Project : Lupine

[Tech-Daddy]

Hey folks!
I tend to post my logs around on multiple forums, to get feedback from as many locations as possible. So, don't be surprised if you see this thing hanging around on another location! :)

"As such, it starts yet again... with a thought... a smokey whisper of inspiration that quickly reveals a raging fire of actions and calculations...."
Tech-Daddy, 2005

--------------------------------------------
lupine
adj : of or relating to or characteristic of wolves
n : any plant of the genus Lupin; bearing erect spikes of
usually purplish-blue flowers [syn: lupin]


Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Lupine \Lu"pine\, n. [L. lupinus, lupinum, apparently fr.
lupinus belonging to a wolf, fr. lupus a wolf; perh. so
called because it was supposed to exhaust the soil: cf. F.
lupin. Cf. Wolf.] (Bot.)
A leguminous plant of the genus Lupinus, especially L.
albus, the seeds of which have been used for food from
ancient times. The common species of the Eastern United
States is L. perennis. There are many species in
California.
--------------------------------------------

For the sake of clarification, I'm not modding as a tribute to a plant... ok? I'm going to be dealing with wolves here. Beautiful, majestic.... and my wife's *favorite* animal ever.

Wolves...

So, I wrap up blingGreen... and she asks me, "So when are you going to make me a cool case like that?" , to which I respond, "What would you like?"

This started off as a "very" easy case.... but not much on the "OOoooo..." factor after I thought about it for a few days. So, I modded my plans, and have begun what will be known as "Project : Lupine"

Constraints:
simple color scheme (purple and black)
no "overly complicated" cuts
How best can I relay my wife's love of wolves while maintaining an elegant simplicity that reflects the dusk/night time environment that they are usually active in? (Again, the purple and black will assist here).


So, I start with a Coolermaster Centurion 5 (CAC-T05) in it's basic silver and black. They make it with a blue trim that appears anodized, which is what gave me this idea, dye the trim a violet purple. All aluminium on the front, the side trim, the button housing, the buttons, the lower port cover... make all of the the same beautiful shade of purple.
But dont stom there, match that up with the same shade going onto the frame of the case. I want to keep any exposed aluminium... exposed. I like the look of the brushed alu. The texture and lines are just classy in my eyes. So, anywhere there is alu that is silver in color, it will be treated to a clear primer, then subjected to a purple treatment, and followed up with several coats of clear (for durability).

The window is going to be cool. I have, in my mind's eye, a multi layer diorama where the scene actuallly starts by being cut out of the case side, with other facets of it residing in the acrylic to be lit up by off edge LED's. Specifically, I will have the profile of a howling wolf and the terrain that it is standing on (the top pf a rocky cliff...) shaped into the window's edge work on the case. Clear acrylic will be mounted behind it, but not just any acrylic. The acrylic wll have several high resolution imaged laser etched into the surface... a full moon (that the before mentioned wolf will be howling to), a ghostly wolf bust apparition off to the side, seemingly floating to the side of the window, and some fog/northern lights in the sky. The moon will be side lit with white LED's making it stand out all by itself. I am hoping that the glow of white from the Moon will also give a faint bit more resolution to the wolf bust in the sky on the side.


Color for the internal lighting is, yep, purple. I have matching purple coolermaster LED fans (80mm and 120mm) so the color will be consistant. I also have some purple (not UV) CCFL's on order, and we'll see how that goes.

So... after careful deliberation, and thinking... I dove in. Here are the initial pics of the carnage:

[Tech-Daddy]

unsuspecting victim:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start2.jpg

Close up of the lower bezel and the ports:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start3.jpg

Once I figured out how to safely get the front bezel off, this poor case never stood a chance! ;)
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start5.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start6.jpg

Here I was reminding myself of where the cables routed so that I could put it all back together..
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start7.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start8.jpg

Out popped the switch and port housings, nice and easy...
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start9.jpg

The "emptied" front of the case.....
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start10.jpg

Topless!!!!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start11.jpg

Taking off the side trim on the fron bezel (drop 6 screws and off they came! It was a dream come true.)
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start12.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start13.jpg


That is all I go to tonight, I firmly believe that this mod is going to move pretty quicly, especially once I get the artwork finalized and the materials lined up to be etched!

Anyway, look out world! Here I come again!!!

[Tech-Daddy]

After I had removed the panels, here was what I was left with to paint:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_panels.jpg

I laid them out on a piece of wood that I had put some screws through to hold the buttons off of the painting surface, then dropped 2-3 coats of the clear primer on them:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_panels2.jpg

1st coat of color:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_panels3.jpg

I then let them dry for a few hours, then I wiped them off with a towel to get some of the residue off.

2nd color coat:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_panels4.jpg

After a few hours, and a wipe down here is the result.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_panels5.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_panels6.jpg

I'm testing the clearcoat out on a scrap piece of alu that I treated with this X-Metal. I just want to be sure that it does not cloud the finish. If it does not, I'll shoot these pieces with 2-3 layers of clearcoat, then some polishing compund to take any orange peal that might happen with the clearcoat.

This will be the same colors that the side accents will be on the bezel, and the same color of the internal chassis.
:)

[Tech-Daddy]

Krylon X-Metals purple. They say to apply it with the X-Metals base, but if Krylon is anything like Duplicolor on this product, then the base coat is nothing more than a primer with metalflakes in it. I did not want the color to disguise the grain of the brushed alu metal. So, 2-3 coats of the clear primer, and then followed up with the transparent "X-Metals" paint and voila!

[Tech-Daddy]

They make a opaque silver paint, but the beauty of this line is that the paint is noting more than a surface color that is transparent, allowing features under it to show through.

[Tech-Daddy]

The last piece is drying tonight for the front panel, but it is the logo piece, so here is the front of the Centurion5:

Before:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_start2.jpg

And after:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/front_panel1.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/front_panel4.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/front_panel2.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/front_panel3.jpg

[temmink]

That is looking fantastic! I'm still keen on the wolf silhouette but just had a new thought, what about one in stainless (look at least) metal on the front grille. I made this from a picture on google to give you an Idea of what I mean

http://img149.echo.cx/img149/4602/wolf9an.png

Feel free to use that as an outline or whatever if you want. Anyway, it's looking great so far, so keep up the good work!

*EDIT*

I was feeling a little creative so I actually mocked up what I was thinking about with one of your photos... enjoy

http://img115.echo.cx/img115/2502/frontpanel1wolf4ah.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

Wow guys! Thanks for the ideas! That looks awfully nice! I'll need to give that some serious thought!

(And I think you might have the same image I was going to use for the side panel window cut out! I'll need to compare once I get home!)

Thanks for the replies folks! I'm gonna keep rolling on this!
Very good ideas!

[Tech-Daddy]

Your front bezel wolf has inspired me to approach another take on the wolf references on the front bezel...

This was my inspiration behind the case (Smooth Creations BEAUTIFUL case painting link... (http://www.smoothcreations.com/images/cases/18lg.jpg) )

And if you notice the art work on the front bezel? I'm not going to use paint for that, but likely some form of brushed alu/paint and lighting... maybe a power LED or hard drive light? ;)

Using a similar technique that I used on bling with sanded acrylic beneith the paws that are cut from alu? Might use spacers between the two layers... dunno yet... but man the ideas are flowing!

THANKS GUYS!!!!

[Tech-Daddy]

Let me just say, that Coolermaster likes rivets! ;)

9 of those little boogers on the 3.5" drive rack alone! And they were *strong* too! Broke one of my new bits while I was trying to whittle one of the rivets out! :evil:

Oh well...

Here is my story for what I am doing right now.
The frame is going to match the bezel colors. It will also hopefully match it's smoothness (this is likely to be the death of me, but we'll see...). So, to match the color, the base metal needs to be about the same brightness as the alum on the front trim.
Uhmmm....
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame3.jpg

That ain't it.... ;)

So... how can I brighten this thing up! Start off with a good dose of Adhesion Promoter, then a dark grey primer coat:

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_prime1.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_prime2.jpg

let that sit for a hour or so.... lightly sand it with some 220 to get as much of the heavy texture down on most of the viewable areas, then I use what I never *ever* thought I'd use on one of my mods... rattle can Chrome paint... :lol:

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_paint1.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_paint2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_paint3.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_paint4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_paint5.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_paint6.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frame_paint7.jpg

There is a time and place for this kind of paint, and I just found the *ideal* place and time to use this stuff! We all know that a truly chrome finish is impossible with this stuff, but I remembered that this stuff, if given a decent base, will reflect pretty well.... and *that* was all I wanted!

....a decent reflective or bright surface that I can apply the X-Metals paint over, so that it will reflect like the front trim! or a bit more! I'm not looking for a Chrome finish, I'm looking for semi reflective, but imitating a metal surface... and I got that in spades! I'm going to pick up another can of the Duplicolor chrome to even up some of the spots, but after this dries, and I wipe it down, I'll cover up all of the shiny frame bits with the purple X-Metals paint!

I think the case frame is going to look niiiiice this time tomorrow!
;)

[Tech-Daddy]

Well, I mocked mine up, to test out the fans placement and noise, as well as to see how well the components fit together. *Please* pay no attention to the unevenness in the internals color. I only wanted a basic covering on the internals, as I have another plan for that area. This was just to see how well the fans lit up the case, and see that the colors worked well together.

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress1.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress3.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress5.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress6.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress7.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress8.jpg


2 quick surprises that are going in this machine (hopefully) and my other machine (blingGreen).
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress9.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress9b.jpg

I think these just look... SO COOL! (Totally, no pun intended...)
More later!

[Tech-Daddy]

...on with a small update:

My front panel Firewire/USB cables, the front "mic in/speaker out" plugs and the 80mm front intake fan. I used a spiral wrap to pull the USB/Firewire cables together, I may include the mic/speakers line depending upon where the connector is on the mother board. Reading the manual now to see if I can plan out some more cable management before the board arrives!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress10.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress11.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress12.jpg

This is my rear 120mm exhaust fan and the motherboard front button bundle (power switch/reset/hd act/power LED). I spiral wrapped the button bundle and will be trying an experiment with them to see if I can disguise them. The spiral wrap may not stay. But to be sure I did not have spurts of unexpected cable colors coming between the twists, I sleeved the bundle in a black cable sleeve. I also sleeved the 120mm fan, and will likely vinyl dye the white end cap.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress13.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress14.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress15.jpg

The DVD Burner is now stealthed. I still have to rig up a button interface (which may be a bit difficult due to the front mesh panel construction) but the mesh fits perfectly! I had to cut off the side legs of the bezel plate (these things actually screw in to the front bezel frame. 2 screws remove it, then it is latched in place by notches on the side walls of the front bezel frame.), and then put it in my bench vice to give it a good "hug" to lower the height of the piece and the width of the piece. It was designed to be snug up against the other front plates, but "being snug" and "opening an optical device tray" are not good in the same sentence. So, by gently tweaking the front plate, I took enough of the dimensions down to allow it a tiny, immeasurable ammount of room. Enough for the tray mechanism to eject properly, and then close properly... without scratching or catching on anything else. I like the result!

The top pic, the black velcro tape causes a bit of a reflection, but trust me, in real life, you cannot see that it is there. The flash highlights the tape a little bit, but in normal light, you cannot see it!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress16.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress17.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/progress18.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

You should take the plastic off of your drives and paint them black. It would help hide them a little more. Heck I just used black primer on my drives and it works dandy good. Primer tends to rub off but if theres mesh in front it would be fine.
(Right now you can kinda see a gray square behind the mash it doesent look as natural as it could)

Radiant... they *are* black units. :) The tray on the eject and the flash makes them look less black, but in normal light, they are a perfect match for the front mesh panels. Also, the "greyness" of the velcro is due to the flash, otherwise it is jet black and not noticable as a different color behind the mesh. The flash just causes different materials to reflect differently. Honestly, looking at the front of the mod, you dont notice a color difference. I appreciate your concern for color consistancy, and your offering of suggestions, much appreciated!

Thanks for all of the comments guys!
I'll be home by Monday, and will hopefully have some items waiting on me to continue to mod with! (LED's, Laser etched acrylic, new motherboard, etc...)

TTYL!!!

[Tech-Daddy]

Quick pic update.

1) The etch work:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window1.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window3.jpg

The wolf was used with the permission of the artist, and his name is Nick Deligaris (http://www.deligaris.com/art/color30.jpg). I believe you will find the remainder of his work as impressive as the wolf. He was very gracious in the use of his artwork, so long as I did not profit from it and I gave him credit. Well, as we all know, modding is an illness, and I certainly have not made any money on this mod ;) but I want full artistic credit for the wolf to be directed to Nick and his beautiful work @ www.deligaris.com. Thank you Nick, it has been a pleasure working with you on this!


Here we see what I plan on putting into the bottom of the window frame:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window4.jpg

I am contemplating making the sides look like there are branches from trees "just out of view" that are poking into the picture.... we'll see how that flies before I start cutting.

All put together, after cutting, this is how I forsee the window coming out, shape wise:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window5.jpg

The bottom will not be white, I just had to reverse the cliff image, and flip over the paper to orient the wolf where I wanted it. Where you see white on the bottom, that will actually be the black of the side cover. Plus, the white just shows up better on the black background!

The inside CPU fan shroud had to be removed to make way for the window. I think this hurt a bit to pull the tube out, as I had wonderful plans of seeing how cool my CPU was going to cool using hte fresh air.... but alas, the window and the placement of this cylinder just would not work out... so, off it came!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window6.jpg

Putting the cutout template on the inside of the door . I actually ended up cutting off the bottom 1.5 inches of white paper, and lowering the scene down so that the rocky/cragy clifs were not going to be cut out of the mesh work... I did not want to hit the bondo on this cut! ;)

More tomorrow, as I will begin and hopefully complete my window!

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window7.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

Find someone with a laser etching service. I happen to have a friend that has a laser that can do this, so I profided the layout picture (in this case the moon and the wolf) and they etched the acrylic with it. Here is a company that I have yet to try, but they provide the service :
Refocus Laser Engraving (http://www.refocuslaser.com/)

[Tech-Daddy]

Todays window work...

Hehehe... no turning back now! I am committed to the design!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window8.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window9.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window10.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window11.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window12.jpg

Now I have burned my boat... and have set forth on the journey to make this window ROCK!
;)

After cutting the window, the black finish on the outside has been damaged. Tried to avoid it but when you are cutting through metal with a spinning abrasive disc... things happen! ;) I tried painting with a flat black... but MAN... matching black is nearly impossible!

Looks like I have to hit it with the ol' gloss black treatment. Did not want to have to paint the external facing sides, but... you do what ya gotta do!

I'll be priming/sanding and painting tonight. Pics to follow later.

[Tech-Daddy]

Thanks Defyant! That means a *lot* to me coming from another modder that I hold in very high admiration! *sniff*.... *sniff*, aw now I'm all emotional! ;)


Ok, last night I did my first round of primer and got the first coat of black on the window. Tonight I wet sanded both the back panel and the window panel with 800 then 1000 grit, and reshot another layer of primer on the back panel (high spots around the handle divot that I have to be careful of) and another layer of black on the wolf window.

This one was taken last night after the 1st primer on the window side:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window13.jpg

Last night after the first color on the window:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window14.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window15.jpg

After wet sanding tonight
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window16.jpg

This update, brought to us by the letter *K* and the number *1664* ;) (Man, I love that stuff!) (for those that have never had it, Kronenbourg 1664 is a beer imported from France... yummy!) :
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window17.jpg

Back panel, right after sanding but before the 2nd primer coat:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/window18.jpg


Right now I'm letting the primer dry out on the back panel and then I'll wet sand it again, then I'll hit it with it's first layer of color.

Can Lexan be heated like acrylic and bent? Anyone know?

[Tech-Daddy]

Sanded and put down a thrid coat of black on the front panel (which bubbled and looks like absolute crap, but I'll deal with that on the sanding) and then I put my 2nd on the back panel and it came out splendid!

No pics, just a verbal on those. Most of tonights work was spent planning cable management. I'm thinking hard about cabling, because I recieved the following tonight:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/chameleon_purple.jpg
Made by www.lizard-tree.com and they look GREAT!!!
Perfect match on the color. These will be for the cabling, the base will be black, and this wrapped around the black for accenting. Mmmmmm!

Contemplating a 120mm fan grill based on this design:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/wolf_fangrill_640.jpg


And some misc. wolf tracks on some yet to be displayed acrylic work:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/wolf_track.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/pad_pattern.gif

I'm also drawing up plans on a front panel design that incorporates some of the above elements... but those are sketch pads in my head right now.

Since I have a need for a 20 to 24 pin adaptor, by virtue of this motherboard, I 'm planning on a bit of modification of this adaptor. I'm also going to cut a hole in the side of one of the 5 1/4 bays, so that I can route the adaptor out and allow for the current ATX cable to be routed behind the motherboard tray (through a yet to be punched hole in the mobo tray). I will have cabling shown, as I want the cables to be seen.... I just want them neat, and always attractive to be viewed.

More later... I'm tired! ;)

[Tech-Daddy]

Today will be a big update (hopefully) as I have about 1 week to completion on this, and I *need* to get lots of little things done. I've currently got the power supply gutted open (still pulling parts so that I can get it painted, and I've got a number of cuts that I need to complete on the motherboard tray for cable routing purposes.

I've got some prototyping with paper to complete then some acrylic cutting and bending.

Lots to do, lots to do!
;)

[Tech-Daddy]

Good evening all!
Most all day in the garage, and I have a few things to show for it!

First thing I wanted to get done today was the acrylic cover for the side of the drive bays. I love the functionality of the sliders for adding and removing hardware, but I realized a few things about those beloved mechanisms...
1) They would be difficult to paint
2) They slide back and forth, making the surface painting under the slider a messy and maintainence prone affair.

So, I opted to build an acrylic cover for the bay area.
Here I am fleshing out the space and shape requirements with a piece of folded poster board.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel0.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel1.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel2.jpg


I then layed the template out on the acrylic and outlined what I needed to shape:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel3.jpg


My first attempt at cutting it out with a jig saw failed miserably ( I can only believe it is the cheap nature of this particular type of acrylic... but that is me guessing. It did not happen to me while working with Delvie's acrylics...), and actually instantaneously split the panel that effectively rendered 2 hours work... useless.

So I redrew the template, and then cut it out with a dremel bit. I knew that would work, but it took so much longer to complete that way... ugh. Oh well, gotta improvise sometimes!

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel5.jpg


Here is my impromptu acrylic bending station:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel6.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel7.jpg


Ahhhh... success!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel8.jpg

After a lot of test fitting and shaping with a dremel sanding drum, I got it to the shape that I wanted! Now, to disguise the bays, I started out by spraying the back side of the bay cover with the purple X-Metals/Metalcast paint. This will transparently tint the acrylic to purple, where I will add on a sweet paint that I found from Krylon. It is a glass paint that they formulate to be sprayed on the inside of glass lids. The silver color actually dries to the bottom of the coat. It is designed to be painted inside of glass jar lids, so that the jars looke almost like chrome! So, I paint this over the back of the purple, and I end up with a silver reflective finish backing the purple! (remember the metal/silver base I did on the case... well, think the same thing here, but with a twist! )

First coat of purple:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel9.jpg


Now, while the 1st coat on the drive bay cover was drying, I grabbed my 20 pin ATX power to 24 pin eATX power adaptor, and decided it was MUCH to colorful! So, little trick... if you dont have any gloves laying around, grab yourself a plastic grocery sack, and put it over your hand that holds the adaptor as you spray it down with black vinyl dye! ;) Certailny keep the ol' fingers a bit cleaner!

Before:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/atx_adaptor1.jpg

After 1st coat:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/atx_adaptor2.jpg


Now, I have the drive bay cover and the eATX adaptor drying... what next??? I was like a shark looking for something to attack! heheheh... My unsuspecting Power Supply....Antec 430w... would you *look* at the cables on this thing! I love it! So much so, that not *one* cable on this will be modded. I want to keep them incase they get traded into another machine later.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/powersupply1.jpg

Gutting it open (good bye, warranty! ;) )
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/powersupply2.jpg

The Antec came with gold fan guards... I'm swapping them for silver fan guards to be shot purple by the metalcast later!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/powersupply3.jpg


And, while I have everything out, I needed 2 holes on the back side of the motherboard and drive bays to accomidate some custom cable routing later on.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/cable_holes.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

2nd coat of Purple (that did not go on well... I am SOOO pissed off... I hope it did not ruin the bay cover. We'll see. Grrrr.....)
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel10.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/drivepanel11.jpg


Hey! What is a coomputer without a mobo, and the mobo finally makes it's first appearance! An Asus A8V-E Deluxe (socket 939, VIA 890 based PCI-E
solution) with an FX-53 already making itself at home!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo0.jpg

Joining in the fray was a Coolermaster Hyper 48 CPU cooler. This is a $40-$50 cooler that I found on sale for under $9 NEW!!!! (bought 2!) I about flipped out! It looks great, and according to the reviews that I have seen, is a pretty darn good performer!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo1.jpg

It comes with everything seen here, is P4 and K8 ready (not that I need the P4 bit... but maybe I can make something useful out of the spare parts later! ;) )
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo2.jpg

The base is very smooth, and only an insane CPU lapper would go after this surface... Mmmmmm, tasty! :)
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo3.jpg

After mounting the heatsink, and getting the heat pipes oriented the way I wanted them to go... I realized that the fan lead for the CPU fan was now hanging in the front of the CPU.... that is a "no no" in my book. 4 Screws off the top, twist the fan 2 clicks so that the lines are now sprouting out the back... and then I screwed the fan back into place!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo5.jpg

Then I sleeved that awful loud colored cabling on the fan, trying to subdue it a bit and calm it down to work with the rest of my mod...
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo6.jpg

Damn, that looks a *lot* better, and leave plenty of room for my new memory that I won over on insaneTek (http://www.insanetek.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3465&page=1&pp=10), TWINX1024-3200XL's with black heat spreaders!!!!
Yummy! ;)
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo7.jpg

Just waiting for the case to give it a home... damn. that looks nice all by itself!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/mobo8.jpg


What? What did you say? "What about the ATX adaptor?" "Did you finish it up or did you leave it half painted like the earlier pic?" Heck no! 4 coats later.... Hehehee... trick on this piece was that the cluster of cables caused problems getting all of them painted, so I'd have to wait until the vinyl dye dried, then I'd flex the bundle or twist it, until I had more cables exposed. Then I'd spray what I saw. Mind you, I made it a point to make sure that no dye touched the pins on the bottoms of the plugs. Only the sides and the tops... and the cables... were sprayed.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/atx_adaptor3.jpg


And this is a teaser pic for what I plan on doing with the rest of the cables in Lupine....
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/atx_adaptor4.jpg
Mmmmmm, tasty!

;)

More tomorrow! I'm rolling now!!!

[Tech-Daddy]

I have to move on, so the power supply will just have to do for now. I have a plan on making this chrome effect much better in the future, but deadlines are deadlines!

For lack of a better word, vinyl chrome! ;)
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps_material.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps_material2.jpg

The powersupply pulled apart before getting attacked:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps0.jpg

The top with the vinyl treatment:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps1.jpg

Showing off the reflectivity with 2 fan grills that I hit with the purple Metalcast:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps2.jpg

Close up of the vents on the supply. Those hex holes are going to be the death of me! ;)
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps3.jpg

I did these side holes (that will not be visable from the window) just to see if I could find a mechanism to make the hex mesh chromed, and I found a way... but it is VERY time intensive. It involved poking an X with an exacto knife in each hex center through the vinyl. Then, using a hex wrench that was sized to perfectly pass through the mesh hole... I put it on top and pushed it through the X spot. The vinyl then went through the hole with the wrench, and left a little tail of material that was to be trimmed off later. My main concern where the large vented area was, is the close proximity of current bearing devices (read: electrical components) and I just did not want to risk accidentally having the vinyl touching something and shorting out... this is a silver vinyl after all, I'm sure there is some sort of metal in it.... so I have a plan on the large meshed area, but I need more time to complete that task, so that is one of the fixes that will have to eait for later....
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps4.jpg

Fan grills in place, PS *effectively* completed. I say effectively, because I know what I need to do to fix the errors that I made on applying this material, but I'll have to reapply the vinyl at a later date to resolve those things.

Now, I need to go and install the supply and start working on the remaining cable management, and LED placement. Drop in the board, and get this thing installed!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps5.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

Test fit, not final by any stretch, but the exercise lets me see how everything is working now. Found 2 issues that I need to affect changes to, in order to complete the case later.

But these will give you an idea of where I am going, and how the collection of parts works together!

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/testfit1.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/testfit2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/testfit3.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/testfit4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/testfit5.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/testfit7.jpg

I have some work to do back here, and not a whole lotta space to work with. Have an idea though. and will try that tomorrow while the last paint will be drying.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/testfit6.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

Looks awsome buddy. :D Couple questions about it. Are you going to do ne sleeving for the wiered when they come directly out of the PSU or also the top right above the mobo looks a bit bare are you going to do nething there? Or are both hidden by the window. :?

Power wires on the top are going to likely get loomed. My spiral wrap does not go that wide, so I'm thinking just a good black loom over them to help move it into a more consistant look. Either that, or I build some sort of elbow pipe that has a center cut out of it so that I can fit it over the cabling. But I think that 2nd idea is going to take too long to implement, so I'm going to go look for some bigger looming.

And for the top right, there will be *something* there, but that remains to be seen as to "what" I'll put there... ;)

Thanks for the feedback!

[Tech-Daddy]

Hey Zeus...
;)

CPU heatsink/fan grill now a purple grill:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/cpu_fangrill.jpg

Saphire x700 Pro 256MB and RAM going into the machine, Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL v1.2 1GB Dual Channel Kit
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/new_components.jpg

Components installed:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/new_components4.jpg

Side on, rear:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/new_components5.jpg

Side on, front:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/new_components6.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

Yeah, I had requested a laser etch of the moon only, but timing being what it was, we were only able to etch out one scene, so I chose this one...
:)

PS cleaned up, and the custom power cabling has been built, tested externally, and installed! ;)

Pic came out a bit darker than I wanted it too... but the general construction can be made out on this pic:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/powercable1.jpg

Installed:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/powercable2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/powercable3.jpg

And the Power Supply lines have been loomed
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps_loom.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/ps_loom2.jpg

All that is left is building my LED lines and creating a plug for them, and testing out CCFL lighting within the case. . That will happen tomorrow, now that the power cabling is out of the way!

[Tech-Daddy]

*BAM!*
MONEY!
I am SOOO stoaked!!!

The etch came out better than I could have "ever" dreamed! I pictured it, and I'll be damned if I'm not looking at what I pictured!

I've honestly got tears in my eyes!

Jeeeezzzus....

Oh... pics... here ya go!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_1.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_3.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_5.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_6.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_7.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/lupine_8.jpg

I had to snap through these pics to meet the deadline for the Coolermaster competition, (beat the deadline by 30 minutes! *whew!*) so there is still just a few niggling tweaks and vinyl dying to be done... but she sure is pretty!

[Tech-Daddy]

Ok, I'm officially exhausted... my allergies are kicking up, headache hitting... and I still need to shower!
;)

..but this was STILL a fun and productive evening.
I dont have the energy to post up all of the pics (I'll resize, compress and upload tomorrow) so I'll post up some good samples pics of what I did tonight! Effectively, the blank space under the DVD drive was just wide open, and I wanted something there...
so, I built "something"...

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/front_bay_lit.jpg

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/front_bay_lit2.jpg

More tomorrow....

[Tech-Daddy]

Yeah, something like it. Originally it was thought to be a alum profile cut to be inserted into the bezel. I thought about it and changed the design a bit so that you had to look for it. Wolves are kind of elusive creatures, not one's to just sit out and be seen. So, I continued that thinking through out the case...

Now, another update....

Made it through Round 1!!
http://www.coolermaster.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3097

Round 2 will end on Sept 4th, and there is not a lot that I need to do to Lupine to make it ready, pretty much more indepth pictures, and I think there will be one with my ugly mug tied to it (that may cause a point deduction right there... ;) )

If you are a member of the CoolerMaster forums, please get active over there. (Taking nothing away from this awesome site, of course! You know how to surf 2 sites at once dont you??? ;) ) Make sure you have 20+ posts, and be ready for the Sept. 4th voting. Apparently, voter turn out was rather low for round 1, so I'd like to see more votes cast for round 2! Not pimping my rig, I expect all to vote their heart and mind. I'd just like to see CM get the response they want, so that they continue this contest (or ones like it) in the future.

Oh yeah... now, let's see what Round 2 brings!

[Tech-Daddy]

Ok, one of the final things getting done on Lupine, the front bay howler...

1st I got an image to the proper dimensions width wise, and then printed it out, taping it to the back of the acrylic that I wanted to cut.
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic1.jpg

Removed the paper, so that I only had the outline...
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic2.jpg

Then I started methodically cutting away material to whittle the acrylic down to the shape I wanted. 1st pass was done using a cut off wheel:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic3.jpg

Next, I gave the flexi shaft a try using a multi-bit:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic4.jpg

Here we see it taking shape...
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic5.jpg

Then I took the barrel drum sanding attachment and put it on the flexishaft, and ran it to my vice like so:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic6.jpg

And, man o man... I wish I had figured that out a lod sooner in my life!!! That one step made the work SO much easier to manage!!! The shot below was taken after I had sanded both sides of the acrylic with an orbital sander using 160 grit paper.

http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic8.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

Playing with paper...
I got to thinking... "All I need is something that will block the light from the acrylic... I dont "need" to cut the wolf out of metal for the front layer..." Then it hit me, "Use the posterboard dummy!!!" *headsmack*

So, using a smaller wolf as a template, I cut the profile out of posterboard:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_paper1.jpg

Attached it to some scrap paper using low tack painters tape, and then used vinyl dye to make it black:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_paper2.jpg

Then attached it to the front of the acrylic:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_paper3.jpg

HOOOWWWWWWLL!!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_paper4.jpg

Back lighting testing, 1st with a white LED:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic9.jpg

Then I was like... "How can I Make the LED purple? Not UV, but purple?" *ding* I had bought some purple cellophane as an experiment earlier in the mod... wrap the LED in 1 or 2 layers of the cellophane... see if that gives the color I wanted...
Yep... sho'nuff did!
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic10.jpg

Cellophane wrapped LED:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic_light.jpg

Front panel from about 5 feet:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic11.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

Various internal shots:
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/final_internal.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/final_internal2.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/final_internal3.jpg

This is one of my favorite shots...
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/final_internal4.jpg
http://www.tech-daddy.com/wlog/lupine/frontbay_acrylic12.jpg


First and formost, I want to thank my wife for putting up with my modding on this rig for the last few months. Even though it was hers, she still had to corral the kiddos and keep them out of the garage while I worked. This mod could not have been done witout her tireless assistance and understanding, thank you honey!

Next come persons that helped in some form or fashion.

Nick Deligaris - Artist extraordinaire
http://www.deligaris.com/art/color30.jpg
He was the inspirational picture that I used for the wolf spirit. His work is exceptional, and I can speak from a personal note, he is a gentleman and a scholar! Nick, thank you for the use of your image in my rig, I hope that I have put it to good use and kept your artistic impresson in tact! It is a beautiful work! As a matter of fact, I'd highly recommend that if you are into fantasy artwork, or even just a fan of beautiful pictures... go check out his site at http://www.deligaris.com Thanks again Nick.

Sheldog and Zapwizard - Acrylic wizadry

http://www.lizard-tree.com for having such an awesome product and a wilingness to help a Texan from all the way up in Canada! I appreciate your assistance and support, and I hope that maybe through some action of mine, that I can drive some business your way! You can count on the fact that I will be in touch again later! These things were so damn easy to use! And the effect was so nice.... Thanks again!

To all of the forum members from the various spots where I posted this log... you are all too many to list! Helping, suggesting, diagraming, or sometimes just dropping a supportive comment. It was very appreciated. I love doing these mods, and they succeed due to the interactions that I have with everyone in the forums. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

There will be some on going tweaking over the next month, during the CoolerMaster competition, to try and make this rig competitive to get me into the 3rd round, so expect a few visual tweaks to make this thing *pop*. Nothing drastic though... wolves are solitary creatures. They don't like the lime light... so that will influence the overall vision of this case.

Hehehee... it won't be a bling! ;)

[Tech-Daddy]

Just a quick update!
Apologies I thought that I had already posted it up here... Lupine got me through the 2nd round of the CoolerMaster competition by the skin of my teeth!

Coolermaster top five winners announced... (http://www.coolermaster.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3417&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=105)

So... that said, I am now in the top 5 remaining modders of the contest. We are all now charged to make a completely new mod over the next 2 months, and have it submitted for judging by the CoolerMAster employees.

So, this is the proverbial "end of the road" for Lupine (much to the delight of my wife), and the begining of a completely new rig to be completed asap!

Thanks for all of you who chimed in and offered words of encouragement or suggestions throughout the Lupine build. I'll have a log up after the submission of the rig. I have to keep it hidden so that I don't give away my ideas...
;)

More later folks!
Thanks again! :D

[Tech-Daddy]

Lupine on CPU!!! (http://www.computerpoweruser.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/c0512/24c12/24c12.asp&guid=D34FD1B48042481E8074116618DF4A48)

Lupine article in PDF on CPU!!! (http://www.computerpoweruser.com/articles/archive/c0512/24c12/24c12spread.pdf?guid=6D28877E1B3C46E68E171E048E0B4 BC9)

Thank you to everyone who chimed in on the suggestions and such!!! :D


Link To Original Thread (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605)