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I've been wanting to do this mod for a while now and I finally have enough extra $ that I won't feel to guilty.
So this is the Photo shop image of what I want the case to end up looking like. There isn't really to much actual modding other than painting the case but I might do a turbine at a later date.
The case thankfully came with out a scratch on it. I haven't had very good luck with cases in the past so I was a bit worried. One thing I did failed to notice however is that sense the case is steel the insides are a nasty gray color thus the project gets longer and more expensive.
Taking the case apart was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be with an even dozen rivets holding the top onto the chassis, add my rivet popping drill bit being broken and I had to knock them all off with a chisel.
Next it was off to the paint rack, I under estimated how much primer it would take so this step took an extra day because I wasn't gonna make an extra trip to town just for a can of dull wannabe paint. I like the color of the primer though so I'm going to leave to bottom and the back of the case primer and go over it with clear coat later.
I decided to use duplicolor instant chrome for the inside of the case I actually bought a can when I got the first can of primer, seeing as how I needed a 2nd can of primer I figured I would need a 2nd can of chrome so I help off on painting the main part of the chassis until I had the 2nd can.
the inside of the top panel came out fine, when I was painting the HD cage however I didn't notice as a rain cloud snuck up on me to ruin my party.
Actually on closer inspection I discovered that the rain did catch me with the top panel so I decided to try sanding out the blemishes this is when I made a very interesting discovery. I sanded the panel with 400 then 800 and then on a hunch decided to scrub it with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. This turned out to be a good hunch because the Magic Eraser seems to be some sort of super fin sand paper which got the paint much much smoother than even the 1000 grit sand paper that I later purchased.
Seeing as how I had gotten the paint so smooth I figured I might as well take it a step farther and got for mirror, that way when I install lights in the case the top panel can reflect the light back onto my parts. I was amazed at how well rubbing compound works, I could see my face, unfortunately I could also see the primer so it was back to the painting booth.
However I was also sanding the texture off my side panels at the same time so I decided to practice my buffering one more time.
I finally got the 2nd can of chrome and began on the main part of the chassis. Despite the fact that I followed the instructions on the can spraying the can upside down until clear gas came out the last time I had used my chrome, the can some how clogged. this later turned out to be a good thing because I was able to return half a can of chrome that I didn't need.
Also I repainted the insde of the top panel and discovered that the more coats of paint that are applied the smoother and glossier the final product is.
Now we get to the fun stuff. For the outside of my case I have carefully selected Duplicolors Metalspeck paint. Actually I didn't carefully select it, If I had done a careful job of selecting my paint I would have noticed that metalspecks doesn't say what kid of paint it is on the can, nor does it say on there site. I had to call there help line to find out that Metalspecks is an Acrylic Lacquer, Acrylic Lacquers do not play nice when sprayed on top of Enamels which si what the chrome is, thus I have to do a very careful job of taping off the chrome. If I had done a proper job of planing I would have painted the chrome after the Metalspecks but we'll remember this lesson next time we paint something.
Anyway under advisement form Chumly on MaximumPC forums I'm laying down the blue first and will later tape off the stripe and add the orange.
I'm loving the way this stuff sparkles but lacquer based paint acts differently than enamel, especially when it has flakes in it. A coat of lacquer paint can be reliquefied if the next coat is applied to heavily, this can be both a good and a bod thing. For instance a hair floated int o my paint job, I made a mess of getting it out and did some bad damage to my paint, but I was able to spray more paint onto the area liquefy the entire mess and put it right.
Once again I'm getting slightly off track. The orange paint looks awesome but the can clogged half way through painting the first panel, so I went back down to Schucks and exchanged the can. Once again the can clogs after only a few minuets of painting, well this was the last can of orange that was on the shelf so instead of returning it I pulled off the tip and soaked it in some paint thinner and wonder of all wonder it worked. and to top it all off as I was finishing painting the sun came out so I could snap some pictures of how well the stuff sparkles.
After I had let it sit for half an hour or so I decided to peal off the tape before the orange got to hard.
Unfortunately I'm having a bit of trouble finding a lacquer clear coat so I'm stalled, I could use an enamel as they work ontop of lacquers (just not the other way around) but if I did that I would have to sand the entire thing if I ever wanted to do some touchups to the color.
Anyway I' will update as soon as I find a clear coat that I like.
So this is the Photo shop image of what I want the case to end up looking like. There isn't really to much actual modding other than painting the case but I might do a turbine at a later date.
The case thankfully came with out a scratch on it. I haven't had very good luck with cases in the past so I was a bit worried. One thing I did failed to notice however is that sense the case is steel the insides are a nasty gray color thus the project gets longer and more expensive.
Taking the case apart was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be with an even dozen rivets holding the top onto the chassis, add my rivet popping drill bit being broken and I had to knock them all off with a chisel.
Next it was off to the paint rack, I under estimated how much primer it would take so this step took an extra day because I wasn't gonna make an extra trip to town just for a can of dull wannabe paint. I like the color of the primer though so I'm going to leave to bottom and the back of the case primer and go over it with clear coat later.
I decided to use duplicolor instant chrome for the inside of the case I actually bought a can when I got the first can of primer, seeing as how I needed a 2nd can of primer I figured I would need a 2nd can of chrome so I help off on painting the main part of the chassis until I had the 2nd can.
the inside of the top panel came out fine, when I was painting the HD cage however I didn't notice as a rain cloud snuck up on me to ruin my party.
Actually on closer inspection I discovered that the rain did catch me with the top panel so I decided to try sanding out the blemishes this is when I made a very interesting discovery. I sanded the panel with 400 then 800 and then on a hunch decided to scrub it with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. This turned out to be a good hunch because the Magic Eraser seems to be some sort of super fin sand paper which got the paint much much smoother than even the 1000 grit sand paper that I later purchased.
Seeing as how I had gotten the paint so smooth I figured I might as well take it a step farther and got for mirror, that way when I install lights in the case the top panel can reflect the light back onto my parts. I was amazed at how well rubbing compound works, I could see my face, unfortunately I could also see the primer so it was back to the painting booth.
However I was also sanding the texture off my side panels at the same time so I decided to practice my buffering one more time.
I finally got the 2nd can of chrome and began on the main part of the chassis. Despite the fact that I followed the instructions on the can spraying the can upside down until clear gas came out the last time I had used my chrome, the can some how clogged. this later turned out to be a good thing because I was able to return half a can of chrome that I didn't need.
Also I repainted the insde of the top panel and discovered that the more coats of paint that are applied the smoother and glossier the final product is.
Now we get to the fun stuff. For the outside of my case I have carefully selected Duplicolors Metalspeck paint. Actually I didn't carefully select it, If I had done a careful job of selecting my paint I would have noticed that metalspecks doesn't say what kid of paint it is on the can, nor does it say on there site. I had to call there help line to find out that Metalspecks is an Acrylic Lacquer, Acrylic Lacquers do not play nice when sprayed on top of Enamels which si what the chrome is, thus I have to do a very careful job of taping off the chrome. If I had done a proper job of planing I would have painted the chrome after the Metalspecks but we'll remember this lesson next time we paint something.
Anyway under advisement form Chumly on MaximumPC forums I'm laying down the blue first and will later tape off the stripe and add the orange.
I'm loving the way this stuff sparkles but lacquer based paint acts differently than enamel, especially when it has flakes in it. A coat of lacquer paint can be reliquefied if the next coat is applied to heavily, this can be both a good and a bod thing. For instance a hair floated int o my paint job, I made a mess of getting it out and did some bad damage to my paint, but I was able to spray more paint onto the area liquefy the entire mess and put it right.
Once again I'm getting slightly off track. The orange paint looks awesome but the can clogged half way through painting the first panel, so I went back down to Schucks and exchanged the can. Once again the can clogs after only a few minuets of painting, well this was the last can of orange that was on the shelf so instead of returning it I pulled off the tip and soaked it in some paint thinner and wonder of all wonder it worked. and to top it all off as I was finishing painting the sun came out so I could snap some pictures of how well the stuff sparkles.
After I had let it sit for half an hour or so I decided to peal off the tape before the orange got to hard.
Unfortunately I'm having a bit of trouble finding a lacquer clear coat so I'm stalled, I could use an enamel as they work ontop of lacquers (just not the other way around) but if I did that I would have to sand the entire thing if I ever wanted to do some touchups to the color.
Anyway I' will update as soon as I find a clear coat that I like.
