anyone know how I could go about painting the front grill part of the chieftec dragon cases? go here for a pic: http://www.directron.com/da01sld.html

I wanted to get a glossy, mirror like finish on it, but as the front bezel is all curved, sanding would be wierd and the bottom grill part seems like it would be incredibly difficult to do.

or does anyone have a suggestion for a good full tower case with at least 6 external 5.25" bays, a case that is at least 25" tall, that has a flat front bezel that would be easier to paint? I kind of like the front of the chieftec so if anyone has any suggestions for painting it, that would be preferable to buying another case.

Quote: Originally Posted by Enko anyone know how I could go about painting the front grill part of the chieftec dragon cases? go here for a pic: http://www.directron.com/da01sld.html I wanted to get a glossy, mirror like finish on it, but as the front bezel is all curved, sanding would be wierd and the bottom grill part seems like it would be incredibly difficult to do. or does anyone have a suggestion for a good full tower case with at least 6 external 5.25" bays, a case that is at least 25" tall, that has a flat front bezel that would be easier to paint? I kind of like the front of the chieftec so if anyone has any suggestions for painting it, that would be preferable to buying another case.

try one of those replacement bezzles...
they sell those at directron too...

On my Antec, It was insanely difficult and didn't turn out right. The gloss layers caused a rough looking snow effect, and so now it looks grey instead of black. inside the slits

You may want to change to that matrix case Zen suggested.
Probably be alot easier to paint.

hmm yeah looks like i'll just be buying the replacement bezel
too bad i'm going to have to buy a more expensive multicolored one even though i'm just painting over it . .. they don't got solid colors for the full tower ones. if i wanted to get a new case also, I would have to buy the case with the grills on the front and just buy an extra front bezel as it looks like all the full tower matrix cases are out . ..

so will sanding with the curves still cause a problem? it looks like the matrix front bezels also have a curve to them . ..

i was also looking into buying a new case if any of you have a suggestion for a full tower case that has 6 5.25" external bays and is at least 2 feet tall

If you mean the curve of the bezel in general, no it wasn't really a problem. I just had to be more conscious of what I was doing, when sanding the bezel.

I would do a quick rough sanding before priming. I had a couple frell-ups, caused from plastic flash*, had to re-paint a couple areas because of it.

And I already mentioned the slits. I think that is all the pertinent thing I have come across, myself.

Happy Modding!

*Plastic flash: is the sharp raised bits of plastic caused from the molding process.

It only has 5 external bays ....... but it doesn't get much flatter:



Here is a review of the AOpen HX08:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=676

You can see a modded one in my sig.

Quote: Originally Posted by putwig Here is a review of the AOpen HX08: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=676 You can see a modded one in my sig.

Putwig, is the covering all plastic? or is it metal?
The review doesn't say, help a Hoe out man.

you could always try replacing the grill thing on the bottom half with something like modders mesh, so u can paint all the smooth parts, and make that section look better. just a thought if you want a more unique case, cuz everyone has a dragon (i do too lol)

Quote: Originally Posted by Enko hmm yeah looks like i'll just be buying the replacement bezel too bad i'm going to have to buy a more expensive multicolored one even though i'm just painting over it . .. they don't got solid colors for the full tower ones. if i wanted to get a new case also, I would have to buy the case with the grills on the front and just buy an extra front bezel as it looks like all the full tower matrix cases are out . .. so will sanding with the curves still cause a problem? it looks like the matrix front bezels also have a curve to them . .. i was also looking into buying a new case if any of you have a suggestion for a full tower case that has 6 5.25" external bays and is at least 2 feet tall

I have a spankin new black front bezel for that exact case in my "treasure" chest........if your interested.

The front is plastic. The rest is metal.

I cut off all those little pieces of plastic and then used some acrylic there instead. Slapped some led fans behind there and you got a decent looking mod with a minimal investment. Modders mesh would also be a good choice or some sheet metal. Im actually working on a chieftec case now. I cut the whole bottom of the bezel off and replaced it with a bezel from a different case. Wasnt at all that bad. Just had to do a little plastic clip relocating.

thanks putwig, that might just be the case i'm looking for. one question though, that review said that the top panel has to be removed to be able to remove the side panels. any way to get around that?

is this the same case? http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage....k=searchViewed

the picture looks the same and the description but the name is hq08 instead of hx08 . .. typo maybe?

aaronrkelly, how much would you be willing to sell that front bezel for? i might just cut what i have out. was thinking about cutting the outlined part on the front and replacing the entire front center with acrylic including the part with the leds and reset switch . ..

i just painted the front of my cheiftec with lots of clearcoat, it turned out super glossy, you can kinda tell in my sig.

Quote: Originally Posted by Spc. Forces Bob i just painted the front of my cheiftec with lots of clearcoat, it turned out super glossy, you can kinda tell in my sig.

I can also tell you didn't do anything with the grille, which was kind of the point of the thread


Enko - for a different approach, take a look at http://gallery.pcapex.com/showphoto.php?photo=1662. I'm doing something similar with my current project (photos of some of the steps as http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread....&threadid=9649) ... you could always go a step further & fit a turbine look fan at the same time

Quote: Originally Posted by Enko thanks putwig, that might just be the case i'm looking for. one question though, that review said that the top panel has to be removed to be able to remove the side panels. any way to get around that? is this the same case? http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage....k=searchViewed the picture looks the same and the description but the name is hq08 instead of hx08 . .. typo maybe? aaronrkelly, how much would you be willing to sell that front bezel for? i might just cut what i have out. was thinking about cutting the outlined part on the front and replacing the entire front center with acrylic including the part with the leds and reset switch . ..

That may be a typo, but I would clarify before ordering as the HQ08 is a totally different front bezel (same metal chassis).

In fact, in its native state, the top must be removed to get the sides off. Also, the side must be pulled all the way back (the full length of the case) in order to be removed.

Took me about an hour of dremel lovin' to fix that up. Now both sides come off without removing tthe top, and you only have to pull each side back about an inch.

If you get the case, PM me. I will tell you how to do it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonny English I can also tell you didn't do anything with the grille, which was kind of the point of the thread

that is the only part i painted on the bezel is the grill....

Quote: Originally Posted by Spc. Forces Bob that is the only part i painted on the bezel is the grill....

Oops, my bad ...

heh, np

well looks like what i'm going to do is just fill in the holes with bondo as some have suggested and then stick a 92 or 120 mm turbine type fan grill to allow airflow to the radiator that's going to be right behind . ..

[edit] looked around on the boards a bit and saw that most people made their own. i wasn't planning on having a fan behind the bezel, partly because a fan won't fit behind there without going into the chassis and i'm going to have a radiator with a fan pulling through right at the front of the chassis. should i just have the fan being extended into the chassis and pushing air through the radiator? was kind of planning on having a shroud on the other side with a fan since it looks cleaner than just the naked radiator side. having the fan extend into the chassis would also cause the radiator to be pushed slightly into the case instead of flush with the front like how i wanted. it would also make it difficult to remove the front bezel if i was inclined to do so. kind of just wanted it for looks and to allow airflow to the radiator since i was going to be filling in the holes but seems like i'll have to figure something else out

on another note thats not related to the front bezel, is there anyway to convert the fan holes so that i can use screws to attach it to the case instead of those brackets? i cut off the fan grills that were on the case since i didn't like how they looked and they blocked a bit of airflow but now i just got a couple of gaping holes and the fans in the back are exposed.

You could always drill new mounting holes. That's what I am doing, right after I enlarge the holes to 92mm size.