Project: 6ig-83457 *¡*TONS of Pictures*!* -=Updated 12-11-05=-

It does that sometimes... don't fret about it.

Back on-topic: MAN! That is turning out to be an excellent mod. Good to see that you have the vision to do such a great case justice. I like where this is going...

 

i have a question for all of you more experianced modders out there....

how do i create a distressed paint job? i don't want rust and i don't want this thing to look like it just rolled out of the factory. any suggestions or links to articles would be greatly appriceated. i just spent the past hour browsing this forum and searching with google and have not found any helpful tips. thanks in advance

 

due to the overwhelming feedback on my last post i decided to look in to this a bit more and discovered some things that i might try to enhance the design of this case's paint job. i have not been able to work on this case for any extended period of time because i have had more pressing issues that require my attention. i hope to resume work tomorrow because it is friday and i should receive my drill press chuck. until tomorrow MOD ON!!

 

I am surprised you gt that post in there because of the rush of people posting

 

ok well i don't have much time in my day to work on this project as much as i would like and i think that has become apparent to all who have read this thread and waited for an update. trust me guys and gals i want updates too. i want to be able to play my new gaming box as much as you guys want to see pictures of it however finding the time to work on it has been harder than ever. so much so i will be taking most of tomorrow off of work to do so. i have tons of pictures to post and after tomorrow there will be tons more. expect one HUGE update, soon...

 

ok well after working 25 hours straight i decided that sleep was more important than posting what i did on friday. so here is what i have done on the case since my last update on 3-9-05

UPDATE 4-10-05

alright first things first. i got some more tools and supplies that i needed to help things roll along....

$5.99


this was twenty bucks at a local tool store


these are for the 120s that are going to be in the psu...hopefully keep them quiet...


some tubing for effect and to hide some cabling...man this is going to look cool...


got this via ebay for $41. im not sure if i am going to mount this in the case ir use an external box...i am leaning towards external...

there are tons of other little things that i bought like some hinges and gas lifters that i didn't think important enough take pictures of mostly because i forgot to....

ok i completed and started several things so lets start with the things that i completed....

i finished the door and all the bolts that go with that setup...


however there was a problem that i forgot to factor in...
the bolts that were holding all that plexi to the case stuck out farther than i realized...oops.


quick trim with the jig saw and they fit like they were twins...


then i installed the gel fan mounts which took a whole 5 mins....


while i was working on the PSU i decided to make a little gard so i wouldn't shock myself so much...

simple enough?

well it works....

i just didn't want to get on the bad side of that PSU

(next)

 

i started working on the front window....

bending the tube to clean up the window...


test fit


rivit it to finish the job...sort of.
more on that later.

well i decided that the motherboard tray needed a little trimming.

mostly because i wanted the room for other stuff...


so i scored it


and sealed the deal...

then i bent up a flap i left to make a side



and made a half box.


style check...and it needs something....hrmmmmm
maybe a shroud?

lets do it!!

so i marked it


and cut it


marked it again


and cut it again


and some more bending later

ka bam i am half way done...


i start making the top for one of the memory things and i look at the time and i have to go to work.....DOH

oh well....
here is the result of cutting steel with the dremel cut off disks....

man i am glad i bought those masks


my assistant of course.

 

Oh my god scary eyes you "assistent" has

 

lool yeah.. but go on with modding looks nice your mobo!!

 

much has happend to me and this mod since my last post so look forward to a big update soon. i have also decided on what to paint the outside of this case. i think that you guys are going to like it because, well, i am excited about it anyway. more later, for now BACK TO WORK!!

 

i like the ups idea, it has a serial plug for controling the charge from the computer???

 

minus the cat, this looks great!

 

naw it doesn't have a serial plug. after all it was a freebe and i am not going to complain but it would be nice if it did have that. oh well, i am expecting some parts and things to be coming in. and incase you guys were wondering i was out of town for the past two weeks so that can account for atleast part of my absance.

 

cool case

 

Thanks dude but this is far from over.

It has been really hard for me to find any time to myself and what time I did find I spent it trying to relax or sleep which left this project on the bottom of my to-do list for quite a long time. However I now have a line for its completion and it is both a good and bad, mostly good. I want to play on my new gaming computer and I have a LAN party to go to so this needs to be finished in the next couple of weeks.

Having worked out most of the wiring stuff in my head and on paper all that is left for me to do is actually figuring out the construction of the case and the effects that I should put in to it. Now I cannot write here exactly what I am going to do because I really am not certain on any of it. I am playing this one by ear so the plans might change if I think it will look like crap.

Ok enough with the jabber, here are some pics and comments for your viewing pleasure:


New toy for me, just because...it was $15US new


Quite possibly the coolest paint ever, more on that and where it is going to go later....


Oh and one of these for good measure. This is going to be so sweet on the top panel .

Ok that’s all the new stuff now BACK TO WORK!!

Remember that motherboard shroud...well I finished it a little while back and I just got lazy on posting the pics .





Here is a shroud for the plasma ball. This will make that jagged hole of mine look much nicer. Lots of solder on there!!

Well since the storms have subsided here I started looking for a new place to do my painting. My parents just got a new TV so I thought this was the opportune time to snag the box that it came in. now it might now be big enough for the whole case but its perfect for the time being and all the little things that I need to paint.








It’s got a nifty latch system so I can leap it closed and the kamikaze flies away.

Now its time for me to test out the iron paint and see what kind of rust I can get out of it.



One side steel and the other iron.


Looks pretty good. Not too dramatic, just like I wanted.




Now the trick with this stuff it the more the better. I put it on kind of light on the top and that’s exactly what I got, barely noticeable rust. I'm glad this was a test piece.


Here is the back of the front panel where I will be testing the iron paint on the actual project. I just want to be sure what I’m doing before I make big mistakes.


Ready for primer!!


Now I get to wait! What an anticlimax

 

A word of caution... I bought the same drill press for the same outstanding deal and it destroyed my pinewood derby car after 12 hours of work... Be wary...

-Brad

 

how so?

 

very nice!
keep modding!

 

Oh how I miss the days of the pinewood derby.

On the other hand mod lookin good.

 

Well folks with a family reunion now behind me and a new garage workspace in front of me I hope to be making more progress towards the ever illusive completion of this case. So let’s get on with it,
Here is what we had at the beginning of this post...kind of


Update 6-20-05
First off I have finished the general look for the frond window/plasma ball. I might change is slightly but here is pretty much how it will look...


Now I didn't really trust the flimsy way that I had mounted the back panel so I decided to give it a nice face lift while maintaining some of its looks. Here is what we got now. It is so sturdy it doesn't act like it will bend out anymore and all of the panels are very secure.




After that was done with I discovered that I would have a really hard time fitting a huge and powerful gas lifter as well as make it functional. so went to a local cabinetry shop and after a hopeless hour of what in the heck and how in the hell comments I went over to a local specialty shop called MTS Hardware in Riverside, CA. these guys are awesome. They knew what I wanted and didn't make me feel like a dumb @$$. So props to those guys.

BTW here is a picture that you guys probably want.

These are the new lifters that I will be using and the best part is that there are two in a pack and I have one extra. Now I have to mod something else: naughty:

So now that I have attained the proper gas lifters for this project I decided that the top part was a little flimsy when I removed the metal for the window so I decided to weld on a back plate to make it sturdier. While I achieved this goal I also discovered that welding with a torch is MUCH different as compared to welding with an arc welder. MUCH different....here is how well it went.

Not too bad for the first time eh?

Now that the top is prepared for the stress of a gas lifter I welded another plate to the inside where the top part of the lifter will push up on.

Yeah that is a much better weld than last time: p

Well now that that was out of the way I had to decide how I was going to mount the gas lifter. Now since I didn't have a willing or able assistant to help me with this I decided to employ able ties to do the job. Well it worked beautifully because I was able to see how the lifter would fit in the case when fully compressed. Nothing would have been worse than to mount the blasted thing and have it not fit at all.


Now I have a hard problem ahead of me. I have to make a hinge that moves in three different directions while maintaining a locking function that will enable me to pick up the PC by the lid when engaged. All in all I think I did pretty good, after all it works.

The top of this case had a metal strip in place to prevent just what I wanted it to do, rock to ether side; so I removed it.


Then I had to add a hinge that would keep the back side of the whole thing from lifting when pressure was applied so I had to cut notches for a sliding hinge. The hinge itself is riveted to the case while the top part of it is mounted to slide along the inside the lid. Clear as mud?


Well after all that the hinge was not moving as much as I needed it to so I had to notch the top of the case. This worked out beautifully as it also provided means for the hinge to re-align itself after it would slide out of position.

After all of that the hinge preformed just as I planned it would. Here is a nice video for all of you who want to hear that satisfying "ca-chunk" of the lid locking and the smooth silent way it opens. mmmmmm thing of beauty. >>video<< right click and select "save as" 2.85MB (be patient I don't have all the bandwidth in the world) =D

Now that that is out of the way I can start to figure out how I will mount all of the effects in my case (the lumen panels and plasma ball). I think I have it all down but I haven't made any permanent changes yet so if you see anything that looks off please PLEASE let me know because I have my head so in this project I might miss something.

Remember that the lumen panels will be mounted through this panel, meaning that the front part will be on one side and the inverter will be on the other essentially making this thing look like it is in mid air.

Option 1


Option 2

Now let me explain my plan for this a little more before you decide. Both options will be cut along the black lines and the part that has the lumen panels attached will be etched in a circuitry like theme and side lit with blue lights.
I think I like option 1 better but feel free to speak your mind.

I also cut holes for the cables going to the motherboard. Now the motherboard is pretty much ready to rock. Just needs stuff to be plugged in to it.



I added hinges to make it easier to get to the motherboard.

If you want to know I wrote this over three days and jury duty so I will be adding more in a couple days

[EDIT]video is back up[/EDIT]