Project: Enter the Blue Dragon (STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN)

STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN!

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p=888929&postcount=99

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally intended as a Christmas present for my girlfriend, I started this mod months ago but due to time constraints it has been an ongoing project. It took me forever to come up with ideas but overall it is a simplistic yet creative mod. From the title, you already know it will be of Dragon theme. Blue and UV to be specific. Ive never tried etching before so I wanted to incorporate some tedious dremel work with some etching bits. Id say its about 80% done but only recently did I receive a digital camera to take some shots. All comments are welcome.

Nicole, this one's for you baby.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

We start off with a Kingwin KT-424-BK. I chose this case because of its easily moddable design. The front is nice and clean and theres no weird bezels or transformer designs on it. It doesnt have any windows which leaves much room for creativity. [/foreshadowing]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------

There will be three etched designs. 2 dragons for the top panel window and one dragon for the side panel window. I scoured endless galleries of dragons until I finally came across two tattoos that caught my eye.

This is will be the etching for the top panel:



And this will be the etching for the side panel:



I also thought it would be a cool idea to fill in the etchings with a uv-pen. Luckily a local store carried these Sakura Gelly Roll pens which Ive heard work really well. Of course the one I bought is blue, not pink.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wanted to make it a nice clean case so the first priority was sleeving.



One of the two ccfl kits all sleeved up.



I bought a UV molex kit and started sleeving the PSU wires. Unfortunately I used electrical tape and zip ties to secure the sleeving which looked extremely tacky. I realized that dropping $40 on a heatgun and shrink tubing was a worthy investment. I had to buy another 5-foot section since the 1/2" was frayed and damged from removing the stupid electrical tape and zip ties. The sleeving should be in by friday so I can finally finish the PSU.



I went ahead and started sleeving the front panel connectors to the mobo. Keep in mind every-single-wire-in-this-mod-will-be-sleeved! Nice and clean for maximum airflow and aesthetics.





EDIT: MORE UPDATES TOMORROW - NEED TO SLEEP!

 

very clean looking work so far!
keep it up, and keep us updated...

 

looking good dude. I hope to see some nice suprises good work

 

Hairdryers work fine on Heatshrink.

 

Thx guys. Yeah, nice and clean thats how I want her case to be. Here are some pics of the etching I have done over the last few weeks. I decided to do the same dragon twice on the top window and center a blowhole and fan. I was lucky enough to find those dragon grills at the electronics store as I have never seen them before.





Heres that Sakura Moonlight Gelly Roll pen that I got for a $1 at the art store.



When applied with some blacklights it looks great! Im just holding up the lights with my hand, they will be hidden under the top panel once I get the PSU done.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The goodies! Gigabyte GA-7N400-L, 2600+ (will be oc'd) and 1GB of Mushkin PC3200.



Lights off! The pic doesnt do it justice but there are alot of parts on the mobo that are uv reactive. I also bought some PCI slot covers and I plan to use the uv pen on some of the lettering on the mobo too.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Unique ideas u have there.

 

looking good,

the etch is very nice

grtz,
Thomaz

 

nice job. i never thought of just drawing the sketch on to the window! very clever

 

The dragons are still etched, he just filled them in with the pen after, which I think looks pretty damn sweet.

 

Well, the plexiglass was etched first then I filled it in with that gelly roll pen. I used this engraving bit along with the flex shaft which made things much easier!

 

VERY LUCK CHICK SHE MUST BE HOT LOL!! LOOKING GOOD MAN

 

Hi there!
Nice work here!

When you sleeved the fan-cables, did you remove the connector? Is it even possible to remove it? Or did you just stretch it over?

Keep it up!!!

 

If you don't intened to move the fan about often, how about routing the cable underneath the mobo? You'll probably have to extend it slightly, but it would look neater imo.

@ Laaars - The connector can be removed with a knife or something similar.

 

With a knife? Cut it off? And then solder it back on?
Sorry for the Off Topic!

 

There's a little locking pin for each wire. Just press it in with something pointy and the wire is released

You can kinda see the locking pin holes on this image. They're on top of the connector on the left
http://www.elx.com.au/images/products/full/RC5051.jpg

Edit: You can see them better on this one
http://www.stayonline.com/chassis_fans/images/detail/6520.jpg

 

It depends on the size of sleeving that you have. Some can stretch over the connector but I used 1/8" which is pretty small. I used a pushpin to depress the locking tab of the pins at the end of each wire. Its hard to explain but if you look at a connector you will see what I am talking about.

 

Well, the sleeving is uv sensitive so I want it to show. Besides, it will be resting on the video card which doesnt look that bad at all.

 

UPDATE

I will be lighting up the case with two pairs of ccfl kits (4 tubes total). I picked up two of these rocker switches at the auto store for only $4 each. Centered between each other, the front mesh grill and the left portion of the front panel. Measure twice, cut once!





Nice and snug! Looks like it came that way from Kingwin eh?!!





DAMN!!! When I was making the hole bigger for the switch, the dremel accidentally knicked the panel! I covered most of the area with tape but I guess it went right through. UGH!! How can I fix this? File, sand, spray??





--------------------------------------------------------------------------

More sleeving. Both intake fans and the top blowhole fan.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------

COMING SOON: The long awaited side panel !

 

This is looking awesome. Is this gonna be water cooled, cause that would look cool with all the blue along with uv die in the water tubes. I love blue

 

nice mod. love the work with the gell pen .

and i wouldnt make a fuss about the scratch/nick you made, from the pick u supplied its un-seen.

keep up the good clean work