|
|
The fine print:You're on your own. This will void your warranty.
Use common sense. Work in a WELL ventilated area. We (the creators,
editors, and
contributors to gbalight.com) assume absolutely no liability, and offer
no claim that your results will match ours. If you have never used
spray
paint before, then paint something else first, as a test. A good choice
would be to take a piece of plastic (like an old margarine container),
and
practice the procedure on it, so that you feel comfortable. If you make
a
mistake while painting the GBA, a new one is only a hundred dollars :-)
Note: Please sign the guestbook if you have success with the mod, Thank You!
How to paint your GBA to reduce glare from accessory lights
Background on this modification:
The original Game Boy Advance has a very reflective screen, which causes
glare. A particularly annoying case of glare happens when you install
an accessory light, such as the Pelican Light Shield or Worm Light. The
best image is obtained when the light is shining nearly perpendicular to
the screen, but this also causes the most glare. The most distracting
glare
comes from the very top of the shiny clear plastic that extends above
the
active pixels on the screen. Glare from this strip can be completely
eliminated
by painting it with flat black paint.
you will need:
- Packaging tape (the clear stuff you use to tape shipping boxes
together)
- Duct tape (the grey stuff)
- Large plastic garbage bags, or polyethylene sheeting
- Scissors
- Exacto knife (or equivalent)
- Flat-Black spray paint. Make sure to get flat-black. Glossy black
paint will not work.
- Large, well-ventilated area, free of breezes, with a temperature
between 65 and 90 degrees
- Game Boy Advance
As with any procedure, it is best to read and understand the entire
instructions before
you begin. The whole procedure only takes about 15 minutes.
Cover a large work area with thick newspaper or plastic, unless you
don't mind painting
your work area :-). I covered a 6-ft x 6-ft. area. Spray paint travels
a long way.
This is called "over-spray". Remove any GBA accessories you have
installed (light,
headphones, rumble pack, etc.)
Step 1
Cut a strip of packaging tape and place it over the top of the
GBA as shown. Make sure
the bottom edge of the strip is just barely above the active part of
the screen.
You may want to turn on the GBA and start a game just to make sure
that the clear
tape does not cover up any of the picture.
step 1 image
Step 2
Cut another strip of packaging tape and place it immediately
below the first. The
edges of the tape should match exactly. The bottom strip will
obviously cover up
the display and buttons.
step 2 image
Step 3
Cut two more pieces of packaging tape and place them vertically
over the groove
between the other two pieces of tape, on the left and right side of
the GBA screen.
The purpose of these two strips is to prevent paint from getting
between the two
pieces of tape and leaving a horizontal line on your GBA.
step 3 image
Step 4
Using an exacto knife, cut the tape in the groove around the top
of the display.
Optionally, you can cut around the Nintendo
logo. While the
logo does not normally produce that much glare, you may notice a
little glare coming from the
shiny bottom ridges of the logo if you only paint the top of the
clear plastic display.
Packaging tape cuts very easily with a sharp Exacto knife. Just
gently push the knife into the
groove in the GBA. There will be a soft pop as the knife breaks
through the tape the
first time. Only push hard enough to cut through the tape. There is
no need to scrape
the bottom of the groove. Go slow and be patient, so you do not
scratch the GBA. Let
the knife ride against the outside edge of the groove.
step 4 image
Step 5
Gently remove the tape from the area that will be painted. The
tip of the knife
is a good way to get it started. Since the bottom edge of the area
to be painted is
also the ex-joint between the first two pieces of packaging tape, you
can now see
why you didn't have to cut across the surface of the clear platic GBA
screen. In picture
3, this is why there was a white dotted cut-line only along the top
of the paint-zone,
and not the bottom. The top edge of the remaining, bottom piece of
packaging tape
will leave a nice crisp edge after painting.
step 5 image
Step 6
Using duct tape and plastic bags, mask off the rest of the GBA,
and a large area
around the GBA (picture 6). Do not underestimate where spray paint
will go! It
is a fine mist, and will find its way to any exposed part of the
GBA. The only areas
of the GBA that should be exposed are the strip at the top of the
clear plastic
screen, and the Nintendo Logo (if you decided to paint the logo).
step 6 image
Step 7
Read the instructions on the paint can, and follow them. This
usually involves
shaking the can for a couple of minutes. You will hear a little ball
rattling around
inside the can while you do this. The can is typically held about a
foot from the
GBA and swept back and forth (picture 7). It will take more passes
than you think to cover
the GBA. Since the area you are painting is already black, the best
way to tell
if you have good coverage is to paint until the grey duct tape is
covered (picture 8).
Be gentle. One of the most common mistakes is to saturate with a
thick coat.
Several lighter coats work better. Follow the directions on the
paint can for how
long to wait between coats. At some point, the paint may look glossy
when wet.
Don't worry, when the paint drys, it will be a nice, flat black. One
good technique
is to hold the can to the side of the GBA, press the button, and
sweep across the
area to be painted, and then release the button. Repeat. If you are
also painting
the Nintendo logo, you may want to walk around to different sides of
the GBA and
paint from different angles to make sure paint gets into the groove.
Easy-does-it.
don't over-saturate with paint. When you are done with each coat,
turn the can
upside down, point it way away from everything, and spray until air
comes out
(this takes about 2 seconds). This ensures the nozzle won't get
clogged.
Step 8
Let the paint thoroughly dry. On my paint, this was an hour,
but if in
doubt, let it sit over-night. It is VERY, VERY important the paint
be bone
dry before removing the tape.
Step 9
Gently remove all the masking materials. There will be all
kinds of loose
paint that will flake off the plastic bags, making a mess. If you
use newspaper
instead of platic, you won't have the flaking problem, but I don't
trust
newspaper for this kind of job - it's just too easy for the paint to
soak
through to items below. Don't worry about the loose flakes. Gently
blow off the GBA, or wipe with a soft cotton cloth.
Step 10
Touch up. The second time I did this, there were a few tiny
bits of
sticky material from the packaging tape left on the upper grove of
the clear
plastic GBA display. These were trivially removed by very gently
rubbing them
off using the blade of the Exacto knive. Be gentle. You don't want
to scratch
or cut the plastic, just lift off any sticky left behind. I probably
had this
problem because I pushed the tape down harder than necessary before
painting,
so a tiny amount of sticky was left behind when I removed the tape.
A toothpick
might be a safer tool to use for this.
The final result should look like this
I was extremely pleased with the appearance as well as the glare
reduction.
Excellent work Andy! I'm sure that many people will find this glare reducing/eliminating painting walkthrough to provide awesome results :)
|
|