Case Mod - In Progress Un[titled] Master[piece] - completed more or less

@craigbru, thnx , black is old, color is the in thing....as modders we help shape the mod scene by what we do....I will always work in red coz there isnt enough red modware out there, least not in Australia.

@E.E.L. Ambience, Cheers , alot more, front panel , bottom panel, feet, inside, and fiddly bits that i cant do till its 99% complete, which ill explain at the time.

@Cheapskate, Is it possible to make a P4 sexy?

 

UPDATE 4th April 2008

The previous side panel post was rather brief, I tend to lose myself in my work and forget to take photos, but this time round I took more photos to explain my process alot better.

This is the opposite side panel, and to tell the truth, I have no idea which is which, they are identicle.


To begin with I pre drilled the holes on the alu, then de-burred them from behind and test fitted the screws.
Dont mind the finger marks and blemishes on the alu, they will be re-sanded and re-polished.


Same with the acrylic, dremeled the holes out, cleaned them up , then test fit the alu onto it.


Onto the side panel itself, drilled the holes....


Flipped it over, and you should be able to make out the rough spots around the rim of each hole, these have to be removed so I can get the washer on flat, this also keeps the panel flat.


Using a large drill bit, I gently place it in the hole and give the trigger on the cordless drill a squeeze, not applying to much pressure, but enough to remove the rough bits, this makes the surface area flat, any left overs I can get with a file.


Test fit the whole lot, and it looks good...


Sanded the panel smooth with 1200 wet, then primed, sanded and primed it.


Polished the alu once again, and flame polished the edges of the acrylic.


Random glamour shot.


Once the primer was dry, I painted the panel in that lovely grey metallic fleck, but as I was in the process of painting it, it started to rain, not heavy, pretty lightly, but enough to ruin the pain job, so I waited for it to dry, then went over it with 2000 wet and then came back for another attemopt, this time no bubbles from the water, and the surface looks a whole lot better.


Completed panel, flame polished the acrylic flame piece and 3M'd it to the panel, cleaned it up and its done.

More to follow soon

Seth

 

That red acrylic looks so damn sweet

 

UPDATE 5th April 2008

Things seem to be speeding up, that might be coz im close to finishing this project.


This is the underside of the case, which looks exactly the same as the top panel (stock), I didnt sand anything back being that its the base and no one will ever see it, so I just gave it a prime then a paint, drill four holes, this is the case feet.


Low profile stereo case feet, soft rubber in the middle, good fit and it suits the case.





I needed to cut out a section on the mother board tray so i can screw in the screws needed for the ROM, this will be tidied up with U Channel at a later date when I find my stash, I added the top panel screwed and rivetted it in, although I couldnt get the end pieces to bolt and screw down on account of the inner side panel lip, will prolly get smaller bolts and give it a go , or it will be left as is, which is unfortunate.


I thought everything would be 'perfect' in the final fitting, coz i measured everything about 100 times.....but alas it wasnt to be, but this isnt a downfall, just need to alter some ideas and I think I can still get the desired effect.


The top left corner and the side panel top piece are ment to meet in the center perfectly, but they dont, so I'll be making a pice and attaching it to give it form, should work out.

More to follow soon.

Seth

 

The red plexi/acryl looks amazing with the paint, nice job.

 

@Supra55, thnx

 

UPDATE 6th April 2008

Sunny Day today...so got alot done.

To begin with I finally found the Slot Drive Rom (CD Player only), and took it out of its external device...and low and behold, it runs on IDE format, I thought it might be a SCSI one.


I had originally modded the Rom in carbon fibre, so this had to be removed and I taped up some of the areas...


Then cut away the unwanted bits with a hobby knife...


Primed and Painted to match the rest of the case, removed the masking tape and its done.


Moved onto the Front Panel...


I placed my acrylic and alu pieces down. The acrylic is flat but the Front Panel itself has an arch in it, so I had to bend the acrylic to suit the style, an incredibly hard task as I was using a hand held blow torch, and that acrylic gets awfully hot, but after an hour or so it began to give way and I was able to bend it to fir the front panel alot better, then I test fit it and the alu pieces, drilled my holes through the alu and acrylic then the front panel.
Sanded the alu pieces and deburred the drill holes - both sides.


Its a bad bend, but I'm still happy with it.


Primed and Painted the front panel.


I measured then cut out the slot section, but also had to remove some of the top alu panel corner pieces , as you can see its not perfectly straight, I still think it looks ok though.
Flame polished the acrylic edges and them hand polished the finger prints out of the acrylic, also re-polished the alu, assembled the lot and now I'm most pleased with the outcome.

More to follow soon.

Seth.

 

Awesome job so far. I looked forward to seeign the final build.

 

UPDATE 13th April 2008

Has been a while since the last update, as I have been waiting for a switch to arrive but alas its been lost in the post, so I went out for a cheap but effective alternative, and as this new switch doesnt have an iluminating ring around it, I picked up a chome socket hole with red led in it, not as effective but it'll do.

Also picked up 2 80mm fans and some more U-Channel (Im positive I have around 10 meters of this stuff, but I keep losing it)


80mm installed (Quad Red Led)


80mm installed (Quad Red Led)


Overall Shot.


With the new switch and Led Pot aquired, I had to cut into the front case panel to allow me access to screw every thing down, and then make 2 holes for both the switch and the led pot, as there will be a Quad Red Led 120mm directly behind this area, the lighting should affect the acrylic quite nicely.





Front Panel Completed pics...





I also got myself some shorter screws for the 2 left and right holes that werent previously done and finished the top panel off.





Close up of the CD Slot....


Unfortunately not all things meet properly, slightly out by a few mm's, in my head everything met up but in the final attempt, everything seems to be a few mil in a different direction...

Front Panel Glory Pics...





Not long till project complete....and I can start my next Custom Scratch Build....

More to follow soon

Seth.

 

More or less completed, would have liked to have done a bit more but awell....life happens from time to time....so this is it completed.



original left side

new left side

original front side

new front side

original right side

new right side


Thnx for viewing

Seth

REDLINE concept in drawingboard section.(themodnation)

 

It looks good, despite what it used to be. In response to what you said to me earlier: Yes! you can make a p4 sexy.

 

Looks very nice! Especially considering that it was a little old beige box...in a former life.

 

Great things form from beige boxes! Im impressed

 

@Cheapskate, Only thing is a P4 wont fit in this case....ITX only. Thanks

@ yeknom, thnx for the kind words

@Farmboy UK, thankyou