- Oct 19, 2000
- 17,860
- 4
- 81
Hey guys. I'm starting this thread to chronicle my first case modding project. I hope to update this every time I get a couple of pics to add. This case is a work in progress, and remember that it's my first one, so please suggest anything you think will improve upon the look and functionality of the case.
First, a little background of what I'm working with. For all intisive purposes, I'm using a Dremel MultiPro variable speed rotary tool. Luckily, I also work full time at a sign shop, so I have access to a CNC router, pictured here. This picture is fresh from cutting out my design, pictured later. The case I'm using is about as a generic case as you can get. I purchased it from a local dealer about 3 or 4 years ago, and it has been sitting in my closet ever since I retired it long ago. Since this is my first mod, I decided to hack this one up.
So let's get started, shall we?
First up, pictures of the case. This is case shortly after gutting it. Being my first mod and all, I forgot to take a complete before picture
. And also being that I'm lazy, I wasn't about to put it back together. So, what I have is the pieces leaning where they should be . These are the pieces spread out. It's not too big of a case, I know, but enough to work with.
I did run into something about this case that I didn't like. As you'll see in this pic, the power supply is in an odd position, due to the small nature of the case. If you can picture a motherboard in there, where does the PS sit? Right above the processor, which with today's technology, the heat might be unbearable for me to leave the PS where it is. What do I do?
With this being a modding project, I decided to relocate the PS. My first thought was build an acrylic enclosure, and set the PS up on top of the case. 'Tis the beauty of knowing my way around materials at a sign shop, this would've been no problem to do. However, it might look a little tacky up there, so I decided to place the PS inside the front bottom of the case. Since I'm placing it here, why not cut a window in the front bottom of the case, and light up the PS from behind a piece of clear acrylic? Here I am, set up to start cutting a hole so you can see the front the front of the case. I plan on cutting out the side of the PS so you can also see the inards lit up. I also will be putting a fan blowing out in the small acrylic window for heat issues.
Job done on cutting out a square. This is for the inside of the case, so I wasn't concerned with beauty, as it won't be seen anyway. Next up is to cut the front bezel for my window into the PS. This comes later.
Next up in the process, cutting out my Halo 2 logos in the sides of the case. This was achieved with the CNC router we have where I work. I couldn't decide how I wanted the logos, either just the logo cut out of the side? Or have a window cut out, with the Halo 2 logo reversed out, and then stuck on the window? I decided on both, that is, a window with the logo on the left side of the case, with just the logo cut out on the right side of the case. Here is the left side of the case, and you'll see my window pattern cut out. Basically, the whole side of the case is cut out, with room for the indented "handle" that is present. I then cut out the Halo 2 logo, which I will most likely cover in graphic-printed vinyl to give it a textured look, and then be attached to the acrylic window towards the end of the project. In this pic, you can see the other side, which I will be also putting clear acrylic behind. However, since on this side all you can see is the back of the motherboard tray, I will be covering the acrylic with some frosted glass vinyl, and then hopefully leading some blue (or other color) leds behind to light it up with a crystal effect.
This is all I have for now, but please make any suggestions or give me some praise if you wish.
****UPDATE 6/15/2004****
Here's a small update to my progress so far.
Pictured here is the fresh square I cut with my Dremel in the top panel of the case. The plan is to install a small, clear acrylic window with an 80mm fan for a blowhole. This pic is of the inside. This pic is of the top of the top panel. Once again, a close-up of the hole I cut.
This next pic is of the front bezel cut-out. As you read earlier, I plan on placing the power supply in the bottom front of the case, and place it so you can see the inside of it from a front window. A closer shot of the front. It's a bit rough in this pic, but I later filed it a bit more for a nicer look. Here is the fit for the power supply. The front bezel and my inside job line up pretty well. The power supply test fitted pretty good. The same pic, but from inside the case. I plan on cleaning up the cut on the inside when I get some spare time.
Next up is my paint. I've only been able to sand and lay one coat of primer so far, but I still had the scrap piece that I cut out of the side to make room for a window. I took this scrap piece and gave it a quick sanding, then a quick coat of primer, then another sanding, then a couple coats of the paint I'm using, just to get an idea of what it will look like. Here is the test subject from afar, and the color looks really good. Sorry for the blurry pic. Here is a close-up of the test paint-job, and you can clearly see where I sanded and where I didn't. Since this was scrap, I wasn't concerned with filing the edges or doing any kind of detail cleaning, so don't say anything.
More updates when I can give them.
****UPDATE 6/16/2004****
Updated once again to show you guy's (and gal's) my paint job. I started by laying all my pieces out. What you see in that pic is everything after a 400 grit wetsand and one coat of primer. I'm getting ready to wetsand with 600 grit, then primer again. A close-up pic of post-primer coat #1.
Next up, we skip any pics of the second coat of primer, and go directly to all the pieces with their initial coat of Dupli-Coat Impact Blue Pearl. Purty, ain't it? Up next, a close-up of the mobo-side panel. I plan on covering up this logo with clear acrylic, then overlaying the clear acrylic with frosted vinyl, then running some green leds behind the mobo tray to light up the logo. Here is a close-up of the front bezel. It doesn't seem as if I sanded the plastic front bezel as well as I could have. Oh well. Here is the top panel, which looks very nice indeed. Here is the Halo 2 logo that will be placed in the middle of the window on the side. A picture of previously mentioned window panel. Moving on along, a look at the paint really close-up. Up next, a close-up of the recesses for the power and reset buttons. And just for the hell of it, here is the power button, which I may repaint (along with the reset) chrome. And last, but not least, the final coat on the mobo-side panel. I like the way it looks. You'll see a slight shadow on the upper left of the pic, just so you know that isn't uneven paint.
Until next time.....
****UPDATE 6/17/2004****
Small update today. I got very little done, and probably will lay dormat for a couple of days due to high volume at work. If work calls, I can't do much of anything to my case.
So, to start what I did today, I got my frosted acrylic piece put into the mobo-side panel. Here is the piece of clear acrylic that I found laying around the shop. You can see the frosted vinyl I'll be applying to it in the left of that picture. And here is the frosted vinyl applied to the acrylic with no problems. I used some pressure sensitive tape we have, and here is the frosted acrylic applied to the back of the panel. A back shot of the panel.
So, after getting that in the place I wanted it, I went into the "storage" (i.e. junk) room to get a shot of what I'm looking for. With no flash, here is the panel held up to the ceiling light. You can see what effect I'm going for, although the green leds will product a little lesser effect than the bright white light. I took another with the flash, so you can see the color.
I also took a couple of pics showing the completed paint job. Pic 1 and Pic 2.
More to come probably early next week.
****UPDATE 6/21/2004****
Hey, finally got some time to work on the case today during my lunch break. I'd work on it here at home, but I live in a small apartment, and my girlfriend would kill me after about 40 seconds of dremeling through steel. So anyhow, let's get to the few pics I took today.
I tried to start fitting the power supply into the front of the case, so you can see it in all it's glory. First things first, cut the side out of it! Here it is, fearing the dremel. I took the thing apart, and bent back the piece that is to be cut off. After some fine-tuned dremeling (not really), I have success, and it's looks pretty clean. Unfortunately, I had to take the dremel to it a couple of more times, because I didn't realize that mess of wires would get in the way. Stuipd me.
So, until I have time to cut out all my windows, I put the case together with as few screws as possible to get an idea of what it looked like. Glad I did! The color is off on the front bezel! Kinda sucks, as I thought everything looked pretty even steven last week. Hopefully I don't have to buy another can of spray paint, and can even this out a little tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers.
A pic from the side, although a little blurry. It's looking good though, I'm pleased with everything except that color difference. A front top shot of the case. You can see the color difference a little better here. Hopefully I can fix it. But other than that, the color looks great! And lastly, the back shot of the case. This is definitely my favorite pic so far, as you can see what I'm going for.
Well, in the next couple of days, I hope to get my windows cut out and applied, and will hopefully get my leds in the mail. Once I get my leds, I'll light up that logo for you guys and let you check it out. Then, this weekend, I will be heading to CompUSA and gathering up the rest of the parts I'll need to finish this thing off. Not quite sure if I'm gonna use it yet or not, though, we'll see.
****UPDATE 6/22/2004****
Small update today. Looking at this pic from yesterday, I decide to use what little paint I had left, and try to even out the color. Here is the result. Now, instead of a little lighter, it's a little darker. From another angle, it doesn't look bad at all. I think I'll leave it at that before I mess the whole thing up, and chalk it up to a lesson learned.
****UPDATE 6/25/2004****
Now we're getting somewhere! Today, I got my windows cut out for the rest of my case, and had a chance to affix the large side window with the logo.
First up today, a picture of the window, and the panel it's going on. I gave it a quarter of an inch all the way around for a flush fit. I had no problems putting the window in after using some pressure-sensitive adhesive we had laying around the shop. Remember this logo? I put some optically clear adhesive on the backside of it, and here we are ready to put on the logo. All there was to do was to get a pattern so I can put the logo on straight. The finished product!!!! The side panel looks great! I couldn't be more happy with it. Here is a back shot, as you can probably see the short amount of space I had to work with when attaching the window. This was almost a mistake, as I didn't take this into account when cutting the panel. Good thing it worked out. Another pic with the flash. It's looks just like I wanted.
A pic of both of my side panels. The windowed side will allow a visible case inside, and the mobo side panel logo will hopefully glow green (when I get my freakin' leds in, it's been a week and a half now). I hope to go tomorrow to pretty much finish all the aesthetics up, and hopefully will have all my remaining parts in early next week.
Thanks for looking!
First, a little background of what I'm working with. For all intisive purposes, I'm using a Dremel MultiPro variable speed rotary tool. Luckily, I also work full time at a sign shop, so I have access to a CNC router, pictured here. This picture is fresh from cutting out my design, pictured later. The case I'm using is about as a generic case as you can get. I purchased it from a local dealer about 3 or 4 years ago, and it has been sitting in my closet ever since I retired it long ago. Since this is my first mod, I decided to hack this one up.
So let's get started, shall we?
First up, pictures of the case. This is case shortly after gutting it. Being my first mod and all, I forgot to take a complete before picture
. And also being that I'm lazy, I wasn't about to put it back together. So, what I have is the pieces leaning where they should be . These are the pieces spread out. It's not too big of a case, I know, but enough to work with.I did run into something about this case that I didn't like. As you'll see in this pic, the power supply is in an odd position, due to the small nature of the case. If you can picture a motherboard in there, where does the PS sit? Right above the processor, which with today's technology, the heat might be unbearable for me to leave the PS where it is. What do I do?
With this being a modding project, I decided to relocate the PS. My first thought was build an acrylic enclosure, and set the PS up on top of the case. 'Tis the beauty of knowing my way around materials at a sign shop, this would've been no problem to do. However, it might look a little tacky up there, so I decided to place the PS inside the front bottom of the case. Since I'm placing it here, why not cut a window in the front bottom of the case, and light up the PS from behind a piece of clear acrylic? Here I am, set up to start cutting a hole so you can see the front the front of the case. I plan on cutting out the side of the PS so you can also see the inards lit up. I also will be putting a fan blowing out in the small acrylic window for heat issues.
Job done on cutting out a square. This is for the inside of the case, so I wasn't concerned with beauty, as it won't be seen anyway. Next up is to cut the front bezel for my window into the PS. This comes later.
Next up in the process, cutting out my Halo 2 logos in the sides of the case. This was achieved with the CNC router we have where I work. I couldn't decide how I wanted the logos, either just the logo cut out of the side? Or have a window cut out, with the Halo 2 logo reversed out, and then stuck on the window? I decided on both, that is, a window with the logo on the left side of the case, with just the logo cut out on the right side of the case. Here is the left side of the case, and you'll see my window pattern cut out. Basically, the whole side of the case is cut out, with room for the indented "handle" that is present. I then cut out the Halo 2 logo, which I will most likely cover in graphic-printed vinyl to give it a textured look, and then be attached to the acrylic window towards the end of the project. In this pic, you can see the other side, which I will be also putting clear acrylic behind. However, since on this side all you can see is the back of the motherboard tray, I will be covering the acrylic with some frosted glass vinyl, and then hopefully leading some blue (or other color) leds behind to light it up with a crystal effect.
This is all I have for now, but please make any suggestions or give me some praise if you wish
.****UPDATE 6/15/2004****
Here's a small update to my progress so far.
Pictured here is the fresh square I cut with my Dremel in the top panel of the case. The plan is to install a small, clear acrylic window with an 80mm fan for a blowhole. This pic is of the inside. This pic is of the top of the top panel. Once again, a close-up of the hole I cut.
This next pic is of the front bezel cut-out. As you read earlier, I plan on placing the power supply in the bottom front of the case, and place it so you can see the inside of it from a front window. A closer shot of the front. It's a bit rough in this pic, but I later filed it a bit more for a nicer look. Here is the fit for the power supply. The front bezel and my inside job line up pretty well. The power supply test fitted pretty good. The same pic, but from inside the case. I plan on cleaning up the cut on the inside when I get some spare time.
Next up is my paint. I've only been able to sand and lay one coat of primer so far, but I still had the scrap piece that I cut out of the side to make room for a window. I took this scrap piece and gave it a quick sanding, then a quick coat of primer, then another sanding, then a couple coats of the paint I'm using, just to get an idea of what it will look like. Here is the test subject from afar, and the color looks really good. Sorry for the blurry pic. Here is a close-up of the test paint-job, and you can clearly see where I sanded and where I didn't. Since this was scrap, I wasn't concerned with filing the edges or doing any kind of detail cleaning, so don't say anything
.More updates when I can give them.
****UPDATE 6/16/2004****
Updated once again to show you guy's (and gal's) my paint job. I started by laying all my pieces out. What you see in that pic is everything after a 400 grit wetsand and one coat of primer. I'm getting ready to wetsand with 600 grit, then primer again. A close-up pic of post-primer coat #1.
Next up, we skip any pics of the second coat of primer, and go directly to all the pieces with their initial coat of Dupli-Coat Impact Blue Pearl. Purty, ain't it? Up next, a close-up of the mobo-side panel. I plan on covering up this logo with clear acrylic, then overlaying the clear acrylic with frosted vinyl, then running some green leds behind the mobo tray to light up the logo. Here is a close-up of the front bezel. It doesn't seem as if I sanded the plastic front bezel as well as I could have. Oh well. Here is the top panel, which looks very nice indeed. Here is the Halo 2 logo that will be placed in the middle of the window on the side. A picture of previously mentioned window panel. Moving on along, a look at the paint really close-up. Up next, a close-up of the recesses for the power and reset buttons. And just for the hell of it, here is the power button, which I may repaint (along with the reset) chrome. And last, but not least, the final coat on the mobo-side panel. I like the way it looks. You'll see a slight shadow on the upper left of the pic, just so you know that isn't uneven paint
.Until next time.....
****UPDATE 6/17/2004****
Small update today. I got very little done, and probably will lay dormat for a couple of days due to high volume at work. If work calls, I can't do much of anything to my case
.So, to start what I did today, I got my frosted acrylic piece put into the mobo-side panel. Here is the piece of clear acrylic that I found laying around the shop. You can see the frosted vinyl I'll be applying to it in the left of that picture. And here is the frosted vinyl applied to the acrylic with no problems. I used some pressure sensitive tape we have, and here is the frosted acrylic applied to the back of the panel. A back shot of the panel.
So, after getting that in the place I wanted it, I went into the "storage" (i.e. junk) room to get a shot of what I'm looking for. With no flash, here is the panel held up to the ceiling light. You can see what effect I'm going for, although the green leds will product a little lesser effect than the bright white light. I took another with the flash, so you can see the color.
I also took a couple of pics showing the completed paint job. Pic 1 and Pic 2.
More to come probably early next week.
****UPDATE 6/21/2004****
Hey, finally got some time to work on the case today during my lunch break. I'd work on it here at home, but I live in a small apartment, and my girlfriend would kill me after about 40 seconds of dremeling through steel
. So anyhow, let's get to the few pics I took today.I tried to start fitting the power supply into the front of the case, so you can see it in all it's glory. First things first, cut the side out of it! Here it is, fearing the dremel. I took the thing apart, and bent back the piece that is to be cut off. After some fine-tuned dremeling (not really), I have success, and it's looks pretty clean. Unfortunately, I had to take the dremel to it a couple of more times, because I didn't realize that mess of wires would get in the way. Stuipd me.
So, until I have time to cut out all my windows, I put the case together with as few screws as possible to get an idea of what it looked like. Glad I did! The color is off on the front bezel! Kinda sucks, as I thought everything looked pretty even steven last week. Hopefully I don't have to buy another can of spray paint, and can even this out a little tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers.
A pic from the side, although a little blurry. It's looking good though, I'm pleased with everything except that color difference. A front top shot of the case. You can see the color difference a little better here. Hopefully I can fix it. But other than that, the color looks great! And lastly, the back shot of the case. This is definitely my favorite pic so far, as you can see what I'm going for.
Well, in the next couple of days, I hope to get my windows cut out and applied, and will hopefully get my leds in the mail. Once I get my leds, I'll light up that logo for you guys and let you check it out. Then, this weekend, I will be heading to CompUSA and gathering up the rest of the parts I'll need to finish this thing off. Not quite sure if I'm gonna use it yet or not, though, we'll see.
****UPDATE 6/22/2004****
Small update today. Looking at this pic from yesterday, I decide to use what little paint I had left, and try to even out the color. Here is the result. Now, instead of a little lighter, it's a little darker. From another angle, it doesn't look bad at all. I think I'll leave it at that before I mess the whole thing up, and chalk it up to a lesson learned.
****UPDATE 6/25/2004****
Now we're getting somewhere! Today, I got my windows cut out for the rest of my case, and had a chance to affix the large side window with the logo.
First up today, a picture of the window, and the panel it's going on. I gave it a quarter of an inch all the way around for a flush fit. I had no problems putting the window in after using some pressure-sensitive adhesive we had laying around the shop. Remember this logo? I put some optically clear adhesive on the backside of it, and here we are ready to put on the logo. All there was to do was to get a pattern so I can put the logo on straight. The finished product!!!! The side panel looks great! I couldn't be more happy with it. Here is a back shot, as you can probably see the short amount of space I had to work with when attaching the window. This was almost a mistake, as I didn't take this into account when cutting the panel. Good thing it worked out. Another pic with the flash. It's looks just like I wanted.
A pic of both of my side panels. The windowed side will allow a visible case inside, and the mobo side panel logo will hopefully glow green (when I get my freakin' leds in, it's been a week and a half now). I hope to go tomorrow to pretty much finish all the aesthetics up, and hopefully will have all my remaining parts in early next week.
Thanks for looking!
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