I know how you feel.. Can't be perfect but a nice high gloss balck would be sweet.
Nice cut on the window. I bet you got some nice Jeweler Files..
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I know how you feel.. Can't be perfect but a nice high gloss balck would be sweet.
Nice cut on the window. I bet you got some nice Jeweler Files..
I actually dont! That is *next* on my list of tools to find.... The wolf was 98%Quote:
Originally Posted by TAZTG
done with the dremel flexishaft and a reinforced disk.
After the jewler files, I want a metal brake that I can use to make custom metal bends...
(shrug)
nice job on that cut.
Maybe you could do some kind of matching purple fade on the wolf to cover up the blemish... that'd be hot. Really good work so far.
oh yea that would be sick.
tech do you have an airbrush, just do like a purple fade on the bottom or something.
I have a plan for adding something to make the wolf appear, since his outline is black based, he will be difficult to see unless *something* can make him standout.
Taking a page from bling on that... ;)
More in a sec!
Ok, last night I did my first round of primer and got the first coat of black on the window. Tonight I wet sanded both the back panel and the window panel with 800 then 1000 grit, and reshot another layer of primer on the back panel (high spots around the handle divot that I have to be careful of) and another layer of black on the wolf window.
THis one was taken last night after the 1st primer on the window side:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/lupine/window13.jpg
Last night after the first color on the window:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/lupine/window14.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/lupine/window15.jpg
After wet sanding tonight
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/lupine/window16.jpg
This update, brought to us by the letter *K* and the number *1664* ;) (Man, I love that stuff!) :
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/lupine/window17.jpg
Back panel, right after sanding but before the 2nd primer coat:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/lupine/window18.jpg
Right now I'm letting the primer dry out on the back panel and then I'll wet sand it again, then I'll hit it with it's first layer of color.
Can Lexan be heated like acrylic and bent? Anyone know?
Don't know but at the pace your modding we will soon find out. ;) Nice Update..Quote:
Originally Posted by Tech-Daddy
Nice. I really like the individulity on this one. Definately not the average silver and blue case... Perhaps have one red LED right behid the wolf, throwing its contour at the wall?
Hehehe... Thanks bro!Quote:
Originally Posted by TAZTG
I found out last night, that *yes* lexan "can" be heated and bent, but use the low heat setting on the heat gun. you have to time it jusssst riiiight to keep it from cracking, as it is a bit more brittle (with regards to heat) than acrylic.
:)
Wow, big updates, lots of pics! Nice man... it's turning out to be awesome. I seriously can't wait to see the end of this. The artwork is also magnificent! (that includes the rest of the guy's pics). Keep it updated yo... well done! :)
Thanks Sex-Machine! I appreciate your feedback!
Sanded and put down a thrid coat of black on the front panel (which bubbled and looks like absolute crap, but I'll deal with that on the sanding) and then I put my 2nd on the back panel and it came out splendid!
No pics, just a verbal on those. Most of tonights work was spent planning cable management. I'm thinking hard about cabling, because I recieved the following tonight:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...eon_purple.jpg
Made by www.lizard-tree.com and they look GREAT!!!
Perfect match on the color. These will be for the cabling, the base will be black, and this wrapped around the black for accenting. Mmmmmm!
Contemplating a 120mm fan grill based on this design:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...ngrill_640.jpg
And some misc. wolf tracks on some yet to be displayed acrylic work:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...wolf_track.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...ad_pattern.gif
I'm also drawing up plans on a front panel design that incorporates some of the above elements... but those are sketch pads in my head right now.
Since I have a need for a 20 to 24 pin adaptor, by virtue of this motherboard, I 'm planning on a bit of modification of this adaptor. I'm also going to cut a hole in the side of one of the 5 1/4 bays, so that I can route the adaptor out and allow for the current ATX cable to be routed behind the motherboard tray (through a yet to be punched hole in the mobo tray). I will have cabling shown, as I want the cables to be seen.... I just want them neat, and always attractive to be viewed.
More later... I'm tired! ;)
If possible just get a new psu, those adaptors are not only ugly, but you may loose preformance or stability. Plus the adaptors are VERY stiff and will have trouble bending it from behind the mobo.
That grill looks nice.. What will you use to make it?? Use Plexi and give it a purple tint... I like where your going with the wiring. You want it to be seen but all of it nice, neat and clean.. Go get some sleep man..
I'm hoping to make 2 or 3. One black acrylic, one mirrored silver, and one transparent. Then mount them to see how they look and choose.
Rabidmoose- can you point me to posts or articles that talk about instability or issues using the adaptor? I'm attaching it to an Antec Truepower 430 (I think that is what the wattage is) and I am figuring that this PS can likely handle the load. If it was a cheap a$$ POS supply, I'd be a bit more concerned. Thoughts or links?
Oh... the work is indeed awesome so far, and you deserve the feedback. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tech-Daddy
As for the front, just wolf steps, or are you adding something else? What about the 120mm fan grills? Where are you planning to put these on? Or is it just one you're getting?
It would only be 1 120mm fan grill, and that ould go on the inside of the case.
As for the paw prints... I'm still 'sperimenting with the locations of them!
;)
Ahh... how are you making the grill by the way? Yourself, or some store that does customisation of parts? I wish there were some places like that around here...Quote:
Originally Posted by Tech-Daddy
By the way, must be hard choosing the exact location of the paw prints (lol, wolf steps... sorry for my bad english). If it were me, I'd let them walk across... nah wait you have the door already with the moon and the wolf head. So nevermind, I got lost here lol.
I'm hoping to get the grills laser cut. We'll see how fast it happens, and if I can convert my raster images into vectors!
And yeah, I don't want the paws to be distracting, I want them to be subtle, kinda like... "Oh cool... I did not see that at first..."
;)
That's what I'm aiming for at least!
Yea, don't go overboard like I did with the UT's.. Subtle is nice..Quote:
Originally Posted by Tech-Daddy
Oh so you're planning on making the grill yourself?! That's... definitely brave! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tech-Daddy
About the paws... yeah I see your point. Well, I'm sure wherever they'll be seated it'll look great!
Nice. Something like black on black or really dark grey on black or something for the footprints would rock. Something you don't notice unless you catch it just the right way...
*Edit: Oh, and I liked all the UT's on your case Taz.
Good evening all!
Most all day in the garage, and I have a few things to show for it!
First thing I wanted to get done today was the acrylic cover for the side of the drive bays. I love the functionality of the sliders for adding and removing hardware, but I realized a few things about those beloved mechanisms...
1) They would be difficult to paint
2) They slide back and forth, making the surface painting under the slider a messy and maintainence prone affair.
So, I opted to build an acrylic cover for the bay area.
Here I am fleshing out the space and shape requirements with a piece of folded poster board.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel0.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel2.jpg
I then layed the template out on the acrylic and outlined what I needed to shape:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel3.jpg
My first attempt at cutting it out with a jig saw failed miserably ( I can only believe it is the cheap nature of this particular type of acrylic... but that is me guessing. It did not happen to me while working with Delvie's acrylics...), and actually instantaneously split the panel that effectively rendered 2 hours work... useless.
So I redrew the template, and then cut it out with a dremel bit. I knew that would work, but it took so much longer to complete that way... ugh. Oh well, gotta improvise sometimes!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel4.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel5.jpg
Here is my impromptu acrylic bending station:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel6.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel7.jpg
Ahhhh... success!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel8.jpg
After a lot of test fitting and shaping with a dremel sanding drum, I got it to the shape that I wanted!
Now, to disguise the bays, I started out by spraying the back side of the bay cover with the purple X-Metals/Metalcast paint. This will transparently tint the acrylic to purple, where I will add on a sweet paint that I found from Krylon. It is a glass paint that they formulate to be sprayed on the inside of glass lids. The silver color actually dries to the bottom of the coat. It is designed to be painted inside of glass jar lids, so that the jars looke almost like chrome! So, I paint this over the back of the purple, and I end up with a silver reflective finish backing the purple! (remember the metal/silver base I did on the case... well, think the same thing here, but with a twist! )
First coat of purple:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...rivepanel9.jpg
Now, while the 1st coat on the drive bay cover was drying, I grabbed my 20 pin ATX power to 24 pin eATX power adaptor, and decided it was MUCH to colorful! So, little trick... if you dont have any gloves laying around, grab yourself a plastic grocery sack, and put it over your hand that holds the adaptor as you spray it down with black vinyl dye! ;) Certailny keep the ol' fingers a bit cleaner!
Before:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...x_adaptor1.jpg
After 1st coat:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...x_adaptor2.jpg
Now, I have the drive bay cover and the eATX adaptor drying... what next??? I was like a shark looking for something to attack! heheheh...
My unsuspecting Power Supply....Antec 430w... would you *look* at the cables on this thing! I love it! So much so, that not *one* cable on this will be modded. I want to keep them incase they get traded into another machine later.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...wersupply1.jpg
Gutting it open (good bye, warranty! ;) )
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...wersupply2.jpg
The Antec came with gold fan guards... I'm swapping them for silver fan guards to be shot purple by the metalcast later!
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...wersupply3.jpg
And, while I have everything out, I needed 2 holes on the back side of the motherboard and drive bays to accomidate some custom cable routing later
on.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...able_holes.jpg
2nd coat of Purple (that did not go on well... I am SOOO pissed off... I hope it did not ruin the bay cover. We'll see. Grrrr.....)
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...ivepanel10.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/...ivepanel11.jpg