Custom Painted and Real Carbon Fiber Xbox Controllers/Cases

[Inferno0032]

I've been following various mods and the paint works of Brad Galvin at http://www.dirtdesignsgraphic.com for some time now, and finally decided to begin learning myself. We have been experimenting for the past few months, and have come out with a couple thing I'll be showing you here. There are a few other customs we did for various customers, which they currently have, and I didn't get any pictures of them at the time, but will work to get some pictures of those as well.

Everything we do uses automotive-quality paints, and professional quality clear coats for maximum color, durability, and a gorgeous gloss finish.

Here is an "MLG" controller I did for a buddy of mine:
Pictures don't do the Pearlized Blue color proper justice




Here is an "Evil Skull" controller we just finished a couple days ago. As you can probably tell from the name on the controller, this little guy is mine




This one is one of my pride-and-joy projects, about as close to one-of-a-kind as you can get it seems. This was very tricky but well worth it for the end result.
After the protective clear coat was applied to upper half

 

[Inferno0032]

Forum doesn't like number of images

Here are few other little things I played around with while working on other carbon fiber items

Yes, those are light switches


A little mouse mod, will paint the rest to match better at a later date




Coaster


M4 Mods





We are developing new designs and looking into offering customization services to people for relatively inexpensive prices. Since we do this as a hobby, and not a job, we don't need enormous profits to make it worth our while. We just want to be able to afford to keep "playing" with our paint and carbon fiber, and find new and fun ways to modify our stuff. If you have any ideas for us, we'd love to hear it, and if you are at all interested in getting some custom work done, feel free to chat with me and I'd be more than happy to entertain them!

We will be doing a full carbon fiber Xbox 360 case, and have already completed the faceplate, and will post that as soon as it's ready! A few other things "coming down the pipe" are custom painted computer cases, some custom painted guitars, amongst a few other projects, so let me know if you'd like periodic updates on those as they progress!

Posted from Tech-Kings

 

[JoPh]

why does the white in the mlg controller looks like playstation controller?


otherwise good job.

 

[fatpat268]

why does the white in the mlg controller looks like playstation controller?


otherwise good job.

Because thats their logo.

To the OP, some really nice stuff there. Although, can't say I'm a fan of any of the carbon fiber stuff, but the custom paint jobs are pretty badass.

 

[Inferno0032]

Because thats their logo.

To the OP, some really nice stuff there. Although, can't say I'm a fan of any of the carbon fiber stuff, but the custom paint jobs are pretty badass.

Thanks, yeah carbon fiber seems to be hit or miss with most people. I've had a mini-obsession with it for awhile from both a structural and aesthetic standpoint, and got some to do a little experimentation with both of those aspects. I personally love how it looks, of course you can't get that 3D effect through pictures, but I know many people who don't like it, so I don't blame you

And thanks for the kind words, just wish I had more time for this stuff, it's alot of fun.

 

[viivo]

Carbon fiber can look really good or really bad. The controllers look pretty good. However, when I see cars fully wrapped in carbon fiber (whether vinyl or real) I feel like vomiting.

 

[Inferno0032]

Carbon fiber can look really good or really bad. The controllers look pretty good. However, when I see cars fully wrapped in carbon fiber (whether vinyl or real) I feel like vomiting.

Alot of people say that, one thing that I've seen that I actually kinda like in full carbon is the Bugatti Veyron, the front looks kinda ugly but the car as a whole in all carbon looks pretty good.

 

[coldmeat]

It looks like the carbon fiber on the controller sticks up above the buttons. Does that not make it harder to play?

 

[Inferno0032]

No, if you look closely you can see that the bottom half isn't on. I took the picture while putting it together and the buttons slipped down. It only added a negligible amount of thickness, kudos on your observation skills thoug, I don't know if I would have noticed.

 

[Tristicus]

Not to crap on you, but to me they look a bit cheap. Could just be the camera too..

 

[Inferno0032]

I was having trouble with the lighting and exposure so that may be part of it. The colors are much better in person and the automotive clear coat is next to flawless, pics don't really do it justice. It seems that taking good pictures of high gloss surfaces is tricky, and I'm no photographer,

 

[cyphilis]

the carbonfiber one looks like its all form, no function. The buttons are all so deep down you wouldn't be able to push them, and the thumbsticks are recessed as well where you don't have full motion with them.
To me, looks like you took carbon fiber mat, and layed it over an existing controller then covered with resin.

 

[Inferno0032]

the carbonfiber one looks like its all form, no function. The buttons are all so deep down you wouldn't be able to push them, and the thumbsticks are recessed as well where you don't have full motion with them.
To me, looks like you took carbon fiber mat, and layed it over an existing controller then covered with resin.

I replied to this a couple posts up. I took those pics while putting it back together, and they fell in without my noticing. Ill take pics of it put back together, the button push is exactly the same as far as I can tell. The joysticks aren't affected by the carbon since there is no carbon on the middle ring area.

Ill update those pics later today when I'm back home.

EDIT:
New Carbon Fiber controller pics added with the bottom actually on so the buttons don't look like they are buried under it.

 

[Inferno0032]

Here is a teaser for our next Xbox Project!

CFX Project

Enjoy!
Inferno

 

[Tristicus]

Sorry, but I'm really not liking this carbon fiber stuff. It just doesn't look quality.

 

[Inferno0032]

No need to be sorry, everyone has their own opinion!

I agree it doesn't picture well, and many don't like it at all.

It looks far better in person, what exactly do you mean by "not quality" be nice to make it better?

 

[boomhower]

Looks good to me.

 

[HeXen]

I guess i just don't understand why so much effort and time goes into modding such mundane things, even the hundreds of hours some spend just on a simple case for computer hardware, and now a gamepad for a console. just my opinion but to me its the same as painting or building my own refridgerator.
Though i always found carbon fiber to be one of the ugliest external panels i've ever seen, espcially on cars. One of my buddies has a Carbon Fiber dashboard...god is atrocious

 

[cyphilis]

It looks okay, but would be a lot cooler if it was a real carbon fiber product. Not fibermat glued onto the existing plastic controller.

 

[Inferno0032]

It looks okay, but would be a lot cooler if it was a real carbon fiber product. Not fibermat glued onto the existing plastic controller.

It is genuine carbon fiber, I did the resin layup myself. Applied 3 layers of resin to the top, sanding and smoothing after each successive layer. I did a lot of research in creating the shell to be a "standalone, the primary complications involved a way to have the halves mesh properly, as well as holding all of the componentry in place, which is simply out of my grasp.

Just an experiment as I play around with fabricating things. I now have access to a vacuum system where I may eventually be able to create full shells once a few challenges have been figured out.

Thanks for the comments

 

[Inferno0032]

Hey guys!

Had a little time to get more work done on the CFX Project, and will hopefully finish it completely in the next weekend or the one after that. Came along pretty nicely so far, and should look great when it's done!

A full worklog of the carbon fiber application is shown here
Worklog: CFX (Carbon Fiber Xbox 360) - Tech Kings

Here's what it looks like after application to the case, for some reason this image got resized, so the resolution is a little low for my taste, but the other pictures in the worklog are fine.


Hope you like it!
Inferno

 

[Spoooon]

LOL at the light switches. What else would be neat? CF KitchenAid Stand Mixer perhaps?

Controller looks cool. Not sure how to describe this, maybe if you could paint the inside areas of the control stick and what not black, it would look better.

 

[Inferno0032]

LOL at the light switches. What else would be neat? CF KitchenAid Stand Mixer perhaps?

Controller looks cool. Not sure how to describe this, maybe if you could paint the inside areas of the control stick and what not black, it would look better.

Haha, a buddy of mine saw them and wanted me to do them for him

We have since painted any visible white areas piano black as well, great suggestion!

Also contemplating the idea of painting on the first resin layer, possibly giving a cool "embedded" effect on the paint.

 

[Inferno0032]

I guess i just don't understand why so much effort and time goes into modding such mundane things, even the hundreds of hours some spend just on a simple case for computer hardware, and now a gamepad for a console. just my opinion but to me its the same as painting or building my own refridgerator.
Though i always found carbon fiber to be one of the ugliest external panels i've ever seen, espcially on cars. One of my buddies has a Carbon Fiber dashboard...god is atrocious

The thing, with people who enjoy it, it becomes less about the "cost of time" and it's the joy of the process. It's fun for some people to see what they can do to do something differently than others, that's what it boils down to. Somebody said somewhere else when someone posed this same question, that "For some people, it's more about the process than the end result, while others only want the end result." I just happen to be one of the former of those two types.

 

[Nemesis13]

i like to mess with painting extra shells i have, but nothing as good as these.