"Industrial Trauma"

[fourthgeek]

My idea is pretty simple, but I haven't seen anything like it done before.

First off is the design. LCD Monitor will be mounted onto the side of the case, making it one unit. Not sure if I should mount it on the same side that the motherboard is on, or on the side that unscrews to get inside the machine. The front and back (cds/powerbutton and ports) will have hinged covers that fold out. On those foldout covers, the speakers will be mounted.

I'm also considering adding a "garage door" that pulls over the monitor to protect it during transport.

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/8092/industrialtrauma0zy.jpg

Obviously, I also intend to do this in a rusty/damaged/melted industrial gunmetal style.

It's quite an undertaking, and would be my first mod. I'm also a bit on the moneyless quadrant.

Ideas? Has this been successfully done before?

[Sh0ck]

Looks similiar to this mod: LINK (http://images.gruntville.com/casegallery/In-the-beginning-of-LANClear)
Would be different with the distressed style.

[fourthgeek]

Well, I've started work on it. First off is modifying the mouse. Here is what I did for step one:
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/3203/hpim01921yn.jpg
Eh?

It's pretty cool, actually. Gets a little bit better grip when scrolling.

[chris_kalan]

Must say, with a little touchup, that mouse has pretty good potential. What is that acting as the scroll wheel??

[fourthgeek]

I took apart a scanner, and among the remains were several different sized gears. One of them was almost exactly the same size as my scroll wheel and, considering the industrial theme, seemed perfect.

First I opened up the mouse and removed the rubber "cap" from around the mouse wheel, exposing it's plastic core. Then I bored/melted the center out of the gear with a boxcutter and woodburning tool. The gear was a bit too large, so i cut off a small arc and melted it together to the proper size, then melted that onto the scroll wheel core. I then bored a little around the mouse buttons for the extra space, and voila.

And yes, it's unfinished. I'm planning to repaint the mouse and do a bit of kitbashing, or something like that, to give it a more industrial theme. I'm thinking something reminiscent of a combustion engine, though obviously modified for ergonomics.

[Varock]

This mod reminds me of my first laptop. The Texas Instruments Portable Professional... size of a large briefcase.small luggage. The Keyboard attached to the front, over the 5" Green CRT and dual 5 1/4" floppies. On the top was a pop-open compartment that held the keyboard cord and power cord. Speaker was mounted on the side, and a large handle. It ran on DOS 2 and I had Lotus 1-2-3 version 1.0. It didn't have a mouse.

I like the mouse mod.

[Aero]

This mod reminds me of my first laptop. The Texas Instruments Portable Professional... size of a large briefcase.small luggage. The Keyboard attached to the front, over the 5" Green CRT and dual 5 1/4" floppies. On the top was a pop-open compartment that held the keyboard cord and power cord. Speaker was mounted on the side, and a large handle. It ran on DOS 2 and I had Lotus 1-2-3 version 1.0. It didn't have a mouse.

I like the mouse mod.


that computers sounds sexy.



and good luck with the mod, I like seeing everything in one box, I love portability and functionality, looks good keep it coming.

[tybrenis]

I like the idea of the gear on the mouse, it'd be cool to see it painted and kitbashed a bit. Make sure to check out Crimson Sky's tutorial on modding a mouse here: http://thebestcasescenario.com/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=8