Project: Love PC (first time modder)

bored-sarcasm said:
first time modder...bullshit.

this is looking really good for a first time cutter...
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hehe thanks

i've actually been into computer mods for about 2 years, but i never had the motivation (or idea for that matter) to actually do one. finally i found a reason, and a way. so i went full force.

i guess after reading, looking, and studying it for so long, you just kinda get the hang of it as soon as you try it.
 
Othersider said:
If you want the molex connectors to glow, actually make them glow! Why not just put LEDs inside them? I've seen a few tutorials; I'm sure you can find them.

Beats UV any day.

Also, have you considered using red plexi for the window instead of clear?
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actually, i think im gonna do the led inside molex thing. that sounds better than uv molex connectors anyways.

im not sure about colored plexi... sounds yucky lookin to me :-\
 
DeathLok30040 said:
Great job for a first time. It is nice to know that all the info that you can need is out there, you just need to look for it.

And you will be extremely happy with a set of neddle files. I used to have lots of them for working on peuter figures.
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thank you!

i got lots of info from gideontech.com

but a lot of the general knowledge came from hardforum.com

when i was finally financially stable enough to pay for my own internet connection, i got a "real deal" email address, and could finally sign up. yeah, i've been reading hardforum for about 2 years.

im going to buy a needle file set probably this weekend, and some round/flat combo files too. those could come in handy.
 
chrisf6969 said:
cool, I upgraded my wife's old gateway a few years ago (GF at the time) needless to say, but she wasn't impressed.

She barely noticed, that I bumped her up from a 166Mhz Pentium to a 900Mhz Celeron with my old GF2GTS videocard.

And recently, since my wife was back in school (masters) I decided to build her a better mini PC (and a backup gamer for me! ;)) I built a nice fancy looking shuttle with a pimped out purple paint job.... she still wasn't impressed.

So word of warning, even though you spend tons of time pimping it out... she may still be like "Ehh... ok..... thanks for the COMPUTER!"

Some things girls just can't (just usually dont) FULLY appreciate. (like a nice bowling ball, souped up hot rod engine, pimped out PC!)

Though she did appreciate the 19" flat panel.
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hehe, im actually not worried about this

she's as much into computers as i am, and we have a lot in common (almost to the point that we're going on and on for hours about a video game, or a band or something, haha). so im not worried about a dissapointed reaction. actually in expect to be ... tackled and probably kissed to death. but no one cares to hear about that O_O
 
Top Nurse said:
I love your choice of colors! Looking very niceeeeeeeeeeee
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wait till you see what the inside will look like, red molex, pink cold cathodes, oh yea
 
Most really COOL Mods get a mention by Steve on the Front Page!

So you know what you have to do now... WORK [H]arder!
More Pics!

P.S. You should post a pic of this lucky girl who you love so much!
P.P.S On 2nd thought, to many single teenage males in this forum... That would be a bad thing to do... like tossing a chunk of bloody meat into a tank a sharks before you dive into also. :D
 
Majin said:
P.S. You should post a pic of this lucky girl who you love so much!
P.P.S On 2nd thought, to many single teenage males in this forum... That would be a bad thing to do... like tossing a chunk of bloody meat into a tank a sharks before you dive into also. :D
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Refer to my previous comment regarding bachelors in this thread.

If you do want to post a picture of this girl, you might want to ask for her permission first, unless you don't mind adding 'ex-' before 'girlfriend' ^_-
 
here's a picture of me and her (we're practically married, asking if i could post a pic of her would be like you asking your self if you should go to the bathroom or not, instead of just going)

i just hope this doesnt put any links between her and this page, she still has no clue that im doing this for her

ac4.jpg

she made this for us, she likes graphic design

and here's me

harveydumpster.jpg

haha
 
looks awesome man. i hope you shopped around for the a better price on that 5 1/2 slot thing. cuz frozencpu rips you off on most items by like 20 bucks. i learned my lesson already with them.
 
chronic9 said:
looks awesome man. i hope you shopped around for the a better price on that 5 1/2 slot thing. cuz frozencpu rips you off on most items by like 20 bucks. i learned my lesson already with them.
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i had no clue, good thing i havent ordered yet, so THANKS
im gonna shop around

painting tonight! woot
 
just looking at froogle, that price is within $5 of the other ones on there (all two) and those aren't black/red.

shop around yourself, but i don't know if you will beat that.

tho if you're willing to DIY a bit, bgmicro has a 2x40 lcd for $6.

:D
 
well it looks like i had to delay the painting until today, my social life did not allow me to paint last night

but i did go to walmart (after a visit to starbucks :)) and tried to get some files. this walmart is a supercenter (in greenfield, indiana) and they had NO files

i was shocked
 
so i did lots and lots and lots of sanding

and then some more sanding

and then decided, its time to spray primer at this thing

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still coating primer :( *sigh*
 
8 coats of primer later O_O (and trust me, it took the whole can just to cover all the white/metal spots!)

DSCN4165.jpg

DSCN4166.jpg

DSCN4167.jpg

and this is the primer i used, i dont know, i could have done something wrong, but it didnt seem to get very dark until the very last coat

it could just be me, this is my first time doing it

but i think its turning out well. after drying, i will be doing black tomorrow.
 
welp, it looks like this could very well be the last coat of black

i am EXTREMELY happy with the turn out! 5 coats of semi-flat black from krylon
PERFECT texture already, i hope the clear coat doesnt change it too much

DSCN4168.jpg

angle shot
DSCN4169.jpg

straight shot, not completely dry yet

i sanded with 800 grit in between every coat of primer, and color
i dont think im going to sand again before putting the clear coat on.

stay tuned! mua haha
 
Looking good :). If you want to add a little bit of lustre, pick up a scratch remover and rubbing compound at your local autoparts store, and rub that stuff in. It works wonders.

But then, you might be going for a universal flat black look (some people prefer that) so I dunno :p
 
yeah, im actually trying to achieve like a "sparkle" texture look, kinda like most front plastic bezel's on most computer cases. or like the surface of your monitor, EXCEPT its smooth too the touch (well sorta, as much as u apply the clear coat)

i just hope the clear coat doesnt kill the "look"

but i'll take a look at that stuff

thanks!

::edit::
actually, the perfect way to describe the look im going for is a black peice of 800 grit sand paper! lol! i want the entire case to have that consistent texture to it.
 
operation paint job = complete

here's how it came out:
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not too bad, i was going for the flat black look. i dont like high gloss paint jobs, i think they just look crappy. but thats just me.

this peice turned out perfect. well almost perfect. the only thing i dislike is the fact that you can see dull spots, and im still getting the hang of primer/sand/color/sand. because the paint on the rings where the case feet go came off a little bit during one of the sanding steps in the clear coats.

also, as i was heading out the door, i accidentally hit the case on the wall, which took a chip out of one of the color coats. so i had to add a little color to that. its totally dissapeared now, so that problem was solved.

this was my first time painting a case, and i must say that sanding is probably the most important thing in painting. i am probably going to invest in buying a powered sander of some sort. because me + hand sanding don't mix very well.

updates coming soon

things left to do:
decide to paint the inside of the case, or not
cut the slot for the slot loading dvd burner in the front panel (pink)
design and create the switch front that will go into the floppy bay
vinyl dye on the top back of the front panel (some white shows through when totally assembled)
design and construct the holding mount + external button for the slot loading dvd burner
cut out, and create a new back panel (waiting on motherboard to arrive)
possibly change the silver color (some how) on the front of the VFD (waiting on vfd to arrive)

thats all i've got for now, stay tuned.
 
chronic9 said:
if your thinking of using a moded power button get a vandal switch. i bought one the other day and its awesome.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=118&products_id=784
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i really want to get one and use it on this case (a red one of course)

but, the problem lies within the hole on the pink panel, and the distance from it to the actual metal on the case

im not sure if the hole is big enough (haven't checked yet), and if it isnt, risk destroying the paint job by making it bigger

and then lies the question, will it fit (im not sure how long they are, even after hooking wires to them)

but i've thought about it
 
went to walmart and got some supplies today
suprisingly i found more than i had asked for

i got some rockers switches with little red led's in them, for controlling the lights and stuff

im going to mount them in an empty floppy drive bay blank. the only problem is, this case doesnt have a plastic front to hold one (the front floppy hole is flush with the metal on the inside, and they meet each other with no space in betweel, therefor preventing the little "hooks" on the side of the blank from "holding on" anywhere)

but i thinik im just going to cut them off, glue some rectangular plexi strips to each side, and drill screw holes so it can connect that way

i also picked up some tack cloth, a spray grip for cans of paint (to make it easier to paint in the future), and some model glue for ahering (sorry i have bad spelling) the window to the inside of the case.

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ok so today i built the switch bay. and im pretty happy with how it turned out. its still not done, i need to bondo the open rings around the switches, sand it all down, and paint the sucker.

if anyone has any tips for making these holes for the switches really tight fitting, i would love to hear them

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the floppy blank
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look at the sides, i sanded off the hooks
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there was a plastic bar (i need to get better with this before / after thing) sticking up from the flat surface of the blank. i sanded it completely off
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and took off the hook supports to make it a completely flat back
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sketched out a stencil
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cut out the stencil
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and traced it onto the front for cutting
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made cuts and grinded it down, purposely made the holes bigger (assuming bondo would save me in the end)
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cut out a peice of plexi
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sanded the odd side flat
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the tools for the switch bay assembly
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gluing the plexi back panel to the floppy blank. this will support the switches
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not toally try but i dont care, time to cut holes
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mark off the holes
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drilled them out and attached switches
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they fit like a charm

if you look close you'll see the slight imperfection all the way around the circumference of the hole. i hope to fill it in with bondo.

for now, i wait for the model glue to dry
 
Aratech said:
Dude, that looks awesome.

Hey! I thought you said you were a noobie!
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hehe, i have all day at work to think about what im going to do before i do it

so i dont make any stupid mistakes!

unfortunately i haven't had all the umph and excitement i had when i begun the project. my girlfriend and i haven't had the best of times this past week. im not really sure where it's going at the moment (and after a year and 7 months, this is kinda crazy).... O_O

:(

but no reason to stop the project! must mod on!
 
still trying to get that switch panel to look ok...

in the mean time, ive been working on the mouse

DSCN4197.jpg

and yep, there's a window in there. pretty effin clear.
 
finished the mouse

dremel out heart shape
shape plexi for curved plexi window
cut plexi and glue it in
vinyl dye'd the palm part of the mouse
custom pink paint on mouse buttons
cut mouse button support (would show in window), and glue in new support
let it dry
assemble and test

weee

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in case you're wondering, i added a tiny bit of vinyl dye spray to the under part of the plexi window. it actually happened because of an accident. i accidently got some on one part of it.... on the back side... so i said screw it, held it far away and sprayed. but the effect was cool looking, and unique. i hope it kinda tints the plexi in the future (because the nature of vinyl dye).

:p
 
Joey...
HOLY SHIT
This is amazing.
I have never seen a mod from a noob turn out like this!
You are a crazy bastard, so much work in such a short time.

Just Awesome...
 
Majin said:
Joey...
HOLY SHIT
This is amazing.
I have never seen a mod from a noob turn out like this!
You are a crazy bastard, so much work in such a short time.

Just Awesome...
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hey thanks! i can't wait to do the keyboard in the same style, but thats a task i've yet to take on

i guess things like this just come naturally to me :p
its amazing what love can empower you to do

thank you to everyone though, for all of the attention, compliments, and support!
 
Elledan said:
Isn't that mouse quite big? :eek:
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oh no, its the same size as the one its sitting next to

looks like the illusions of perspective got the best of ya, lol

its a standard microsoft optical mouse
 
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