Hello everyone, well, sorry for the delay in getting an update out. First off thank you for those that are following along, your praise means a lot. It’s always nice to get comments on a work log, and criticism as well. Thank you
It’s been slow with the paint because I wanted to make sure everything could cure. I will have to touch up a few areas as well, but nothing to crazy. I finally got the paint to take on that front bezel cover so I’m happy that is out of the way. I also had to change up my plans for the side M logo lighting.
Here is the inside without the MB Tray.
Notice those great looking Case Feet!!
So, with the lighting on there, the light only works if I hold it about 2 inches from the LED’s. Bummer
This is what I wanted.
For the side M, there is only about ¼ of an inch of room. Just enough for an LED strip. I was going to put it on no matter what but it really looked like doggy poo. Very pin point spots of light, no diffusion, and many dark spots. I’m going to have to order some side firing LED strips, and offset them to get better diffusion of the light. Since I did all that work with the lights I decided to under light the mother board. With the fans, and those lights, there is a very nice green glow in the case. Here is one shot with just the lights, you can see that there is not a lot of room there.
The Front Panel USB, what a pain. I discovered that because I turned the HD cage, I had to cut the piece to fit. How could I have missed that one! DOOH I’ll have to make L brackets to mount it and get them painted to match. Even though no one will ever see them, it will drive me nuts if I don’t paint them.
And, as I was measuring things, the tape peeled off some paint!!! GRRRRR, I give up painting on this thing. So I’ll DiNoc the front of this and be done with it. If I paint it again, it will be the Third time. This piece just was NOT meant to be painted.
Along with the lighting I’ll have to buy, I need to get a new side panel for the clear side. The Plexi I had was smoke colored, and cracked. Oh well, it was only going to be temporary any way. I’m going to have my Friend Furball laser cut a piece for me with an M in the side near the Vid Card area. I’ll side light that to give that M a nice glow.
Throughout the rest of the build you’ll notice on some of the pictures the white has a different tone on different parts. I have no idea why. Same plastic, same base coats, same clear coats. The DVD drive just needed an extra clear coat, which should darken that enough to match. The rest, well, unless the humidity of the day was the reason, I simply can’t explain it. However, I have been told that the affect is nice, so I’m going to roll with it.
Here I’m pointing to a chip in the paint when the plastic was snapped back in. sigh
Now, for the left panel, the side without the plexy’, I had to cut it to fit around Bill Owens HoneyComb Acrylic Grill. I couldn’t bring myself to cut the grill, so I cut the panel. This is another item I did not count on so I’ll have to touch up that paint.
The M Button came out great, and I’m very happy with this. The only thing I can say is I wish the LED’s (both green) were a tad brighter. But, when the lights are down, it looks very nice. When I get my finished pictures taken by a friend of mine you will be able to see just how nice it looks. For now I just can’t get a good shot of it with my camera, sorry folks.
I was going to paint the MB tray but I got a little impatient and didn’t want to wait for a trip to the store to get more paint. Sooooo I DiNocked the MB tray White. I love the look actually and it is great for brightening the inside of the case. (like it needed to be)
Backis not covered because you don’t see it.
And the front
Here are a few parting shots prior to adding the PC guts, and after. This way you get a look at the overall lighting effect.
The Case Feet, what can I say, they totally ROCK. Thank you MNPCTECH
As a surprise to my daughter, she is getting my back up Logitech Revolution Mouse, and of course I’ll DiNoc it to match the case. She is also getting a Microsoft Ergo 4000 Keyboard and it will be painted to match the case. The mouse is done, however the Key Board will take a little longer. I want to ensure the paint has a week or so to cure between coats of paint. I want a good hard durable finish because it will get some abuse.
Before
My knife box
disassembly
A little heat to help
Whew, hands are a little warm, but it looks grand.
All the Macro shots were done by my daughter, she loves taking pictures. Camera is a Fujifilm fd 10MP point and shoot. Imagine what she’ll be able to do with a real SLR. I may just have to get her one. (later)
Again, thank you all for following, I do have a few more updates left, and more parts to get. Thank you to Bill Owen at MNPCTech.com for sponsoring part of my build.
