Now Shipping

My imitation BBC Model B panel sets are now shipping.

Can you tell which bits aren’t original?

These have arrived, fresh from the printers and are now shipping to those who registered there interest on Facebook and Stardot. It’s been a bit exhausting over the last few days, but I’m very happy with these!

Vintage Imitation Parts…

A couple of years ago, I acquired an old Acorn Model B microcomputer from a very good friend. It needed the usual power supply TLC, but otherwise worked perfectly. However, it was missing some of the keyboard surround and the plastic function strip.

Having checked the usual sources for replacements, I quickly learned that these were either completely unobtainable, or on the odd occasion that they did appear on eBay, highly sought after.

Vintage Imitation Parts

Reasoning that these were simple items, I set about trying to make replicas. Here was born my new side venture: ‘Vintage Imitation Parts’.

Version One

Version one of the BBC keyboard surround started life as a piece of cardboard, cut out on a Cricut Explore Air 2 and test fit over the aging and brittle surround on my Beeb. Several revisions later, I had a shape that I was happy with. After sourcing some 0.5mm black polypropylene, I realised my Cricut was being pushed to its limits and invested in a deep cut knife blade for it. This helped, until I added a layer of adhesive. Whilst attending the ABUG meet up in Camberley, 2021, I attempted to make a version that could be fitted to a real machine, taking the plunge and removing both mine, and another volunteer’s original surrounds. I was happy with the results, until it came to the text: “cassette motor”, “caps lock”, “shift lock”, printed in pale text at the bottom left on the originals. At this point, I was hoping to use screen printing to apply this text, however one of the most useful properties of polypropylene is it’s resistance to chemicals. Nothing I tried “stuck”; it just rubbed off. I settled for using a Brother Tz tape label but was left disappointed. Not wanting to give up, I went to see a professional printer, taking an original Acorn supplied set of surrounds, kindly loaned to me by a member of the Stardot and ABUG community.

Turns out I went about version one completely the wrong way.

  1. they’re not black.
  2. they’re not polypropylene but clear PVC
  3. they’re printed from the rear before the adhesive is applied

Version Two

Having now borrowed an original, intact and unused to compare against my version one surround, I realised I didn’t quite have the dimensions dialled in. So I remeasured everything, including not just the surround, but the rear and underside panels too (I had them, so why not?).
A few iterations of cut -> check -> tweak later, I had a complete replacement set digitally in Adobe Illustrator.

The colour and finish of these were always important to me. After receiving a digitally printed proof from the printers, they explained to me that the only way to get the exact colours of both the black/brown background, and the off-beige text, and to replicate the crispness of the originals, would be to screen print the entire job. This is most likely how the original Acorn specified originals were produced, in their millions. Sadly, I don’t have the kind of money required to fund a screen printed production run, so opted for the not-quite-perfect-but-still-very-good alternative of digital print.

Ordering

If you’re interested in ordering a set of these imitation surrounds, please reply to the “For Sale” thread over on Stardot. Once I have the items in hand, I will contact you to arrange for payment and delivery address details.

What do I do with them?

Detailed instructions will follow when I have taken delivery. I’m hoping to produce both written and video instructions in time for the first deliveries arriving.

Important information

As noted over on Stardot, there’s a few important gotchas with these surrounds, which I will repeat here:

WHAT THESE ARE:

  • My best attempt to replicate the Acorn original spare parts
  • Professionally digitally printed
  • Cut with an industrial CNC knife
  • Packaged with care
  • Colour matched to an original set as best as both I & the printers can manage – this was tricky as originals all seem to yellow with age.
  • Designed to fit the second variation of the Model B case. I haven’t been able to test against an early case – it may or may not fit – I will try to confirm as soon as I can
  • Printed on a near identical material to the original Acorn versions. The printing is done on the reverse side, so cannot be scratched.
  • Printed with UV resistant modern materials and inks and should last at least as long as the originals!
  • Provided with a strong adhesive layer pre-applied.
  • Detailed removal and fitting instructions included, with accompanying video available online.

WHAT THESE ARE NOT:

  • Despite my best efforts, these are not identical to the original – the Acorn versions were screen printed and die cut on an industrial scale. The set up costs alone for this are way out of my reach as a private individual.
  • Not the exact same colour as the originals – despite my best research, I have been unable to locate a reliable Pantone or similar reference colour for these.
  • Due to being digitally rather than screen printed, the text isn’t quite as crisp as the originals.
  • Due to being cut under a CNC knife the perforations are not identical.
  • Available individually – The difference in cost of printing and cutting one piece (the keyboard surround), vs all three pieces in the set was minimal, and so I have opted to sell three piece sets only.