Case Mod - In Progress Half Life 2: Gordon Freeman edition

Hello bit-tech!

You might know me from the CMWS 2017 and my participation into this competition, and since the Cooler Master forum is closed, i decided to re-create the entire worklog i had there in here!

A little background of me
​

My name is Sotiris, commonly known as SotosLg. I am a computer technician and a case modder from Greece.
I've been doing case modding for fun since 2004 and since 2011 it hit me directly to the forehead.
I've made through the years some projects just for me and my intention is to spread the word around Greece or even better, whoever knows

So, enough of the pep-talk, let's jump into the worklog shall we?

 

As a Half Life 2 fan, i have an obligation to make a case mod around the best fps game that has ever released. I've been thinking about it since my last case mod that participated in an international (2012) event (sadly it was never completed as the website that the competition held got issues as far as i can remember). So, in a few words, i will be fusing a few techniques of mine and some others in order to achieve the best result that i imagined and thinking about. Rusting, crackle paint, scorched looked exterior side panel and color splash or even some paintbrush are the main tools to achieve something great and most of all something that i have always been dreaming of. So, Half Life 2: Gordon Freeman edition is commencing!! I will soon be posting pictures, so be patient and i hope that i fulfill my dream since 2012 and beyond!! The "victim" will be a Cavalier case!!

 

So, first things first.



I removed the left side panel so i can create the outline of the HL2 logo and mask it so i can cut it.







After that, i had printed the hl2 logo in an A2 paper.







Along with that, i bought some Dremel goodies like a speedclic disk with the driver



So, it is time to cut the outline with a razor blade.







After that step, it was time to draw the outline on the masked side panel.

In here, the drawing shouldn't be perfect but a bit angled



Stay tuned for more!

 

I can't post more than 10 pictures, so, this worklog will be veeeeeeery long!







I made two drawings because i didn't like the first one, so then, i marked the second that had to be cut.





Because it was late at that time, i only made one cut only and left it for the next day.





The next day i proceeded with the side window cut.







Here i couldn't cut such a curve, so i relied to my faithful files!





Let's bring the big guns!



With lot of patience and lot of filling, i achived this result!




That is all for now! Later on tonight, i might continue posting.
What comes next, is creating the same outline to the right side panel....
So, mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!

 

Next ting to do was to clean the right side panel from the stickers

For that purpose, i used nitro thinner and a sander




After cleaning the panel, i alligned the two panels almost perfectly! OCD you see! hehe!




To make the whole design as the outline, i used primer.

....and here is the result!








Never mind about the excess paint, scorched effect will be applied on top of it!



More to come in a few minutes!

Have fun! And mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!

 

Now, let's move into the right side panel and add some scorched/melted effect.

For that purpose, i used my trusty finger and a combination of polyester putty and fiberglass paste.

1st pass of thee effect looks like this....









I wanted to add more effect and added more and more....so after a few passes it finally looks like this....

Here i am also experimenting with some paint effects etc to see how it will look in the end.



....and finally it is time to paint it with primer



The whole colour theme of this case mod is orange/black

....so here it is with a fine pass of primer





After that....i moved on, and painted it with orange

You'll have to forgive me in this one, but i can't find an image of the side panel painted orange, i might have though a video of painting with crackles....so i will post it next!



The process is simple....for the crackle paint effect, i used common spray cans that you can find everywhere....so it goes like this....

Once we paint the base colour we want we don't let it dry and instantly we paint on top of it a layer of matt colour at random pattern to create the crackles.

The more paint we apply, the bigger the crackles would be....and on the other hand, the less paint we apply, the smaller the crackles would be....



Here is an example....next post with video of the process!

 

....here it painted and a video of the process!





So, until next time, mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!

 

Now, let's jump into the left side panel

Forgive me, i don't have many pictures to show you but i'll describe to you the best i can!



Same process applied to the left side panel.

Using only my trustworthy finger and a combination of polyester putty and fiberglass paste.

So, after a few passes it looked like this



After that, it was time to paint it with primer



....then paint it with orange!



....i don't have a picture with the side panel painted orange, so instead, i'll show you the final result, painted orange and black with the process i described to the previous post.















Here's a video showing you how it looks like painted!



Untill next time, mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!

 

So, in the meantime, i had some brainstorming sessions of what to put on the top side of the case.

I contected a friend of mine and gave me an excellent idea....of putting the logo 3d printed on top of the case.

Then i instantly agreed and he proceeded to the renders....






I also told him to 3d print some fan grils, as my intention was to make a turbine-like face panel and put an extra one on the rear side

Here are the assets ready and 3d printed!












What i did next, was to play a bit with some colour combinations for the fan grills and the top side logo....you will be updated soon!



Until then, mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!

 

Hey man looking good great to see other CMWS contestants keeping busy... Some of us are just using the hashtag #cmws20ish as given the current climate we are starting to expect no real competition as such with many countries having a residence in cases.. mod on brother

 

Will do brother! If you can remember my addition, you'll know what to expect right?

 

I like this.

I love Half Life 2. I bet there were tons of mods back then, but obviously that's usually in the hype of the moment. It's nice to see such an incredible game get homage so long after its release. I mean, I only just played through them all again when lockdown started. Fabulous series !

 

BTW if that really is the legendary Wavemaster you have a friend for life.

 

It was a Cavalier and i used the name to enter the 25th anniversary section of CMWS

 

Welcome to Bit! It's really nice of you to copy the log here.

 

Thank you dear Cheapskate! It was a decision made in blink of the eye. So why wouldn't i take the chance?

 

Now, it is time to place the logo on top of the case and apply the scorched look effect.
This was done by using a mixture of polyester putty, fiberglass paste, and sometimes, those materials combined!



Onwards to apply the effect



1st pass





I made two more passes around the logo's base until i got the desired effect/look
So, for the last pass, i used only fiberglass paste.





I wanted to give that post-apocalyptic effect/look as Half Life 2 is in a post-apocalyptic city and suburbs

Here is the upper panel painted with crackle effect











Next thing to do, was to dive into the logos i wanted for the side panels.
Those were the λ and the ².
More will come soon!

Until then, mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!

 

Hello guys again!



Until i dive into the logos and cutting them, i dived into the front face panel.

So, what i did, i tore it apart



Quite a mess as you can see hehe

Then, i made a fan hole with a hole saw to fit a 120mm fan.

After i made the hole, i covered the gap between the aluminum mask and the plastic with some fiberglass cloth, to create a shorta like tunnel for a turbine-like look.

As you can see next, i alligned one of the fan grills i had and made some holes for it to we well screwed on the aluminum.

Thick enough i must say, and it was a pain in the b****!

So, here is the fan grill placed properly and with scorched effect around it using fiberglass paste.





What i did next, was to put a spinner from an rc plane in front of the fan to see how it will finally look.

Here is the face panel attached to the main chassis and with primer applied.





Well, that wasn't enough for me, and i added some more effect around the already existing effect.

It was kind of ugly for me.

So, now, i will show you the final look of the face panel painted with blackand orange plus with more scorched effect applied.

The process for this paint effect goes like this....

....we apply the base colour we want and let it dry, after it dried, we apply a second colour of our choice and ontop of that, we apply a plastic bag and remove it instantly to create a random pattern, more like a random cracked pattern....



Here is the result of the face mask painted with that effect











Next time, i will show you what i did with door's panel and the logos with follow!



Until next time, mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!

 

Hello guys once again!

Not very big update, as i don't have many pictures of the process, so i will try to explain to you what i did as best as i can.

Here we go!



I wanted to cut the logos using acrylic for them to be placed on the side window, and mirrored on the other side panel.

All that, because i wanted to make it look like it went through the other side of the case.

So, first things first.



I used the λ from the logo i cutted before to make the outline for the side panel and made the outline of it.

Cutted using a Dremel Motosaw and later i filed like a lot!

Same process followed for, 5 more times, which means, 3 λ's and 3 2's on the left side.

Same thing for the right side but mirrored.



So, here is the first two λ's alligned with double sided tape for filing.



Same thing for the 2's but in greater magnitude.

Again, cutted using a Dremel Motosaw and a looooooot of filing to get the desired look

OCD kicked in that time i know, right?





So, it took me quite a long of time to get them done, and finally glued them together using liquid fiberglass.



In the next update, i'll show you what i did with the front panel's door PLUS a little surprise! hehe!



Until next time, mod it till it bleeds, then mod it again!