Case Mod - In Progress Wonder Woman - MOTM Nominee - Completed

Hi everyone. I've been a member here for a little over 2 years and have never posted a work log. I've done quite a few builds however.

I prefer builds that are theme based or off the wall.

I am currently in the middle of a case I am building for my wife and I thought I would share it with you. She loves Wonder Woman and so I thought it would be a great theme build and I would give it to her as a birthday present.

So here goes -

I started with a concept in mind that would require a very specific case design. I finally found the Lexa S from NZXT.




I plan on having an awesome paint job on this so it will need some work since the texture on the case is a rough powder coat.




After a good sanding and some primer sealer it was time for paint. I chose an automotive finish that I've used a lot. It's an acrylic urethane made by PPG.





Once I got the paint sprayed I wanted it mirror smooth so I wet sanded it and buffed it out.

How's this for a mirror finish...




It's flawless! Porche and Ferrari would be jealous.


Next update will be the air brush artwork.

Thanks for watching.

 

If you really want to make your wife happy, fix the house. It looks warped in the mirrored image!

Amazing finish! Don't think I've ever seen anything as smooooooth as that!

What buffing-compound do you use?

 

With a start like that I am looking forward to seeing the finish.

 

I use automotive products because my old hobby was restoring old cars. So I use different compounds with different polishing pads. For this, partly because it was black, I sanded all the way to 2000 grit, then used a red foam smooth pad with rubbing compound to cut the paint a little, then a black waffle foam pad with polishing compound to hopefully not get swirl marks. I use 3M compounds.

The quality of the paint helps too.

OMG my house is distorted! I better get ahold of my framers .lol

I have a lot done on this mod so I will have many updates quickly but I didn't want to blast it all out in the first post. All I can say is that the paint job is shockingly awesome. I hired world class air brusher Steve Nunez to do my art work and it is amazing.

Stay tuned!

 

Welcome aboard! I've been a long time lurker as well. My first actual project log was started last month. I look forward to you project!

Between you, BLUEHORSESTUDIOS and myself we're representing WA state fairly well. Any chance you're going to PAX this year?

 

the name of this projekt is just awesome and the skilled painting and finish is just the best ever
i will follow and see where this is going of some where

//Stark.Jr

 

I missed the registration for PAX and it sold out fast! I have wanted to go every year and something always comes up. I swore I would make it this year. I'm really bummed.

Stay tuned if you really like paint jobs because I'm about to knock your socks off with the next update.

 

I have scoured the web and dreamed up ideas on paint for this thing and have come up with some basic concepts. I will put a mural of Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter)on the right side and on the front I will do a color scheme that matches her outfit. I am horrible with photoshop and all that so I did a concept with MS Paint. Don't laugh, it's the best I can do!


So here are some pics of what I'll be using -











When you look at my MS Paint skills you might never want to come back to this thread but I assure you the paint will be world class. Remember, http://www.stevenunez.com/index2.html is doing the work. Check out his sight if you get a chance. You will be amazed!

With the case now perfect mirror black he can work his magic.

Next up - case is back from Steve .......

 

I second that emotion. BUT there are other (Free) tools out there.
one of my favorites is Paint.NET. that is designed as an enhanced Paint tool. and it's totally free.

good luck with the build.

 

Prepare to have your mind BLOWN!!!!!




Let me just say this while you are still thinking clearly - Steve was so awesome in helping me with this build. He helped me through my design and concept and added his own flair. He was very positive and understood just what I was after and didn't try to change my mind or anything. And I really appreciate that. If you or anyone you know needs to have some air brushing done, you must contact him. I really believe he might be the best in the entire world. See his work at http://www.stevenunez.com/index2.html


And now for the pics -


I am still shocked and cannot believe what I am seeing. Hope you like it too.




You saw what I gave him to work with...



and this is what he did . . . . . . .

































When I opened his email and saw these pics I was floored. I am almost afraid to touch it. But I gotta get hardware and it still needs a few mods.
I will be wearing white cotton gloves and I need a microfiber work table! 8)



I need to go lay down now.





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JASUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Very very very nice paint job

 

Very nice artwork, but nice polishing up you did to start with.

You know i love artwork, its very nice, but i think im gonna stick with my current artist unless you can give me some prices, that your chap does it for.

P.S, I payed £1600 for my artwork, which was reasonable, although not brilliant, was told he could produce photographic quality easily, but as you can imagine, more hours = more money and £1600 was over my budget in the first place.

Will be keeping eye on this build obviously.

 

Yes nice job on the painting, if its you painting it will be more appreciated, im just saying.

 

You would have to contact him to get pricing. www.stevenunez.com He is not cheap. When you see the quality of work on his website you'll know why. I saw his work in person and knew he was the guy for the job.

 

Yeah artwork isnt cheap, but even though mine was pricey, i dont regret it.

Just realised yours is not UK site, yeah ive gone through many artists to get 1 i like.

good work, will be waiting for updates for sure.

 

beautiful art work with the spray but the work you put into the main surface is what makes the difference too.

 

Thank you very much!

It was flawless mirror smooth black so it was a shame to cover it up but at least it was perfect for the air brusher. I had a lot of hours into sanding and prep work and then paint. But it has turned out awesome and that's all that matters.

I have lots more paint work to do so I'll have more updates real soon.

 

Hardware is starting to arrive.

I have started some more paint work.... yes, I said more paint work.

I've changed a few elements of the overall build for various reasons. Some things seemed great in my head until I started visualizing it now that the case is back in my hands.

So here goes...

I picked up a couple WD Black's for cheap on a Newegg shell shocker deal and will be running a RAID setup. I might get a few more of these actually.




I started voiding warranties right away..







I'll be painting the psu shell. It was ok but not good enough. I stripped it clean and applied some primer surfacer. If you don't know what primer surfacer is. it's a super thick high build primer that you can blast on there and it fills imperfections. It's my best friend.





So after looking at the inside of the case I decided it should have a better paint job too. So I had the nerve to drill the rivets out and pull the top off that has been air brushed. That way I don't have any accidents.

Then I hit it with the same primer surfacer after scuffing it up. If you wonder why gray primer instead of black, it's because you can see imperfections easier after wet sanding. So here it is with 2 heavy coats and it looks like I'll be good.




I will be making a custom fit shield out of some perforated aluminum that hides the drive cages. I just think drive cages look ugly. So I will cut a piece and form it to hide the front and curve around to the side. Here is the start of that -





I use some great flat shears to minimize distortion when cutting.




Ahhh but you still get a little distortion here and there ..




But since it's soft aluminum I use a steel roller along the edges to flatten it back out...




And now the bumps are gone!



The more I looked at this front panel it just seemed like I needed to make some paint adjustments. I decided to return most of it to black so it will match the inside of the door when it's opened. So I masked it off really really really good and hit it with some primer.




Now I need a little vote from you guys on whether I should leave this piece chrome, paint it white, paint it black, or paint it blue? The obvious choice to me would be blue. Except, I can't match the paint exactly so it would look odd. To me the chrome doesn't fit but what do you think?

 

Nice work. I probably would have gone for the classic comic depiction,
but the Linda Carter Wonder Woman is choice. At least you didn't opt for one of those other ones. Wonder Woman does not wear pants dammit!