Project: .Arctic. (modding on a budget)

[phantomditto]

Alright, I've been lurking these forums for a while now, and after I finally got an email address that the forums will take, I am going to announce the project I'm gonna be working on for my first mod job. I decided not to take on major problems here, but just make my case look better than it is. (The whole pre-mod look lost its appeal rather quickly.)

Pretty much my ideas are as follows:

-Door panel gets a window
-Slight window mod, to make it easier to see through, and replacing window acrylic. (At 2.30 USD for a sheet the size of my window, I really can't go wrong here)
-Add a top blowhole, and maybe a window
-Full paint job, pure white+clear coat.
-Gelpenning motherboard
-Replacing a slot for two 80mm fans with one 92mm opening
-Replacing fans
-Real wire management to replace the ultimate ghettoness. (Electrical tape)

I'm extremely lucky when it comes to tools. I have access to both a wired and battery Dremel, and my dad's workplace has industrial-style tools. Plus, my dad knows a lot about electronics, so I can get advice when I need it.

Alright, so I'll post some pics to show just how bad it is right now.

This is my case opened up to show the size

And here's a close up of the mess. Yeah, pretty bad.

Today I'm working on putting the front panel window in.

This is my front bezel, removed. I disassembled it, and it's lying loose, which is why it looks like that. Makes sense, ne?

Here's a picture of the wire mess. Two LEDs are hooked up to the HD jack, and one is the power indicator. The power indicator will go behind a small reflective piece of plastic at the bottom of the window to reflect back up onto the drives.

Here's a picture of the bezel without the trim. Next to it is my victi... er, the acrylic I will be using. It's large enough that if I screw up, I have extra. Not bad for the smallest size Home Depot had.

Alright, that's it for now. I'll update later with the working pics of this stage.

~phantomditto

 

[mtb856]

That should be nice when you're finished

Don't forget to add the cold cathodes.... maybe some UV ccfl's and some wire sleeving

Actually, your case isn't that messy... I've seen far worse, I think the electrical tape helps a lot. You'd be surprised at how many people use electrical tape for wire management.

It should be interesting watching your mod progress.

Welcome to the Forums

-Meatball

 

[phantomditto]

progress pics for today:

Well, I got a good amount done today. I'm pleased with what I got done, so it's cool.

Pretty much I cut the acrylic I got to form and sanded it down some so it fits easily into the space in the front panel. The sanding took the longest because I had to do it by hand. X_X

Tomorrow I'm going to cut the actual front of the case. I think I'll leave some tabs at the top and bottom for mounting, but I'm not sure how exactly I'll secure it. Most likely screws, unless I find something particularly cool looking.

Price so far:
$2.46 (Clear acrylic 11x14 sheet)
$8.57 (Dremel fiberglass-reinforced cutting disks)

Total: $11.03

Anyhow, on to the pics. If they die because Photobucket hits the bandwidth limit, I'm sorry. There's a reason I said that this was modding on a budget, heh.

I got all the wires and stuff unhooked from the bezel here.

Preparing the working area here... that sounded kinda medical.

Various pics of progress

This was after I finished sanding and cutting the acrylic to fit the opening. It's almost a perfect fit; the top edge needs a bit more sanding but I'll need to work on that later.

Anyhow, that's it for today. I'm looking forward to finishing because the bare metal front of my case is kinda ugly.

I'm heading over to walmart tomorrow to buy paint. How much primer and color coat is a good amount, and what kinds of sandpaper should I get?

Thanks.

 

[speed bump]

I would buy a pack of sandpaper that includes multiple grits and remember plastics are especially diffuclt to sand scratches out of so you will probably have to work up to like 500 or 750 grit sandpaper to make sure you got out any scratches will definetly show up after you paint.

Also before you paint make sure you clean all the surfaces completly. My favorite method for this is warm water and a capfull of tide. after you wash use a clean towel thats not fluffy to dry it completly. Then one coat of primer should be good. Allow the primer to dry for about 2 days in a place thats as dustless as possible. Then to paint the case you need two light coats of paint about 30 minutes apart. Finally let the paint cure for about 3 to 5 days to allow it harden.

 

[@/2ct!<]

ack, now I need to think of a new name for my project. Good luck with yours though, sounds great. (maybe mine will be something like arctic ice or water since im gonna have a lot more blue... hmmm.)

 

[phantomditto]

Update:

Okay. Today I've delved into the magic and highly fumigated world of paint.

Here are the materials-

Krylon Interior-Exterior White Semi-Gloss (2 cans)
Krylon White Sandable Primer (1 can)
400, 600, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit 3M Imperial Wetordry sandpaper.

I finally got to use my photo ID! For all the time I've had one, this is the first time I've actually been carded when I tried to buy something. Evidently minors aren't allowed to purchase spray paint, so they had to ask for my ID. As you can tell, I was able to buy the paint, but I thought it was kinda funny.
Imagine:

"YOU! Young man! Why are you buying that paint?"
"Umm... to paint with..."
"You're going to sniff it, aren't you?!"
/me holds up sandpaper/primer
"Why would I buy painting stuff as well as paint if I was gonna just sniff paint?"
"You'd grind that sandpaper up and put it in the paint! I've read the newspapers, I know your type!"
"...whatever."
/me leaves.

Which brings us back to the point.

Beginning the wet sanding to smooth things down for the first coat of primer.

It seems that the edge in this area is a bit raised.

I had to relocate to the backyard after my parents threatened to rip my computer's processor out while it was running if I got any paint on their cars. Needless to say, I relocated pretty quickly.

Even in October, Mississippi afternoons can be surprisingly hot. Hot enough, in fact, that this wet mark was gone about 15 seconds after I took this picture. After this, I decided that I should put the first coat of primer on, though in retrospect I should have sanded it down some more. Ah well.

Here we are after the first coat of primer. Pretty ugly, but that's what primer's for, man. I let this dry for about 30 minutes, because the can said it dried in 12 minutes. When I picked it up again it was quite ready to be sanded, so I sanded it down again with some 400 grit and and sprayed it again.

Here's the second coat of primer after it finished drying. You may have noticed that these pictures were taken in different places; I moved the panel off the grass when it was wet to avoid having bugs jump all over it.

Eww. I'm not at all happy about this. I sanded it down with a bit of 400 to get it pretty smooth, then worked on it some more with 600. I still think it doesn't like me, but I'll work on it some more tomorrow when I get home.

Scratches
This is linked for size and color; some scratches appeared in my paint when I was 600 sanding. Needless to say, I was highly dismayed, and switched to new sandpaper immediately, which seemed to fix the problem. If you can make it out, that's an attempted closeup of the worst scratches.

Anyhow, that's it for today. Tomorrow afternoon I don't have anything in particular to do, so I'm aiming to finish another coat of primer and put on the first color coat, and start sanding on that.

I'm still working on planning the front window; I have to figure out a way to keep it in place where it won't move, but also won't require tabs to attach it with in any inconvenient/just plain tacky looking areas.

Planning sheet fun!
Ehehe. This was a scale drawing I made detailing the windowed side and the future top of my case. It should help give an idea of what's going through my head without being too sketchy. Honestly, soon I'm going to look for some isometric graph paper, but I'm not sure if office supply stores would have it.

Price so far:
$2.46 (Clear acrylic 11x14 sheet)
$8.57 (Dremel fiberglass-reinforced cutting disks)
$5.16 (Krylon Interior-Exterior White Semi-Gloss, 2 cans)
$2.58 (Krylon White Sandable Primer)
$14.75 (400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000 grits sandpaper)

Total: $33.52

As for my plans for the rest of the case:

I have to find a way to remove rivets. My case being the cheap thing that it is, most of the stuff is riveted in, so I'll have to find a way to get them out. I'll probably just end up drilling through it and using regular screws where the rivets were. The most important result of this is to be able to remove the top of my case in order to use a hole saw on it. (To tell the truth, I don't even have a hole saw; I forgot to look for one today. *smacks self*)

Anyhow, during classes tomorrow I'll try to brainstorm ways to make this window work. It WILL work. Believe it.

If you've got any questions, comments, criticism, ideas, or advice, by all means reply! I can use all the help I can get here!

~pd

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

take a drill with a bit just slighty bigger than the hole in the rivet, then drill straight through it. You can get a pop-riveter at Home Depot for about $20 and the rivets vary in price, depending on what size you need, but a pack would be under $7, which contains AT LEAST 20 rivets. All in all, I've found my pop-riveter to be well worth the money I paid for it, as I don't use it for just modding, I use it for other car projects as well.

 

[OLMI]

What a great idea for a thread. This will help a lot of people who want to start modding their computers. The budget for most of the mods in this forum can be kinda scary sometimes. Keep up the good work!

 

[phantomditto]

Quick update:

Alright, I've been talking with a rather "craftsy" friend of mine who is rather good with epoxy, and I've decided that that will be the best way to go with getting the window in.

Today I'm hoping to finish the last coat of primer. Tomorrow I should be able to put a color coat on.

About the rivet gun; I don't think I'm going to rerivet something I've unriveted. I'll probably use screws so that in the future I won't have to reunrivet what I've reriveted. Hehehe, I bet you're confused now, huh? Besides, I can't afford a $20 riveter. I only have $20 left until the end of the month.

Well, here I go! I will edit/post later tonight with pics.


-edit-
No pics for tonight, I guess. I've just been sanding a LOT with 400 grit. Tomorrow I'll try to get a little sanding done before I have to go to my band's rehearsal, and maybe a little afterwards.

It's coming along fine; nice and smooth. G'night all.
~pd

 

[tenchi86]

Electrical tape is awsome idea. Iv heard people using it before but have never seen it. Thanks for thoughs picturs, its time I replace my twisty ties with tape. Maybe I will go tricked out and use clear tape. Oh that would be sweet.

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

phantomditto, how old are you anyway? Young looking enough for them to ask for ID to buy paint? I've been asked for ID here in Idaho once, at home depot, when buying spraypaint as well. She was like "you know it's illegal for you to buy paint, don't you?" I was like "I've been to four other stores buying spray paint and I've never been asked about ID or anything. So just give me the paint and I'll be on my way lady!!" and she left it at that.

I can't wait to use my ID to buy M rated games now ^_^.

 

[Daewood]

looking good and keep up the good work...

 

[phantomditto]

Hahaha. I'll just say that I'm probably the freaking youngest modder on these boards. Next time I post I'll put a picture of me working and let you draw your own conclusions.

The next major update will be after I finish this side panel's paintjob, when I will be drilling out some of the rivets on my case to get the top panel off. Feel free to comment until then; I'll be checking this pretty much every day.

One setback I'm having is that state band championships are on Saturday, so I won't be able to get any work done that day, and Sunday is pretty full too. Work will resume on Monday the 1st. I'll have this paint job done by Thursday, and then I have to take the rest of the weekend off for band and church related stuff.

~pd

 

[@/2ct!<]

I would wait a couple days in between coats, when I did day by day coats, I sometimes rubbed off a whole layer through sanding b/c it had not dried completely. (It might be ok for primer coats, but I would definately wait 48 hours once you start color. <--- hates grass bugs to.

 

[phantomditto]

Quick update:

I'm out of primer. I 400 sanded the whole thing (1000 passes over every part of the panel) and then 600 sanded it (about 300 passes on every part). I'll probably work a little more with the 600 tomorrow, then it's on to the real deal. I'm going to work two coats at a time, because I've been having a problem with the paint on the edges coming off very easily. However, the circular indentation in the center has been holding up well; only one part sanded through.

After this, I must finish cutting for the window and such. I also found out that my dad actually has a rivet gun, but I declined the use of it, since I'm just going to be putting screws in the place of the rivets, and the only thing I'm drilling out the rivets of is the top panel.

I'm in the process of looking for some lighting to put in; I need to get it and have it ready ASAP. I should stop by Radio Shack as well to see about the components for a fanbus.

Good night everybody.

~pd

 

[OLMI]

Man.. I'm so excited to see the results. I love a nice paint job. Be sure to get a lot of shots of your paint job reflecting the world!

 

[RIPSTER]

Hahaha. I'll just say that I'm probably the freaking youngest modder on these boards. Next time I post I'll put a picture of me working and let you draw your own conclusions.

lol not the youngest i think i beat ya to it

 

[speed bump]

phantomditto, how old are you anyway? Young looking enough for them to ask for ID to buy paint? I've been asked for ID here in Idaho once, at home depot, when buying spraypaint as well. She was like "you know it's illegal for you to buy paint, don't you?" I was like "I've been to four other stores buying spray paint and I've never been asked about ID or anything. So just give me the paint and I'll be on my way lady!!" and she left it at that.

I can't wait to use my ID to buy M rated games now ^_^.

The first I tried to buy an M rated game after I turned 17 was at Walmart and I thought ya they'll card me but they didn't and I never been carded when buying spray paint.

Anyway I do enjoy reading about Mods made on about the same budget as mine is. Eventually I will find another case to mod and delve into cheap watercooling so I can know what it is to be up to my elbows with sanding once again.

Cheers

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

[thread hijack]
I suppose you could have called my case a budget mod too. I wasn't afraid of spending money when I did my mod, since I didn't have any bills to pay or insurrance, gas, etc. I did however still use spray cans and hand sanding. It may not be 100% reflectice, but it's about 60 - 65% reflective. I probably spent about $50 in a paintjob on my current case.

I started modding when I was 12. First mod: DIY window (no kit, made from scratch) into a mini AT case for my Pentium 200MHz MMX. I remember riding around town and to Shucks Auto supply to get the door trim for around the window. May not have come out straight, but it was a window none the less.
[/thread hijack]

 

[phantomditto]

As long as we're talking about the budgeting, it's not off topic. It's a big part of the project.

Funny thing is, I do have an automatic sander, but I'd rather put in the elbow grease at least on the first time so I can get a feel for what I want.

Today the color coat goes on. I'm putting two coats on, then sanding up to 600, then repeat to 1000, and so on. When I reach the sanding of 2000, I'll consider it done.

~pd