First offs: damn piloux for making that killer HL2 case, because someone linked it on the Natural Selection forums and it absolutely blew me away. I scooted over to these forums and looked at some of the other mod projects (Zap's ammo box, eddie_dane's cinemedia, piloux's Dark Crystal, Goblin Tinkerer's Orcish, and those are just the ones that leap to mind and I can quickly find and attribute correctly)... Yeah, so I think I'm hooked. It didn't help that I just acquired what for me is a substantial upgrade: an Athlon XP 1900+ with copper heatsink/fan & ASUS A7V-266-E motherboard, as well as two 512MB sticks of Crucial PC2100 RAM (that's the kicker for me, as I'm a photoshop junkie). Since I'll have to buy a new case for the system (my current POS - I mean PC - is a Dell with a split mobo), it's the perfect opportunity to make it my own. Disclaimer: I'm sure you all get a ton of "omg i saw <insert publicized case here> so kewl Im gonna be the best modd4r on ths forum"... who then disappear once they learn that modding is both hard and expensive. I'll try not to follow the same route. I'll also do my best to make use of the ample resources y'all have amassed here before I come whining for help. _______ Obviously, I'm greener than The Hulk after eating some bad shellfish, so I had a couple questions. 1) How ambitious is too ambitious? I'm not trying to do water cooling, or making my own case, or anything nearly on the scale of what people like Zap/piloux/eddie/etc are capable of, but I'd like to aim for (a) painting the case, (b) one or more case windows, (c) probably at least one additional fan, and (d) maybe some diodes, relocated switches, or other minor electrical work. Am I being overconfident? If so, what should be my first step, assuming I plan on eventually doing all of it? (In my favor, I like to think I'm pretty intelligent - just uneducated in this particular field. I pick things up well, though.) 2) Should I take the plunge and buy some tools (dremel, soldering iron, etc)? Which? A friend of mine works at a small engineering company and might be able to get me access to some of their equipment, but there's no guarantees right now. 3) I've got a few ideas for themes, and wanted to run them by y'all for opinions, crits, suggestions, and "dear god not that again"s. They are: DDR (Dance Dance Revolution, not the RAM). Side of the case would include a cut-out series of DDR step arrows similar to an actual game screen with some stylistic alterations, "scrolling" down the side of the case. Inside would be (maybe) a simple light, or a scrolling line of LEDs or similar to give motion to the arrows. On the opposite side would be the character featured on the "Stay Cool" DDR pad, either a window or painted on. Alternately, I'd fabricate a fan grill for the front of the machine with her outline. I'd like to try replacing the power button with an arrow-shaped one to keep with the theme. I've got a tattoo that I designed myself (it's kanji, so I like to diffuse the "not another white kid with a kanji tattoo" issue) and am planning on getting a second in the near future. The kanji means "dragon," and I'd love to do a dragon-themed case, possibly incorporating one or both designs and/or additional original artwork by yours truly. My biggest concern is I'd like to have a somewhat unique case, so are dragons just too overdone these days? My last idea is based on my major hobby: swing dancing. I'm an administrator of http://www.swingmonkey.com , which includes a rather snazzy logo. Swing itself is very dynamic, and the right picture could make a pretty cool design for a case mod (my roommate/co-admin has already designed several themed T-shirts). Obviously I don't have terribly concrete ideas for the second and third yet, but hopefully those are enough to give you a rough idea. To make a long story short (too late!), my questions: 1) How ambitious is too ambitious? 2) Should I buy tools? Which? 3) What's your opinion of my three ideas? Thanks!!
Well, DDR one could be very intresting and unique! Brainstorm session (Always get good ideas like this on mods ill never do!) For DDR Case: What about a HTPC small form factor that you put stepmania on? You could still do alot of your ideas, and then you could even do some other cool stuff, like maybe a coin acceptor of some sort! If you wanted more of a chanllege, buy or mod a pad and send a second set of wires out for lights on the case, they would light up in the corrisponding arrow on the case! [Is a DDR fan]
on ambitious, modding becomes a drug, so you are screwed either way. might as well jump in head first.
uh, don't support groups tend to try and get you off an addiction? this is the opposite, we praise the most addicted and feed the n00bs ideas. sounds like my kinda place
You people are stealing my Sig, dammit! Anywho: ambition is just a matter of of personal interest. From the sunds of things, your going for basic stuff. Dont worry about getting over your head. The best advice Ive ever heard is :use the right tool and let the tool do the work, not you. From that, decide what your gonna do and go borrow the tool if you dont have it onhand. A dremel is nice as a support tool, but its a far cry from being the modders one-and-only-do-it-all tool. You can live without it. On the otherhand, the advice I gave was to 'let the tool do the work'. This forums first and foremost purpose is to help follow junkies. Occasionally you get those that say "Oh that mod is so last week". Ignore that rubbish. You'll never hear some of the talented modders you afore-mentioned say any trash like that. Also on that note, anything you plan probably has some form of tutorial here on these forums already for you to read through (my Sig ::cough:. There this section, but also a Hardware section, an Electronics section, and even Overclocking Section. Read up on something first, and then ask questions on the stuff that doesnt come naturally to you. Finally: Your ideas are pretty good. Just one thing: YOU are the one who will be looking at it for some time day after day. Decide what you would like to see for a long time. At this point, case-modding has come up with almost every original idea thought of. Ive seen a biscuit PC in a model Port-A-Let!! So dont let originality influence your idea. Its your case, do what YOU want. And ignore those that piddle in "Ive seen that done before". Welcome and have fun becoming the basement/garage junkie (AKA bit-techer) the rest of us are.
Thanks! I've been cruisin the forums a bit, and also newegg (looking for a nice case to start with). Hazer... where in CT? I'm in Vernon.
Hi there, and a hearty welcome to the forums from another relative n00b. From what I've read so far you seem relatively intelligent, so the ideas you've listed so far should be well within your grasp. The only real piece of advice I can give at the moment, considering how new I am at this as well, is take your time! Nothing can kill a good idea faster than poor execution from trying to finish too quickly. Case in point (no pun intended): I was on one of the final coats of finish on my case top, when I got a little overzealous. I tried to finish both sides too quickly and, well, the top side wasn't all the way dry when I flipped it over to finish the bottom side. In short, I now have to strip back down to the metal and start over. And I would agree with everything that has been said so far. There are very few truly original ideas left. If you find one, good for you If not, that's perfectly fine, too. Just do the best you can to make the idea your own. Oh, and I'd vote for a Swing theme. Heck, make a case that reflects the "Swing Monkey" website...that just has all sorts of potential. Maybe a cutout in the shape of a swinging monkey! You can never go wrong with monkeys -monkey
Hehe, that's exactly what came to my mind as I read the "support group comment" Hi there coil (listen to Coil or just all sproingy now and then?) You have the right attitude right from the start it seems. The key elements to a successful mod would be something like this: 1. Don't take on more than you can handle (you're safe here, right from square one, very sensible ideas) 2. Plan.. and plan some more.. and do some planning while you're at it. 3. Draw/sketch/plan. Make sure that you're ideas look ok and actually works 4. Measure twice, cut once. Again, more planning. 5. A bit more advanced.. Stick to a theme. The worst things to do... 1. Rushjob. Sure, some like the "ghetto style" but if you want something more, you will get disappointed in the end if you rush it. 2. Play Freddie Krueger. Don't cut away unless you really know it will work out in the end. No matter how impossible it seems to make a mistake, it will happen if you don't measure that extra time. 3. Mix styles/themes. No matter how cool the ideas might be, mixing many themes will result in a small amusement park, and the outcome is often nothing but confusing. Now.. I myself has probably taken this way way too far, been planning a complete scratchbuild since early 2000 that slowly has developed and changed shape throughout the years.. meanwhile I've been doing regular mods to my computers, small functional mods like noisekillers, fanholes, rerouting LED's and all sorts of stuff. One day I hope to get the time to actually start the work on my own case.. So, see it as guidelines more than rules About buying tools.. There are quite cheap (both price and quality sadly) Dremel copies, and if you're not going to do a lot of cutting, one of those could work just fine. A soldering iron is always handy, so that could be a good idea anyway. The themes you mentioned would work fine by themselves, and perhaps the swingmonkey/DDR could work together as well, but kanji/mythology+dancing.. well it clashes a bit too much for me. Good luck
yeah, like they said, welcome. emphasizing a couple of things, there is no substitute for good project planning (ok, i'm kinda obsessive that way, deal), and build it to your own tastes, not to please everyone else on the forums. ambition is a good thing, you have to start somewhere, just do the research before you jump in. tools: a dremel is nice to have but not required, so if you're not sure about the whole modding thing go without for a while rather than spending $60 (yes, get a real one instead of a knockoff if you plan on getting one). basic hand tools, ie. hacksaw, sheetmetal nibbler, clamps, then a soldering iron (30Watts is decent, no need to get a fancy soldering station). also, an electric drill and a jigsaw are nice, the latter if you plan on doing windows. files and sandpaper(multi-packs are your friend) are required as well, both for painting and fixing other areas of the case. for painting plastic bits don't forget the vinyl dye. for supplies check out www.jameco.com and www.allelectronics.com for electronics work get plenty of solder and heatshrink tubing, you'll go through that stuff alot faster than you think. well, that's my advice, i hope it wasn't too basic for you. good luck and don't hesitate to ask around if you have questions or want to know how to do something, some of these guys have been doing this for a long time. *edit* check out the mod guide sticky in mod guides section if you haven't already, whole wealth of info there.
From another noob who has only so far fitted some fans and replaced his PSU fan I say go get some tools and go for it. Anything you are not sure about just ask - there are lots of very very helpful people on these forums and I have learned so much in the last few weeks. for the forums
welcome! my personal feeling is that you can't be over-ambitious, just under-planned! decide what you want to do, and work out (ask here, test, draw etc) how you are going to achieve it. It doesnt sound like you're going to just jump in and cut a hole, so go for it Spend a good few hours and a good few pages jsut scribbling. draw what your ideas would look like, they don't have to be perfect just get an idea. good luck and post pictures! RoB
