PROJECT: Lobo

[slaveofconvention]

I've been working on this for a couple of weeks now and have been posting a log on Modders-inc in accordance with tech-daddys wishes but figured it was time to share it here too. K-9-PC is on hold for about a week, maybe two for financial and space reasons - but it will resume very soon - for now though I'm doing this build with little more than I have lying around - I think the perspex and leds will be the only things I buy for this mod....


http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/ProjectHeader.png

The Lobo Wolves “Canis Lupus Nubilus” – derived their name from a word in the Blackfoot Indian language meaning “Buffalo Wolf”, which, when spoken aloud, sounded like the word “lobo”. They were also known as the Buffalo gray, or Loafer wolf, and followed the migration of the buffalo herds throughout the Rocky Mountains, from northern Canada to New Mexico. A large lobo wolf could weigh as much as 100 pounds and had a life span of about 20 years. They were described as the consummation of absolute savagery, and had seldom been tamed.
- Source : Bradford Landmark Society (http://www.bradfordlandmark.org/index.php?The%20Lobo%20Wolves)

I have always much admired Lupine, by Tech-daddy (which I watched step by step as it was built on another forum) and have long considered "cloning" it so I'd have one and after much thought I decided to go ahead and do it. I'm not a thief or a plagiarist, so my first stop was TD himself, asking his permission to copy his creation, albeit with a twist. TD was kind enough not only to agree to it, but to wish me the best.

NOTE TO ALL: Before anyone starts calling me copycat, I am doing this with Tech-daddys 100% knowledge and approval (well he approves now - might change his mind if I make a mess of it LOL)

I spent several days after that trying to come up with a name for the project - calling it Lupine, or LupineII just felt wrong - and as I had so many plans to make something different to, but partially inspired by Lupine, a tribute to felt like it would be selling the project short.

So I went hunting on google for something, anything original and appropriate and after a few days of that, I gave up and asked the wife.... She turned and said "Lobo" instantly. When I asked her why, she explained about the Lobo wolves of Kane - where she lived until I imported her to the UK about 3 years ago - and so the name stuck - it has direct relevance to the Wolf itself, adds the personal touch as it relates to the wife's hometown, and also there's a little nod in there to TD too, as Lupine was a project originally started for his wife.

Enough story - pics.....

This is the old PC I'm going to reinvent in this project. A Chieftec Dragon - remember those - they really were among, if not THE first of the true "enthusiast" cases...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/001.jpg

I actually started another project based on this but I've now shelved that permanently - and it was several years ago too so this has been sitting in a partially done state since way back then - it's time to get 'er done :p

The following are OLD pics of the original work done back in May 2006, some, if not all of which will be re-done or refinished, but I didn't want it to look like I'd gone from the case and made huge jumps without explanation so....

The following may be slightly out of chronological order but.... I'm sure you'll figure it out heh
Quick disassembly...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/002.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/003.jpg

Pull and strip the fan controller...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/004.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/005.jpg

Kill the badge hole on the door...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/006.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/007.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/008.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/009.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/010.jpg

Priming up the loose bits...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/011.jpg

Carefully masking the holes - I've had stuff NOT go back in after paint because of the thickness of the paint and don't want to do THAT again...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/012.jpg

Bit of colour of the loose parts...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/013.jpg

Quick scotchbrite and layer of colour on the front (already painted silver so no real need to re-prime it)
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/015.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/016.jpg

And finally, a quick coat of primer on the inside of the side panel which was not orginally being cut...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/017.jpg

Apologies for the flurry of posts but it's easier than re-typing it all - hope you guys understand and I'll keep this log up to date as the build progresses...

[slaveofconvention]

No more pics just yet - but I thought a little "to do" list of planned mod's would be a fairly good idea instead of just a bunch of 3 year old photos and a history lesson :p

I intend to:

1. Blatently copy Tech-Daddys window - it's my favourite part of Lupine and I can't think of any way to improve on it. The only real differences will be that I'm not going to have a laser etched wolf on mine, and the landscape/wolf will be slightly different - not because there's anything wrong with TD's - just because chances are we'll have used different graphics to build our outlines, and the cases are probably different sizes. I'm also considering having the wolf in the metal airbrushed in as a feature - will have to look into the cost of that as it is DEFINITELY way beyond my abilities....

2. Major airflow improvements. The Dragon case is from way back when the 80mm fan was king and a 2Ghz processor was off the charts powerful (I got the case from a friend after an upgrade to something quieter - pretty sure that upgrade was from a 1700xp to an Athlon 64 system). I don't know yet what'll be going into this case, hardware wise but if I'm happy with the end result and think the cooling will take it, I may well transplant my main rig into it (Q6700, 8GB DDR2 800, Radeon 4870 etc) - if not, I have a spare parts pile that fills a garage so I'll throw something around the 3Ghz mark into it so it's a complete system.

3. Vents on the front have GOT to go - I never liked them - thinking about replacing them with mesh maybe - same will probably apply to the middle of the upper front door to maintain the consistency.

4. Possible illuminated opaque (frosted maybe) window on either the other side or the top of the case.

5. I'm almost decided on the colour scheme - thinking a light gray/white combination in keeping with the lighter colouring of the Lobo wolves.

6. Whatever else springs to mind/is suggested. I like to very loosely plan my mods - I'm not one for having a 100% plan in place start to finish most of the time. I like them to evolve.

[slaveofconvention]

I've always been one for paying too much attention to the minor things - it's probably why a lot of what I start doesn't get finished unfortunately. This project, and another one I have in the works, K-9-PC are the start of the new me - I WILL finish them, and in a timely fashion - but I'm still going to pay attention to details.

So.... the opening panel has a plain black textured plastic lockable quick-release handle. I want it smooth and colour co-ordinated.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/018.jpg

Pull out the 80mm fan and grille and consign them to one of the parts baskets in my work-room..

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/019.jpg

And out with the handle...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/022.jpg

4 screws, one nut, and a little more force than I was truly comfortable with later...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/023.jpg

Quick sand with some 120 grit wet n dry (used dry)...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/024.jpg

A coat of el-cheapo aerosol primer...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/025.jpg

And another...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/026.jpg

And a final sand down...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/027.jpg

Now nice and smooth - they'll get another good sanding before being primed up properly with a high quality 2pack primer - for this project I'll be using Lechlers Green Ti Filler Primer. I only used the cheap aersol primer above to show me the high and low spots on the handle so I could get it really smooth. There are times when you're modding you need to save a little money with cheaper materials or tools - paint, in my opinion, is NOT a good one to choose....

Just thought I'd stick this up too - my interest in wolves isn't a new thing - this is my first ever tattoo - I got it about 7 years ago I think...... On my upper right arm....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/wolftattoo.jpg

[slaveofconvention]

This is the one part where you should all feel free to shout "COPYCAT" lol - it'll end up different, certainly, but for now, it'll appear to be a clone of Lupine's side panel....

First things first, made up a design for the bottom edge of the window...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/041.jpg

Then I drew a rectangle around the whole panel, using, of all things, a carpet strip (brass thing you put under a doorway to hide the join between carpets in two different rooms) to keep the distance from the edge equal on all four sides. Then I got a little inventive. I used a dremel cutting disk to draw the curve around the handle - worked wonderfully - if anyone here ever needs to follow a curved line, this is the way to go - I just put the tip of the pencil into the hole in the disk, pushed the edge of the disk up to the handle and started to draw, putting slight pressure towards the handle and the pencil/wheel just followed the line giving me a perfect curve which will be exactly the same distance from the handle all the way around it. Then I cut out the template and traced the edges.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/043.jpg

Then I went over it in black marker pen - pencil marks disappear far too easily in cutting disk/steel dust lol. There were some smudges but the lines were more than clear enough and the smudges were all on the part that was getting cut away so no problems there...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/021.jpg

Then I started to cut - first I did a rough cut around the wolf himself - last thing i wanted was pressure on that part of the window as I cut further and further around the outline...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/032.jpg

Then started on the long straights...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/031.jpg

Until finally the first rough cut was finished and the centre piece fell free...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/033.jpg

That's when I noticed the first of the rust - thats what happens when you leave a steel case in a garden shed for 3 plus years ...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/038.jpg

But not a problem - stuck a wire wheel into the dremel and it took it all off in seconds...

I can only apologise for some of the pics - I work a few shifts a week as a security guard and I took the side panel into work with me to work on between patrols - I have to do like, 10 mins work every hour - the other 50 mins are mine to do with as I please. This panel was being cut between about 7.30pm and 2am a couple of nights ago - as it got darker the quality of the pics fell - the halogen worklight either confused the camera so the flash didnt go off, or it didn't and the flash reflected off of the metallic silver paint currently on the panel. You can still see how I went, but expect better pics as the log progresses :p

[slaveofconvention]

OK so, busy 24 hours - where the hell do I start lol.

Bear with me, I just got in from a 12 hour shift, at least 9 of which was spent with some kind of power tool or file in my hand....

Last night - went shopping - looking for some kind of mesh without paying fortunes for "proper" mesh - was thinking waste paper bins, maybe pizza trays - things like that. After 4 stops with no joy, I ended up in IKEA where I bought....

A coffee table - box damaged and parts possibly missing (like I cared lol) for the grand sum of £2.50 (about $4)...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/048.jpg

And some handles (for K-9-PC - I'm currently only listing this project on a different forum but I'll shift it here when the sheet metal company gets their fingers out of their asses and gets me a damned price - can't do a thing till then anyway)

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/049.jpg

And while I'm on the subject of buying stuff - before work this morning I stopped for this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/055.jpg

and when I got home tonight, these had arrived...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/078.jpg
50x 3mm 3.5v 10,000mcd white LED's - decided I don't want lots of colour in this case...
Credit to LED Depot (http://www.led-depot.co.uk) in the UK - I only paid for these yesterday (I think) thursday at the earliest - nice quick despatch and good bulk prices - I never buy just what I need when it comes to LED's - I have trays of them in a whole range of colours/sizes now.

I mentioned earlier that I want to replace the 80mm fans in the front of this with 120's - easier said than done, I assure you! It SHOULD fit, in theory...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/044.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/045.jpg

but not without some big changes so last night, I went into the garden and made a start on cutting that ugleeee vent out of the front of the plastic front panel and MAN what a nightmare - it was so thick, and the way it was constructed, it was taking about 6 different cuts with a dremel cut-off wheel to get EACH ONE out - took the best part of an hour just to get it from this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/046.jpg

to this....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/053.jpg

and then at work today, I pushed on and got it tidied up a lot - ended up using a utility knife to carve out the debris as both the cutting wheel and sanding cylinder on the dremel clone just melted stuff and made more mess, and I couldn't get in with a file coarse enough to get the job done in less than a week!

I also started cutting out the door centre...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/051.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/052.jpg

I decided not to cut the whole door centre out so it'd retain most of it's strength.

and again tidied it up at work today. A little additional sanding and shaping and I ended up with this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/066.jpg

This really is the worst kind of modding, because I really don't know 100% what I'm doing with this front panel - I just went at it with a couple of vague ideas. NOW I think I've decided to put mesh in both holes, with the two 120mm fans behind the bottom half and a piece of frosted perspex, illuminated with some of these white LED's in the top. This is assuming I can get the 120's in, there are structural issues with the case I have to take into account....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/075.jpg

See the two little bits sticking into the case, attached to the front panel under the 5.25" bays? Those are the mounts for the 3.5" bays and they CANNOT BE MOVED - the bays lock in both top and bottom so the position appears to be set. This means I can't just cut a hole in the front to make the 120mm fans fit - I'm basically hoping like hell there's enough clearance between that metal front and the back of the plastic for them to go there - if there is, I'll cut away as much metal as possible to improve airflow without taking out the drive bay mounts.

More to come - my dinner is ready lol - I'll post a load more pics in the next hour(ish)

for now though.... my wolf - I'm SO happy with this lol

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/064.jpg

[slaveofconvention]

Right, where was I?

The mesh coffee table - had a bit of a slice-up of that just to see how it'd be to cut, and what the mesh would be like once free from the frame...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/067.jpg

I thought it was really easy to cut but there was actually more resistance than I realised - it cut really quickly but I soon noticed the cutting wheel shrinking really quickly - a sign you're going to fast. So I did it again, and again, knowing I'd need some small disks for the detail work around the wolf, speaking of which....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/061.jpg

You can't really tell from the pic, but those lines are straight as an arrow and the corners are nice and smooth - I filed all of the edges and then sanded them with dry 180grit wet n dry to get a really smooth tidy finish on them - I swear you couldn't cut yourself anywhere in that window if you tried!

When it came to carving out the details, especially around the wolf, I decided to try something a little different - one of the mandrels I have for cut-off wheels has an unusually long screw, so I put 3 disks in at once and used that to grind away little bits at a time - the additional width gave me a smoother cut and the disks reinforced each other so I didn't get a single shatter - a BIG improvement on the other night when I was smashing disks left, right and centre.

Then I started scrubbing off paint. First thing I had to do is pull out about 20 of these little things...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/057.jpg

They're little anti-vibration spring-clips I think - they only go on the side with the wolf window which also happens to be the side with the handle - I'm guessing they cut down on vibrations IF you only use the catch and no screws to hold the panel in place.

Then I started with the wire-wheel on the base...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/054.jpg

Which came out pretty nice, and relatively quick too - about 10 mins start to finish...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/058.jpg

Same with the top - a little quicker if anything...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/059.jpg

Then the un-cut side panel - which was a whole other story. I'd primed this panel up about 3 1/2 YEARS ago when I was kinda sorta half-heartedly doing a project with this case and the primer, over time had become pretty much bulletproof. After spending about twice as long as I'd spent on BOTH the top and bottom together, I'd only gotten this far...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/060.jpg

And to be honest I was worried about burning out the drill. Generally speaking, drills are designed for short bursts of activity - how long does it take to drill the average hole? This drill had been on, pretty much constantly for the best part of an hour and a half so I gave in and called someone to pick this up for me...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/068.jpg

After a couple of hours soaking into the primer (after the 20 mins the tin said, nothing had changed - the primer was that hard) I tried again and the rest came off much more easily, so I went ahead and VERY carefully did the wolf panel - last thing I wanted to do after the approx 15 hours I'd spent on it, was wreck it with the wire wheel.

End result...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/063.jpg

And all the nice paint-free panels lined up in a row... (this is the only clickable image in this post - while I'm trying to keep to a 300px width - 300 just wouldn't have done this pic justice)

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/065.jpg

After all that work the wire wheel was looking pretty shot...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/071.jpg

And the clamping bench I'm using as a work bench had a couple of war-wounds too...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/073.jpg

Finally - as it was getting seriously dark and I was about due to finish work for the day, I took on what may well have turned out to be the biggest challenge of the day - getting all my crap BACK into the car!!!

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/077.jpg

That's the biggest problem with me doing my modding at work - I never REALLY know which tools/parts/accessories I'm going to need so I have to take a LOT of gear just in case - I'd hate to be in just the right mood to push on and get a load of work done and then find myself stuck for want of "just that one thing".

Anyway - thanks for reading - final gratuitous shot of the wolf I'm probably WAY too proud of...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/064.jpg

For the record, I was worried that, once I cut out the gaps between his legs this part of the panel would be WAY too flimsy for comfort - as it happens, it's still really strong - says something about the quality and thickness of the steel these old tanks were made from... No wonder I've used probably 30-40 disks on this window alone!!!

And I bid thee all goodnight - until tomorrow - I have another 12 hour shift to fill

[slaveofconvention]

So that other 12 hour shift I was talking about - spent it cutting, bending, folding, and then throwing away piece after piece of mesh - total achievements for the day was cutting, sanding and badly frosting a single piece of perspex so no pics or progress to report.

On another note - my plan to put a pair of 120mm fans in the front is also fubar - I've shaved as much plastic as I can off of the front panel cover and there's still at least a 2mm excess so they just will not fit, full stop. I'm going to try removing the bottom drive bay support, which will drop me down to a single internal 3.5" bay then find a way to mount a Thermaltake iCage in the front
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/k9/icage.jpg
That'll give me back my 3 3.5" bays, and give me one of the two 120mm fans I wanted in the front. The whole case stands on feet with almost an inch of clearance from the floor, so I think I'm going to try putting the second 120mm in the base.

The front panel now has a HUGE hole in it for a single 120mm fan lol - so I'm also going to have to look into ways of filling that. I think the mesh idea is now dead in the water so I'm thinking about a perspex panel instead. I've already pretty much decided that's what I'm going to do in the door, if I can get it to curve nicely - so having something similar in the bottom (with a hole for the fan, obviously) should keep the consistency going and tidy it up nicely.

I've got my eye on this dark tinted perspex (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DARK-TINT-3MM-ACRYLIC-PERSPEX-PLASTIC-SHEET-500-X-500MM_W0QQitemZ130325532722QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_3?hash=item1e5801d032&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262) for the windows - the company will cut to size for me, and I'll then just fine-tune it - they've assured me the tint is all the way through, not just some kind of surface treatment so when they do the cuts, I'll ask them to send the off-cuts too so I can try frosting it to see how it'll look with a few of those white LED's fitted.

Anyone have any experience with putting multiple LED's on the LED headers on the motherboard - will it provide enough current to run say, 3 or 4 - might be kinda cool to have the bottom half of the panel glow for the POWER led and the top half flicker with HD activity - maybe using a different coloured LED for the HD activity so it's more obvious.....

Oh and I think I've decided to go with a darker paint colour - something like a highly metallic dark dark grey.... I'm fortunate in that I have access to a paint mixing scheme, and I have a compressor/paint gun setup at home so I can make it exactly what I want instead of being stuck looking at aersols and hoping to find something close enough...

Now, these damned front fans - I'm not giving up on this lol - I want them in the front - I don't want to end up putting one in the floor of the case because that'll reduce the airflow which will, in turn, make me think twice about putting my main rig into this case...

As for the drivebays - drilling out the rivets isn't really the problem - the 3.5" bays are in caddies of 3 - the top one holds 2 external, 1 internal and the bottom one holds 3 internal.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/083.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/086.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/087.jpg

The way the caddies lock into the bays is made up of two parts - the bottom tray which is there to hold the weight and a small pin in the top which is what the catch on the top of the caddy locks into.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/084.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/085.jpg

While I could quite easily move them back en masse into the case to give me a little space, those pins which lock them in place can't be removed so I'd end up with them not locked in - not an ideal situation.

I took out one of the trays by removing the 3 rivets and giving it a bit of a wiggle, then placed the two 120mm fans in there to see if it'd fit...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/089.jpg

And nope - still a good overhang at the bottom of the case which just aint gonna work, so I took out the second tray and tried again...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/091.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/093.jpg

And presto - they fit - nicely too. Leaving just one pretty big problem. I'm not bothered about losing the bottom 3 hard disk bays - as I mentioned earlier, I have an iCage or two lying around which I can put in to replace them but, I still need that top caddy for the external 3.5" bays - I THINK I may have lost all of the damned bay covers over the last few years so I might well have to find a way to fill all 6 external bays - not too difficult as I'm already using a DVD burner and two different hard disk caddies in 5.25" bays in this PC - a fan controller can fill the 4th 5.25 - and I have a 3.5" card reader too, so I can just throw in a totally pointless floppy to fill the last one.

So I need to find a way to re-fit that upper shelf in such a way that it'll still allow the 120mm fan - as I'm not concerned about losing the bottom of the 3 3.5" bays in the upper caddy (I'll have room for 3 HD's in the iCage) I thought about cutting the front inch out of the shelf then reattaching it around the fan - I can easily do this with one of the 3 original rivets and one of the two original metal clips - just not too sure how strong it'll end up with 3 or the 5 original anchor points removed. I tried bending the shelf straight to see if I could get it to reach around the fan

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/092.jpg

But it still won't reach around the fan.

On top of this there are a LOT of holes in that front panel for old fittings, vents, front panel connectors etc so it's going to be almost impossible to get the fans screwed in securely in exactly the right spots so I'm now considering cutting most of that front panel out and replacing it with a piece of new sheet steel - at least then I'll be able to cut the holes I want exactly where I want them instead of trying to find ways to use/avoid the existing ones.

There is turning out to be a lot more fabrication than I expected on this - a lot more than I've ever done before - here's hoping I'm up to the challenge :?

[slaveofconvention]

Ok, so I might be about to bite off massively more than I can chew here - but I'm seriously thinking about trying to make this as a fan grille for a 120mm top exhaust.... I'd probably back it with mesh for stability and safety....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/fangrille.gif

Argh - slight design problem - in that image, the ring needs to be thicker to allow it to 1) perfectly follow the circle of the fan blades on the inner diameter, and 2 be wide enough to allow for fan screws without having to have tabs. The problem I've just spotted (which should probably have been more obvious, is that roughly half of the wolves will be illuminated with the fan, while the other half will sit on the case and be whatever colour I end up painting the thing - not the look I was hoping for. If I make it small enough so the whole of the wolves are over the fan, i cut off about 60% of the airflow - if I move the wolves out so they're on the outside of the ring - the grille will be too wide for the case.... If i get some really thin perspex and make the wolves solid with frosted perspex, again I kill a lot of the airflow....

As it stands, I think it'll look something like this - please excuse the down n dirty 3 minute photobodge....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/Image5.jpg

I got me some thinkin to do....

... and a day later lol - I'm tryin to combine some of the posts from M-I to avoid daft numbers of posts here to get you guys up to date ...

I'm thinking lower airflow on this fan WON'T be a bad thing. The case is going to have 2x120mm intakes on the front, a 120mm exhaust in the rear and a 120mm exhaust in the top. The PSU also acts as an exhaust so I'll still have more than enough exhaust with the top fan blocked about 30%.

The idea (for now lol) is to get a sheet of clear perspex and shape it so it follows the outside line perfectly, possibly with an angled bevel, and follows the inside just to the edges of the wolves. If I frost it, it should light up relatively evenly just with light from the fan - it'll raise the fan grille itself the thickness of the perspex which will give it a nice 3-d effect. If I use thick enough perspex - say 5-6mm, I could even light it with dedicated LEDs if the fan LEDs dont give off enough light to make it glow properly.... Or I could use the dark tinted perspex I'm already planning on buying to stay with the theme and give the light a greyish effect - stop it being too in-your-face....

Erm... another fairly quick n dirty image editing session and this might give you SOME idea what I mean - if you can imagine the grey as metallic lol - and the solid white as the glow you get from illuminated frosted perspex....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/mockup2.jpg

I'm still not sure about the dark grey - something in me is pulling me towards the tan colour - the closest thing I can think of would be the base colour used on Overhaulin's CNN hummer - I'm already pretty much decided that if I go with the dark grey, I'll polish the hell out of this grille, and if I go with the tan, then I'll make it black to give lots of contrast and a good breakup between the outer colour and the frosted acrylic....

I also noticed with this mockup that it's possible the lobo lettering will be less clear because of the core of the fan, so I added some colour to it - not sure what colour in the final version but for now, the red stands out so you can see my point...

[slaveofconvention]

From Yesterday:.....

Little update today unfortunately. I had so many plans to get so much done and, well pffft. lol

I mentioned before that one of the problems with modding at work is forgetting the one bit you need....

Well I forgot - 6.....

I managed to come to work, with the intention of getting on with this fan grille without....

Flat file
Round file
Angle file
Clamps for the clamping bench (x2)
The case itself...

So I decided to get on with it, with a little (hopefully) educated guesswork as I couldn't double-check the measurements.

Remember this?...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/33.jpg

Well here's the piece of metal that came out of that panel...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/097.jpg

Started off by drawing up some guidelines for the overall size of the grille and the screw-holes...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/098.jpg

Then I drilled out the 4 holes and placed the paper template wolves in place around them...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/099.jpg

Sketched in the outlines of the wolves and used a black marker to colour in the initial cuts - the outer rim and the centre cut. I've already decided to drop the word Lobo from the grille because I don't think it'd have enough strength - it doesn't really matter how thin the metal is on the wolves as they're getting backed in perspex...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/100.jpg

And then the first outer cut - keeping it relatively close to the final image to reduce the amount of filing to do, but far enough so there's definitely some black all the way around...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/101.jpg

And unfortunately, that's as far as I got - I needed the clamps at this point to hold the metal still while I filed it - and I don't have the files either. I would also prefer to have it clamped in place before I start drilling in the middle for that cut so again, stuck for now...

Tonight when I get in from work, I'm going to properly load the car instead of a mad 5-minute throw in the usual suspects....

More tomorrow though - as long as the weather behaves itself...

I don't know quite where the thought came from, but I now have to add pearl white to the list of possible colours for the overall case. I think it'd look really sharp - pearl white against the dark tinted plexi - but I'm not sure it really carries the wolf theme along. Tech daddy used purple because it was his wife's favourite colour but as I'm doing this just from the wolf angle, I'm kinda stuck on the colour. It isn't a huge deal yet - still lots of prep to do before any paint touches it. The interior is going to be all black, that much I have decided on....

[slaveofconvention]

And today.... (almost up to date lol - sorry again for the flood of posts.....)

So yesterday I made a comment ....


More tomorrow though - as long as the weather behaves itself...

Yeah well, should have kept my big mouth shut lol

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/102.jpg

But, before the skies opened, I did get some stuff done, and hopefully it'll stop in time for me to do some more before it gets too dark...

After yesterdays debacle, I felt the need to actually start and finish something today. I've been thinking about the wolf in the cutout and IF I go with the dark grey paint, and dark grey tint, it's not going to stand out very well. One solution which I decided to set up today, would be some kind of halo around it. I started with a spare piece of perspex with the outline of the wolf traced into it...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/103.jpg

Then tried my first ever score n snap perspex cutting attempt...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/104.jpg

Which worked, close enough anyway - you can see where the line didn't follow all the way to the very edge but fortunately the bit where it went off-line isn't going to cause a problem. So a couple more snaps and...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/105.jpg

A quick and dirty rough cut around the shape...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/106.jpg

Followed by a slightly more careful one with needle files and 180grit wet n dry...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/107.jpg

Then half an hour or so of gentle sanding with some dry, then wet, wet n dry...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/108.jpg

And a quick idea of where it goes...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/109.jpg

The idea is that I'll illuminate this piece of perspex with two 3mm white LEDs (I already drilled the holes for them) and stick it to the back of the tinted perspex so while the tinted sheet will be totally continuous across the window, this will hopefully glow through and give the wolf a clear, but not too sharp, outer glow.

I also spent another couple of hours grinding, filing and sanding the outer cut of the fan grille...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/110.jpg

And another result I'm more than happy with. If this rain stops (well actually, it seems to be stopping now) and stays stopped, I'll do some drilling to make a start on the inner cut later, or possibly tomorrow - it's a 3 day weekend here in the UK, which means 3 12 hour shifts for me instead of the usual 2....

Fingers crossed for the weather!!!!

[slaveofconvention]

Hmm - just stuck a couple of LED's in it, 3.5v and they didnt seem THAT bright - saying that, they were running off of 3v bios batteries - going to have to wire up a 3.5 or 7v source and see if i need to think about a third led in there or not....

In the meantime, have painted the back and edges of the perspex black - I don't want light from this leaking into the case if I can avoid it - I want to try to minimise internal light so the moon and wolf stand out as much as possible....

I just lit it up to show the wife and saw a strange but perfect line in it - it turned out that the line was caused by the paint seeping into a crack where I'd drilled the 3mm holes for the LEDs - I admit the hole wasn't very well centred - my bad but grrrr

The crack you can see here, labelled "1"
"2" is a deep scratch I'd decided I could live with because it would be below the line of the metal.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/111.jpg

The other thing that I'm not happy with is the bits where the tail, and to a lesser extent, the nose are...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/112.jpg

Those are pretty dark shadows and the light isn't carrying quite as well as I thought it would. I think I'll try a curved base next time and maybe as many as 4 or 6 LEDs - they're 3.5v so the wiring is a doddle - simply put two in series, wire them to both the red and yellow molex connector and bang on 7v. I can still put in parallel circuits to create any multiple of 2 LEDS using that very basic wiring...

Guess what's top of the list for tomorrow heh - I have some slightly thicker perspex here too but it's a LOT more brittle so I'm going to load the car with my breadboard, pins, some leds, the paint etc etc and a power source so I can hopefully do the whole thing from start to finish tomorrow - as it happens the weather forecast is pretty crappy but this is something i can do inside, well I probably shouldnt lol but I can....

I might even have a little experiment with some tinfoil on the edges - see if I can make the light reflect around even more - this is one of the very few times I wish I had some chrome paint but I have no intention of buying some for this tiny job....

Do-over!!!! lol

[Killa_Ape]

If you are going to use 4 LEDs you could try to put them on the 12V in series, won't be max brightness b/c they'd be 3v each but you could try it :\

Otherwise good job so far looking forward to more!

[slaveofconvention]

I'm just going to breadboard it initially and play with options till I find the best overall setup - I had them running at 3v at one point and there was a really noticable difference between the 3v and the 3.5v so I'm leaning towards the 3.5 - I have a drawer full of resistors here but no idea what rating they are - really need to sit down and sort that out one of these days lol

[Tech-Daddy]

love what you are doing here bro!
And reading your first post... if I said something to make you think you could only post on M-I, my apologies! I'm a post whore! Spread the word on this mod, it's turning out great!
You are doing exceptional work with it!
:))))


-=TD

[DonT-FeaR]

looking insane mate! really like it!

[billygoat333]

nice cuts! the wolf cut turned out exceptionally well! good patience :P

[slaveofconvention]

love what you are doing here bro!
And reading your first post... if I said something to make you think you could only post on M-I, my apologies! I'm a post whore! Spread the word on this mod, it's turning out great!
You are doing exceptional work with it!
:))))


-=TD

Not at all - I've never been one to post in multiple places but thought I might as well give it a go here too for a change - it's on Bit-tech too but it'll be my first n last log there I think - the site's just too big and top-heavy - I prefer the more sensible sized locations - more people you actually know, if that makes sense...

I'm not the kind of person to just stop posting somewhere mid-log but once this is done, I think BT n I will part ways :p

[Mark_Hardware]

Man, a lot of really nice work here! I really like what you've done, great job!

One thing;



This really is the worst kind of modding, because I really don't know 100% what I'm doing with this front panel - I just went at it with a couple of vague ideas.

You've never read my log, have you? :rolleyes:

[slaveofconvention]

LOL - well for what it's worth - I WASN'T sure at all, now I'm about 80% lol - mainly because my first two ideas bombed so I'm down to my backups :p

[Mark_Hardware]

haha still doing better than me, I think. Hey, I let the ideas come to me.

[slaveofconvention]

I found some more acrylic in the house which is a little bit thicker than the stuff I managed to screw up yesterday but it also seems, for lack of a better word, harder.. It snaps more easily, it seems clearer and not as flexible as the other sheet was, so before I spent hours carving another wolf out of it, I thought I'd give it a quick n easy test run...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/113.jpg

I snapped off a corner (the sheets are huge triangles - but I'm not complaining - I got them for nothing) and I'm pleased to say it didnt chip when filed and seemed to take a frosting fairly easily although, being hard, once it get a scratch it's almost impossible to get out so going to go extra easy on this stuff.

Drilled a couple of holes and wired it all up...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/114.jpg

And then made a little change..... (ooh mysterious)

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/115.jpg

Now it might just be me, but I think the second one looks brighter, more intense, both in the photograph and to the naked eye. Course it could just be that I WANT it to be brighter...

The difference...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/116.jpg

Superglued a strip of cooking foil to the edge. I'm a little concerned about how to protect it though - foil is ridiculously easy to tear - I'm hoping that if every single sqare mm is glued to the surface, it might not be so much of a problem. Also considering trying to get a couple of coats of paint on it when I paint the back which hopefully will give it a little something extra in the protection department.

With all this in mind - back to work - lets get this wolf carved....

[slaveofconvention]

Okiedoke - so the last few hours I've spent re-doing the perspex wolf with mixed levels of success - there's nothing WRONG per-se just a couple of things I think I can improve without starting over....

First of all - new sheet of perspex - as it happens, this stuff, as well as being a lot harder than the stuff I used yesterday, is clearer too - when side by side, there's an obvious green tint to the older one but doesn't really matter...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/117.jpg

Quicky traced out yesterdays wolf, and a larger curved bottom to allow room for more LEDs, then started to mask it off as I decided to try using a jigsaw today instead of the dremel or score/snap method...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/118.jpg

This is about as far as I had the guts to go with the jigsaw lol - I was getting some minor melting problems and didn't want them right up against the finished edge...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/119.jpg

Built a makeshift lathe/mill out of the available gear...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/120.jpg

I'm using this bit to carve the perspex - no idea what it's really for but it works nicely - doesn't clog like sandpaper barrels and doesnt melt as badly as cutting wheels...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/121.jpg

Turned out it was a real PITA to work it with it set up horizontally so after a lot of messing around finally got the flexishaft mounted vertically and pushed on until I had it all done - you can just about see the bit sticking up in the middle of the mass of shavings from the job...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/122.jpg

And after a VERY little sanding and filing (the dremelling left me with a very nice finish all on its own) I had this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/123.jpg

And my first thought was "BUNNY!!!!!!!!!" lol. Anyway it looked so nice it seemed a shame to actually take wet n dry to it to frost it, but that's what was needed - along with some holes in the edge to hold the LED's...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/124.jpg

Then I masked it up for paint...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/125.jpg

Followed by about 6 coats of black on the back. I also superglued the tin foil (several layers of it) to the edges. Once it was all dry/set/whatever, cleaned it up and did some quick wiring - 2 parallel sets of 2 LEDs in series and let there be light...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/126.jpg

And in the dark...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/127.jpg

And with the panel laid over the top of it...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/128.jpg

Unfortunately, it looks a LOT better in the photo's than it does IRL - I would like it brighter. Bearing in mind how bright the triangle was, I can only assume the black paint on the back is absorbing most of the light so I may have to look into an alternative - maybe a box or something so both sides of the perspex is available to carry the light in the frosting. The foil attached to the edges is obviously doing its job - you can see the reflected light quite clearly, but it isn't sticking THAT well and I'm not too confident with the idea of loose conductive material floating around in the case when it's all done so I'm going to look into some of that chrome paint I said I wouldn't buy - turns out I can get a tiny 150ml aerosol for less than £3.20 ($5) so might be worth a shot...

Like I said - nothing WRONG exactly, but not QUITE right yet....

I think I've had enough for one weekend - so gonna leave it there for now....

EDIT: It occurred to me that paint which has been on for a couple of hours is likely to be a LOT easier to remove than paint which has been allowed to cure for a week, so I carried on...

As for my theory that the black paint was absorbing the light, well....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/129.jpg

Hell yes it was - MUCH happier now hehe

[billygoat333]

looking really cool!

[gntlkilr]

W O W

[blueonblack]

Excellent work. +rep

[slaveofconvention]

Oh and I meant to point out, if it wasn't obvious, that I solved the problem with the shadows by 1) Softening the curves, especially around the tail and muzzle, and 2) Aiming the LEDs at the darker areas by mounting them on a curve instead of a straight edge...

Thanks for comments guys...

[DonT-FeaR]

looking good mate~!!!1

[SXRguyinMA]

looks awesome! I actually like the lower light in the firt pic before you removed the paint. looks like a shadowy moon kinda lighting. still looks amazing though. nice work!!!

[slaveofconvention]

Problem is, it isn't as bright as that when you actually look at it - it's enhanced by the long exposure the camera defaults to when taking pics in the dark with the flash forced off... as I'm planning on having it behind tinted perspex too, I really think it'd become totally invisible... I may look into other ways of darkening it down if I think it's overpowering - I can always give it a light dustcoat of paint to tint it etc

[rendermandan]

Looks good so far.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

The paint on the back of the plexi wolf-illuminator was to keep light from entering the case, right? Am I guessing correctly that you're going to paint the back with chrome paint as well as the edges, then? It's worth wrapping all but the visible side with new tinfoil, I'd think, to get a rough idea of how it would look.

Anyway, I love the attention to detail so far. Keep experimenting! +rep

[slaveofconvention]

Yes it was to prevent leakage of the light into the case - I'm considering my options on that now. I don't want to use tinfoil permanently because it didnt stick well enough for me to be 100% sure it won't end up loose. I may try the tinfoil temporarily as you suggested or chrome paint first, if not, maybe some shiny black plastic...

[slaveofconvention]

Well I warned ya this would get updated in chunks as I'm only really working on it weekends - here's the latest batch... Not a lot new unfortunately, mainly do-overs and improvements but it's an update :p

First of all - the wolf illumination.
I want to have him well lit, and I also want to minimise or even totally eradicate light leaking into the case. As the black paint on the back of the wolf killed it almost completely, I decided to try something else. I painted a piece of scrap metal and gave it a quick wetsand and polish. The placed that directly behind the perspex - there's no gap at all between the two and...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/130.jpg

MUCH better - I'm happy with that. Some people may think it's too bright but bear in mind, it'll be going behind tinted perspex so that'll tone it down some. I also noticed some really fine cracks appearing in the bottom of the wolf - I'm assuming thats caused by heat and expansion in the LEDs - I don't think they'll ever turn into anything structural, but when it comes to be time for final assembly, I'm going to bore the holes out a little and hold the LED's in with a dot of hot glue - at the moment they're held in with nothing more than friction because the holes are exactly the same size as the lens of the LED. The cracks are in the base so they're behind metal anyway - not re-making the wolf AGAIN unless I absolutely have to...

I went out and bought some of that dreaded chrome paint (after saying I wouldn't) and gave it a try. It's not going to be any good - while the dry surface of the paint is pretty reflective (its just a very shiny metallic silver) the paint is a very dull fairly dark grey on the back where it actually contacts the perspex. As this is the side which would be facing the light (assuming I painted the edges) this is another one for the "tried it but never mind" bin...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/131.jpg
Left hand image is the "air" surface, right hand is the behind perspex one. Note the huge bubbles lol - it was raining when I painted it but as it was purely a quick n dirty experiment I didn't really care...

I'm going to try to get my hands on some scrap automotive vehicle mirror privacy film next - I'm stubborn lol - I WILL find a solution....

Next, the fan grille (which I swear is going to be the end of me - again - stubborn so it WILL get done heh)

Every time I cut a fan hole, every single time, I manage to get the fan mounting holes slightly out of line - doesn't matter how carefully I mark them out, or how slowly I drill them - I don't have a drill press and the drill always manages to move JUST enough to make them wrong. This time was no exception but this time I was expecting it, so I drilled slightly smaller holes than needed. I put an existing fan grille over the top and marked the proper position for the holes...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/132.jpg

... and then filed them out so they're pretty much perfect now ...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/133.jpg

Then I decided to finalise the initial cuts on the fan... Quick recipe... take one of these...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/134.jpg

Add most of these...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/135.jpg

And a liberal helping of both elbow grease and time...

Grind gently with a wire wheel to remove paint and little metal burrs and...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/136.jpg

Looking awesome - REALLY happy with how that turned out...

I then lined the grille up on the top of the case, and used it to drill the fan screw holes in the top of the case - this also had the bonus effect of smoothing the holes in the grille to perfection - and I didn't take a photo lol - makes a change - I photograph everything else heh...

I also made a start on the perspex part of the grille which will be effectively the "meat" between the steel "bread". I want the edge on the inside to be as close as possible to the metal to minimise the blocked airflow but I'm thinking of letting the outer edge of the perspex protrude a little to give a similar halo effect to the wolf on the side panel.

Started off by taping just the outside of the grille to the perspex and tracing a line...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/139.jpg

Then taped the inside, took off the outer tape and using a well worn cut-off wheel as a guide, drew the outer line...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/141.jpg

And hey presto - one set of guidelines...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/142.jpg

So I set to work on the cutting and within 10 seconds - I snapped the cable inside the flexi-shaft of the dremel-clone - NOT happy....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/143.jpg

Fortunately, I had an old flexi-shaft in the toolbox from a long dead dremel-clone and while it was longer, the cable (after a little snip) worked so back to it and after about an hour of grinding, using the same bit as I used on the wolf I ended up with this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/144.jpg

With the grille over the top it looks like this (photo sucks - I'll get a better one soon)

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/145.jpg

At which point I gave up as it was getting SERIOUSLY dark. I tried to take a pic of the bench to show all the debris - this should give you some idea how dark it was when I was trying to accurately cut away the perspex *grin*

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/147.jpg

Anyway, thanks for reading - another week done - next I think it'll be tidying the perpex part of the grille up, cutting the blowhole in the top of the case and the non-transparent window in the motherboard side - not even sure I'm going to do that yet tho...

[DonT-FeaR]

i swear ive seen this b4... lol

looking good!

[slaveofconvention]

It's like deja vu n stuff huh? lol

On a side note - just gave the credit card a minor hammering - perspex sheets for Lobo, K-9 and my upcoming xbox mod are on the way, as are all of the LED's I'll need - hopefully, other than paint, I'm done with the money spending part of this project lol

Still need to buy something for K-9's frame but I'm putting that on hold for now as I don't have the space for multiple mods in pieces at once....

[DonT-FeaR]

sounds good i cant wait to see

[Datech]

http://thebestcasescenario.com/oneslowz28/front_page/worklog_notification.jpg

Check out your front page blurb here (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/frontpage/?q=node/375).

Grats man, great job so far!

[Oneslowz28]

Awesome Job man

[msmrx57]

Looking good.:up: That back light looks great. +Rep and congrats on the front page.:banana:

[slaveofconvention]

Well weather is looking positive this weekend so lots of modding potential while at work....

Only problem I have is that it's 3.33am as I type this and I start work at 10am - cannot get to sleep and I have to get up a little earlier to load the car with all the gear I need to mod...

Fingers crossed and ty for the congrats re: Front page...

[Mark_Hardware]

hey congrats man!

[slaveofconvention]

Aaaaaaand here we go again with the latest installment in this project...

I'm sure you all remember this - I made enough of a fuss about it....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/148.jpg

Well that bulge just behind the wolf was originally meant to be a tree, but no matter how much I've looked, I can't find a sensible image that I can 1) make work - not TOO intricate and 2) won't look like a cartoon christmas tree - so I decided to get rid of it altogether.

I've also noticed that the metal is starting to discolour since I stripped it down, so I thought a coat of primer, even if it's going to be replaced at some point with better primer, might seal it and stop that problem. I wasn't planning on painting at work so I didn't bring in my masking paper, so had to make a big patchwork out of kitchen towels lol

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/149.jpg

And the wolf panel with the tree bulge removed, the edge filed and sanded to the same standard as the rest of the edges...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/150.jpg

And a light coat of grey aerosol primer

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/151.jpg

And then a heavier second coat - this aerosol primer does have one BIG advantage - it's touch dry within seconds of hitting the metal and overpaintable inside 2 minutes (well it was today - out in the direct sunlight with a nice gentle breeze going)

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/152.jpg

And a quick light coat on the reverse too

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/156.jpg

Bottom panel gets the same treatment - from this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/157.jpg

To this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/158.jpg

Then the top panel - which wasn't actually ready for paint - need to finish that top blowhole first. Thought I'd try a different method I've seen used to make this blowhole. Started drilling holes as near to the marked edge as I dared...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/159.jpg

Then the dremel-clone to take out the centre...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/160.jpg

And then a LOT of filing and a little sanding...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/161.jpg

My advice - DON'T do it this way unless you have NO other option. It took longer, was more hassle, and left a lot more filing and finishing afterwards - I'm sticking with holesaw when I have access to one or the dremel/file method.

Another problem with the drilling method (although it's arguable that it was a problem with MY control) is twice the drill dropped in before I thought it would and damaged the panel - only really deep scratches, not big dents but still enough for me to want to put them right... Because the filler I had with me takes a while to dry, I primed it up first, then dotted in the two damaged areas..

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/162.jpg

And now for the final big cut. I've been 50/50 on putting something in the opposite side panel to the big window - finally decided to go for it and after looking at dozens of different wolves and outlines, decided "Hell, I really like the wolf I already have, I'll just make it bigger!" Going to back it with perspex, probably illuminated but not see-thru at all - that'll still leave me space between the perspex and the mobo tray to hide some cabling...

Cut out a template I printed off this morning before I left for work...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/153.jpg

And used a dinner plate to make a nice even circle - centred exactly between the two edges, and exactly between the bottom of the case and the point where the motherboard tray stops inside the case

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/154.jpg

Traced the plate and the wolf and came up with this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/155.jpg

An hour or so of this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/163.jpg
Sparkly!!! lol
Anyway - here's the panel with the first cut made - the initial rough cut...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/164.jpg

At this point, I looked up and saw this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/165.jpg

And realised that it was time to call it a day.. until tomorrow - the weather forecast is looking good - but I think I might be out of primer - will check at home. I have load of "proper" primer but that means carrying a hell of a lot of extra gear - primer, activator, thinners, mixing cup, mixing stick, waste tin etc and that's a little too much hassle for work - plus it's real dusty here at work and while the aerosol primer dries fast enough for the dust not to be an issue, the high quality primer doesn't.

There'll be more tomorrow, I'm sure...

[DonT-FeaR]

looking awesome~!

[billygoat333]

sweet work man, looking great! love the action shot of the dremel!

[Mark_Hardware]

damn man a bit overdressed for modding, arent you? Half the time I work in my underwear- I mean shorts.

[slaveofconvention]

I do most of my modding when I'm at work - I work security on the weekends - there's kinda a uniform requirement :p

[OvRiDe]

Very nice work!


damn man a bit overdressed for modding, arent you?

I was thinking the same thing when I saw that picture. It made me think.. He's the gentlemen modder. :D

[slaveofconvention]

One day I'll get my tie caught in the dremel and you'll be calling me the ghost of modding past :D

[FuzzyPlushroom]

damn man a bit overdressed for modding, arent you? Half the time I work in my underwear- I mean shorts.

I tend to wear trousers at a minimum, and usually a T-shirt. Hot sparks are fine on my arms/hands, but not on my stomach/thighs/junk.

Anyway, great Dremel shot. Gotta love those, especially with your work uniform.

That opposite side window is spot on. Can't wait to see it filed out and lit from behind.

[slaveofconvention]

Filed out I can do, illuminated from behind - that'll be a while yet - waiting for the plexi, for one thing, and I want the case fully painted before the windows go in to make the painting easier - I'm planning on permanently attaching the plexi with some kind of glue/bond so there are no visible fixings so it'll be one of the last things done...

Anyway.....

And it's sunday and time for a little more....

I have to admit, the day didn't start off too well. I drove to work through 3 REALLY short light rain showers despite the weather forecast calling for cloud with sunny intervals but no rain. Got to work and this is what I was met by...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/166.jpg

Not the most promising of outlooks huh? Well it rained again two or three times during the day but never much - just enough to make me pack up all the power tools etc and put them away for half an hour or so. Unfortunately, it didn't rain enough to put a decent layer of moisture down, so when I wasn't hiding from the rain, I was being choked by dust clouds because of the wind - between the dust (no painting) and rain (no anything!) I didn't get a huge amount done - but I wasn't going to be totally beaten so I DID get some bits pushed on....

Took the new side window from this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/167.jpg

To this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/168.jpg

And as that means pretty much all of the sheet metal is now physically done, and ready for paint, I figured I should probably do something with the frame it'll all hang on...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/169.jpg

I can't figure any practical way to get a 120mm fan in the back, much as I want to. The entire case is only 200mm wide, so I'm going to put a pair of 92mm fans in the rear - it's still an improvement on the pair of 80mm fans the case was designed for. I started by cutting out the stock fan covers/grilles because they actually stand out from the case and made measuring up difficult because I couldn't get a ruler on a flat surface to make sure of things...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/170.jpg

After measuring up, two 92's will fit but the existing holes are in just the wrong places so I'll struggle to get them fitted securely. The only solution I could come up with is to cut out the whole piece of metal and replace it with a new one. So cut the hole out...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/171.jpg

And a quick test fit with the aluminium frame I use when working with 92mm fans...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/172.jpg

Tight but it'll work (just)...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/173.jpg

I turned the case over and started measuring up for the front fans. Again, 2x120mm is going to be so tight and kill so much of the case's practical structure I'm rethinking it. Current thoughts are either 2x92mm or 1x120 and 1x92. Probably the latter - I want as much airflow as I can get, after all.

Just for kicks, thought I'd put the whole thing back together - just to see how much it's changed since this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/001.jpg

And here we go...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/174.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/175.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/176.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/177.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/178.jpg

It looks terrible with the old black, primer and plastic visible, most of the panels primed and one still bare metal - but it's DEFINITELY getting there....

It may be as long as 2 weeks before the next update - my shifts have changed and I'm working all nights next week - nightshift and modding don't go well together unfortunately. I'll probably get some stuff done at home in between but 2 weeks is a possibility :(

[Datech]

This case really is looking awesome man! Take some rep.

[slaveofconvention]

ty ty - with a little luck I'll get some time at home this week to do a few bits - I'm working nights on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday this coming week so other than Tuesday afternoon and most of wednesday, the whole week is gone before it even starts!!!

[DonT-FeaR]

love it

[msmrx57]

Yup working nights is a drag. Wondering though if you have power for your tools couldn't you take a work light along? Love the way this is going. Really like that your doing something with the side behind the mobo tray. :up: Looking forward to the next update.

[slaveofconvention]

I have two worklights - a 150w and a 500w and to be honest, they don't really provide good enough light, especially as I'm paying so much attention to details on this project - I admit I'm probably going a little TOO far but I don't care lol - I'm in no hurry to finish it, so I might as well take my time and get things exactly the way I want them...

[slaveofconvention]

So, I want your opinions people....

I've just realised my original plan for the location of the moon on the main window is just not going to work, mainly because the PSU and reinforcer bar are going to seriously get in the way of the light I plan to use to illuminate it - the idea is to try to "aim" a white led (or 2 or 3 or whatever it takes) at the back of the moon and get it to glow...

Originally planned location...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/moonloc1.jpg

Central...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/moonloc2.jpg

Wolf's eyeline (this may have to move a little to the left depending on how far the 3 1/2 inch drive bays stick out)
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/moonloc3.jpg

Low on the hills
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/moonloc4.jpg

What do you guys think - the main thing in my head is that there be little or nothing directly behind it so i can get it lit from behind clearly....

The moon may look a little funky because it's a negative greyscale image of the moon lol - just realised I'd used the actual image I'm sending to the engraver (I FOUND ONE - YAY!!!) to put the moons on the images here - they were already uploaded and I didn't really see the point remaking all the images for the sake of lunar accuracy :p

[msmrx57]

I think lined up with the rounded section for the handle and staight line from the snout. just my opinion. As far as paying too much attention to detail, unless you get so obsessed it keeps you from ever finishing it no such thing. :devcool: Its the attention to detail that lets you get it just the way you want it to be.:up:

[slaveofconvention]

Well I'd like to think it hasn't gotten in the way of some pretty serious progress so far... The only thing I'm really worried about is all the sheet metal is now done - I have all the perspex ready to cut - got the engraver lined up - know how i'm doing the drive bays and cooling - and I still have NO FRIGGIN CLUE what the hell I'm going to do with that damned front panel!!!

Oh yeah, and I'm still only about 65% sure of the colour the whole thing is going to be - found a real nice dark anthracite grey metallic from an Alfa Romeo the other day at the bodyshop....

So anyway.... I got presents today....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/perspex.jpg

There we have, on the bottom of the pile, the 500x500x5mm sheet of light tint for the main feature window. There's a fair offcut on that so that might end up in the front panel.... Then top left is the A3 size 3mm tinted for the smaller window on the opposite side - and there'll be enough left from that to make the window for K-9 as it's just a little one. In the top right we have the red tint A4 x 3mm which I'm going to slice up carefully to make the eyepiece for K-9. Bottom left is a A4 x 3mm light tint - main window on Liquid Yellow - the upcoming Xbox 360 mod (figured I may as well save on postage and get the perspex now, which also explains the clear A4 x 2mm which I'm going to use to TRY to put a window in the DVD drive in the Xbox and the HD in the Xbox...

And finally.... location 5 for the moon, as per suggestions here and at other forums...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/moonloc5.jpg

I kinda like this one myself, except it's bang in the middle of the window - not sure why that's an issue - but it is lol...

[DonT-FeaR]

man this is wicked!

[Mark_Hardware]

The original location was the best, but I have to admit the spot you decided on in the end works well. I wouldn't worry about it being in the wolf's "eyeline," as when I wolf is in that postition doing that infamous howl, their eyes are typically closed anyway.
Good work for sure man

[Waynio]

The silhouette effect with the wolf is awesome mate, and wow, being able to do your mod while working how awesome is that :D, look forward to seeing this get completed, subscribed & +rep :).

[raistnox]

absolutely love your work man + rep and subbed

[slaveofconvention]

TY again all for comments - don't worry - this isn't dead - just had a stupid couple weeks at work - hoping to get some paint (internal black and external primer) on tomorrow and this weekend make a start on the dreaded front panel which I'm slowly getting ideas about...

[slaveofconvention]

My work shift location and times changed last weekend, just for the one weekend so I didn't get my usual stack of stuff done unfortunately. I tried taking parts in to work to paint (I couldn't do the cutting etc as it was a clean site so I couldn't make a mess). The problem was, every time I tried to paint anything, the temperature dropped like a stone and everything got covered in condensation. Water + fresh/wet paint = fubar.

I got as far as masking up and priming the top and bottom case panels...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/179.jpg

Which went wonderfully well - then I put on the black...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/180.jpg

I also primed and painted the metal part of the iCage but you can see from this pic that the black really didn't take because of the temperature/moisture and it was a real pain in the ass to try to get paint on the insides too...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/181.jpg

Which is about when I gave up trying to paint at all, and accepted that a little more disassembly was going to be called for. So this is what you get when you remove the rivets from an iCage...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/182.jpg

And you can really see there what I meant about not being able to get the paint on the inside parts despite trying to aim through the holes in the iCage. While I had the drill out, I also decided to strip down the case chassis as I figured that'd be just as much of a pain to paint in one piece...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/183.jpg

And that's what you get when you REALLY take a case apart - little bit more than thumbscrew removal there eh?

I managed to pick up a load of mesh from various sources recently - this is the piece that has my creative juices flowing...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/184.jpg

Most speakers have a fabric mesh on the front, but this speaker actually has a metal one - wish I could have found the other half of the pair but I could only find one. This should give you a better idea of how fine that mesh actually is - enter car-keys...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/185.jpg

And that, is the grand total of everything I managed to get done in five 12 hour shifts - impressive huh?

Anyway - the weather has been nice the last couple of days so I thought I'd give the painting another shot. Here's my impromptu painting booth - the garden shed with everything pulled out and left lying around in the garden...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/186.jpg

First thing I had to do is rub down the moisture damaged paint on the inside of the side panels - especially as I had to try to repair some damage caused when the panels clashed together during transit - so we have our panels with some really heavy sanding...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/187.jpg

Then I applied a coat of the gloss black...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/188.jpg

And a second coat...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/189.jpg

Which is when it became clear the damage wasn't totally hidden - I then sanded again - every time you do that, the damage becomes less as the paint gradually fills the indentation - it's not ideal or perfect but this is the INSIDE of the panel which you'll never really see so while good enough isn't usually good enough for me, this time it is - you'd have to know where it is to see it at all and then hold it at just the right angle to make it catch the light.

Between a worklight and a halogen heater, combined with the semi-enclosed nature of the shed, I didn't have the same condensation worries I had at work, so I worked into the night - till about 1.30am to be precise. I'm not that bad a workaholic - I had to be up till 2am to pick the wife up from work.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/191.jpg

And the panels ended up looking like this after the final coat of black...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/192.jpg

Before painting, you have to clean things thoroughly, and just as important, dry them properly - here's my quick n easy drying station lol

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/194.jpg

Yup - the floor - least nothing will fall off of it :p

I also got a good coat of primer onto most of the loose parts - they're going to have to be turned and flipped and re-primed to get it all perfect but that's not going to be a problem with the shed and heater available.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/193.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/195.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/196.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/197.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/198.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/199.jpg

... and that's about as far as I got, which isn't bad really - definitely making progress.
At work now, and as the weather is looking a little like this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/200.jpg

I'm hoping I'll get a lot more done this weekend so there may well be another update tonight - stay tuned....

EDIT: Ok, so I should have been modding and I started playing with a graphic - I spotted a thread about custom headers for Project Logs - so I spent about 2 hours and made myself one.... Tadaaaaa


http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/ProjectHeader.png

Not too shabby huh? :D

[msmrx57]

Looking good. Nice header as welll.

[x88x]

Looking nice. I love the header. One thing I would caution you about painting the case while it's taken apart; make sure you go lite on any contact areas. I made that mistake, and ended up having to sand down a lot of paint layers in certain areas, and I still got a fair amount of chipping when I got it all back together.

[slaveofconvention]

Looking nice. I love the header. One thing I would caution you about painting the case while it's taken apart; make sure you go lite on any contact areas. I made that mistake, and ended up having to sand down a lot of paint layers in certain areas, and I still got a fair amount of chipping when I got it all back together.

Yeah, thanks. As it happens, I'm being careful with that anyway. Last case I painted, I couldnt get the buttons or LEDs back into the front panel - that made me acutely aware of how thick paint can get if you aren't careful!

[raistnox]

i ran into the same problem when reassembling my mouse not to long ago as well funny how paint can get so thick and how tight the tolerances are on some of these things

[slaveofconvention]

This part of the painting isn't really a problem. The aerosol paint I'm using for the priming and the interior black goes on in very thin layers. The real problem, or potential for problems will come when I come to put the metallic colour on the outer panels. Even then, the colour isn't the problem - I plan to use a high-quality automotive clearcoat to get a really deep shine and it's the lacquer which can get seriously thick, seriously quickly, especially as I have a habit of managing to screw it up a couple of times before I get it right so I usually end up with 4 or 5 coats... Where possible I plan to sand the edges back a little to make a little more room for clearance so hopefully, it won't be too much of an issue

[chaksq]

Very cool project! Looks real cool. I had an idea for the moon issue, not sure how well it will work but maybe you could somehow add stars to give it more of a night sky feel.

[raistnox]

why not edge light the plexi to get the moon to shine then you can put it where ever you want and you could also add stars if you so choose

[slaveofconvention]

the moon will be lit - current plans are to have an LED or two aimed at it but I'll try different combinations if I don't get the effect I want.

[Mark_Hardware]

Wow some very nice prgress, very nice work man everything looks great :up:

[XcOM]

Nice work man,

I really like your cuts, there really nice and good.

[slaveofconvention]

I have no clue how many disks I went thru on those cuts - I tend to stick to non-reinforced disks because I think they give more control and a cleaner cut. This is an old case and the metal is anything but thin - if I had to put a number on it, I'd guess I'm easily in the 50-75 disks used range!!!

Ty for comments guys

[x88x]

Aahhh, non-reinforced discs! The horrors! I used a lot of the non-reinforced discs on my case (also old, thick steel...also a Dell, come to think of it), and after running through about 30, and having to change discs about every minute or so, I gave up and went back to reinforced.

[slaveofconvention]

Also a dell? Are you insinuating that there's anything dell related in this build? There's nothing dell in this HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As soon as I get my hands on a dell, I make a point of turning it around asap - of the last 3, I gave 2 away as full systems and traded the 3rd for some paintwork for my car!!

Dell is not welcome here!!!!! :P

[x88x]

/Looks back at first page...
oops, sorry, I was thinking of another mod...no clue which one now, come to think of it...

[slaveofconvention]

Dell is a four-letter word in my world - and I don't mean the number of letters in Dell lol

[x88x]

Hahaha, fair enough. I just happen to like some of their old cases...or I did before I did extensive work on one....I don't think I'll be doing that again...custom construction or newer standardized construction techniques for me now thanks.

[msmrx57]

Dell is a four-letter word in my world - and I don't mean the number of letters in Dell lol

So, I'm not the only one who feels that way.

[BerticusPryme]

nope. I speak from experience. some of the worst products, worst support and worst company to work for. Also you case is awesome. The design was well done. +rep

[slaveofconvention]

The fact is, Dell is nowhere near as bad as it used to be - they've moved away from completely proprietory hardware so you now can chop and change hardware in a dell as easily as most PC's - it's the legacy hardware I come across regularly for repairs which still reinforces my disdain - pathetic things like making cases difficult to get into - it doesn't stop 3rd party repairs - it just makes them more hassle. I've come across several cases where I've ended up getting my wife to help because I just didn't have enough hands to get this button pressed, that button held in, that clip released while pulling this bit and that bit at a 35 degree angle etc

Thanks for the compliments tho Berticus - always nice to hear nice things :D

[slaveofconvention]

It's update time again, as this project moves into about it's 8th week.

Remember this?

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/181.jpg

Thats the really badly painted Thermaltake iCage I have decided to fit to replace the three hard drive bays the front cooling mods have taken away.
A closer look shows the cracks and reaction I get because I was painting outside where it was way too cold and way too damp.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/201.jpg

So I pulled out my drill, removed the twelve rivets holding it together and then used thinners to strip all traces of pretty much everything off of the parts.

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/202.jpg

I then used a scotchbrite to re-key the metal as it went really shiny and smooth, a couple of layers of primer...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/207.jpg

Then several thin coats of black, and a quick reassembly gives me this (original unpainted iCage shown for comparison)

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/203.jpg

There were a couple of light points where the primer was still just visible, but I just gave them another quick dustcoat with the unit assembled.
I was lucky enough to find some black rivets online, and bought a load, as luck seemed to be with me because they 1) Perfectly fitted into the holes in the cage and 2) Perfectly fitted the pop rivet gun without having to change the head.

To avoid the risk of scratching the fresh paint when the rivet snaps and the gun inevitably jumps, I used a really clever, highly technical invention...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/204.jpg

Yup, I poked the rivet through a rag of cloth :D And 12 rivets later, we have this...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/206.jpg

And I'm happy to say that, other than the tiny bit of cloth which managed to get caught in one of the rivets (you can just see it in the bottom right) I'm completely happy with this part. I used a lighter to burn off the excess material around that rivet then a marker pen to make it totally invisible - I think you'd have to know it was there to find it, and even then you'd struggle...

More to follow real soon - I've been playing with plexi and the kitchen oven when the wife was at work :D

[DonT-FeaR]

great idea! loving this.. cant wait to see more.

[slaveofconvention]

Ok so I went to the paint shop today to pick a colour, and ended up buying two....

Opinions required lol - I was decided on a dark grey metallic Alfa Romeo colour, when I went in, I found some Audi Graphite Grey which had been mixed in error, so I got that dirt cheap. Then I started browsing other colours with the wife, and she came up with Maserati Sebring Blue, so I mixed some up and now need to make a choice heh.

Getting photo's of wet paint, inside, in the dark isn't easy but this should give you an idea...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/210.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/211.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/212.jpg

And on cars...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/AudiGraphiteGrey.jpg
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/MaseratiSebringBlue.jpg

I'm utterly torn between the two - I KNOW the Grey will look good and fit in with the wolves well, but I LIKE that blue lol

Argh!!!

Thoughts? Opinions?

[Mark_Hardware]

damn those are both sexy! Why not use the blue and do some accents in the grey?

[slaveofconvention]

What? That means, like, cleaning my gun more - I'm lazy you know!!! :p

Not a bad idea actually - there are things like the feet and the door handle - not sure what I'd accent on the front though - The metal in the fan grille for the top would work too....

[x88x]

Given the theme of the case, I'd go with the grey.

[Oneslowz28]

How about doing the base in the silver and then toning some of it with a top coat of the blue?

[slaveofconvention]

How about doing the base in the silver and then toning some of it with a top coat of the blue?

Honestly, I don't know if I'm that good with the sprayguns lol - need practice before I start messing with fades I think. Might have a go tho - got enough of each colour to do 3 or 4 complete cases

[KiLLERMAN21]

Do a few tests to see what you think would look the best ie. base coat grey then blue over that, experiment with grey w/ blue highlights and vice versa. IMO, grey, possibly with blue accents/highlights.

[slaveofconvention]

Ok well - this is more of an "This is still going, honest" than a real update but there's been some progress heh...

So it's perspex time...

Sheet 1...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/215.jpg

Made the first cut, using a Jigsaw with a fine-tooth metal cutting blade...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/216.jpg

...and the offcut is just the right size to almost cover the front panel...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/217.jpg

Second cut, and forunately (measured about 4 times to be certain before I went anywhere near it with the Jigsaw) it perfectly covers the window...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/218.jpg

Sheet 2 marked up and ready for cutting, clamped securely - I'm being way more careful that normal heh...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/220.jpg

And a bit more cutting gives me the piece of perspex which will be going into the opposite side panel...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/221.jpg

I then cut that first big offcut in half (well almost half) and pulled off the protective covers - and got my first real look at it - I like this a lot - a really nice level of tint, but not overpowering...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/222.jpg

And time for some bending (first time I've ever tried bending perspex).
First try was the "gravity method" - supported on both sides and then used a heatgun - see how much of a sag I could get...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/223.jpg

Basically, not enough...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/224.jpg

So tried supporting the centre of the perspex, applying weight to the outside edges and more heat...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/225.jpg

The result - it moved further, but predicably, it folded more than it curved which isn't going to work...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/226.jpg

So I gave up for the day as I was out of ideas, and when I got home, decided to try the oven method... Turned on the oven and set it to 170c - I'd read people getting it to work at 150 and warnings not to go over 200 so I figured that was a sensible average...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/227.jpg

And in next to no time, the sheet went from this...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/228.jpg

... to this ...
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Modding/lobo/229.jpg

So in a whole day, other than the cutting, I managed to go from having a nice flat shiny piece of tinted perspex to.... a nice flat shiny piece of tinted perspex with some deformations in the surface because the foil I used to seperate the perspex from the cookie tray wasn't smoothed out properly...

I did try a final bend while the perspex was nice and hot (and it was HOT) and got something closer, but I may try heating it again to see if those deformations come out - if not, I'll re-bend it the opposite way so the deformations are on the side I'm planning to frost. I don't have a pic of the bent piece cos I'm at work but I'll get one when I get in.... (if I remember)

[Mark_Hardware]

Good luck with the plexi. Last time I tried to bend it... well let's just say it didn't go so well.
And I do hereby vote you TBCS' Most Well Dressed Modder :up: ;)

[slaveofconvention]

LOL - cheers

[x88x]

Never done it myself, but I hear making a mold, then putting the mold in the oven with the plexi on top of it works wonderfully.

[slaveofconvention]

yeah but getting the curve just right on the mold is probably just as awkward as getting the curve right lol - I'll figure something out

[slaveofconvention]

Ok as promised - the pics of the curve which I managed to get when the perspex was scary hot....

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/231.jpg

And as good a pic as I could get of the surface imperfections...

http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/Moddin/lobo/230.jpg

These pics were taken with my phone as I can't seem to find my bloody camera, so sorry if they're less than perfect!

[Liquid_Scope_99]

nice work i think the gray would go better with the mod but that blue is sweeeet . IMHO

[XcOM]

nice bending, you could try polishing the imperfections out, i've heard of people doing it

[farlo]

not to necropost, but are you still working on this project?

[slaveofconvention]

Lobo will be making a return to a forum near you in the next week or two. I'm basically at the point where everything left to do has to be done outside because of fumes/mess and I'm waiting on the weather - the paint and lacquer I'm planning on using shouldn't be applied below 10c for best results - so just watching the weather forecast.

This project is DEFINITELY not dead - just dependent on the weather for a month or so...

[slaveofconvention]

Arise dead project!!!!

Ok so it's been what, 7 or 8 months since I last posted an update here in this log.... The project ground to a halt because of weather - 90% of what needed doing needed to be done outside and it was rapidly headed for winter. The months pass and the seasons change and by the time the weather improved enough, I'd managed to mis-place several of the parts. As of today, I found almost all of them. The one missing piece I'm aware of is a simple corner brace which I can easily fabricate....

Now that I have all the parts again, I figured I should keep them safe this time. You've all met Hemi (a.k.a. Modkitty) the black and white cat who always manages to sneak herself into a photograph or two when I'm doing reviews. Time to introduce Hershey - he's acting as a temporary guard kitty on the lobo parts pile....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/lobo/231.jpg

Unfortunately, the parts aren't the only thing which is back - so is the rust.... I didn't do a massively thorough job getting rid of the rust and apparently, I should have....

Here's the main side panel


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/lobo/232.jpg

With rust on 3 of the corners grrrr


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/lobo/233.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/lobo/234.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/lobo/235.jpg

And the opposite panel


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/lobo/236.jpg

With rust on just the one corner...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/lobo/237.jpg

As it happens, I plan on sandblasting the complete chassis I'm using for my latest project "Unimatrix" so it won't be any great problem to do the "Lobo" panels at the same time....

Update this weekend (hopefully) as long as the weather holds out heh.... Having said that I have a friend who has a shipping container he uses for blasting so I may go see him and get it all done in one go - then everything will be ready for etch priming and priming at once....

[msmrx57]

Arise dead project!!!!

Ok so it's been what, 7 or 8 months since I last posted an update here in this log....

Or almost twice that based on the last entry.... :whistler:

Glad to see that you're back to this again. :up:

[AmEv]

Time flies :whistler:

[slaveofconvention]

Or almost twice that based on the last entry.... :whistler:

Glad to see that you're back to this again. :up:

Holy crap lol - a year and 7 months!!! Sheesh

[Fuganater]

Holy crap lol - a year and 7 months!!! Sheesh

Way to revive an old post :P

[slaveofconvention]

Hey it was my post to revive lol

Now I have two projects I don't have time to do which I'm GOING to do lol

[SXRguyinMA]

HOLY THREAD NECRO BATMAN!!! j/k glad to see this one still alive and kicking!