Case Mod - In Progress Project : Entourage

Hi everyone 
I finally decided to take a shot on this forum with my worklog. I've been reading log's here for quite some time and i finally feel I'm ready for some feedback on larger scale.
I've done 2 case mods so far, one for myself and one for my mom
They are mainly consisted of major paint job and minor metal works. I have limited number of tools at my disposal so I do what i can on the case





This is what i'm working on now, Coolermaster RC690.
It's a pritty solid case, but i don't like all the holes... everywhere you turn there are holes in the panels... wich i will have to fix latter
I will explain my ideas and plans as i go along with updates... for now it's just case striping





When you remove rc's armor, it becomes clear it's just a normal midi tower chassis with added top panel for styling.


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After removing all the accessories from the case....





Here's a pic striped case next to my dragon... quite small actualy




That's about it for my first post... not much but a lot more to come in following weeks, so stay tuned (please)
Also, i would like to apologize in advance for any gramatical errors in writing... english is not my native

 

Welcome to the forums.........

The paint job on the Dragon looks awesome ............the orange one looks great too.
What's the color you used on the Dragon?It looks like BMW black/blue metallic




Alan

 

thanks

everything has been painted with DupliColor Car's acrylic cans
dragon is hand drawn with brush, using acrylic duplicolor paint.

color is glossy black, polished to perfection


edit: image host server is temporary down, due to ISP (t-com) network repairs
sry

 

Nice case to start this mod with, I'm also using one of those to mod. Those holes in the mobo tray and sidepanels are irritating indeed. Stupid coolermaster.
And nice paint jobs on those other cases.

 

Nice choice for a photo shoot too! The sunset reflecting in the mirror-black case finish is a nice touch.
-so...Is the weed case the one you did for your mom?

 

I'd be afraid of a case falling in that photoshoot.
Otherwise, nice work with the other cases. cant wait to see what you do with this!

 

umm... errrr....... yes it is

 

LOL. Great lookin' set of cases you got there. Looking forward to what you have in store for 690.

 

thank you

you won't be disappointed with the finished look
i'm putting everything i've learnd over the past 2 years into this case, so, at least it's gona be better than first two

 

They are some seriously good looking cases with some incerdible photography

 

UPDATE

Went shoping today for some parts needed for hdd bay
still working round some ideas for that...





mounting of hdd will be done with ruber sticks... in those sticks i will screw some hooks, and between two stick of ruber there will be elastic rope... hard disk will just slot in between those ropes.
this is how i'm making those "sticks" ... put them together with super glue then press them hard together for some time.



most of the time today i spent thinking and planing... lot of small things to go trough

anyways... i decided to remove part of the mesh panel on top that would cover fans... there's no point in havein one mesh to cover the fans and then mesh bezzel to cover them again.




internal control did its job of course
let me interduce you all... this is Bepa (lady), my 12 year old friend and sidekick


moving on.... these are almost finished hdd holders... tomorow i will ...what's the word... grind them down and even the edges... later on i will paint them, so they will look nice once they are done




last... stock hdd bay has gone bye bye... i think it's clear now where the new "hdd bay" will be




that's it for today
lights out, good night, thank you for watching

 

Did you really take those cases out to lake (or whatever is was) to photograph them? the reflection in the black case is amazing!

Love the cat hiding under the panel, blends in quite well!

 

uuhmm... i'm from croatia, little town sibenik on the coast of adriatic sea... so it's not a lake
most of the work i do at my grandpa's house 15km from sibenik. house is just 15 meters from the see, so it was no problem to carry them down to the beach and take some photos

here are some photos of the place where i do my work... quite inspiring actualy

 

I'd never get any modding done there!!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful place. Great pictures.
John

 

HI friend!!! Welcome to BT!

 

UPDATE

finally some progress...
last 2 days i've been thinking how to solve hdd mounting...what materials to use, how to mount them... anyways, first things first

ventilation holes on the side panels are sealed with filler. i used some metal and plastic mesh material to help the filler stay in place




i have to grind it down and flaten it out... and if needed, apply the filler again




as for the hard drives
i tried to put some ideas into work and see where do i stand...
please, have in mind when looking these pictures, this is not nearly the final product... i just want to see what could and what will not work.
first i tried this :



it was not so bad... the construction was pretty good... but
this sistem alowed only 2 hard drives to be mounted on the botom of the case, one at the bottom and one above the first drive... a waste of space
then i tried this :



the two elastic ropes on the left are supporting the rubber sticks, because they would bend due to pressure from hard drive and elastic ropes. this problem will be solved by mounting a panel on top of the rubber stics and the psu, virtualy seperating the psu and the hard drives from the rest of the components. sticks would be screwd with this panel on top, thus insuring more structural stability
this way i can mount 4 hard drives, 2 on the botom and 2 above them
there are some details to work out, but i like it so far


for the panel that will seperate psu and hhd's i tought of using some cool shaded pleksiglass... but they were 2expensive... so, top panel from my mom's old case will have to do




cya soon

 

UPDATE



Hi again, sory for not updating worklog for so long...
I had a lot of problems with side panels, so i wanted to get them done before posting.... off we go then

this is the first filler grinded




some more work needed on that obviously...but, there begane the problems with side panels. as i worked on the mesh parts of the panel more and more... it became very flexible. i could easily pop out and down, what was totaly unacceptable. i needed the panels to be flat, smooth and sturdy.
i shot a small video to show you what i mean : RC690 panel

so, i devised a plan... i glued some wood bars on the inside of the panel... lefti it over night with 150kg of weight on it to bond properly

]


offcourse, while it was curing, the filler got damaged, so i'll have to do it all over again. i've puten a thin layer of primer over the page to preserve it from corroding... i need to secure the funds for paints before continuing with work on panels. i can't go to paintjob if there is no paint
not to worry, i'll fix that damage on the filler before painitg




and i'm quite happy with the result... panels aren't 100% flat, but the don't wooble anymore and it's the best i can do so i have to be happy
here's a video of the result : RC690 panel fixed

the gaps between wooden bars will be filled with sound dampening foam, and the covered with sound insulation, so the wood and the foam will not be visible ...something like this




now... abaut that hdd/psu bay. there are some changes in choice of materials. rubber is out, wood and metal sheet are in. it's giving me a hard time setting it up properly... but i think i've figured it out all... i'll try to finish it in the following days






also... i've cut out holes on the top panel... needs a lot of fine work before it's finished though



whell... that's it i'm affraid. work is progressing really slow, coz problems are poping out all the time.
hope to speed things up in the following weekend

cya

 

I gotta get out of New Jersey , thats absolutely stunning, nice work by the way.

 

From the front range of Colorado this is still being watched. Take what time you need.
Problems are nature's way of making us think
Please keep us posted
John