Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
You might need to cut a notch on one side for the ribbon connector. Remember, that's
a fragile connector, and if you tear it, about all you can do is wipe your tears and buy
a new screen set.
Once the hole is sized properly, you can set the screen into the hole, as shown in
Figure 3-12
. Turn it over and admire your work!
Figure 3-12.
Screen set into finished hole, view from back side
Once you get all that taken care of, it's time to add some realism. You're going to want
the hole to look a bit burnt. Conveniently, you have a burning device in your hands—
your hot knife. Use the metal extension between the knife and the handle, which also
gets hot, to melt the edges of the hole. They'll both get smoother and blackened.
You can also paint some scorch marks around the edges and in various other spots
for added realism. If you accidentally tapped some other part of your foam with the
hot knife while you were working, that's a great place to create more “battle damage”
so it doesn't look like your shiny, fresh armor got shot through the second you stepped
out of the pod/ship/space station.
Put It All Together
Finally, put it all together. Mount the screen in the hole and secure the Raspberry Pi,
power supply, and cables in the places you've found to hide them. If you're using the
TFT display we use here (see
Hack #57
for further instructions on connecting it), re-
member also that its ribbon connector is rather fragile and should be secure and
protected.
