Project: ic3d (PlusView II) (56k no way)

[OsiC]

Project ic3d

Progress shot:

Updates:
24/04/06

Background
I’m modding an Antec PlusView II case with 2 goals in mind, to make it more functional and to make it look cool. I originally was going to just put my old computer in it but my video card died the other day so I’ve decided to upgrade my P4 2.6 GHz/9600PRO computer to an AMD 3700+/7900GT and put that instead.

I chose the PlusView II because it was big enough to put everything in including my water-cooling, which has somehow fitted in my old Super LanBoy for the last year or so. I also chose it because the front of the case looked easy to bondo up.

To be functional the case needs to
1) Fit everything in, which wont be a problem with the PlusView II
2) Be quiet, I would like to be able to sleep 3 meters away from it, which I haven’t been able to do in the past with my LanBoy
3) Be Lan-able, I don’t really care about weight, but I want it to be a single self contained unit.

To achieve these functions I’m going to…
- Cut a 12cm hole for a fan in both the plastic and metal to allow maximum airflow/minimum noise, this will be replacing the 2x8cm slots at the front.
- Cut a top blowhole to allow placement of my 12cm radiator and to dissipate heat that naturally rises to the top of the case
- Cut out the back 12cm fan grill to minimize noise.

Unlike most mods that end up sacrificing CD Rom slots or HDD slots I want to try to keep all the slots useable. As the case has a door and uses an unusual drive rail system I wont be stealthing the drives but will colour code them to the cases new colour

Originally I was going for a flashy metallic colour like green or Orange but have decided to do it in gloss white because it seems a little original. I am doing the inside blue with all blue lighting, hopefully reminding people of ice or at least coldness, hence my naming of ic3d for the case.

Please note that I started writing this worklog a couple of weeks after I started, but before I finished, so my tense may jump around from present to past. My camera work is crap at the start but hopefully I’m starting to get better at it as the worklog progresses.

The case.

I dont have any pics of my case before the mod but it brand new before I started work on it, so here is the case from the antec.com website





I started with the plastic front. The objective is to first cover up the front grill.







Now its time to cut the 12cm hole on the front, using a CD, which just happens to be about 12cm. This is why i didnt bother using bondo on all the front grill, as it was going to be cut away.







Then I started to build up the hole with bondo. I used the cover of one of those blank CD 50-packs for the sides. It was a cheap way but it had its problems. The hole was a perfect circle until I cut the bottom off, then it became quite flexible, making my hole not quite a perfect circle. It is also very soft and scached quite easily and the dremel melted it instead of cutting even on the lowest setting.



I had no real idea what shape I was doing, I was just hoping I could build it up and figure something out later, which is what I did, but looking back I should of planned a little more.



As you can see one side is built up more then the other.

[OsiC]

Now time for some spray painting, which I will be doing a lot of, as Im turning a black case into a white one.

First the door, which I havent realy done much to except fill the case badge hole thingy with bondo





The white was only ment to be the undercoat and the orange the top coat



But after my 13 year old sister pointed out it looked like a realy cheap plastic orange colour, so I decided I liked the White so much I would paint the whole thing white.

So with my new found case colour I started with the side panel with the window. I took the lock and perspex out and gave it a light sand, then a light primer coat, then on with the white





The finished product with lock and window back in, I think it makes it look original but keeps it simple.







Heres a picture of lots of stuff being sprayed. The feet, CD drive covers and a drive cage, which is the blue colour Im painting the whole inside of the case.



Here is a mockup of how the case is looking.



I finaly got my hands on some spray putty. I had gotten some a couple of days earlier but I didnt read the label that said to shake for a minute after you hear the ball bearing, I didnt think there was one as it wasnt making any noise. So I cloged the nosle straght away and wasted $10.





I also did the other side panel, which I was quite scared to do as it was such a large area and I didnt want to get any runs or imperfections, but it actualy worked realy well and after 4 white coats and 3 clear it looked like this

[mr_wrxman]

Sounds like an awesome mod, can't wait for more progress and some pics

[Stygian Shane]

Will be good!

Nice cases to work with too..

Hope you're going to do something about the flimsy doors that they come with?

[OsiC]

Metal cutting time!

The first job was the top blowhole. I have placed it towards the back of the case because the radiator clears the PSU inside the case and it means I dont loose any CD Rom slots.

Because I am using a $40 dremel rip-off I have to take it slow so I dont overheat the moter. I was cutting throgh steel so I did the 1 fan hole over 2 days. Once again a CD came in handy for a template. As you can see im not worried about the finish of the balck paint as all im going to do is sand and spray it black. The part sanded down to the metal in the actual hole was an experiment to see how deep the powder coat was (it was very thick)



I think the hole came up quite well for hand done, especialy sence I have never cut throgh metal before with a dremel.





And on goes the paint, This is only a first coat, mostly to get an idea of what it looks like.



And now for another mock-up with a blue fan grill (its just one of those cheap metal ones painted blue, which to my suprise hasnt started peeling of)







Ok, now onto the front of the case. I need to "convert" the 2 8cm fan holes to a single 12cm fan hole. Once again the dremel got a work and I ended up with this.



The bit left in actualy holds the bottom drive cage in place. I cut around it so the cage would still fit inl, I dont think it will impeed airflow all that much



After some sanding and cleaning with a good hosing

[OsiC]

Now back to the front of the case.

more work has been done and coat of whte has been applied







As you can see there are many imperfections and the shape isnt good enogh yet. So back to bondo, spray putty and sanding, lots of sanding.



And then a couple of coats of white and clear, now it looks a lot better. While I was sanding, I sanded down the rasied LED holders and power/reset button, as I wasnt a fan of the raised look.

[langerrox]

looks very pro, well done

[OsiC]

I didnt get any in progress pics of the inside blue paintjob. Basicaly it was a bit of hack job but its turned out alright.

EDIT:: I just remembered why it stuck to to metal so well, I used plastic primer beforehand. Althogh it wasnt plastic, the steel was shiny and non porus, this gave something for the paint to grip to. After 2 coats of blue I applied a single coat of clear to give it a little protection.

The masking tapes there because im about to paint the back, top and bottom of the outside tomorow. Its coming away because I stuck it to my shirt a couple of times so it lost its stickyness, so it wouldnt peel off my blue paint.





As you can see at the front topof the case the white has peeled away. This is because I forgot to sand it before spaying, the places I did sand the paint is sticking very well and and clear coats realy helps it not scratch off.





I have painted my raditator white because the black was all scrached up from its previous home as the side panel was hard up against it on one side, it touched the PSU holder above it and I was never exactly gentle with it. I knew I couldnt paint the actual radiator as it would amoung other things, stop the rad from cooling the water.
At least it looks original now



Heres a shot of the drive bays, the inside of the door needs to be done and althogh you cant see it the drives are actualy different shades of white, which Im having trouble fixing, Ive tried undercoating them with the same colour but they still are different colours. This is actualy a major problem Im having as the door was slightly off from the rest of the front but I managed to fix that with some spray putty as a sort of an undercoat and a respray.

[MrSmith]

Looks fantastic!

Very profesional.. Love that white!

[xinzhitan14]

that front blowhole has got to be one of the best i've seen. great work mate.

[FB008]

the white + blue colour combo is awesome

should be more awesome when you get the lighting in there

[ice_cool]

awesome work mate. Just love the white. Ha u mac fools, something thats white like an i-mac and is more functional and can hold more stuff inc. wc gear. Looks like OsiC will rule the world!!! hahaha!!!

Looks just awesome, keep up the good work. I'm subscribed.

[kemd1zl]

wokamoli ! thats tight dawg, fresh as, lol gangstah trippin. anyway nice job (Y)

[brodsta]

Looks nice, good work with the blowhole, should looks really good with everything installed.

[OsiC]

Thanks guys for your replys, a bit of constructive critism would be nice Ive been busy with work and sorting out the parts for the computer going into the case so I havent done much, but I have sprayed all but the top of the outside white.

Just like christmas, althogh I was a little carefull taking the tape off already painted surfaces





Photos are taken at 1.30am so I experemented with and without the flash. Without the flash gave a much more realistic colour but with the flash stoped shawows and gave more detail





Now for some cuck ups to see what im up to in the scheme of things









Now with fan on. The PSU Im using is my old Ultra X connect so if you see bright orange wires they are only there to power the fans for now







And the token night shot.



Thats it for now, im actualy a little broke atm and used the last of my white paint for the outside. I still want to redo the front blowhole as it is still very uneven realy close up which means more sprayputty and bog.

I think I will mount the radiator on the actual top of the case and the fan on the inside, and cut 2 holes for the tubing, I think the raditor will look better then a fan stuck there, and will save me needing a grill, and it allows me to use my big ugly sunon fan that realy pushes the air throgh the rad.