I have recently been modding an old case (Inwin) I had laying around. I have been lurking around here for quite awhile looking at all the outstanding mods from everybody else and decided it looked like fun and would definitely enhance the eye-appeal of my case. The case as it appeared before starting the mod. I decided that I would do my case using my favorite American football team as the theme, the Dallas Cowboys. I have gotten to this point (painting not completely done) and thought I would like to have some of your opinions on whether it's any good and any other things I might do to it. The case as it stands now. I have done the following mods to this case: painted the frame Navy blue; cut a star window and oblong window in the left side panel; filled in the vents on the side and the bezel with bondo; made a blowhole in the bezel of the case; cut a channel in the bezel to add an 8" blue CCFL and screen; added a case badge backlit with a blue led (case badge will be replaced with a smaller one when I find an appropriate one); painted the drives to match the bezel with Navy blue buttons; made a homemade star fan grill (this will be replaced with a better made grill); added a Nexus NXP-305SL fan controller and 12" CCFL for the inside; painting the one piece cover. I am trying to do this slowly, so I haven't purchased the parts that I will use to populate the case yet. I want to make sure I'm happy with the modding before I sink the money into a new mobo/processor/memory. In the meantime, I will just use an old E-machines mobo w/ 1gb processor to populate it with. I do still have to obtain a suitable psu and am currently shopping for that. So without further ado, please let me know what you think of my project so far (good or bad). TIA
NIce mod. I happen to have a hi-tower case with the exact same bezel design where the top of your case ends all the bays start.. sorry random. Anyways great mod I like the theme
Thats a nice looking case. I don't usually follow football so it doesn't really fit with my personality, but you did a nice job. You might want to paint the fanbus silver and put som blue knobs on it though.
Great looking case Chief! (and welcome to the forums!). Just need a cowboys cheerleader draped over it and it'd be perfect... (drool). I like your star fan grille. To be honest I actually liked it better without the fanbus. If you are going to use the nexus there maybe paint/mod it a bit to blend with you case theme better (it really stands out). Otherwise nice job.
great mod. I'm a huge Cowboys fan myself, being from Dallas originally. The cutting on that side panel looks top notch. Can we see a closer view?
Thanks for the kind words folks. Twernmilt and G-gnome: I totally agree with you about the fanbus. I intend to paint the plate to match the rest of the front and also to either replace the knobs or paint the current ones the same Navy blue as all the other buttons. By the way, just wanted to let you know that the volume control on the optical drive is no longer beige. I painted it blue this afternoon so it wouldn't stand out. Waiting for it to dry. I will post more pics after I've finished a few more things. (I thought actual plexi in the windows might be a good start. )
Wow, nice case! The paintjob is really good. I would like put there some silver border (5mm) to the star window on the left. And pain the fan regulator, as G-gnome said, it will be much better.
Yea. That's just my test psu sitting inside the case so I can test the lighting and fans. I am still shopping for the PSU I'm going to use in this case. Kuba-lysa, I already have the silver border for both windows. I just have to wait until I'm done painting it to see how it will look and whether or not I will like it better with or without. But thanks for the suggestion. Makes me feel like I'm on the right track.
nice paint job, im not a fan of silver paint personaly, i can always tell its painted.... but still looks gr8
looks very good... now all i wanna see is the inside! if there is anything in it yet lets see some pics of her guts shall we???
No ignorance involved here. I never mentioned it. I plan to put the name "Dallas Cowboys" in that window, but I haven't quite decided on the method that I want to use (stickers, engraved with side embedded leds, etc.). STellY: I haven't populated the "guts" yet, hence no pics. The only thing I have done to the inside is cut a hole for a blowhole and paint it Navy blue. I will post pics when I start populating it.
I think the case itself looks quite cool now. It's not my style, but you've done a good job. It turned out great!
Nice job on the case ... eventhough I HATE the Cowboys! I'm a Steelers/Giants fan... How exactly did you do the blowhole mod? I'm interested in different methods than what I usually do...
First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their great support. Makes me feel like it's all been worth doing and continuing. Dad, I won't hold it against you for liking the Steelers/Giants. Even the bad teams need fans. As far as the blowhole, I have to give you credit for this as your mod was the first one I saw with it done. What I did was cut the hole in the bezel and front of the frame after lining them up. I then jbwelded a fan frame from a dead fan onto the back of the bezel. Then I just started applying layers of bondo and sanding them down until I was able to achieve the roundness I wanted with the flat edge where the surfaces meet. This really took about two weeks of building up and sanding down to get it right! I then attached the star grill to the back of the fan frame and attached my fan to the inside of the frame behind the hole. I still have to work it a little to get the alignment of the fan a little better. Here is a pic of one stage of the process. You will notice the blowhole is nowhere near as round as the finished product.
