Project: Zaraki (started again!)

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shinji-aoi
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Project: Zaraki (started again!)

Post by shinji-aoi »

Image

Yep, with a Christmas bonus comes a lot of possibilities, especially when the bonus won't be used for buying a washing machine or new fridge...

About a year ago I took to my old PC case (coloured a very yummy cream :roll: ) with an angle grinder. The result was worthy of the stress I had, it came out exactly like I hoped. Smacking in some Perspex, a bunch of fans and sticking the whole outside with red vinyl, the case looked shweet.

Unfortunately, :cry: , there are some problems.
1 - Novices cutting Perspex lead to bugger-ups. The holes are too big and the fitment suck.
2 - Vinyl tears.
3 - The mod's not even halfway done.

So here's what's going to happen:

1 - Cable sleeving. The most important thing you can do in an open case like mine is to apply cable management.
2 - Have the Perspex recut by the pro's. Dremels work I know, but I'll have mine Laser cut anytime!!! :twisted:
3 - Finish cutting the front panel fan hole. (Although never done, this is something I need to do quickly)
4 - Paint the case.....
5 - Add the goodies on my list.

This is Part 1 since I have another incomplete mod begging to be done. The reason for doing this is somply to get it done but also to show that half done mods can be completed.
Last edited by shinji-aoi on 18 Apr 2008, 13:06, edited 10 times in total.
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Photo added, finally. :wink:
Thanks Telkom!

The plan have been draw up and this is what will be done:
1 - Finish cutting and welding
2 - Case to be stripped and resprayed.
3 - Cable sleeving on everything that look like a wire
4 - Putting everything back together

The Perspex and Aluminium can only be cut in January. :evil:

Anyway, I'll be visiting Builders Warehouse for the goodies I need to start.
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TheMartyr
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Post by TheMartyr »

i like it already!
Hello im a signature
shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Bought paint from Builders yesterday.
The colour scheme will be Black (High Gloss) on the outside and Sign Red on the inside.

I bought:
2x white primer (didn't have grey... :evil: )
1x white plastic primer
2x sign red
4x gloss black
2x clear lac.. uhm lac... uhm lekker!!! (can't remember how to spell that one :wink: )

Going on advice and previous experience I decided to put down the coats of paint as follow:
2x light coats of primer
4x coats of colour (3 thin coats and one medium)
2x clear coat
I'll be giving the primer about 2 hours between coats and let it rest for a day or two.
As for the paint, I will let the paint set for about 3-4 hours between coats and leave it for a couple of days before adding the clear finish.

And the front intake, I'll be doing this:
Image
(Pic from MNPCTECH.COM)

I decided to stick to the high gloss finish rather than going for the mirror finish I planned. This might change, but I have a different project in mind for that type of finish.

Since Sybaritic is closed till the New Year I'll have to keep busy with the 'non-component' of the mod. :?
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

I got some body putty and the mandrel needed for the holesaw from Builders.

Also got some wetsanding goodies, incl. rubbing compound. Hopefully I'll be able to post the process of adding the fan duct like the one in the pic above, and also some nice pics on the painting process.

Yep, I've decided to try and go for the mirror finish paint job.
Here's an example of what I'm planning to do (again a pic from MNPCTECH.COM):
Image

Apparently this isn't as difficult to do, just very very tricky since one mistake means you'll have to clean everything and start over! 8O

Sorry for the slow updates at this stage - you know, it's almost Christmas! :roll:
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Post by jPm »

Is this project named after Kenpachi?
shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Yes! 8)

He's my fav character from Bleach.
I will be putting some artwork of him on the case somewhere... :? Don't know where, yet.

My other projects will also be named after anime characters.
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Parties, booze, lack of sleep and a hectic Christmas sucked away all the time I wanted to use modding the case this holiday.
Cool part is that I can use the powertools at work and also some space in the printroom to do the spraypainting.

Tools and goodies bought:
- Sanding paper - various grit
- Spraypaint in tins. High Gloss black, Red, Primer and Clear
- A holesaw
- Masking tape (plenty of this stuff)
- Body Putty
- Polish with a rubbing compound

Stuff borrowed:
- Sander
- Dremel
- Beer

Project starts Monday, when I'm sober. :twisted:
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Thanks to work and continuous rain (here in Pretoria) I haven't been doing much modding. :evil:

I did cut the front panel fan hole and took the case apart to start painting.
Due to the crappy humidity and cold I can't take a risk painting the case. :x :cry:

To keep busy I am working on the plans for my other case mod as well as an extreme air cooled plexi case too. :roll:
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elviz
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Post by elviz »

got beer?.........
3.2Ghz Pentium CPU,2GB DDR2 800,ECS mainboard,MSI nx6800 PCI -XGraphics,a coupla 80 gb hdd`s.........eish ...was it even worth mentioning?
UrBaN
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Post by UrBaN »

Keep us posted, sounds like an interesting mod. Would like to see the end product
shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Thanks UrBaN, yeah I can't wait to see the final product myself.

Thanks to some dodgy chicken I ate on Sunday I've had alot of time to think last night. The end result of that thinking....

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Yep. A custom front for my PC. :twisted:

At this stage I have to wait for loadshedding to mod!!! :x :P
Too busy at work to get to work on the mod.... :evil:

@elviz.
Sorry, drank it all. :wink:
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Been talking to some people about the custom front.
The three options are:
1. Fibreglass
2. Vacuum forming plastic
3. DIY Perspex shaping

I'm waiting for a quote on option 2. Option 1 is too much work.
That leaves option 3 which seems to be the best bet.

As for the case modding - after dragging myself away from playing The Witcher most of Saturday, I stripped the case and started with a layout of Red and Black sections.

The hardware inside the case now resides in one of my other cases so I can still play The Witcher! :twisted:

Will post pics on Tuesday (forgot my SD card at home...)
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

:!: Got some quotes in and have to finalise the artwork before the fabricators can start working.
Yep, why do something yourself when someone else can do it better? Not really, the work is quite spesialised and I need someone to do it for me.

As for the other stuff. The lasercutting of the perspex will be done at the same place that's helping me with the faces (for this PC and another).

:?: As for the stuff being done at home.
I'm finally getting a chance to do some modding this weekend. The case is stripped and the colours are sorted.
I'm hoping to get the designs done and to put the 2 layers of primer on over the weekend.

As for pics - if all goes well I'll have pics posted after the weekend. :roll:
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Samaya
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Post by Samaya »

1. Fibreglass - Easier but you have to have a mold before you make something.
2. Vacuum forming plastic - Another mold and if you are not doing it yourself then I hope you won the Lotto recently because molds afaik are quite expensive
3. DIY Perspex shaping - Again difficult to get right, a mold helps a lot and you need more than one heater or at least a very large one to get it right.
As for pics - if all goes well I'll have pics posted after the weekend.
All had better go well, I am starting to lose interest here :sleepy: :sleepy: :sleepy:
shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Okay so finally I got to do some modding (and yes I have pics this time!).
Although not the most exciting of things painting your case does add dramatic effect.

Doob have posted a great thread with regards to painting a case and Google also provide links to some really informative sites.

Okay so on to the pics! :twisted:

Image Image
Being an old case there will be some issues like screws placed in almost inaccessible places - bah! I have a decent set of screwdrivers.
With the face removed I got a better idea of what needs to be done to the front of this case - a custom front, leds, stealth drives etc...

Image Image
Hammer vs Fans... :evil:
Nope I didn't hit the fan directly - I used the multi-purpose tool to remove some "easily" removable panel with a light 'tap'. :twisted: :roll:
At least the LEDs are usable somewhere else.

Image Image
To be really honest, the only real way to do things right is to dismantle the entire case. This means drilling rivets which turns out to be really easy and quick - about 5min.

Image Image
With the panels liberated they needed to be cleaned.
That meant all the panels with vinyl had to be stripped. Easy job right?
:evil: :x Nope. The vinyl's glue bonded to the case and after 2 hours of vicious swearing got all the vinyl off.

Image Image
After 2 litres of thinners the vinyl panels were cleaned proprely.
Thinners give of fumes. Very potent fumes. 8O
Here is a pic of the 'back' panel before it got stripped. The horse was done in a silver foil vinyl. It did look good, but when I'm done the new case will look better.

Image Image
On to the spraying.
The best way to spray panels is to follow the guys in the the auto industry's example. Suspend some wirehooks from the ceiling in the garage, attach them to the panel you want to spray and go ape!
Remeber to take the car out of the garage before you start spraying - it doesn't matter how good you are. Get the car out.
As for the primer. Use a decent primer suited for raw metal surfaces. A poor layer of primer = poor paint job.

I sanded the panels before I started spraying. Use a circle pattern when sanding. Think of the Karate Kid - wax on, wax off.
After sanding I cleaned the panels to remove all the sanding dust.

I applied the primer in very thin layers. It took about 4 layers to get a even finish. Those 4 layers are equal to about 2 layers of normal spraying.
I left the panels to dry for a week.

If you wondered about the masking tape on the bottom panel - I'll be polishing that bit to a mirror metal finish to help reflect some light. :wink:

Image Image
I used Gloss Black to paint most of the panels. I sprayed the panels on Saturday morning and left it to dry overnight. On the Sunday I sprayed them again.
I am now waiting till the weekend before I finish the spraying.
The weekend after I'll be doing some wetsanding and putting on the clear coat.

As they say patience is key. :wink:

- The next update should be next week sometime. I'm currently working on the design for the front panel and hope to get that sorted.
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Go Alonso & Vettel! Forza Ferrari always!

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Vampyre_2099
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Post by Vampyre_2099 »

Very nicely done !! :hello1: :hello1:

You have the patience of a snail... or something that has a lot of patience. I'd never be able to wait that long to do a mod like that
mybrute
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Thanks Vampyre! :D

Yeah it's taking too long but hey, I want to do this right.

Anyway no pics for this update since I haven't been doing anything exciting.
Over the weekend I've been spraying the rest of the panels that I didn't get to at my brother-in-law's place (because I forget them at home :oops: ).

The black panels kick rear six-love. I can see how wetsanding will make them reflect like a mirror. Can't wait.

The red panels, well, uhm... I ran out of paint... :oops:
So of to Builders to get some more! :roll:

This coming weekend I'll be wetsanding and putting on the clear laquer (lekker :wink: ) And hopefully put the case back together.
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Go Alonso & Vettel! Forza Ferrari always!

Currently watching:
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Vampyre_2099
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Post by Vampyre_2099 »

Sounds awesome, keep us updated
mybrute
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Spoiler: (show)
Desktop: Q8200 @ 2.33GHz ~ TRUE ~ DP35DP ~ 4GB Transcend Jetram RAM ~ Nvidia 8800GT ~ 250GB HDD
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Post by Lithe_Joint »

Nice going , mate. Must've taken some courage to rip that case apart 8O

Are you going to bolt them together, or just re-rivet when you do the re-assembly thing?
the pen is mighter than the sword, but the word is always final
shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Thanks for the reponses!

Yeah it took some guts, but luckily it's not a very complex case.
I'll be riveting it all back together. (And paint the rivets black)

Finally this mod is getting to a place where cool stuff can happen.

I got the paint I needed from Builders. It was about R100 which isn't too bad, but in the whole this paint job is costing a bit more than I expected.

I'm taking the day off tomorrow and if the weather is good (won't help if it's raining :x ) will get to spraying the rest of the panels and do some touch up work.

Update on the front panels - I've sent my designs (for this and another mod) to a local fabricator. I should get them sometime next week!
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shinji-aoi
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Post by shinji-aoi »

Finally back to sanity...

March saw me take a long holiday in Durbs 8) and also bugger up my car... :evil:

Everyone warned me that Fiat's are very easy to hurt... :roll:
Oh well, live and learn.

I finished the painting of the case!
Did some wetsanding and smacked clear laquer on to keep the paint nice.
Case assembly will take place probably on Monday (since I need a rivet gun).

Will post piccies on Monday (since I'm sitting at O'hagans on a "business meeting" and using my boss' 3G, hie hie).
Image

Go Alonso & Vettel! Forza Ferrari always!

Currently watching:
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