Commodore 1541 Disk Drive Papercraft

I was about 10 when I first saw Hover Bovver on my friend's C-64. He had a disk drive and fists fulls of games. I had a 64 for a while at that point but had been limited by the few cartridge games I could find in my small town and a very slow Datasette.

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The iconic 1541 drive I pined for as a kid.

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This drive would make my C64 a killer games machine.

I begged my mom for a disk drive for years before finally getting one towards the end of the Commodore's run. I bought a shiny new 1541-C (don't worry, the papercraft is a period correct 1541). Even though the scene in town had dwindled to about three kids, I quickly "amassed" hundreds of games. I was often more interested in the "cracktos" featured at the beginning of the games than the games themselves.

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Now I can shout out Hokuto Force!

This papercraft is dedicated to the times I spent experiencing exotic greetings from overseas in a time before the internet made such worldwide shout-outs commonplace.

The download is here. The papercraft model includes:

• New Commodore 1541 disk drive

• Two 5.25" floppy diskettes

• Swappable screen faceplates

• Improved Commodore 64 pattern

• Updated Commodore 1701 monitor pattern

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A couple of 5.25" floppy diskettes with a few games I owned back in the day.

Thanks so much for all the recent attention. I am glad these projects are providing enjoyment for others as well. Anticipate more updates in this Commodore papercraft series on this site. There are a LOT of accessories and I am also very nostalgic for these times.

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Now you can represent your favorite Demoscene with four interchangeable faceplates.

C64 Paper Craft Mini Monitor

Download the paper craft Monitor template v1 here.

A paper craft version of the Commodore 64 computer is already underway as part of a "Draw Your Favorite Computer" contest being put on by RetroManCave celebrating 30,000 subscribers. A link to the paper craft computer will be available by next weekend.

There are 10 screen variations of the paper craft monitor template to choose from in the download (PDF).

While I never personally had one of the 1701 monitors myself, a number of my C64 friends back in the day did and they were great!

Hallway, Studio, Bathroom Outlines Complete

Very excited to see continued progress on this project. I promise colour and details will follow but I must first outline the kitchen and the bedroom. I force myself to stay at this limited level of detail in order to remain flexible in the overall design. Also, it has been said, that you can't help but get better as you practice your pixelwork. By the time I have completed outlining, I am hoping I will have gained enough skill to fill in the gaps.

The trailer is beginning to take shape!

Here is a sample of the in-game door functionality. Doors allow for "privacy".

The final two rooms are smaller than the "first two" but are both full of interesting details so I will avoid the impulse to start rushing. This is a labour of love!

Dicky's Diamonds - Arduboy Mockup

Start Screen

Option Menu

Making Arduboy mockups of classic Commodore games is great way to spend an evening. Dicky's Diamonds was a game published in 1983 by B. O'Shaugnessy for the Commodore 64. The game scales down handsomely to the Arduboy's scale and 1-bittyness.

My 8-Bit Future

The Living Room *ruffed* out. Bruce, the Blue Heeler, says hello.

Trying to distinguish feminine from masculine in 8-bits is a challenge.

Faux's trailer is the world map. The limitations of the NES will ultimately determine the level of detail I am able to give to this world.

NES 8-bit game design has always been on the bucket list. I am hoping NESmaker will be the key to giving it a go. Getting familiar with a different graphics mode is always exciting to me, and the opportunity to tell a meaningful story with an old Nintendo makes the whole prospect that much more attractive.

My Home Circa 1990

I grew up with a Commodore. One of my favorite things to do was draw pictures of my house using the PETSCII characters on the keyboard. Back in the day there was no way to easily save this drawings so the image above is a modern take using the very cool PLAYSCII editor.

Puyo Puyo SharpSCII

Puyo Puyo Tetris is available for the switch, but this Madou Monogatari spinoff got its start back in 1991 for the MSX and the Famicom Disk System. I think Puyo Puyo would look pretty handsome as a MX-700 port.

Another SharpSCII Mock-up

Wonderboy is one of my favorite games! It was pretty fun trying to recreate a familiar scene in SharpSCII.

Sharp MZ-700 Super Mario Bros Mockup

I grew up making PETSCII illustrations on my C64 so I had to try my hand at some SHARPSCII.

Amstrad CPC 464 Paper Craft

Please enjoy this paper craft version of the Amstrad CPC 464 available for download here! It's the closest I've ever been to touching the real thing. As a Canadian I never grew up with these machines but there's something magical about UK silicon.

Congratulations James on the first issue of Colour Personal Computing!

Jumpman Arduboy Mock-up

I recently got an Arduboy and I think it's a pretty fantastic little device. Inspired by the very low resolution display (128px x 64px) I decided to do a few mock-ups. My Jumpman port looks doable if only to punish the gamer's eyes. I LOVED Jumpman on the C64, Atari 8-bit, and Colecovison.

Retro Challenge 2016/10 - Day 31 - FINAL

It was a lot of had work but I have finally completed the Retro Challenger for 2016. It was a fun experience as always. Perhaps one day I will team up with a programmer and Super Mario will find another home on the Commodore.

But that'll be for another Challenge. Thanks a million for all the support!

Retro Challenge 2016/10 - Day 27

I felt Canadian's in the 80's were quick to abandon old computer tech in favour of game consoles and eventually PCs. I was playing with my Commodore 64 for years after it had fallen out of favor. The 16-bit computer era practically passed us by. There is a lot of beauty wrapped up in limitation so I believe I will continue to appreciate what 8-bit and 16-bit system do.

Retro Challenge 2016/10 - Day 25

I remember playing Super Mario Bros 3 for the first time. I rented it from out Canadian Tire (CT rented out games in our small town). I remember it like it was yesterday. My younger sister and I sat in front of our television and were transfixed as we played through the whole experience. I always had similar times with the Commodore so it only seems fitting to pay tribute to two of my favourite systems.

Retro Challenge 2016/10 - Day 19

The NES uses 2x2 tiles (16x16px) to define its world whereas my Commodore version uses 3x2 tiles (12x16px). This can make certain objects, like the rotating hammer especially challenging and interesting to translate.

Retro Challenge 2016/10 - Day 1

For this RetroChallenge I will port the World 1 graphics from Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. 3 to the Commodore 64.

This is not the first time I have done a graphics port of a Super Mario game. Over the past few years I have converted the graphics for Super Mario Bros. 1 & 2.

I am slightly overwhelmed by the number of unique maps, characters, enemies, objects and other assets. I suspect there are more unique graphics in the first world of SMB3 than in the entire game of SMB1. Each day I plan to post my progress, so please join my in this exciting retrographic adventure.

Amstrad CPC 464 Paper Craft Computer

A paper craft version of the Amstrad CPC 464 available for download here! Please enjoy.