I found a Neo Geo pocket color in very good condition at a little lower price than others. The reason was that the batteries cover’s closing tip was broken. The only way to make it stayed closed was by using some adhesive tape. This post is about repairing this cover…

Needed Materials

• A 3D printer with some PLA filament
• Vallejo Hobby spray paint for Metal and plastic (gray or white)
• Dark blue and black Sharpie pens
• Dual component Epoxy glue (Power epoxy from Loctite)

Initial state of the cover

This is how the cover was when I bought the console: the closing tip that retains the cover was broken and a part was missing.

Creating the missing part

The was the option to buy a brand new shell, but I like this original blue and black style. So In order to get a good copy of the missing part, I 3D printed a full cover, then I cut the closing tip. I used the following design from Thiniverse : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1755736

Prepare and Colorize

I tried to reproduce the type of original color : some melted blue and back with Sharpie pens. The printed PLA must first be prepared with some plastic spray paint (I used valejo hobby paint). Also, the orignal cover have to be flat in order to glue the closing ip. I used a cutter to remove old closing tip’s residue

 

Gluing

I did use some dual component expoxy glue (loctite). This glue has some important properties in this case :

• It is not instantaneous : so the closing tip can be adjusted properly
• It offers a good resistance even with such a small surface

The final result is not perfect, but at least, it’s ok for me and I can keep the original shell 😉