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There is a reason behind every mod I have done. Be it presentation or functionality, there is always some aspect of the case I want to focus on. This mod is going for sheer efficiency.
I began with a CoolerMaster Centurion 5
As always I began work on the project before taking any pictures, but you get the idea.
The first step was to paint the chasis. I drilled the thing down to its guts and began priming. It's pretty cold and windy here (Santa Cruz) so I decided to create a little paint studio. I used my space heater in the garage rather than in my room to achieve the results I was looking for.
*sidenote* - the first set of pictures here was done with that old camera. I start using a new one...so bear with me.
The heat helped the paint go on well and allowed the paint to dry very quickly. I moved the space heater around every 20 minutes or so, to ensure that all pieces got equal love.
Blurry, smooth, ready to paint goodness
I then painted it red
Yummy. I glossed it after these pictures, so you'll see them shine later.
As I said earlier, this mod is about efficiency. It's a little bit cramped in this case, so I decided to think a little .... outside the box. Ok not really funny sorry. I was thinking about a really cheap and effective way to put fans on the exterior of this case without it looking horrible, and I finnaly found a way. First I wanted to do sheet metal, but I have no car and getting sheet metal would be difficult. I went to Ace and got the next best thing, some chicken wire. I have always, and will continue to envy, with bitter green eyes, the sexy rads ontop of watercooled computers. Here's my cheapo version...
The left one is default chickenwire color, and the right was painted green. It's actually going to be painted red, but I'm not quite sure if I'm set with this design. I just wanted to see the effect of a little color.
And here's where they're going. I decided to do really simple cuts, just like those found on rads, because no one will see them.
I'm excited.
So with the red theme going and all, I figured I better do the bezel.
All of those coats are going to be re-done and sanded down before I finish, because they have all been scratched since I painted them That little piece of mesh there is an idea I had. It's not set in stone yet, but I kinda liked the idea of adding another "box". I think I might actually round off those sharp corners on the right, but meh I dunno. I like colors + black!!
Here's the arsenal
I hope to finish this thing really quickly, because it's a really simple mod. I have an almost complete computer that needs a home
Clear-coating complete. I have also re-assembled the chasis.
I know it looks kinda ghetto, but it gets the job done. This case has no where near enough room to house the amount of fans it should have, and this is all I could think of to cheaply make external fans look bearable. I kinda wonder what it would look like with sheet metal and rivets instead of chicken wire . To bad I'm lazy and poor.
Not sanding does have its consequences, but who cares about the chasis.
And the final piece of the puzzle...
Hopefully (if it stops raining ) I will be able to dremel this tommorrow. Meh, no real rush...my computer can live without a right side panel for a while
School's a bitch but, despite my complete lack of posts, I have been modding. My housemate recently turned 21, and I decided to mod his case for free as a present. He wanted an Invader Zim themed case, and I chose to put aside my mod to work on his. I'm not quite done with his yet (just have to mount he window and wait for stuff to arrive in the mail), but I'm very close...so I decided today to finish Kill Box. But first, let me continue where I left off.....
So I fuked up my right side panel by being careless. I began cutting a design that I had traced upside down, but it all turned out for the best. I pondered over it for a while and came to a solution. I decided to just cut out two rectangles where the letters would have gone and fill the void with mesh. Everyone loves mesh right? I know I do! These pieces of mesh came off of this flimsy vertical file holder I acquired at some point.
I then decided that a plain old plex window was waaay too boring....so I etched a little skull and crossbones design I found on images.google. Here's my workstation:
These pics are after my first break, so I got a little etching done.
Once I etched the design, I used some more of the chicken wire to create a little contrast.
With those final things completed, I reassembled the case and took some pics. I hope you like it, I sure as hell do!
Final Pics:
I dunno if it was the time of day or what, but the red came out looking very orangey in the pictures. Trust me, it's a nice bold red. Here's how it looks in my room as I write this post:
Anywho...watch out for my next worklog, I'm almost done but who knows when I'll get around to posting it.
