Heads up for experienced sheet metal/airbrush artisans. I may have a job for you.


I have a Samsung 616T DVD drive



That has been specially modified to work in an xbox (reversed direction of drive motor, modified IDE port, etc). This drive is currently in my acrylic-framed xbox:



I want to Pimp up this drive by doing a "window" mod on it. This involves cutting away metal from the top of the drive while leaving the top circular piece that the dvd spindle mates with (example):



However, I want mine a little more pimped than that one. I want to have the metal cut into a flame pattern, and then airbrushed so that the flame "tips" are pure white and then fading back into a light blue. The best example I can find of what I'm envisioning is this truck grill:



Getting this drive modded was a huge PITA, and I don't want to risk botching up the metal cutting/painting since I have little experience in those areas.

If you're confident in your abilities and would like to take on the job, please contact me and we can work out a deal. I'd appreciate seeing samples of previous work you may have done similar to this.

You can contact me direct at

dlp(a)(t)speakeasy(d)(o)(t)net

Thanks,

catgut

Having done some drive mods myself, one suggestion I'd make for whoever takes the job (wish I had time) would be to

1. Cut the drive to look like what's in the picture, but with a small border all around.
2. For a couple bucks, get a small aluminum sheet from the ducting section of a hardware store or Home depot.
3. Cut the sheet to make a cover for the DVD drive. This could be a 3-sided cover, or a sheet the same dimensions as the top of the DVD drive. If you wanna use screws to hold it all together, drill holes in the cover's sides to match the drive's screw holes (Otherwise you could use glue to hold it all together). Cut the flames in that, and paint to suit.
4. Put a thin piece of plastic (like from a blister pack) between the drive and the aluminum cover. You may want to use a silicone glue to hold it to the flame piece, but stay away from the flame edges (excess glue is unsightly).

The advantages of this way are

• No drive-top grooves messing up the look of your flames
• If you screw up on cutting the flames, you can use another cheap aluminum sheet
• Since the aluminum's thinner than the drive cover, it'll be oh-so-easy to cut, and the plastic window will look more flush. Even if you use a jigsaw or nibbler, warping shouldn't be a problem if you're careful.

Thanks for the tip Funky. Maybe this will inspire me to try it myself!