Hey Guys, This is just a quickie mod. All that I plan on doing is a sweet paint job, possibly extra/different fans and a fan controller. This case is NOT going to have a window. lol its been a while since i've seen a modded case without a window. Anyway, I'm using the CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Case. Here are a few pics of it. It took me ages to find a place in Australia that sells fine line tape, but I found one the other day. Here are the two rolls I got. I was originally going to bondo in the flat mesh part here, and either hammer in then bondo the curved fan part, or cut it out and put new metal then bondo. I'm still undecided, at first I wanted to have completely flat panels with nothing on them so that I could have a clean canvas so to speak for my paintjob. I started doing some sketches and crap which all turned out fairly crap. So I got some flames off the net but I can't draw them myself onto the panel larger since they are not the type of flames I draw and they don't look right when I try to do them. I can do different flames quite well, but they arent coming up well on the side panel. So I've decided to do a lightning type flame things lol. I just used a bit of the tape here to try it out and just freehanded this lthing in tape which is what I mean by lightning flame things The design will cover the case sides and top and the colour I choose for the flames will be used on the side bar things on the front bezel and also the control panel etc. I was originally going to do it using 2pac but since I have no experience in that I am most likely just going to use automotive touch up paint in cans. I want it to be pretty much the same colour as the tape funnily enough except slightly brighter. What I need to decided soon is wether I'm going to get rid of the side mesh stuff or not, because if I do I will need to use bondo and therefore have to repaint the whole case in a black base coat, since it would be very hard to get a black paint that is identical to the powder coating used on the case. I'll leave it at that!
Ok Guys, had a bit of time to spare the other day and taped up the case for the lightning/flames. I still have to sort out the transferite paper, or just use heaps of masking tape, and also get the paint. Anyway, here are a couple of pics, just to see the design I came up with. I didn't copy it from anyone, I just got out the tape and freehanded it straight on there, it looks good to me but everyone has a different opinion, so I'd like to hear what you guys think. Top + Left Side Top + Right Side I also still need to clean up the egdes of some tape meeting points, I didn't have an exacto knife or anything to do it with, so I'll do that later.
ok I've been getting a bit more spare time lately so I've been into the shed and modding I cleaned up the fineline tape joins, and masked off the rest of the case using good quality masking tape. I wetsanded the thunderflamethings after they were taped up, but i kept a clean rag with me so each time i sanded i wiped away the water from the paper so it didnt soak into the tape and loosen it. First dusty coat of the paint i chose were laid down the other night. (I'll get pics of the cans of paint I used tomorrow) I put down another two coats today, but I forgot to get pics of it, and I've closed the shed and its cold so I can't be bothered going back out there. I'll put on more coats tomorrow and grab pics of that for you guys
Well I needed to go out to the shed anyway so I snapped these pics. I decided to have the plastic part of the bezel at the top and bottom painted too. So I've sanded away the plastic texture it had, and put on some spray putty/primer to make it smooth before I paint. These are the side rails for the bezel with their first coat. And these are the front control panel type things. its only the first coat but I don't think they will come up well, I might need to sand off the paint and prime it with white first. Everything needs a few more coats, and then I will do a few coats of clear, and then wetsand, then polish. Am I meant to put on all the paint, then clear, then wetsand it all, or should I do it between paint, and clear, or between every coat?
Yay I'm really wanting to get this done and put my system inside :shock: Today I laid down one more coat of green, and then left it for 15 mins to harden up a bit, but not so much that the paint would crack when stripping off the masking. Also, I decided against sanding out the orange peel, since the stock black on the case has it, so I don't think it will look to bad if both have it, and also it would be a pain to keep sanding with all the masking on. Onto the pics - Top Last Coat Top Masking Removed Right Panel Last Coat Right Panel Masking Removed Left Panel Last Coat Left Panel Masking Removed And a few shots with the masking removed and the case panels on. The front bezel, side strips, and control panels. Here is what needs to be put back in - drive bay covers, front bezel mesh, and also I'm putting in a Green UV 80mm Antec fan into the side panel. Also this is another decision I need to make - I can either leave this foam stuff in and have some LEDs behind it to make the front panel glow. Or I can put some thicker foam in that I have seen at Clark Rubber (great place to get rubber feet and trimming etc for modding :thumbup behind it so that it can't be seen through. I will also most likely put in some green LEDs under the case to give the effect of undercar neons. Last thing, which is one of the most important: As you can see on most of the joins of the lightning flame things, they did not come up well and there is a little bit of paint that has come under the tape. What would I use to clean this up? I do not want to pinstripe the flames as they have a pretty defined edge apart from these small mistakes in the corners. I'm thinking just buff it out using some cut n polish compound? or maybe some kind of solvent, but this could damage the black paint on the rest of the case?
The finsig on the green spray paint used for the jagged flames and spikes looks great and is a real contast to the dull metallic back of the case... the simple masking and fine lines created by the thin tape create a really simple yet, fantastic end result... The green paint has'nt bled or ran at all.... can wait to see the bezel and other parts done, and using green LEDs will create a great effect overall with the green paint...
nice colour choice and i like how the lines match up on top and side panels make it look like a proffesional job green leds would look great
Just a protip when painting, mist a very, very fine layer of clear, let it dry for the standard between-coat time, then mist on a light layer of your first color, the between-coat time, then continue as normal. That way, it won't leak under your tape, and it won't all puddle up in the corners.
I have decided against clearcoating the case, the paint seems to be durable enough, and since it is higher then the rest of the black paint, I think wetsanding it after the clearcoat will maybe cut through it. Also this means I can put the front bezel back together and put it on. Front Bezel Reassembled. Clipping on the front control panels. A few shots with the bezel on. (I'm really happy with how this looks) I put in some green LEDs into the green UV Antec fan I had. And wired it into the fan power wires of the 120mm exhaust fan using an audio jack, so it can be easily disconnected when removing the side panel. I wired it into the 12V line, everything worked fine, except it was too loud for my liking, so then I rewired it, this time into the 5V line, mm nice and quiet, but the LEDs no longer work, dam I should have realised and wired them up seperately. More work for tomorrow So all I need to do now to finish it off is: - rewire LEDs from side panel fan. - fix up overspray problems in a few areas. - polish up the whole case. - mod one drive bay cover to stealth an optical drive. - mod another drive bay cover to house a small green character display. (LCD) - intsall my system
It looks like the tip sof some of the flames are a bit funky, perhaps you could touch up the area, sand it off,acrape if off, paint over it. Also with that audio connector, be sure NOT to disconect it with the power on, as it wil short. Other than that, i was skeptical at first, but that is one sweet paint job. I personally would have done some thinner flames,but that is a nice job.
paint job looks really nice! I have no nerves to paint surface that smooth so I really respect everyone who has
Thanks for the comments guys Bbq.of.DooM - will do that next time mate, thanks. scifi3018 - will it short the whole comp or just the fan? Al Terego - I'll get a pic up with my next Update, sorry about that.
Wow, I gotta say, that is totally impressive! The Green and Black together are a great combo. This sort of mod is great, the real simple (No offense, please) stuff that just makes a case look 100 times better. I can't wait to see more!
Nice color choices there bro! I love how that turned out! Black/green... I've seen more than a few Hot Wheels with a kick ass color combo like this! Keep up the great work!
I know that it will short the fan, and create a spark. However depending on your PSU's (high vs low) quality it may not make the computer suffer, or it may reset it. I assume that a good high end PSU would just see it as a power surge, and deal with it accordinly, but a low end one might fry components or just reset it. Im not an expert with electronics, but thats what i have haerd frequently on forums when the topic of headphone jacks come up. One alternative is using rca jacks such as: Wik These can be found on ebay, radio shack, pretty much anywhere.
Well I got around to finishing this case a while ago and have been using it for my main system for quite a while and I thought I should update my worklog Here are the final shots. Click links underneath images for full size pics. http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots1.jpg http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots2.jpg http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots3.jpg http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots4.jpg http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots5.jpg http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots6.jpg http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots7.jpg http://darkacid.iridiumhost.com/greenthunder/GTFinalShots8.jpg Please leave comments to let me know what you think, I love feedback good or bad.
WOW! I can't believe I missed this the first time round Dude that's great, I really like it. It looks so simple, but you have executed it almost perfectly (couple of minor niggles on the paint line, but they are almost unnoticeable in the final pics). The colour is amazing, the design rocks, and it just looks so clean. Top job
