The John Deere Mod

[simon275]

I might take this a step farther and attempt to put some pin striping around the cutout as well...

That would look cool. Will be cool to see this get on the road.

[Thallion]

Bucko's mad Paint skills is what I was trying to describe... why didn't I think of using paint... duh....

Though I don't think you have to use yellow plexi, if you paint the insides yellow, and use yellow lights on the inside it should be yellow enough without using yellow plexi....

Also depending on how well you cut the opening to begin with you might be able to use the piece you just cut from the case to make the inner logo piece, meaning you wouldnt need extra metal.

[Drum Thumper]

Bucko's mad Paint skills is what I was trying to describe... why didn't I think of using paint... duh....

Though I don't think you have to use yellow plexi, if you paint the insides yellow, and use yellow lights on the inside it should be yellow enough without using yellow plexi....

Also depending on how well you cut the opening to begin with you might be able to use the piece you just cut from the case to make the inner logo piece, meaning you wouldnt need extra metal.

Better safe than sorry been my MO for a looooooong time.

I'll be doing the cutting in a couple weeks. And as for the Yellow Plexi, since this mod is going to be for my parents, I'm thinking the plexi might be the better choice.

Although it is gonna be lit up.

[xmastree]

If you cut out a large piece of yellow plexi and made just a standard window in the outer shape of the logo and mounted it to the case.
Then cut out the inner deer logo from a piece of steel and glued it to the yellow plexi. With a yellow inside and some yellow lights, it could work well!

The great thing about this idea is that with the centre piece being separate, if you mess it up you can start again. The outer shape should be fairly simple, so no worries there.

[Aero]

I agree with xmastree. Your plan is god because if you mess up on one part, it won't ruin the whole thing . The deer will be the tricky part, but the window should be simple, a "X" and some arc's can make that a simple cut with a jigsaw.

[Drum Thumper]

The case showed up today. Sort of.

The UPS depot here flat out sucks. This is the 4th time I've been @ home waiting for them to knock or ring my doorbell all day. I had to run to my fiance's place of work to take her lunch, and lo and behold, there's one of those yellow 'Sorry we missed you' stickers on my door.

Sorry my ass. You don't do your job, and yet you're still employed. All because you're union.

I'm not knocking unions in general, just whatever union the UPS drivers are affiliated with.

Although I might have to vent about UFCW in the chatterbox sometime. I'm union as well (UFCW), but not by choice.

Anyways back to the matters at hand. I went out to the UPS depot this afternoon and was told that the driver that does my area will be back in @ 7pm Mountain time. They're open till 8:30 pm.

I will have this case tonight.

And I'll be requesting FedEx in the future. And if I can't, I'll do my business elsewhere.

/end rant.

[Drum Thumper]

The case is now in my possesion. I've already taken one side panel off to take a look at the skeleton, then put it back on, as I'm not quite ready to take pictures.

And I dropped 20 bucks @ the John Deere Implement store on paint. They don't seem to carry a clear coat, so I'm going to have to do some testing to see what results with mixing brands is going to be acceptable.

With me trying to keep this under $600, I've got $550 left to spend.

Pics hopefully tomorrow of disassembly and painting prep.

[Drum Thumper]

First steps in disassembly:

First off, the front panel:

Then a side shot with the paint cans on top of it:

Hmm--for some reason the yellow looks pastel, and the green is darker than it actually is. Stupid camera.

Side panels off:

And now I'm trying to figure out how to get the front panel off.

I should also mention that the cover for the USB/audio ports could prove to be interesting as it swings up. As soon as I get the front off, I'll post some more pics (hopefully with a better camera!)

[Drum Thumper]

I just bought a Cannon PowerShot A540.

I'll get some real pics up tonite!

[Drum Thumper]

Finally, a bit of an update with some decent pictures!

First off:

A better view of the side.

Followed by a better view of the front.

The Front flip panel--I thought this was going to cause me problems, but it can be removed quite easily!

Inside of the case, prepping to remove the front panel.

A quick view of the back panel.

Front panel off. Notice that the cords are just laying about. I now have them twist tied in the back so they don't get broken.

And finally, the front of the case without the cover. All that I have left to remove is the top, and that will be done here in a bit.

I should also point out that until it gets about 20 degrees warmer outside, this mod is on hiatus.

I'm going to take advantage of the first semi-nice day that we have here and paint the skeleton.