Time to start my first real project log worthy mod. Obviously I have not decided on a name. This mod will be based on the Antec 900 case. So, here are a few things that I aim to do: -Make the cable management actually decent. -Redo the side panel window and mount a 15" lcd on it. -Work with acrylic/plexi to stealth the motherboard, cover unused 5.25" bays on the inside, and possibly create a divider between the main pc comparment thingy and the power supply. -I would also like to work with bondo or equiv. to for a mouth or cave or something of that sort over the power, reset and usb ports on the exterior of the case. To be 100% honest, I have in-mind what im going to basically do, but I'm going to be 1/2 winging it. So, I started with some basic stuff that i need to do for the mod... ^ how the case is stock, un modded. ^ My work space ^ Striped down all the way for actual modding. ^Cut the holes for cable management. Bottom hole is for all power cables, 3 on the side are for motherboard/pci-e power, and front connectors(usb, power button, reset, etc). and the top left is for the 8pin power adapter. ^ Ready for interior coat of black. ^ First coat on waiting to dry. ^ Second coat of paint dried and assembled all painted componenets. Going to continue tomorrow or the next day, hopefully going to have the acrylic ready to be cut/mounted and have some ideas for the bondo. I was thinking of having it look like it is being eaten by an animal of some sort. If you have any ideas, please post em I ran out of Glossy Black paint for the interior, so next update i would have bought some and fixed some imperfections in the paint job.
Sounds like good plans. I like the ideas for plexi like dividers and covers and mounting a LCD on the side panel. I've been wanting to do that last one for a while, but have been distracted and never really thought out the powering scheme to my satisfaction. I can't wait to see/hear how you plan to hook that up. I also haven't played with bondo, and think an "alcoved" (?) bondo/fiberglass place for the switches would be interesting... subbed! Pics in quote removed for bandwidth concerns Did you prep the metal of the case in any way for the first coat of paint? Sanding, primer? I don't understand the bold. Claw/teeth marks? Rent flesh of the case?
well for the claw/teeth thing, i was thinking more of a bondo mouth of some sort (something like a lizard or dragon is what i had in mind) that is molded and looks, imo somewhat realistic, to be over the switches. for example, it would be like putting ur hand into the mouth of something that might bite to turn the comp on. as for the metal, i didn't prep the case at all for painting, other than taking the compressor and blasting all the dust, etc. out of it. i plan on putting 3 coats total down, but i ran out of paint (buying some tomorrow). before i put the final coat on though, i'm going to sand it a bit and get it looking decent. if you look in the pic with all the painted parts put together, u can see some dripping on the floor of the case. as for the LCD panel, i plan to take the stock plexi out, and take out the dividers on the side panel so i can put one big piece of plexi there, then get a different colored plexi (something dark like blue, black, or a deep red) and making a border out of that to mount to the monitor. then mounting that with a bracket that goes behind the monitor to the side panel for stability. i havent done any measuring on the case so im not sure how big the 15" monitor is going to be on the side panel. oh, and the monitor is just some old old lcd that ive had for like 8 years or so that just isnt getting used. im thinking about using some of my spare water cooling parts for this machine, all i need is a new waterblock top and a pump and ill be all set for that (i have everthing else XD), and i would like to somehow showcase that as well, like have a resivoir and tubing being shown on the outside of the case or something to that degree. i would like to mount the 2x120mm radiator at the front of the case behind the mesh on the front or even attached to it again tho, these ideas are just being thrown out there, if there are any other ones that get brought up i may do them. one last thing on the switches, it doesnt necessarily have to be jaws or something liek that, it was just for the sake of understanding, im sure if i did that and did everything else im talkign about the mod would just be all over the place with no real direction and would look awful oh, i should also throw in the specs of the comp im putting into it. Abit AW8D-Pro Intel Pentium D 805 2x1gb corsair ddr2 800 BFG 7950GT 500w psu 120gb hdd dvd burner possible water cooling: DD single pass 2x120mm rad swiftech res. tdx water block (need new top for lga775) <insert pump to be bought here>
I see. That makes sense. Do you have any particular theme you're aiming for? Purpose in mind? You want to be a dangerous beast of a case? A souped up machine/muscle car? Well, if you think that's enough... I wonder how well the paint will stick to the case, and think you should spend a little time to pay dividends... I'm mostly curious about how you're gonna power it and send it input. I think if you have the kind that powers off a cord to the wall without the transformer brick inline, it will be much easier. I have a similar idea for the mounting of the monitor with plexi borders. The LCD panel has a little thickness, especially if you include the internal circuit boards but I think it could be mounted between the border piece and the window piece. You may want to check your clearance on the vid card and hd rack, etc. That's stopped me with the first case I wanted to try it on. I think it would be good to account for a thin (1/8") nonglare/abrasion resistant sheet to cover the actual screen and protect it. If you want to show the WC and you have the lcd on the panel, you might want to have a top and/or front window too... esp if you have the rad up front. I'd like to have the parts internal, personally. Yeah, it's good to have a theme in mind, if for no other reason than to tame the wild thoughts. Nothing wrong with unifying your ideas. It's hard to imagine an animal with a big screen in its side, but its a cool mod. You like sci-fi or cars? could be some sort of port cover or exhaust vent on a vehicle.
yes i just bought some more paint and im going to wet sand it with 1000grit then put another coat then wet sand 1 more time. to modminded: 1. I dont have a particular theme that i am aiming for, but i am into cars, sci-fi, planes, military stuff and if possible i could base this on a game or something 2. for the lcd, i plan to mount the power brick on the actual side panel behind the metal (so it cant be seen, duh) and then thread the cables through the water cooling ports in the back 3. for the water cooling, i was definately taking some colored plexi and mounting the rad and fans there and basically making that the front of the case. i hope i can keep the fans off the hard drive cages so i can still use them, otherwise i have a 3.5" to 5.25" adapter kit thingy :-D
I'm interested to see how this one develops with regards to cable management as I have the same case on one PC and currently have holes hacked through the right side of the drive bays to route cabling but I'm still working on neatening it up a touch (aka shedloads!) There's enough space between the drive bay and the side panel to route pretty much everything except the 20/24 pin connector for the motherboard but that could be fed through there as well if it was rebraided and flattened a touch. You'd have to cut a slot in the motherboard tray to feed it through though (haven't got around to that one yet!)
Update 2 (02/05/09) ^ Paint job came out bad yesterday, so today i wet sanded it and redid it ^ couldnt find my sanding block so made my own ^ getting rid of that awful paint on the bottom ^ finished adding the new coat of paint, looks MUCH better While the body is drying off and the other side panel, i decided to get the other side panel ready for the new window. ^ the original side panel, with its goofy looking window and vent. ^ took off the original plexi and modder mesh ^marked up and ready to be cut via dremel and jig saw. ^ before i actually started cutting, i wanted to get the plexi the right size. to cut the plexi i used a scoring tool and a artist's right angle thingy to get it straight (i needed a long one so i had to find my big right angle) ^ ok started cutting off the indented trim and chopped off the dividers ^ Vroom vroom goes the dremel ^ Finished cutting everything ^ The edges are VERY rough, thanks to the jig saw. after i saw what it did to the side panel i did the rest of the cutting with the dremel. it bent the panel quite a bit, so layed the panel on some paper towels and a flat surface and used a hammer to get it straight again. ^ The plexi layed down on the window cutout, it all looks good so far. ^ I temporarily mounted the plexi to the panel using duct tape. and it looks like it will go into the case properly. ^ and 30 or so minutes later after letting the paint dry for about an hour and a half so far, i put the panel back onto the case to see how it looks, and it looks good o huh, i just realized, that when i took the picture with my camera, it was focusing on the reflection the plexi was making XD sorry about that now i just want to order some u-channel stuff for the edge of the window. probably going to order atleast 10ft of it, just so i have some later if i ever cut holes again. next after this weekend or during, im going to get some bondo and also brainstorm a little bit. i need to figure out what i want to put on the top panel of the case.
ok, finally back, and got my uchannel :-D anyways, this is what it looks like fitted to the case so the first thing i thought i would do, would be to repaint the outside of the case, over the past year or so that i have had it, it has gotten scuffed being transported around the house and to lan parties. sot he first thing i thought i'd do would be to get out the trusty mouse sander! using 180 (i think) grit sand paper, this is what i ended up with afterwards i gave the panels i nice coat of primer and then i built a wall out of garbage cans and boxes... and gas cans... and some hose, to keep the leaves off of it XD so then while i waited for that to finish drying, i figured instead of buying acrylic that is a solid color, like black or red, why not try painting it? so i got the mouse sander again and got the scrap acrylic nice and frosted. once i did that i tried 3 different paints on it, black gloss, silver with glitter stuff in it, and primer. i realize the paint is still wet in those pictures but anyways, the only thing that came out good at all was the black, i may consider just doing this if i want to cut costs down a bit. who knows, if i get some rougher sand paper, and maybe a few coats it will look good. and this is what the side panels look like with 2 coats of glossy black, im going to let that dry over night, then wetsand it with 1500 grit, then 1 final coat, 1 more wetsand then clear coats :-D
