Project Cytherea (formerly Project Shuttle meets Epia meets Smoothwall)

Little project log from me here.

My current Smoothwall is far too noisy. Its mainly the hard drive, but also the PSU and cpu cooler. To combat this, I got a £10 SN41G2 case from a friend; don't ask me how but he blew up the motherboard. He sold the psu off separately ages ago (unfortunately for me :banghead: ), but I still got a shuttle case outta it.

I'm going to eventually purchase a shuttle PSU to go in it as it obviously needs powaaaaaah ! Found one at Kustom for about £32, so I'll save for it.

I also need a motherboard. I'm not totally sure on the form factors, so I may have to mod the placement of the motherboard standoffs. The motherboard I am thinking of is an Epia based motherboard. Currently leaning towards the 533mhz passively cooled mobo. I only need the one PCI slot for my ISDN card, and the network card is supported under Smoothwall so it should go nicely

Since the current hard drive is so damn noisy I've got another one laying around that seems to be much quieter.

So, the first task is to black mirror finish paint the outside.

We start here : (click to enlarge, you know you want to !)


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Using a stanley knife and some masking tape, I covered the inside completely. Don't want paint getting over the inside in advertently during spraying, as it'll only scratch off in flakes into the computer !!


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All taped up from the inside.


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I keyed up the metal first with 400 grit, then with the 1200 grit, but I think I need to sand more, so we'll have to see how that goes. To achieve the mirror finish, after each layer of primer it will have to be as smooth as possible, and also with the paint finish.


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Grey primer, glossy black and high shine acrylic lacquer

I have a test piece of alu, in fact the part of my side panel left over from putting the window into my Lian Li PC2. Its had two coats of primer, and I'll sand it out tomorrow under the wet'n'dry and some water, get it as smooth as possible, and apply another two coats. I don't want to waste too much of the primer, paint and lacquer on a test piece, so I am not spraying a large area, and I don't want to put all the effort in to it just not to end up using it, but I need to practice of course

I'm really positive about this

 

Okay an update !

I've been spray painting a test piece of metal, in fact the chunk of alu removed from my PC2 case side when I cut it for the Dragon Etch window ! I'm going to cut a piece out of this metal to make the new I/O panel for the Epia


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First layer of primer. You can't see the actual paint very well due to the sun shining through the corrugated perspex window adjacent to the test piece of alu.


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An old washing up basin with a little water, my sanding block and two sheets of wet'n'dry paper, one 400 grit, one 1200 grit.

I got the alu sheet a little damp with water, and used the fine side of the sanding sponge, then the very fine side, then the 1200 grit wet'n'dry paper. Smooooooooooooth.


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Another coat of primer, followed by another sanding. No pictures of the second sanding, didn't see any point as it was the same as above


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Freshly applied gloss black ... looking great The image you can see is in fact the window frame reflected in the paint

Just waiting for it to dry, it'll get a quick smoothing down with the 1200 grit, and then maybe another quick coat of black for luck.

Then its onto the lacquer B-)

Meanwhile, I've taken the front off the shuttle.



Using masking tape on both sides, I've taped up the bits that don't need to change. I've then used my sanding sponge to key up the paint, and its the next thing to go under the spray paint nozzle

I'm gonna replace the alu plate, with a custom perspex front. I only actually need a power and reset button, and I'll keep the power and HDD lights. To this end I've removed the front I/O ports, and taken out the drive bay covers. It won't actually have a floppy drive or cdrom in it, so I won't bother cutting a face plate for them !

I've marked up a piece of clear perspex, but before I got to cutting it, I decided not to use it, and instead to make use of the orange window kit that I bought ages ago and never used. I'm not sure which is gonna look best, so I think I'll do both !! Since there are 4 countersunk screws that hold the face plate on, it will be only a small thing to swap and chance between them regularly if I feel like it

 

Okay, my test piece is all done, I'm quite happy with how its come out, and I've learned a little about how to get the finish I want.


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Freshly recovered from my professional paint closet. AKA the garden shed with some newspaper on the desk.


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Mmmm turtle wax ... didn't get it quite as shiny as I want, but still, looks pretty good for just a test piece


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Holding it up against a window so you can see the reflection in it.


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And holding it up again.

My intention for the finished shuttle is to make it mirror finish if I can.

To make this test piece, I used the following process :

Primer
15 minute wait
Primer
Overnight dry
Thorough sand
Primer
15 minute wait
Primer
8 hour dry
Quick sand
Black gloss
15 minute wait
Black gloss
15 minute wait
Quick coat black gloss
Overnight dry (covered to prevent dust falling on it)
Acrylic Lacquer
15 minute wait
Acrylic Lacquer

Then I left it for two nights, until earlier when I took these pics, again covered to prevent dust falling on it

I tonight started painting the shuttle lid itself This time I am gonna sand after each layer of paint (including the gloss) using 1200 grit to make sure its nice and smooth. I'm hoping this won't take away the glossy finish of the gloss black, and just smoothen it instead. If it does take away the finish, then it'll get another coat of black and then I'll not sand it again

I also intend to put at least 4 layers of lacquer on this time, maybe 5, I want a nice thick coat of lacquer on it Then I'll get some proper rubbing compound to polish it up smoooooth

More soon. Hoping to break out the old 1200 grit on my freshly primered case and then get some black glossy coats in. Not long after, it'll be time for lacquer and rubbing compound \o/

If anyone thinks I should be going up for a mirror finish in a different way, please do have your 2p, it'll help me out

 

Nice sanding dude !!

Rock on !!

 

nice work! how much did the cans cost you from halfords?

 

I bought 4 pack of 1200 grit wet'n'dry and a sanding sponge with the cans of paint, and it came to about £21 off the top of my head.
Tha lacquer was the most expensive, the big cans of primer and glossy black were £5.99 each IIRC.

I haven't done anything really innovative, and I have to say that there have been several really impressive projects lately, but I'm happy with the outcome so far

 

Are you getting a slight orange peel effect there?

Maybe try spraying from a little further away

*n

 

Yeah I am. Okay, thanks for the tip ! I'll do that.

 

Linear recently posted a painting article on his page. It's in two parts:

Part 1 - Color Coat
Part 2 - Clear Coat

and he got a really nice finish. (you should at least check out part 2, even if it's only to admire)

Your paint job looks good to me, but I figured I'd mention it because you said you were hoping for more shine. Looks like it will shape up to an interesting log.

 

Thanks for that, I read the first part, and it seems, with the exception of the number of build up layers of paint and the exact grit of the wet'n'dry I used, I've done what it says

Now to read the second part. Thanks for posting this right now, I was going to be having a go at doing the finishing coat tonight, you caught me just in time

 

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Time for an update ! I've started (and almost finished) working on the replacement perspex bezel. Using a coping saw, with a hacksaw blade, I cut roughly out around the black lines.



All cut out, using 240 grit wet'n'dry paper to get the roughest of the sides off. Nice and smooth already !

I then used 400 grit, followed by 1200 grit to smooth out the edges, and to make the corners. Can't really show, but it looks very nice



Crappy picture, but it fits perfectly. Well almost. The perspex is the right size, but there are a couple of things stopping it from sitting proudly, namely part of the cdrom/floppy bay and the power / reset button holes and the hdd / power lights.



The black line around the outside of the bay holes is where there was a rim, which I have trimmed off using a stanley knife and some wet'n'dry paper. I've also masked off the power buttons and light placements, ready for painting the front panel black. Using the aluminium panel I've removed from the face plate I've marked where the holes need to be cut through the perspex. I'm off to Wilko's tomorrow to get a 15mm and a 20mm wood cutter.

The case lid is currently drying from a thick coat of black paint, its still a bit tacky, and is definitely going to need another coat, but coming along VERY nicely !

 

this looks pretty kewl

*subscribed*

 

Nice paint job.

 

paint job looks great! i'm gonna be buying a shuttle soon, so i'm watching this thread closely for ideas to borrow (i mean steal)

 

Thanks guys; that paint job on my test piece up there is crap compared to the finish I've got on the Shuttle lid

I just painted up the silver parts of the face plate today, and drilled the mounting holes. Once the silver part has dried a bit more, I'll take some pictures of it.

 

another question that i didn't see the answer to anywhere: was the case painted a different color before, or was just bare aluminum?

 

It was the standard brushed alu that all shuttles have, the grey ish colour

 

oh, ok. i've been wondering if those were actually paintable or not. thanks!


(and btw, not all shuttles have the "standard" greyish aluminum colour )

 

Ah but its standard brushed alu, I then specified it was the greyish colour (opposed to the black ) ... two separate statements one describing the finish, the other, describing colour Subtle difference and makes me pedantic as hell for pointing it out

They are quite paintable I keyed up the brushed paint with some 400 grit, although I would recommend 120 or 240 grit for this, and then went full steam with the primer.

Just make sure you put an even coat of primer all over, otherwise when you are sanding you will find a couple of patches that cut through to the bare alu underneath :/

 

Dude, if you keep it up, you're going to have a very, very nice finish. I recommend AT LEAST 4 clear coats...that gloss stuff that was on the other article looked to have helped too...i mean...WOW.

But yeah, keep up the good work. *ctrl-d* I might use this when I paint my Lian Li PC6070A