Project: Dragonsteel

[dracos]

And here we go off on another modding 'adventure'

This is going to be my personal machine, so it will probably be a while in the making!

I started off with a Raidmax Scorpio 868W that I purchased a couple of years ago actually, and I liked it so much that I decided to keep it as my own, I added some ccfl's,some nice fan grills,more fans, did a little Dremel work on it, and also added a cool Centaurus Fan to the side of it.. BUT it still really wasn't mine...

Well now I am in a position to make it mine, and I am going to do just that.

I liked this case because it was not to big or too small, just right for me.

Lots of room in it for everything I need to stick in there.

But now follow me on the journey of destruction and re-construction of this case.

This is what the case looks like on the manufacturer's page and what it pretty much looked like when I received it!

And here is a pic of it after I added a few things to it, that is an older pic actually, but it works..

Ok, enough of that history, let's start taking it apart!

Yep EVERYTHING is coming apart and getting re-done, or replaced......

Here are shots of side panel with glass in and without..

OK.. let's break out the Ol' Dewalt 18v Cordless Drill and start removing rivets......Yep all taken apart!

NOW... Let's do something about that side panel with the 'S' thing on it, it's stylish, but NOT ME, so..Gotta Go!!

Got my Dremel out and go to work!

NOW.. of course, that YELLOW just has to go... I had to get my BIG BOY out for this one The Makita industrial hammer drill, not using the 'hammer' part of course, but it puts out some nice rpm's for this type of work, and stays cool...Stripping paint!!! I used a special Fiber Wheel from 3M to remove the paint, as you can see it leaves fine scratches that can be easily sanded out, with some high grit paper on my Milwaukee Palm Sander......You actually can't even feel those little scratches if you run your fingers across it...

and here is a close up shot of the marks left behind by the Fiber Stripper Wheel..

 

[KrakenGuy]

Now, use an orb sander and polish that metal to make it shine, it should make painting it a breeze as well.

 

[dracos]

OK.....Now I stripped the Other side, and need to put a window on the other side also....

So get the dremel out for this one!!

Now after I cut it out....

NOW.. I didn't want the windows on both side to be exactly the same, so I did a little something different to it, to keep the same size, but just add a little bit to the window edges

And here is first coat of Primer

I don't know why i primed the top, as I am going to be cutting it for windows... Oh well..

You can go to my site and see the large images

 

[dracos]

OK... sorry for lack of updates, as I was working on my Liquid Case mod, which is now finished!!

Anyway, here is one of the windows for the top of my case.....

As I mentioned this is MY CASE, so it is going to have things that I like or am interested in....

So this is the DEATH CARD from the Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck....

All etching done by hand, took me approx 10 hours to finish this....

This is the Original Card I scanned for this etching:

Big Picture Here http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/Death Tarotsmall.JPG



And here are the shots of the start of the etch, after i got it all laid out...

Big Pictures here:

http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/etchingdeathbefore.JPG

http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/etchingdeathbefore (2).JPG



AND here is the finished Product:

And Big Pictures here:

http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/etchingdeath (6).JPG

http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/etchingdeath (7).JPG

Well this was a difficult etch to do, but I think I reproduced it very well, as it is originally hand drawn, and none of the lines are really straight anyway, if you look at the original you will see what I mean, I think I got it to about 95% of the original........

You can see more pics of this on my site if you want...

 

[dogbyte_13]

Very cool

 

[Nuzzles]

Just fix up where the blade and leg meet. You can't tell whether it's behind it or in front of it, and judging by the card, it's behind/in it. So fix that.

 

[zapperfish]

i have that same drill, there good aint they

 

[Nikola]

Freakin' sweet dude, looks badass

 

[KodiakStar]

What type of paint theme are you going with this?

So far its looking great. Keep up the good work!

 

[dracos]

OK.. next... the sides (fronts) are done... have to paint inside as well (maybe, may leave it silver)

BIG PICS:
http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/uploads/leftsideraidmax.JPG
http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/uploads/rightsideraidmax.JPG


now for the Second etched window for the top of case.. only about 8 hours time to make..



here are pics of basic etching..

Big Pics:
http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/uploads/dragonetch.JPG
http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/uploads/dragonetch%20(1).JPG

and here are the finished etching pictures..

Big Pics:

http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/uploads/dragonetchdone.JPG
http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/uploads/dragonetchdone1.JPG

 

[Drucifer]

Dude... that is some awesome work. Nice etching!


Anyway I could get a copy of your large scan of the Death card? I am thinking that it needs to go on a mirror in my bathroom...

Got it, thanks!

I can't wait to see you get this done!

 

[dracos]

Big one on my site....

 

[dracos]

Sorry for Lack of Updates, have a lot of Personal stuff going on...

My MOM is real sick she may need Liver Transplant, and they found a Tumor the size of a Grapefruit in her Uterus, so... Life has been interesting......


AND HERE IS WHERE I AM NOW...

OK... Decided a different approach for the Chassis.. Went with WHITE...

BIG Picture:
http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/raidmaxupdate1111.JPG

NOW, after 2 weeks of working on this ETCH it is VERY close to being done... Need to work on some little details yet, but here is where it is now..

BIG PICTURE:

http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/village.JPG

 

[dracos]

Here is the Original Picture from which the Etch is based.. It is a small section of a 10 foot long Japanese Wall Banner that I own..

http://app.websitetonight.com/project_root/d/r/dracos/uploads/village cropped.JPG

 

[Hinokagutsuchi]

Man, those etchings look amazing!

 

[Nuzzles]

That sucks about your Mum(Mom). Give her a nice big hug from Nuzzles. ^.^ Hope she gets better soon.

Btw, the etchings are looking awesome, I can't believe your patience for that Village one. Amazing, truly amazing.

 

[dracos]

AND finally more to update... I realize that I don't have much free time, anyway...



Here are the cutouts for the top two windows, the Tarot Card and the Dragon Etchings...



This will be for the Dragon Etching..

Big Pic:

Big Pic:

As you can see I did a little creative cutting on it, measured the lines out so the ends will be approximately the same, but the insides I left rough, I think it added to it....



This will be for the Tarot Etching.. similar to what I did for side panel..

Big Picture:



ANd no they are not finished yet.... the paint is drying now actually...

OK..I came across some Silver and Gold Mirror Plexi, and I decided to use it on the bottom of my case, but wanted to do something a little different with it... I took an idea from the Tarot Card with the 'strings' all around it for the mirror and marked of every 5/16th inch and used straight edge with Xacto Knife to cut the lines.. I also wanted it to have a puzzle look to it, so I did a little work on the actual pieces, you can see the shapes I made in the pictures...



Here are the pictures of the Gold mirror basically from start to finish....

Big Pic:

Big Pic:

And here are the Silver pieces I created for the center section of the bottom of case...

Big Pic:

Big Pic:

Here are various shots of it in place... these are not attached and not cleaned up yet..

Big Pic:

Big Pic:


And here are shots of it attached with Weldbond adhesive, and cleaned up a bit, the glue still needs to dry yet..

Big Pic:

Big Pic:


And There are lots of other pics on my site!!!!!!

 

[dracos]

Update time again! Well I ran across some 40mm fans I am going to use for front intake in the bay, I am going to create a holder for them from colored plexi, but I needed to paint them, so I went with the Anodized Blue Here are some before and after shots, the quarters are in the pic to show you just how small 40mm is...

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE

-----------------------------------------------------------------
OK.. Started to work on front bezel, you can see from pic what I did, going to put colored plexi, with air slits and a fan in the center of it..

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok the Top of case is finally painted and the windows are installed

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well the right side of case is done, windows installed etc.. I repaintied the inside with a metallic silver to reflect light, not the greatest paint job, but it is on teh inside, and no one will see it... Installed window with allen screws and clear silicone caulk to seal it up!

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE

 

[dracos]

Update time again!

Time for a peek in the madness..........

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE

BIG PIC HERE

I used Hex head screws to replace all the rivets, it is rock solid now...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the drive covers, fan bracket, and fan controller cover.

BIG PIC HERE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here is the finished fans ready to be installed!!

BIG PIC HERE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here is some work on the door I did, I decided to attach the door permantly, by doing so it gave me almost another inch of room to move the drives forward...

Need to make cutouts for Power and Reset switch and the usb/audio ports yet, then bondo,sand and paint white!

BIG PIC HERE

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[zeusenergy]

OK... sorry for lack of updates, as I was working on my Liquid Case mod, which is now finished!!

Anyway, here is one of the windows for the top of my case.....
.

Nice etch, Dude! Love the death card. So ominous..... Looks like this ones a keeper!

 

[dracos]

It's been a while for an update, I have been extremely busy with life/work

and new baby...



But here we go..



First I needed to make my wires a bit neater and make them more easy to

control, so I spliced the front 4 together into one connection

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----
And did the same for the back two exhaust fans.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I drilled holes for ventilation in the front bezel, but they looked pretty

bad just as plain holes so I got some heavy metal mesh and painted it the

anodized blue (loos black now) and bent,cut formed them around the bezel,

and attached with Weldbond

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-
Next I got the holes cut for the Power and Reset buttons, also got the leds

installed, also got holes cut and usb/audio installed

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next I had to make the cover plates for the buttons and ports, made them out

of blue plexi, cut and shaped and bent to the curve of the surfe, attached

with Weldbond glue.. Also got the buttons installed and clear plastic button

cover over the leds..

Now, orignally I was going to make the drive covers blue plexi, but I came

across these cool drive bay covers, so i decided to paint and use these

instead..

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------
Now I need to make the front piece of the bezel, I have 1/4 inch thick red

plexi for that

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

------
Here are the progressive shots, using dremel,drill/hole saw and torch to

clean it up, the final shot is semi installed.. going to do some etching on

that as well..

I can't get the damn code to work to link to big pics.. it doesn't like

spaces in pic names.. and I 'm not going to rename all of them.. if you

would care to see the big pics, you can visit my site, it is under Project

Dragonsteel Page 2


That's it for now.. more later this week..

 

[SiathLinux]

My daughter has that same case - in blue - we've been trying to decide what mods to do to it and what mods would work well together, so gonna watch this build...
Also, she has no guts and the stock 520w psu... we haven't decided on a mobo or anything else yet either...

 

[Ultragamma]

Whenever you splice a few wires into one, maybe you should check the load on the wires and make sure the single wires can handle it. Or else you will have a fun time cleaning off the melted wire wrapings and have some shorted hardware. Don't gamble on this, it could start an electrical fire, just my .02

 

[dracos]

Thanks for caring about me and mine, but the fans will be running on low pretty all times, those four fans push alot of air, especially now that I make the intakes alot wider to allow more airflow..

I ran them for over an hour last night while I was testing system and taking pics, and didn't notice any problems...


This mod is pretty much done, I need to do an update, all I have to do is install the system in it...


I will have an update tomorrow or later tonight.. LOTS of pics to upload to server etc...

 

[dracos]

OCTOBER 8th Done

OK.. been a while for updates, it's been about 7 months for this project... WOW... time flys...



OK, these are the finished bay covers... Only 1 will actually be working, as I am only putting 1 drive in the system, you can see I decided to do something a little different with them, I added a bit of texturing with dremel before painting.. Primer,paint,clear etc..

Here is the opposite side window, which would be the left side, I wanted some sort of etching on it, but I didn't want anything that would obscure the view of the computer inside, so I did a little custom work, I think it came out very good.

Here is the PSU, it is a 500Watt Xblade Psu, it had a clear plexi window in the side with the Xblade logo on it, I decided to replace it with mirror plexi and etch the back side so light shows through, I carried the window etch to the PSU as well. I choose the Xblade PSU becuase it is not that bad quality and it has UV reactive colorful wiring, I also removed two of the LEDS from the fan, the green and red ones which left two blue leds, you will see in the finished pictures it works well with the rest of the lighting

Next up is wiring and lighting, I sleeved the front panel wires with UV reactive yellow sleeving and routed them so they would come out in the middle of the four fans in the front, I also sleeved the audio and USB cables the same way. There is a total of 4 UV ccfl in there and 1 mini laser UV led.

Here is a pic of 2 of the UV ccfls's on the bottom of case, the mirrored bottom helps reflect more light...

Can you find the switch? It is the little red square, it controls 2 of the ccfls

Here is the UV LED light onthe top of case, and more "hidden" wiring....

Some of you may have wondered what exactly what the theme was here, well it was ME, things I like, things I enjoy......



AND NOW...(Drumroll Please) May I present Dragonsteel.....

AND now, let's turn the lights out and turn the system on........Look at the prettty lights...

Well that's that...... it was fun, and lots of tedious work......


This is just a small portion of the pictures, there are about 50 more on my site and they are bigger!!!!

www.dragonsteelmods.com