WWF Royal Rumble Case mod

[itsbrad]

Well Im a dork and love wrestling. I have a 1996 Royal Rumble Pinball machine and want to incorporate it into my PC case. This will basically be a visual job not so much changing the case but changing the way it looks via vinyl or whatever.

Here are some pictures of the pinball machine...

Side shot
http://static.flickr.com/4/7726699_d33aa60a08.jpg?v=0

Backglass
http://static.flickr.com/7/6634781_090f743210.jpg?v=0

Playfield
http://static.flickr.com/4/6555200_09ea9fbb36.jpg?v=0

Top playfield
http://static.flickr.com/5/7726702_4c3bada07c.jpg?v=0

Basically I want to take the backglass image and somehow transfer it to vinyl and have that be on the side of the case. Other than that I dont know what I want to do with the case. Anyone have any ideas? The case will be beside the pinball machine so I wanted it to match or at least have the theme...Any ideas are appreciated!

[jdbnsn]

I know this is more engineering than you had in mind, but here is an idea. And it is themed:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f395/jdbnsn/misc/wwf.jpg

Jon

[itsbrad]

OHHHHH I may have to steal that and use it! That would be CRAZY but Id have no idea on where to start, using wood I would guess it would be possible. That is a good idea and I appreciate you posting it! Here are some pics of the case that I will be using.

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/39108202005_088-med.jpg

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/39108202005_084-med.jpg


Thanks
Brad

Ok i did a quick photoshop job and here is what I came up with....

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/39106555200_09ea9fbb36.jpg

[jdbnsn]

No problem, go ahead and use it, I drew it for you. I think it would be fairly easy to build for the most part with some tricky areas but if you pulled it off it would be cool as hell.

[RangerDanger]

yea dude sick concept...but 1 thing i think should be included in all custom built cases is drive stealthing. and yes wood will be nice..even nicer would be yellow and red acrylic but thats tybrenis's area.

[itsbrad]

Dang it guys, now I want to build it. I may start taking some measurements and see what I can come up with :) Maybe Ill make a small model out of aspen wood tommorrow and see what it looks like...

[jdbnsn]

HaHaHa...The bug strikes another! I can help you design it and work out the structural stuff, I am fairly good with that. Lots of other folks here can help with the rest. Glad you liked it.

[Crunch]

Cool idea. I've been a wrestling fan for a long time. Hope you do the photo-shopped version justice, looks awesome.

[The Modfather]

Oh man, did you visit my site or something? Check it out, my current project is a wrestling themed case.

http://www.infinity-customs.com

Doing it in anticipation of June's ECW One Night Stand. :)

[itsbrad]

Hahaha no I didnt, but that would be a cool case. I like all the different possibilities youve considered. THe window etching will be bad!!!
Nah this case Ive wanted to do something wrestling themed for awhile, and since Ill be moving the desk and computer down to the game room, where it will be beside the pinball machine, I figure I might as well make it fit in down there...

[Rankenphile]

If you wanted that graphic printed for a case window, try checking out Mame Marquees (http://www.mamemarquees.com/marquees-c-21.html). They print the frosted marquees for arcade machines, mostly, but can do custom sizes and full-color printing on semitransparent stock made for backlighting that would work perfectly for a case window, especially if you backlit it with a white CCFL or LED setup. Their prices are extremely reasonable, too.

[itsbrad]

Yeah I will do that, but now Im so focused on building a new case lol out of the sketch that was provided :( Im doing a sketch now that Im almost done with. Ill post it when finished, I tried Sketchup but whew I have some learning to do with that program!

[The Modfather]

I'm using HyperKore to do my laser etching, they have this blackout style that I think will look good. We should bounce ideas off each other since we're working on wrestling themed projects.

How about this idea, what if you did something like the Smackdown entrance ramp fist coming out of the front of the case? You could sculpt the fist out of polymer clay or foam, spraypaint it silver and have the right effect. Mount it under a 5" LCD display on the front of the case that shows entrance videos.

[itsbrad]

Well Im looking for the retro WWF look since it will tie into the pinball machine better. I drew a sketch of what was posted earlier but a full side shot instead of at an angle.
http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/39108202005_097-med.jpg
I know its not perfect but it will do for now. The dimensions will be 17" H x 19" L x 7" W so basically a normal sized case, Im planning for a total of 7 fans lol 2 on each side, 1 on top and 1 intake on front and then 1 in the rear. Seems like a lot but since it will be made of wood I dont want it to overheat. Instead of painting I may just do a full wrapped case to get the colors perfect. The drives will be stealthed as well and hidden well at least in my head it is. Well Im going to be working on sketches of the front and rear today so Ill post more later.

Thanks
Brad

PS You think the WWE would pay for some components, that would be nice :)

[jdbnsn]

What do you mean by wrapped? If I were you, I would at least condsider maybe a light wood frame and an exterior of sheet metal (aluminum would be excellent if you could afford it). That could be sanded and polished to a shiny chrome like finish. And if you moved the side fans to all facing the rear (on the top and bottom notches of the W, and the rear panel), they will be out of sight. Just some stuff to consider, I can't wait to see you build this!
Jon

[jdbnsn]

I forgot to mention, plexi was suggested earlier and that would make a good option due to it's ease of manipulation, but it doesn't paint well and would be transparent. You might check with Tybrenis who has lots of access to plastic. He even mentioned to me that he had some brushed steel vinyl which would probably be ideal.

[itsbrad]

By wrapped I mean have the logo itself printed out to size and wrap it or place it on the case kind of like this case..http://www.casecooler.com/caartcawr.html

That way it would match the logo itself color wise, OR I could go the other route and not worry about the color matching the logo and do something like you mentioned aluminum either brushed or polished. Even if its just a wood case it will still look awesome I think lol.

Ok I did a 3 minute drawing of the front of the case. I know its not pretty but it gives you an idea of what Im doing. In the recessed parts of the case Im putting the CDRW and the Fan Controller that way when not powered on you wont see them at all, I didnt draw it but below the CDRW will be an intake fan as well. Do you guys think the front should be beveled as well or be flat? But here is a general idea of the front.

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/39108202005_099-med.jpg

[The Modfather]

Why not cut the logo out as the window instead of going with a wrap? Wraps aren't really mods, they're just easy ways to pretty up a case. Cutting the classic WWF logo shouldn't be too hard, just lay down a template (print it out from a pic and trace around it) and get to work with a dremel.

[jdbnsn]

I would not bevel the edges on the front.

[The Modfather]

I did a render of what I was suggesting.

http://x11.putfile.com/4/10802355348.jpg

[itsbrad]

Ok guys/gals, Ive started this project as of now I am redrawing the WWF logo on the side of an old case and I will cut it out when done, Im really going to take my time and do a good job on the drawing so once I get it done look for a worklog to start!!! Wish me luck!

Brad

[The Modfather]

Much luck with it, looking foreward to seeing how it turns out!!!

[itsbrad]

Well its coming along slowly, I didnt know Id be measureing/remeasureing so much lol, but I want to get it right. All I have left to do is the F which of course is the hardest to get right and then Ill start cutting!

[xmastree]

We should bounce ideas off each other
I have a better idea. Why not bounce the computers off each other, like in real wrestling? :p

[The Modfather]

Been there, done that Xmas, no thanks. Had enough of bouncing things off myself. :)

Yeah, the F part will definatly be the hardest. Just be glad you're not trying to do the Attitude era WWF logo.

[itsbrad]

Oh man that scribble lol, I cant even draw that one well let alone make it into something. I think Ive decided that the case will be acrylic, I really dont want to work with wood, Id rather stick to acrylic and after seeing the Cirque du Soleil case that is posted here I think it would look AWESOME

[The Modfather]

You thinking clear acrylic or something more opaque?

One fun thing I've done with acrylic is to use a chameleon paint on the inside of the UV reactive acrylic (paint it in reverse order from the way you'd normally paint it so it shifts from beind), that looks very cool. Then what you could do is simply mask off the WWF logo, get some contact paper, lay it on the panel, draw the logo on it, then use an X-Acto knife to cut the logo, peal off the outside that you want to paint and then lay down the paint, then you'll have the logo masked out in clear. It's work great.