Metroid case

[sonicspike41]

I noticed all the wild case designs on the main page and was wondering if anyone had ever attempted a metroid prime themed case. Also, I'm looking for a good computer case that is under $100 if anyone has any suggestions.

[Custom]

I havent seen a case mod for metroid try a Midi Tower though, if your gonna make it you could have a window with the logo and Samus engraved into it!

[DaveW]

Nice idea, but try looking at what you can do with the case you have. If it's completely unsuitable for modding, then look at a new one-but that money could be spent on paint, etc. allowing you to complete your mod faster. A lot of the time, everything you need is right in front of you-like the sculpture's allready in the stone, all you gotta do is tap-tap-tap the rock away.

In otherwords, look at things in a different light. Would like to see a metroid case, so if you're planning to do one don't forget to post.

-Dave

[sonicspike41]

My current PC is crap. I'm just planning on buying a decent case and seeing what I can do. I have little to no experience but I'm a quick learner. I was thinking of have the bomb ball as the power/reset button though. I would be willing to pay someone to do this for me though.

[DaveW]

I would be willing to pay someone to do this for me though.

Not really the spirit off things...it's ok if you havn't got the facilities, i.e. you need metal panels cut & folded, but paying someone to mod your case isn't really what it's all about.

-Dave

[sonicspike41]

I know what you mean. I would be willing to pay for some things though like having someone bend the metal and other jobs that require skills I do not possess. There is just some special satisfaction in knowing that I was able to do it myself though, so if I actually start it, I am going to do as much of it myself as possible.

[sylle]

look for an old computer case with 1mm steel you don´t need more

[public_eyesore]

steel isnt really ideal for modding, aluminum is best, but anything can be done, just determines on how much money you want to spend and if money is worth the sacrifice of work.

[DaveW]

Different Kinds of steel, different kinds of results. Won't pretend i know my metals, but i can give you this much:

Mild Steel : Cheap cases usually come with this, cheap, strong, easy to bend once but not ver maleable.
Aluminium : Light, very strong compared to it's weight. Slighly more expensive, easy to cut and bend. Considered by most here the best to work with.
Steel : A lot of old cases are made with a heavier steel. I'm not sure of it's technical name, but it should be avoided. In fact, never go near it. It's damn heavy, and it can crack. I'm actually going to be working on a case made of this crap, and let me tell you the case is about 3 to 4 Kilos when empty.

Not much help, i know. But, it's better than nothing.

-Dave

[public_eyesore]

^^^ to add to your list .... AND STEEL RUSTS!!! If your carful it could work, but i like giving my cases a wash down before i start and i hate it when i forget about steel rusting.

[DaveW]

^^^ to add to your list .... AND STEEL RUSTS!!! If your carful it could work, but i like giving my cases a wash down before i start and i hate it when i forget about steel rusting.



Rust is the common name for a very common compound, iron oxide. Iron oxide, the chemical Fe2O3, is common because iron combines very readily with oxygen -- so readily, in fact, that pure iron is only rarely found in nature. Iron (or steel) rusting is an example of corrosion -- an electrochemical process involving an anode (a piece of metal that readily gives up electrons), an electrolyte (a liquid that helps electrons move) and a cathode (a piece of metal that readily accepts electrons). When a piece of metal corrodes, the electrolyte helps provide oxygen to the anode. As oxygen combines with the metal, electrons are liberated. When they flow through the electrolyte to the cathode, the metal of the anode disappears, swept away by the electrical flow or converted into metal cations in a form such as rust.

For iron to become iron oxide, three things are required: iron, water and oxygen. Here's what happens when the three get together:

When a drop of water hits an iron object, two things begin to happen almost immediately. First, the water, a good electrolyte, combines with carbon dioxide in the air to form a weak carbonic acid, an even better electrolyte. As the acid is formed and the iron dissolved, some of the water will begin to break down into its component pieces -- hydrogen and oxygen. The free oxygen and dissolved iron bond into iron oxide, in the process freeing electrons. The electrons liberated from the anode portion of the iron flow to the cathode, which may be a piece of a metal less electrically reactive than iron, or another point on the piece of iron itself.

The chemical compounds found in liquids like acid rain, seawater and the salt-loaded spray from snow-belt roads make them better electrolytes than pure water, allowing their presence to speed the process of rusting on iron and other forms of corrosion on other metals.

You should be ok, as long as you use deionised water to wipe down any bare steel. What? you don't have a ton of deionised water lying around? Well, best go for Aluminium then.

On a lighter note, thank god i don't have to listen to you Americans mis-pronouncing Aluminium. God, it drives me crazy, i tell ya. Aluminium. Not Aluminum. No silent I. Ah, the internet...who loves ya, baby! No culture clash here!

-Dave

[Cevinzol]

I wouldn't worry about "rust" too much. As long as you don't spill your Mt. Dew on it you'll be fine.

Besides some modders have been TRYING to rust their cases to give them a more "industrial" look.

Good luck on you're project and keep us updated

FYI: The (above post) for Iron oxidation is inacurate. For more on "rust" read these two articles:
Wikipedia.org - Rust (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust)
Wikipedia.org - Aluminum oxide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_oxide)

[DaveW]

Actually, that Wikipedia entry is flawed:


Hydrated iron oxide is permeable to air and water, meaning that the metal continues to corrode after rust has formed. The iron mass eventually converts entirely to rust, and disintegrates.

If I remember correctly, surface rust prevents the underlying metal from corroding. This is called Passivation, and although mentioned for Aluminium oxide, isn't mentioned in the Rust article. I last did chemistry 4 years ago, so i could be wrong.

Not seeing any major inaccuracies in the quote from Howstuffworks.com, Iron Oxide is rust, so it's description seems pretty accurate-although it doesn't go into the depths of explaining ionisation.

-Dave

[Rankenphile]

You should be ok, as long as you use deionised water to wipe down any bare steel. What? you don't have a ton of deionised water lying around? Well, best go for Aluminium then.

On a lighter note, thank god i don't have to listen to you Americans mis-pronouncing Aluminium. God, it drives me crazy, i tell ya. Aluminium. Not Aluminum. No silent I. Ah, the internet...who loves ya, baby! No culture clash here!

-Dave

Actually, either way is considered correct. It used to drive me crazy hearing Brits say it with the "ium" ending, it just sounded wonky. I used to watch a "high-tech" show in the early 90's called "Beyond 2000", and they always said aluminium. I thought they were crazy. Turns out we're both right.



Etymology/Nomenclature history

In 1808, Humphry Davy originally proposed the name alumium while trying to isolate the new metal electrolytically from the mineral alumina. In 1812, he changed the name to aluminum to match its Latin root. The same year, an anonymous contributor to the Quarterly Review, a British political-literary journal, objected to aluminum and proposed the name aluminium.

Aluminium, for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminum, which has a less classical sound. (Q. Review VIII. 72, 1812)

This had the advantage of conforming to the -ium suffix precedent set by other newly discovered elements of the period: potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and strontium (all of which Davy had isolated himself). Nevertheless, -um spellings for elements were not unknown at the time: platinum, which had been known to Europeans since the 16th century, molybdenum, which was discovered in 1778, and tantalum, which was discovered in 1802, all have spellings ending in -um.

The United States adopted the -ium for most of the 19th century with aluminium appearing in Webster's Dictionary of 1828. However, in 1892 Charles Martin Hall used the -um spelling in an advertising handbill for his new efficient electrolytic method for the production of aluminium, despite using the -ium spelling in all of his patents filed between 1886 and 1903. It has consequently been suggested that the spelling on the flyer was a simple spelling mistake rather than a deliberate choice to use the -um spelling. Hall's domination of production of the metal ensured that the spelling aluminum became the standard in North America, even though the Webster Unabridged Dictionary of 1913 continued to use the -ium version.

In 1926, the American Chemical Society officially decided to use aluminum in its publications, and American dictionaries typically label the spelling aluminium as a British variant.
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Present-day spelling

In the English-speaking world, the spellings (and associated pronunciations) aluminium and aluminum are both in common use in scientific and nonscientific contexts. In the United States, the spelling aluminium is largely unknown, and the spelling aluminum predominates. Elsewhere in the English-speaking world the spelling aluminium predominates, and the spelling aluminum is largely unknown. However, in Canada both spellings are common, due to the multiple influences on the language of its proximity to the United States, its British colonial past and the large number of native French speakers.

Outside English, the "ium" spelling is widespread: the word is aluminium in French, Aluminium in German, and identical or similar forms are used in many other languages. Consequently it is the more common of the two spellings in global terms, even though there may be more users of aluminum in the English-speaking world.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990, but three years later recognised aluminum as an acceptable variant. Hence their periodic table includes both, but places aluminium first [7]. IUPAC officially prefers the use of aluminium in its internal publications, although several IUPAC publications use the spelling aluminum.[8]

[DaveW]

It'll probably still tick me off :D But thanks for the interesting link, Rankenphile; I always thought it was a misprononciation, but now i know where it comes from.

-Dave