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Wondering "Why?" I would want to pull out the guts of a metor light?
This is why....
Active lighting
More Active lighting...
I plan on embedding this effect next to the 5.25 bays, long ways down the side. The UV LED's will be firing into the side of the Orange acrylic and the effect will be seen on the inside of the case!!! And I have not even polished the edges yet! This is the straight acrylic and the effect is much more noticable in my garage than in the capture of the camera.
:D
To quote Stimpy... "Joooyyyyyeeeeeee!!!"
:D
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Too tired to post pics, but here is what I did tonight:
1) Foamed the hood scoop. tomorrow I'll cut it down and add in more foam in the low places.
2) Took my CoolDrive3 that I bought (older model drive cooler, and it looks kida retro too!), removed the blue LED's and replaced them with White. Now there is a nice even white glow that matches the fans, that emenates to the edges from the front center.
3) repainted the fan exhaust port on the mobo. Remember it used to be a optic green arcylic. Now, it is a gloss black, and the power lead is sleeved.
Foam is drying, and my eyes are trying to close...
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... :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
WOW man. That is plain awesome. Period.
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TEch Daddy, how do you get your case painting done?
You know know someone, or does it cost a penny or two to get done?
I don't want to do anything nearly as elborate as you have, I was just thiking of sanding down the inside of my case to the bare metal, and putting a protective coat on it to keep it from rusting, its a steel Chieftech server case, nothing fancy, just want it to look halfway decent inside.
Suggestions, advice, opinions would greatly be appreciated.
Side note, I have asked my GF's dad to help me work on the case, because he has worked as a painter for 10+ years and has decorated the entire house inside and out, wood work, electrical, I mean almost everything was done by him. He painted the entire inside of their house. If I did not know better I woudl have thought he had hired a contractor, so he knows what he is doing, but as you are working on PC Cases, then I figured I would ask your advice.
Thanks Phelan
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The interior case frame is *not* painted, but powder coated. Bigtime difference. For the outside of the case, if you want an excellent finish, I have 2 painting tutorials @ my house that explain how to get an automotive grade paint finish on a PC.
BOSS does not have all of these steps. It's actually got half of them. I did not have time to wet sand the paint and reapply, let dry, then Clear Coat the top. The paint is Krylon OSHA orange, and that is it. 2-3 coats.
hope this helps!
I'll get the links to the painting tutorials.
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Thanks Tech-Daddy.
How much did the powder coating cost?
I don't want to do power coating, I just want to clean, and polish the inside of the case, and put a protective clear coat on it to keep from rusting.
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the PC cost me $50 (and I tipped the guy $10).
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Picture update from last night...
not much text, as I need to get out into the garage and shave the scoop into shape!
Painted the fan shroud from UV reactive green to a gloss black, and sleeved the power cable:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/back_fan.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/back_fan2.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/back_fan3.jpg
Seems that we have had this discussion once before... and because of our debate, I was able to locate these bad boys for less than Radio Shack!!!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/connectors.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...onnectors2.jpg
The CoolDrive started blue:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cooldrive1.jpg
and changed to white:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cooldrive2.jpg
And I have a whole slew of gross jokes and commentary on "what" this looks like... let's keep it clean folks... ok? ;)
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy2.jpg
It has hardened today, solid foam (*tap* tap*, *thud* *thud*...) so I'm stepping out to cut it down now! Hopefully there will be some cool pics forthcoming tonight!
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Yeah, it aint the cleanest stuff... but I sure to like what I am getting right now!
I just spent about 30 minutes shearing off the crap, and fleshing out the basic form of the hood scoop. I did one side flush with the edge, and the other side like a traditional hood scoop. I'm likeing the flush side the more I look at it.
I have a big, freakin HYOOJ air pocket that was in the middle of this foam, so I have touchup to do tonight to fill in that spot, then run another bead on the side that I stripped to make it perpendicular to the surface.
Here are some quick pics:
Looked a bit like a turkey here...
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy3.jpg
Started with the coping saw and sheared off the top:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy4.jpg
This is not half of the mess I made, lots more in the trash bag to my left (not in the pic):
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy5.jpg
Starting to take shape, and I'm figuring how bad the air pocket was... ugh...
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy6.jpg
This is a decent view of the side that I sheared to make perpendicular to the surface of the case:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy7.jpg
This is a shot to try and show the "flush side". This is the style that I am leaning towards.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy8.jpg
A few top shots to show the general shape and orientation:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy9.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/foamy10.jpg
:D
I could not be happier with the initial results. Only thing draging it down is the mondo air pocket.
;)
Headed back out into the garage!!!
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Heheheh... I just think it is a great accessory! (and I do think it's kinda purdy too! ;) )
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan3.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan2.jpg
This will be positioned over the cpu fan, mounted on the fan grill... at least... that is what I'm thinking!
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I'm getting ready to get out in the garage and cut the base off of this thing... but here is a glimpse of what I'm looking for:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan4.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan5.jpg
It is just resting on the bottom of the filter there, I want to get the base of the housing on there for authenticity, as well as the integrated mounting post that comes with it. Will allow me to wing nut that top of the filter housing.
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From tonight:
That is the 92mm fan grill legs that you see sticking out from under this dude... damn near a perfect fit! I could not have been happier!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan6.jpg
So, I hear the question, "How did you get the grill to stay on down there, Craig?" Well, I'll show ya, if you promise to respect me in the morning!
Zip Ties. 2 of them, that will never be seen, because they are smack in the middle of the air filter. I can live with this.... can you? ;)
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan7.jpg
Test fit in the case... making sure I have not done all of this work, only to have it not fit... criminy! I'm going to likely have to shear the bolt down and get some sort of nylon centered lock nut for the top! While I had the grill off, I pulled hte fan and sleeved it's power/signal wires in a black sleeving.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan8.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan9.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/cpu_fan10.jpg
The scoop is shaping up nicely! Very nicely I might add. Not done with this by any stretch, but the bulk of the basic work is done. Shape a bit more, then I'll fiberglass it tomorrow. While the fiber glass dries, I plan on filing down the side window to it's final level, and work on painting the out sides the Orange color. (Sand, prime, sand, paint, more sanding... more painting...
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop8.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop9.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop10.jpg
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Thanks everyone!
Update time!
Quick pic update.... a little text to show what all has happened in the past .. uh... how long have I been outside? ;)
No lie, I think (in hind sight) I used a bit too much resin, as I think my 2 layers of fiber glass with the resin worked in to saturate the fabric, I think I made the 2nd cousin to ballistic kevlar or anti missle armor! JEEZUS! I went through 4 qty/80 grit sander pads sanding the fiber glass down to the initial shape in the 2nd pic! 3rd, 4th and 5th scoop pics are the first layer of bondo, then 1st layer sanded, then the 2nd touchup layer applied.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop11.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop12.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop13.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop14.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop15.jpg
Took the front grill emblem out for the first time in a while! Put it to my dremel polishing attachments and wire wheels to get the years of dust and crap that were embedded into it! Much better now!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/stang1.jpg
This is just to show the placement of the hood ornament, and also that the very top and very bottom of the bezel have little tapers. Turns out those are part of the back plastics of the front bezel attachment framework. I can paint the top and bottoms of the front bezel something to accent the work I am about to put on the front.
I've got a cool idea for the paint (I think... we'll see, I've test painted something tonight to see how it comes out later tonight.), might be a two tone matte black/deep smoke grey gloss anodized paint on the front, with the edges being the side panel OSHA orange.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bezel1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bezel2.jpg
I've got another paint scheme in my head, (my original one) that I'm thinking will work as well... more on that later!
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That intake has been a serious pain in the a$$... I like it, but I dont. I don't like it because I see what I did wrong with it, where my fabrication was errored.
However... I'm not beating myself up over it too badly... after all, it was my first time using fiberglass, my first time to create something *this* "from scratch"... All of my mods previously have been stripping stuff away in hte form of cutouts and such. Not used to building up things that did not exist in the first place!
So, in that sense, I'm pretty happy with it.
Also, my last tech piece arrived in the mail today. A Plextor 712SA SATA DVD Burner. It is not the slot load (wanted one of those badly, but did not want to the price premium those were carying), but I wanted my hard drive and my optical to both be SATA devices, as I have orange SATA cables that same with the board! That was some good karma! So, I'll have no PATA "flat ribbon" cables t hide in the rig at all, and the SATA cables that are used will be in the same color scheme as the paint job!!! ;)
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;)
happiness!
scoop is almost flawless (externally) and I can live with the crap on the inside of it. I think I have a way of disguising it though! We'll see...
2 pics to show where I am as of 10 minutes ago!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/orange1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/orange2.jpg
Took a boatload of pics today to show all of the other things that have led up to this point, and I'll get those in later... but when that orange hit the white primer... my heart lept!
It is *sooo* the perfect shade!!! I purposely used the white primer to try and brighten up the orange. I was afraid that if I used grey or dark primer as a base, it would dull out the orange. So I used grey high fill primer on 2 layers 1st, then sanded, then 2 layers of white primer, then sanded *very* carefully.
I've also begun on the front bezel and the drive bay covers and the cool drive unit. I came up with a cool color for the center that is not totally black. I'm keeping my streak alive of finding a way to incorporate Duplicolor Metalcast in each of my mods thus far! ;)
More in a bit!
WOO HOOO!!!!!
*fumes in my garage were making me loopy!!!*
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*note* - this happened the second week of December (Dec. 6th to be exact)... remember submission deadline is on the 11th... <cue Jaws theme...> ;)
I was fighting below freezing temps with small space heaters and stuff. It was pretty touch and go! Had to heat the pieces that were to be painted, heat the paint, then after spraying, get the heaters aimed properly at the pieces to help them cure. Garage temps were in the teens to 20's when some of these pics were shot...
-TD
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Hopefully it can get dry enough before the freeze rolls through tonight.
I am tempted to leave a heater running in the garage on concrete just to keep the area where the parts will be @, a bit warmer.
:roll:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop16.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop17.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/scoop18.jpg
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Just my luck,
I looked into places near me that do powder coating, and the cheapest place was 85$ and the is base for any small project :-(
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Orange is a great color. I just used it as a highlight for my case. It looks even better in a full coat here. I had a little premonition of someone doing a yellow/ black 68 roadrunner...guess I was off a bit. ;p
Keep up the good work m8.
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oddly enough funny you mention Black and yellow, though I was not thinking a car theme.
cause I wanted to do blue and white ,but blue is to common in MOdded PC's now.
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Test mounted the PS with the spacers in place so that the fan fit properly, yay!!! Also looke d pretty cool too! ;)
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power2.jpg
Having to rethink the power cabling.
Not getting rid of it, but I underestimated the space left after the power supply and the optical drive were added in (plus the drop of the cieling due to the blow hole fan firing in to the scoop...)
So... I have to relocate the cable attachments. And since I will not have anything located in the lower 5.25 bays, I'm going to take 2 of them and build a minimalist drive bay attachment (think like a bay cover for the front bezel, except it will face the back) 2 bays used space. I'll cut a hole into the side of the 2 lower 5.25 bays and feed the power cables through that. Solder them on, and have my plug panel facing out into the open area, and cables will be run from there to their respective devices.
This placement will also put the mobo 4pin Molex (next to the PCI-E slots) and the 4 pin AUX connector within easy reach and it should proove to be an entertaining cable path!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power3.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power4.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power5.jpg
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Taking a page from Lupine, I was soo happy with the cabling redirection, I think I'll use a similar technique here. Except this time, the ATX motherboard power bundle will stay out here and not get fed through.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power7.jpg
The individual bundles ranked according to where they are on the cable hole of the power supply. I tried to back trace all of the cables and order the various bundles according to whether or not they returned to the top or the bottom of the bundle @ the power supply.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power8.jpg
Looming on the cables and routed back to the hole. I'm not trying to disguise anything here. I wanted it to have a "piped" feel to it. Maybe sparkplug wires, or the vacuum tubing that is all under the hood.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power9.jpg
And the cascade of cables on the back side of the motherboard.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/power10.jpg
some will be kept as is, and others will be butchered and reallocated to other power needs.
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Trying to get some paint to dry tonight so that I can get some of the long "time" items done while I grab a bit of shut eye in a bit.
1st thing that I knew I had to get done tonight was the front bezel.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bezel5.jpg
When I pulled the tape, I realized that the left side was not masked properly. Missed it on the pre-paint inspection. Now I have to re-mask the grey/black area, and paint this stripe, without creating a run... grrr....
Oh well...
Other than that, and a few oversprays that hit the tops of the grey areas from behind (another numbskull moment, I masked for paint from the front... totally did not cover the holes for paint coming from the back side! *headsmack smiley* )
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bezel6.jpg
Both of these should be easily fixable. ;)
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Paint is fixed and drying. Next id to get the bottomw of the top manel with the scoop and paint it gloss black (to match with the powdercoating of the frame.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bezel7.jpg
My cable interface bracket.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bracket1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bracket2.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/bracket3.jpg
I've cut a hole behind this bracket that faces the back side of the case, and fed the wires through that hole. I'll then clip the power cables and attach them to the recepticles that will be mounted in the bracket.
Back out to the garage!
