PDA

View Full Version : My first real mod, Redbeard's Case



Redbeard
01-12-2006, 12:27 AM
This is the worklog for my first real mod project, due to going back to college it remains not 100% but it is currently being used in the state it is in. All I really lack on it is to finish placing the lights in the case, decide on and obtauin the decals for the case, and repaint the front panel (cold weather left some undesirable places in the paint.) Anyways on to the worklog...

My case is a previously used blue chieftec dragon and the original front panel had to be replaced. Here is the front and left side panels after being sanded and preped to paint.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0085.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0089.jpg

I decided not to use a standard primer because I wanted my color to be darker than it would have been if I had used gray primer. I used Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter (a clear primer usually used for plastics.)

Here is the front panel with a few coats applied. The paint I used was Duplicolor Acrylic Enamel Cherry Red.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0091.jpg

Redbeard
01-12-2006, 12:44 AM
Let me take a moment on this post to mention my father who without his help this project would not have been possible. His knowledge of cutting metals and painting more than made up for my inexperience.

Anyways, on the mesh panel. I personally like the look of perforated metal on a case mod and try to use it as much as possible on my cases. The problem is locating a small enough quantity of good quality perforated metal in my region without spending a fortune is unheard of as far as I know. The metal we used is actually from and old panel of satellite dish.

My father did all of the cutting at this stage:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0032.jpg
Here is the panel before cutting.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0043.jpg
Cutting the panel.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0054.jpg
Freshly cut square.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0047.jpg
Deburring the edges.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0056.jpg
Marked out are to cut for the edge side with the curve in it. Then we sanded the metal.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0077.jpg
Our first look at the metal in its future placement.

Redbeard
01-12-2006, 12:53 AM
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0082.jpg

Next we sprayed gray primer and then later we painted the grill with the same type of paint I purchaed for the case, except glossy black.

Next we began intenisive painting on the case panels, unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of this stage.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0106.jpg
Here, after the first few coats of red we painted the inside portion of the front panel black to match the mesh side. After drying we covered the black again to repaint the red portion a few more times.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0104.jpg
Here's the right side panel after painting and waxing. After everything dried assembly is all the remained to finish the leg of this mod.

Redbeard
01-12-2006, 01:00 AM
Final pictures before I left for school, all that has changed is the guts were finally put in as well as some lighting and a jolly roger bage to decorate the door.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0149.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0147.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0144.jpg

I plan to finish the case durring the summer.

This project has allowed me to gain a wealth of knowledge, especially painting with acrylic enamels.

The specs are:

Pentium 4- 3 GHz
1 GB Corsair Value Select RAM
250 GB Western Digital HD
Radeon 9800 Pro

Redbeard
01-22-2006, 04:11 AM
*Update*

As I mentioned in my last post the cathodes I have are cheap and look very pink when lit, and so began my journey into "fixing" the problem. I recently purchased and have been reading Crimson's modding book (which is absolutely amazing in quality and content!) and found his solution to changing cathode's color. He suggests that to change the color one should use colored gift wrapping acetate, but seeing as the time of year it is this was impossible for me to find. While pondering my problem it finally occurred to me to use red permanent marker to color it in. At first I was skeptical of the color change that would result, and also I thought that the marker might rub off but alas, IT WORKED!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/CathodeCompare.jpg
Here I show the difference between the two bulbs prior to being lit; you can already see the big differences. I was going to take pictures of the difference while lit but that would have resulted in me wiring back my case (yes I rewired it tonight too) and then redoing the process all over again later so just take my word for it, after I colored in the plastic covering of the cathode it shines much more red than before.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/Gutted.jpg
The case wiring all taken apart, so I can lay the wiring more attractively.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/Wiredup.jpg
Reassembled, usually wlaying the cables and wires is my least favorite part of modding but tonight it was actually enjoyable. Thank God for zip-ties!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/lighted.jpg
Final product of my labors tonight.

Please excuse any misspellings, as it is late.

Redbeard
02-03-2006, 07:14 AM
*Update* Here's my new lighting and lighting effects and my new decal.

First here's the decal, not much description needed. And no that isn't damage on the door and around the case, just bad results of using a flash.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0205.jpg

Here's the case with red cathodes lit.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0253.jpg

Here's the case with my new UV cathodes lit.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0231.jpg

Here is a close up of some UV effects. This is where I took some UV poster paint and carefully with a q-tip painted the edge of all my cards. Pretty Sweet huh?8)
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0260.jpg

Now both sets of cathodes lit. Yeah kinda neat but I rarely leave the like this. Kinda hurts my eyes.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e273/mobileray/100_0262.jpg


Link To Original Thread (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1910)