Case Mod - In Progress Project, 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' - Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 - 2/8/09 - Finale

Like I mentioned, that gold looked nice, but wasn't up to snuff, so I have sanded it and will be halfway repainting it. It should look even better. Thanks for the comments.

 

More Make Up

As I mentioned in my last update, I decided to sand the gold/bronze pieces through the clear so I could add a couple more coats of color, and do heavier coats of clear to try to improve the reflective look of the paint that I was aiming for. I also needed to give the second batch of pieces to be painted a light sand to help the paint stick.

Logo needs to be sanded down to give these piece a smoother look..




Then it was back to work with the paint and most of the pieces and accessories to the case. I tried a slightly different painting with aerosol technique this time around and I have to say it turned out much better than before. Instead of putting the pieces an the rack and painting them there, painted each piece individually by holding it in front of me on a wire. It helped me to give better, even coats as well as preventing missed spots.

After painting, sanding and repainting the gold parts..



The second batch of pieces, mostly the exterior case plastic parts, are going to be painted purple. Why purple? That's what was asked for the exterior color. The gold and purple should give the case a unique and interesting look compared to the usual colors that are seen. The gold, despite a lack of shine I had hoped for turned out pretty well. I wanted to copy the similar color of the gold/bronze/brass dancer poles, with a solid shine. The purple on the other hand needed some extra 'Wow' to set the simplistic colors off. Firstly I needed to use a metallic, high sparkle silver primer coat. I was a bit worried that once I put down the color coat that it would carry the sparkle through..




Then after applying the color coat, I was pleasantly surprised. The color laid down as a very solid, deep purple with some serious shine. Also I noticed along the edges where the paint tended to go on thicker, give a darker highlight, which looks just awesome.





So basically the purple color coat turned out perfect. I doubt a person with a paint gun could have done better, and I just had spray paint. Now to really set off this paint job, I needed to add that extra 'Wow' I mentioned. The second batch of pieces got two coats of the metallic primer, about four or five coats of color, then one coat of clear, one coat of metallic/sparkle clear coat then another two coats of clear to give some depth. The sparkle clear was only added to the purple, where the gold remains solid.

Sadly my camera, or my ability, did not really take quality shots to show the paint as it appears if seen in person, but I'll get some better pictures soon to share. I'm super excited on how this turned out.







And after a little bit of elbow grease with the light hand buff..




The gold, as hoped, gained an improved shine and reflection to it, but still not exactly what I had hoped for, but it will defiantly work. All in all I'm pleased with the turn out. I would love to say that I have no more painting to do, but I still have a few miscellaneous pieces as well as the side doors and door trim to paint.

Here's a few couple of shots just for comparison to how it looked and how it will look..





Alright, so I guess now it's back to work, still a lot of it to be finished. You'll have to wait and see what comes next. Keep an eye out for the next updates, they will begin to really take shape and give this mod the uniqueness that it's all about.

 

Loving the colour scheme... Makes me think of a pimp's pc, or some fancy luxury kinda thing. Good luck, great progress so far

 

that look awsome the gold is a really nice contrast to the purple and the purple looks amazing great work ChurchofVirus cant wait to see more

 

Man nice purple colour. She's PIMPN' now XD lol.

 

Now you have some real color going on - this is nice. I'm watching.

John

 

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm am a total rookie here, especially at the painting. With the first attempt at the gold, the redo gold and the purple, with the in-betweens, dry times and prep work was about 12 to 14 hours of work. It's hard work to do a quality paint job with no knowledge and no experience. I'm preaching to the choir when I say this, but it sure is cool when something you put a lot of work into turns out the way you hoped, if not better.

 

It's turning out great! Painting is a lot of work, and as another rookie, with a recent semi-paint job, I'm very impressed! I do love it when something I envision and then make turns out to look so much better than hoped for!
Keep up the good work, looking forward to next updates and pics!

and where'd you find the sparkle clear coat can? What's it called?

 

Ah yeah, I was going to mention this but it slipped my mind. I'm not sure about the UK modders here so this might not apply, but for sure in the US. After my previous paint job on my last mod, I discovered that aerosol brand paints had huge differences on the nozzles that they used. In fact, there is only one brand that gives you a near paint gun clean spray. Dupli-color is an automotive brand of aerosol paints, and they carry a variety of products from primers, to flat colors, metallics, color changing and they are usually found at automotive part stores. The sparkle clear coat is Dupli-color Effex Clear Coat, and it is pretty awesome stuff. There is a 'Black Pearl' Effex as well. If you can get a chance, check out just one can of Dupli-color just to see how nice of a clean and even spray you can get with the nozzle they use. I cannot really explain much, but if you think of a regular aerosol nozzle, it looks different then that. So here is a picture of what it looks like..



The prices of the paints are pretty standard with the special mixes a few dollars more. Damn, I sound like a sales rep..

I don't know what else could be used, but I use automotive aerosol paints. The gold was just a standard gold, and I used(wish I didn't know knowing what I know.. yeah) standard primer, topped with standard clear primer, the purple is Metalcast, with Metalcast Ground Coat, topped with one clear coat, followed by a heavy coat of Effex Clear Coat, then followed by another coat of clear.

US modders, check out Dupli-color paints, you will be amazed, UK modders, not sure if the brand made it over seas but if so, ditto. Anyone have suggestions for other top notch aerosol paints?

Also, here's another piece to check out..

 

Wow, the paint even works well on plastic.

 

As long as it's given the proper prep work.. not even sure if this stuff needed it, it sure will. A very fine sandpaper is what I used along with primer to ensure paint adhesion.

 

looks pimpin'
keep up the good work.

 

awesome work so far! great color scheme, i dont think i would have ever thought of going with a metallic purple and gold, but it looks surprising good!

subscribed

 

THAT is any strippers dream!

I can't wait to see how this will look, when it's all assembled!

 

Dupli-Color is top-drawer stuff, bro. I grew up using it in my dad's body shop...

a bit garish for my tastes, but your execution is excellent. Keep up the excellent work!

 

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Thanks, originally I never thought I would go with this color scheme myself, but here it is.

Hopefully it won't be much longer than a week wait for me to start reassembling the case. I am looking into alternative material rivets(copper, brass, whatever) as to disguise the riveting compared to using the standard aluminum that will stick out like a sore thumb.

Thanks, I'm still surprised how well it turned out. I just wish I knew about Dupli-color before I did my previous mod. It may seem flashy now, but just wait until I add the mock neon sign, UV lighting all around and watercooling.

 

thanks!

I appreciate the headsup on duplicolor!
keep up the good work!

 

More Surgury

Hey guys, got a little update for you.

I've been a little hard pressed for time, so work has been a little slow. The next part of this mod I've decided to work on was the right side case door/panel, which is going to be the mock neon sign I keep talking about. What I'll be doing is using an etched piece of acrylic panel as the sign, using a LED light strip to light up the window giving it the neon sign look. Just to add a little more I'll also be making a couple accent windows to give a little more to the window setup.

The inside of the panel has a piece of foam padding as sound damping, which is definatly a nice touch to the case, but I won't be able to make use of it. There is also a metal 'rim' that locks the panel in place when attached to the case that will have to come off for now..



And after measurement and placement of the etched window..





And measurements for the 'accent windows'..



I had an old piece of acrylic window laying around from my previous mod that will be made into the accent windows..



And so the surgery begins again!



Or so I thought anyway.. my Dremel burned out half-way through cutting, very frustrating, but I was able to pick up a replacement..



Back to work..





Not too bad, but it needs a little TLC with a file and some sand paper.



To add the holes needed to mount the windows to the side panel was pretty straight forward. I made my measurements then lined up the windows so I could get the holes right in one shot..



And after a couple hours of sanding and filing with the holes drilled to mount the windows..



I then needed to thread the drilled holes so the screws would actually hold the windows in place. At first I started out tapping by hand, but then realized the Dremel would work fine for this use..






I then began smoothing out the edges of the accent windows I cut with a file. Alas not even after ten seconds of work I snapped one of the pieces in half, not a huge issue since it'll only take a few minutes to recut another, but it's still a pain..




After I tapped the holes in the aluminum panel and the acrylic windows and giving the screws a test fit, it then dawned on me that I was going to have to counter-sink the holes if I wanted the screws to not protrude from the panel. The only down side to doing this is I lost the threading in the aluminum, and the screws still protrude a little bit..



Only thing left to do with this piece now is paint. I soaked it down with adhesive remover to get rid of the adhesive left from the sound foam as well as clean off any other excess gunk.



A few other pieces needing paint..



Now is where all hell breaks loose. In my frustration and horror I forgot to get pictures but this is what happened.. I began painting the pieces and all was well. Prep went fine and the primer step went without a hitch..




I began painting the panel and the two plastic parts of the case exterior purple. After a couple coats, I cannot really explain what happened, other than the can of spray paint basically popped it's top and spit a large amount of paint all over the purple pieces, missing the interior metal rim of the side panel. It was really terrible, I couldn't believe it happened but the couple hours I had just done in work was ruined along with the 'was going well' paint job. Not the end of the world though I suppose. I was able to use a sander to sand down the side panel back to near aluminum and I spot hand sanded the exterior case trim parts. I ran out of time and will have to do the repaint of these pieces later this coming week. Here's hoping these pieces will turn out as well as the previous lot I had painted.

So where I am at now is just waiting to repaint and final touches of the 'accent windows'. I am going to try and begin reassembling the case this week, but the present now is really constraining on time, did I ever mention I work full time, go to college three-quarters time and have a fiance and two kids to take care of? For the reassemble I also need to hand paint every rivet gold as well, so reassemble needs a little extra time to get done. I'm also beginning to work on the left side panel of the mod, which will be the usual case window but with a twist, I'll add a dark acrylic silhouette of a dancer to really set it off.. Well folks, I will get the gears going again, and keep an eye out for the next update!

Also thanks to those who have been following and commenting on my project, much appreciated.

 

I almost forgot, for those who were interested in the paints I was using for this mod here's a little snapshot of what I'm using..

 

Nice work on the panels. I can't wait to see the stripper mounted lol.