Project Halo 2 mod box. UPDATE on 6/26

Ya, I really like the blue color. As for the plastic coming out a different color, I'm not quite sure yet. This was one of my concerns, and I tried to put equal amounts of primer on each and every part to hopefully get around this possible issue. But after the second coat, everything seemed to look pretty good and even. I'll find out today when I start moving my parts around a bit, and check back in with you guys.

 

Yeah, if you do enough coats of paint befor you go to the clear coat it wont matter so much if it plastic or metal underneath.

 

Awesome!

 

Another update.

Today, I only did one thing, and that was put the frosted acrylic piece behind the Halo 2 logo on the mobo-side panel.

First up, the scrap piece of clear acrylic we had lying around the shop. You can see part of the frosted vinyl on the left side of the picture.


Now, the frosted vinyl is applied with no problems.


Now, the frosted acrylic has been applied to the back of the panel.


Just picture of the back.


Here is a picture, with no flash, of me holding the piece up to a ceiling light. Imagine this a dull green, and you'll see what I'm going for when the case is put together.


Here is the same, but with the flash.


The last two pics are just of the paint job after a day and a half of drying and settling.

 

Looking real god so far. I really like that frosted acrylic look with the vinyl. Can't wait to see what those logos will look like once you have some leds or cold cathodes behind them.

 

Nice work!

Wish I had a CNC router

 

looks really cool can't wait for the finished result!

 

The frosted logo looks great

 

Looking good - I do like the colour. Are you planning on adding any detail to the finish. The Halo look was always a bit mottled, almost like a light camoflage. Could look good, sort of pearlesent effect..?

But keep it up - subscribed with interest.

 

Hey, new update! Started today on trying to fit the power supply into the hole I cut, so you can see the inside from the front. Let's get started.

First up is a pic of the spare power supply I had lying around, and it's going to be my test bunny for the duration of my modding. Here you can see it has been taken apart, and I'm getting ready to cut the back out of it.


I've cut off the panel, and put everything back together. Unfortunately, when I tried to test fit it, I didn't think once about that bundle of wires getting in the way. I then had to cut a rather large slit out of the side of the PS so that when the open side is up against the clear window, the cords have a place to go.


I then put the case together for sh!ts and giggles, just to see what it looks like so far. Not too bad.


I like the color a lot!


DOH! My color doesn't match up quite as well as I was hoping. Maybe the plastic/metal thing was harder to do paint that I thought. Guess I'll have to put another coat on the front to get it a darker blue.


And the gratuitus (sp?) back shot. Despite the less than stellar paint job I did (on the front panel), I think it looks pretty damn good.


Hopefully later this week I can get my windows cut out for everything, and start putting everything together. I hope to get my leds in this week, and will have everything ordered this weekend to complete, including CCFL lighting, fans, and fan grills.

 

It looks very clean so far. Keep up the good work.

 

Very small update. As you'll see in my last pics, I was concerned about the color difference between the front bezel and, well, everything else. So I decided to use what little paint I had left to put a coat or two on the front bezel, as well as that side panel (with home for a future window), as they both looked a little light.

Here's what the front bezel looked like after a coat or two around the edges. Now it's a bit darker!


It doesn't look all that bad from another angle.


I think I'll leave well enough alone, and chalk this up as a lesson learned.

 

what kinda paint did you use? i painted mine and the plastic turned out the same as the rest of it.

 

I too am loving that blue colour you chose. Pretty good job with the painting too, but aren't you supposed to leave each coat for 2-3 days to cure before sanding?

 

Well, I used metallic paint, and a how-to guide I read (pc-workshop I think?) said that with metallic paints, you can't really sand it. It said you needed to paint 2 or 3 coats at one time, and as the paint dries, the shimmery metallic stuff rises to the top. Therefore, if you sand it, you'll basically sand all that away and ruin the look you were going for.

With that said, my first 2 or 3 coats were painted at the same time, and was done last Wednesday I believe. Just today did I paint more, so there was a week's time in between coats.

 

I didn't realise you were using a metallic paint.

Nevertheless, by my experience, its ok to sand the metallic paint as long as you don't sand the final coat of paint. Might be a good idea to use some clearcoat afterwards as well, to protect your finish.

Did I mention your paint job looks awesome?

 

Thanks for the compliment! It really makes it worthwhile when other people like what I'm doing.

As for the metallic paint, I believe for my next possible mod, I'll stick with a regular spray paint. I'm actually thinking of skipping over the clear coat, although I'm not sure yet. It's not as if this case will be all over the place, just sitting on a desk for all enternity.

 

that looks pretty damn good, i love the color, keep it up

 

Hey guys, another update, and a good one at that. I finally got my windows cut out for my case!

This first pic is of my window for the side panel. The clear acrylic is is a 1/4" bigger all the way around for some adhesive.


Next up, the window has been attached with no problems, and I have just put some optically clear adhesive on the back of the Halo 2 logo.


And now, with a paper pattern I made, the logo is on straight! Lookin' good!


A shot from behind. You can't see the adhesive whatsoever, which I like, but isn't that big of a deal.


Another shot of the panel with flash.


And a bit of a blurry pic of both of my side panels completed. Remember the mobo side panel logo is covered with frosted glass, and will be lit up with green leds (once lsdiodes gives me my order!).


I plan on working more on it today, so stay tuned.

 

wow man goodjob. Nice work. Like the window