The second finalist in 'The Screen Savers' Mod Contest takes the most popular game console in gaming history and gives it new life. Thanks to vacuum forming, David Kaplish can take his PlayStation with him.

Kaplish's Portable PlayStation impressed our judges enough to make it a finalist. After you read the specs below, peruse the photo album.

We have four finalists. Which one will win the VersaLaser VL-200? You'll have to tune in September 29 for the winner. Watch every day this week to see the other finalist's mods in their full glory.

	Portable PlayStation
Modder	David Kaplish
Features list	PlayStation and screen Polystyrene plastic Clay and plaster for the mold of the case Lots of little parts
Modder's comments	The Portable PlayStation was created using vacuum forming. Vacuum forming shapes plastic to your design. Here's how I created the PPS. After I designed a case I made a clay mold of it, which was used to make a plaster cast. I made two different molds, one for the top that holds the screen and another for the case itself. I built a vacuum table to mold the plastic for the case. A vacuum table is a box with a hole in the center that removes all the air around the mold. This action sucks in the plastic around the mold to form the case. The plastic needs to be soft for forming, which means it needs to be very hot. To heat the plastic, I placed a sheet of plastic in a wood frame. The plastic is then placed under an electric heating element. When the plastic gets hot it softens up. Once the plastic sags within the frame you bring it down over your mold and turn on the vacuum. The vacuum then sucks the plastic around the mold, forming the new case. After the plastic cooled, pieces are cut out using a Dremel tool. I then sanded the case and drilled holes. With the PlayStation main board I desoldered both controller ports, the video port and the power connector. I extended the video wires by using a hard drive cable. After I had everything apart I hard wired it all together. A little bit of paint, tighten a couple of screws, and soon I had a PPS. The PPS screen is hinged so it lifts up. The CD drive is located under the screen. The device also has video out. The PPS uses a 7.2-volt Sony camcorder battery or power adapter.
Links	Portable Game Systems David's website featuring his mod projects. The Atari 2600 Portables Site David's inspiration for the PPS. Build a Vacuum Form Table How-to by Ralis Kahn. Vacuum forming plastic How-to use molds to shape plastic.

Portable PlayStation Photo Album