Since I'm not going to completely scrap this "Craptastic" mobo and my little bro just gave me his old case (no name POS) I'll slip the Albatron in that.

THe problem is, I've got a regular plain looking Antec case that I want to jazz up and put my new 875P or 915P mobo in. I'll post pics of the case whn I can but try to think up some ideas until then.

No help?

Ummm - no pics?

Also, any ideas about what you want this case to look like? Theme? Colors? The depth of the modding? Window(s)? Lights? Who's it for? What roll will it play - a kid's machine, file server, or HTPC?

In other words - how much of what do you want done to this case?

My biggest fear is putting some time and effort into something, and finding out that the people I'm doing it for really don't like it. That's why I go to such lengths to pick the people's brains beforehand. Everybody has an idea of what they want something to look like... they just don't realize it until you give it back to them.

This is going to be me personal rig, my gaming machine. Thinking windows, lights and maybe some color/texture. I'll take pics this week.

there is some good info here... Modding

Good choice Bro! Lot's of good info can be found on the MadShrimps...

Thanks Pain, great resource!

Show me a damn pic or a link of your case and Id be glad to give you some ideas.
(give me the ballbat, WD needs another ajustment)

Ummm - hello! Pictures already...

A yard or so of pink faux fur and a can of spray glue... wallah - you've pimped out your system on the cheap and in no time flat (of course to complete the ensemble you'll need to hit http://www.pimphats.com/ for the whole package...)

Holy Crap!!!! My pic is on the 'Net!!!!!!

I wasn't sure but I thought that may be you... pimpdaddy.

HEY no pimp jokes..Pimpin' aint easy

AND odie were is my MONEY BITCH *pimp smack*

and one more thing ...Keep it on topic PLS...

Hey -=rex=-. thanks for that cool pic for my rig window.

There, officially back on topic.

Need a site to host pics of the case... thinking of just a paint job and some blowholes with these:


Grill 1

Grill 2

e-mail them to me.

man that biege case is gonna need some some serious WORK

My next case is going into the body shop of a dealer we service for the paint job... No more cans of spray for me...

Baked on Base Coat / Clear Coat is the only way I'll paint a new case...

Just looks SOOOO much better...

ohh i bet... there nothing like a professional paint job to add to the rig. Freinds of my dad own an auto body shop here and they painted the range hood, and front dishwasher panels...

I must say it looked good.

I might have to give my dad a call and see what he do in regards to a deal

A nice Candy Apple Red with gold or silver flake in it... Sweet!!

Get the can of "Mothers" out... the box needs a waxin'

Just how do they bake the plastic parts without melting them, anyway?

Plus, baking plastic tends to pull more oils out of the plastic compound which ruins adhesion. I'm pretty sure the plastic they use for the molded parts of our cases isn't the high-grade stuff.

You can get the same results as 'baked on' with the right prep, materials, and techique.

I watched a body man (he was Air National Guard visiting our base for training) paint the roof of his '60 Caddie inside the Auto Hobby Shop in an open slot with only the exhaust fans running. Think big multi-slot garage. He wet down the floor, made sure the roof was spotless, and went for it. Then he wet-sanded before applying the clear coat. After all that was done, he wet sanded w/2000 grit and polished with some 3M glaze. It looked as good as any show-quality paint I've seen before. (FYI - Since the roof was a different color from the rest of the car, he painted it separately - plus the area was small enough to get away with what he was doing. He painted the rest of the car in a standard paint booth.)

I learned a lot from that guy and can honestly say that it really is all about prep and technique. Materials only play a small part, since I've seen regular old Krylon wet-sanded and polished til it looks like powder-coating.

Don't get me wrong - if you can get someone in the auto-paint biz to lay down your colors, go for it. I just don't think it's necessary - cost being the issue if you have to pay 'full price' for it.

Should I be sending the case top and sides to you Eric?

If you want - but you'll have Hell matching it to the plastic parts when you get it back.

Actually, I'd do whatever you wanted done to that thing - seriously... think about it.

I'm thinking in addition to the scarlet paint you mentioned, a cool skull paintjob (like the one on the first fan grill you posted) would rock - either on the front under the drives, or the top. The second one's OK.... but I like the first one. I'd put a 'special' treatment on the paintjob that looks like that first fan grill would be awesome. 'Special' meaning an ultra cool technique a friend of mine used when painting Harley tanks when I was in HS and a big secret - so you'd just have to trust me on that. It would be worth the wait, is all I can say.

Are you particularly married to that case? I ask because it might take me awhile (like a couple months thanks to my other chores and work and stuff) to get something like that done and maybe sending a new similar case might be better - so you'd still be able to use your machine while I'm working. That looks like your basic run-of-the-mill mid-tower, so it shouldn't be too much of a thing to snag a similar deal for cheap to mod.

*Makes note to self to see if twin case is still available at work*

Hmmm...

Not the plastics my man... Just the metal bits...

The front could use a nice airbrush or a vinyl such as...

Yeah - but what if he wants the case to be all one color? Matching the finish, hue, tint, and texture on plastic without using the same process is the hard part.

Hiding it with skins is the cheatin' way out. (although very sneaky with nice results)

Where'd those skins come from, anyway? We're big UT-UT2K3-UT2K4 fans in my house.

http://www.casewraps.com

It's not on thier product list, they gave it away at E3...

So, is this 'Mister4x4' some kind of 'uber-casemod' guy or something? Or more like a 'one-hit wonder?' I've only seen his NASCAR machine - which was pretty cool... but what else has he done?