PS Vita 1000 Grip

Here is the first free PS Vita 1000 grip on Printables (that I know of). This took me 2 months to make so I hope you enjoy it. It is a print in place design.

THIS IS ONLY FOR 1000 MODELS! I am unable to design and test a version for the 2000 revision, so please remix this if you make one for the 2000 model.

I would also not recommend this grip for remote play use as better grips designed around remote play are available.

This grip supports the following features:

• Rear Touch pad and Camera

• Volume control

• Power button access

• Charging and Headphone access

The Game Card slot, memory card slot and SIM card slot (For 3G model users) are not accessible within the grip as I did not need to access them.

You will need sandpaper of some sort to get the best experience with the grip as the recommended print orientation (vertical from one of the curved side walls), will result in the sides being rough.

Print Directions: It is recommended to print this grip vertically from one of the side walls. Set the supports to normal (auto) with snug fit.

Once you finish printing and removing supports, it is recommended to sand down areas that had supports on them in order to have a smooth surface.

Design Changes:

This project was mostly done out of fun, and as such I forgot to take proper measurements when starting. This led to many different designs being tested.

I first started with this thing (I don't know what to call this) that in hindsight would never work at all. The depth of the bottom ledge was very small, and the placement of camera and touchpad holes were also wrong.

So then I fully redid the design of the grip, adding a guiding area to represent the entire Vita, I also extended the bottom ledge to 18.73mm but I left the camera and touchpad hole dimensions the same, as I was unaware that they did not work.

I then started to redesign the sides of the general shape to better line up with the dimensions of the actual console, which was done by tracing an image of a 1000 Vita. Also the depth of the bottom ledge increased as it was too short compared to the console.

I then added a top clip in order to keep the console secure, this was based on the same top plane I used to make the general shape.

I then changed the bottom clip to also be based on the top plane instead of on the extruded shape, as this placed the bottom clip lower down which would help the Vita fit inside. I also updated the touchpad and camera holes to be more accurate.

 I also changed the depth of both clips to now be the depth of a Vita + the 3mm I had set as the depth of the model. This did not hold the console correctly so more changes were needed, however it was close.

I had then changed the placement of the touchpad and camera holes to be one continuous hole to allow for wiggle room. The top clip got some curves on each side to improve looks.

I then found an image of the rear of a 1000 model to improve accuracy around the size of the camera and touchpad holes. I also used this Thingiverse model: PSvita grip with dualshock 4 by MakingZone - Thingiverse to help with these improvements.

I then added 1mm to the overall height of the model, and then made a cut extrude around the top clip to remove this added millimeter around that region, this resulted in the same 3mm tall clip as before, but more 1mm higher. Thankfully this design was able to fit the console, but it would slide around too much.

I then started to work on designing a way to prevent this sliding. I was going to do something with a plane offset from the top, but this idea did not get far.

I then made a sidewall idea, these walls on the grips would prevent sliding if I found the right height. (Ignore the dots, I went through many versions that I would test print, so I added dots to prevent me from getting confused).

I then increased the height of the sidewalls, made them curve to the bottom to reach the bottom clip, and started work on a grip idea.

I removed this grip idea, then redesigned the side walls by removing a part at the top of each wall, as they were hitting the shoulder buttons and preventing the console from being inserted. These changes allowed the Vita to fit perfectly, so I moved onto proper grip design.

Grip design:

The design of the grip went through several revisions that never got printed.

This was an idea I never tried on the actual model, I was trying to replicate a Dualsense grip.

Then I tried this curved bump idea based on a grip that is sold on Amazon, but this did not reach the printing stage as its shape would make printing it require assembly of some sort due to its curve.

I then tried an idea of having the grips stick out from the button of the side walls, and take a teardrop shape but the dimensions never worked. To have a properly sized grip would have it go beyond the area of the wall, and make it harder to print.

This is the only evidence I have of this idea existing.

I then started to look at the 3rd party Vita grips currently being sold on Amazon, and I eventually found this grip designed for remote play, Amazon.com: CHENLAN L2 R2 Trigger Hand Grip Shell Controller Protective Case for PlayStation PS Vita 1000, which I felt would be both quick to make, comfortable and easy to print, I intended it to be printed separately and then slide in, but later gave up on that idea.

I ended up landing on this grip design generally, with two bean shapes, one on either side, placed close to the bottom of the model with fillets on the top. This grip design was made in a cursed manner that I will now try to explain.

How to make a grip (badly):

Step one: Make a sketch of a bean around the area where your hand will most likely go:

Step 2: Make a boss extrude in both directions (in order to cover up the hole made earlier when tracing out the sides) with the outward part having a draft.

Step 3: make a new plane reference offset from the top face of the boss extrude you just did, then make a new sketch using convert entities, with the entity chosen being the face you just made a plane on.

Step 4: do a blind cut extrude on the shape you have been working on, but only remove the part that is extruded out for the hand to hold, while leaving the part that covered up the loop hole:

Step 5: Using the sketch from step one and the sketch from step 3, make a loft and enable both the start and end constraints (both being normal to profile):

Finally add any needed fillets and then mirror to the other side. Also make slight adjustments to the shape as needed over time.

I made the first of many changes to the size of the grips to improve comfort by tweaking the indent around the side walls.

I then made the grips bigger, made holes for the power and volume buttons, and considered adding the LiveArea icon for Wipeout 2048 on the back.

This is the logo I made for the back by tracing out a image of the icon

I finalized button holes and then made a hole at the bottom for the power cable and headphone jack

I also added power and volume text to their respective button cutouts, and filleted the charger hole to make it look nice

I then made the grips more elongated and also altered how the indent for the hand works through playing around with the start and end constraints of the loft tool

This generally marked the end of the design progress, however slight changes to grip shape, indent, and size were done over time. I also ended up removing the Wipeout Icon from the back, as I thought it might cause issues when printing.

Finally, here is a comparison image between two versions of the grip design that I have included here

Grip curve 1 (minimal)	Grip Curve 2 (larger indent)