Scratch Build – In Progress Project - Silent fibreglass PC

Thanks AFX

 

Oh man, that looks AWESOME!
And it really is a lot bigger than I thought!

 

I have really enjoyed watching this come together and love how it's turning out.

Have you seen mnptech Bills guide on painting around here. It's excellent and after trying the techniques in the video I've had some good results so far. A nice deep glossy mirror shine is more than possible. Apologies if you are already an expert!!

 

I am quite experienced in spray painting, however black is a difficult colour to work with as it reveals imperfections more than other paints. Therefore I will need to get the surface extremely smooth to obtain a mirror finish. I think I'm going to use a layer a laquer aswell as the gloss paint to get perfect mirror finish.

 

wow sweet nice costum case!

 

oops sorry

I know what you're saying as when I started practicing I started with black and had quite a few problems, especially, as you said, with imperfections and orange peeling really showing up. I went for 2000 grit as the final paper in the end and when I got the finish how I wanted I noticed that it flaked and scratched too much. Pretty much got it now though. The laquer is great stuff and used it myself now and love the way it looks. Seeing the design that you've gone for and now seeing it come together it is going to look absolutely fantastic.

 

Thanks Verdi, heres the pics of the LED's:









I like the way it almost looks like the light is coming from the mesh itself. More pics of the sidepanel light strips are coming soon.

 

Awesome
This is how every htpc should look under a low profile flatscreen.

I don't like how manufacturers aren't making low profile devices yet, well not many
It won't be long before every entertainment center device is low profile like this case - i just realised, you haven't named it riekmaharg2! You could name it after a trim supermodel you like?!

 

Yeah, lol. I haven't decided yet what to name it. I might create a poll or something once I've finished it to decide its name.

 

It's going to have to be tomorrow now until I can get the light strips working as I've run out of solder.

 

Very nice job on the LEDs. You have them wired in paralells im assuming? I have to say im am loving the way this build is coming together, the fiberglass is looking nice

 

Yeah the LED's are wired in parralell as the voltage to power 50 or so LED's in series would be rather high.

Ive wired up the LED's on the removable panel light strips, however I didn't have a 12v adaptor at the workshop so I haven't got any pics of it all working yet:



I then used Wet&Dry paper to sand the imperfections on the surface of the case:



A fine surface filler was then used to fill all the imperfections:

 

My 2 cents

Just a thought. You might want to use some filler around the power/IO area, as that was where I noticed the most glaring imperfections in the paint job.

 

Looks great so far. Hope you can get the finish you are wanting.

How strong is the fiberglass shell? Do you have to be careful not to crack small pieces?

 

The power connector area just needed abit of sanding, as the imperfections are just from when I had masking tape on. It left lines when I came to spray the paint. The fibreglass is very strong, you can even sit on it lol.

 

instead of just sanding you could try a fine buffing head to smooth the face. Especially where there are curves in the case I imagine that sanding it to the prefect finish is very difficult

 

A buffing head may make the surface too shiny. I don't think it will look right if its too shiny, I think it might make it look plastic toy like.

 

i'm talking about using a buffin head after sanding/before painting, it just may help to smooth out your surface before you paint it

 

Yeah, I might try that if I have any trouble with obtaining a perfect finish.

 

hey if u will design me a futuristic looking case ill shoot that thing with an automotive quality paint job an it will look like a ps3