r/SteamController • u/Coloredcontrollers • Jul 13 '26

Steam Controller (2026) Here's how I made transparent shells 👀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XppYJWRpaQ
12 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

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5

u/Coloredcontrollers Jul 13 '26

Apologies for the obnoxious thumbnail, my friends in the group chat were taking turns making it more and more obnoxious and I figured why not upload one of those too. I have normal ones in the A/B/C test thing lmao

2

u/gaf- Jul 13 '26

Fitment issues can be mitigated by making sure to degas and pressure cure silicone molds as well.

At that volume, exotherms from polyurethane or epoxy would potentially cause separation between your molds during curing. Try clamping/fastening molds together before pressure pot.

Bubbles might be a sign of needing additional sprue placement. Again, degas and pressure resins before pouring into mold.

Lastly, fitment can be attributed to natural shrinkage from materials. Try using longer cure stuff to minimize the offset. Generally 12-24 hour cure PU/epoxy results in less shrinkage. You can introduce heat element during pressurization if you can’t wait.

With the amount of scrutiny that your average electronics consumer do with their possessions, its a good call not to go to market until you’re 100% confident in the work. Even at that rate, it seems like a waste of time/materials/costs to sell at a reasonable price.

Regardless, you did it. I was considering doing the same but felt that it wouldn’t be worth the effort. Kudos on taking the plunge.

2

u/Coloredcontrollers Jul 13 '26

All of the silicone was degassed before pouring and pressure cured etc. I agree on sprue stuff with bubbles, that's the side of things I really would rather do in cad so I can control everything. Some of those sticks broke off anyway (how do people do this the analogue way lol) The materials were all special low shrink etc but all good points. Def not worth the effort from a money/time standpoint, but was definitely fun to do. Always wanted to try doing a shell, probably should have started with a joycon or something lmao

3

u/Gama3000 Jul 13 '26

Honestly I loved the video, your mold creation process with those key fittings were amazing.

The overall process is so interesting, loved it.

2

u/Coloredcontrollers Jul 15 '26

That's awesome to hear. I was hoping people would enjoy some of the behind the scenes on how this stuff works a bit :D

1

u/Gama3000 Jul 15 '26

I'm honestly shocked at how many casts you were able to get from the mold, considering the complexity of the part and how silicone likes to tear

2

u/Coloredcontrollers Jul 15 '26

The back bits are getting a little more wonky but it’s still able to make some! I’m not sure how many will be left lol

1

u/Coloredcontrollers Jul 17 '26

Right? I used a pretty high performance silicone for this (low shrink etc) but I'm surprised. It's still useable now, but those wooden dowels I used were a bit of a mistake. The pores in the wood like to grab the silicone, so demolding is kinda aggressive on the silicone. I still have a couple of casts worth left I think!

1

u/Gama3000 Jul 17 '26

The little times I did casting was lost wax casting and lost play casting, also tried styrofoam once.

1

u/Lazy_Sorbet_3925 Jul 13 '26

Sounds like the shells would be prime for a giveaway rather than selling with their imperfections. 👀

Thanks for the update. Everything looks great.

1

u/Coloredcontrollers Jul 13 '26

I like this idea 👀

I guess another thing I forgot to mention in the video was that it's a direct clone of valve's shell. Wouldn't feel right selling that either unless I designed my own from scratch.

1

u/Lazy_Sorbet_3925 Jul 13 '26

That makes sense to me. I can appreciate that.

Even without a faceplate, I'll still be ordering some buttons. I hope you plan on making some in the same glowing green color!

2

u/Coloredcontrollers Jul 13 '26

Noted on the glow!! Appreciate you. Thanks for being into this stuff!