My first case mod is going to have a black/red color scheme, so i wondered how could i paint my keybord including keys. the actual casing is not really a problem its just how would i go about the keys, i was thinking that i could mask them one at a time and put the desired font on it. if anyone has any ideas oh how i could go about ading a red color to my keyswith a black backround any ideas are appreciated although none that say forget it and just keep the keys white... im really hellbent on doing this but i need an idea of how to do the keys before going about it

Thanks in advance

DarkSide

You could use a dremel to engrave all your keys before you painted them, then use something like a tooth pick to get paint back down into the grove you made. I have also seen people print letters out on transparent decal paper and just stick them on. I think a bigger problem would be the keys not having enough clearance to move up and down correctly. light coats of paint

it wouldnt touch the part that connects the keys to the keyboard, i just painted the casing of the keyboard painting the joints where the keys are gently pinted with care,

decals eh? that is something to consider.. although ill have to see on that too

as for the font i chose exotet (the diablo 1 font) cause it fits the case nicely but kinda demanding all that cutting... well ill have to look into it.

If anyone else has ideas please post

Thanks in advance

DarkSide

Darkside,

Hmm. How about if you bought another keyboard with black keys on it? Most of the keyboards I've seen, that are colored, have black keys on 'em with white lettering and there are many places with black keyboards for sale. Then you could follow some of the other guys' suggestions about getting the lettering part painted red. Keyboards are cheap and it seems to me it'd be harder to start with an all white keyboard - unless I'm misunderstanding you about the white-ness....

Just a thought.

Some as low as $12.99 before shipping at colorcase, see below

http://www.colorcase.com/keyboards.html

These ones have bright colors, but black keys - a little more expensive at $36.00.

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/circo/noname.html



Hey and if you know where I could buy a clear keyboard rather than a translucent colored keyboard can you let me know? Thanks!

sara24
Newbie speaks again

El wire?

ill assume thats the wire that u put between the keys so that it lights up right?

well the keyboard is oddly made and i am not able to do that kind of modification unfortunately,

as for the black keyboards, it seems like a good idea but at all the stores up here in canada have them priced up quite high for some odd reason. In any case im waiting to see what i should do for this, now im leaning towards decal although how im going to get the font i want is really bejoind me, another idea i had was to mask the buttons and use an exacto knife to cut away where i would paint it black and underneath it would be red.

also i want to add red leds instead of the yucky green ones so if anyone can direct me to a source that suplys leds that are red i would be very happy(not bright leds just normal leds pls)

Any more ways i can do this guys? gimme an idea ive been burnt out because of school and havent been receiving much in the way of inspiration...

Anyhow...

Tks for now

DarkSide

Dear Darkside,

I see what you mean. Colorcase doesn't ship outside of the U.S.
You might see if someone lives in like the State of Washington because the shipping at Colorcase states that shipping cost is determined by how far away a person lives from Los Angeles, California.

Where in Canada do you live? Maybe you could pick a state that's like right across the border from there and that ([member]of our elite forum) could like re-send or re-ship the black keyboard to you?

For example, now I live in almost the bottom southeastern corner of the State of Arizona, which is somewhat East and South of Los Angeles, California.

If you chose, say the $12.99 black keyboard - Can you use a PS/2 connection type of keyboard? Anyway at this conversion site that amount works out to $20.52 Canadian dollars.

To ship that keyboard to my address using Priority Mail as it suggests on the Colorcase website, costs $7.59 U.S. or $11.99 Canadian.

$20.52 + $11.99 = $32.51 The price is already going up and then add the shipping from the member's place of residence your talking about $50.00 or more in Canadian dollars.

Money Conversion site.
http://www.xe.com

Hmm. Okay on this site, which is in Canada, they have red El wire...for $39.99 Canadian

http://www.lux-design.com/elwirekitmain.html

On this page they have red LED's

http://www.lux-design.com/leds.html

I would spring for the black keyboard. There's got to be someone in Canada who sells cheap black keyboards...

Then I found this website using Google: They have keyboard labels and will do custom color matching - looks like a good possibility. They also seem to have keyboards and they will ship to Canada...

http://www.fentek-ind.com/labels.htm

How about this one? You'd only have to paint the top silver part...
$25.60 Canadian

http://www.ncix.com/canada/productde...68e48dadef2cd7

I too read Mikail's article by Jason Owens, excellent. You should probably also read this article from the PC Workshop and maybe you could paint the keyboard black if keyboards are getting too expensive....

http://www.pc-workshop.net/articles/...int101-1.shtml

Hope this helps
sara24

Thanks a lot sara you really helped me get all the stuff i needed, i think after all im gonna go buy a black keyboardand put red decals over them hopefully in the font i want it, im not sure if that company does stuff like that so ill have to keep looking for them

the company you found oddly enough is in the city im in (the one with the leds and the el wire) im gonna head down this week providing i get the comp and its here by wednesdayil search harder locally for that clack keyboard, a guy at work told me that i might have a chance getting a compaq keyboard for 20$ cdn funds (its black ) anyhow im obviously post the comp when it gets underway it'll look cool but will lack the true 1337-ness on the inside oh well its a first mod anyhow if i have any more questions ill post em i the forums thx a lot sara for all that detailed info. Thanks a lot

DarkSide

Wow, great job Sara24! It's pretty rare when a n00b-a-hoe puts as much effort into helping someone out as you did. You and abyssling really know your sh...stuff. It's great to have people like you join up and instead of just leeching, which most people do, you give up your time to help others out with quality information.

I hope we get to see the cases you and abyssling are working on (or have finished perhaps)!

Cheers!

Ok Mr. WalMart greeter.

Quote: Originally posted by DarkSide it'll look cool but will lack the true 1337-ness on the inside oh well its a first mod anyhow if i have any more questions ill post em i the forums thx a lot sara for all that detailed info. Thanks a lot

DarkSide, any case can look tite on the inside. It just takes a lot more work than most people are willing to do (because hey, you can just hide all the mess with a side-panel, right?). But we modders want to SHOW OFF our handiwork, and you can't do a kickass exterior and leave the interior a spaghetti mess.

Remember one thing with every mod you do: "attention to detail". I've spent literally HOURS planning and re-routing wiring inside my case in such a way that I can see as much of the motherboard (from the side) as possible, and such that very little is blocking airflow (hence my nickname here). Buy a bunch of zip-ties (black for dark parts, white for light or metal-colored parts), some packages of split-loom of varying diameters 1/4" and greater, unplug everything, and start from scratch. When you're done, it will look like a completely different computer (cuz you can actually see the parts now!).

Details are so important. Like, I have this thing with glowing red eyes, but (1) I didn't want the actual bulbs to be visible, just the glow. So I positioned the bulbs in such a way that you can't see them. (2) I didn't want the red light to reflect back on the beige surface the lights were mounted on, cuz...well, cuz that'd just look nasty. So I painted that surface flat black. (3) I noticed that some red light was sneaking through beneath the...umm...object (you'll see when I post preview pics next week ), which normally most people wouldn't even think twice about...but to me, it wasn't PERFECT. So I used black electrical tape to mask off the sides of the red light that I didn't want to be illuminating, between the object and the case surface. (4) In order to get maximum reflectance and brightness (without having the bulbs being visible), I took the time to paint the inside surfaces (i.e., eye sockets) with a chrome paint. (5) I have a custom-made power button mounted on a black piece of cylindrical plastic, and due to case design, a bit more of the black plastic was visible than I would've preferred, and black didn't match well with the case color scheme...so I took the time to paint the sides of the black plastic silver.

Attention to the nit-picky stuff is the difference between a good mod and a great mod.

It looks positively sinister!

You'll all see preview pics of it sometime next week, once I obtain a borrowed digital camera. I still need some custom-cut fan grilles and low profile 80mm fans before I can gallery-post it.

i thought he was referring to "out-of-SotA" hardware...

Coel, you've pimped your new rig enough where I can't wait to see it posted. You say next week? I'm looking forward to seeing your latest creation.

Yeah, I guess I've built up a little bit of anticipation, eh? Everyone's probably wondering if I'm gonna put my money (or lack thereof) where my mouth (or keyboard) is. Finally the end is near, and about a week or two late. Delayed by a bunch of little annoying details.

It'll live up to the hype, I guarantee it.

Quote: I've built up a little bit of anticipation, eh?

Yeah, I'm sure it will live up to expectations, eh?

Uhh when i said that the insides wont match its outsides i meant that the comp itself isnt too flashy:

P2 450
256 megs of ram
15 gig hard drive
crummy video card(i dont know what yet)
Crummy sound card(same as above)

thats what i meant on the inside...

the mod will not be complete until the wireing is the cleanest possible,

its gonna be one of those mods that look simple to the vets but ill do my best to make it as pleasing to the public as possible.

anyhow...

im not sure if i should make another thread or not but have a question on external power supplys mainly how do i assemble one and is there something special i need to do or even where do i start.. is there a guide or is it a trade secret? bah someone pls tel me... i have looked around and found over 50000 search results on yahoo none of which (that i checked ) had what i needed any ideas?

Thanks in advance

DarkSide

First of all, Darkside, you didn't impress me when you state you don't know what kind of video card and sound card you are running in your system. A true modder can quote you specifications on each and every piece of equipment they have installed.

Secondly, as far as the second PSU is concerned, I think you should go with an AT PSU that requires no special wiring or mods. All you have to do is hit the power button. That would work with your skills.

I agree with BA. An AT psu would be best for a noob.

That said, if you want an external ATX psu, PM me. I can hook you up!

By the way, yes, It should have been a new thread.

It just makes it easier to search and find later.

Also, helps other noobs that might be looking for the same info!

They won't look for psu advice in a thread called "key painting".

Quote: Originally posted by bigakita Yeah, I'm sure it will live up to expectations, eh?

Aye, I'm think'n it will, laddie! I'll be leavin' the decision to you alone, so's there ain't ta be none of tha' namby-pamby, aye!