This is my third pc mod. It is a current build i would like to finish in the next two months or so. This is an old no-name steel case. The front panel was gray plastic but was smashed into several pieces one day when it was dropped. Rather than attempting to fix the front panel i decided to do away with it and take the mod from there. So far my mods have been themed around a color and for this one i chose green. i came up with some ideas for the front panel, and this case is about 65% finished, less some wiring and the above mentioned panels. This is what i started with: Well i was aiming for some thing like that. The inner case is a marble green with with veins. At first i did the panels high gloss black with a mirror finish. But after melting part of the clear coat on one of the side panels i decided to respray them all and add a nice metal flake. The green marble paint is pretty straight forward process. First i cut a large hole in the front of the case. This hole is for the 120mm fan above. I sprayed the cage with flat black. This involved a couple coats and wet sanding. I used acrylic hand paints. I used a very small piece of natural sea sponge to apply a light green and a dark green to cover the flat black. The coats of green go on in coats with 2 to 3 days between coats. I actually didn't wet sand it again (other than to remove some of the really rough spots) until after the first coat of clear. After two weeks the marble was really starting to come together. But after adding the with veins and the clear coat, it was really looking good. That's it for now, over the weekend i 'll get this work log up to date.
Lol I thought you were building a pc out of marble. Now THAT would be ambitous. Nice painting. Looks very close.
Great painting. Someone did build a case out of granite once. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=152106
Yeah, When I saw that stack of marble I thought we'd get to see another stone mod. Your paint work is about perfect, though. I would add to the veining with layers of very thinned-out white. Massive layers of clear coat will help mimic the translucent properties too. What are you going to do with the faceplate?
Thanks guys, the paint did come out very well. 3 coats of clear got the job done. the main key to this is the sponge which gives you a really natural effect. and the mixing of your paints with a clear float. I think you should start 50/50 but as the coat builds add more float, this helps with the layering of colors. I used a thin tipped brush for the veins, though the tutorial recommended a feather. so before starting to paint the veins i shaped the brush. This is what i'm doing with the front panel. 120mm fan. 2 - 40mm? fans Clear acrylic panels. Green leds More to come soon.....
I built a fan bus controller to control the speed of the front intake fans. The bus has 3 fan connectors, a pentameter, knob, and a single power connector. With the panels in place the fan bus will not be visible for the most part. Opposite of the fan knob I'm adding another knob to control some of the leds. I'm in the process of painting the panels now. Originally I sprayed them a high gloss black. But a having some problems with two of the panels, i stared over, doing things a little different this time. Second coat of primer. Screw covers. I put together a small power strip for the leds. I finished the case feet, but need to get some pics of them lit up.
The panels are coming along nicely. I got a nice coat of clear a few days ago. This is a flat black with an opal flake. I cant wait to get a couple more coats of clear on them. Out in the sun. After a few days in the sun I'll wet sand them, and respray. As this case comes closer to being finished (I'll hunting for hardware in the next couple of weeks) I've been thinking about my next project. The TX-htpc . Some has begun on it and I'' have a worklog up soon as i have some progress to show. more to come soon, thanks for looking......
This is the beginning of the led power strip. I'm using two switches to control the lights. Well one lighted toggle switch and a potentiometer. I'm also going to put one led in the acrylic strip. This the psu I have begin to rip into. It will need acrylic, paint, sleeving and leds ........ more soon, thanks for looking.......
I have the Plexiglas cut for both windows. Doing some wet sanding on the panels, prepping for the next coat of clear. Once i put this case back together I'll begin wiring the inside leds. A sound reactive neon tube will be going in as well.
So this rig sat up in my garage for the last two years but it has finally found its resurrection. Since the case itself is pretty much finished, my first goal was to get some hardware in and get the system up and running. Along with wiring in a few leds and the blue neon tube. Next I switched the fan in the psu. Probably gonna pull it back out and paint it when I get to resleaving the cables. I have started on a 100 percent custom liquid cooling system of this project. More to come soon. Thanks for looking.
Thanks it means alot. Still have a ton of work to do on this project but its coming along. Ill be posting the pic of the progress I've made on the radiator and the pump soon. Plan on putting in a few hours this weekend. My other current build is called Project Tony Montana and I will be starting a worklog for it here soon . It is also coming along well. I am using this pc in my living room as my main entailment unit...a htpc. The keyboard and mouse I think ill do it marble green also.. More to come soon thanks for looking.
A back shot The pump: an old drill that no long will take a charge and a $6 drill pump from lowest. Big compared to pumps sold for liquid cooling or even a fountain pump, and that the fan is over kil. But it will look good and its almost free. Hope this weekend I get some time to paint this thing, white inside black out. Plug the front and back with plexi and add a few green leds, and an on/off switch. Im going to wire it into an speed controller. More to come soon, thanks for looking.
