Case Mod - In Progress Project: Reverse² [completed]

Great concept! Loooove it
An capturing the orange is the toughest thing. Even the most expensive cameras can fail on it, because of the radioactive emissions.

 

Beautiful. My next project will be black and orange as well. (I'm a huge Flyers fan )



Do you have a hi-res of this and others? http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2534/4155438054_8ff2a88405_o.jpg

 

COOL! I have a post of DualBrain in my log!
The sleeving is excellent. Great quality, and easy to work with!
You're right on the orange-sleeving, it's hard to capture it good. In some pictures it worked for me. But not all.

Yeah, just uploaded these 2 for you.

Large: 1024 x 688
Extra extra XXXXL large: 3000px × 2016px



Large: 1024 x 688
Extra extra XXXXL large: 3000px × 2016px

 

^^
Wrong thread? Lol.

 

How the hell did that even happen? ^^^

 

Good news for me, I have just received confirmation from a new sponsor.

XILENCE will be sponsoring this project aswell!

 

I rarely post, but read these forums all the time for ideas. Just wanted to say your log layout is an eye-grabber and I'll be reading this for sure.

 

Had me chekking out Fractal Design. Never heard of them before, but they look cool.
Only one little nag.....Why not make room for a radiator in the "roof"? That would have been ace! Now it's just a stupid design flaw.

 

Though the case has plenty of room for water-cooling, i decided to go for air-cooling.
A radiator in the top would have been on my list if i went for WC.

 

Creating the window:
I decided to go with a nice and clean look for the side panel, the original panel had a hexagonal fan grill, which looked good. But simply didn't fit my concept. So it had to be cut out. A window would take it's place.
Masking it up:


More masking:


Then, using a 90-degree-angle I made sure the window would be completely square. But the thing was a bit rusty... so I taped it up, to prevent it from scratching my panel.


Then I drew the window shape on the masking:


Close-up:



Sawing:
My tool of the trade:

An old school fretsaw!

I personally love this shot! It's an action-shot!


I stayed within my lines, but it turned out pretty messy... The edges are really jagged, but nothing that can't be fixed with some elbow grease. (Read: a few hours of filing and sanding)

Close-up:


I unmasked the panel to see how much time i should spend on straightening the edges:


The outcome:
After 2 hours of filing and sanding, this is the final outcome:


And I put it on the case (with my new-ish system already in it):

It's a nice window... But unfortunately I think it's a bit too small... I will have to make it bigger... I’ve got my work cut out! (yes, pun intended.)

Once again, i'd like to thank my sponsors:

 

Hand cut windows for the win, good sir

 

That window looks more like a peephole

 

The orange sleeving looks really nice.

Imo, the sleeving would look better if it's (left to right):
Orange
Black
Black
Orange

edit:
Oh god.... how long did it take you to do the Window?

 

Thanks, i love it aswell.

For the molex, yes. I completely agree.
But I will be sleeving a 24pins extension cable soon, with the same pattern as i did now (o-b-o-b), so if I would sleeve the molex in the sequence you suggested, it would not fit in well.

In total i think about 3,5 hours. Filing and a little snack-break included.

I just ordered a 24pins and 4pins extension cable.
=)

 

Ok, that makes sense.

 

The front panel

The front panel:
Ok, so the original front panel is good-looking. But I will not be left untouched.
In my original plans you can see I want to make one tall vertical gap in the front, Then I want to illuminate the gap with orange Plexiglas somehow. Haven’t figured it out yet though.

I decided to make one large row of holes using a 3mm drill bit on my Dremel.
But first, I created a jig out of wood, then marked the centre (using the front panel):


I then drilled a 3mm hole in the centre of my jig, and just to show, this is my jig:


Let’s get to work:
Safety first!


A picture of the Dremel+3mm drill bit in the jig.
I really like this shot!


It took just a few seconds to drill through the panel, but it took significantly more time to align the jig for the next hole.
After the first few holes I took the panel out of the jig. Just to check my progress. And to see if everything is aligned.


Pfffff…. 15 minutes later.

I was done with the holes. Good.

Now I just need to play a game of “Connect The Dots”.
I took this part slowly, a lot of pressure would be directed towards the panel, and it being plastic, I didn’t want it to break. Not after all this work.


So, finally. All the dots were connected. And it was one big gap by now.


Let’s unmask it and check out the massacre…

Awww… That’s horrible!
But. I expected it to look like this, and was prepared.

Once again, i'd like to thank my sponsors:

 

Wow, it's pretty silent in here *echo*
So, an update to lighten this thread.

Cleaning up the frontpanel:
I used some 60 and 80 grid sandpaper to clean up the jagged edges, this took forever to do, but it was worth it.


While sanding with 80 grid sandpaper, I slipped… I felt so bad.
All this work to keep the front panel glossy and keep it’s original look. Lost..
And all because I got carried away by the music…

So, next up:
Sanding the complete panel, until the flaw would not be seen anymore.


I started at 60 grid, then 80, 100, 120, 200, 320 grit (all dry).
Then I took the panel upstairs, to the bathroom to start wet sanding and polishing.


Here I continued using 400 grit, 600 grit.
This was the base for my polishing kit.
Which used:
800, 1000, 1400, 2400, 4000, 8000, 24000 and 32000 grit sanding pads.


Then it was time for the polishing compound:


Which was applied using circular motion:


Clear coating the front panel:
So, with the compound rubbed in, and the whole surface cleaned, it was time for the clear coat.
I applied it with several coats at the time, the first few coats were good, but then…..


What happened, I have no clue..
I was hoping it would dry evenly, but no…
It has gone wrong..


It has gone horribly wrong!
So I let it dry over time (12 days in total), so the clear coat would be hard before I would sand it.
So, here’s a before shot:


I decided to be save rather than sorry.
So I took 600 grit sanding paper, and wet sanded it all in the same direction.
After a while I took all the water off (yes, remember to wet it constantly, else it might go wrong…) and this was the outcome.


Loads more to do right?


I tried to take a picture while sanding, it’s a bit blurry.. But shows the top-to-bottom movement really good.


After about half an hour (could be more, could be less… I had the radio on so I forgot about the time.)


Now, finally I was done sanding!


Looking good right?
So I re-coated it. About 5 thick coats after each other, it cured for at least 24 hours before I put it all back together.
My setup, or rather: an overall picture of the floor (covered with a sheet) I was working on.


I tightened the screws, and took this awesome shot in the meantime (tripods Cheesecake. Seriously!)


By the way, I got myself a new a new screwdriver set:


And it’s not only good for tightening screws.. You can use it as spacers too!



Once again, i'd like to thank my sponsors:

 

Nice mod
sorry for the two things which went wrong but now it looks nice again

 

Haha, i just noticed ftw filters to cheesecake. Nice!!

 

really nice mod mate, loving the clean cuts.

Clearcoat can be a real bitch, I find best bet is double the coats, half the paint. Let each coat cure for half hour. Takes time but looks better and saves time in sanding. Not sure if you used it or not but purple scotchbrite is best thing to get out orange peel followed by some p1500 wet n dry. You can finish with some p2000 and 3m compound for a mirror finsh, but the compund is for final coat finshing only, if you use it before the clearcoat you could end up with paint not adhering properly (im a spray training technician so I hope your not offended by my advice)