Hi guys. So a couple of months ago I finished my first ever case MOD. I originally did a build log on a South African forum but thought it would be awesome to get it on here to see what people from around the world think. I'll start uploading all the pics of start to finish as well as the whole process I went about in making the case within the next 2 days. For the time being here's the parts list and a quick snap of the finished product. Parts: Mobo: Asus Maximus 7 Formula CPU: i7-4790k ultracooled and over clocked by Vivi Ram: G.Skill Trident-X 2x4gb 2400mhz SSD: 128GB Samsung 850 Pro HDD: 2x Western Digital Red 1TB running in raid0 PSU: Corsair HX850i Case: Coolermaster Cosmos S GPU: 2x MSI GTX 970 Gold Limited Edition As for the watercooling components I'll add those a bit later. But let it be said that this Cosmos S has a 480mm rad in the front which is quite rare if I say so myself Hope you guys approve the sneaky pics.
Day 1 Hi Guys sorry for the delay. Accidents were made and my car is no more luckily I got insurance Ok. So start I managed to pick up a Cosmos S at a steal as it's side panel was broken and the thermal based power switch doesn't work. This isn't a train smash as I was planning on replacing the door with a full size window and have contacts at Coolermaster in RSA that managed to organize me a new switch. So Step 1 was tearing the whole case apart so that I could start work on sanding and painting. In terms of the exterior of the case this would be the only mod. I realized that it can be quite hard to make cases like these stand out in terms of components etc. As there will always be someone with more dollar than you. So instead I decided to try and find a way to fit a 480mm radiator in the front of the case. Something I had never seen done before, and a tall order... Literally. The radiator I used is a XSPC EX 480mm and it measures 515mm in length. the doesn't sound all that long when a Cosmos S is involved but the fact is that the interior height of the Cosmos S is only 472mm. So I broke out the trusty dremel and after making some cuts test fitted everything including the 360 rad that would go in the top. I used cut down mounting brackets from a friends 900D to mount the 480. and only 2 fans above the 360mm to hold it in place. After all the layout work had been done it was time for paint. I decided to go with a Matte Black and Red Color scheme, I know this has been done a lot but after seeing Pranja's Reaper build I couldn't resist. I did however decide to make my main color black with red as the highlights as I thought that this would make the red pop more. During my desk build I learned the hard way that it's not worth rushing when preparing for painting. So after lots of sanding I finally managed to get some primer on the parts followed by either a matte black, or a combination of gloss and metallic red. From Right to Left: before, after primer, after top coat. Leaving Everything overnight to dry. But spent some time experimenting with possible ways of painting the handles. Ended up deciding to go with a crackle paint. So yeah that's it for now. Will post further updates tomorrow. Hope you guys approve
Hey guys so first layers of paint dried and I managed to finish all the top coats. Think it came out really nicely. Had to redo the crackle as it didn't look great the first time. Some quick before and after shots. And here's the final paint job. Think it came out really nice overall. Matte black is a lot more resistant to fingerprints than I expected I know it looks like there's a shift in color on the front mesh, but it's the effect I was going for. A combo of bright and metallic red so that it gives a shift as you move around the case. I'm also really happy with how the crackle came out on the bars. I refrained from using it on the feet as it is more fragile than a plain top coat. Also got some exciting goodies in the post today Excuse the bad pic. But heres one of the gold edition cards. And some naught watercooling goodies I'm currently busy finalizing the design for the PSU cover but will update with more pics of the watercooling tomorrow.
