Scratch Build – In Progress MyDealZ Case [Update: Stealthmod]

Hello Moddingfreaks out there. I'm new here. But I thought I'd join in the fun here and show you my latest case.

I always follow the Blog (Bindi Edit: advertising removed) and my entry for a competition is a case, which I'd like to share with you. Hope you have as much fun following this, as I did making it.

I had the Idea for the Case in my Head straight away.
About one month later the result:


It turned out just as I had planed. :0)


At the moment the case is 95% completed.

Still missing:
-some coats of clear glossy paint(To make it look slimey).
-some optical drive steathing to match the case.
-Mydealz.de advertising base.

Before I continue with my Worklog a small quiz for you Dremelheads.

Guess:
-How much does the case weigh?
-How much time did I invest?
-What hardware is found underneath its skin?
-How much did it cost me?
-Can it be carried by the "handles" on top?
-What is it made of?
-Is it a scratch build or a Mod?

Lets see who has the best trained eye for Modding :0)

Worklog

Planned for the future:
-matching Inputdevices (still have to find a cheap old PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse)
-matching Screen (Also have to find a cheap old LCD with VGA-Port).

Thanks for reading and I apologize for my english. (I live in Germany :0) )

 

Welcome!

You are welcome to post the mod project, but we have a zero tolerance policy to advertising links.

You English is perfectly fine! Dont worry (better than our German )

 

Sorry about the "advertising". I didn't think that it would harm. Well wasn't important anyway.
I think its still possible to understand why I made the case without it.
Sorry.
Hope you like my case.

 

Shame no one likes it :0(.
Well I will post the first part of the project log anyway, because I put it in the “project logs” forum.
Well anyway lets start. When I read about the competition I knew right away, that I would build a case. I just got going and forgot to take pictures of the first steps of the construction.
It's based on an old Fujitsu-Siemens desktop computer.

It was my little workhorse for years. Later on I took him to LAN-parties so that he could act the role of being a voiceserver. Now he is being modded to stay this way for the rest of his life and be a “show-PC”.

First of all I stripped the old machine of its parts, leaving the floppy-disc-drive in the case to be dumped. The motherboard is great for this project as it has nearly everything onboard(meaning I could leave all the add-on cards out.). The only
disadvantage it has is it not being in an ATX format but in a Siemens own.
First of all I built a case around all the hardware made of very strong and thick pieces of cardboard.
I glued and stapled all the pieces together.After that I added another layer of cardboard, but this time it was a bit thinner and I only glued it instead of stapling as well.
Using brown packing-paper and glue I covered it in a first layer of papermaché.
Here is where I took my first photos.

I thought about documenting this project, while I was waiting for it to dry.

Whilst I was still constructing the frame of the case, I took some more packing-paper and cut it into strips of about 1-5mm width using a pair of scissors.
(This is about a quarter of a bucket full when pressed down.)
Altogether I filled 6 10Liter buckets1
Then I let the paper soak in some hot water and then put mixture in our heating-cupboard for at least 3 days.
(Shortly after soaking.)

(After 3 days of heating-cupboard)

Then I pressed the paper-mush into a fine kitchen sieve to get rid of most of the water. Then I let it dry for a while.
(The first 3 buckets.)
Whilst it was still drying, I mixed up some wallpaper-paste, but with little water to make it really sticky. After waiting for about 30mins for it all to thicken, I added the paper and mixed it up.
Then I applied an about 5mm thick layer to the case and let it dry for at least 2 days.

By now the case is so strong, that I can sit on it, without it even giving in a millimeter! And that with me being 75Kilos!
Up to this point I used 2 10Litre buckets of paper. (Just for the undercoat.)

After that had all dried properly I started adding the details. After every layer I had to wait for at least 24 hours for it to dry.


(Bit by bit I made the bridge bits. Whilst it dries it shrinks quite a lot so you have to keep it in mind whiles shaping it.)

(MYDEALZ lettering started. After more than 6 hours of papermaché I just didn't have a steady hand anymore.)
(Well this picture isn't to bad.)

The only problem being that whilst the thing dries, everything I add shrinks(but becomes really tough) especially on all the standing off and bridging bits.
I made the handles for the top bit by bit:
-First of all I added the joins on the case.
-Then I shaped the handles themselves on a sheet of paper.


After it had all been added and it had all dried I added a few more layers of the paper-mixture.




Then I took some more soaked paper and added lots of wallpaper-paste this time around.
(Oooops... nearly empty :0). )

This is where it went:


A close up for a change:


Another bucket evenly spread and finished off by adding some pure wallpaper-paste.




Now the sculpting of the case and details was nearly completed. Now I just had to sand down some untidy areas and fill some unwanted indentations. (What I just wrote in one sentence is quite a bit of work though!)

The whole case is just made of paper and cardboard! No metal frame or anything. I didn't use any supporting wire in the top-handles or anywhere else(That's what my neighbour thought. )
The case is as strong as concrete and but still really light, thanks to the thickness and the use of lots of glue. The only disadvantage is the missing electromagnetic-shielding usually provided by the metal casing.

Now lets get to the paint-job.
Priming using matte black.

Then using high-gloss black.(To create a slimy-look.)

Both pictures where taken during the paint-job. Both after drying. I just painted the parts partly to see what they would look like. I then painted the whole case like I explained. (Of course I forgot to take a money-shot afterwards. :0(... )
Then I added the first layer of dark green high-gloss.


What followed was lots of further layers of different colours, patterns and details until it looked like this:


Well by now the paint-job is probably about 75% completed.

Really I wanted to carry on last weekend but I ended up in bed(ill :0(.. ).
Well I should manage some more in the next couple of days(evenings).
And it still needs lots coats of clear-high-gloss paint so that it looks nice and slimy.

It's still missing some small details like the optical drive stealthing, eject-button and advertisement-base.

Finished at last. It's gone midnight and I have to get up early in the morning....

If anyone does have any interest in this project I will keep you up to date.
If you don't like it, I would please like to know what you think I should change.
Well it was fun writing this log in English, I hope it's not to bad. I tried my best. (Took long to :0).. )
Thanks for reading if you got this far and I hope someone will comment :0)
Thanks again.
der_george

 

Its unique to say the least! I can see that a lot of time and hard work has gone into this. Well done

You got any inside shots?

 

THANK YOU! At last someone likes it a bit :0)!

I haven't got any inside shots, but I quickly made a sketch of what it looks like inside and I will make video of it running when I have completed it.

Here's the sketch:

The only way to access the hardware would be though the bottom. That was the way I planned it, but then decided to close it all up whilst making it to protect the hardware.
I thought I would be able to cut it open using a carpetknife, but I think I will have to use my dremel with cutting dics if anything happens to the hardware.

Thanks a lot for commenting!
Makes me feel good :0)
Thank you!

 

Ah so the hardware is sealed inside? That is unique! It would look good if you raised the case slightly and mounted two green CCFLs to the base of the case.

 

I like it. It looks like some sort of alien artefact.
Adding green lights to the bottom might look good and make it more eerie but I think it looks good as is too.

 

Thanks mate! At first I wanted to try and make a case that would good without lighting. Now I wish I had planned it in from the start. I might add some Green Leds once I have finished.
Thanks!

I am really glad you like it! Thanks for posting!
I think I will give the lighting a go :0).

Btw.: I changed the pictures from thumbnail to normal. I think it looks better like that.

Thanks for reading!

 

Very original.
I like it.

 

Nice one George! It's a work of art!
Very original, although I don't like that you can't open it up to swap out hardware. I guess since its such an old standard, that maybe you don't plan on upgrading it, but it would be nice to keep using the case if the hardware dies.

 

Thanks a lot! Makes me feel good to here that some people like it :0).

Thank you too! Yeah, it's one of the weaknesses of the build. but the hardware that is inside is not all industry standard anyway and its just some old stuff that probably would have got thrown out, if I hadn't modded it because it wasn't being used at all any more. Now at least it has a purpose. Even if its just going to a LAN-party a few times a year and being a better looking voiceserver. :0)
When I started I didn't know what it was going to end up looking like really, so I didn't care if it was modular or not.
Not much I can do now, but scrap it and make a new one (which I won't do :0) )
Thanks for reading and posting!

 

Another small update:

Today I finished the stealthmod.

Last week I mixed up some more paper-paste and glue.
Then I shaped some into the form of a optical drive bezel using the measurements I took.

Then I shaped up a small blob to go over the eject button.
I left it all to dry for three days(so that it was really hard) and then I soaked it in some glue.
I repeated it the day after. Now it is really strong!
After it had dried I painted it with matte black primer, after drying I covered it in black high gloss paint.

To mount it took some double sided sticky tape and cut it into shape using a carpet-knife and stuck it to the CD-tray of the optical drive.

Then I added the bezel.

Shaped up...

Then I drilled a small hole into the eject button. I glued a small piece of wire into the hole and enlarged the small hole in the covering button, so that I could glue it onto the piece of wire.

Now i just have to finish the paint-job.(The first paint-job was done just for the competition, so they could see what it was going o look like.)
I will redo it all. I will start right now. I hope I will finish it a this weekend.
Thanks for reading! Looking forward to any critique and every comment!
Thanks!