Many people would probably start with the software. But that is a long road ahead of me. There are currently no ready-made images for emulation on the cubieboard, so I will be building that all from scratch. Besides, it is more convenient and logical  to develop on the final hardware anyway.

So, with all the electronic components either ordered or already in my parts bins, I began attacking the enclosure.

I picked up the nintendo 64 and noticed how much it looks like an old radio with the front lens like a radio dial and the controller ports as knobs. I love old radios and especially bakelite. So that is where we are going to take this.

My first thought was to cut out the logo bezel and install a jewel in there. I was pleasantly surprised that the jewel just pops out and the paint behind the lens was very easy to remove. This left me with a crystal clear lens. Behind the lens is plastic, of course, so I will need to carefully cut it away leaving just a small edge to glue the lens back in place.

I want to mount an OLED screen behind this. After thinking about it, I realized I could do this one of two ways. Either choose one that is bigger than the lens opening or tint the lens and place one inside that is smaller. The challenge with a bigger display is that curve across the top. After looking at dimensions of various displays, I realized this was not going to fit right. So I chose a 1.3" OLED. This would allow me to also mount the IR receiver of the Cubieboard behind the lens.

Of course this would look ugly through a clear lens, so I need to tint it. My first experiment was to attempt to dye it with black RIT dye. I found the only parts that would stain were any scratches in the plastic. Hmm... maybe if I rough up the entire backside and try again? Another experiment was to use sharpie marker. This produced an acceptable tint, but the strokes from the pen were too obvious. Perhaps a lacquer? I could definitely use some suggestions here.