- Joined
- Aug 11, 2024
- Messages
- 3
- Likes
- 16
The GIGA N64 Controller. An idea that I had swirling around in my head for a while, I've seen giant NES controllers and others, but seems the N64 is to obscure and complex for others to have tried it before. I wanted to stay as original to the OEM design as possible for my giant controller and the best material for this was XPS foam, light, easy to carve and relatively strong for its weight.
I've never done foam carving before so did a bit of YouTube research on some techniques and tools and found a large hot wire cutter design I liked, bought all the bits and attempted to make my own large tool. Unfortunately the wire was just not getting hot enough to carve the foam, too weak of a power supply or too thick wire, either way, fixing the hot wire cutter was not happening at that point. So for now I settled on using an oscillating tool to get the rough shape and I could clean it up later.
I marked out the top, front, back and sides on a foam block of several pieces of foam stacked together. The final block was 4 layers of foam and each layer had been rough cut.
Next was the button placement in the top layer. Once the button holes were drilled out, I could insert the buttons and begin mock-up of the connections.
I used a third party N64 controller PCB, large analogue joystick and light up arcade buttons as the hardware. I used alligator clip wires to make mock-up and then eventual building process faster then soldering everything. Once everything was hooked up and working as intended, including the LEDs, the first 2 layers were glued together. Layer 2 had a cutout which would be the cavity inside the controller with all the hardware.
I wanted to lean right into the giant aspect of the controller and have a giant plug as well. I used the casing of a Australian 240V wall plug to achieve this, the standard controller plug hides inside this. After all the wires were installed inside the second layer, functionality was tested and it was time to close up the controller with the last 2 layers of foam. I was very happy the controller was still fully functional after gluing it up. LZR buttons were added as separate pieces which are stuck to buttons on the shell.
Some time later, I eventually did get a hot wire cutter and was able to better shape the foam and when I was happy enough with it, it was sanded smooth-ish ready for painting. With the controller fully completed and painted, it was still missing that final detail, the joystick cap. I had a cap printed and it really finished the look off.
This monstrosity is so awkward to use all of the buttons efficiently, but that is the point. The scale of this when next to a regular controller is absolutely crazy.
Things I would do different if I were to make another one;
- Use the hot wire cutter from the start, the oscillating tool create a really rough shape, markings and cuts that I'm really not that happy with.
- Get the correct contours on the face of the controller (D-pad and C buttons areas do not have the same shape as an original controller)
- Have a 3D printed joystick gate. Although the joystick never touches the foam on this design, I would like to have a gate for the joystick to slide against.
Overall though I am happy to have created this cursed controller and it is a laugh watching people use it. I do keep it on display and it immediately draws your attention to it.
I've never done foam carving before so did a bit of YouTube research on some techniques and tools and found a large hot wire cutter design I liked, bought all the bits and attempted to make my own large tool. Unfortunately the wire was just not getting hot enough to carve the foam, too weak of a power supply or too thick wire, either way, fixing the hot wire cutter was not happening at that point. So for now I settled on using an oscillating tool to get the rough shape and I could clean it up later.
I marked out the top, front, back and sides on a foam block of several pieces of foam stacked together. The final block was 4 layers of foam and each layer had been rough cut.
Next was the button placement in the top layer. Once the button holes were drilled out, I could insert the buttons and begin mock-up of the connections.
I used a third party N64 controller PCB, large analogue joystick and light up arcade buttons as the hardware. I used alligator clip wires to make mock-up and then eventual building process faster then soldering everything. Once everything was hooked up and working as intended, including the LEDs, the first 2 layers were glued together. Layer 2 had a cutout which would be the cavity inside the controller with all the hardware.
I wanted to lean right into the giant aspect of the controller and have a giant plug as well. I used the casing of a Australian 240V wall plug to achieve this, the standard controller plug hides inside this. After all the wires were installed inside the second layer, functionality was tested and it was time to close up the controller with the last 2 layers of foam. I was very happy the controller was still fully functional after gluing it up. LZR buttons were added as separate pieces which are stuck to buttons on the shell.
Some time later, I eventually did get a hot wire cutter and was able to better shape the foam and when I was happy enough with it, it was sanded smooth-ish ready for painting. With the controller fully completed and painted, it was still missing that final detail, the joystick cap. I had a cap printed and it really finished the look off.
This monstrosity is so awkward to use all of the buttons efficiently, but that is the point. The scale of this when next to a regular controller is absolutely crazy.
Things I would do different if I were to make another one;
- Use the hot wire cutter from the start, the oscillating tool create a really rough shape, markings and cuts that I'm really not that happy with.
- Get the correct contours on the face of the controller (D-pad and C buttons areas do not have the same shape as an original controller)
- Have a 3D printed joystick gate. Although the joystick never touches the foam on this design, I would like to have a gate for the joystick to slide against.
Overall though I am happy to have created this cursed controller and it is a laugh watching people use it. I do keep it on display and it immediately draws your attention to it.
