forcifer

btw, im just wondering, but what is the color of the grills? looks really cool with the blue/purple

Ssrogg

LOL, it's exactly what you suggested, Forc. Duplicolor Gold paint. Shot with about 4 coats of clear and 2 coats of Effex for some sparkle.

Clearcoat is the trick, though. Just remember to wet sand every few coats with 2000 grit. Keeps the paint looking "wet" and adds depth. Is why that Mirage paint you were playing with works so well. Many coats of semi-tranparent paint. Finish with 3-5 coats of clear.

I'll finish the painting with a run of clearcoat safe polishing compound and a good coat of high-quality Carnuba car wax. This protects the paint and takes the shine to a new level.

Eric

Ssrogg

Painting is pretty much done!! Just need to wait for the UV paint to show up, mask and paint the interior, and put the dang thing back together again. Should have pics of the finished paint job this weekend. Still waiting on my taxes for the complete build and final product.


Eric

Ssrogg

Got the HDD cages and the internal fan shroud painted tonight. All external panels are polished/waxed. Got pics, but will post em tomorrow. Been up for 29 1/2 hours, now. = P

Internal lighting ordered, external will happen tomorrow, as well.

Ordered a Fan control and a Card reader tonight. Just hopin the card reader ain't garbage.

Eric

forcifer

2 very good brands so you should be fine :) AC ryan is well respected among most modders

Ssrogg

Time for a big update. The actual painting is (mostly) FINISHED!! Have to touch up some of the gold, have some primer showing through. No biggie, but I can see it, so gotta fix it. Only waiting on the UV paint to arrive (Thursdayish) to shoot the interior. Easy.

Painted the HDD cages and interior fan shroud (Hangin on the line):





Some shots of the candy with metallic in the SUNSHINE (yeah, finally. ONE freakin day of nice weather)!!!










The "final" product:









Have my interior lighting, UV paint, and exterior lighting (LEDs) to go. If my taxes ain't here by next weekend, my other bits will be, and I will just tap into my wife's PSU to power up the lights/fans and get a few pics. Still need to fab the feet, which I will do tomorrow. Seems Tap Plastics is closed Sundays! = (

I promise, this looks WAAAY better than my pics show. I work/live at night, so I have to take pics in the dark, as a rule.

I believe my original "Prowler" idea went out the window. I think I should paint a Cadillac logo on the side and put Mag wheels on this thing (hydraulics, anyone?)..........

Eric

1 g0t 0wn3d

i like it great work

__________________

magnethead

from what i can tell of the balance of the blue/purple, i think you just about hit the prowler color head on.


If you want to see how close you hit, the color code from chrysler/dupont is H7/TH7.

__________________
I'm not the world's greatest speller. Deal with it.

Ssrogg

Price list for this case:

Antec 900: $140 (no deal, but was kinda an impulse buy.)

Paint: $91 (a whopping ELEVEN cans of spraypaint! /gag)

LEDs: $32 for 20 (not gonna use all 20, but was cheapest to buy that way with holders)

Interior lighting, including fans: $93 (will add 3 more fans @ $14 each)

Feet: $14 (but still have enough material to make another 2 or 3 sets...)

5.25 bay accesories: $65

Customized case cost: $435 THAT hurts the build budget! Dang!

Custom modding my first case? Still $435......the Mona Lisa she ain't.

Eric

Ssrogg

LEDs arrived yesterday, Fed-Ex shipping tracker says my fans/lights will arrive Saturday. Finally found the issue with my taxes. We E-Filed and THOUGHT the paperwork was sent with a bunch of bills and such. Found the envelope on the computer desk. GRRRR. Now the wait begins anew.


Eric

magnethead

what are you replacing the stock fans with?

__________________
I'm not the world's greatest speller. Deal with it.

Ssrogg

Both front fans and the rear exhaust fan will be these

Core fan and door fan are these

Depending on how purple the door and core fans are, may just buy 3 more of those. Ran outa money, gotta wait for payday or the wife will shoot me. This would not help my project any.

Eric

Ssrogg

Well, hooked up the new lighting to my wife's little Dell. All work perfectly. The LEDs on 12v feed glow nicely without being too bright for outside-the-case usage. Gonna have to go buy a 4 pack of Molex tomorrow. Hopefully have that bit done by Monday. The UV paint is sprayed. Not NEARLY as bright as was hoping for, despite the hype. Bummer, but still looks cool. May need to rethink interior a little, but considering the amount of light the fans will produce, mebbe not. Not gonna do pics on lighting until I get the PSU for my machine. Wife's is only 230w and I'd need a long Molex extension cord. lol

Working on the feet a bit today. Didn't get to it last week. Had em cut a bit too long, but it will do. FYI, don't go beyond 1" to 1 1/4" for feet. 1 1/2" is a bit too high. Have pics, but will post em tomorrow night after I have them completed.

Gotta go to sleep early tonight. Have to be at a meeting at 0645 in the AM. Work sucks....

Eric

magnethead

considering a CD drive is 1.75 inches tall....yea 1.25 inch tall feet would be way too tall.

except a floor-set case. Then you would want tall feet.

__________________
I'm not the world's greatest speller. Deal with it.

Ssrogg

Aye, yer right about that. If she ends up hiding under the desk, she'll be the perfect hieght. But with the illuminated feet, it won't look bad on the desktop. Just a little strange. But I'd hate to relegate that many hours of work to the floor! = )


Eric

magnethead

personally, i have mine on the desk purely stock, and i don't mind it..it sits up about 3/8 of an inch and thats it, just on the 4 corners. Just enough to find that disc you've been lookign for forever, but not tall enough to hide a UV tube.

__________________
I'm not the world's greatest speller. Deal with it.

Ssrogg

Got the external trim lighting installed! Just have to wait for the glue to dry so I can harness all the wires, connect Molex, and reassemble the thing.....again.

Have a bunch of pics again:









Fun stuff. After I get the wires harnessed tonight, I may post a pic of the lights lit up. Can just stick em to a 12v battery. Will glow dim, but at least will show the actual lights.

Feet are almost done, need to grind a wire groove in all 4, glue in the LEDs, and glue the last piece of holographic tape over the top. Still need to find myself some flat piece of rubber to cannibalize. The existing rubber feet are just too thick after my little boo-boo with the feet length. But that's really an easy fix for later. Just need to cut em out, peel the sticky off the reflective tape and stick em on. Should have another post tonight of the finished feet. Maybe even with em glued to the case?

Ssrogg

Ok, time for FEET! lol

Bought the material from Tap Plastics, who were good enough to cut to size while I waited. Only bugger is, as I posted before, I had em cut too long. 1" woulda been perfect, I went with 1.5". Live and learn.

Ends were very rough. Had to sand and polish them. 120,600,1500, and clearcoat polishing compound for a near-crystal-clear finish. I coulda spent another hour and had it perfect, but would have been wasted effort, IMO.







After all that, I drilled holes for the LEDs and used the dremel to cut a wire groove so the wires were flush with the top. Glued in the LEDs, added prismatic tape to the top and bottom, and stuck a rubber pad at the very bottom so my machine don't walk off the desk.



Let there be LIGHT!





And there was!

I'm pretty happy with em. Wish they were shorter, but oh-well. Can't glue em to the case til tomorrow. Need to let the glue fully cure, first.

Still have more harness makinging and splicing to do on the outer LEDs, but have em hooked up enough I can light em with a 12v battery. When it gets dark, I'll get a couple pics and post em.

Eric

And yes, they are PURPLE LEDs. If this camera didn't take stunning landscapes, I'd pitch it out the window right NOW! = P