First case mod (Pioneer Mod) - Page 2

Psychotria · 18th May 2012, 12:29 PM

DISASTER #1

1. Lightly sand case
2. Primer
3. Wait 2 hours, Primer again (as per directions on can)
4. Waited 2 hours (as per directions on can) and sprayed colour (4 coats, 8-10 minutes apart). The results at this step are in the link above.
5. Waited 24 hours, very lightly sanded with 320 grit wet-and-dry (wet) and very fine steel wool (all wet sanding with a tiny bit of detergent)
6. Waited 24 hours and applied more colour

I am at step (6) at the moment and this is where the disaster occurred.

See here for more discussion: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...1#post14385342

Psychotria · 18th May 2012, 12:29 PM

Front grill with primer... waiting to dry for colour coat(s)

Hood · 18th May 2012, 3:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psychotria

First colour coat. I told you it wasn't "traditional" :-D (The paint is still a bit wet)

image

Why didn't you take the screw out of the PCI expansion port?

Psychotria · 18th May 2012, 4:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hood

Why didn't you take the screw out of the PCI expansion port?

Very good question.

I could say that I didn't realise that a screw was there, but that wouldn't be true. I guess the honest answer is because I know exactly what hardware is going into this build and I know that that PCI slot won't be used. Or, being even more honest and related to the last sentence, I was lazy :-( Is it a big deal though? If for some insane reason I put a second gfx card in there I'll just replace the screw with a silver one (I have about 3.14 million of them).

Psychotria · 19th May 2012, 8:15 AM

Ok, last night I made the HDD "enclosure". The HDD will be installed on the bottom inside of the case

^^
That's not paracord, it's elastic shrouded in nylon... bought it from spotlight. 80c a metre (or something like that) and it's almost the same colour as paracord orange. Used a cable tie to fold over the end and then sleeved with heatshrink.

^^
The elastic now tightly attached to the fan

^^
4mm polypipe (used for irrigation) for sound dampening. Sliced the polypipe down one side so it could be stretched over the side of the fan and then secured in place with hot-melt glue

^^
Hard drive in its enclosure. I was going to do some further work to stop the HDD moving in the north-south direction (along the long edge of the HDD) but it really doesn't move at all. I held it upside down, pushed it, etc, etc and it's not going anywhere

Psychotria · 22nd May 2012, 11:44 AM

First coat on the front panel is done. I'm kind of nervous about doing the second coat after the disaster with the interior but it will get a second coat this weekend.

Edit: all the gaps are there because it's not actually back together yet... the pieces are just sitting there

Psychotria · 7th June 2012, 1:31 PM

Ok, the front panel is finished. Everything has been rewired/soldered. I *could* have combined grounds for the wires to cut down on the sleeving required, BUT because the inside of the case is dark green I need the sleeving to complement it, so the more the merrier. I also polished the plastic parts.

I've also fixed the issue with the interior paint disaster -- just waiting for it to dry properly now.

Saate · 7th June 2012, 4:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psychotria

Ok, the front panel is finished. <snip>
I've also fixed the issue with the interior paint disaster -- just waiting for it to dry properly now.

Nice work, the front panel looks really neat - so it was entirely just a matter of allowing each coat to try? Also in your first post you mentioned blue and orange is what you'd be going for - has that changed now for the inside?

Psychotria · 8th June 2012, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saate

Nice work, the front panel looks really neat - so it was entirely just a matter of allowing each coat to try?

Yeah, the can said 24 hrs before re-coating but that did NOT work (as can be seen). After sanding back, re-priming and essentially starting again everything worked out fine. I light sanded (wet)[Edit (1)] between coats with 1200 grit and then 1500 (I think it was) before the 3rd coat. I waited 7 days between each of the coats.

Quote:

Also in your first post you mentioned blue and orange is what you'd be going for - has that changed now for the inside?

It has changed. Since grabbing the dark green I've changed interior colour selection: cables will now be a combination of orange (mostly orange) and yellow, because they "go" with the green a bit better. The yellow I will use just to "soften" the orange where needed. I've painted a bit of plastic blue which will cover up a big whole in the m/board tray, but that will be the only blue used (the m/board is blue).

Outside is going to remain blue and black.

[Edit (1)] I waited 6 days before sanding then recoated on 7th day

Psychotria · 8th June 2012, 12:15 PM

Here's the (finally) painted interior. It looks all wonky because it's not reassembled yet (well, mostly that's the reason

)-- all the parts are just leaning against each other. I'm going to see if someone at work has a rivet gun; I can't justify buying one for 12 rivets. If nobody has one I'll use nuts/bolts and hot melt glue all the bolts after tightening.

Psychotria · 8th June 2012, 12:40 PM

The other thing I am thinking of doing is painting (or using some kind of sticker) all the smaller round holes gold and running the yellow sleeved cables into them (or just painting the trace) so it looks like a circuit board

Psychotria · 8th June 2012, 1:20 PM

Before I painted, I drilled four holes so that I could secure the ghetto HDD enclosure onto the bottom of the case. Thankfully the rubber grommets fitted and the holes line up with the fan holes that hold the HDD.

Note the texture of the paint (this isn't really noticeable except close up). I know I could get rid of it, because I got rid of it for the front panel grill, with another sand and paint layer, however I don't mind the texture on the interior... it makes it a bit more matte. Also I am not sure the weather would allow me to do another coat anyway (it's starting to get too cold!)

Edit: By the way, all parts (grommets etc, etc) ordered off GAM MODs (thanks Greig!)... great service. Hopefully he's not too offended by the way I butcher them after they're in my hands

Psychotria · 16th June 2012, 1:32 PM

Ok, got the case reassembled and the hardware back in. I'll have to rush the rest of the build because I'm giving the computer away to my sister. So final shots tomorrow I guess

The white bits on the side of the front panel are glue from the masking tape -- didn't know that would be left behind; will have to clean it off now

19th May 2012, 8:15 AM	#20
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	Ok, last night I made the HDD "enclosure". The HDD will be installed on the bottom inside of the case ^^ That's not paracord, it's elastic shrouded in nylon... bought it from spotlight. 80c a metre (or something like that) and it's almost the same colour as paracord orange. Used a cable tie to fold over the end and then sleeved with heatshrink. ^^ The elastic now tightly attached to the fan ^^ 4mm polypipe (used for irrigation) for sound dampening. Sliced the polypipe down one side so it could be stretched over the side of the fan and then secured in place with hot-melt glue ^^ Hard drive in its enclosure. I was going to do some further work to stop the HDD moving in the north-south direction (along the long edge of the HDD) but it really doesn't move at all. I held it upside down, pushed it, etc, etc and it's not going anywhere Last edited by Psychotria; 19th May 2012 at 8:18 AM.

8th June 2012, 12:15 PM	#25
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	Here's the (finally) painted interior. It looks all wonky because it's not reassembled yet (well, mostly that's the reason )-- all the parts are just leaning against each other. I'm going to see if someone at work has a rivet gun; I can't justify buying one for 12 rivets. If nobody has one I'll use nuts/bolts and hot melt glue all the bolts after tightening. Last edited by Psychotria; 8th June 2012 at 12:18 PM.

8th June 2012, 1:20 PM	#27
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	Before I painted, I drilled four holes so that I could secure the ghetto HDD enclosure onto the bottom of the case. Thankfully the rubber grommets fitted and the holes line up with the fan holes that hold the HDD. Note the texture of the paint (this isn't really noticeable except close up). I know I could get rid of it, because I got rid of it for the front panel grill, with another sand and paint layer, however I don't mind the texture on the interior... it makes it a bit more matte. Also I am not sure the weather would allow me to do another coat anyway (it's starting to get too cold!) Edit: By the way, all parts (grommets etc, etc) ordered off GAM MODs (thanks Greig!)... great service. Hopefully he's not too offended by the way I butcher them after they're in my hands Last edited by Psychotria; 8th June 2012 at 1:27 PM.

18th May 2012, 12:29 PM	#16
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	DISASTER #1 1. Lightly sand case 2. Primer 3. Wait 2 hours, Primer again (as per directions on can) 4. Waited 2 hours (as per directions on can) and sprayed colour (4 coats, 8-10 minutes apart). The results at this step are in the link above. 5. Waited 24 hours, very lightly sanded with 320 grit wet-and-dry (wet) and very fine steel wool (all wet sanding with a tiny bit of detergent) 6. Waited 24 hours and applied more colour I am at step (6) at the moment and this is where the disaster occurred. See here for more discussion: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...1#post14385342

22nd May 2012, 11:44 AM	#21
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	First coat on the front panel is done. I'm kind of nervous about doing the second coat after the disaster with the interior but it will get a second coat this weekend. Edit: all the gaps are there because it's not actually back together yet... the pieces are just sitting there

7th June 2012, 1:31 PM	#22
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	Ok, the front panel is finished. Everything has been rewired/soldered. I could have combined grounds for the wires to cut down on the sleeving required, BUT because the inside of the case is dark green I need the sleeving to complement it, so the more the merrier. I also polished the plastic parts. I've also fixed the issue with the interior paint disaster -- just waiting for it to dry properly now.

8th June 2012, 12:40 PM	#26
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	The other thing I am thinking of doing is painting (or using some kind of sticker) all the smaller round holes gold and running the yellow sleeved cables into them (or just painting the trace) so it looks like a circuit board

16th June 2012, 1:32 PM	#28
Psychotria (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 445	Ok, got the case reassembled and the hardware back in. I'll have to rush the rest of the build because I'm giving the computer away to my sister. So final shots tomorrow I guess The white bits on the side of the front panel are glue from the masking tape -- didn't know that would be left behind; will have to clean it off now