This homemade Fallout Pipboy doesn't need your smartphone

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Missed your Fallout 4 preorder? Fear not. A solution is at hand. Fallout fan Jesse Roe has built a working Pipboy 3000a with a 3D printed shell, curved glass display and a Raspberry Pi. Using open source Pipboy software from selectnone Roe crafted the Wasteland tech as a Christmas present for his best friend.

"I probably put in 70+ hours of research. Which mold to get, specs, sizes, parts, etc. I wanted to make sure I was getting the right parts for everything," Roe tells GamesRadar+. "After researching and only finding PipBoy casts that has a waiting list, I stumbled upon Nakamura's Shop on Shapeways. I got my brother-in-law to help me out with the painting and sanding as he's much more artistic than myself. We sanded the cast, painted, and he added the worn details in."

The Pipboy is powered by a battery pack which can be held in a utility belt that Roe has crafted specifically for wearing with a Vault 101 suit. Incredibly, if you add a dongle, you can even map out your location like a real live Wanderer. Not content with his first version of Wasteland tech, Roe's now working on adding a five point switch and more buttons. See it in action in the video above.

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Louise Blain
Louise Blain

Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode. 

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