Case Mod - In Progress Project: Andromeda - July 29th, FINAL ASSEMBLY! take a look, Pg. 4

Thanks konvoj, and yes, it is really rough looking. I've done allot of work but there's still just sooo much to do. I'm hoping to have it somewhat ready by the end of July for July's MOTM competition. Does anyone know how to enter into MOTM or is there an entry form I fill out?

 

i guess you cant enouph tape can you ?? i see like 12 rolls on there .. wow nice job man

 

you're welcome, i subscribed this one,so i'll keep an eye on this one!
i don't know how MOTM works, i only vote for the best mods,but i don't know anything about entering this contest.i would be gratefull for some information too

 

subscribed, nice use of the scroll saw on the smoke plexi, where do you buy your plexi from.

 

Break my heart and I'l break your drive cover...

@pksjaveed - Yes, I guess it is a bit overkill with the tape lol. I've got even more on the wall behind where I took the picture. I think Dubya said I was supposed to stock up on it in case of a nuclear fallout or something.

@steelkane - Thanks! This is the first project I've been able to use it this much on and it's quite fun. I get my plexi from TAP Plastics, here in the USA

DAY 10​

Today I had some ups and some downs but I think I managed to get some work done.

My first order of business was to get the front panel patched up and lay another coat of primer to see how much more touching up I'll need where I cut it to fit the LCD.





While that was drying I decided to go ahead and make 2 more 80mm fan grills on the band saw and scroll saw.





still rough, I'll take the file to them later. One thing that I've noticed is that no matter how many times it happens, when you break a scroll blade it screas the crap out of you.

I then started to work on mounting the drive cage cover and then something bad happened - I broke one while drilling the hole. I was trying to re-enforce it with duct tape on the back but it didn't work. I was so mad I just set everything down and went inside to cool off both mentally and physically.




I'll get back to that one in a bit, I'm going to mount the upper one using these chrome socket head screws.

Chrome screws - pricey!






Duing all of this mayhem I put a coat of paint on the PSU. I used Duplicolor white. When I first used it I got some splatter on it but I don't think it's anything I won't be able to get out with some sandpaper.



Now, back to my broken drive cage cover. I didn't think the lower one went really well with the upper on to begin with so It just might work out for the better. Here's how it went.

marking it out


Cut with the scroll saw


I NEED YOUR OPINION BELOW!!!

In the upper right part of the lower drive cage cover I have a large spot of uncut space. Do I cut/engrave another "A" like the fan grill in it?:



Or do I cut some more lines in it to match the rest of it?:



My main concern is that I'd be overdoing the whole "A" thing. Do you all think that it's too many "A's" or do you like the stripes better?

I'm also going to sleeve the PSU with this stuff tonight or tomorrow. Fun stuff..



So, does anyone here know what this is?


If you guessed an XBOX front microswitch PCB, then you're right. I need a power/reset button don't I? Here's the pinout if anyone wants it:

Front Panel Connector (power/eject assembly)

Pin______Comment
1________Ground
2________Power Switch
3________Ground
4________Eject Switch
5________Green LED
6________Red LED
7________Red LED
8________Green LED
9________Not Connected but wired
10_______No pin.

Am I actually going to mod in a power switch from an xbox in a computer?!?



I like to take chances Wish me luck.

 

Lose the 'A'. Sometimes less is more

 

stick with the lines the "A" is not tying it together just go with some lines and such

 

nice!!! never seen an xbox Power stuff used anywhere other than an xbox!

 

Sleeve you later, alligator

DAY 11​

I certainly had a busy weekend, but luckily not too busy to make a little progress. One of the main concerns for me was to get the PSU sleeved, and boy was it tedious! Here's what I had to work with:



I'm not going to go into detail about the process, but I will say it took me a couple of days. If I had done it all in one sitting I would have gone crazy!

I used some spot putty to once again try to get the place I cut up to get the LCD to fit on the front panel.



almost there but not quite...

DAY 12​

I was off today so I had a little more freedom with my time. Here's how the PSU turned out:







not too shabby. Luckily when I bought the fans Performance-PC's sleeved them for me and I was oh-so grateful for that!

When I asked you all's opinion on the drive cage cover, some of you said that I should not put an "A" and just go with the stripes. That's what I did and I think it was the right decision, thanks guys!





I also was able to get the holes drilled for the mobo backlight. I will have a total of 12 LEDs behind the mobo.



Upon trying to put the PSU back together I found that the hole was no big enough for all the cables now so I had to make it bigger.



Kind of a setback considering I already painted it but oh well, what can you do. I got it cleaned up, check to make sure it would all fit, and put another coat of paint on it for the time being.

SOOO much work still yet to be done, but I'm getting ever so closer. I'm trying not to paint or remove protective covering on the plexi until I'm ready to assemble so it doesn't get scratched. I guess I just got impatient on the fan grills lol.

progress shot:


I believe I've got all my bases covered for now and I'm getting near the day to paint. I still have that whole panel on the backside that doesn't have anything done to it yet. Well, I've got plans for it as well

+​

 

Airbrushing!! Sweet! this is gonna be so cool, with the paint job and the futuristic inside!

 

+​

[/QUOTE]

are you gonna use enamal or urethane paints?? trust me which paint you use will decide how much the design pops out at you .. 60% skill 10% in the brush 30% in the paint

 

ok u didnt have to quote the entire entree!!!! next time just select a photo or something, nice work with the case by the way keep it up!!

 

oop thnx for tellin me i didnt notice that

 

I haven't had a chance to get into uros yet. I've been doing some practice runs with my createx pearls and opaques and they look real nice. I think it'll turn out good.

Thanks, I'll try not to dissapoint.

A big thanks goes out to zachjowi, I received the HDD caddys so I can swap the HDD out with my other one. I'm in the process of getting the PSU back together and the front power button assembly put together. I'lll update soon.

 

Nice start, it's looking great.

 

nice supply cable sleeving!it looks so futuristic with this silver color

 

Don't push my buttons....

@The boy 4rm oz - Thanks! Glad you like it.

@konvoj - I'm glad you like the PSU. It did turn out fairly well. I know one thing though. Sleeving a PSU doesn't get any more fun as you do it. My fingers actually got pretty sore from messing with all the connctors so much! I was going for a spacey/futuristic look to it so I'm glad you get that impression from it.

DAY 12​

Hello everyone, another small update for ya! I was really hoping to have the PSU put together by now but I had a minor setback. When I clearcoated I wasn't paying attention and there happened to be some small blue fuzzies on the piece and they got clearcoated in. I cleaned the piece before but I just didn't check it before I painted it. I had to sand the clearcoat off and try it again. I got that taken care of last night and should be ready by tomorrow.

It's time to work on the buttons!



I decided to include the glowing ring from the xbox also. Here's what it looks like from the back.



I needed to find a way to secure it so I went with 3 screws and nuts to hold it down against the buttons. Just a little rough but it works wonderfully and it doesn't have to ook good anyways.

Adjusting the screws


final result:




They were held there by super glue but I put some JB weld on there this morning for added adhesion.

I also filed down the decorative trim for the PSU window.



Many thanks once again to zachjowi for the HDD caddies.


I will have one in this system and another in my next build which is already in planning. It will make it easier to switch my data between the two when I take one with me somewhere.

More test fitting. The silver plate above the LCD is mainly a mock-up. I'm still working on a way of making a frame around the LCD.





I'm also going to have a dust cover for my GFX card. With 2 dogs and a cat things tend to get dusty around the house and I don't want it sitting on my components. This is a mock-up of it about 50% done. I'll put the designs on it later and get a picture of the final mock up to you in the next update.



Thanks again for looking and giving this thread 5 stars! woo!

 

That's looking good. I like the partial mobo cover.

 

Thanks, I just got the basic shape done last night as it was getting late and it'll be made out of sheet aluminum painted white. I'll prolly cut a couple stripes and the the name of the case - Andromeda - into it. I'm not really sure what I'll do behind the parts I cut out as it would kinda eliminate the need for a dust cover if there's holes in it lol. I've got some clear plexi and I might frost it and put some green LED's behind it to light up the Letters. What do you think?

Oh and happy 4th my fellow Americans, and as for you Brits we wouldn't even have this holiday if it weren't for you so happy 4th to you to!

 

DAY 13​

Ahhh it's that time again. Time to crank up some tunes and immerse myself in an ever-going battle between me and my creation. Let's see how the weekend went

I got the mounting holes for the LCD screen drilled in the bracket.



I think that should finish up all the mounting for the LCD screen. Glad that's done!

The front still had some pinholes and scratches that needed taken care of so I layed some spot putty on it and left it to dry.



I also was able to take apart the HDD caddy and get it primered so I can strt getting it ready to lay on some paint.



Once the spot putty dried I put on another coat of primer and let it dry to see how it turned out.



Remember that Dust cover? I guess it's time to put that thought into motion. I first marked out my piece on a sheet of aluminum.



Once it was cut I needed to bend it to make sure it fits.



It fits!


Here is my pattern plan for it.





making some progress...



This took forever and it wasn't easy to cut on the scrollsaw either. The edges are very rough but I wanted to error on the side of caution. It's all on the inside of the cut and will be filed out for a more precise look since it will be a quite visible part of the case.



Seems that there wer a few more spots to fill...



And now the PSU. It's finally put back together and good to go. I hope you all like it as much as I do!





















That pretty much sums it up for the day. I was thrilled to finally have the PSU back together! Thank you all for your comments, you give me the motivation and the will to work on this and neglect my daily chores lol. Questions and comments welcome!