show me these links please
have you made one?

here you go

[Hazer]

One of these years I plan to build one from aluminum. That is a good link BTW.

I know you can always get an image laser etched or routed, but there is something more satisfying about doing an entire image by hand. This especially fit well with the Berserk theme. There are parts of the Manga where the imagery is very 'gritty'. This etch I did came out fairly decent (by hand) and IMO better matched the theme.

[2XElite]

hello hazer. well i tried powering up 1 led from the power supply, i know i know, im dumb it blew up the led and shut off my wii for a few moments. im wondering where should i solder my leds, like which bus (the power supply or from the usb). also how should i put them together (series or parrelel and how many) ? i have blue and purple, and green leds. i want the leds to turn on while i play, and to turn off when the wii light is red.

THANKS!