Just read the latest update - I'm stunned! I didnt realize you could do so much with an old grey box. Great work!
A qick play with some RED EL wire to see how the "Red-look" looks! I think the blue has a cleaner look and will prolly stick with it for now.... altho i'd still like to play with some PURPLE light for someting different The next pic really moves along and also shows the base now painted silver! the process is the same as any painting but i'll show it for the sake of the worklog After the panel is "high filled" and left to sit for a few day to allow the dozens of coats of highfill to sink back it is then "Black shadow'd" or guide coated, the idea is that the dusty black guid coat is your guide for the sanding or wetrubbing process. If theres something on TV i'll sand in the laundry sink this allows me wet rub and watch the nightly news Once wet rubbed using 800grit wet and dry the panel is taken back out to the workshop , wiped dry, tack clothed or propsoled and given a dusty coat of "Platinum Silver" then followed by several more coats. The panel is allowed to sit for a bit and then given 5-6 coats of CLEAR and left to sit for 2 days. While the shine looks pretty good! this is a can paint job! and does need to be chopped and buffed.
Again 800 wet and dry is used for the chopping. The idea is to get your clear coat flat! as you can see in this one small area after a quiky rub the clear is NOT FLAT! A bit more rubbing! now its flat.... its flat when its dull. A good long hand buff using some ultra fine compound and we have have some shine back. The same with the base I like the silver so far, alot more cutting and buffing is needed,.
I must say that paintjob is awsome. I find it hard to believe that you can get such a shiney surface with spraycans.. I really have to try it out on my project later on Looking good! Keep up modding ! Kind regards Thizen
A small update today! i'm still toying with the front blowhole/fan combo as this will be the main feature of the mod. the choice of spinner will be a combo LARGER then normal spinner and some plex modding For the mod i'll be using the LARGE spinner on the left! instead of the smaller one to the right that i normally use for mods. Next step is to pick a fan! i wanted to use a chrome fan... the only chome fan i had was a dead one so a bit of FAN surgery was needed. The motor in this fan had burnt out, rather than wait a few days to buy a new one i decided to swap the prop onto a new frame. Pulling these things aprt is as simple as removing one plastic surclip on the back. The same is done to a cheeper black frame. The new silver prop is slotted onto the new plastic frame, clip is pressed back on, excess oil is wiped away and the rubber plug replaced with some tape to keep it in place.
With the minor surgery out of the way i can now get on with the mod to add to another lighting feature to the turbine mod a clear sloped routed adaptor ring is made. The idea is this will not only become a light feature bit will be the adaptor for the larger cone. The ring is machined routed perfectly to suit the base of the cone. Using Weldon the Cone and Ring are centered and glued to the fan. The best way to test that the cone is sitting center the fan is switched on I really like the clean open look of this and a test in the blow hole shows that either with or without the glow rings the mod looks good.
Next is to show how the adaptor plex ring lights up the base of the cone. A qick fit up to the case for a looksee i think thisis a really clean look! and actually prefer the open look to the rings. Speaking of rings! ive added them in also for a looksee The base ring gets a bit lost in the effect one the lighting is added but still added to the mod. The light being given off is pretty intence
I procrastenated for days over wether to paint the chassis in 2pack or get it powder coated... In the end i had a better idea! A qik trip to my favourite place to pick up some pre-cut plex! The plan was to buy some SILVER coloured plex....unfortunatly they don't stock a metalic silver... i had to improvise!!! Crack the chassis open abit of metal work With the tab gone the back wall is flat and i can line it with plex sheeting. The new back wall can be slid in. a new base or floor panel is added The back of the case is fitted back on and the motherboard is placed in for marking. This mod will also have a motherbord cover! so a clear piece is used to transfer markings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A cover is bentup to fit over the HDD bays *****im not happy with this and will redo the mod again****** The motherbord cover is marked and cut. And fit tested. The new panels are all taken out again and preped for and painted~ Because i could not buy silver plex the idea is to paint the back of the plex this will give the same effect as if the plex was silver. For the silver im using cheep can enamel. The painted panels are slid back into the partly painted chassis and the back of the case is pop rivoted back on. Paper peeled off and board is place in.
With the motherboard in place it was time to work on the new style motherboard cover. To keep in theme with the mod ive decided to add some contrast flames! the choice was to you cut plex flames, a soft yet classy aqua blue plex was opted for. The edges are given a light sand And then flame polished for a gloss shine. @ Hex head bolts will be used to attach the flames, the original thought was to glue these one! but i plan on making a second set in smoked and have 2 sets for interchangable or overlayed flames! Some mesh is glued onto the back for the north bridge To hold the motherboard in place the old brass post is used.
At this point i need to move onto the PSU cover! Again the original thought was to powdercoat chrome or paint the psu! i didnt want to goto the extreme of making a plex psu as i had done with hp3 so i thought a matching cover would be the way to go! As i will show later, i needed a specific psu for this mod, the pic of psu's wasnt the best of the bunch but it was the configuration for this mod. The cover is basic in idea and design, so ive decided to add some fins! i'd decided that the gold grill wouldnt work with all the silver in this mod, so some scrap hex mesh was added. Next is to glue the cover togther.
The next step as with the other panels is to paint the inside of the psu cover. The cover is plain! So to add some shape ive had 5mm strips cut in smoked plex. These will be cut evenely placed and glued. Some extra glue is added for strenght.
Next is to repeat the same process across the Fan hole. To add to the effect the edges are flamed to get them nice ans shiny a test fit.
