Project: Diabolo (Updated 08-10-11)

[Luciel]

Hi Everyone!

So, this time round it won´t be a case revival or a "Mod in a Week" project, mainly because Cooler Master has decided I should have a HAF X and well, I kind of want to take my time with such a nice case :D!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/cm.gif

Now, I am useless at google sketch and that kind of software that you guys use, not to mention drawing! So I will try to explain the concept of project Diabolo.

If any of you saw my Fallout Cause project (neonit (http://www.neonit.net/)) you´ll know that, more than anything else, I enjoy painting, and with my previous project (Acid Burn) it was a pretty simple paint scheme, no matter how detailed it was and I feel like playing with shades and effects again so... I´m going to (or try to) turn this gorgeous HAF X in to a demon, (the fact I played through Doom 3 and it´s expansion again the other day ... may have something to do with it!

So, I will be using foam and epoxy (with internal reinforcing) to build 2 massive horns that will go through the lenght of the top of the case, depending on how these come out, I might also add a pointed tail. Aside from this, I will be modifying the body (it´s going to hurt bashing it in) and adding "skin deformations" to give it that tough demon skin look.

Paint wise, black, with dark red/purple skin tones, and bright-ish red details to accentuate irregularities in the skin. For the horns, I´m thinking white-ish cream with a dark brown dry brush touch, or I may go with dark colours like the rest of the case, we shall see!

Hardware wise, the wonderfull people at Cooler Master (I´m looking at you Gert!) have also sent me an awesome 80+ 1000w PSU. I will be using an ASUS P8P67 Sabertooth (I´ve chosen this mobo because of it´s thermal armor, which I can modify to match the design), with an Intel i5 2500k. 2x Asus ENGTX 275, a Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatality, 3x Seagate Barracuda 750Gb S-ATA2 drives and a Pioneer cd/dvd combo drive.

Other hardware like fan controllers, memory card readers and so forth I will add as I see fit if I can put them in to the design.

Right, for those of you who saw my week in a mod project (acid burn) you might remember my work place was a complete mess for several reasons I won´t go in. So, first thing´s first, let´s sort this place out!!!!!!

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Quite a mess huh? I should also mention it´s currently 37c... and rather humid...ugh!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/5.JPG

Yup that´s my old Fallout Cause sitting there waiting to be either sold or re-purposed :/ and of course, the goodies from CM!

Right so, assorted cables and accesories, sorted!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/6.JPG

Assorted Hardware, sorted!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/7.JPG

Bits and bobs, sorted!

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Tools, sorted!

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Workbench, sorted!

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I can´t stress it enough, Thanks CM!

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Let´s start unpacking...

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And that´s it for now, tomorrow I pick up the materials needed to start the transformation of the case!

///

Hi Everyone!

First of all, sorry for the delay, I´ve been rather ill for the last week and a half, and still not 100% but well enough to continue, it´s a short update, but more tomorrow!

So, I continued to dismantle the case completely:

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And this is how the bare chasis of the HAF X looks like:

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Now that´s out of the way, i measured things up and drilled 2 small holes on the front cover, matching holes behind in the chasis in order to put the supports for the horns:

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And lastly for today (I have to wait till tomorrow for the foam to dry), the straight mold of the horn filled with foam:

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/21.JPG

The horn isn´t going to be straight up, it will mold around the top of the case, however, I decided to make it straight in order to then brake it in to shape and filling the gaps with more foam, so I don´t end up with parts with structural weakness due to lack of foam.

Tomorrow, the other horn plus the shaping, filling, and coating with epoxy.

///

Hi Again!

First of all, a small rant, it´s stupidly HOT, arg!

Now, down to business:

First horn has been splitted in the desired zones to help curve the form for when the epoxy comes (which, no time for today as I forgot the detail of having to leave the foam tu cure in the filler spots, i.e. where the foam has been splitted) and filled. I´ve also mounted it on the case to see how it looks, unfortunately because of the design of the case frontal (really hard to take it off without taking the top off) I had to mount it permanently, so, when I do the epoxy tomorrow or whenever I will have to cover the rest of the case so i don´t get drops in it, which I might not do aniway because I was planning on leaving irregularities on the case to later help the paint simulate demon skin.

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Also, I´ve started the second horn, a big THANKS goes to my sister for helping me out with both, as she has more experience with molds and supports for them.

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/27.JPG

And now, left to cure til ltomorrow!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/28.JPG

That´s all for today!

//

Hi Everyone!

I know it´s been quite a while since the last update, I havn´t been home this long due to a work contract but I´m back now to my usual day to day life so, I can now officially continue with the project! :D (I´ve really missed doing so).

Now there´s no progress since the last update since I got back not long ago but will start again tomorrow.

However for now, news! A new sponsor has chosen to participate in this project...

So big thanks to Kingston!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/Kingston_logo.jpg

The good folks at Kingston have sent me 16Gb of DDR3 1600 of HyperX RAM, undoubtedly one if not the most well known name in the performance memory market. Also, to top it off, they´ve sent 2 96Gb SSD drives of their SSDNow! series which will be going in a striping RAID config.

So thank you very much Kingston!!!!!!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/29.JPG

Aside from that, an other I did has arrived!

2 clear fans with red led for the top of the case.

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/30.JPG

And an ASUS Sabertooth P67 motherboard, now I know it isn´t a high end ASUS motherboard but I just love the look of it!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/31.JPG

Right that´s it for today folks, if all goes well, tomorrow or the day after, another update!

//

I´m just not going to say a date from now on as it always takes me longer!!

Small Update:

Second horn is on, and have realised it looks nothing like the original, but will make them more similar with the epoxy, aniway, all foamed up and currently drying, 24h wait, hopefully tomorrow I can go down and see if it needs any more filler, after that, epoxy.

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It´s starting to take shape : )

//

So the first layer of epoxy is on and now waiting for it to harden so I can use a second layer for more filler, maybe a third if needed, after that, sanding down to create a smooth surface (in preparation for primer) yet rugged so the horns look like they have wear and tear on them : )

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//

Update:

Sanded the solid expoxy down and applied the second and final coat of the stuff:

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At one point I was thinking of 3rd epoxy filler layer to make it all one smooth surface, but then I though it would look very artificial, this way it looks like it has a lot of wear and tear, and the once painted in a way to reflect that it should look pretty awesome : )

//

Quick Update:

So I just ordered a few goodies, this should complete the list of accesories : )

Sharkoon Cold Cathode 30 4x RED Kit,

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/47.jpg

Sunbeam Cold Cathode 30cm single UV.

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/48.jpg

Revoltec 5.25" Fan Controller (will be painted according to color scheme).

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/49.jpg

L.I.S. Premium Silver Frontal Unit (will be painted according to color scheme and in shape of a mouth, teeth, etc).

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/50.jpg

Aquacomputer Aquabox Professional 5 Black Reservoir (will be painted to act as the eyes)

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/51.jpg

EK-Ekoolant Blood Red 1000ml x2

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/52.jpg

EK Waterblocks EK-KIT H30 - Supreme LT 360 Cu

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/53.jpg

All to arrive on Monday : )

//

Update:

I´ve given the horns one more coat of epoxy to round things up and give them their final shape before sanding down in order to get them ready for paint.

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And started coating the rest of the case with the "skin" which will be painted in a mixture of black, brown, blood red and fire red tones...
...infected blisters anyone?

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/56.JPG

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Now to let it dry till tomorrow.

[Luciel]

Update:

I´ve aplied first coat of "skin" to the rest of the areas that where meant to have it. Once dry (in a couple of hours) I will cover all "skin" areas with a very very thin layer of epoxy, so it still keeps the detail but becomes much stronger (it is quite frail on it´s own).

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//

Second Update of the Day:

Second and final coat of "skin" (for this one, epoxy as opposed to foam) done. Now it has to dry, tomorrow I will sand any imperfections of over the edge material and prep it for paint (primer).

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[Luciel]

Update:

Ok, so, imperfections sanded down, panels put togueter, masking tape...

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...and first coat of primer paint. Needs a second coat but I´m out of primer so will have to wait till tomorrow so I can go get some (was going aniway to buy the actual paint).

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/85.JPG

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I´m really starting to see the final picture : )

[Fuganater]

Wow looking good! I can't wait to see your color scheme.

[Luciel]

Update:

So goodies arrived : )

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/92.JPG

Ok, lets start the paintjob!

First, a second coat of primer was added, but no need for pictures, it´s just primer, plus it looks like the previous pictures...

Second, a coat of visceral red (it really does look visceral!)

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/93.JPG

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Now let´s darken the whole thing with tones of blood red, purple and black...

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/98.JPG

more...

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/99.JPG

mooore! (and while I´m at it, horns!, also, 100th picture of the project)

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/100.JPG

MORE!!

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/103.JPG

MOOOAAAAR!!!!!!!!!!

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That´s more like it : )

Close ups of the horn that´s almost finished so far...

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http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/102.JPG

Now, 3 hours of dry time and then more ; )

[Luciel]

Second Update of the day:

Second and last fase for the exterior paintjob, another coat of paint and it´s different tones has been added, finished the horns, used brown ink (the one I used to stain the horns) to highlight corners and all sorts of parts in the case, to give it that worn feel to it.

Tomorrow morning I´ll be doing the paintjob of the inside, bright fire red to contrast, the components that will be painted I haven´t decided yet wether to paint them that way, or the same tones used on the outside.

Will let it dry for the rest of the day and then in the evening/night, assemble the whole thing, components, liquid cooling, fans, etc...

On wednesday it´s going to an all week long modding event to make it´s debut.

Aniway, enjoy. I´m knakered.

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[Fuganater]

Ya thats a win. Looks awesome.

[Luciel]

Cheers mate, wait till you see the inside and all put togueter tomorrow ; )

[Luciel]

Update:

The interior paint is done and so are the case´s accesories, as you can see, I only gave it one coat (after primer) because I don´t think a perfect solid red paintjob would suit the look of the case, this way, it still has tones of the black primer, and it´s now been lackered in a metal finish, that way, even the tones shine. It´s time to start with the components.

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Yes, those are the eyes ; ) (modified reservoir).

More updates and final completed update later today.

[SXRguyinMA]

looking good!!!

[Fuganater]

Please tell me your sleeving everything...

[Luciel]

Hi Fuganater, I´m now at the modding event in question, to answer your question, of course I will, the project is now assembled but still has a ton of work left to it, most of the lightning isn´t on, loads of details need doing/finishing, and one of them is the sleeving, the important thing was to put togueter a decent look for today : )

[Luciel]

Hi Everyone!

I´m back from the Campus Party Milenio, got to meet some great people/modders and see some really good work! Diabolo was put togueter and was taken to this event, however, it´s by no means finished, it was merely made "presentable" for the event. The official presentation of the finished product will be in the Murcia Lan Party on the 6th of December.

For the purpose of updates, I will ignore the fact of the process I took to get it ready for the event in question and continue with the last update I did before then : )

Right so, I´ve put the frontal togueter to see how it would look and judge if I needed changes. First problem, the upper grill was measured wrong, so to much space was left between such and the horns, luckyly, I have spares so will be doing that again.

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/127.JPG

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the 275s have been painted:

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the X-Fi Titanium:

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/133.JPG

The Sabertooth:

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The PSU cover (I have left the psu untouched aside from the sleeving I´ll be doing as a sign of respect to my sponsor).

http://www.neonit.net/images/diabolo/136.JPG

I left the cooling running all night to test for leaks with no problem so I put it in, mounted the radiator, haven´t mounted the pump yet, it´s simply sitting on one of the bays, mostly to see where I want to put it). And turned everyone on, just to make sure everything was working, and surely enough, it was. Only one GPU in though as I´ll be using the other one on my current rig so I can use it meanwhile : )

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I´m currently debating about the horns. While it´s my first time doing such structure, and decently happy as to how it turned out, I´m not 100%, the simetrical different doesn´t really bother me, plus it would be incredibly hard to do so, specially with such materials, It´s the size of them that bothers me.

One of the ideas that came up was to cutting them to a point and shaping them hell-boy style, what do you guys think?

That´s all for now, I´m waiting on some materials to arrive before I can continue.

[Luciel]

Hi Everyone,

First of all I´d like to apologize for the delay on finishin this, I had to wait for several thing sto be delivered and once I finally got them I was already busy with AIO AL (a.k.a. nameless mini-mod) and already had my mind set on doing the second mod in a week "Fallout Cause SP", and of course after that I had the final lan & modding event of the year to go to (from which I just got back yesterday). Today I did the finishing touches (several changes had already been done as bits arrived but I wanted to wait till the end to post the final pictures) but to put it all togueter, since my last post. The following things have been changed /added; 1. The horns, as you all know I wasnt 100% happy with them and decided to shorten them and make them as symetrical as I could but I decided to not go all the way to hell-boy style, so I stayed somewhere in between. 2. The paint on the front. I wanted to do something simple that would shape the face that I maded with frontal components. I had done this in the past for a friend and I found a simple V helped a lot, so I went for that and quite happy with it. 3. Touch ups and darkening of certain outside sections, these you couldn´t tell all that much in photos but it was simply something that was bugging me so went ahead and did it. 4. Fix 2 scratches on the side panel. These happened in my last trip and while they wherent that noticeable... you know, just had to fix it. 5. Internal paint touchup, esentially went and redid the inside paint, same colour, but it just needed a second coating. The only left was the frontal spacer for which I couldn´t get a replacement as the spacing between it and horns is quite visible and would´ve preffered to close it up but, not much I can do now. If I come across one (I think they are the same on all CM HAF cases) I will defo do it up : )

On a side note: I know this mod has been 50/50 all the way, I hope with the final pictures to have changed the mind of some of you who didn´t like it. Personally I am now completely happy with it and quite proud of the result having in mind it´s my first time with epoxy and foam as modding materials. I can´t get over on how much I love the skin effect either. To those that still don´t like it, well... I can´t make everyone happy, as long as you like any other of my projects, I´m happy ; )

One last thanks to Cooler Master & Kingston for helping out a lot with this project specially someone from Kingston whom I will not mention by name (you know who you are) who has been extremely helpfull all the way, thanks!!!

So here you go, the final pictures of Project: Diabolo:

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Thanks for reading!

[Fuganater]

Very interesting. I love the "skin" effect you did and the paint job is pro on that and the horns. I'm sad you cut them down. I personally would have just remade them. I know you like the V in the front but I think it doesn't fit very well but your happy with it and that's all that matters.

Still great job. +rep

[Luciel]

Cheers mate, I tried reshaping them around 3 times and just wasnt happy with them, as they are now it´s as close I´m going to be I think. At least with this mats, I did think of re-doing them but this mod has been going on for so long that I´m just happy to finally finish it and actually be happy with it.

Thanks for the rep mate : )

[TheMainMan]

I agree with Fuga that the texture of the paint alone makes this a great mod. I also like the unique colour as it's one that's rarely seen on computers. Great job!