Project DEEP PURPLE (The Introduction)

[savincent]

Dayum. Congrats on buying the sexy ass case!

[modding.fan]

I just had a concerning thought bounce into my head...and I need some advice from any experienced painters.

As I've mentioned above, I live in India. It's now the middle of summer so it's *hot* and it's raining just about every day like it's the flood. (It's absolutley POURING outside right now). As you can guess...this is kicking up the average humidity levels outside to like 90%

Now...I'll be painting in my house, which I keep to a cozy 68-70 degrees thanks to the huge air conditioners I've got at the house. A/C's have the great point of removing some, if not most, of the humidity from the air, but they *move* air as well which can be bad. Oh...and...have i mentioned that, even after heavy rain storms, India is *very* dusty?

So I'm in a dilema...do I:
a) Turn off the A/C, and let the house get very warm/humid for painting, and have minimal ventilation?
b) Leave the A/C on, causing dust to blow around in the room, but keeping it considerabley cooler and dryer?
c) (and this really isn't an option) Hold off on painting till wintertime when it's cooler, dryer, and I can leave the A/C off?

thanks in advance!

-MF

[Airbozo]

Suggestion: Don't paint in the house without _some_ sort of booth (even home made will work), or paint will be all over EVERYTHING!

[modding.fan]

Suggestion: Don't paint in the house without _some_ sort of booth (even home made will work), or paint will be all over EVERYTHING!

I've got 4 or 5 dropcloths that I'll be hanging up from the ceiling and on the floor to prevent overspray. My options are limited, but in my mind that sounded like a good plan.


On a related note...I realized about a half hour ago that I still have one part to order that needs paitned *GAH* (DVD/RW). So...I bit the bullett, and placed an order on my credit card (was trying to do the whole build via cash-on-hand) and have all the rest of my functional hardware coming in. So...once that stuff gets here, I'll be painting and building. Yay! Only set of parts I've yet to order are my neons...and those will be a few weeks off now, since I have to pay off the card from this hardware order.

2-3 weeks of shipping, then I can finally paint (I'd prefer to do it all together, so I know my coats are consistent, dry times are the same, and final dry colors should be perfect matches). On the bonus side, as soon as it's painted, all my real hardware will already be here so I can start using it! Horray! I can't wait to get this beast up and running, mostly because my current system keeps crashing when I play WoW...Blizzard Entertainment has something against ATI video cards.

[brouhaha]

I know it kind of beats one of the purposes of modding: DIY, but in India you ought to be able to get work done for you real cheap.

OT: what are you there for? I'm Indian, but I haven't been there in 6 years, so I'm quite homesick now

[modding.fan]

I know it kind of beats one of the purposes of modding: DIY, but in India you ought to be able to get work done for you real cheap.

I'm sure you're right there, but I like to do mods myself, the only real reason I do them is because it keeps me busy and gives me something to do other than going out and partying every night. My body can only take so much.

OT: what are you there for? I'm Indian, but I haven't been there in 6 years, so I'm quite homesick now

I work at the U.S. Embassy here in Delhi. It's a great job, a nice break after 8 years in the military from the strict attitudes, but keeps me in service of my country. And, possibly the best part, it keeps me at various places overseas...I love to travel and having a job that lets me live virtually anywhere in the world is great.

[brouhaha]

Ah, so if somebody I know doesn't get a visa, I know who to flame

Okay, back on topic. Besides stuff like spray paint that's hard to come by, I think you'd be better off getting computer supplies like drives locally since supply channels ought to be well established. Small outfits, often called assemblers who build and sell computers can sell you parts. I can ask people I know from Delhi if you need a source. About painting, would any of the following thoughts help (listed in no particular order)?
- It's dusty allright, but I am surprised it is significant even after monsoons and through the airconditioner. Anyway, the conditions should be similar to the southwest here, especially southern california. Maybe one of those folks can pipe up.
- How about shutting off the AC and painting before you leave for work? The paint can dry during the day and when you return you turn on the AC and see how the paint fared?
- Maybe just get the painting done from somebody. You still get to do the rest of the mod yourself. I believe others on this forums have got painting/powder-coating/chroming etc. done externally.

I'll post if I think of anything else.

[modding.fan]

So, as I couldn't start painting this weekend since I'm still waiting on my DVDR to get here in the mail...I started dry fitting some pieces to see how the case will go together.

I looked again at my Mobo and realized that, in my effort to keep prices down, I bought a low-model version of the board and it doesn't have pin-mounts for frontmounted Firewire or Mic/Speakers. Basically, this means that 2/3 of the function of the trap-door'd media panel isn't going to be used. The Mobo does, however, have 4 USB2 ports on the back...so I won't be short of USB spots if I don't use this bay.

However, this left me thinking...what do do with a trap door...and Eureka! I suddenly remembered that I had the dangerden fillport to install somewhere. I had initially been planning on cutting a whole in the mesh just behind the trap door. But now, I think I'll be putting it *in* the trapdoor.

That's the only real thing I can think of to put there...anyone else have ideas for me?

Cheers!

MF

[simon275]

That sounds like an excellent Idea. With the dangerden fillerport under the trapdoor.

For the painting why dont you try and get some dust filters installed. As we have them on ours as my mum is asmatic.

Man you have the job Ive always wanted

[modding.fan]

Yup, it's been a long time since the last update to DEEP PURPLE. But don't fret...I've got LOADS for you all today!

First, my order from Danger Den came in a few days ago, and I'm very happy with the way stuff looks:

First out of the box was my D5 Pump:

They even had the foresight to include a small foam pad to help with vibration noise...they think of *everything* (Okay, not quite...but we'll get to a couple of my problems with my DD order later.)

Also in the box was my HardDrive cooler. It's an odd looking piece, takes up 2x 5 1/4 bays, for 2 3 1/2 drives...but...I got this case because of it's HUGE space...so who cares!
One side (there are 2 of these), and I can say i'm impressed with how nice the copper block looks (just like my other DD stuff...very nice work):

The other side with the DD Logo...not sure the purpose since it has to mount inside drive bays and will never be seen but hey, I'll advertise for them here. Maybe my next case I can talk to them about sponsorship.

And a rough look of how it assembles...they even gave me a piece of tubing to connect the middle portion. How cool are they!?!?

Lastly, my two radiators came in, and they are, well nice. Designed with HUGE amounts of surface area for the air...I do worry a bit about flow restriction...but...I'm not an engineer so we'll see how they go.

Here's a couple shots where I'm trying to show you just how much airflow these provide. The first you can almost see the chair behind through the rad:

Then I decided to go for contrast and put a white box half-way behind the rad...stands out a bit better...either way, trust me when i say they are great lookin!

That's all for this entry...but I'm typing more up today...plenty more...so keep tuned!
Cheers,
-MF