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Case Mod - In Progress Steel; Sleek; Slate | By KidMod | A Complete Top Panel and Fan Grilles! (3/11/13)

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by KidMod-Southpaw, 19 Jul 2013.

  1. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Current Day's Progress (Update 8 In Contents):


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    Contents:
    Update 1: KidMod Has Let Himself Go!

    Update 2: De-Colouring The Graphics Card- From Red To Grey

    Update 3: Case Work Begins!

    Update 4: 99 Problems And An Airbrush IS One!

    Update 5: BRING ON THE STEEL!; Pound Shop Panel

    Update 6: Back From Hiatus! New Hardware!

    Update 7: Big Progress, Even Bigger Packages!

    Update 8: A Complete Top Panel and Fan Grilles!



    Well, it's that time of the year again...

    Summer! Where I complain about the lack of student jobs and be ****** off with worrying about money. Long story short, I want another project in the pipelines. Reasons for needing to keep myself occupied.


    So What's The Plan This Time, Alessandro?
    Although making Refraction with Grandpa was one of the best times of my life, I've neither the time, nor resources (recycled or not), to make it happen properly this time.
    It won't be like my last case mod. Which was a bit of a **** up with even bigger time constraints, me making some awful material and design choices, and me also heavily fighting illness at the time. Again, I needed something to keep me occupied and generally sane. ;)

    I've managed to become obsessed with sleek Mac styling and matching rooms in the Your Room thread, et al. I was wonder struck when I saw the mesh panels in the Big Bro Prodigy mod, and so a lot of inspiration is going to come from that.

    Cables are a big part. I'm sure the Great Pexon (y'all know him as Shrop 'round here) will play a big part in this when I have the monies to do so. :D
    PS, buy something from him!

    Part of this project is also to do with my room. I'm a tidy freak and I need a fresh start up in the attic, so a mod is a great way to get going on that again. The case will also be adapted to the needs of my room, with a window cut on the right side rather than the left due to the positioning of my desk. This will be made clearer in the first pictures below.
    Now that my case will also be on my desk, I feel inclined to make it a nice showpiece anyway.

    On with the show! I'll really get going once the Prodigy arrives and I can get to work. For once, I'm not going to peel oranges in my pocket...


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    This is the desk I'm starting with- it needs sorting!

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    And all of my gear on the floor. That needs to change.

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    The cables were better than that a few days before. I've just been moving stuff, I promise. ;)

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    Obligatory le messy teenager's room. :rolleyes:

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    Out of the cold (I kid, it's 'effing ROASTING!) and on to the desk. Better already!

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    My Pexon keyboard cable. Something that will feature heavily in the project because I love my cables! More of his stuff to come soon I'm sure.

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    His first task will most likely be this mess once I get my hands on an external amp and DAC. Keepin' it steel! :D

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    Made a start by routing my speaker cables. Let the TIDYING, BEGIN!

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    YUS!


    Well, that's the tidy up phase underway. I'll see you all when I have a prodigy and I begin to downsize my system. Speaking of which, you can help me fund this by checking out my FS threads and the PC thread I have for my current system. ;)

    Alessandro
     
    Last edited: 3 Nov 2013
  2. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Update 2: De-Colouring The Graphics Card- From Red To Grey

    This is where the project name finally comes in to play as I begin to modify things to my chosen colour scheme of white and grey (and black where there can be nothing else :D).

    My current graphics card is the Asus 7790 Cu which will be my current for a while. The cooler is stonking, and as much as I love the look, I need to get rid of the red! That means I needed to crack out my model paints and have a go. I think it went ok, and has made a nice set off to the mods themselves and is beginning to place my colour scheme.

    On we go!


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    The starting card: Awesome cooler, but wrong colour!


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    First things first- get started on slot covers.


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    Too bad my working photos don't do anything justice. Starting to look better already!


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    And done! I think this has begun the makings of an awesome colour scheme. I'll see you next time when I can stop faffing about with money and have a Prodigy to hack open, and new hardware! :naughty:

    Alessandro
     
    Last edited: 20 Jul 2013
  3. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    It's lonely in here. :D

    P.S: I'm shopping tomorrow. :naughty:
     
  4. flame696

    flame696 Terminating People Since 1980....

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    We are all waiting in anticipation. Need a big update to wake us all up!!
     
  5. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    The Impending Prodigy!

    Fair enough. :D

    Just ordered a Prodigy which will be here tomorrow. Big modding begins then!
     
  6. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Update 3: Case Work Begins! (27/10/13)

    So my Prodigy Yin edition arrived this morning. This was my first time ordering from Overclockers and I have to say they were brilliant! Still not as good as Scan though. :p
    Anyway, I bought the Yin edition as I'd be switching out the mesh anyway, so I might as well get it to avoid spending more money on the aluminium logo which I so crave! I'll talk more about the case along with the photos, but for now, on with the basic work! Much heavier stuff will be done soon!

    (That means tomorrow as long as there's comments. :p)


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    Order arrived at a late time by DPD standards so I had a little less time to get to work. Either way, it was very exciting!


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    And here it is. Looks awful with the black mesh but that will soon change. :D


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    What I loved most was how well built this case was for the high end of 60 quid. Everything is thicker than I could have imagined and super sturdy. The powdercoating is absolutely top notch! Overall, a very impressive case and I can see why it makes such a great base for so many awesome mods!


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    Started to get the case stripped down. Getting the panels off so I can size up replacement stuff and remove unnecessaries such as the optical bay to free up space! As you'll soon see, that proved difficult. :/


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    My love for the case soon changed. Although a minor problem, a lot of the screws were in much tighter than they ever should be. As you can see in the first photo, this has caused part of the top handle to crack. Both of the screws shown stopped me from getting the optical bay out. I managed to get that front screw out, but the side screw was another story altogether. The head was already WRECKED but it was still movable. 2 destroyed screwdrivers later, it was still in there, so I'm just going to have to drill it out tomorrow.


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    Edged off the sexy aluminium logo to reuse. Looks even better on aluminium mesh! :thumb:


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    Tested some paint on the top mesh. Looks ok, but I'm probably just going to replace it with metal anyway.


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    Sorting the front (well, side :p) panel cables for sleeving. :3


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    I only had enough sleeving to do this cable! XD



    So, I'll see you all tomorrow when I start some heavier work. I'm going to properly paint the mesh and see how it looks but the likelihood is that I'll find some metal panels anyway.

    That reminds me! I need advice, and stuff!:
    Does anyone know where I can get some aluminium (steel is more likely and will do fine) mesh with small diameter holes? Like the stuff used in the Big Bro prodigy mod. Sorry to be similar, but it looks SO GOOD! :D I've checked B&Q and they only have large diameter holes, which I can't see looking good. Really need advice here!

    And lastly, does anyone have some small (for single cables) MDPC-X sleeve going spare that they'd like to nicely sell? I'm looking for black, any shades of grey and maybe the odd bit of white.
    Also looking for these in SATA sleeve.

    Thanks, and I hope for some advice and comments!

    Alessandro
     
    Last edited: 27 Oct 2013
  7. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Big painting update coming very soon. Still looking for that advice too. :3
     
  8. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Update 4: 99 Problems And An Airbrush IS One!

    The second big case update!

    Today was a fun day. Airbrush and paint problems were the most part but I got the job done in the end. This was of course after stripping and reassembling my airbrush multiple times. :p

    I started the day thinking about matching the mod to my room again. So I finally came to paint my keyboard case white!

    I've started painting case details (main portion of the day) with my Tamiya paints and they have come out nice! It's looking a lot better with some textured white and aluminium than black!



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    Just the right keycaps off (no bother to remove them all, right? :p) to unscrew the PCB.


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    Out and ready for paint!


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    As from yesterday, my main priority was still to get the last optical bay screw out. I'm astonished how great the room is in this case after removing everything I don't need!


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    Bits stripped out and ready for paint.


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    Metallic paint looks a LOT better than gloss black! :thumb:


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    The airbrush was having a real off day today, and so this had to be done a few times. THe thing is a real ***tard to strip down!


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    Managed to get a better airbrushed coat of paint on the mesh but it still isn't great. I think I'm still going for steel of aluminium mesh if I could find a damn piece!


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    And back in the drive bay! It's already getting that Mac colour scheme I crave. :lol:


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    Problem 2: I ran out of white paint. :D It's already looking ok but does need another couple of coats for full uniformity.


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    And my new repainted Poker! Well, so far... It's made the doubleshots look a hell of a lot better.

    And that's the first big painting update. There's still a lot more to do, but everything is coming together regarding colour and theme!

    That reminds me! I STILL need advice, and stuff! :p:
    Does anyone know where I can get some aluminium (steel is more likely and will do fine) mesh with small diameter holes? Like the stuff used in the Big Bro prodigy mod. Sorry to be similar, but it looks SO GOOD! I've checked B&Q and they only have large diameter holes, which I can't see looking good. Really need advice here!

    And lastly, does anyone have some small (for single cables) MDPC-X sleeve going spare that they'd like to nicely sell? I'm looking for black, any shades of grey and maybe the odd bit of white.
    Also looking for these in SATA sleeve.

    Thanks, and I hope for some advice and comments!

    Alessandro
     
  9. Matticus

    Matticus ...

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    Lovely paint job on the Poker, some better shots of the paint than in the Mechanical keyboards thread. I wish my Poker had reds :waah:

    That is a pretty cool room you have to work with too.
     
  10. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Comments. :3

    Cheers Matt! Living in the attic is fun! :D
     
  11. mikeyandrewb

    mikeyandrewb What's a Dremel?

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    Nice work Kid, I don't really see the obsession with sleeving to be honest, but if it floats your boat then go for it. I also don't mind the black mesh on the Prodigy, but I like the new colour scheme aswell. Finally, that Poker looks awesome and it's nice you've kept it in theme!

    Great work.
     
  12. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Thanks! I need sleeving because to be honest I'd be pretty OCD about working out all these colours and then just having to look at a brightly coloured 24 pin cable in the case. I couldn't deal with it. :D
     
  13. djzic

    djzic Bokehlicious!

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    Re-crimp all the wires and make them custom length, too. You'll never look back!:D

    I really like the GPU, would you do the same to mine if I sent you the shroud?:D
     
  14. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Screw that, MDPC extensions all the way so I can reuse them! :D

    I'd be happy to, I'm out of that flat aluminum paint though but I'm getting more soon. In the meantime I have chrome silver which is just slightly lighter and metallic grey which is nice and dark (then again, you could have it any colour! :D). Plus there's no compensation if I mess up. :p
     
  15. djzic

    djzic Bokehlicious!

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    Metallic grey sounds good!:D I'll PM you in the morning :)
     
  16. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Tell you what, I'll only do it if you put me down for dibs on the Model M. :p
     
  17. djzic

    djzic Bokehlicious!

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    :lol: you got a deal xD
     
  18. AlienwareAndy

    AlienwareAndy What's a Dremel?

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    Every one of Jay Z's 99 problems have apparently been fixed by his brother, CTRL Z.
     
  19. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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  20. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    I have found a steel sheet! Work begins again soon!
     

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