The John Deere Mod

Some more painting and de(con)struction done so far today:

I decided to pop out the PCI slot/Mobo slot cover. It's gonna get painted green (later today) and the back side of the skeleton will remain yellow.

Before:

And After:

I also decided that those crappy PCI slot covers had to go--I'll cannibalize a case for some real covers:

Whoops. Got a little carried away here. Not too worried about it, it is a truck after all, it's supposed to get abused!

And the feet on the bottom of the case have disappeared as well. I'm still trying to figure out just what in the hell I'm going to do here. I've got some ideas, but at the moment, that's all they are. I do know I'm gonna build a false bottom somewhat similar to Paul's Doom3 mod.

I take it there's more coming?

And that's one hell of a colour.

Lots more coming. Real time progress at its finest!

I just wish I had more time to spend on this project. Between work and planning a wedding, I'm surprised I've got as much done as I have!

So without further ado...

Here's the mobo tray, front and back. I'm gonna let it sit for a couple more days, then wet sand, and put yet another layer down:

And the PCI/mobo IO slot cover in all it's John Deere Green glory:

It's sittin outside soakin up some sun at the moment.

Also, I've got a bit of sanding in my not too distant future--damn paper stuck to the bottom of the skeleton:mad:

And finally, I was down at the locally owned hardware store earlier. They have lighters shaped like fire extinguishers. I'm thinking one of those is gonna get added somehow--kind of an inside joke between my dad and I. We've both had experiences with hydraulic lines giving way while operating a tractor.

Nothing like 6 foot flames shooting off of one side of an engine block to get the adrenaline running, let me tell you!

Had to do a quick mockup to see how it looks. I'm quite impressed with the end result.

I like the contrast of the rear panel + rep

Cool, it actually looks quite John Deereish!

+rep

I can't help thinking you got those the wrong way round. The John Deere scheme is predominantly green, with yellow highlights. That rear panel is the other way round. Although I guess it's out of context, so my criticism isn't fair.

Seen this?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xmastree

I can't help thinking you got those the wrong way round. The John Deere scheme is predominantly green, with yellow highlights. That rear panel is the other way round. Although I guess it's out of context, so my criticism isn't fair.

Seen this?

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I thought the same thing at first, but I think once it is installed on a case that is going to be green, the yellow won't be the predominate colour.

It does look good so far though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xmastree

I can't help thinking you got those the wrong way round. The John Deere scheme is predominantly green, with yellow highlights. That rear panel is the other way round. Although I guess it's out of context, so my criticism isn't fair.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bucko

I thought the same thing at first, but I think once it is installed on a case that is going to be green, the yellow won't be the predominate colour.

It does look good so far though.

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Bucko's on the right path here. This is the back end of the computer, so I'm taking a small liberty (for lack of a better term) by painting the PCI/mobo cover green.

The SO and I made a quick trip out to the ranch this past weekend, which allowed me to take a few pictures of a JD for reference purposes.

I wasn't able to get any pictures of the beast that dad's currently driving as it's literally sitting out in the north 40 (and you thought that was just a figure of speech. Ha!), so I snapped a few pics of an early 1990's model (I think).

Breather cap. This one didn't turn out quite as good as I hoped it would, but it's a start. For some reason I was thinking that the actual cap was much longer. This will be much easier to fabricate.

Breather and Exhaust. The exhaust manifold could also prove to be an interesting build if I wish to have it (somewhat) functional. This is one piece that I will base off the newer model tractors, as the newer ones don't have the cap at the top. Also, this picture shows the yellow stripe across the top half of the engine compartment and the font. Now I gotta start doing some searching to see if I can find something similar.

Radiator/Fan assembly cover. Yet again, a piece that might be a real headache to scratchbuild. And since I'm planning on using something in this style on the front of the computer, I might have no other choice.

And finally:

Another closeup of the lettering and the logo(for lack of a better term). A couple hours in GIMP and I should be able to come up with a decent knockoff.

I also bought some supplies to do some mockup work. And since the weather is turning to **** here (AGAIN), I'll be working on that this week.

And on a side note: This is the same tractor that I made a reference to regarding the 6 foot flames shooting out one side. This poor thing has been through hell and back a couple times, and still runs like, well, a Deere:p !

I just have to say not all John Deer equiptment has the green/yellow scheme. There is an all yellow John Deer excavator doing work on my school. Allthough I feel a tribute to John Deer should be yellow/green.