Quarter scale backcalculation

This is an ongoing project that started with finding a cool Raspberry Pi case. I couldn't find anything cool so I decided to make my own. The first case completed was the BeBox, and extended to the X68000 (as a plastic model kit I found in Japan), SGI Indy, and eMachines Never Obsolete (as a deep exploration of the limits of decals from slides).

These projects are detailed below:

STL files and related information can be found in the Raspi-BeBox repository

I needed a small Linux machine for my office; that means I needed a Raspberry Pi. I didn't want a "normal" shell, so I created a tiny little BeBox:

A BeBox, if you don't know, is a weird little computer from the mid-90s, and could have been the basis of OS X. About 2000 copies were made, making it one of the rarest vintage computers. Unobtanium, basically.

The whole thing is built around a Raspberry Pi 4, with a dual HDMI expansion board to bring out all the ports on the back. Blinkenlights are included, programmable with a Python script and an MCP23017 I2C/GPIO chip. The "blue" part of the housing is suitable for a filament printer, while the gray part is more suitable for resin.

More information can be found in the BeBox Repo. A photo With a real BeBox:

STL files and related information can be found in the raspi-eMachines repository

This was a detailed scale modeling experience, especially the reduction of stickers and screen printing. The obvious choice for a computer on which to test these techniques is the c.2000 eMachines Never Obsolete; these computers were covered in stickers, and the existing machines are highly regarded in the sleeper station/retrobattle community. I had to make this computer, and it had to have all the stickers.

The building process for this Raspberry Pi case is similar to all the others - the main body is 3D printed on a filament printer, the detailed parts (in this case, the front) are printed in resin with fine details. The trick for this case is the many slide decals. These were designed in Illustrator and then sent to someone with an Alps dye sub printer. Application is relatively easy with the right tools, especially Micro Sol and Micro Set solutions, and an airbrush.

Because these decals use white and metallic inks, the files for these decals were sent to a slide decal "manufacturer". I have better uses for $2,000 than spending it on an Alps dye printer, after all. The decal sheet includes all of the eMachines decals, as well as the screen printed logo of the SGI Indy project which was built around the same time.

The design of the eMachines box is more modular than that of the BeBox. The Raspberry Pi and the associated components are fixed on a chassis, on which an external shell is simply clipped. This allows me to easily change the design for other cases with a tower form factor.

The Sharp X68000 was a popular workstation in the late 80s and early 90s in Japan. On a trip to Japan, I picked up a model of this computer, supposedly a Raspberry Pi case.

The model required painting and applying water-based decals, but I also bought an airbrush in Japan. Simple construction, and it fits Raspberry Pi 2s and 3s.

STL files and related information can be found in the raspi-SGIIndy repository

Although most of these tiny retro computers were towers, they were not the most important contemporary form factor for personal computers and...