Case Mod - In Progress Cosmos 1000 Flash mod

No it's okay the metal cut out will go in the space and then be backed my yellow lighted acrylic, should look something like



if I paint it all red, but you get the general idea.

 

aha, got it.

 

If I did option 3 and went all red, how would you feel about some cheesy lightning bolts to yellow it up, I can't do much better with my drawing and painting skills.


they look pretty cheesy, maybe I'll see if I can get anyone to draw and tape some better ones on for me.

I think I'm going to have to paint the whole thing read to cover up the blemishes, which happend because I made a stupid mistake, I should of cut from the backside so the front would look clean (because now the back looks clean) , it was just a stupid mistake, and I'm kicking myself right now.

 

Imo, that's too much red.

 

I have sanded the edges down, next I'm going to get some 1500 grit and or use the wire wheel for my rotary tool and see what I can do.

The only problem is that no matter how smooth and pretty I make it look, the edges will be different from the brushed aluminum around it.

Man I wish I hadn't made that mistake. rrrrrrrrrrr, stupid, stupid.

What about enclosing the guy in red and leaving the edges bare?

 

That would be OK too.

 

Something like this maybe, I could also do with sharp edges, a different shape, and make it a lot rougher, maybe even like just a rough spray over just like covering the thing, that might look kinda cool.

I'll see if I can get the lighting bolts drawn though because that would be my number one way. It might be difficult to tape them on accurately and nicely/

 

^ How about a stencil? Talk to amdfangirl over at THF and see if she can make you a stencil.

 

^stencil is an excellent idea

I have some artist friends over here who all talk to first and see if they can't draw it out on some card stock and then cut it out, to make a stencil.

Maybe I'm asking to much here, but maybe I'll cut out the bolts (or just some of them) and put lighted acrylic behind them too. (cutting from the back this time!!!) But they might be really hard to cut out well, since they are so small, could always do the general shape and then work it with sandpaper and mini files.

I'll probably have to get some more acrylic to do that though.

I'm definently not going to do the red circle clear edges idea, I just don't like it.

 

Sorry I havn'te posted in a while, weather and school been holding me up, heres whats up so far.


painting, this piece turne out good


Still, pretty good, It's wet now, but I had some uneven painting, so I had to sand/scrape it off and then paint it again, but you can still see some uneven ridges from the old paint job, once it dries I'll go over it again.


Lighting bolt stencils, I cut them out myself


Paints I'm using, The dupoint self etching primer is for the Aluminum, I need some more plastic specialty, they don't make yellow so I'll have to paint with the plastic stuff first or just try the primer.

 

More painting today,

The Mesh grill for the front

The front side panel

The self etching primer has this wierd texture/sand thing to it, I don't know why, at first I didn't like it, but after going over it with red, I like it.

other side panel


Guy


And putting the window and bolt together, THe clear is attached by mounting tape, and the bolt is epoxied on the very edges. This picture is upside down sorry.


I don't know when I'll be able to finish painting, but it will be ASAP, my mom wants her garage back.

 

Looking good! Btw, make sure you put on a clear coat on the case once done AND on the Acrylic. It helps the acrylic from getting scratched.

 

That's a good tip about the acrylic. Do you have to do a lot of prep work before you put the clear coat on the acrylic?

I have to say I am a big fan of the "do it with my own hands" approach. You've done a good job so far. Looking forward to how the lighting appears.

 

Thanks
I've never heard of clear coat on acrylic, but it makes sense, I'll be picking some up soon.

Thanks, Yeah when I went to paint the lightning on sunday it got windy which is bad for stencils and paint. But i'm looking forward to how it turns out.

Edit: Just saw you said lighting, that should be in on thursday, well some of it, I couldn't find any yellow (well some amber at frozen cpu, but I ordered from newegg beause I had to get a wireless adapter also), so the back panel lighting will have to wait.

 

double post, sorry.

 

Not much. I usually put clear coat on my Acrylic PC side panels. I just sand it down with 8000 grit paper to give it better adhesion to the surface. I bought my 8000 grit paper(s) here: http://www.ottofrei.com/store/product.php?productid=4019&cat=820&page=1

A bit slow shipping but worth it imo. I buy in bulk (20-30 at a time) so I have it readily available for a mod. Just sand it lightly. Or if you don't want to buy it, just apply clear coat directly. Both methods work about the same.

Also MAKE SURE you test the clear coat on a test piece first. Remember, not all clear coat's are the same. I use the Duplicolor Clear Coat spray: http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-Auto-Spray-Clear-Coat/dp/B0007N56MC

 

Very nice case mod so far

 

Thanks man,

I can just spray the clear coat over everything right, (including the windowed panels), I should clear coats the plastics too right?

 

I'd only clear coat what has been painted

 

Depends really. I usually clear the Acrylic because I move them a lot and has a high chance of scratching it badly. But in any case, test it out on a scrap piece and see.