Monitor MOD

[Ichbin]

cool man, can't wait to see the designs

[Spacehonkey]

got quick ? since this is my first mod should I use my new flat screen that I just bought or my old CRT spectrum 7Glr?

[Ichbin]

hrmm, ...good question... I guess its more whatever you feel comfertable using.

If you use the flat screen and bugger it up, well, you blasted a lot of money.

If you use the CRT and you dont screw it up, then you have poorer visual.

sooo...it's really if you feel comfertable hacking up your flatscreen.

If you do plan on opening up the CRT monitor....BE SURE THAT YOU HAVENT PLUGGED IN MONITOR for like....2 days. The capacitors in a monitor hold enough charge to fry a small cat.

So yea. My suggestion would to use the flatscreen, but practice a bit with working with your materials first.

[SgtM]

Spacehonkey, welcome aboard and Semper Fi.

Sketchup can be kinda confusing at first if you've never used a 3d modeling program before. There are some video tutorials at sketchup.com that helped me quite a bit when I was first learning to use it. Are you at CamPen or Miramar? Either way, there are hobby shops at CamPen and MCRD that you could take full advantage of with all the tools you'll need. Best of all, there are some guys on this board with some killer metal skills that will be more than helpful if you get in a bind. Have fun with the mod, and keep us updated.

[Spacehonkey]

I'm stationed on Camp Pen. Well it looks like I won't be able to the complete mod I wanted yet to because the wife doesn't trust my skills yet. So I'll just stick to the basic red led square panel and metal frame on the monitor, which isn’t a bad idea. After I get more comfortable with all the fabrication and proof to the little wife that I can do it I'll try to do my original plan.

Oh by the way my original plan was to have the red led panel like the 1st pix I posted but have the edges in a more organic shape. I planed on using a snake skeleton slithering through the panel and around the exposed cables in the back, other scrap pieces to fill in the negative space on the front of the panel, use human skeleton hands holding the monitor up and of course a lot of bondo. I wanted to make a skeleton type of monitor a lot like the alien mouse featured on the tutorial page.

Oh yeah I did try the alien mouse it turned out pretty cool except for the final paint job. I’ve never been any good at painting. Thought I would post it on here just to show you guys what a rookie I am at modding. I was also thinking about replacing the red scroll wheel with a clear one and wiring in a red led to light it up.

[SgtM]

That mouse looks cool man. What part of Pendleton are you on? I was at Horno (53 area) for 3 years.

Here's my mouse mod. Check the link in the sig for the rest.

[Spacehonkey]

Ah you were a grunt. Well you probably think I'm nasty since I've been with the wing for going on 9 years now. I work on the avionics systems on Hueys and Cobras.

Got another ? for you Pros. I tried to take apart my flat screen but the plastic case won't give. I removed all the screws and the mount attached to it.

There is this little hole with a lock symbol on it, I'm guessing this case is locked into place (never heard of that before).

Do I need some special tool to unlock the case or what? I just don't want to crack the case by doing something stupid.

[Ichbin]

Dremel comes in handy at this stage, you could always drill it out or something.

ummm, it might be a latch or something (like on most plastic things, a lip to "hold" together)

Try sticking a small screwdriver in it, and poke around. Im pretty sure its not a direct hole to the board in it.
If you cant find anything to work with to get it unlatched...Dremel it.

[SgtM]

No nasties allowed in the Corps. Together, we all make it function as the well oiled machine that it it. Actually, I was an 0121.. tried to pick the MOS away from the grunts. No luck, I was stuck with grunt units my whole enlistment.

As far as the lock goes, it looks to me like you might be able to get a small screwdriver in there, and try and work it around to pry the plastic off. I've never taken apart an LCD (still have CRT monitors) so I don't know for sure.

[Spacehonkey]

I'm definitely a rookie at this stuff. Well I figured out my original problem about the metal frame.

All the parts are already there. I took my monitor apart and all the metal parts are just hidden under the plastic case. So all I need to do now is what is stated in the tutorial but just change a few measurements.
http://metku.net/index.html?path=mod...stft/index_eng
Thx for all the help guys. I ordered the parts I need on the web last night and I'll go to Home Depot and buy the Lexan and Acrylic I need in a couple of days.