Professional looking panel design needed

[Serraph]

I'm planning on a doing a design on the side panel of my case, a Chieftec DX-01SLD. http://store4.yimg.com/I/inflowdirect_1707_432748 I was looking for some ideas from you guys on what kind of design I should do. I consider myself moderately artistic so I wanted to do something very professional looking. I'm gonna do the concept on paper and then stencil it onto the case and cut from there using a nibbler and different size metal files to do curves, get the burrs out, and tight places. I'm looking for a design like the one below that can be done so that the object will be made of case and the outline of it will be cutout so a blue cathode light will be shown. I'm looking for anything sci-fi or medieval/fantasy looking but I will gladly consider any other types of design that would look good.

I have some questions too. If I use a nibbler and metal files will the silver paint chip off of the around the edges of the cuts and filing? If so is there some sort of sprayed on coating I can put on the panel or another method before I start so it doesn't chip on the edges. I really, really don't want to repaint the panel because it will involve repainting the entire case.

[daddyof2]

I think that a design of that type would be to difficult to do with a nibbler. I would invest in a dremel if you do not already have one. A design like this would be so much easier with a cutting wheel. As far as the paint chipping that should not be a problem. If you are worried about that though you could tape the side of the case that you are cutting. This prevents scratches from the tools that you are using. And also should help you to avoid any chips. As far as designing the art work, I would be of no help there. Unless you wanted a stick man, which I am great at!:D

[Serraph]

Btw I didn't mean anyone had to spend any time making a design. If anyone just found a cool looking pic or something while they were surfing if they could just post a link to it that would be great.

[daddyof2]

Some of the guys here are pretty damn artistic! I here at overclockers the members dont mind spending a little bit of time to help some one out. And sorry I forgot earlier.................


WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!!!!

[Serraph]

Thanks. :) This is my first thread I've actually posted in. I've been browsing the forums and reading all the guides and FAQ's for the last 2 weeks though. Everyone seems pretty nice and helpful. BTW I love your avatar hehe.

[WyrmMaster]

Not to spoil you fun, but i dont think that design is possible with a dremel. The one in that pic was probably done with a laser or water jet. Anything that fine would be nearly impossible with a dremmel.

[Crash893]

its not completely out of the relem of posibility how ever you got to remeber that cutting wheel jumps track once thats all she wrote

i would find my design and take it to some place that cuts sheet metal with a lazer

as for ideas i to am a stick man master but anything past that im retarted

i always like the artwork form stargate how everything had the semi ciruclar lines running threw everything al intersecting and what not

i dont know if thats what your lookingfor but i tought it was cool

[Serraph]

I'm thinking of doing something with a dragon like a simple dragon tattoo (black and white, nothing with detail). I'm just having trouble finding a good looking one. Will a dremel with different size grinding and sanding bits work? I could just drill really small holes with a power drill and then from that use a small dremel grinder bit to trace along my stenciled picture.

[Lusankya]

go here

http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/

[Serraph]

Thanks Lusankya, that's a great link. I found some really good stuff on there that I might do. Here's some I'm thinking of doing (last one is my favorite) but I'm still gonna look around since I won't be cutting into my case for a week. http://members.tripod.ca/serraph2k2/images/

[grim]

crash893 wouldnt an evil ernie cut out look sweet?

[Lusankya]

don't you mean evil bert?

[grim]

nah. evil ernie was a chaos comics character until they filed for bankrupcy. crash's avatar is a pic of evil ernie in the dark

[Lusankya]

Serraph I like that last one alot.

Dragons Rule :)

[SilentWind]

Those pics are really nice!

I like the first and last ones best. I also like the smaller circular image one the last one. That would make a really cool fan grill, not sure how it would affect the airflow though.

[Kaneda]

Originally posted by grim
nah. evil ernie was a chaos comics character until they filed for bankrupcy. crash's avatar is a pic of evil ernie in the dark

awesome idea, evil ernie was the man!

[grim]

yea i still have tons of evil ernie comics. its too bad chaos went bankrupt. i still need to get my hands on the youth gone wild series evil e books from eternity

[Serraph]

I'm probably gonna do the symbol on the panel with the back of the mobo next to it and do the dragon design on the side where you can see all the components.

[grim]

sounds good. you could send charlie (64thunderbolt) your side panels and he can do it with his waterjet and you could also have him make you a fan grill out of that logo. having him do it will save you work and ensure that all the detail is there and you dont mess up. but it will cost ya $ unlike doing it urself

[Crash893]

well you learn something every day
i stole this off the internet so i havd no idea it was anything but a random pic


go ahead

i always thought it would be cool to have some sort of charters writen in the side of your case like the whole pannel so you couldnt really tell they were there till you turned on the machine and then redlight spills out of them

another pic i like is this one( i always wanted to use it for a fan grill too)

[Serraph]

I like that symbol alot... I'm gonna do the last dragon on my tripod account as the panel that will show the internal stuff and that symbol on the other side panel. I'm currently determining the various ratios of different parts of the dragon so that when I make the enlarged sketch on the panel it'll be the same as the original but larger.

@Grim, Charlie doing the laser cut would probably make the case look perfect and the price would probably be cheaper than buying the dremel, dremel bits, drill, and drill bits; but I really want to do it myself. It's a personal satisfaction sort of thing. :)

[Iron Hawk]

Read here:
http://www.overclockers.com/tips1018/

[pcbytes]

Not to spoil you fun, but i dont think that design is possible with a dremel. The one in that pic was probably done with a laser or water jet. Anything that fine would be nearly impossible with a dremmel. WyrmMaster


Actually, the guy that did that window design, did it with a dremel from, I think, the back side of the panel. That window is one of several cases he did in series. He hangs out at [H] forums. Go check out his other works in the gallery. It's amazing!

Got to give him credit where credits due.

Edit: Here's a link to couple of the guy's cases. (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=311243&perpage=15&pagenumber=14) His member name is Tailin.