Project - Asian Dragons

Messudieh · 26-May-06, 01:57 AM

A little background. I am pretty new to the forum. This will be my first set of real posts, and my first worklog. I have done a fairly major project before called Autobots. It was inspired by Sky from Gruntville.

I've never gotten a really great picture of it lit up properly, but there is a faint red glow that comes out of the sides of the case. And yes, you are seeing two gigantic windows on the same case. The Autobots symbol is about 1 foot X 1 foot. If I had done a better job on the paint job it would be an extremely impressive case. Maybe one day I'll redo it now that I've read a lot of articles on painting.

Now: off to my current case.

My Victim is a Lian-Li PC-V1100 Plus. After a ton of research I've concluded that this is the most perfect case available for me. I pretty well hit it on the head too. I just have to make sure I don't mess up my $250 case in the process of modding it.

For the time being, the actual internals will be residing in my semi-new HSPC Tech Station.

I have a short list of mods and ideas that I've already worked out for this case.

1) This case will have the top and both sides with large windows in them.
--the top I am looking for a long oriental dragon. Anyone with any good pictures of one, please post them or send them to me. My e-mail is Messudieh at gmail dot com.
--the side where you can see inside is undecided right now. I might put another oriental type dragon on it, or another scene if anyone has any ideas.
--The side smooshed right up against the motherboard will have the Simplified Chinese Word for Dragon incorporated into it. I say incorporated, because it's not actually going to be on the outer window in any way. You will have to wait and see exactly what I have planned. The Symbol is pictured below.

Regardless, what I am doing with the motherboard side I have never seen done before. If it's done right it will look *awesome*.

2) I am buying a new DVD Burner, and I am going to be cutting a yin-yang window into the top and lighting the inside at least a little.

3) Power supply will have chinese or japanese word for power or energy cut into it, probably on both sides, and lit from inside

4) Outside fo case is going to be painted and finished to a high gloss. I don't know what color yet, but I think the inside light scheme is going to be red, albeit not incredibly bright. Front bezel will most likely stay silver.

That is all for now. Stay tuned for more progress within the next week or so.

Messudieh · 29-May-06, 03:48 PM

Got a picture of all my cutting stuff. And how the inside of the case looks before cutting it (ugly). It turned out ok though.

Got my first window cut today, and it seems to have turned out pretty good. I need to finish it a little and debur it, but other than that I like how it came out.

And a picture of how it looks on my case.

I was going to save the suprise til later, but I might as well show it now. The dragon symbol on the piece of paper inside is going to be cut into the motherboard tray itself. I've got a few more suprises on the way, but hopefully that has piques people's interest in this case.

markwalker84 · 29-May-06, 04:11 PM

Sweet setup man!

Looking forward to what you come up with on this one!

Mark

Oh...

WELCOME TO PC APEX!!

THRASHER2 · 29-May-06, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Messudieh


	Ok, for now 'oriental' will be the working name. I was thinking 'asian invasion' but that might have been a little offensive to a few people...meh, probably not. Oriental sounds a lot more refined/not stupid though, so I will use it for now. A little background. I am pretty new to the forum. This will be my first set of real posts, and my first worklog. I have done a fairly major project before called Autobots. It was inspired by Sky from Gruntville.

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jofultner · 29-May-06, 06:47 PM

Great work so far.Takes nerve to cut up a 250$ case.I have used all old school cases to this point.Anyhow welcome to the site formally known as PimpRigs.And keep up the worklog.And let me use that Tech Station,lol.Jo

Dex · 29-May-06, 06:50 PM

Very nice idea for a theme, don't think ive seen many orientally (is that even word?) inspired case mods.

Had a quick Google for oriental stylee dragons, the pics would make a great templates for window etches

Messudieh · 29-May-06, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dex


	Very nice idea for a theme, don't think ive seen many orientally (is that even word?) inspired case mods. Had a quick Google for oriental stylee dragons, the pics would make a great templates for window etches

These are good pictures to work with. I'm having my girlfriend draw a long chinese dragon for the top and a curled up one for the other side, and these will be something good to start work from. I am, however, planning on cutting the other side window though...maybe I'll etch the top one now that I think about it.

Anyone have any other thoughts? I kinda like that idea now that I thought it over.

Also, I'm really thinking of going with either a deep red or orange paint job for my case with probably red lighted inside. Anyone have any thoughts on this idea? I'm definitely looking for input right now.

darkboricua · 29-May-06, 11:33 PM

well im kinda doing something similar to your project but with samurai. A link to it is in my sig. Not as good as most pther peoples projects, but I'm proud of it. Love the theme ypu're using by the way.

Messudieh · 30-May-06, 09:27 PM

Took me about 3 hours, but I got the first cut for the 'dragon' character out of the way. I started out being very careful and going right up to the line. By the end I just wanted to get this section done, so I moved a little further from the actual line and made the cuts a little rougher. I don't know if I'll have any time tomorrow to work on it, but hopefully Thursday or Friday (or the weekend for sure).

I really like how it came out, and once I get it finished it'll look really good. With the windows cut in it like this you can see the backside of the moterboard, but that's not all I'm going to be doing with it. Stay tuned for a couple more secrets that will make it look really impressive.

Here's the running plan for what happens next.

- DVD burner will be coming in on Thursday it looks like (And a new X1800XT

) The burner will have a yin-yang cut into the top of it.
- g/f has a ton of homework going on right now, so it might take a couple weeks for her to get the drawings for the side and top done. I'll have plenty to do until then it looks like.
-I'm really thinking the top window will be a solid piece of plexi with a dragon etched into it. My dad told me he has an etcher that I can use.
- Side dragon will most likely be cut directly into the case. This is going to be by far my most ornate/complicated cut to date, but if it comes out right it will be very impressive. It's going to take A LONG TIME though. I'm guessing at least 20 hours to complete the side window alone.
- Still looking at an orange/red paint job overall. It's going to be a mirror finish too with the whole wet sanding 2000 grit. Anyone think I should go with a spray gun... or cans? I also might be getting hooked up with a paint booth in a garage about a block from me.

That's it for now. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

jofultner · 31-May-06, 02:52 AM

Very-very Cool

Messudieh · 02-June-06, 10:44 AM

I have gotten some of the major finishing work done on the dragon character, but none of the fine sanding yet on it. It's getting...close. I'll post close ups of it when I get it cleaned up more. Once I get to the painting section of this project I will need to sand out some scratches I made on the motherboard tray too.

Yesterday I had my DVD burner come in. After about 2 hours of testing to make sure all of the major functions worked, I voided the warranty and opened it up. Not a big deal though; it was $45 or so shipped. I've got a pic of it opened up.

Aah, the joy of MS paint. The plan, as you can see, is to cut a yin-yang into it. The thing I have to figure out is: do I want to make each side a different color (like one clear and one smoke colored)? Or, do I want to cut out only one side, and have the other solid? Any thoughts on this would be helpful. I'll probably be drawing this out in the next few days and cutting it some time this weekend or monday/tuesday. I also don't quite know what to do with the CD-Stabalizer (represented by the question marks). I might make a thin reinforcement bar and cut most of the rest of it away.

Charlie Chaos · 02-June-06, 12:52 PM

Nice work so far!

As for the DVD Drive Why not cut the hole completly out and do the Smoke/clear window I dea. I think this will save you some time and frustration with the stabilizer. Maybe some pain on that to blend it in alittle more? Just a thought

Or

Cut out the area add a window to the casing and put a vynil ying yang on it??

Just some ideas i thought up quick while Im on break at work =) Good luck with the rest of this cant wait to see the dragon

Newblit · 02-June-06, 05:56 PM

Whatever your cathodes are going to be like if you do blue do one side uv blue and the other clear or uv green i think that would be really awesome

Messudieh · 09-June-06, 12:59 AM

Took about an hour and a half, but I got the top of the DVD drive pretty well done. I need to finish it a little bit more, but it's coming out really well. The drive cover was made out of fairly thick steel, but it was sort of a positive since I decided to go with a thin strand of metal in the middle. The g/f will most likely start working on the drawings for the side and top in the next day or 2. She says she'll probably have them finished by mid week. Then the really delicate work starts.

Before:

After:

I might cut the stabalizer tomorrow morning before I go to work. Sorry about the fuzzy pictures. I'm tired as hell.

I was very pleased with how it came out though.

Can I get a hell yeah?

jofultner · 09-June-06, 07:03 AM

I agree that it came out nice.You can maybe tint one side of plexi or frost it to make ying and yang different.And glue the crap out of the divider so it does not vibrate.Jo

The Dragon Reborn · 09-June-06, 03:16 PM

This Air Dragon would look sweet as an 'etch as well.. imho...

TDR

Messudieh · 10-June-06, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Dragon Reborn


	This Air Dragon would look sweet as an 'etch as well.. imho... TDR

That is a cool looking dragon. The only problem is that I'd need something that's a little bit longer and less wide since the etching is going on a window on the top of my case. You will be able to see the drive through the etching still.

I'm also having my g/f draw them, but she will need inspiration, and this could be useful for that. Any idea what the character in the tail is?

The Dragon Reborn · 10-June-06, 07:02 PM

No.... unfortunately not....

But I'll check my 'Dragon collection & hopefully I can come up with something more suiting...

TDR

Messudieh · 10-December-06, 07:51 PM

Well, after an extremely long hiatus, I am back. It took a while, but my g/f got me the next picture for the other side of my case, and here it is:

It's obviously pretty complicated, but I think it'll just take some time. I've already started on the main body section connected to the head. I might post a picture of it next time I go to cut. I think I'm gonna move onto some of the harder spots next though so I don't leave them until last when I have the most cut out of it.

chapper · 10-December-06, 08:42 PM

damn! are you going to cut around and retain the fine spine? I guess you are!!! Tip my hat to you!

26-May-06, 01:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
Messudieh Apex Techie Lite Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 29	Project - Asian Dragons A little background. I am pretty new to the forum. This will be my first set of real posts, and my first worklog. I have done a fairly major project before called Autobots. It was inspired by Sky from Gruntville. I've never gotten a really great picture of it lit up properly, but there is a faint red glow that comes out of the sides of the case. And yes, you are seeing two gigantic windows on the same case. The Autobots symbol is about 1 foot X 1 foot. If I had done a better job on the paint job it would be an extremely impressive case. Maybe one day I'll redo it now that I've read a lot of articles on painting. Now: off to my current case. My Victim is a Lian-Li PC-V1100 Plus. After a ton of research I've concluded that this is the most perfect case available for me. I pretty well hit it on the head too. I just have to make sure I don't mess up my $250 case in the process of modding it. For the time being, the actual internals will be residing in my semi-new HSPC Tech Station. I have a short list of mods and ideas that I've already worked out for this case. 1) This case will have the top and both sides with large windows in them. --the top I am looking for a long oriental dragon. Anyone with any good pictures of one, please post them or send them to me. My e-mail is Messudieh at gmail dot com. --the side where you can see inside is undecided right now. I might put another oriental type dragon on it, or another scene if anyone has any ideas. --The side smooshed right up against the motherboard will have the Simplified Chinese Word for Dragon incorporated into it. I say incorporated, because it's not actually going to be on the outer window in any way. You will have to wait and see exactly what I have planned. The Symbol is pictured below. Regardless, what I am doing with the motherboard side I have never seen done before. If it's done right it will look awesome. 2) I am buying a new DVD Burner, and I am going to be cutting a yin-yang window into the top and lighting the inside at least a little. 3) Power supply will have chinese or japanese word for power or energy cut into it, probably on both sides, and lit from inside 4) Outside fo case is going to be painted and finished to a high gloss. I don't know what color yet, but I think the inside light scheme is going to be red, albeit not incredibly bright. Front bezel will most likely stay silver. That is all for now. Stay tuned for more progress within the next week or so. Last edited by Lokie; 30-December-06 at 12:17 PM. Reason: Merged both threads

29-May-06, 03:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
Messudieh Apex Techie Lite Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 29	First Cut Got a picture of all my cutting stuff. And how the inside of the case looks before cutting it (ugly). It turned out ok though. Got my first window cut today, and it seems to have turned out pretty good. I need to finish it a little and debur it, but other than that I like how it came out. And a picture of how it looks on my case. I was going to save the suprise til later, but I might as well show it now. The dragon symbol on the piece of paper inside is going to be cut into the motherboard tray itself. I've got a few more suprises on the way, but hopefully that has piques people's interest in this case.

29-May-06, 04:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
markwalker84 Apex Tech Maniac Join Date: May 2005 Location: Finsbury Park, North London, UK Posts: 884	Sweet setup man! Looking forward to what you come up with on this one! Mark Oh... WELCOME TO PC APEX!! __________________ Project: C.I.A.D - It Begins! Project: OFFSPRING - COMPLETED 22-02-06 Check out my Member review: Medusa 5.1 Surround Headphones Team 596 British Folding Division

29-May-06, 06:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
jofultner Apex Elite Tech Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NewOrleans Posts: 1,109	Great work so far.Takes nerve to cut up a 250$ case.I have used all old school cases to this point.Anyhow welcome to the site formally known as PimpRigs.And keep up the worklog.And let me use that Tech Station,lol.Jo __________________

29-May-06, 06:50 PM	#6 (permalink)
Dex Retr-hoe Reviewer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 4,729	Very nice idea for a theme, don't think ive seen many orientally (is that even word?) inspired case mods. Had a quick Google for oriental stylee dragons, the pics would make a great templates for window etches Attached Thumbnails __________________

29-May-06, 11:33 PM	#8 (permalink)
darkboricua Apex Tech Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 593	well im kinda doing something similar to your project but with samurai. A link to it is in my sig. Not as good as most pther peoples projects, but I'm proud of it. Love the theme ypu're using by the way. __________________ Project Muramasa Project Home Theatre?

30-May-06, 09:27 PM	#9 (permalink)
Messudieh Apex Techie Lite Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 29	Rough Dragon Cut Took me about 3 hours, but I got the first cut for the 'dragon' character out of the way. I started out being very careful and going right up to the line. By the end I just wanted to get this section done, so I moved a little further from the actual line and made the cuts a little rougher. I don't know if I'll have any time tomorrow to work on it, but hopefully Thursday or Friday (or the weekend for sure). I really like how it came out, and once I get it finished it'll look really good. With the windows cut in it like this you can see the backside of the moterboard, but that's not all I'm going to be doing with it. Stay tuned for a couple more secrets that will make it look really impressive. Here's the running plan for what happens next. - DVD burner will be coming in on Thursday it looks like (And a new X1800XT ) The burner will have a yin-yang cut into the top of it. - g/f has a ton of homework going on right now, so it might take a couple weeks for her to get the drawings for the side and top done. I'll have plenty to do until then it looks like. -I'm really thinking the top window will be a solid piece of plexi with a dragon etched into it. My dad told me he has an etcher that I can use. - Side dragon will most likely be cut directly into the case. This is going to be by far my most ornate/complicated cut to date, but if it comes out right it will be very impressive. It's going to take A LONG TIME though. I'm guessing at least 20 hours to complete the side window alone. - Still looking at an orange/red paint job overall. It's going to be a mirror finish too with the whole wet sanding 2000 grit. Anyone think I should go with a spray gun... or cans? I also might be getting hooked up with a paint booth in a garage about a block from me. That's it for now. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

31-May-06, 02:52 AM	#10 (permalink)
jofultner Apex Elite Tech Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NewOrleans Posts: 1,109	Very-very Cool __________________

02-June-06, 10:44 AM	#11 (permalink)
Messudieh Apex Techie Lite Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 29	small update I have gotten some of the major finishing work done on the dragon character, but none of the fine sanding yet on it. It's getting...close. I'll post close ups of it when I get it cleaned up more. Once I get to the painting section of this project I will need to sand out some scratches I made on the motherboard tray too. Yesterday I had my DVD burner come in. After about 2 hours of testing to make sure all of the major functions worked, I voided the warranty and opened it up. Not a big deal though; it was $45 or so shipped. I've got a pic of it opened up. Aah, the joy of MS paint. The plan, as you can see, is to cut a yin-yang into it. The thing I have to figure out is: do I want to make each side a different color (like one clear and one smoke colored)? Or, do I want to cut out only one side, and have the other solid? Any thoughts on this would be helpful. I'll probably be drawing this out in the next few days and cutting it some time this weekend or monday/tuesday. I also don't quite know what to do with the CD-Stabalizer (represented by the question marks). I might make a thin reinforcement bar and cut most of the rest of it away. Last edited by Messudieh; 03-June-06 at 01:56 AM.

02-June-06, 12:52 PM	#12 (permalink)
Charlie Chaos Apex Techie Lite Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 37	Nice work so far! As for the DVD Drive Why not cut the hole completly out and do the Smoke/clear window I dea. I think this will save you some time and frustration with the stabilizer. Maybe some pain on that to blend it in alittle more? Just a thought Or Cut out the area add a window to the casing and put a vynil ying yang on it?? Just some ideas i thought up quick while Im on break at work =) Good luck with the rest of this cant wait to see the dragon __________________ Focus is when nothing exist but the doing One truely discovers himself on the razors edge which seperates his sanity from his genius Chaos Breeds Life Order Breeds Normality

02-June-06, 05:56 PM	#13 (permalink)
Newblit Apex Techie Wannabe Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 18	Whatever your cathodes are going to be like if you do blue do one side uv blue and the other clear or uv green i think that would be really awesome __________________ Hey click here to help me increase my army

09-June-06, 12:59 AM	#14 (permalink)
Messudieh Apex Techie Lite Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 29	DVD Drive Top Took about an hour and a half, but I got the top of the DVD drive pretty well done. I need to finish it a little bit more, but it's coming out really well. The drive cover was made out of fairly thick steel, but it was sort of a positive since I decided to go with a thin strand of metal in the middle. The g/f will most likely start working on the drawings for the side and top in the next day or 2. She says she'll probably have them finished by mid week. Then the really delicate work starts. Before: After: I might cut the stabalizer tomorrow morning before I go to work. Sorry about the fuzzy pictures. I'm tired as hell. I was very pleased with how it came out though. Can I get a hell yeah?

09-June-06, 07:03 AM	#15 (permalink)
jofultner Apex Elite Tech Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NewOrleans Posts: 1,109	I agree that it came out nice.You can maybe tint one side of plexi or frost it to make ying and yang different.And glue the crap out of the divider so it does not vibrate.Jo __________________

09-June-06, 03:16 PM	#16 (permalink)
The Dragon Reborn Apex Elite Expert Tech Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NL Posts: 1,267	This Air Dragon would look sweet as an 'etch as well.. imho... TDR __________________

10-June-06, 07:02 PM	#18 (permalink)
The Dragon Reborn Apex Elite Expert Tech Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NL Posts: 1,267	No.... unfortunately not.... But I'll check my 'Dragon collection & hopefully I can come up with something more suiting... TDR __________________

10-December-06, 07:51 PM	#19 (permalink)
Messudieh Apex Techie Lite Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 29	Re: Project - Oriental Well, after an extremely long hiatus, I am back. It took a while, but my g/f got me the next picture for the other side of my case, and here it is: It's obviously pretty complicated, but I think it'll just take some time. I've already started on the main body section connected to the head. I might post a picture of it next time I go to cut. I think I'm gonna move onto some of the harder spots next though so I don't leave them until last when I have the most cut out of it.

10-December-06, 08:42 PM	#20 (permalink)
chapper Apex Advanced Techie Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 192	Re: Project - Oriental damn! are you going to cut around and retain the fine spine? I guess you are!!! Tip my hat to you! __________________ "In many ways, rats and mice get greater protection as research subjects in the United States than do humans."