Half-Life is the ultimate game, not to mention the excellence of its enormous range of mods, and it's always been my dream to use HL as a theme for a mod. Since it's freaking hot out, I need a case with a bunch of fans, and I just happen to have a Thermaltake Xaser II that I decommisioned a while ago. I decided that I want to paint the interior orange, put Half-Life on the right side and the lambda symbol and 2 120mm blowholes on top. The front of this case already has 2 80mm hole which I would like to mod to be viewable from the outside via those handy $4 exhaust tubes. I got a job as a computer salesman at Staples today and figured that was as good of a landmark as any to begin work on this beast! I cut the Half-Life on the right side today, and even though i made a couple of mistakes, I'm happy with the result.

I printed the design on 2 sheets of paper then meticulously stenciled it onto the case first in pencil then in sharpie.


Let's get to work! wooooo!!11 Saftey first; I spent a whole of $1 on my gear. Took the mask from a supply closet somewhere and got the goggles at the 99 cent store. I'm on a budget after all.



I then cut all this using the remains of a reinforced cut-off wheel I had lying around. I couldn't get into those corners as well as I wanted to and got a bit frustrated. At first I thought I really messed up and that the E would look horrible from the other side, but it came out ok.



I read a guide that said a cutting bit should make quick work of those hard corners, and thanks to the lack of secuirty sensors at my local hardware store **stealing is wrong** (can you believe that little piece of metal is $6?!?!), I was soon ready to remedy my problem.



As it turns out I can't even wield a cutting bit. It kept jumping all over the place and simply made a mess, so after about 5 minutes I put it away and decided to be sneaky and just cut out all the small segements the long way (by cutting out all the area inside and using the edge of the disc to smooth the edge). Whatever, you get what you pay for =P I had put some painters masking tape on the other side beforehand to ensure a clean cut (or so I thought). I don't think this was really neccesary, and I probly won't do it again because it left a nasty melted tape residue.



After removing the tape I went to it with a cone shaped dremel sander and then went at it with some 150 grit sand paper. The results were decent, but there was still alot of residue. I used some Goof Off, and it destroyed the residue, but also my paint =( Looks like i'll have to re-paint this sucker after all (darn).



I plan on putting some mesh behind this and painting the mesh orange. It should look pretty sweet when lighted by some orange or red cold cathodes! Stay tuned, I plan on doing the lambda symbol soon unless work distracts me. Any suggestions!>?!? My brother said it looks bland, maybe I should add windows above and/or below it? Remember this is the right side, not the left, you won't be able to see any components from this side. Thanks for looking.

Nah keep it simple, theres very little else you can add on a half life theme without risking ruining the overall look. So far so good though!

Eh..do it up..make it proud and loud!

Good to see there's a consensus =P
Seeing as I'm going to have to re-paint this case anyway, do you guys think that I should change its color? Perhaps a dark, cloudy grey? Maybe I should just keep it clean and black? hmmmmmm

Quote: Originally Posted by ratchetfps Good to see there's a consensus =P Seeing as I'm going to have to re-paint this case anyway, do you guys think that I should change its color? Perhaps a dark, cloudy grey? Maybe I should just keep it clean and black? hmmmmmm

Orange and a very matt black to match the hazmat suit

4xon has it dead-on. Got to go with orange and black.
I'll keep an eye on this one, I've been kicking around an "episodic" case mod idea to go with the new releases.

Nice job so far. I would recommend either using masking tape or painters tape next time, that way you don't have to worry about the residue from the duct tape.

Well... I must admit, you're an example to "starting 'modders" on this forum.... you've got "persistance"&,
especially, "protection"... well covered! I guess MasterP will love that 'pic!

TDR

Nice job, man! They're very clean cuts. And props to you for wearing protection - Ok, that could sounds a little weird.
And I know, those Dremel peices are e-x-pensive. When I got some etching bits at the home depot, the lady at the register wasn't sure the price had come up right. Then she said she couldn't believe how expensive they are.

But, It looks great. And that looks more like duct tape. Painters tape won't leave the resedue. I didn't have any when I etched my window, so I used sheets of label paper. Big mistake. There's still junk on the window. Alcohol, Goo Gone, nothing seems to work.

Quote: Originally Posted by Fire Hawk But, It looks great. And that looks more like duct tape. Painters tape won't leave the resedue. I didn't have any when I etched my window, so I used sheets of label paper. Big mistake. There's still junk on the window. Alcohol, Goo Gone, nothing seems to work.

What about hours and hours of patience and tedious picking?

Quote: Originally Posted by 4x0n What about hours and hours of patience and tedious picking?

NO! I did spend quite a few hours with my window. I got a blister because I was rubbing the window very hard with my finger.
And I believe that what you're proposing has sent people to assylums, no?

so you stole a dremel bit?

Good start on the modding

Can't wait to see this one unfold. Though... the theme's not particularly "original" BUT... I have faith in you, lol. I absolutely LOVE Half-Life 2, so don't let me down

Keep up the good work.

Great cuts!!


*500 post*

Alright I finnaly borrowed a 1/8th drill bit from my buddy and removed the rivets from the top of my case.



I am almost ready to paint the chasis, but have a question that you may be able to assist me with.
The two 3 inch bay cages both have this very convienant locking mechanism on them. Look:



Now, I want to paint these bad boys. The mechanisms are connected via a rivet on the inside. I don't think i could get a drill in there. I have a few options, and am at a loss as to what I should do. I could attempt to dissasemble the mechanisms (I really don't want to...they work great and the rivet is placed in a very tricky spot). Or I could just put some tape of them very carefully and paint (the view right here is from the top. Each of those metal things sticks out just as you see in the pic, the only difference is that the two cages are stacked ontop of one another in the actual case.) I figured that it doesn't really matter how the top of these things look because they are just going to be covered anyway. What do you think?

So I've also sketched out tommorrow's cutting agenda. Two 120mm blowholes and a nifty lamba logo. This also raises another question, but first, the sketch.




As you can see I've sketched 4 little brackets on the lambda logo to hold the middle peice in place. Do you guys think this is the best route to take? I am putting a metal mesh behind this, so I could actually cut the entire thing as a clean circle, then attach the middle metal part (the part that defines the lambda) to the mesh itself. From there it would just take some good positioning and I think it would work. Should I go through that effort, or should I keep it like this? Thanks fellas and have a happy 4th.

I have some drive cages like that, and I just wrapped those locking bits up good with masking tape and painted away. Worked great.

If they are like the one in my case, you can't see the side you're pointing at there anyhow, so you don't really have to paint it. Just mask the levers from the sides that you *will* be painting

Excellent ! Thanks for the tip Bionic =)

I have the same case, and I just painted over those locking levers. I didn't particularly want the chrome finish, so that's why I just went over it with paint. But like Bionic said, masking tape will work fine.

I really like what you have planned for the roof panel, should work nice.

Quote: Originally Posted by ratchetfps So I've also sketched out tommorrow's cutting agenda. Two 120mm blowholes and a nifty lamba logo. This also raises another question, but first, the sketch. could actually cut the entire thing as a clean circle, then attach the middle metal part (the part that defines the lambda) to the mesh itself. From there it would just take some good positioning and I think it would work.

I would leave it the way you have it in the drawing for the following reasons:
1. For structural support.
2. Reminds me of a crosshair going around the logo..
3. It would look hela sweet if you put some lights behind it.
4. It would look better graphically.

I think this project calls for a Sweeet Avatar

Choices:
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