While the Nintendo Switch is a portable console, it doesn’t have the best form factor when it comes to chucking it into a backpack and going on with your day, usually requiring its own pouch or carry bag.

Fixing that somewhat today is maker and engineering student Ethan Grizzard who has created a 3D print that allows the Switch to fold into itself, mimicking the clamshell design from Nintendo’s previous DS and 3DS lines.

Grizzard tells us that he created the model for this project in SketchUp in just a few hours over the course of several days.

Using calipers to adjust the dimensions so that the Switch and its Joy-Cons could slide on easily, five prototypes needed to be made before the sixth attempt had everything working smoothly.

At 20% infill and a 0.15mm resolution, printing took around nine hours to complete. Eight of those hours were dedicated to the main body, with an extra 60 minutes needed for the smaller screen bezel and hinge pieces.

That hinge requires a metal rod to work, so pick that up along with some filament if you’d like to make your own.

With the Switch and the print married together they measure in at 18 X 12 X 4 centimetres. To put that into perspective, the New 3DS XL is around 16 X 9.4 X 2 centimetres.

The final feature here is the cutout from the bottom print that allows a charging cable to reach its port even when the Switch is being used.

As you can see this is a prototype that is still being worked on. Grizzard says that the biggest problem with it right now is the fact that it can be a bit top-heavy, and it isn’t the most comfortable thing to use.

He’s planning to fix these problems by adding grips into the lower part of the print at a later stage.

The version you see on this page, however, is available to download right now over on Thingiverse.

As we’ve stated with previous 3D printed accessories for the Switch, be careful not to damage or scratch up your console. While this housing has been designed to slide together without any sanding, most are not and will need some elbow grease before you want to it with your hardware.