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I haven't been posting a lot lately because I've been working on a few things in the garage. I decided to make a new fan shroud for my radiator out of fiberglass.. heres how it turned out.
I started with a f4tal1ty quakecon shirt, cut a big white piece off the back. then I made a quick template of the 2 120mm fans location on my case, I glued that down to my mock up radiator and then used double sided tape to hold 2 mock up hollowed 120mm fans. I covered the fans in foil to keep them from sticking to the resin, and then I layed the shirt material over the two fans, and pulled it taut over the two fans. I used double sided tape again to keep the shirt material taut while I applied resin, I did 1 thick coat to soak, then within 15 minutes I did another thick outer glaze. 15 minutes later, I layed some thick glass mat on the inside and again glazed it to reinforce:
Then, I made yet another template to trace out my fan locations again:
Cut the proper holes:
and then I used body filler to smooth out the various imperfections and then I sprayed 2 coats of thick primer, and wet sanded with 220 grit. After I let it dry, I wiped it clean with a tack cloth and sprayed 3 good thick coats of silver, followed by 3 thick coats of clear.
Honestly, the finish could have looked like a mirror if I really took my time, but I wanted to have it done in time for a lan coming up, so I put enough clear down to make sure it can be wetsanded & polished to a perfect shine later.
either way it looks pretty decent I think.
I'm going to finish the other side when I get back from the lan. I'm going to make another shroud on the other side of the radiator which makes a 90* bend with a big 120mm pipe and form it to another 120mm fan on the other side of the case. that way my whole system operates on 2 120mm fans which are incased in fiberglass, and seperated from any convective heat from the mainboard. all my components are watercooled, so it should make for a dead silent system.
I started with a f4tal1ty quakecon shirt, cut a big white piece off the back. then I made a quick template of the 2 120mm fans location on my case, I glued that down to my mock up radiator and then used double sided tape to hold 2 mock up hollowed 120mm fans. I covered the fans in foil to keep them from sticking to the resin, and then I layed the shirt material over the two fans, and pulled it taut over the two fans. I used double sided tape again to keep the shirt material taut while I applied resin, I did 1 thick coat to soak, then within 15 minutes I did another thick outer glaze. 15 minutes later, I layed some thick glass mat on the inside and again glazed it to reinforce:
Then, I made yet another template to trace out my fan locations again:
Cut the proper holes:
and then I used body filler to smooth out the various imperfections and then I sprayed 2 coats of thick primer, and wet sanded with 220 grit. After I let it dry, I wiped it clean with a tack cloth and sprayed 3 good thick coats of silver, followed by 3 thick coats of clear.
Honestly, the finish could have looked like a mirror if I really took my time, but I wanted to have it done in time for a lan coming up, so I put enough clear down to make sure it can be wetsanded & polished to a perfect shine later.
either way it looks pretty decent I think.
I'm going to finish the other side when I get back from the lan. I'm going to make another shroud on the other side of the radiator which makes a 90* bend with a big 120mm pipe and form it to another 120mm fan on the other side of the case. that way my whole system operates on 2 120mm fans which are incased in fiberglass, and seperated from any convective heat from the mainboard. all my components are watercooled, so it should make for a dead silent system.
