Update 12/02 | Buttons & Watching Paint Dry Now that we got the fan guard colors all sorted out. I did do some actual work on this project over the last weekend. My goal was to finish the buttons and...well do lots of other stuff that didn't get done . Pixs: First thing is to fix the whole "you can't bend 1/16" aluminum at right angles" mistake. Here I've lopped off one of the curvy bends. Aluminum angle would of been nice, but this stuff worked even better and I already had it laying around. Brackets cut to size, drilled and corners rounded (Pinky2 must not have sharp edges). Installed! Again the "I can't drill a blind hole to save my life" demon struck. I spent way too much time enlarging "precision" drilled holes with a needle file. Finishing washers...barely cover the results. Off to paint the aluminum and plexi parts. Here is the "Reader" (pinky2girl's term) in all of it's original blue glory...most definitely the wrong color. A nice little side project while I wait for the paint to dry. Odd little blue LED's refused to allow me to remove them...so I decided to surround them with pink goodness. Paint still drying. A new pink lens is in order. Paint still drying. A glue job and some black paint, we have successfully surrounded those offending blue LED's. Paint still drying. Much better. Just a ting of blue peaking out here and there...ah well it's not perfect. Paint still drying. Paint still drying. Paint still drying. Paint still drying. I have brought the parts inside, they are...well still quite sticky. So I go do other non-mod related things. Paint still not drying. I get the "brilliant" idea to run the heat gun over the parts to "speed-up" the process. This makes the paint stickier. Paint still not dry. I go angrily to do other things. Paint still not dry. Paint still not dry...but I'll wait no longer. Here is the back of the button bracket all wired-up. Two momentary switches and 4 high intensity pink LED's in place. Here is the front with the results of working with flypaper sticky paint. That was Saturday. I'm happy to report that today the paint is finally dry! Lesson learned. Painting moves to the garage. Parts don't get painted as you go. Next...light her up!
Just an FYI to you.. Always paint last... Then you can head off to sleep or the bar in my case and not have to sit there wondering if its dry. Just my 2 bits..
But of course, it's one of those lessons you have to live to learn. Anyway I wanted to do a "lights-on" test to see if the bright pink LED's were too bright, and that required the plexi piece to be painted black...which required way too much drying. Ah well, I doubt either of those parts will actually be visable in the finished case. Thanks for the FYI.
Are they supposed to be pink, or are they just poorly saturated "red" ones. I've got some coming anyway thanks to tm36usa!
The "official" Pinky2 quote is "Pink, the new Black" [G4m3R_X3r0]. Elton John is a totally cool person, he can like all the pink he wants. Pinky can be addicting . Lack of updates due to "Real Life" getting in the way. I've managed a couple of hours in the last two days, but spent zero time on her last weekend. BTW Happy Birthday to Pinky2girl now 15 years old! Apparently this is fairly common, sorry for your bad luck (will you be returning them?). The ones tm26USA are sending me are also glow a lovely pink, where red was the intention.
as a matter of fact i won them in a contest... so yeha...returning is out of the question. Haha the funny thing is, pictures show up red =\
I live in Northern VA, maybe I could come up and see your dau....I mean, your case. j/k TekMonkey runs away before dad can get his shotgun. Looking forward to an update.
*click* Your welcome *click* to come *click* over anytime *chit chit* now that I'm ready . How about wrapping them in the colored cellophane as illustrated here:link, that the soon to be err "disaster modded" TekMonkey pointed out earlier in this log . Looks like a cheap and effective way to punch up that lackluster red!
Shiny never gets in the way, it only enhances everything around it . Lots of work completed this last weekend. Will be posting pics tomorrow am, if I can get some decent pictures (the pinkishness of Pinky2 is NOT playing nicely). Constructacon, better watch out, I'm motoring and my petals to the metal!
Update 12/15 | Front Complete (more or less) Some real work done for a change! Last weekend I completed my trip to the top of the case! I finished the buttons and completely redid the top control panel including redoing the lighting for the "reader", so that all traces of the dreaded bloooo is gone! Plus, I applied the special used-dryer-sheet pinkishness enhancing material to the front benzel. On to the pixs: Here is the back of the benzel all ready for it's special treatment. Nearly complete. I'm using a flood of WeldOn 4 on the plexi to apply the material. A close-up of the results. I trimmed all the excess off with scissors and she was done. Well I wasn't really happy with my first results on the "reader", way too much blooo. So I simply carefully ripped the offending LEDs off the board and found more acceptable ones. Here they are installed. A quick test...much better. My original scheme for attaching everything went out the window as well. Starting from scratch again, I made the new bracket from my HD purchased 26 gauge sheet metal...much nicer to bend. Front of the panel during the fitting. 3 LED tipped switches, one for interior LED lighting, one for the "pink" cold cathodes, and one for the yet-to-be-built "twinkle" lights. Then a pot to control the "twinkle" rate and finally the "reader". The back. The power on button lit-up...oooh. My very best shot of the front in all it's....pinkishness?? Akk! We are not pleased...still way too orange. Must have Pink! What's next? Well there is plenty to do and I've decided it all needs to be done by xmas...well at least a usable system. Pinky2girl has been very, very patient. To Do list: Fit the top and sides on, cut window in left side. Tear down the case and repaint the skeleton....white I think. Re install all the components (white gloves), wire sheathing as I go. Install the mobo, psu and video card. Hook everything up. Cross fingers hope it will boot. Post final results before Constructacon can . Will it be possible? As always questions, comments, suggestions and mild criticism are always welcome.
He might be a Constructacan't Nice work so far. Altho the front shot looks a little off. It might be the pic but to me it doesn't see right. Back to looking at my Hooters calender... Mod On
I should mention at this point that Constructacon and his "Got Milk?" Project and Pinky2 are having a little friendly competition to see who can get thier project done first...in time for xmas. First to post in the log the finished project...wins. The front shot was taken very quickly this morning in more natural light than my dimly lit basement workshop. I was hoping to capture the pinkishness of the (mostly) finished front. TheDon are you commenting on the rather wierd skewed angle of the shot...or something physical on the case itself? Inquiring minds....
Actually more like a Procrastacon at the moment.... I have done some...... honest.... [/threadsteal] Nice work. I'm very impressed with the mod on the LCD monitor. So simple yet so effective.
