I signed up a few days ago, just wanted to ask the collective genius their opinion. When I built my gaming rig in anticipation for great games to come out later this year I invested in the best PC parts I could afford. Unfortunatly this resulted in the purchase of the cheapest 6 fan beige case I could afford. Now this case is begging to be modded but it is steel with a pastic bezel and apart from stealthing the CD drives and changing LED's and possibly painting this case I dont really want to invest my time into it. I am impressed by acrylic cases, and I love their look, but hiding cables is a hassle and making one look clean is the greatest challenge I will come across I think. I fell in love with Macroman's Macro Black case and have my heart set on something like it. This seems like a lofty goal and something I don't want to screw up if I start. I also love the pure clean look of a brushed aluminium windowed case. The stealth look is really awesome, and there are tons of little personal touches that one can make on an aluminium case. While I wouldn't label myself a beginer as a DYI guy, I would label myself a begining case modder, as my first case has a stock window and some blue and green CCFL's. Now for the wisdom of the collective genius of bit-tech. What do you believe is the best type of case for a begining modder? Let me add this, What was your first case, and some of the mods that you started with?
You can always get the round cables for Acrylic cases, the UV ones, they are nice and neat and fairly easier to hide, they also glow with the UV cathode you can buy off ebay, or another website
I think the best case is the one you have now. As you said you are a beginning modder. The case you have now can be used for honing your skills. Cut it up. Play with some bondo on the front bezel. Etch the window. Add a custom window instead of the stock window (if there is room of course...). I know you said you don't want to invest a lot time and all in the current case, but think of it like this. A brushed aluminum, Lian Li, CoolerMaster, and even some others, is probably gonna cost you over $100 USD. Most acrylic cases are close to that too. You wouldn't want to spend that kind of money and then mess it up.
I was thinking of cutting a top window in that case just for the practice, but it is all banged up. Is there a paint that is good for steel and plastic? Bondo for the bezel you say. Interesting, has anyone else bondoed their plastic bezels? That is a great idea because I was thinking of a 120mm front fan and moving the power button. Now all I need to do is find a better electrical supplier in the US. Everyone talks about RadioShack, they have decent stuff but really not the selection of electrical components and switches that I am looking for.
There are some paints that work well with plastic and metal. Probably the best bet is to check out some of the paints at an auto parts store or hobby shop. Pep Boys has a pretty good selection. As long as you prime the surface and clear coat the paint job it should adhere well and stay looking nice for a good while. A lot of folks have bondoed their cases. look through the Project Logs. Pug did some on his to fill-in around the edges of the mesh he put in front. Also, MNPCTech uses bondo (filler...I use bondo generically ) on a some of the stuff he has done. Also, DETN8R's project log has where he is using it on an old Silicon Graphics case. And of course Mashie uses miliput(sp?) on his Y2K bug. Radio Shack is worthless. They are waaaaayy over priced and don't have crap! Check out Jameco or look in the useful links sticky at the top of this forum for some electronics sellers. Oh...and since I missed it in my first post....welcome to Bit!
Thanks a lot for the links. I have decided that I am going to undertake my current case as a project. Maybe once I get this going I will make a project log so I can ask tons of questions. I do have a few questions about lighting because the effects I want to achieve are different indeed. First off, whats the best way you know of to get Orange. If your answer is UV, if I paint the back of polished aluminum fan blades with orange UV paint, do you think the oragne glow will reflect off of the still polished front sides? Also if orange is really hard to get, I have seen a lot of red LED fans that are more pink than red. Pinkish is definatly not what I am looking for, do red CCFL's glow pinkish, if not whats the best way to get deep red, and if different brands produce the red better, what are they?
I don't know that I have ever seen orange cathodes. I *think* I've seen orange CoolerMaster LED fans. But I'm not sure. For orange cathodes, perhaps get white cathodes and wrap them in some of the colored film that they use for stage lights. Just an idea I had.... Some of the red stuff looks pinkish. I have 2 red led fans and they look redder than my red cathode.
I used Bondo on my last mod. Not difficult to work with, but takes time and patience. As for paints, personally I swear by Duplicolor car paint which you can get at places like Auto Zone, Parts America, NAPA and other retail aftermarket parts stores.
just remember whatever you decide to do... take your time with each project.. only when you rush something will you really mess it up btw, welcome to bit
Well I bought some Bondo last night, I am going to start tearing up one of my old cases plastic bezels to see what I can come up with, and just for general cutting and bondoing practice. Any suggestions on how to cut holes in plastic bezels? Dremel obviously is popular but I am worried about melting the plastic with a cutting wheel. I want to try a 120mm intake in the front of the case, the link to mnpctech inspired me to try a turbine style case. Has anyone else tried the turbine fan mod with any success. If so I would like to see pictures. I was also thinking about sprucing the old case up with a little black faded to silver metal flake paint with red and orange lighting effects. Gone is the premod window, I am trying to decide what if any kind of design I want to cut. It will probably just end up as a basic rectangle because I want to try and add a small square of louvers to the side. I am wondering if anyone has tried cutting slots and bending the metal to a 45 degree angle, like heating duct covers, only not. Anyways, project Turbine may have just started.
Sweet! Good luck with it and post pictures soon and often. Tips for cutting plastic....cut on a slower speed. And take breaks to let the wheel cool off. Also, leave plenty of room for filing and cleaning up the cut. A hole saw is the best way to cut circles. But a dremel should work.
Hey gang, don't get many opportunitys to drop in to bit-tech, but seeing eddie dane's new creation prompted a visit. mnpctech's fav subject of course, turbines. Heres a peek at my latest incarnartion, but first a clarification... I now use PPG brand red spot putty instead of Bondo. It applies much smoother. You still have to layer the coats over a time frame of 3-4 hrs each, but its just as durable as Bondo when it fully cures. PPG DFL 17 spot putty found at Autobody supply stores... sometimes you can find at Autoparts stores, but rarely because its a more specialized product and expensive..This tube was $11 This one is Psychosis, it will utilize 5 turbines. Top 3 are HD cooler. The middle 60mm turbine will be ducted to CPU. of course the 120mm is there too. This time I've recessed the rheostat knobs.. just like frenching the antenna nito a fender on a hot rod notice 5.25 slot loading drive and temp sensor are integrated? how did you french the knobs? Well, they're caps from Magic Bubbles bottles epoxied to bottom of bezel and simply drill holes.. any big plastic cap will I think my ninche other than turbines has become extreme bezel makeovers. I refer to them as Frankenstein Mods I guess its just fun giving something a new look thats outdated. Like customizing old T-buckets into Hot Rods cheers!
