Well, I got into a funny place:

I love my Ark SR-8100, with the etching of Kuroobi (One Piece) on the side. But at the same time, I'm fed up with it. I don't want to just blast it over with spray-paint, because at the end, I'll still have the same old SR-8100 with the same old one broken drive rail and the same old patched-over hole in the top which will probably come undone if I ever try to drill a hole in the case and the same old front door which won't clear a 5.25" drive's locking arm, and the same old SR-8100 which requires front-panel removal to install drives, yet the front panel cannot be removed due to the installation of an hours-of-use meter with a tight cable.

So since I had a small bonus, I finally dropped 42 bucks on a new case-- an AMS CF-2029, in silver (basically the only colour that you can still find).

It's apparently a fairly old case-- note review from 2003.

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I note it's a lot smaller than the SR-8100 (3.5" shallower, a bit less wide, a bit less tall), but to a degree, the 8100's depth has become a drawback (front-panel mounted devices cannot actually reach the USB ports easily!)
Definite plans:

* 120mm rear exhaust.

* Install those handles that have been sitting around for a year now.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's used one of these cases-- does a 120 fit cleanly in the back? What about huge VGA heatsinks (I <3 my Accelero S2). And what about the intake? It looks fairly constricted... is there a slit in the bottom of the front panel to let it breathe? Is there any room in the front panel area at all even to MAKE a slit It looks like the plexi runs right up to the side panels.

Now, on to styling concepts.

The plexi front could make for some interesting lit patterns.

I'm leading strongly towards, as a theme, the manhwa Rebirth. As my last case was One Piece themed, you can tell, I'm following my obsessions of the week.

Personally i would go for some wicked paint work or stealth alot of it some subtle designs wit a twist but i dunno dont have many ideas for theme right now
cool case tho iam stuck with a cooler master tats way too small mabye ill do somtin to it now

go nuts but it would be cool to have it stealth then light some designs or somtin lik crazy anyway u can make any fansd fit with zip tis and ducctape lol if not build backets aluminium is real easy to work with for the thinner stuff -- the trick is if u use alu goto a actual metal yard /supplier for some of the pieces its way cheaper !!!!!!!!!! and generally by the pound for material sometimes used which they usually discount alot


also at the Sims metal where iam from they had a bin of plexi scraps blocks and small sheets that were like 1/4 inth thick and 1dollar a pound also alot of those metal places have a minimum sale charge so dont just get like a pound well cept for like copper which where i go is like 4.50 a pound alu is real cheap tho like 2.50 lb which would kill th prices at like home depo or orchard

Well, the case arrived Friday, and I got stuck in before taking any "before" shots.

My first goal: mount those MNPCTECH handles. Those gorgeous handles. Which use bolts so large that Electro-Motive Corporation decided they were overkill for holding their products together.

I HATE drilling holes. Perhaps I need to break down and buy a drill press, but the bits are never sharp enough, and the drill always takes a merry walk across the panel.

So here's what I end up doing:

* Scar the hole location with a cutting disc and grinding stone.

* Hammer a nail into the spot enough to open it up

* Widen the hole by driving larger and larger screws into the hole, or stretching it by torquing screws, or milling it out with the grinding stone.

After hours of effort, you do get holes. The problem is that you also get nasty ridges from all the metal that was bent, instead of removed, in the process.


I also have the problem where there's some nasty scars on the finish. I can't buff them out or cover them; I'm worried I'll have to repaint the whole damn panel, and try to match the silver. Or maybe I need to find a painted design which covers those areas.

Issue 2: 120mm fan.

This seemed straightforward, except that the rolled-for-safety edges make the case just too narrow to fit. So first, I have to cut a 120mm hole in the ridge:


From there, the cut was straightforward... once I found a template which printed at correct scale (SumatraPDF is no help in this department).



Next step: Drilling (sigh) four holes to mount the 120 in a less capricious fashion.


Design thoughts:

As I hinted in the first post, I was thinking of a Rebirth theme, with a dramatic scene painted on the "visible" side panel.

Either:

* This scene (from volume 23) - the obscure minor character Rheth bludgeoning with his ridiculously oversized sword like a guy hoping to work his way up from the manhwa minor leagues to a starting spot in Bleach. I tried to mock up how it would look on a panel in the GIMP:



The big drawback with using off-the-shelf art is that almost all of it is basically full-bleed. My original thought-- having the "shockwave" behind the sword as a window, and the general concept of sticking with a basically silver case, would look strange when the design runs out of case, long before it runs out of black or shockwave.

* The same character, in a more formal "holding my sword straight up like some third-rate Conan-the-Barbarian wanna-be" pose This would have to be drawn freehand.

I was pondering, for the front panel, if I go with one of those designs, the design the character has on his forehead (well, sometimes ), etched and lit in the plexi front panel. It's a subtle thing that nobody will know what it means except for, well, the other four people in the Rebirth fandom.

* Something else I find in trolling through every page of the series looking for a model.

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Fan Screws are the WORST ever. If you make the hole 1mm too large, they drop through. And of course, the holes were all 2mm off centre of the FAN hole, so I had to extend them.

So I've got a delightful precarious mounting, plus a mess of scars all over the back. I wish there was a way to at least restore the original finish (wetsanding with 800-grit isn't it)



With the frame mods done, I could get that back in one piece for test-fitting; later, I'll install real hardware to see clearances.

I was able to install the handles though. They do look good, and certainly do the job, but take a size comparison versus the SR-8100:



By comparison, the G-Mono looks like a micro-ATX box!

I also started to plan cable management. Who uses those front audio jacks anyway? And I only own one mobo with FireWire (an ASRock 939SLI32) which is not going in the case.

Interesting things about the G-Mono:

Unlike most $25 cases, it has seven real slot covers (one punched to allow the Firewire cable to exit). I hate the cases which come with breakaway covers which can never be removed without possibly scarring the motherboard to swing them back and forth. There's also an EMI-shield between the slot covers and the motherboard tray.


Also, see this notch? This is the clearance you get for that 120mm intake to "breathe", since the front panel is flat and only has those small holes cut through it.



This is one of the three big mis-steps in the design.

Mis-step 1: That
Mis-step 2: Dual-80 exhausts, not 120. If 120 can be physically fit into a case, I expect it. Hence my hatred of 4U rackmount cases.
Mis-step 3: Not 10cm deeper and extended-ATX. Everyone should have room in case they decide to upgrade from Core 2 to Quad Opteron.

I bet a full-tower version would look gorgeous too... I noted this was listed as a very popular case for the OSX86 types... it does have a clean, Mac-like simplicity to it, and with the handles, it looks like a version of the G5, only not like those premods which look like they started with the G5 design, but couldn't stop tarting it up.

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To keep a drill bit from walking use a center punch, and the problem of the bits never being sharp enough nor holding an edge is due to using cheap bits. When it comes to a drill bit set you get what you pay for. 100 bux will get you a set that if treated properly will last for years.

I like that case on madshrimps as long as the front bezel acrylic is removed. Isnt that the same case Mnpctech uses for a lot of his projects?

If you remove the acrylic, all you have is drives sticking out almost 1cm in thin air. It's a VERY thick piece of acrylic.

And now the first build in it:

* Powerful Intel processor and chipset? Check. (Celeron 533, Mendocino core, i815 board)
* Loads of RAM? Check. (256M).
* High-end video card? Check (Radeon 7000).
* Massive hard disc? Check (40G).

I realized "Hey, I can get some HWBoints while I test-fit the case!"

Clearances overall look good, not as great, of course, as with a full-EATX job.

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One mod and one march forward today.

The mod: Trimming down the "lips" of the PSU mount. Knowing my plans involved an Antec EA650 PSU, with the 120mm bottom intake, I wanted clearance.



Then, I figured I'd better see how it runs with real hardware in it. The Celery 533 was cute... but hardly reflected real-world performance.



Extended-ATX: Accept no substitutes.

This stuff is not big kit. The P35-DS3L is a fairly shallow board. The EA650 is a standard-depth PSU. The video card is a short little HD3650. And yet it's cramped. I can't imagine how people handle smaller cases without just resorting to "ball the cables and cross your fingers".

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Over that back plate, why not apply some of the vinyl adhesive stuff, like the Carbon Fiber from MNPCTech?

Carbon Fiber Sheets

Might clean up the appearance, make the screw holes less ugly.

-godling

Maybe, but I've been forced into a tangent. This case runs WAY hotter than the SR-8100.

If I remove the motherboard side panel, it drops back to basically par with the old case. So I'm probably going to put a large vent in the side, and possibly mesh it over.

Quote: Originally Posted by Hak Foo Maybe, but I've been forced into a tangent. This case runs WAY hotter than the SR-8100. If I remove the motherboard side panel, it drops back to basically par with the old case. So I'm probably going to put a large vent in the side, and possibly mesh it over.

Do what you want to the side, I was thinking of ways you might clean up the back plate ... but as that's probably not visible, you might not care.

-J

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to making a side vent.

My plan was logical: Rip out about six of those slats that are already at the top and bottom of the case, then join with top-to-bottom slits to make a rectangular hole.

I figured, "hey, let's use the jigsaw! That's what it does best!" for the top-to-bottom slits.

What I discovered was that my jigsaw, bought primarily to cut away cabinetwork to clear a new fridge, is about 15 degrees off straight.

So I ended up having to extend the window another 1cm or so (to eat up the area destroyed by the overzealous jigsaw) and use cutting discs. :/

I got a package of window screening material, then trimmed the window with the stuff which came with the screening-- a rubber tubing-- with a slit cut into it to wrap. The screen itself is hot-glued to the tubing.

Trimming a cut is to me a hopeless admission of defeat. My dream is to do work which looks OEM-quality, and when does the manufacturer have to trim their cut to hide how irregular it is?

In the process, the paint also got noticably marred. I tried to correct matters with a light dusting of aluminium metal flake-- while close, the match was imperfect, and the glossiness is much worse.

However, temperatures are back to the SR-8100's levels.

So we now return to your regularly scheduled mod.

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Now, I knew that I lack both the materials and artistic talent to do a good job on the image I mocked up earlier in this thread.


Technology and old hobbies to the rescue.

From my railway-modelling days, I had a huge stack (well, probably 20 sheets, but considering it costs $1 per sheet...) of decal paper.

A little scanner action, some massive fighting with the GIMP (which evidently decided since I started scanning at 800dpi, I wanted to print at 50x50 inches instead of 8x10 inches), and discovering that decal paper will drive the paper-processing parts of an otherwise tank-like LaserJet 5 into submission... I had produced a model for the most difficult portions of the image.

Next, I applied the decal (see if you can find the tears) and extended the image with india ink.



The finished result is "manhwa-quality, in the event that they sack their artists, their assistants, and the fanboys who tried to ape their style."



I'm pondering using the space at the "back" to write something, perhaps translated into Korean (as a nod to the source material). Maybe "servant to a defective diety" (an adequate summary of the character's raison d'etre)

Now, the next problem: Protecting the image. I've got stock paint (with possible clearcoat), toner, decal film, and india ink to seal from the ravages of everything from "glass of water drips over the side" to "dusting it with baby wipes because they catch the dust and I keep them around since they're really good at cleaning thermal paste off hands" to "deciding to polish the case with off-brand Pledge (I did this with my old case... it was probably a net negative to appearance).

Note that the rigged-up cover for the LS-120 has been moved from the SR-8100. Like a pirate captain transferring his flag to his new prize, this seems to be a sign I'll be keeping the case for a little while (until someone foolishly sells me new side panels and rails for the SR-8100

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Well, as this project continues to spiral towards disaster:

My first move was to buy some clear urethane coat, labelled "gloss".

So I sprayed the decalled panel, and left it to dry.

Of course, that's the sign for the one gust of wind we get a day to make its appearance, and send the panel flying to the ground, marring the finish and embedding a bunch of crud from the ground onto it.

So I pick the panel clean-ish, touch up some of the art, and re-coat. This stuff smells like the dickens, after leaving it from Wednesday to Saturday morning in a 40C garage, it finally becomes "not noticably smelly". And it is durable. But it does nothing for the finish quality-- it's not gloss, it's that sandpaper finish you get-- perhaps in the Arizona summer, some paint dries too much on the way from the can to the panel.

The only thing I can do is "lap" the panels, sanding them to a smooth finish with 800-grit sandpaper, but this gives a satin finish, not gloss, and doesn't match the top panel at all.

So I try to "mess up" the top panel with some 800 too. It's even more of a mess now.

Quote: Originally Posted by Hak Foo Well, as this project continues to spiral towards disaster: My first move was to buy some clear urethane coat, labelled "gloss". So I sprayed the decalled panel, and left it to dry. Of course, that's the sign for the one gust of wind we get a day to make its appearance, and send the panel flying to the ground, marring the finish and embedding a bunch of crud from the ground onto it. So I pick the panel clean-ish, touch up some of the art, and re-coat. This stuff smells like the dickens, after leaving it from Wednesday to Saturday morning in a 40C garage, it finally becomes "not noticably smelly". And it is durable. But it does nothing for the finish quality-- it's not gloss, it's that sandpaper finish you get-- perhaps in the Arizona summer, some paint dries too much on the way from the can to the panel. The only thing I can do is "lap" the panels, sanding them to a smooth finish with 800-grit sandpaper, but this gives a satin finish, not gloss, and doesn't match the top panel at all. So I try to "mess up" the top panel with some 800 too. It's even more of a mess now.

Maybe you could take it up a notch with your sandpaper. Move to 1200 grit, 1500, and lastly 2000 grit. Wet sand only of course.

Than pick up some rubbing coumpound and try that. That should smooth things out and bling it up.

Hope this helps!

I actually tried rubbing compound, since I had that handy, while other sandpaper would require going out and buying it. It worked to a degree... the problem seemingly that there's always a bad angle-- it looks okay, until you slant stuff to that angle, which still captures the flaws.

I get the impression the stock paint job may have actually applied 92 layers of gloss coat to cover some sins-- if you sand it lightly, you get an erratic wear pattern, like when you do a normal-finish case that has that "texturization" in it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Hak Foo I actually tried rubbing compound, since I had that handy, while other sandpaper would require going out and buying it. It worked to a degree... the problem seemingly that there's always a bad angle-- it looks okay, until you slant stuff to that angle, which still captures the flaws. I get the impression the stock paint job may have actually applied 92 layers of gloss coat to cover some sins-- if you sand it lightly, you get an erratic wear pattern, like when you do a normal-finish case that has that "texturization" in it.

Rubbing compound doesnt work near as well filling big scratches (800 grit) as it does (2000). You might have to break down and get some higher end grits man. Best of luck!

After the disaster the side and top is presenting... and seriously considering jamming everything back into my old case... I did a can't-miss mod today.


That plexi front-panel BEGGED to be etched, so I grabbed my reference material, and as I hinted in the third post.... ta-da! Rheth's tattoo!



This is a lights-out, no-flash shot which is necessary to bring up the design well. -- it's really only lit by the front-panel LEDs, so it shifts a bit in colour when the yellow disc-access LED goes on, and fades to just white in room light.

Sadly, it's not a perfect rendition, but I also found the source material highly variable-- it changes in shape significantly from scene to scene, and for much of book 23, it's missing altogether.

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Well, a bit of a reboot on the project.

I got completely fed up with the fact that no two surfaces matched, and I realized the only way to remedy that was to repaint the top and both sides together, to get consistent results.

After a week of drying, re-applying the decal and paint, and cursing, it's back where we started. I tweaked the art, primarily because I was working without a reference, and to improve the sword end.



I also replaced the yellow hard-disc LED with one white LED from a set of Christmas LED lights I bought for a buck-and-a-half like two years ago.

One LED.

It's so bright, when the machine boots, the blinking light reflected in the front panel looks like a lightning effect!

How's the best way to downconvert the video off a Canon A550 to show this effect here? I don't want to register an account somewhere. :/

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