Doom3: Project Mars City (Comments Only)

I decided to do away with many of the mechanical switches and buttons on the mod and go for solid state with an IR remote control--because how cool is RC??-- :D I picked up a 12 Channel IR Relay Board (in kit form) and assembled it in about 2 hours. The nice thing about this board is that you can have an on/off configuration on the channels or momentary switching, or a combination of both. To test it out I hooked it up to the blast door module--works like a charm.

Remote1

Remote2

Remote3


Here is the air intake vent for the HDD cooling fans. This scratchbuilt piece uses some styrene sheet, modder's mesh and two copper plumbing elbows. To get the sublte shading in the paint, first it was airbrushed, then hand detailed and finaly a soft shading with Doc Browns' weathering powders applied with a sable brush. This is pretty much how I painted the entire mod.

Intake1

Intake2


Intake3

Intake4


Intake5

CRAZY!!!! AWESOME!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Your the best!!!

/jaw drops

/on both kneees /begging
Put up a weathering guide!!
\off both knees \end begging

:omg:
That paint is great!!!
The Remote is way cooler than buttons! Cause your Right R/C Is cool :D


Crazybillybob

Paul can you please explain what this means or does.

"a soft shading with Doc Browns' weathering powders applied with a sable brush"

Thanks

Ooops..it's actually "Doc O'Brien's"

From www.micromark.com:

"Doc O'Brien's weathering powders let you create an old, weathered appearance on scale vehicles, military models, trains, figures and aircraft. The ultra-fine powders are dusted on to simulate the effects of time and the elements. They're also used as weathering washes when mixed with water. One kit contains enough powder to weather dozens of models. Instructions included. Non-toxic. Twelve color set includes Dirty Brown, Mildew Green, Grimy Black, Gritty Yellow, Rusty Red, Faded Blue, Rusty Brown, Grungy Gray, Patina Green, Desert Sand, Highlight White and Muddy Red."


Instructions for #81632 Doc O'Brien's Weathering Powders
Weathering models with powders is easy, and fun!
Just follow the few steps below to obtain expert results.


Cover your workbench with newspaper to avoid soiling it with spilled powder.

Select the colors you want. Remove the lids and place them top down on your workbench in front of each color.

Use a small brush to pick up powder from the jar, then pat the brush on the lid. Apply the color to the desired area of the model. Then brush out and blend the color with a large soft brush.

The best effects are obtained by applying color in the following order: rust (on parts representing iron or steel), then white, and then the top color, usually dirt or grime.

White is used to provide a highlighted base-coat for subsequent colors and really brings out details. Grimy colors work well to tone down and blend underlying colors.

Apply as much or as little color as you want. If you apply too much, simply wash the powders off with a little soapy water, let dry, and reapply.

Powdered colors may be sealed in place with a very light coating of a flat clear spray; however, the intensity of the weathering will be diminished by the clear coating.

Doc O'Brien's Weathering Powders can also be used as weathering washes by mixing them with water or thinners. Be sure that the thinner you select is compatible with the surfaces you are weathering and experiment on a scrap piece before applying to your model.

We have found that models made of wood stand up very well to handling without too much of the powder rubbing off. If you weather a structure that won't get handled much, a clear coat may not be necessary.

Ahhh Crimson! I just noticed the IR remote!

I swear I was just writing you a PM with an offer to make you a Keyfob RF remote RX for cost of parts for your Doom3 mod.
Now you already have that big old line of sight IR remote bah! :P

The keyfob OEMs I use are easy to take apart to paint and come in 1 button, 2 button, 3 button, 4 button, and 5 button configs.

Hey thanks for the offer--or "almost offer"---I'll be using over 8 channels to control features on the mod--plus the switching capability can't be had in a teeny iMac candy plastic keyfob remote. Who cares about RF really. How far do you have to get away from your PC to activate things anyway :D

Beats me, I use one to power on me PCs and lights :D
Different channels per room, now to make me a channel switcher so I can power all from one remote hmm :D sounds like a good senior project for my B.S. less they force me to do some companies project (I like picking my own personally) :D

ESP my firewall one cause I'm too lazy to get up and turn it on when I want to use my laptop and wifi. My next project is a PS2 loop though which will allow me to send the [Ctrl]+[alt]+[del] scan codes to my Linux firewall to shut it down heh. I'm guess I'm getting REAL lazy, esp. since I can shut it down via SSH before I turn a PC off. I say who wants to wait for putty to load when I can press one button! :D

Very Nice Crimsonsky! Looking good as always and making everyone drool.

Hey Paul, clean out your PM box - you're full up.

Hey Crimson,

I realize that you will be making a few videos. Will there be a video on you using the weathering powders? I understand the directions but Im a better visual learner. Thanks.

Awsome mod...do you mind sharing the kind of knowledge and quallification required to produce such a beautiful piece?

If you look into the section of the site about Crimson, you'll see he worked as on special effects, carpentry and model building for quite some time. Ofcourse thats the indirect route to case modding, you can ofcourse dive in head first and learn by experience. =P

Here's his biography if you're interested.
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/i...=display&pid=2

Whew!...alright it looks like its finally in the home stretch--Nothing more to build, just paint and assemble--easier said than done--although since the entire mod is built around modules, everything should fit right into place. Lots of wiring to do as well--but its 99% done overall. Here are some pics from last weeks build:

Etched pentagram window in its frame with LED lighting. Basically its 6 ultrabright red lamps wired in parallel:

Pentagram Window

Light bar

Here is the roof module during painting. The cover caps off the roof nicely and includes 2x 120mm fan vents for the Black Ice pro radiator.

Roof Module 1

Roof Module 2

Here you can see that i curved the interior of the roof module to allow for airflow off the radiator:

Roof Module 3

The Antec case is really small for a mid-tower, so I built an extension for the rear of the case. This allows me to push the PC Power & Cooling 510 SLi PSU out the back about two inches, giving me preciuous room inside for wire managment and components. The round holes on the extension piece are for PSU fan exhaust, an 80mm fan and a hole for the water pump. This estension piece also conceals all the typical messy wires on the back of the PC :

Extension 1

There is even a hinged door for access to the I/O panel of the motherboard.

Extension 2


Once its all painted up and weathered, I'll take individual pics of all the components before assembly to show all the parts.

Thats some awesome work dude, cant wait to see the final assembly. And i cant wait to see what your next project is =P

Hey Paul, Ive been following you progress from the start and I thought I would register just to ask one question. Are you going to put a varnish on the case? A matte varnish would really seal up the paint and bring out the colour imho

Yeah I've been spraying on a clear matte finish after weathering with the powders to seal it all in. :)

The Detail of your work is always very well done. I really like the way everything is taking shape. Also sometime wish we would get more updated on this :D as I know you are kept busy with everything in your life.

Very Nice work.

Simply stunning. Nice work Paul.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crimson Sky

Yeah I've been spraying on a clear matte finish after weathering with the powders to seal it all in. :)

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Good stuf :) I am a model maker myself with lots airbrush experiance and i've been thinking about making a pc case. your work is certainly a inspiration as most mods dont really have any intricate painting 8)

Hey Crimson, Good work on the case, it's easily my favourite. I have a question for you though. What do you use to cut and shape the styrene for the armour plating? You get really straight cuts and I was just wondering how you do it?

I use an alum straight edge and utility knife--score the styrene and then snap to make a pretty clean cut. Sometimes a file helps correct the edge and make it perfect. For intricate cuts I use a Dremel scroll saw. You can make intricate angle cuts in styrene as long as you make "easment" or release cuts (scored all the way to the edges of the sheet) to help when snapping the part clean--in say a triangle piece or a rhombus. There is a bit of waste for intricate parts, but the material is really cheap when ya buy big sheets--about $15-25 USD for a 4x8 foot piece

Holy crap dude, that stuff is 1337!

Very nice ideas and very nice designs! I cannot wait to see the finishing product for this 1. Great work!

Crimson, thanks for answering my question but heres another one. I've bought some styrene for a mod I'm doing atm but I don't think its the same as you use. I bought it form a model shop and it was called styrene. The thing is it's glossy, whereas as far as I can tell from your pics the stuff you get isn't. I think I've bought the wrong thing, please shed some light?

Hi!

Could you explain more about the top of the building...
What did you use and how?

Thnx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by [D]ark[A]cid

Crimson, thanks for answering my question but heres another one. I've bought some styrene for a mod I'm doing atm but I don't think its the same as you use. I bought it form a model shop and it was called styrene. The thing is it's glossy, whereas as far as I can tell from your pics the stuff you get isn't. I think I've bought the wrong thing, please shed some light?

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Polystyrene--styrene------same stuff when it comes to model building and prototype making material. You probably bought the thin stuff.. I've seen the 0020" styrene thats pretty shiny--there really is no difference, its the same material but thinner, and the manufacturer just buffed it. I use mostly 0030-0080" material purchased from www.usplastics.com. Polystyrene is such an incredibly flexible material on a molecular level, that many many different characteristics can be put into it when its manufactured--it can be made light andf fluffy, as in a styrofoam drinking cup, or super strong as in the plastic your keyboard is made from. ;)

The modern world would not be what it is without this plastic--it's in just about everything except a cheese samich

wishing i hadn't slept through chemistry right about now :p hehe

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crimson Sky

The modern world would not be what it is without this plastic--it's in just about everything except a cheese samich

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Aye, but what marvelous creation holds our cheese samich's? thats right, plastic.

Hello new to the forums been reading the posts and I was just wondering if you ever got the touch screen to work on the serial port. I have been thinking about getting one for an idea. Beautiful work by the way. :) I have 12 years as a plug and mold maker and have 16 years custom painting from cars to airplanes so I can understand the time involved in a project like yours. Well keep up the good work.:) :)

welcome to the TBCS forums!~~Turns out I was using the wrong drivers/install procedure for the touch screen--the great folks at www.earthlcd helped me get it working in no time!

Hopefully you can share some of your experience in the moldmaking field to help us with projects!! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xato

Aye, but what marvelous creation holds our cheese samich's? thats right, plastic.

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touche' :p

Hey Thanks for the quick reply to my question, sure if I can help i'll try to answer a few questions but I have never worked stuff this small before but I guess the princable is the same. So when do you think you will be done with your mod, and are you going to put together a small video with everything working on it at the same time? By the way nice to see the KISS (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID) princable is still used with the scissor mechasim sweet.:rolleyes:

Awsome mod crimson, simply amazing. I was just wondering though, how much do your clients pay for your custom mods?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GhostRider

So when do you think you will be done with your mod, and are you going to put together a small video with everything working on it at the same time?

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Soon!...a couple of weeks at the most--And yeah I'll shoot plenty of video of the all the features :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HaWk16

Awsome mod crimson, simply amazing. I was just wondering though, how much do your clients pay for your custom mods?

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That's personal business stuff, so I wont divulge that here--but remember that custom work comes at a premium for just about any product that is hand made ;)

Would you be able to include in that video some footage of you doin the styrene work? It would really help me a lot, thats if you haven't already finished it all.

Just one question Crimson. Where do you get the platsic things to build it?. Like the ventaltion on the side, What is Paper,Plastic?. Need to know about all your plastic you used?


Like this pic, What kind of plastic is that, Liink would be great?

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/p...ion_2-(24).jpg

Unbelievable case modd,impressive.I cant wait to see your new mod..
Poz

Where are the updates :'(