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Project:Blackbox

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by ambi, 21 Apr 2004.

  1. ambi

    ambi What's a Dremel?

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    Ok, so I have been viewing these forums for quite sometime and have recently got some inspiration to do my own mod, I had a clear acrylic case but got tire of that pretty quick, lesson learned :wallbash:, so I decided to pick up a chieftec wannabe and work on that, yes I know the chieftec design has been done a lot but I like the overall look of the case. So anyways to the modding part, this is my first time so its just some simple mods but ones that make the case look right. First I got a black case, so I decided to paint the frame all black, starting off with some primmer, then applying a coat of black satin paint. Next, there is a bar that goes across the top of the case so I got this idea, that if I put a piece of sheet medal that goes across the length and all the way to the top I could hide a lot of wires and the powersupply itself, which adds to that clean look. So I grabbed a piece of sheet medal from homedepot and then measured it and used a dremel to cut it out, once it was cut out, I was thinking I could spot weld it or sodder it to the medal but I was told that aluminum isnt all that good for that kind of stuff so I just used some super duty glue. The plan was to just glue the backside but my helper accidently dropped it and got glue on the front so I had to sand down the front side as much as I could when everything dryed. The next little mod was that the motherboard tray went all the way to the edge so I couldnt pass any wires through from the backside, so I used the dremel again and cut a little hole in the bottom corner so I could pass some wires through. I also sleeved the powersupply cables in black mesh so the theme so far is black and blue, but when I upgrade my motherboard and cpu Iam more than likely gonna get an MSI board which is red and so iam gonna switch all the blue for red fans and CCL's so the whole case/comp will be black and red. And the final little thing I did was stealthed the cd rom drives. Now, Iam waiting on my black round cables to come in the mail so when they come in I will post pics of the inside of the case so for now I will just post pics of what was done before putting it together. Remember this is my first mod so any helpful suggestions are welcomed.

    Comp Specs:
    |AMD 2600+ AIUHB 0245 | ASUS A7N8X DX | SLK-800u w/ Vantec Tornado |
    |5 Blue LED Fans | ATI R9800Pro 128mb |512mb XMS PC-3500C2 PT |
    |80gb WD 7200rpm hd | Creative Labs Audigy 2 zs | 19" VS A90f+ UltraBrite | |Artec Blue DVD | Artec Blue CD-RW | Antec 550W psu | Logitech MX300 |
     
    Last edited: 21 Apr 2004
  2. ambi

    ambi What's a Dremel?

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    A shot of the case before the work begins.

    [​IMG]

    I had to tape of the top and bottom before I applied the primer.

    [​IMG]

    A shot of the case with the primer on it.

    [​IMG]

    Backside with primer.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. ambi

    ambi What's a Dremel?

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    Backside with the black paint applied.

    [​IMG]

    Frontside with the black paint applied.

    [​IMG]

    A pic of where I cut a piece out on the bottom of the motherboard tray.

    [​IMG]

    A pic before I put the piece of sheet metal across the top bar.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. ambi

    ambi What's a Dremel?

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    Heres a pic of the black piece of sheet medal applied, like I said before I sanded that glue down and repainted it so it has a more smooth look to it, I just didnt take a pic of it before I put my comp inside.

    Heres the last pic untill I get my round cables in the mail, then I will post the complete pics. Heres a pic of my stealthed drives.

    [​IMG]

    Lemme know what you guys think or what I could do to improve, always open to suggestions.

    ambi
     
    Last edited: 25 Apr 2004
  5. Providence

    Providence What's a Dremel?

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    Use some bondo and get rid of the recesses next to the drives. Those half moons are ugly. JEEVES can help you with that. He's in the process of doing such a thing. Also, sand down the glue all the way and apply some on the back. I recommend using JB Weld instead of glue, it's much more stable. Also, sand down the black paint, paint it again, sand, then paint once more. You'll get a very nice flat black color. I can see specks in the paint that would come out if you painted it 2 more coats.

    That's all for now, good start :thumb:
     
  6. ambi

    ambi What's a Dremel?

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    what do you mean by the half moons? And when I get my cables I might sand it down and repaint it like you said.

    I think I may have just answered my question, you mean those lil indents on the sides of the cd rom drives?
     
  7. Morphious

    Morphious What's a Dremel?

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    Yeah, those half moon things. He's right - they're ugly. :wallbash:
     
  8. The Blackadder

    The Blackadder What's a Dremel?

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    Umm... Is that a Thermaltake Xaser case??? The front panel and buttons look heaps like mine. Ive got a Xaser 3.
     
  9. Shadowed_fury

    Shadowed_fury Minimodder

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    no, its a chieftec dragon..
     
  10. ambi

    ambi What's a Dremel?

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    how would you get rid of the half moon things and still be able to get your cd roms in and out, cause they have lil track things that go on the side of the roms that slide in and out.
     
  11. ambi

    ambi What's a Dremel?

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    well, I went back and tore the black sheet medal out and cut a new piece and then put it back so it doesnt have all those glue marks, and added another layer of paint to the frame. I also got my black round ide and floppy cables in so I did the wiring, I think it turned out well, like I said before I was going for an overall clean look to the case. So here are the final pics.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  12. TekMonkey

    TekMonkey I enjoy cheese.

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    He's right. I suppose you can fix it with some modding, but by just filling them with bondo, you would have your drives stuck in there. :rolleyes:
     
  13. Go4t

    Go4t i

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    you would only fill those in if you dont want to keep using the drive rails
     

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