Design articles

Sassco Design is my personal blog showcasing the most recent items from over 30 years’ worth of experience in digital.

The design section is showing some of my physical designs, including model building and retro electronic console designs.

  • How to put up a (real) Christmas tree.

    How to put up a (real) Christmas tree.

    For years I purchased stands and various contraptions to hold my real Christmas tree. Unfortunately, these can become unstable, so I devised a way of having…

  • Coffee table arcade machine.

    Coffee table arcade machine.

    Arcade machine made from a coffee table shell. The controllers, which were created using 165° cabinet hinges, which were positioned at an angle on a timber…

  • Upstanding retro arcade machine.

    Upstanding retro arcade machine.

    An old Lenovo, all-in-one, was used with RetroPie to create an arcade machine. The joystick was actually a USB bare-bones joystick, with multiple buttons added. The…

  • Vintage Atari machine with Retropie and HDMI modifications

    Vintage Atari machine with Retropie and HDMI modifications

    Atari 2600 complete. Essentially a modern computer system within a 2600 shell. Controller #1 is connected via a network cable and the unused “B” button is…

  • 2001 Space Odyssey Discovery One 3D printed model

    2001 Space Odyssey Discovery One 3D printed model

    From the classic Stanley Kubrick motion picture. Entirely 3D printed from brilliant files provided by Metaform 3D via Thingsverse The spine was created using a single…

  • Star Wars Sandcrawler model diorama

    Star Wars Sandcrawler model diorama

    An entirely scratch built model using an MDF lower and a cardboard frame. The panels were added using foam paper and card paper. Wheelbase complete using…

  • L11 Zeppelin (LZ41), 3D printed

    L11 Zeppelin (LZ41), 3D printed

    L11 Zeppelin (LZ41), 3D printed and some detailed scratch-built parts. The reason for this one, an unusual camouflaged Zep, is that on 1 April 1916 it…

  • Alien 3 EEV crash landing diorama

    Alien 3 EEV crash landing diorama

    Completed it in record time from 10th December to a completion on the 24th December. This Diorama is the opening scene from David Fincher’s Director Cut…

  • Custom made tripod lamp

    Custom made tripod lamp

    Custom made tripod lamp, actually made from a Schiedel Chimney System test point component, which is a single wall steel tube, with openings on the side.…

  • Star Trek Original Series USS Enterprise NCC 1701 scratch built model

    Star Trek Original Series USS Enterprise NCC 1701 scratch built model

    My most ambitious scratch build effort to date was the Original Series USS Enterprise model from the Star Trek series. I’ve always been a huge fan…