Industrial Theamed Case - Any Ideas?

[The boy 4rm oz]

I want to make an industrial themed case and i just dont know how i should do it. It's my first time at modding so i dont want anything hardcore but i want it to look nice. I am going to get a basic ATX case from my locl computer store for around $25-$30. I guess I want to make sumthing that is black or silver with a kind of rusty tinge to it, i know you can get a paint that will do this but its to expensive for me. Any ideas to help me make this work? Any sugestions would be great, Thanks.

[Slug Toy]

you know, i was going to go on a large speel about how the "industrial" design most people talk about for games really isnt a true industrial theme. i was going to list out a whole bunch of things you could do to make a case that is really down and dirty.. and ready to get the job done. but then you went and said that you areny experienced, so that cut off a lot of possibilities. if you had done some modding before, i wouldnt have held back, but i will for now.

ill tell you, its probably going ot be pretty hard getting a good industrial feel perfected. id really like to spend a good deal of time trying to explain my thoughts, but im busy enough drawing out ideas for my own mod at the moment, plus work. one thing id say is to not pay attention to a great finish for painting. bridges or buildings arent a labour of love in most cases, and painters sure dont want to spends months getting everything just right. another huge thing i would suggest is simplicity. you never see anything industrial that is over-complicated. ingenious, yes... complicated, maybe... over-complicated, NO! run with your first ideas until you are absolutely sure they wont work, and then expand if you need to. use necessity as the driving force for creativity.

heres a good mindset to approach this mod with. a computer case is not a very industrial thing to begin with, so a simple mod will not suffice for a good interpretation of industry. to get a really good industrial mod, you'll need to practice and figure out what works, and go into a fair amount of detail. its actually quite contradictory... when you start with something not well suited to the industrial flavour, you need to put in more work to make it look like less work was done... but when starting with something simple it makes it so much easier.

ok, im not going to try to boggle your mind here. that last paragraph may have done just that. ill close like this: draw some inpiration from recent architecture like bridges and skyscrapers. that may work well enough to set you on the right path.

other than that, give it a good long think, and then have at it like a madman.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well i have done a bit of modding. I installed a acrylic side pannel on my current case and i found that pretty easy apart from the fact that I should have used an agle grinder instead of a jig saw and it was even easier cos it was just a square lol. And i was hoping to cary the rusty industrial theme inside. Do u think it would be ok if i painted the inside of the case the same rusty colour as the outside?

[Custom]

You could have some rusting bolts painted on the side, you could make it out of raut iron lol!

[Cannibal23]

You could have some rusting bolts painted on the side, you could make it out of raut iron lol!

yes i suppose you could providing you had access to the right equipment to cut and drill it and everythng. but you wont be wanting to bring it arround to lan parties to show your friends...unless of course your the incredable hulk or something. It would look really cool but im sure it would weigh a ton.

If you are truly interested in going for the rusty look perhaps get a case that is not made of aluminum. one thats made of sheet steal or something like that (not stainless please) and throw some salt water all over it. that should make it rust fairly quickly. then wash it and clear coat the heck out of it. nothing looks more like real rust spots then acctual rust spots.

[Rankenphile]

Industrial look is one that can be tough for some people - industrial design is really more about function rather than fashion, so designing a functionless aesthetic around an aesthetic-less function can be tricky. The best way to do it is do a little homework - go take pictures of local industrial buildings - notice the catwalks, riveting, pipework, things like that. Study how they work together, and incorporate it into your design.

I would recommend, in your design, running some PVC pipe along the exterior of your case, along with some feaux reinforcmenet panels and over-sized rivets. Take a look at Crimson_Sky's Doom3 mod - that is a great example of industrial design on a model scale - you can almost tell what each part is supposed to do, which is critical in industrial design - nothing is part of the build that is just there to look pretty, everything has a reason and a function. Get a couple model tanks and space ships for cheap at a swap meet, garage sale, or ask your local hobby shop if they have any incomplete sci-fi model kits or military model kits they would be willing to sell for cheap. Ebay is a good place to look for these things too. Start collecting interestingly shaped bits and odds and ends, a lot of the time they will add to the inspiration.

In my opinion, the paint job for a case like this is much more difficult than doing a single color flashy-shiny paint job on a case. It takes a bit more of an artist's eye. Take a look at the picture below (sorry for huge size):

http://www.poagao.com/photos/rust.jpg

Notice how the grime and black "uck" collects around edges of things, where water would pool up before it runs off. Notice how rust appears in patterns rather than a single color. That's the hard part about creating rust and grime artificially - if done right, it looks better than the real thing would, but if done impropperly, it looks very fake. Luckily, there are a lot of great tricks and products that make it easier - use aging powders, drybrishing and ink washes to create great aging effects. Again, read through Crimson_Sky's Doom3 mod, he does some great detail work creating an aged and weathered look.Piloux's Half-Life 2 mod (http://members.home.nl/gis/) is another amazing example of industrial design and industrial painting. I'd recommend studying both before coming up with your design.

If you start getting some ideas, sketch them up, no matter how roughly. If you have questions, post them up here. We're always glad to (try to) help.

Good luck, and remember - have fun, and take pictures of the process. Everyone learns from worklogs, especially from first-time projects! Even old timers appreciate learning from other people's mistakes! :p

[Custom]

WOW that half life mod kicks ass!!

[Omega]

it'll probably take alot of sanding and painting, to get the real worn indrustial look to it.

[Aero]

well, I have always loved the ol industrial theme. It was the theme for my first calculator mod which was never seen anywhere for good reaon. But none the less I think its a good idea. Remember rust is your friend, or atleast the illusion of rust. My favorite technique is to first paint a layer of dark gray. Mix the gray with some sawdust untill its about the consistancy of tapioka pudding. Then paint it on and make sure the clumps spread out. The let it dry and go over it (very lightly, just letting the tip of the brush touch) with an orange or yellow mixed with brown. If you want it to look wet add some high gloss clear coat. But basically anything coated with this stuff looks sweet. Good luck, hope it helps.

[Rankenphile]

One technique I've always liked was mixing baked and sterilized river sand with elmer's glue and applying it down before painting - it gives a rough, corroded texture that is permanent and takes ink and drybrush washes very well. For a more coarse appearance, mix in some of the rougher sand you see in outdoor ashtrays. You can get this stuff at Home Despot or any other big box hardware store.

Another method, called "dipping", is basically dipping pieces in dark wood polyurethane adn shaking off vigorously. The remainder, once dried, leaves a translucent brown grime buildup, darkest in deep recesses and cracks. It's often used by miniature modellers to give thigns an aged look, but works well on smaller components.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for all the ideas, I was thinking about putting pipe through it and stuff like that. I found a really cool paint, i think its called...well i dont know what its called but it looks really cool. It gives the effect of rusting copper or rusting brass. U apply a special basecoat and then u apply this agent and the longer the two r together the greater the rusting effect getts. So u can have it really rusty or just slightly rusty. But u need to seal it really quick before it all goes the same colour. Any more ideas would be great. Thanks

[The boy 4rm oz]

That Half Life 2 mod is great insperation. Thaks so much. The stuff he used it the stuff I'm talkn about.

[Rankenphile]

Glad we could help. Take pictures and let us know how things go for you and what you learn in the process!

[The boy 4rm oz]

If u guys cum up with any more ideas just post them here and i'll start work log when i've found a gd case 2 work with. While i'm at it, do any of u know how 2 make a fan speed controller?

[The boy 4rm oz]

That sounds cool thanks 4 the idea.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Ok so that complete rust paint look has gone down the drain so I was wondering if their was some way i could simulate rust without that cool paint. I was wondering if I could sand down the surfaces of the case and leave a bit of paint behind and then put the pannels in a tub of salt water.

1. would this make putting to case back together harder.

2. how can i stop the metal rusting further after i get the desired effect.

3. will the rust wreck my components.

4. how can i get the same result on plastic.

5. will this effect the strenght and stabability of my case.

Any tips or ideas would be great. *Thanks*

[DaveW]

I can help you out with a fan speed controller, i'm designing one for myself at the moment. How many fans are you planning to put into it, how do you want it to be controlled (Dials? Automatic? Push buttons to speed up/slow down?) and what sort of display are you integrating into it, if any?

If you're going industrial, then you probably won't want to have an LCD, so what about a good old needle gauge? (like the musketeer)

That's what i'm planning to use in mine, although i've run into a small problem with it. I'm not sure if my simulation software is returning a funny result or it's not working. I suspect it's the first one, so i'm going to get a wireless breadboard and just build it.

Anyway, you can post what you want, PM me, or e-mail me to go over some ideas if you like.

Idea: You could, instead of having a meter to 'accurately measure' the fan speed, you could plug in a small motor connected up to a set of gears what you can make visible from the front of your case. So when the fans are going fast, the gears move fast, and when slow, they move slow. Then you could set up a temperature gauge in another way-they're actually damn easy to build if you know how, it don't take a lot to make an analogue one. Could easilly hook one up to a needle gauge, would be very nice if you dismantled it and built it into your facade. Beat it up a little, you know?

Oh, and another idea: why not go to a scrap metal merchant and get some scrap metal plumbing pipes? You could pass cables outside the case and it would look good. In Vicotrian britain, they had an opposite ideal of technology, they like everything to be visible: that's why in old british buildings, a lot of the plumbing is along the wall, and the same with electricity. You could run pipes around your case and that would reduce any airflow problems inside as well.

-Dave

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for all that. I was planning to use some PVC pipe to hide the cables and just give it a cool look. I've given up on the fan speed controller because i dont really have the time. My main problem is getting the rusty effect. But thanks for your help.

[jdbnsn]

I can help you out with a fan speed controller, i'm designing one for myself at the moment. How many fans are you planning to put into it, how do you want it to be controlled (Dials? Automatic? Push buttons to speed up/slow down?) and what sort of display are you integrating into it, if any?

If you're going industrial, then you probably won't want to have an LCD, so what about a good old needle gauge? (like the musketeer)

That's what i'm planning to use in mine, although i've run into a small problem with it. I'm not sure if my simulation software is returning a funny result or it's not working. I suspect it's the first one, so i'm going to get a wireless breadboard and just build it.

Anyway, you can post what you want, PM me, or e-mail me to go over some ideas if you like.

Idea: You could, instead of having a meter to 'accurately measure' the fan speed, you could plug in a small motor connected up to a set of gears what you can make visible from the front of your case. So when the fans are going fast, the gears move fast, and when slow, they move slow. Then you could set up a temperature gauge in another way-they're actually damn easy to build if you know how, it don't take a lot to make an analogue one. Could easilly hook one up to a needle gauge, would be very nice if you dismantled it and built it into your facade. Beat it up a little, you know?

Oh, and another idea: why not go to a scrap metal merchant and get some scrap metal plumbing pipes? You could pass cables outside the case and it would look good. In Vicotrian britain, they had an opposite ideal of technology, they like everything to be visible: that's why in old british buildings, a lot of the plumbing is along the wall, and the same with electricity. You could run pipes around your case and that would reduce any airflow problems inside as well.

-Dave

Hey DaveW, that fan controller you are working on sounds perfect for my wooden media center, could you tell me more about it? I was wondering how to use analog gauges for my voltages and fan speeds, etc... If you would'nt mind, I would like to see what you have in mind.

[DaveW]

Sure thing, but we should take it to it's own thread. PM me with the sort of analogue meters you're using and i'll work out a circuit for you, or start a new thread and we can do it publicly (which means everyone will know what you are upto...your call :) )

-Dave

[Phoenix.v2]

hey that whole idea sounds very kool. pretty similar to something i've been thinking of. and that Half life 2 mod is INSANE! such an inspirational work that is.

hey, i'm from Aus aswell! where abouts you from?

[The boy 4rm oz]

I'm from Adelaide what about u. Ok back to bussiness. I have decided not to carry the paint theme to the inside of my case, instead i'll just paint it black cos it will make the blue lights I intend to put in the case seem brighter. I have finally decided on how i'm going to paint the case. First i'll start with a black undercoat and then sand it down to the raw metal in places so I get a patchy effect then I'll rust the raw metal and hopefully I'll get a kind of blister effect around the patches. Any ideas or feedback would be great. *Thanks*

[xmastree]

I want to make an industrial themed case and i just dont know how i should do it.

I guess I want to make sumthing that is black or silver with a kind of rusty tinge to it
Seen this?
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2410
Industrial, rusty...

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks that tread is great insperation.

[Dirty Moogler]

erm y the blue lights ? ...would think more along the lines of a yellow or orange to give it a more industrial feel ...the whole glow thing u see through factory windows .....
a suggestion if ur doing a window ...divide it to make it looks like multiple panes ... with thin stips running across with rivet (or appear to be rivets) ....
also try incorporate some mesh ....looks good and is good for cooling ;)
hope any of that helps ...

[Maz]

I say, weld up a bunch of industrial parts, like cogs, sprockets, chain and hinges. then pressure wash them so to get all the oil off. now leave it on your roof for a few months...

take it off, clear coat it. your done...

[GT40_GearHead]

is the clear coat gona stay on the rust :? it could come of in time:?

[Omega]

i would say that for inspiration, if you live in a large city, find the commercial sector and really look at things =]