Project PC In Disguise

Hey guys, this is my first project post (second overall lol). This is my very first true modding project, so don't read this expecting to see an absolute masterpiece at the end. The theme for this first project is Transformers. I'm absolutely in love with Transformers so don't knock it lol. In the next posts, I will include pictures as well as progress reports, so if you have nothing better to do and want to see a closer to reality, none godly, modding project, then come check this thread out every so often.

Best regards,
purdy (a.k.a. lone_wulf)

Hahahha... did anyone see clerks II? The transformers reminded me of that.

Anyway good luck with your mod... i should be starting mine soon too. (though, i'm not sure if i'll post a log or not)

Transformers, in a word, ROCK! </subscribe>

Can't wait for the movie to come out.....though i'm on the wrong side of the world so y'all will have to tell me all about it.

Can't wait to see the case!

moOmL, I think you should definitly make a post/log about your upcoming mod, I can guarantee I would not be the only one interested in reading it. Oh and btw, the teaser trailer for the upcoming movie is crap, however the cgi used in the trailer will NOT be used in the full length version. I only wish I could confirm the same for the upcoming, just announced, TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) movie (the cgi as well as the trailer in general looked absolutely attrocious). Anyways, back to my mod, I'm heading off to The States tonight and won't be back till thursday, but when I get back I'll be sure to post a progress report; well as soon as I figure out how to put my damn pictures up (me=nub). Anyways, I'm out.

Best regards,
purdy (a.k.a. lone_wulf)

Will your case be able to do actual transformations? Because that would be really cool!

hmm, sounds cool. Used to be a big Transformers fan. What exactly are you planning for the case?

Hey Coyote, no my mod won't be able to actually transform, like I said before this is more of a realistic mod, in other words nothing spectacular. As for your inquiry Aero, the plan is to take a little Aspire X-Qpack sff case and mod it to look like Optimus Prime in the sense of the coloring as well as hopefully putting parts together on the front of the case to make it look like his face. Oh btw, I'm back from The States so once I figure out how to get my own saved pictures from my comp onto this site, I'll be sure to have some new progress reports. Well, I have to get ready for work, so talk to y'all later (I spent too much time down there lol). Chow!

Best regards,
purdy (a.k.a. lone_wulf)

To put your photos on to a website you have to get a host for your pictures. I like to use this site:

http://photobucket.com/

Just set up an account with them and then you'll browse for photos on your computer and upload them to the site. Then you can post the pictures with the " [IMG] " tags.

Here are some pics of what the case currently looks like. Even though I love the window appliquees, the'yre just not enough, which is why I started this mod.

My biggest inspiration for the whole design scheme/colors is this picture of Optimus Prime which is also one of the appliquees; so expect to see lots of red.

gotta make it look like a semi :P

Lol I like the small cube, well rectangular, shape it is so I'm going to keep it like that. If you take a look at the picture of Optimus Prime, take a look at the cubes he has for shoulders. That's what I'm basing the design scheme off of. I'm a major nub when it comes to sketches so I might just do some quick concept crap in MSPaint, just to give readers a better understanding of what transformations I have in mind. (No pun intended......What, nvm, pun intended) :P

Hello. You'll never guess who it is. I think your Transformer Mod is going to be really great and if you ever need help on i would be glad to do so. I am behind you on this project so good luck! :)

Haha, I know all too well who that is. Thank you very much, I probably will need your help some time. BTW everyone, sorry for not having many updates/progress reports, I was cutting a plastic baseball helmet with an old rusty saw (which totally isn't the right tool to use) and, well, you guessed it, the helmet moved and I cut through my thumb; so unfortunately, not much progress has been made. So far! DUN DUN DUN. Lol, I'm out.

BTW, here's that helmet I was talkin about, BEFORE I started cutting it. My next progress report will show what I've done to it in terms of cutting.

As well now my thumb is healed (almost) and I'm using proper equipment .

Wow, I actually cut the helmet. I'm surprised I haven't quit and started something else by now like most people that were reading this thread/log lol. Anyways here are some pics of what I cut.

I plan on cutting and attaching the ear pieces that were cut off back on to the helmet, but I can assure you it will look a little better than this.

I just quit my job, so I should have a little more time before school starts to get some work done. I bought some Plaster Paris stuff to help mould everything together, so once I see if that stuff will do the trick, then we'll go from there. Until then, I'm out.

Well I'm sure lots, if not most of you have started wondering what the hell this case is going to look like by the end of the project. Well here's some real quick concept art on what I hope the case will transform into, except, well.... better. BTW, this concept art isn't for the faint of heart, seeing as though I am an MSPaint pro.

This is what the case currently looks like.

And this is a slightly less realistic concept of what the case should look like after the project is done. For the smoke stacks at the back, I plan on putting a light tube inside of each so then light will come out of the holes. If you notice, there is an elevation change (*look at the sides of the top window*); I think you all know what that means.... a sh**load of putty!

Here is a closeup view of the front when Optimus' face isn't sitting on the front. I moved the drives to the bottom of the case by cutting holes at the bottom and replaced the drive bay slots with an lcd screen. Also there is no more temperature gauge or power button. The power button will be located on Optimus' forehead, however, I have no idea where the temp. reader will go (*taking suggestions/ideas/opinions*).

Anyways, I'm going for supper then working on the case, will try to have more progress reports shortly. Until then, I'm out.

Once again, I'm looking for ideas and opinions/suggestions on my project (*especially with what to do with the temp. gauge*), and just any kind of feedback as to what you like or dislike. So post away lol. Until then, I'm out.

Hey guys, 'tis me again. I just came to the conclusion that do I really need that little gauge? I mean if I have an lcd screen on the comp why can't I just display temp from there lol? Sorry about this pointless and retarded post, I'm just waiting for my test rig (*an old school Windows 3.1 machine*) to dry, so I can see how this plaster paris stuff works and to see if it would be worth using. I'll have more details including some pics of Optimus' helmet with stuff attached to it. Until then, I'm out. Oh one more thing, I need looking for lcd screens that can fit into two drive bays, so if you guys could send me links for them and such, that would be great. Thanks a lot.

Well, that Plaster Paris stuff that I had bought ended up being total crap. I touched it and it shattered. Oh well. Good news is that I actually did find that Bondo stuff that everyone was talking about. Of course no one ever told me that Bondo was the name of the company and not the specific product, OR that it's an automotive product. No wonder no one at Home Depot knew what I was talking about. I find it really hard to work with because instead of just the regular putty, I am using this Bondo-hair stuff where it's like strands of fiberglass. Whatever, it seems to be working; although I think I'm going to need A LOT more than what I had purchased for 20 bucks Canadian. I'll have some pics of the helmet with some of the Bondo on it in just a moment. Until then, I'm out.

Here are those pics of the helmet with that weird Bondo stuff. Unfortunately, I'm new to it, so some parts will have to be redone because there wasn't enough hardening gel put in it so it's permanently sticky. Other than that, it looks super ugly, but it's coming along nicely. Also, just recently I discovered a problem with my schematic in the sense that there isn't enough width on the case to put both drive bays side by side. If anyone could give me some tips on how I could make it work I would be delighted; even if you don't have any sollutions, please leave a message on this thread, it's getting lonely being the only one posting. Well, I'm going to go cry lol, so I'm out.

*Note the yellow quesadilla maker in the background. That thing kicks major nalgas!*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by purdy

Also, just recently I discovered a problem with my schematic in the sense that there isn't enough width on the case to put both drive bays side by side. If anyone could give me some tips on how I could make it work I would be delighted;

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use only one optical drive :eek:
that would definately work, but I don't know how much you need that seccond optical drive. Personally I've never had more than one optical drive in my computers...

anyways, that is some serious ugly looking helmet :p ;)
but you'll do fine I think, can't wait to see how it turns out

good luck with modding

Lol, yeah the stuff that I'm using is extremely hard to work with, however once I get a good coat or two on the entire thing, then I can sand it down and paint it and it should look awesome. As for the thing about two optical drives, I have a DVD Rom drive and a dual layer DVD burner. I might just use the Rom drive, however, because of school projects and stuff, the burner is really important to me; so that's why I'm trying to find a way to fit both.

Hey guys, just thought I'd check in again. The helmet is coming along quite ugly, but nicely. It turns out I was using the wrong kind of Bondo. If any of you ever wonder which stuff to use, BUY THE CHEAPER STUFF!!!! That's definitely the stuff to use. Anyways, I added the final addition to the helmet itself, however I do need to add more Bondo and sand it all down before I go on to anything else. Also, I would like to note that my plans have changed a bit since my crappy concept art. I'm still pondering about how I'm going to make my optical drives fit (The case isn't wide enough for them to sit side by side); however, that is down the road. Also, because I want the helmet to slide and move, I am no longer going to have the power button inside the helmet itself. Instead, I will keep the button where it is on the case, but I will change the button itself to look like the Autobots logo. Yes, I know, I'm a slacker lol. Anyways, I have to go to sleep so I can wake up for tennis in the morning, so until then, I'm out. Oh btw, KEEP POSTING!!!! Even if it's hate mail, I don't care, I just don't want to be the only one reading this damn thread! Lol, goodnight.

I knew those pizza boxes would come in handy for things other than grease fires!

Future button.

You mentioned having the helmet move, why not have it slide up and stick above the case. Then you have no need to move the drives and stuff around.

Wow, you took the words right out of my mouth! This post was going to be about the "moving" part of the helmet. Unfortunately, the drives must be moved because I am putting a screen where they are right now. As for the helmet moving part, does anyone have any ideas of what I can do with that? My plan right now is to have a military button, that, when switched, will make the helmet move up from the front of the case to the top of the case, so you can watch the screen. I want to find some sort of conveyor belt or motorized sliders that I can attach to the case that the helmet would fit and slide on so when you flick the switch on, the helmet would be lifted up and over the case and when switched off, would lower back down. If anyone can help me with this, that would be great! Think of a forklift type mechanism. I'll be waiting for you readers to respond ;) but until then, I'm out.

Oh btw, I finally got The Bible (a.k.a. Mr. Capello's amazing extreme modding book). *Sigh*, if only I would have read this BEFORE starting my project. Oh well!

yeah...ive got the book too....read it from front to back...and still refer to it every now and then...its the perfect thing for modders who are just beginning

Hey guys, sorry about not updating it in a bit (my goal is an almost daily update). I went to the Ben Lee concert the other night and I'm still pretty drained from it, so I put my project on hold for the past couple of days. I'm at a loss right now because I don't want to get too far into the project, because, well.... I can't. I can't continue planning out the case until I have a sollution to the motorized slider problem. So basically all I can do now is to continue working on the helmet; but even that's going to be tricky because of the sliders. I'm still looking for help with finding sliders or some sort of forklift device that can lift the helmet, so if anyone can help me with that, it would be much appreciated. Should have more updates on the helmet, but until then, I'm out.

what about an old cd drive?

you can use the motor and sliders etcfrom it

I never even thought of that, thanks so much for the idea. The only problem would be the weight issue more than anything. I haven't even finished with the Bondo on the helmet, and already it weighs inbetween 2 and 5 pounds (approx.)
Do you think that would be an issue for the motor and sliders from the cd rom drive, and also, would I be able to program both motors to start at the same time, so the two parts of the helmet would move in unison? (I forgot to mention that the helmet will consist of two parts/pieces, thus needing two sets of sliders.)

HAWT DAMN A THOUSAND HITS!!!!:D Sure most of them are probably from me lol, but thanks for those of you that read this read and submit posts on this thread. Once I figure out a solution to the little slider dilemma, this project should be progressing super fast. Today, I hope to put on the final layer of bondo to the top part of the helmet, and start planning out the bottom half, but until then, I'm out. Once again thank you to everyone, and don't forget to keep actually POSTING comments and whatever on this thread.

Best regards,
purdy (a.k.a. lone_wulf)

Congrats on 1000 hits! your project is coming along nicely. I like the new idea you thought for it. (How you're going to make it look like Optimus was in a big fight) i think it's a great idea. I am looking forward to seeing what other crazy ideas you come up with to make it look even better. Your project will kick ass when it's done. Good job and keep up the great work. :)
From ... you know who...

Lol, yes, in case you haven't heard, my Bondo didn't turn out that nicely, so now the paintjob will be "war-torn Optimus."

Hi everyone, sorry for not updating. I have some bad news lol, I kind of got poisoned from the Bondo. I ended up inhaling too much of it while I was sanding and I'm still feeling the effects a couple days later. So here's a word of advice for you youngsters: WEAR PROTECTION!!!! I sawed my finger because I didn't wear gloves (and didn't use the right tools lol) and I semi-poisoned myself because I wasn't wearing a mask. All you modders out there, learn from my mistakes. I will continue the project once I am feeling better; but until then, I'm out.

Sigh...well we did tell you!

Hope you feel better soon man.

-Dave

Purdy ouch man so sorry to hear that happened. Get well soon.

Thanks very much guys. Until I can keep going on my project, I'll post what i've done on the day that I got sick. Stupid me, should've just Bondo'd the parts that needed to be attached to the helmet, instead I Bondo'd the entire thing. It turned out much worse than I had expected, even after hours of sanding. Here are some pics after all the Bondo had been put on.

:eek: What's that? Does it look like the helmet's broken? It sure does. I happen to have a phobia of wasps and with the weather being the way it is in The 'Peg this year, there are nothin but those pissed off bees flying around. Short story even shorter, I got chased by one and well, I dropped the helmet. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it gives me a reason for having such a roughed up helmet. As I had said before to Drakena (my g/f), the new paint scheme for the project is going to be a roughed up, a$$-kicked Optimus. Now it (hopefully) won't look like a crappy sanding job but rather a battle torn case. Well until I get better and I start painting it, I'm out.

Ouch!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by purdy

Here are those pics of the helmet with that weird Bondo stuff. Unfortunately, I'm new to it, so some parts will have to be redone because there wasn't enough hardening gel put in it so it's permanently sticky. Other than that, it looks super ugly, but it's coming along nicely. Also, just recently I discovered a problem with my schematic in the sense that there isn't enough width on the case to put both drive bays side by side. If anyone could give me some tips on how I could make it work I would be delighted; even if you don't have any sollutions, please leave a message on this thread, it's getting lonely being the only one posting. Well, I'm going to go cry lol, so I'm out.

*Note the yellow quesadilla maker in the background. That thing kicks major nalgas!*

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No offence to your work but eew it looks gross.

Sorry

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NamesAreUseless

No offence to your work but eew it looks gross.

Sorry

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It's still being made, maybe it'll look nice in the end ;)