Project : Lupine

[Tech-Daddy]

Thanks everyone for the supportive comments!


Coolermaster voting happens through the 7th, and the PC Club contest I should have this thing wrapped up tonight with one more set of updates.

[sXenoG]

You going to show us the updates tonight? Are the ups going to be minimal or major changes? Whatr the plans sorry if you answered this i recall that you may have in one of your previous posts.

[Tech-Daddy]

I have an idea for a forward facing bit of art that will help drive home the "Lupine" motif... and I have an idea for the innards that will help recycle a bit of light! I'll have the pics up later tonight, as I've already carved the last bit of acrylic, and will do a bit of bending, led line creation, and wire it up... then ... voila!

I'll be snapping pictures tonight, I fully am anticipating having the last touches done and this thing completed, with pictures following later tonight/this morning.

[Tech-Daddy]

Ok, I'm officially exhausted... my allergies are kicking up, headache hitting... and I still need to shower!


..but this was STILL a fun and productive evening.
I dont have the energy to post up all of the pics (I'll resize, compress and upload tomorrow) so I'll post up some good samples pics of what I did tonight! Effectively, the blank space under the DVD drive was just wide open, and I wanted something there...
so, I built "something"...

More tomorrow....

[sXenoG]

Great job caint wait for the other pics bet it looks spectacular from a more revealing perspective. Wasnt that idea recomended to you earlier in your logs?

[Tech-Daddy]

Yeah, something like it. Originally it was thought to be a alum profile cut to be inserted into the bezel. I thought about it and changed the design a bit so that you had to look for it. Wolves are kind of elusive creatures, not one's to just sit out and be seen. So, I continued that thinking through out the case...

Now, another update....

Made it through Round 1!!
http://www.coolermaster.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3097

Round 2 will end on Sept 4th, and there is not a lot that I need to do to Lupine to make it ready, pretty much more indepth pictures, and I think there will be one with my ugly mug tied to it (that may cause a point deduction right there... )

If you are a member of the CoolerMaster forums, please get active over there. (Taking nothing away from this awesome site, of course! You know how to surf 2 sites at once dont you??? ) Make sure you have 20+ posts, and be ready for the Sept. 4th voting. Apparently, voter turn out was rather low for round 1, so I'd like to see more votes cast for round 2! Not pimping my rig, I expect all to vote their heart and mind. I'd just like to see CM get the response they want, so that they continue this contest (or ones like it) in the future.

Oh yeah... now, let's see what Round 2 brings!

[sXenoG]

Congrats buddy. Im really happy for you. I took a look at allt he entries the other day and fealt only one of them could be considered your opposition. So i think you have a good chance of winning. Hope you do and hope you get more pics up soon

[Tech-Daddy]

Ok, one of the final things getting done on Lupine, the front bay howler...

1st I got an image to the proper dimensions width wise, and then printed it out, taping it to the back of the acrylic that I wanted to cut.

Removed the paper, so that I only had the outline...

Then I started methodically cutting away material to whittle the acrylic down to the shape I wanted. 1st pass was done using a cut off wheel:

Next, I gave the flexi shaft a try using a multi-bit:

Here we see it taking shape...

Then I took the barrel drum sanding attachment and put it on the flexishaft, and ran it to my vice like so:

And, man o man... I wish I had figured that out a lod sooner in my life!!! That one step made the work SO much easier to manage!!! The shot below was taken after I had sanded both sides of the acrylic with an orbital sander using 160 grit paper.

[Tech-Daddy]

Playing with paper...
I got to thinking... "All I need is something that will block the light from the acrylic... I dont "need" to cut the wolf out of metal for the front layer..." Then it hit me, "Use the posterboard dummy!!!" *headsmack*

So, using a smaller wolf as a template, I cut the profile out of posterboard:

Attached it to some scrap paper using low tack painters tape, and then used vinyl dye to make it black:

Then attached it to the front of the acrylic:

HOOOWWWWWWLL!!

Back lighting testing, 1st with a white LED:

Then I was like... "How can I Make the LED purple? Not UV, but purple?" *ding* I had bought some purple cellophane as an experiment earlier in the mod... wrap the LED in 1 or 2 layers of the cellophane... see if that gives the color I wanted...
Yep... sho'nuff did!

Cellophane wrapped LED:

Front panel from about 5 feet:

[Tech-Daddy]

Various internal shots:

This is one of my favorite shots...

First and formost, I want to thank my wife for putting up with my modding on this rig for the last few months. Even though it was hers, she still had to corral the kiddos and keep them out of the garage while I worked. This mod could not have been done witout her tireless assistance and understanding, thank you honey!

Next come persons that helped in some form or fashion.

Nick Deligaris - Artist extraordinaire
http://www.deligaris.com/art/color30.jpg
He was the inspirational picture that I used for the wolf spirit. His work is exceptional, and I can speak from a personal note, he is a gentleman and a scholar! Nick, thank you for the use of your image in my rig, I hope that I have put it to good use and kept your artistic impresson in tact! It is a beautiful work! As a matter of fact, I'd highly recommend that if you are into fantasy artwork, or even just a fan of beautiful pictures... go check out his site at http://www.deligaris.com Thanks again Nick.

Sheldog and Zapwizard - Acrylic wizadry

http://www.lizard-tree.com for having such an awesome product and a wilingness to help a Texan from all the way up in Canada! I appreciate your assistance and support, and I hope that maybe through some action of mine, that I can drive some business your way! You can count on the fact that I will be in touch again later! These things were so damn easy to use! And the effect was so nice.... Thanks again!

To all of the forum members from the various spots where I posted this log... you are all too many to list! Helping, suggesting, diagraming, or sometimes just dropping a supportive comment. It was very appreciated. I love doing these mods, and they succeed due to the interactions that I have with everyone in the forums. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

There will be some on going tweaking over the next month, during the CoolerMaster competition, to try and make this rig competitive to get me into the 3rd round, so expect a few visual tweaks to make this thing *pop*. Nothing drastic though... wolves are solitary creatures. They don't like the lime light... so that will influence the overall vision of this case.

Hehehee... it won't be a bling!