The unique look of early desktop computer systems remains popular with a certain geek demographic, so much so that today’s hackers and makers of 40-plus-year-old electronics have been haphazardly removed from vintage machines and turned into plastic corpses. It’s not too surprising to see the occasional reuse of . We try not to judge, but seeing a literal museum piece transformed into his stunning Raspberry Pi enclosure is stinging.
But with a little luck, maybe the Retro Wedge Computer case designed by [AndyMt] You can save some of those veteran computers from unnecessary lobotomy. As the name suggests, this 3D printable model is designed to resemble a “wedge” desktop computer such as the Atari ST, TI-994A or Commodore 128. As such, no size is larger than it fits on a fairly standard 230 x 230 mm print bed.
Rather than tailoring the design to one specific set of internals, [AndyMt] We wisely left that up to the end user. There are no dedicated mounting points inside and no back panel. Once you’ve decided which single-board computer to put in this retro box, it’s up to you to design the final piece.
That said, the keyboard section is more specific and the design focuses on the XTRFY K4 TKL RGB RETRO. It’s not the cheapest mechanical keyboard we’ve seen, but it features a period-appropriate color scheme that makes it a great fit for this project.
As with any attempt to recreate a classic computer in any other form, it would clearly take more time and effort to print this case than scouring eBay for a donor Commodore C64 C. Building your own will almost certainly be a cheaper option as it will add value over time.
