Project: Sun Devil Mod

[sun|D)eviltopher]

Hey everyone!

So this is my first post to this site (or mod in general for that matter!!). I've learned everything I know about modding in the past 3 weeks so naturally, my skill in it is pretty limited. I thought all of the mods on here were freakin awesome and I've spent hours and hours looking at tutorials and many old mods so I could learn a thing or two about this before jumping into my first mod.

After my "crash course" in modding, I decided to get going on my first mod a couple days ago. I found an old computer in my garage...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31661.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31665.jpg
and got to work. (yes, i'm a terrible photographer and yes, i forgot to take a picture of the side panels before i went to work on them. Oops.) I'm only using the tower of this computer though, because the guts of it are virtually useless. Between a burned out mobo, a 10gig HD, a 256 mb memory stick and a 300W power supply, there isn't much I'll be able to use... :banghead:

So after a day or two of brainstorming, I decided to go with the only real thing that I can actually say that I'm proud to be a part of... my school: Arizona State.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/sparky_logo.gif

After a few hours, I had a pretty good layout ready for what I'm gonna do to this case. I drew it up on a scale sheet of paper and got to work. First things first, I sanded away the beige stock paint on the case.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31706.jpg
I'm pretty sure I didn't need to sand away all of the paint, and yeah, it may make things harder later... I dunno. I guess I'll have to see. Anyway, I did this to both sides of the case and the top. I'll take pictures of those tomorrow... My plan is to put a window on the left side of the case with plexiglas. That's gonna take some dremel work that i'll get to this weekend. I'm new to the dremel so if anyone's got some advice for a novice before I get started, fire away. :D Alright, well that's all I've got for right now. I'll update this weekend probably. Thanks all! :)

[SgtM]

Welcome! Looks like you're off to a good start. The best advice I can give you with the dremel is to cut on the inside of your lines. That way, you have some fudge room in case the little bugger gets away from you as well as giving yourself room for filing/sanding.

[Drum Thumper]

Hehe...I like your quote--Carlin FTW!

This looks to be an interesting mod, welcome to your new addiction!

[Trace]

[off topic] I haven't heard that one from Carlin. But *agrees with DrumThumper* Carlin FTW! Cars & Driving...the best ever.[/off topic]

Good start. Good luck. Like the picture.

[TheGreatSatan]

+Rep from Satan to bless your case mod!

[Drum Thumper]

+Rep from Satan to bless your case mod!

Irony at its best! +rep for the giggle TGS.

[sun|D)eviltopher]

Alright, I put a few hours in on Saturday and got the window cut out. Thanks for the props and the advice guys. It was a lot of help. :) But before I show ya my progress, I got a picture of my plans for this case all ready thought I'd give ya a little preview. :cray:

Alright, so this is gonna be the left side panel of the case. The hole in it is where the window is gonna go and what I spent my Saturday morning cutting out.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31728.jpg

And the top...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31724.jpg
Just so you know, that pink-looking color is actually supposed to be maroon... I just don't have a maroon marker or pencil, lol. Anyways, here's the right side:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31723.jpg
The "Sun Devils" writing is actually gonna be maroon instead of gold, but again for the sake of making it quick, I just did it quick and easy. :) As far as the Sun Devil picture goes... originally, I was planning on making a stencil for it and just painting it on myself... And then I realized that it would take a lot, a lot of work to do that. So instead, I went out and bought a decal from my school's bookstore... It's a window decal so I gotta figure out how to get it to stick on the other way... I've come up with everything from just superglueing it on (uber-tacky, haha) to cutting out a window so I can stick it onto the back side of a plexiglas panel... Anyways, if anyone's got a better suggestion than that, fire away. :P

Alright, onto the dremelling. After some measuring and stencilling, I had the plans drawn onto the left panel:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31735.jpg

So after about 3 hours with the dremel, I had my window:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31742.jpg

Hmm.. got some pretty rough edges:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31746.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31747.jpg

Nothing my new file set won't fix :lick: :
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31755.jpg

All nice and filed:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31748.jpg

And let's check the edges... Ouch! alright, definitely not smooth...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31752.jpg
Hmmm... Gotta figure out how to get those edges smoother. The files got out the rough spots on the straight edges but on the curves, it just didn't work. I'll have to try out the grinding attachment on my dremel next time.

Alright, that's all I got for now. Tomorrow, I should be bondoing a couple of spots where the dremel got away from me...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31744.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31745.jpg

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about the holes in the sides yet... or the little nook thing in the side. It'll be a heck of a lot of work trying to bondo in all those little holes... But it'll look a whole lot nicer too... hmmm... choices, choices. Well, any advice would be appreciated.. Thanks, guys!

[Drum Thumper]

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about the holes in the sides yet... or the little nook thing in the side. It'll be a heck of a lot of work trying to bondo in all those little holes... But it'll look a whole lot nicer too... hmmm... choices, choices. Well, any advice would be appreciated.. Thanks, guys!

You're on the right track with the bondo idea--you might also consider getting a sheet of plexi in yellow (keeping with the Sun Devil color scheme) and putting it behind the vent holes.

And as for the two spots where the dremel got away from you--they don't look too deep, so I would recommend some high fill sandable primer..which is a really excellent replacement for the ever elusive spray putty here in the States.

[Remexx]

Don't worry to much about your window hole being perfectly smooth, just get it close and get some of the window lining (black flexible rubber). Seals off the window nicely.

[Tarenmor]

I'm not a fan of sports personally. But this is the sort of case I can sink my teeth in to. From what I've seen on other mods, the bondo on the holes on your left would be great. Those holes would give it some nice grip. Another thing you might want to consider. If you're going to be using air cooling. Why not cut out two holes for two 80mm fans. Then when you buy them, make sure they're the appropriate colours. Maroon and yellow. :) It'll deal with most of the holes, tie into the case, and add to your cooling. Although. If you want to use liquid cooling... cut out a rectangle, get one of those long tubes of acrylic. Put a peice of acrilic in the middle as a seperator, and have a light behind each side, one maroon and one yellow to light up the water in each side.

Just some thoughts. =D I can't wait till your next update!

[sun|D)eviltopher]

Alright, sorry it's been so long without a post. Getting close to finals time at school and it's making it hard to find time for myself. :dead: So I did some a lot of thinking and ended up deciding to bondo in the little holes on the side. I did that and after some sanding, it looks great. nice and smooth.. but on a negative note, my design hit a huge snag last night... I assembled the case just to see how the window hole looked in place and... well, in a huge oversight on my part, I realized that I had planned the window on the wrong side. GRR. I was so mad, i pretty much couldn't see straight. SOOO... Basically most of the plans I had for the case went out the window, so to speak. Funny how after all the planning I did, I still managed a grossly obvious error like that, lol. Well, after sleeping on it, I have a few new plans for the case. Firstly, the triangle shaped window is out. I'm gonna have to cut out the rest of that side to make it a rounded square shape. It'll still look nice, but maybe not as sleek as it would have, and not to mention it's gonna set me back another days worth with the dremel. :banghead: Anyways, on a different note, i got a couple of coats of primer on the inside of the case. I'm gonna paint the bones of the case maroon. I don't have a rivet gun and I don't really want to take the case apart so I'm just painting it the way it is, i think... I might go check out some rivet guns at the hardware store on my way home... we'll see. Anyways, sorry I don't have any pictures. I was too frustrated to take any last night, haha. But I promise i'll have a big update today or tomorrow with pictures. :P If i find a reasonably priced rivet gun, i'll take the bones apart, apply another couple of coats of primer, and paint probably tomorrow. Anyways, thanks for all your help, guys. Your tips have been really helpful for a newbie modder. :)

[Remexx]

Messing up happens to the best of us. Not sure if your case does this or not, but I've come across a few cases where the side panels could actually be swapped with one another, your triangle would then be kind of upside down but it would be on the right side.

Don't worry about finals they are completly overrated, trust me. I'm already in Grad School.

Rivet Guns are pretty cheap if you find the right supplier. I've seen them in the 5 dollar range.

[sun|D)eviltopher]

Yeah, Remexx, I'm lucky and got one of the cases that you can swap out the sides. :) So, to remedy the upside down triangle problem, I decided to cut out a square instead of my original plan for a triangle. But before that, I got the panels bondoed, so i'll put up a couple pics of that:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31759.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31756.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31757.jpg

Alright, now that that's done, here I drew the new plans for the window into the side before getting the dremel out:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31766.jpg

So after a little bit of quick work with the dremel, I had my modified window for the case cut out:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31767.jpg

I don't think it looks bad now that it's cut out... The triangle probably would have looked a little sleeker because the paint stripe that I had going along the window... but this allows for a bigger view of the inside of the case. So I'm not disappointed. :)

So I haven't showed you the paint I'm using yet... They sure ain't no $12 cans of paint, but they aren't walmart 98 cent special either. ;) I think they'll do the trick for an amatuer newb mod.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31768.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31763.jpg

Alright, so I also got 2 coats of primer down on the bones, sanded and ready for paint:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31760.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31769.jpg

And finally I got a couple of coats of paint down on it. I ran out of paint about halfway through the second coat on the backside though... meh.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31770.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31771.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31772.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31773.jpg

Had to run out and and grab a few more cans of paint and was out of time by the time I got back... Paint doesn't go as far as I had expected it to. :? Alwell. I think i'll get the rest of that finished this afternoon.

And finally, here's a pic of the decal I plan to put on the other side of the case:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/ASU%20Mod/SNV31775.jpg

I think it looks pretty awesome and it suits the case perfectly. :devcool:

Okay, that's all I got for now. I might put a couple more hours in tonight and finish bondoing the sides.. We'll see. Just let me know if I'm doing anything really dumb or alarming. :)

[Remexx]

Great job man, way to over come them hills. Also glad to see you put the primer coats down first, seen to many paint jobs where people just skip it.

[vastonecat]

Great job man, way to over come them hills. Also glad to see you put the primer coats down first, seen to many paint jobs where people just skip it.

Aaaaand that would be me with My Black box. I used krylon fusion and it went on really nice but it isn't adhering to the case as well as I would like. ( chips away a bit.).

On another note I noticed where you wanted to know how to get rid of the burrs on your edges. I'm not sure which dremel bit to use but a set of jewelers files works wonders without any trouble at all. just wipe it along the edge a couple of times at different angles and you should have a nicely rounded edge without burrs. just so you know for your next mod. :D

[sun|D)eviltopher]

Alright, I'm finally back after a very long holiday from modding. Sorry it's been so long without a post! I was very absorbed with my finals for the last couple weeks of school and took a trip to california immediately afterwards and was working full-time as soon as I got back. I didn't have much free time after that and even if I did... It's summer now and I just can't bring myself to work on my mod in my garage midsummer in Phoenix, lol. It's already topping 120 degrees out here!!! :dead: but... i've still managed to eek out an hour here and an hour there.. nothing absolutely substantial, but it's added up so now it's time for another post. :)

Okay, firstly. I bought a whole buncha stuff for my mod. Fans, plexi, window molding, leds, tubing and buttons, among smaller things. It all looks awesome!

I got this fan from Fry's Electronics for the front of the case. It's a 120mm red led fan intended to be an intake. Should look awesome later on. :)
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwMzQuanBn.jpg

Also got some black lian li replacement power/reset buttons...
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/images/products/PC6XB-Power_01.jpg
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/images/products/PC6XB-Reset_01.jpg

and an LED strip from performance-pcs.com.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/images/products/FlexLight-RD_01.jpg

okay, on to the work I've done... first, I decided to paint the case feet. Half, I did yellow and the other half maroon.
Before...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwMzYuanBn.jpg

and after.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwNDEuanBn.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwNDIuanBn.jpg

Yeah, I almost exploded a paint can in the process, by the way. I heard (from this site!) that it's a good idea to soak your paint cans in hot water for 10 minutes before you start painting... so I did that and after I started shaking the can, the bottom bubbled out.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwNDUuanBn.jpg
GEEZ. okay, so i won't be using HOT water any more. I don't know what the importance of soaking the can in hot water is, but i doubt it's worth drenching my garage in bright yellow paint and possibly being severly injured by metal shrapnel, heh.
Anyways, I FINALLY got the windowed panel painted and it looks AWESOME. Here's a couple pics:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwNDAuanBn.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwNDMuanBn.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwNDcuanBn.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm145/sundeviltopher/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAwNTQuanBn.jpg
okay, the pics didn't turn out that great. i'll get some better ones posted later... I also started drilling out the hole for my new power and reset buttons... Didn't upload the pics for that though. That's pretty much all I have for now. I wanna do some more work on this this week.. We'll see if it cools down at all... I will say that if the high doesn't go down below 110 degrees this week, i probably won't do much of anything, lol. Alwell, slow and steady, as they say. Leave me comments if you could! :) thanks!

[ShadowNyfe]

the point of soaking it in warm water is to get a more even paint spray when you paint something. If it's already 110 out though, don't know if that's necessary hahaha.