So, I'm not the only one who feels that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by slaveofconvention
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So, I'm not the only one who feels that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by slaveofconvention
nope. I speak from experience. some of the worst products, worst support and worst company to work for. Also you case is awesome. The design was well done. +rep
The fact is, Dell is nowhere near as bad as it used to be - they've moved away from completely proprietory hardware so you now can chop and change hardware in a dell as easily as most PC's - it's the legacy hardware I come across regularly for repairs which still reinforces my disdain - pathetic things like making cases difficult to get into - it doesn't stop 3rd party repairs - it just makes them more hassle. I've come across several cases where I've ended up getting my wife to help because I just didn't have enough hands to get this button pressed, that button held in, that clip released while pulling this bit and that bit at a 35 degree angle etc
Thanks for the compliments tho Berticus - always nice to hear nice things :D
It's update time again, as this project moves into about it's 8th week.
Remember this?
Thats the really badly painted Thermaltake iCage I have decided to fit to replace the three hard drive bays the front cooling mods have taken away.
A closer look shows the cracks and reaction I get because I was painting outside where it was way too cold and way too damp.
So I pulled out my drill, removed the twelve rivets holding it together and then used thinners to strip all traces of pretty much everything off of the parts.
I then used a scotchbrite to re-key the metal as it went really shiny and smooth, a couple of layers of primer...
Then several thin coats of black, and a quick reassembly gives me this (original unpainted iCage shown for comparison)
There were a couple of light points where the primer was still just visible, but I just gave them another quick dustcoat with the unit assembled.
I was lucky enough to find some black rivets online, and bought a load, as luck seemed to be with me because they 1) Perfectly fitted into the holes in the cage and 2) Perfectly fitted the pop rivet gun without having to change the head.
To avoid the risk of scratching the fresh paint when the rivet snaps and the gun inevitably jumps, I used a really clever, highly technical invention...
Yup, I poked the rivet through a rag of cloth :D And 12 rivets later, we have this...
And I'm happy to say that, other than the tiny bit of cloth which managed to get caught in one of the rivets (you can just see it in the bottom right) I'm completely happy with this part. I used a lighter to burn off the excess material around that rivet then a marker pen to make it totally invisible - I think you'd have to know it was there to find it, and even then you'd struggle...
More to follow real soon - I've been playing with plexi and the kitchen oven when the wife was at work :D
great idea! loving this.. cant wait to see more.
Ok so I went to the paint shop today to pick a colour, and ended up buying two....
Opinions required lol - I was decided on a dark grey metallic Alfa Romeo colour, when I went in, I found some Audi Graphite Grey which had been mixed in error, so I got that dirt cheap. Then I started browsing other colours with the wife, and she came up with Maserati Sebring Blue, so I mixed some up and now need to make a choice heh.
Getting photo's of wet paint, inside, in the dark isn't easy but this should give you an idea...
And on cars...
I'm utterly torn between the two - I KNOW the Grey will look good and fit in with the wolves well, but I LIKE that blue lol
Argh!!!
Thoughts? Opinions?
damn those are both sexy! Why not use the blue and do some accents in the grey?
What? That means, like, cleaning my gun more - I'm lazy you know!!! :p
Not a bad idea actually - there are things like the feet and the door handle - not sure what I'd accent on the front though - The metal in the fan grille for the top would work too....
Given the theme of the case, I'd go with the grey.
How about doing the base in the silver and then toning some of it with a top coat of the blue?
Honestly, I don't know if I'm that good with the sprayguns lol - need practice before I start messing with fades I think. Might have a go tho - got enough of each colour to do 3 or 4 complete casesQuote:
Originally Posted by Oneslowz28
Do a few tests to see what you think would look the best ie. base coat grey then blue over that, experiment with grey w/ blue highlights and vice versa. IMO, grey, possibly with blue accents/highlights.
Ok well - this is more of an "This is still going, honest" than a real update but there's been some progress heh...
So it's perspex time...
Sheet 1...
Made the first cut, using a Jigsaw with a fine-tooth metal cutting blade...
...and the offcut is just the right size to almost cover the front panel...
Second cut, and forunately (measured about 4 times to be certain before I went anywhere near it with the Jigsaw) it perfectly covers the window...
Sheet 2 marked up and ready for cutting, clamped securely - I'm being way more careful that normal heh...
And a bit more cutting gives me the piece of perspex which will be going into the opposite side panel...
I then cut that first big offcut in half (well almost half) and pulled off the protective covers - and got my first real look at it - I like this a lot - a really nice level of tint, but not overpowering...
And time for some bending (first time I've ever tried bending perspex).
First try was the "gravity method" - supported on both sides and then used a heatgun - see how much of a sag I could get...
Basically, not enough...
So tried supporting the centre of the perspex, applying weight to the outside edges and more heat...
The result - it moved further, but predicably, it folded more than it curved which isn't going to work...
So I gave up for the day as I was out of ideas, and when I got home, decided to try the oven method... Turned on the oven and set it to 170c - I'd read people getting it to work at 150 and warnings not to go over 200 so I figured that was a sensible average...
And in next to no time, the sheet went from this...
... to this ...
So in a whole day, other than the cutting, I managed to go from having a nice flat shiny piece of tinted perspex to.... a nice flat shiny piece of tinted perspex with some deformations in the surface because the foil I used to seperate the perspex from the cookie tray wasn't smoothed out properly...
I did try a final bend while the perspex was nice and hot (and it was HOT) and got something closer, but I may try heating it again to see if those deformations come out - if not, I'll re-bend it the opposite way so the deformations are on the side I'm planning to frost. I don't have a pic of the bent piece cos I'm at work but I'll get one when I get in.... (if I remember)
Good luck with the plexi. Last time I tried to bend it... well let's just say it didn't go so well.
And I do hereby vote you TBCS' Most Well Dressed Modder :up: ;)
LOL - cheers
Never done it myself, but I hear making a mold, then putting the mold in the oven with the plexi on top of it works wonderfully.
yeah but getting the curve just right on the mold is probably just as awkward as getting the curve right lol - I'll figure something out
Ok as promised - the pics of the curve which I managed to get when the perspex was scary hot....
And as good a pic as I could get of the surface imperfections...
These pics were taken with my phone as I can't seem to find my bloody camera, so sorry if they're less than perfect!
nice work i think the gray would go better with the mod but that blue is sweeeet . IMHO
nice bending, you could try polishing the imperfections out, i've heard of people doing it
not to necropost, but are you still working on this project?
Lobo will be making a return to a forum near you in the next week or two. I'm basically at the point where everything left to do has to be done outside because of fumes/mess and I'm waiting on the weather - the paint and lacquer I'm planning on using shouldn't be applied below 10c for best results - so just watching the weather forecast.
This project is DEFINITELY not dead - just dependent on the weather for a month or so...
Arise dead project!!!!
Ok so it's been what, 7 or 8 months since I last posted an update here in this log.... The project ground to a halt because of weather - 90% of what needed doing needed to be done outside and it was rapidly headed for winter. The months pass and the seasons change and by the time the weather improved enough, I'd managed to mis-place several of the parts. As of today, I found almost all of them. The one missing piece I'm aware of is a simple corner brace which I can easily fabricate....
Now that I have all the parts again, I figured I should keep them safe this time. You've all met Hemi (a.k.a. Modkitty) the black and white cat who always manages to sneak herself into a photograph or two when I'm doing reviews. Time to introduce Hershey - he's acting as a temporary guard kitty on the lobo parts pile....
Unfortunately, the parts aren't the only thing which is back - so is the rust.... I didn't do a massively thorough job getting rid of the rust and apparently, I should have....
Here's the main side panel
With rust on 3 of the corners grrrr
And the opposite panel
With rust on just the one corner...
As it happens, I plan on sandblasting the complete chassis I'm using for my latest project "Unimatrix" so it won't be any great problem to do the "Lobo" panels at the same time....
Update this weekend (hopefully) as long as the weather holds out heh.... Having said that I have a friend who has a shipping container he uses for blasting so I may go see him and get it all done in one go - then everything will be ready for etch priming and priming at once....
Or almost twice that based on the last entry.... :whistler:Quote:
Originally Posted by slaveofconvention
Glad to see that you're back to this again. :up:
Time flies :whistler:
Holy crap lol - a year and 7 months!!! SheeshQuote:
Originally Posted by msmrx57
Way to revive an old post :PQuote:
Originally Posted by slaveofconvention
Hey it was my post to revive lol
Now I have two projects I don't have time to do which I'm GOING to do lol
HOLY THREAD NECRO BATMAN!!! j/k glad to see this one still alive and kicking!
