New dragon? Gotta make the body all 3-d stencil-looking woven around the box there.
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New dragon? Gotta make the body all 3-d stencil-looking woven around the box there.
Did some more work on the dragon - working on creating the right positive/negative space so that the stencil won't fall apart. That's so anti-climactic.
goodnight. :)
amberella ::bunny::
I finished as much as I could with the box taped together, then I had to cut it open and lay it flat to finish. I think I'm ready to start cutting out some stencils! Plus - hopefully I finally figured out how to make my pics small and clickable to the larger image within the forum's posting structure. Yeah, I'm kinda slow sometimes.
amberella ::bunny::
pretty nice sketch.
on the wood it looked like a weak little snake lol.
Wow! Very impressive, this will look fantastic!
my thoughts exactly - though i was leaning towards "worm." it was late, i was being lazy.Quote:
Originally Posted by D1337
Today I cut the last of the wood pieces I needed. This was not and easy task. First of all, I forgot to add in the extra horizontal distance of the screw heads holding in the drives since the case was empty when I measured. So I cut everything, went to mock it up ... and there were gaps. So I re-measured and re-cut. What's that saying? "Measure once-ish, cut three or four times?" At any rate, now it's fine.
Second of all, and more importantly for anyone considering doing a case mod with one of these "one-piece" clear acrylic cases - THEY ARE NOT SQUARE!!! They're **close** to square - but they ARE NOT. So add in the fact that the thing is so small I can hardly get the pieces in place even with the thing empty, and it turns out that making a square box inside one of these cases is somewhat akin to creating a 3-d model of an escher print. This blows.
But nevertheless, I am pushing forwards and have "fudged" the square shape to a reasonable degree that I don't think it will be noticeable in the finished product. Of course, no one would notice if it weren't for the fact that THE WHOLE DAMN THING IS CLEAR!!!
Ugh - just a little frustrated tonight, apparently. 8) But the pieces are white and once i finish fixing the sketch so that it matches the new dimensions, I can start on the stencils. Some pics:
My very high-tech painting layout:
Perhaps even more ghetto, but it works (and don't worry - all the possible holes are covered):
My assistant:
Peace out.
amberella ::bunny::
Do you have any idea how nut-crunchingly hard it is to get an all acrylic case square?Quote:
Not freakin square.
especially when the only tools available to you are a dremel and a belt sander?
Of course, they have no excuse if they have actual tools. Like, if they have a
table saw at place-that-your-case-was-made, then they have no excuse. They just suck.
They just suck it dry.
This is my point exactly. I would have made the whole damn thing myself, but I thought I would eliminate a lot of errors by letting the "professionals" do it at the cost of it not having the exact specs that I wanted. I mean, most of the case is fine - and if I was just screwing crap into it, I probably wouldn't have even noticed. But that's not their market, and they should know that people who want those cases want right angles. Not to mention that the screw holes for the motherboard are also slightly off. I mean, if the board was flush with the side of the case and there weren't little spacers to hold the board off the wall, the holes wouldn't match up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Quakken
BTW - "they" is ClearPC
I know there have been a lot of reviews of this case and I was going out on a limb with it. It has pretty rounded corners you wouldn't get in a flat-lack acrylic case, but not much flexibility. Yet, none of the reviews mentioned this inexactness. Heck, I had to enlarge the front installation holes for the indicator LEDs that THEY provide with the case!
Anyway - I have to teach my Saturday yoga class now. Good stuff, since I clearly need to chill out. Om.
amberella ::bunny::
I am working more on my stencils today, and I've decided to change my approach a little from my initial concept. At first, I thought that I would be replicating the same lotus more than once around the case, and therefore the stencil's main goal was to provide the replication of the same pattern. Now that I've changed the design, however, each stencil will really only be used once and it's more of a style choice (and because when I started the project this uv paint was only available as spraypaint - now they have brush on, too). Instead, I've decided to use the stencils to get all my straight lines, but I'm also going to focus on the blending of the colors.
During testing, I realized that when the purple and green crossed each other, I got a white color. Now - I'm not sure if this is due to the pigmentation (where purple and green would normally make brown) or the chromatics of the spectrum (where neon UV colors seem like they should bend some amber/magenta/green rules) ... but it's white in practice, so I'm going with it. What I've done is cut some of the areas on the main (green) stencil over where they would contain both green and purple coloring, with the intention of taping over the area that would contain the color I'm not spraying. This should give me a "fuzz" effect that will blend the colors when I switch the tape. The secondary stencil has holes only where the entire area would be purple. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well, but hopefully you'll see later.
This is the first stencil, scored, not entirely cut out yet:
Stencil A (Green color & some purple shading):
Stencil B (Purple Only):
Stencils on top of each other:
amberella :bunny:
This is cool. :) + Rep for showing us your methods...no matter now ghetto :p
-Dave
Thanks. I had to go read up on this "rep" system since I don't think it was in place when I started this log so many eons ego. :think:Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveW
So it took me 11 hours of stencil cutting to finish them yesterday (and an ouchy blister on my finger), but they're finally done. Because of the semi-transparency of the plastic sheets, getting pictures is not so easy, but I tried.
If I can get my big UV light today, I should be able to paint after the sun goes down.
Funny - last time I was working on this mod I was also getting ready to move apartments and I really wanted to paint everything inside on the assumption that the next residents probably wouldn't have any blacklights ... in which case the overspray and such is invisible, And if they did for some reason - free bonus surprise! I'm a dork.
amberella :bunny:
I was thinking about what to do with the power supply over the weekend (I already painted it white) and thought it might be cool to put a japanese themed pattern on it - something that would add a nice contrast to the "scene" of objects in the rest of the design... almost like the mod design aesthetic ("60's" mod not "case" mod :p ) of pairing small busy prints with larger design elements. Then I ran across this pattern via google image search, which reminded me of an almost hippie-style paisley, but with that japanese lotus print you might see on a kimoso or decorative fan:
Despite the daunting copyright protection via istockphoto watermark (/scarcasm) - I wriggled the design around into this via photoshop. This was actually more difficult than you'd think because the design is not actually along a grid that is a replicated pattern - or at least if the original pic was, this is only a portion of that pattern. I need something that can be tessellated next to itself around the whole cube and still look randomish. I ended with this:
Then I made the stencil and sprayed it up (yes, inside a cardboard box inside because it's daytime). This project is inherently difficult to photograph due to the UV and lighting conditions, but it came out quite well. Perhaps I didn't put as much tacky spray on the stencil as I needed because there was more fuzzing than I expected, so I ended up going back with a paintbrush and edging out parts of the design with the same white spraypaint. That's the slight finish difference that you can see in the non-lit picture. I think that if I had put another base coat on the power supply initially, you probably wouldn't have seen the re-touch at all. And truthfully, you can only see those brush strokes when the light hits at the right angle and you're close up, so I'm not so concerned about it. Oh well.
The pattern is a little shifted to the right so that I can wrap the pattern around the left edge so the whole thing is seamless. Overall, I think this was a fun, kind of whimsical touch and a good way to do some final testing before tackling the main design (which is kind of scary).
Also - After checking up on how some of the other projects on TBCS are coming (which are all amazing, duh) I realize that my ... uh ... procedure ... is very different than others. Of course, if you are planning on hooking something up to a very specific place with a specific outcome intended, you'd better have a plan from A to B to C. Buuuut - that's not really how I roll. I tend to start in the middle and work my way out to both ends in a really flexible way. I have an idea of what I want in the end, but I tend to get there organically and change my mind half way through. It's my process. So please don't think I'm crazy disorganized or not obsessive about minutia of my design, but ... uh ... it's the journey not the destination?
Ok, back to work.
amberella :bunny:
looking great! +rep
Power Supply with multiple sides done now:
The pattern is actually nice and crisp, but focusing the depth of field blurs parts of the pattern.
I think I'm going to start hallucinating soon. They mean that whole spray paint ventilation thing. Spraying inside with your head in a box is not such a smart idea.
amberella :bunny:
Judging by the amount of spelling corrections I had to make I might be hallucinating already. Whee.
Left side of the main box...
Lights on:
Lights off:
**bling**
fun.
oh - and pearls of wisdom gleaned from trial and error: if you are re-using plastic stencils and use sticky tack spray to hold down the edges, a little WD40 (followed by a degreasing soap and water rinse) will get all the sticky residue off without making goopy nastiness or hurting the stencil between uses.
amberella :bunny:
Looks . .Preddy dammned Spiffy! +Rep
I have a similar dragon on my forearm more of a tribal pattern though.
Great Job cuttin' that stencil out. .Real intricate.
this is gonna be so cool!!! +rep
I posted this in the general question forum, but I'll repost here in case someone has an idea since you know what I'm going for:
===========================
I have a tight squeeze with the work I'm doing in my case right now and finding some replacement "slim-line" screws to mount the hard drive would really save some hassle. They have that bulky head, you know, so I'm looking for something that's more like a regular, flatter screw head. I compared them to all the other electronic and non-electronic related screws I have around, and none are a match. I even called my local over-priced "computer builders' warehouse," but no dice.
I'm sure I can find some somewhere with a lot of footwork and visual comparison, but perchance one of you has a simple answer?
Thanks,
amberella :bunny:
===========================
And furthermore, here is the conversation I just had with the woman at the Computer Builder's Warehouse (it's a small place, I'm sure she wasn't just hired to be a dumb cashier)...
Comp. Builder's Warehouse Employee: Hi, thanks for calling CBW, this is Kathy...
Me: Hi. I was in a few weeks ago and saw that you carry some replacement hard drive mounting screws with little skulls and such on them?
Kathy: Yes...
Me: Well, I was wondering if you have any that have a flat screw-head on them - no decoration or thumb-screw?
Kathy: Um... Is this for a desktop or a laptop?
Me: [pause as I wonder the last time someone mounted a hard drive with custom skeleton thumb screws into their laptop...] Desktop.
Kathy: Well, we have some of those screws in our workshop that you're welcome to, but if they're not standard we probably don't have them.
Me: In your workshop you just fix people's regular systems, right?
Kathy: Yeah...
Me: So then they probably don't have any special screws. So all you have is the skeletons?
Kathy: We have lots of screws, maybe you can come in and look?
Me: Well, before I drove all the way over there, I thought I could ask you to look for me...
Kathy: Well, we don't really carry anything that's not normal, so...
Me: But you are Computer Builder's Warehouse right - so I thought you might have some specialized parts for computer building...
Kathy: No, not really...
Me: [resisting the urge to scream] ok, thanks kathy. [click]
I know that in my collection of screws, I have some of exactly what your looking for. The head on them is maybe, at max 1mm thick. I dont know where to get them, mine likely came from tearing down any one of the dozen or more systems I've stripped for parts.
edit:
Maybe something like THIS?
what if you ground down a normal screw and cut a slot in it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Killdrath
Thanks - that would probably work. I ended up going to the hardware store and matching the thread to a 6/32 machine head screw. There is a taper on the head instead of being flat like your picture, but maybe I can countersink it. Not a big deal ... it is way smaller than the regular thumbscrews. And $0.98 for 14. :)
amberella :bunny:
Quote:
anyway - I prooooomise to finish this thing before the hardware becomes obsolete.
Hey, I think you have something to answer for... :pQuote:
Soooo - yesterday I suddenly got it in my head to set up the "lotus blossom" system to see if the components even work at this point and upgrade the hardware with stuff literally lying around my house.
-Dave
Hmmmm - you have a point there LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveW
Actually Axel and I finally came up with a purpose for this system - we're going to use it as our music server so it can be in the living room where it'll be a fun conversation piece. Lord knows we have so many high end everyday systems around here that it's not going to be good for much else. We replaced our old "media center" computer with a PS3, which has been great so far - though streaming music wirelessly from the home network has been sluggish (still tweaking the setup). We have more than two times as many mp3s than the PS3 has hard drive space, so storing it all locally is not possible and certainly not a long term solution. Hence, we ordered a new 500GB drive for the lotus blossom system (which coincidentally arrived toooday) so that it will be good to go for a while with just holding our mp3s. Axel's a little OCD about the music ... it's all ripped to FLAC, tagged, equalized, converted to mp3, and backed up in a VERY specific sequence ... I think it was 6 months before he trusted me enough to add my music to the library LOL. :smoker: Once this thing is together it's going to be difficult to get apart to upgrade, so I think it's a good compromise that's still useful. Ok, I'm babbling.
Since I got the new screws I re-fabricated the front faceplate to fit the new dimensions. I think it will be a cleaner look than the compromises in the old one to fudge the non-square dimensions.
amberella :bunny:
Since I spent last night re-making the faceplate, I didn't get to do any sexy UV painting. BUT I did mock up the pieces to see how things are coming along. Since I'm both holding the stuff together and taking the picture with a big & heavy Nikon SLR camera, the pics might not reflect the really nice way that it's all matching up and coming together. I tried. **sheepish grin**
First off, here's another reason this ClearPC case is a first place winner (NOT):
That screw there is supposed to hold on the case side-panel and isn't really meant to be removed. I decided to remove it, though, because it was cramping the space where the dragon-head side of the box goes. Unfortunately, the space is sooo tight that it took some pliers and a good amount of praying that the acrylic wouldn't crack to get it out. You can see it the picture that it's unscrewed as much as possible to where it's hitting the wall behind it, and it's not yet out of the screw hole. All this left a nice swirly scratch mark on the side of the drive bays. It doesn't matter to me since it's getting covered up with a panel, but if you're looking for tips with a case like this, here's one: don't remove that screw!
Here's the shipment of drives that arrived yesterday. Oooh. Ahhh. They're all the same 500GB Seagate SATA drives. 1 is going in this mod, the other 5 are going into our fileserver.
Three quarters view from the right:
Front faceplate:
It's square, I don't know why it doesn't look so in the pic. Must have been the camera angle. And some of the material on the left side is going to be removed, once I am super-sure of how the left panel is going to fit in there with hardware, drives, and all.
Left three quarters view:
Left side:
With the UV light on:
Not as brilliant during the day, but ok. I'm thinking about changing up where the UV lights are placed and maybe bringing in a tube or something to make sure I have the light directionality to really get it where I need it.
I'm pretty happy with how clean and simple it's looking. Sorry no crazy dancing monkeys exploding from the case or anything ... just some minimalist design. ;)
More stenciling later.
amberella :bunny:
The dragon looks awesome!!
Here's the back part of the dragon's body ... still adding some details like the bottom of the ... spikes/fans/scales.. whatever it is that dragons have on the ends of their tails. I'm also going to freehand some grip marks so the claws have something more to "grab" onto.
amberella :bunny:
This is cool. Very cool.
-Dave
most definitely cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveW
+rep
Finally finished the main artwork:
amberella :bunny:
I stuck the box element together permanently last night and then dry fit the main components to make sure everything fits. It does.... barely. Now I can see how things are coming together and create a nice to do list.
I know it still looks all jumbled now, cleaning up all the cabling is really going to finish off the minimalist feel. And there's dust and fingerprints EVERYWHERE. Wiping them off right now is a futile pursuit.
Regular lighting... my floating box is finally complete!:
At this point the internal UV lights aren't hooked up, so the light source is the external fluorescent-tube shaped UV light I've been using while painting. It's really crazy how much the acrylic filters out this light; that's why the UV paint looks much more dull than before. When the lighting is inside the case, it should be all bright and brilliant. I do think I'm going to need some additional directional UV lights though to make sure that all the planes are covered.
UV:
GIVE ME YOUR OPINION: Do you think I should make a square "backing board" for the motherboard so that from the far side it looks like entirely white shapes? I love that the board is purple (which is why I left it exposed in the first place) but now I'm thinking maybe it would look cool all white on that side - and give me a nice, flat surface for some additional artwork.
There's not THAT much space in this case to do anything else crazy without completely blocking airflow, so I'm gonna be done pretty soon, I think.
Next stuff:
- Paint the expansion slot covers
- Re-do the power supply (I'm just not diggin' it)
- Possibly create a piece for behind the motherboard
- Order additional lighting
- Paint hardware
- Paint &/or sleeve cabling
- Buy beer (it is friday, after all)
amberella :bunny:
Rough cut this piece and propped it up inside the case to see what I (& you) think ... yes or no? I'm leaning toward keeping it because it will be all blank on one side and like I said, more room for fun artwork. Ideas for what to paint on this piece?
amberella :bunny:
I like it. I think with more artwork on there it will really be nice looking. One of the things I dont like about acrylic cases (nothing against your work) is that its hard to keep them from looking plain or messy. With the added artwork I think it would look great!
Yeah - I agree 100%. I'm kind of trying to accentuate that plainness with this project... fixing up all the cabling will really help give it the clean look. It's definitely an uphill battle in that tiny, delicate case. Tomorrow I need to go get some more stencil plastic & paint for plastic before I can keep going, so perhaps more sometime this weekend.Quote:
Originally Posted by OrsoDesigns
I've got a big night out planned in Ft. Lauderdale tonight , so if anyone wants to get their ass kicked on the pool table, I'll be at Capone's till late. :smoker:
TGIF!
amberella :bunny:
What about cutting some shapes or a pattern in the MB panel. This way, you could get a peak at that purple motherboard when all the lights are one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by moon111
You could cut some nice looking dragon shapes into the panel!
You could also add a few plain white LED's between the motherboard and the backboard, shielded so the light doesn't leak INTO the case to light up the purple PCB through the cut-outs.... Just a thought...Quote:
Originally Posted by OrsoDesigns
Looks amazing.
Not much else to say......
Oh yeah, + reppiness :D
I like the concept of doing a cutout, but actually the point is to (under normal lighting) have only these faceless white elements with no indication of the rest of the artwork. I want it to fit in with some neat modern decor to look more like a sculpture of some sort rather than an in-your-face mod. I'm going to leave the motherboard uncovered on the other side of the case, so its fun purple-ness will be the only thing visible. I think perhaps some chakra symbols or i-ching? I realize at this point I'm basically inadvertently reconstructing my tattoo, so I'd like to get away from that has a lotus, mermaid, and i-ching symbol LOL. **strains brain to think of something new**
I just got the stencil plastic I need so I'm getting to work now.
amberella :bunny:
Nice case mod, Great Ink. Im getting my Lotus + Koi tattoo done soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amberella
Thanks. I'm adding on a big Kali and working on creating a whole backpiece. It's addictive. :redface: Good luck with yours!Quote:
Originally Posted by SabreNoose
I'm thinking this for the square: Hokusai Wood Block ... I want to be sure to pick something classically Japanese, as my tastes now tend towards the Indian style and I have to keep telling myself "no!" hehe - there's nothing more tacky historically-illiterate american than some art thing with chinese letters, a japanese dragon, and sanskrit detailing. It's gonna be the wave or a buddha, but I'm leaning towards wave because I think it will stencil better.
