M.A.S.K.-Inspired Cyberdeck for all your Portable Computing needs

There are infinite varieties of cyberdeck you could make, each with their own inspirations. Today, [RadioactiveArtist] shows us a M.A.S.K. lunchbox cyberdeck faithful to the 80s show.

To know why putting a cyberdeck in a lunchbox is exactly the kind of thing you would see in the show, [RadioactiveArtist] briefly explains what both are (but we’ll skip the former): M.A.S.K. is a cartoon running from ’85 to ’86 where ordinary objects transform to reveal a hidden purpose–and this cyberdeck does just that by hiding in M.A.S.K. merchandise: the lunch box.

Like any cyberdeck build, it starts as a pile of components on a desk. It’s made from a Raspberry Pi 5, a cute little 75% keyboard, stereo speakers, a card reader with some USB 3 ports and of course a battery made with four 18650 cells. After testing the electronics on the bench, [RadioactiveArtist] test-fits them in the lunch box before revealing the plan: keyboard and speakers on the bottom, thinner half, the rest on top, and the screen on a second hinge so it can flip up when opened.

The construction itself doesn’t harm the lunch box, because it shouldn’t be obvious that this isn’t just lunch. (Bonus points because the box itself is vintage.) Everything that was screwed into, was sacrificial material like plastic, which was then placed into the lunch box. The keyboard and speakers are fully enclosed on the bottom, which looks very sleek, but the top is exposed–both because it’s easier to access and fix, and because it looks cool.

[RadioactiveArtist] goes over all this and more, in the video below: