Cooler Master Haf XB Harley Davidson Mod

[tastegw]

more....:

Did some sanding work with the front, top, both sides

tool of choice here:

does a nice job, finish is smooth as butter

its pretty fast too, only spent about 5 minutes per part

these panels are now ready for primer

after a movie the primer was ready, I started with some orange on the side panels

after the orange was dry enough for painters tape, I measured where the lines would be

and masked them off

I was now ready for some jet black glossy

got a few coats on over time and removed the mask from the side panels

tomorrow, I will need to mount the side vents, and black away any orange that stands out of place

after a couple coats of clear coat, these were ready for hanging

more next post

 

[tastegw]

continued:

I also got a little bit of the inside side panel work done, I will explain more on this a bit later on:

measurements

hole placements

going with 1 3/4" for the inside even though the pipes are 1 1/2"

holes drilled

I used a jigsaw to cut the lengths of the panels, no pics on that yet, these two pieces got a coat of primer, but not painted yet, I need to go back and add in the side vent holes first.

I also installed the 3.5" bay into its new resting spot:

it sits in the bottom, back, left corner facing the left side in case the photos are confusing.

I do believe I am out of photos for now, it felt like I got more done, maybe I just forgot to get photos of that, but anyhoot, will have more for you tomorrow, planned:

*Polish/Wax Front, Sides, and Top Panel to a nice shine
*Mount Side Panel Vents, remove any excess orange paint (before polish)
*Mount Front Panel Art and Overkill Grills
*Finish Inside Panels, to complete side panels so they can be merged into 1 (well, 2 sides of course)
*misc work

enjoy for now!

 

[tastegw]

Wasn't really feeling it today but I got some photos

got the front panel ready for the power button

will look like this when all finished up

tried some good wax for a nice shine on the panels

took very long to dry in this cold weather, even in the garage

but once it dried, no real improvements in the gloss area...

pre-install of the u-channel molding, just to know where to cut it
(wax still drying in photo)

install top panel window, wax is dry here, but now i gotta re-apply the u-channel

side panels almost finished

things I got done but no photos: (sorry, will have photos of these when I return in 2 weeks)
*mounted the vent mesh for the side panels, glue still drying
*mounted front panel art, glue still drying
*finished inside side panels, painted and ready for mounting
*other misc work

------------------------------

I got a lil frustrated today when things started going a little sour, and just wasn't liking some of my results, i hope it all turns out ok, but at this point, i have decided no more money into this project(excluding hardware), so i have to make it work with what i have thus far. front panel really needs to be redone, maybe down the road at one point, but i gotta stick to what i have currently

big props go out to all of you that can pull this stuff off with ease, experienced or not. this is my 3rd mod, and by far the biggest ive attempted, my previous 2 mods were only side windows and painting solid colors, kinda strait forward stuff. i really feel that i didn't plan anywhere near as good as i should have, especially when i started going off track from my original idea(s)

anyways, everything should start coming together the next time I get back home in 2 weeks, nearly all work is done, just mounting and putting things together is left.

until next time, have a great day!


edit:

the missing pics (still need to be cleaned up around the edges and stuff)

front panel (only thing left is to get Overkill Grills mounted

side panel(s) (only thing left is to mount it along with the pipes)

 

[tastegw]

small update:

was lucky enough to get home for a 34 hour break today, was able to nearly complete the side panels:

also a purchase update:

*30" Korean IPS 2560x1600 Crossover 30Q5 Pro
*Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Mechanical Keyboard /w Cherry Red Switches
*and some extra keycaps for the keyboard above

 

[n0tiert]

very nice tiny detailed mods bro... thx for sharing !

btw. where u get those letters from (mercedes) ?

 

[tastegw]

very nice tiny detailed mods bro... thx for sharing !

btw. where u get those letters from (mercedes) ?

thanks man

I got the letters from Advanced Auto, about a buck each letter, rather cheap, clean, and easy mod.

 

[PatoRodrigues]

Finally some update bro! It was weird not to see any e-mail about this rig, haha!

Keep it going man!

I'm following closely two orange builds now, yours and one from a really cool guy called Ron Sanut (YT). Take a look at it! It's a WC build, entirely different... But you can get few ideas from him, actually.

 

[grunt_408]

Wow , keep up the good work

 

[tastegw]

Thx guys

Forgot to add a last pic before leaving for another 2 weeks:
Panels sitting, not fastened, in place.

Work still to be done:
*mount overkill grills on front panel
*fasten the side pipes to a fixed position
*case feet (work done by FannBlade)
*install hardware
*clean it up

 

[erixx]

Your awesome job here reminds me the motorcycle DOGMA: It's not the destination but the road that matters! The end product does not convince me personally but the whole story was cool. I hope you enjoy it miles & miles

 

[tastegw]

FannBlade is working his magic over in The cross roads of America

I got him a brand new kit to help him out

His work so far:

 

[tastegw]

Got home for 2 1/2 days, 2 awesome packages waiting for an unboxing:

30" 2560x1600 monitor

And my new mechanical keyboard
CoolerMaster Storm QuickFire Rapid

Cherry Red Switches

I also had some orange key caps on order, so I plugged those in too

Loving this keyboard quality.

Does not look like I will need an upgrade on either of these items ever, only replacing them when their time is up or they fail prematurely.

Should have some more work progress photos for you all tomorrow, till then, enjoy.

 

[tastegw]

Motherboard came in today, played around with it a lil:

 

[15th Warlock]

I just found this gem of a thread, what a fantastic mod man, subbed, great job, it shows how much effort you've put into it

 

[grunt_408]

Motherboard came in today, played around with it a lil:

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...4EB6E48-6702-00000FF808393511_zpsdca4eeb2.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...32705DC-6702-00000FF82EF2F804_zpsd90e4393.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...78E51F0-6702-00000FF8437A93BB_zps659263af.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...982C01D-6702-00000FF819C54100_zpsab044ec4.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...89FB31D-6702-00000FF8A57D26A5_zps19aa2fab.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...F92E806-6702-00000FF879AAFB36_zps5f2fc0ea.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...054556D-6702-00000FF8E92CA87F_zps8eff0a4b.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...F47A7A2-6702-00000FF8C9BFA3D7_zpsc4cb74e5.jpg

Awesome

 

[tastegw]

Thx guys


FannBlade is almost finished with the feet:

Kickstand will mount to one of the feet when all said and done.

As for the case, I have to go back and redo the front panel to make it fit together better, ordered a new holesaw for the job since my last one is toast.

Should have more updates around the 28th or so for the case mod(s)

May have gpu update next week if I can make my mind up, that's the last pieces of hardware left to purchase.

Until then, enjoy

 

[tastegw]

Thx man

At all, made up my mind and decided to go with a single titan.

Ordered a evga superclocked titan, the only one in stock at newegg at the time.

All hardware is now complete, can't wait to get it all booted up

Edit:
To defend the overpriced purchase, here is my reasoning

*single card setup:
------------------------ no micro stutter, no sli hassles
------------------------ likely fastest single card till maxwell
*more than enough gddr5 for many years on all games likely


The cons
The price, sli/crossfire 670's+/7950's+ outperform it in most situations

Total investments to date:



Hardware:
Case - $100
CPU - $230
Mobo - $220
RAM - $90
PSU - $230
GPU - $1020
Cooler - $130
Fans - $60
SSD - $125
HHD - $120
BR Burner - $130
Monitor - $570
Keyboard - $100

Hardware Total - $3,125

Case Mods:
Etched Window - $100
Custom Feet - $100
Overkill Grills - $100
Aluminum panels - $45
Supplies - $100
Harley Davidson Mem. - $80
Chrome Mem. - $80
Misc Parts $50
Power Button - $25
Lighting - $30

Case Mod Total - $710

Grand Total - $3,835
*Plus taxes and shipping where applicable.

Unused Parts:
Windows Clear and Amber - $30
Diamond Plate - $30
Racing Pipes - $35
5" Chrome Cut-outs - $35

Total - $130

This better last!

 

[tastegw]

Case feet finished, FannBlade did an amazing job, polished them up very well:

I highly recommend FannBlade for any work you may need to outsource.
But you already knew what he could do most likely.

I get home mid-week this week, looking to get some near final finishes on this case mod.

Things left to do:

*redone front panel
*mount everything else
*install hardware
*boot up and never look back

Until next time, enjoy!

 

[Widjaja]

I knew you would stop there......

It's like those tv series which stop at the most critical moment so you come back to watch the next episode.

 

[tastegw]

Thanks u2!

I finally got back home for 2 1/2 days today, I started redoing my front panel.

Before I continue, let me explain why a redo was necessary: When I went to mount the overkill grills, they were too close to the flame cutouts, I forgot to measure where I was putting the power button, and the power button dictates where the flame cutouts go. So a redo, with a slight design change was due.

This time I will be using 1/4" thick aluminum instead of the much thinner stuff I used last time of approx 1/16" (side panels and top panel are approx 1/8"). I bought a proper sized quality hole saw, even though I said I wasnt going to do this earlier, I felt it was needed for a quality job.
Hard to find 4 3/4" by Black and Decker off ebay for a steal at $10 + ship.

With the design change, I am replacing the much larger nut covers that I painted orange (regretted that afterwards) with smaller ones, and I will be leaving these chrome. I grinded out the insides so they would lay as flat as possible on the curved Cougar fans

I got the as center as I could, sorry for the lack of video quality, my video editor would not load up the videos off my phone for some reason, so it was a strait upload off my phone.
http://youtu.be/QvES3r7oubo

how the new design will come together thus far:

thats all i got for you today, tomorrow I will work on the new front panel more, it needs new power button location, trimmed and sanded down, then primed and first coat black. Second coat and clear coat the following day.

The overkill grills, I am also giong to be giving these a new finish, as you can tell in the above they are partially sanded, a real pain in the arse with those.

My Titan should be coming in within the next 2 days, so even if my shell of a case isnt completed by then, I will be firing that futher mucker up.

 

[Pehla]

I am replacing the much larger nut covers that I painted orange (regretted that afterwards) with smaller ones

why regret?? now it look's much beter!!

 

[tastegw]

why regret?? now it look's much beter!!

regret painting the originals orange

 

[tastegw]

halfway through the day, got some updates:

started getting some of the final touches on the front panel work, new placement of power button makes sure there is plenty of room below the grills for the flames

I then needed to angle the inside left and right edges to for a solid fit on the front plastic, this was a bit tricky as the best tool for the job was a manual file

looking good after many many strokes

and how it sits on the plastic is just what I was looking for

I then sanded the hell out of this aluminum to a marble smooth finish ready for priming

oh ya, what do you think of the top of that panel?

that added design idea was due to the placement of the bullet bolts, needed something to make it look like it wasnt going to drag off the edge some, speaking of the bullet bolts, long and skinny or short and fat? I like the longs better:

will have more for you after some priming/sanding and coating.

 

[tastegw]

hi again

have some good news, everything is just about done

I took my grills down to a local machine shop and sand blasted them myself, took 33 minutes and cost $14 bucks and some change, pretty good deal I thought.

all I need to do now is wait till I can find a proper method to get a chrome look to those, and they will be completed, until then they will be mounted as is.

I also finished the front panel completely excluding minor clean up detailing:

and I think I forgot to show the completed top panel from earlier:

its 4 corners and where the u channel ends meet:

the above has a blemish in the paint

completed side panel (other is in garage getting some last touches, will look identical to this one, only opposite side

now for some fun stuff

prepped my SSD

and EVGA has something for me today

well, I had to buy it from them lol.

I plan on starting to build this rig a bit later on if everything falls in place, will update on progress before the night is over, I leave in the morning for 2 weeks, so if i cant get it done tonight, another boring wait

 

[t_ski]

They do make chrome paint...

http://www.google.com/search?q=chro...QGJlIHoCg&sqi=2&ved=0CG0QsAQ&biw=1920&bih=963