Sega Neptune 3D Model

[DK1105]

I am currently working on a 3d render of the Sega Neptune prototype and I figured I should post some of the work in progress shots to get some criticism and see if I am missing anything. This thing is hard to get any good reference images to work off of. By no means is this project done but getting some extras eye on it wouldn't hurt.

I most glaring thing missing is the cuts on the sides. I am waiting to put those on as one of the last things.

[wiggyx]

Looks like a good start. The area around the cart port looks to be missing some definition (the "valley" formed by the shape of the shell looks a tad shallow). Other than that, nothing stands out as off or not quite right as best I can tell.

[xelement5x]

Very cool! If you get it finished it would be awesome if it could be imported to a 3D printer and printed out for those of us who make Neptune consoles.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

What is the Sega Neptune again? Was that a Prototype Saturn? My memory of the mid 90s Sega stuff is hazy.

[saferkefka]

What is the Sega Neptune again? Was that a Prototype Saturn? My memory of the mid 90s Sega stuff is hazy.

it was a genesis and 32x all in one thingy.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Oh. I never had a 32x, but I thought the thing was a pass through device like the Power Base Converter.

So what exactly is this project all about? Redesigning a 3D printable shell for something that doesn't exist?

[Cornelius]

Pretty sure there was an official prototype (two?), so it 'exists', just not available at all. And the 32x was more than a pass-through, but did slot in like the power base. Lastly, people have made/make functional "Neptune equivalents", combining Genesis and 32x hardware in a single shell.

Cool project! Almost enough to get me interested in the 32x. Almost.

[PreZZ]

Wiggy, print some of those shells and put your magic touch to produce fully functionning neptunes!

[DK1105]

To my knowledge there is only one known sega neptune prototype and it's an empty shell.

The only real point to this project to for me to do some more 3D modeling and depending on how it turns out put it into my portfolio for work. I have been talking to a buddy of mine that does 3D printing but his printer is to small to do something this size and wouldn't exactly be cheap to do.

Depending on interest I might look into getting a few made.

I have a some new updates to share though. The back side is also finished. I'm just working on some final touches and really putting off putting on the side vents.

[sloan]

By your pictures, you are good with surface modeling. I was going to ask what CAD program you are using. SolidWorks would most likely not give the nice photo renderings you captured in your images, without some other add-on program. So, are you using PTC Wildfire, Catia, UGNX, SolidEdge or something else?

I would also think that since you are going to the trouble, you could at least donate .stl, .stp. .igs, or other file formats to the gaming community at large so that someone could 3D print it if they wished to do so.

[Greg2600]

Looking good.

[DeputyMoniker]

By your pictures, you are good with surface modeling. I was going to ask what CAD program you are using. SolidWorks would most likely not give the nice photo renderings you captured in your images, without some other add-on program. So, are you using PTC Wildfire, Catia, UGNX, SolidEdge or something else?

I would also think that since you are going to the trouble, you could at least donate .stl, .stp. .igs, or other file formats to the gaming community at large so that someone could 3D print it if they wished to do so.

Wouldn't it be easier/better to just work out a deal with the owner of the proto and 3D scan it?

[wiggyx]

Wiggy, print some of those shells and put your magic touch to produce fully functionning neptunes!

Too much monies to do that :

Something that people sometimes aren't aware of is that printing parts is both time consuming and (can be) quite expensive. I just had an NES cart-sized pair of parts prototyped on a high-end 3D printer (mine is pretty base model, and getting precise parts is tough at best), and the material cost alone was $60+. That's with zero markup on the material and no charge for the print time (was printed by a friend). Printing the 9 parts needed for the SNES shell would likely consume upwards of $250-300 in materials alone

Wouldn't it be easier/better to just work out a deal with the owner of the proto and 3D scan it?

No. 3D scans don't provide perfect, usable math models. The scan just acts as an "underlay" of sorts, meaning that the modeler has to go in and do a ton of cleanup work to make it viable. The Neptune is a pretty simple design, and the scale can be assessed fairly easily based on constants such as the controller ports (they exist and are easily measured in real life).

[nathanallan]

True, 3D scanning doesn't give you a model that's ready to go. It has a ways to go before that's possible.

Also, yeah, the cost of 3D printing can be prohibitively expensive, but then again when you get a gamer with a 3D printer, it costs much less. I'm a gamer with a 3D printer, and I'm itching to make a Neptune!

So there you go, I'm interested as a printer owner, classic gamer AND Sega lover.

Not sure why the materials cost was so high in the post above by wiggyx, I have found the actual costs of the material to be negligible or at least extremely manageable.

I'm into this, and as a personal project I have been wanting to make console cases to be FUNCTIONAL and not just decorative.

What I have on the table now, is an enclosure to make the brown Intellivoice board fit into, to match the Intellivision II, and I'm almost done with it.

I found this thread, had to register and reply. Anybody can contact me if they want something printed, and I'll give it a good go at making it happen.

nathan.dkassandra4@gmail.com

[wiggyx]

What printer and materials are you using?

I coulda printed the parts on our replicator 2 and it would have cost a lot less, but the part quality would have been significantly reduced as well. Not all 3D printers and printing materials are created equal.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Hey wiggy, did you read the pm I sent you? I didn't hear back from you, so I wasn't sure.

[wiggyx]

I'm in PM hell across like 10 forums. I'll check it sooner than later and get back to ya.

[IrishNinja]

I'd been waiting for a day to actually get a functional Neptune, and this effort puts us one step closer to that. good work OP, keep at it!

[dutchconsolefreak]

The 3D model looks great!! Maybe one day, we all have a Neptune in our gaming room.

As for sizing, i believe they used the bottom from a Genesis/Megadrive 2 for the prototype.

[xelement5x]

While very similar, the back of the proto Neptune is much different than a stock Genesis 2 actually.