Case Mod - In Progress Shinai - Antec P380 casemod [continued tweaking]

Finished her all up last night except for a little cleaning and a wee bit of tweaking before final pics. There was a bit more to it than I got pictures of due to a reversed SATA power cable on my part, but it was mostly tying up loose ends.

First off, filling the loop with some Aurora Red. It looks cool, even though in the end I overdid the dark red tint so I'm debating mixing up another batch to cut this one with.




Hooking up the wires and putting the PSU shroud back in. You can see how dark I got the Aurora. Whoops! The color in the tubes is great but the res is almost black.



I went with my original plan for the pretty side and cut a piece of 3/8" acrylic for the side panel. Nice and chunky. I would have liked to do the metal flake panels, and I probably will once I get everything in place to make them, but for now, this is an acceptable stand in.




Back panel on...



And now we cross our fingers and throw the switch.





I'm still deciding on LED color. I like the orange because it brings out the bamboo, but red doesn't look bad and matches the ROG LED's on the motherboard. And I need to go in and adjust the pump too. Apparently, moving the top fans to a chassis fan connector from the CPU optional header turbo'd the pump somehow. It got a little frothy. But should be getting the kinks worked out and have finals real soon!

 

Sorry but the bamboo to me is a punch in the eye...A gorgeous mod ruined by an unlucky choice.
But this is your mod and you're the boss (And I'm a big mouth...Sorry but I can't keep myself)
Hope not to hurt your feelings. Do I have to shut up if there's something I don't like? Maybe, maybe not, Just my two cents)
The B-side where the wood is uninfluential is fantastic
Ciao

 

I like the bamboo. Breaks up the red and accents the mesh and other unpainted metal nicely.

Only thing I would suggest (for whatever that's worth) is a frame of sorts around the acrylic. Without one it seems like the side panel is missing especially when you turn out the lights and on the LEDs. But that may just be me and my quirky feelings. Or it looks off in pics. In person it may look totally different.

Really awesome mod.

Mal

 

@amagriva- "A gorgeous mod..." and "...fantastic" Really man, to each their own, we all have things we don't like.

@mal- Thanks! I was going for a showpiece/artwork behind glass/open look. Give me a few months with this sitting on the desk next to me and I might change my mind.

 

And final pics!















And the details...























Thanks for following along!

 

Awesome!
Do get your glitter panel cast sorted out after MOTY qualifications are over.

 

Thanks! Once I get it worked out, this panel is definitely on my list.

 

OK, you were too late. You can take the [completed] off now.

 

Haha! I knew I wasn't going to make it! No biggie. But she has to have the completed title, otherwise I'll never get her off the table and get around to the other cool mods I want to do! We all know that a mod is never done though, LOL.

Shinai's first Christmas...aaaawwwwww!

I'm giving her 180GB of games

 

In my case it's redoing all the settings after every update.

 

Tiny update on Shinai.

Featured as Maximum PC's Rig of the Month! Very excited about that. http://www.maximumpc...e-month-shinai/

Still figuring out that damned glitter panel...not excited about that. LOL

 

Congrats, and well deserved!

 

Thanks! You've been super helpful and a great inspiration!

 

Another awesome build that I missed! Love the wood look!

 

Excellent build, te mix between red and wood effect looks really nice.

cumps,
ziza

 

Thanks y'all!

 

Absolutely amazing! Excellent job on the paint. Really like the color and finish.

-Jeffinslaw

 

Thanks!

 

So after getting the final pics done and offering Shinai to the world to judge, I'm finally getting that damned panel I spent so much time on done. You know what they say, sixth times a charm. And in reality it isn't technically even done. I still have to cut it to fit and not mess it up, but at least this time, the panel is worth trying to fit. So here it is

Starting off with a piece of 1/8" acrylic as the base of my mold.


Fingerprints are a no-no. This panel will pick up every detail exactly from the panel so gloves are a must.


Making the edges of the mold. Very exciting. Hot glue and plastic.


After the edges were all on, I mixed up some resin and metal flake and poured it in. The stuff takes a day to be solid enough to demold and at least 3 days to cure enough to not fold over on itself. I'm giving it at least 4 or 5 because thinner pours can take even longer. But after a day, it's pretty much in it's final state and I just have to make sure it stays flat.


That last picture is sort of underwhelming. I'd take a cooler shot, but I'm scared of moving the thing and ruining it after six previous tries. Lol. But I did grab a little vid of the flake 'in action'.


It's very subtle and I'll definitely get some better pics when I can pull this thing apart and get it fitted to the case.

 

Ohhh, this will be Epic!