| Well, just about every other techno-geek on the block is doing it, and since I already had an artistic bent, and some time on my hands, I went and joined the trend. So, I present for your edification, the results of my labors. | |
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I started out with an InWin full-tower case...But things have changed since I first put this pages on my website. The case is still the same, but the guts have changed. The internals are as follows:
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The first thing I did, was
to improve my airflow in the case. I added a 80mm fan to the front-bottom
of the case, an 80mm fan to the top-rear of the case, and a HDD cooler
fan, (2 25mm fans), to the front of the case. Next, I rounded my IDE
cables and then put all of the cables I could into plastic split-loom
I picked up. I left my SCSI cable alone, as I don't currently have a
replacement if I screw it up.
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| After that, I spent a decent bit of time perusing what other people had done to their cases. I liked the idea of a window, even though my internals aren't quite as spiffy as other's. One thing I noticed, tho, was that no one did much with the other side of their case. Either the painted design wrapped around, or the motherboard side of the case was plain. I decided to add a second neo-window to that side. It's opaque, but it is a cut-out backed with plexiglass. I decided that a chaos symbol and a yin-yang would be appropiate, showing the balance that we all hope to achieve with out computers, and the chaos that they usually generate. Especially for those of us running Micro$oft operating systems... | |
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| After that, it was time to
decide on a paint scheme. I wasn't terribly sure what I wanted so I just
headed to the hardware store to see what they had in stock. There, I discovered
the faux-stone spray paint from American Accents. I decided that I liked
it, picked up a can of that, plus a good, flat blue for an undercoat,
primer, gloss white, gloss black, and clear coat. Armed with this, I went
home. Armed with the saber saw, my Dremel, and sandpaper, I proceeded to cut out the windows in each side of the case. Dremels are a ghodsend! Even so, it wasn't especially easy, but it worked out well. The white part of the ying-yang is cut from the steel of the case. After several hours spent cleaning, primering, waiting, painting the yin, waiting, painting the yang, waiting, coating with faux-stone, waiting, and laying down 7 coats of clear acrylic and waiting them all to dry thoroughly, I was ready to start assembling. I did things the simple way for this. I found an epoxy that claimed to be excellent on both metals and plastics, and proceeded to glue the yin to the plexiglass, and then both windows into the sides of the case. They glue may fail one day, but it avoids the screws/rivets that everyone else is using. I couldn't cover the edges of the windows, like a lot of people are doing, due to their shape, so I beveled the corners with the Dremel to smooth them out. This worked out just great. Next was the front of the case. I knew I wanted to accent it, and I was thinking silver. However, when I went back to the hardware store to pick up some, I found this new 'hammered' spray paint. You can't really see it in the pictures, but the paint lays down a texture that gives the appearance of a hammered metal surface. They had a gold in this paint, and I decided that I'd give in to the years of UC Berekely exposure I got from my parents, and used that. I think it's turned out well. I masked off the sections I wanted gold, took out the buttons and LEDs, finished off the faceplate just like the other sides, and then laid down the gold before the 7 coats of clear coat. The faceplates of my DVD, CD-R, and DAT drive were a bit more problematical, tho. The CD-R and DAT both have swinging doors, and the DVD is a slot-loader. A little careful masking, and they worked out just fine. |
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The case may have been finished
some time ago, but not completely. I have swapped the blank faceplate
and the bay fan, so that I could install the switches for new lighting
elements. I mounted a UV dual cold-cathode fan shroud over the 80mm fan
at the front of the case, behind the mesh opening. Under the bottom of
the support strut in the middle of the case, I mounted a 6" UV cold-cathode
light bar. These are controlled from the rocker switches mounted in the
faceplate. I also replaced the single fan in the top-rear with a pair
of UV-reactive 80mm fans that each have four UV LEDs mounted in them. The home-made rounded IDE cables are gone as well. I replaced them with commercially made ones: One solid black, and the other copper shielded with a UV-reactive shroud. Over all, the case glows nicely, but I think I'll add another 6" UV bar later on. |
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As for the old hardware I previously mentioned: The P3-450 is now my mother's computer in a pretty standard case. My old T-bird 1100 has been mounted in a new case as my back-up system. It's been customized as well, but I haven't had access to a digital camera to take some shots of it. I ought to get around to fixing that and putting it up here... |
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