Case Mod - In Progress Project Alessandro 250: I'm Back- But Not For Long- PSU Sleeving Finished. 03/04/12

Welcome back everyone to another project from me! My first dive into the realms of SFF computing, and I'm very excited to give it a go! So, what are we basing this one on? As by the name, you can at least tell we're aiming for an Italian style setup (it's also my name ), and that I'm basing it on:


The Ferrari 250 GTO! This is a classic car to base the case on, and I think we can get a great theme going.


On that note, what case are we using? The answer is the Antec ISK 300- 150. Normally a £70 case, but a trip to PC World's (*shudder) very limited hardware section found me this gem of a display model for only £15! Let's have a look:




What's the aim here?
As a lot of you will know, this is a case very limited in terms of space, so I'll be trying to pack as much in this case as I can, while sticking with the GTO theme, and keeping the bugger quiet! And with that, we begin! Let's get the case stripped down:



But first, a few glamour shots!


There we go, we're in!


And this is just one of the many areas where we will potentially have a lot of truoble combining space saving with looks- that bloody support bar!


And there's another one, we will have a kettle lead running through the case... Can I sleeve it? We'll see.


On the note of sleeving, there's some front panel cables to sleeve, and take those nasty stickers off, I know it's a power connector Antec!


And there's more stickers, Antec must think I'm really dumb. Or, they just add those, for the, erm, PC World visitors...


Dumb person stickers- off!


There we go, I noticed another, out of focus problem! AC97, get out!


Scissors solve all of one's problems...



And now, for more preparation! I took a trip to my magical attic bedroom/ storage closet of wonder and modding! To search for sleeving and any other goodies for this mod! Here we go:


What a magical mess!


I think I found what I was looking for, under the keyboard! Anyone who followed my quickly forgotten RV3N case mod may remember that board of keys...


There we are, that's what we're looking for! A bag of sleeving and a bit of heatshrink, I'll need some more.


And they're even the perfect set of colours....


The sleeving will be done later this week, for now, the first real modification update will be the front panel, in which I ordered myself some wood vinyl and leatherette- front panel= dashboard:



Great, fake fried cow skin!


And last but not least, a roll of thin, woody goodness!

Well that's all for now everyone, I'll have the next update in, oh, I don't know, ten minutes...

 

its been ten minutes ?

 

My apologies, getting caught up in troll physics comics is too much fun...

Thanks Anthony, more to come very soon!

 

Front Panel Modifications

That's right, these updates will be very close together! So, I'm starting with this:


And just like the good old GTO dashboard, I'll be adding leather and wood!


First cutting of the leather, more to go!


But before that, we need to get the front panel off, and let me tell you now, that was a bloody tough job!


But after finally getting there, I had the case entirely stripped down and ready to go for any mods!


It looks so much more spacious now!


Anyway, on with the show! The front IO is out.


And we measured up the piece of leather on the panel.


So the craft knife came out, and the frame of leather was almost complete!



There it is- ready for some adhesive action!


And there we go, I had the great slave present me my panel in it's unfinished glory! Just needs cutting now.


Sorry, I forgot about glue! And as you can see, that's all the Daily Mail is worthy of...


Glued, and ready to be trimmed!


There we go, I'll leave it to dry and take some halfway done glamout shots.





Looks fine already, but I'm not done yet! It's time for some wood vinyl:



Piece cut and measured, this was an easier job than the leather.



And now, for the final glamout shot of the day, on which Grandpa commented:

Thanks slave!




So, that's all for now. But I'm off for half term, and have a whole week of modding ahead! Let's go!

 

last time i saw one of those ISKs it just had something resembling one of those Pico PSUs in it and an external power brick, when did they start putting PSUs in them?

and your grandad is right, it does look like a cheap 70s dashboard, but it's early days... it may [probably will] look better finished....

 

Love the case but it does look very 70s esque, Looking forward to some updates

 

Ferrari themed mod?

U got me following this one.

 

Well apparently, it looks nice like that, and I like it like that. The beauty of my projects is that they aren't perfect.
And yes mate, it is early days, there's a lot to be done!

Thanks a lot!

Awesome, thanks!

 

Look's knight rider ish good start...

 

very true

 

Cheers mate!

Thanks guys!

 

I just got myself a new toy! It's an airbrush! Time for some fun!

 

Lots More Progress Made- But It's Too Cold To Paint. But I Did Get A New Toy!

Told you all I'd be quick.
Anyway, I got a lot more done here today, and I have a brand new toy to play with! Let's have a look at today's offerings:



First I got the main parts of the case stripped down.


And even further...


And then we popped out to get a couple of good rattle cans- it's amazing to think how much their price has increased since I started Refraction... Anyway,with these, I'll be painting the case's interior, and the whole top panel, because although the Ferrari has a gloss black finish, I hate it, and couldn't live with it on a HTPC!


After painting the interior, which I didn't manage to do today, I'll be cladding the base of the case in some more leather, which adds a real subtle style to the interior, and will look great on the final photos! (Hint hint Anthony. ) So here it is:



Looks ok to begin with, the pictures just don't show it.



And there we go, cut to size!


After that, I popped out to the garage to find this message waiting for me, what could it mean?



Grandpa, you're Captain Fire Spray, not Captain Spraygun! What's going on?





That's right, it's a great new toy! What will we be doing?



Having a practise.


After getting over all that excitement, it was obviously too cold to paint anyway, and then it's sod's law that we get hail straight after...
But anyway, we though of any more vinyl work that could be done, and remembered the chipset heatsink on the board:



Cut to size...



So there it is! I know it doesn't match much at the moment, but I think it looks ok already, and when the rest of the hardware is in and the case has been painted, it will be very different!


So that's all I can leave you with today guys. The next big update will be Monday, or Tuesday, depending on when I can get the pictures to you all. But we will be painting! No matter what! I've also ordered some chrome trim and an enamel Ferrari badge. What will I be doing?

See you next time!

 

This looks interesting, I'm looking forward to see where this one goes..Wood and LEATHER, hmmmm.

 

Cheers Jeff, it's early days yet!

 

Love the theme, leather and wood nice ..... Maybe pushing out the boat and getting some walnut veneer would give it more of a car feel, or perhaps a lil padding behind the leather with buttons ? Or LEDs instead of buttons ..... Love a project that that inspires ideas. Watching with lots of interest

 

You got my attention aswell KidMOd.
The only thing I can recommend is that you take all the time you need and dont rush things. I like the cocncept just make it look good

 

Thanks so much! It's early days yet, we'll see what else can be done. And it's amazing to see you here! Your current scratch build is amazing!

Same goes for you mate. Wonderful current project.
And thanks so much. We aren't rushing anything here.

 

Sleeving coming soon!