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g1lgamesh

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THE LITTLE OWL

 

Little is just an understatement here as I will be using an XSPC H1 case.

 

STORYLINE:

 

Jakob (pronounced Yakob) commissioned me to build a kick **** machine BASED on the NEW NOCTUA NF-F12 (ones that are optimised for water cooling rads) fans.

 

In addition he wanted me to base the case on Noctua collours, however some people do not like these, so one had to base this build around a slighty differing theme.

 

IMG_6387.jpg

 

If you look at the noctua website, the colours are much more 'red' than the fans themselves (which are brown based)

 

IDEA EXPLAINED. Essentialy this is going to be part scratch build/part mod with a dark red and white themed case with the internals being polar white and typhoon red.

 

The RED LASER TUNNEL effect will be used here

 

Sponsors so far:

Noctua (Ofcourse)

LAMPTRON (ofCourse)

MAYHEMS

INNOVATION COOLING for the IC Diamond

 

note:

 

Remember the LASER PROJECT? This will be used in here.

 

PAINT TO BE USED

 

HYCOTE tornado RED

HYCOTE POLAR WHITE

HYCOTE GLOSS WHITE

HYCOTE PRIMER

HYCOTE CLEAR OVERCOAT

Hycote Crystal Silver

Hycote Pepper RED pEARLeSCENT

hYCOTE tANGO RED mETALLIC

 

Photo of a default XSPC H1 CASE

 

H1-Cube-Case-04.jpg

 

 

Remember my last build where I used acrylic feet instead of the luggage-trolly-like castor wheels?

 

well since the mounting of the castors are exactly the same as the Mountain Mods level, we can re-use that idea.

 

Take one XSPC H1 Base plate

 

carefully mark out where the fifth hole for the LED is to go.

 

IMG_6587.jpg

 

score a line from bottom left to the top right mounting hole and likewise for bottom right to top left.

 

IMG_6585.jpg

 

 

Now do the same for all four acrylic feet mounts

 

IMG_6588.jpg

 

Now here is where I had a problem, as I didnt have a centre punch available in order to create a pilot for the drill.

 

So i thought of using an engraving tool that comes with my dremel set.

 

IMG_6591.jpg

 

IMG_6589.jpg

 

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Slowly but firmly press the dremel onto the desired spot

 

IMG_6592.jpg

 

This then allows a 2mm pilot hole with the dremel

 

IMG_6593.jpg

 

Now that is sorted lets use the big drill shall we?

 

IMG_6600.jpg

 

Press the drill trigger slowly as to drill gently through the delicate aluminium (DO NOT USE HAMMER ACTION)

 

This then creates a nice 5mm hole for the LED to shine into the acrylic feet.

 

IMG_6596.jpg

 

TESTING THE FIT

 

Note the LED has just enough room to fit whilst leaving the 5mm room to have a grip within the hole.

 

IMG_6597.jpg

 

IMG_6599.jpg

 

watch out for the next part:D

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ONCE all the drilling has been completed it is time to sand everything down ready for spray-painting.

 

Using 80 grit sandpaper I sanded all of the base plate down.

NOTE YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET RID OF ALL THE ANODISING!! Simply enough to roughen it up to allow the paint to take a grip.

 

Once completed you need to DE-GREASE and clean the plate. I use either liquid hand soap or dish washing fluid with hot water.

 

IMG_6601.jpg

 

Afterwards DRY the plate properly (you dont want a lizard skin effect trust me)

 

Once completed leave to stand for a few hours, then your ready for your first coat of primer!

 

REMEMBER

 

Many layers of THIN COATS are better than just one thick coat.

 

Sorry for the lack of focus here, the camera went a bit weird on me.

 

IMG_6604.jpg

 

watch out for runs, if you find any wait until the plate is dry then sand down with 5-600 grit sandpaper.

 

IMG_6605.jpg

 

I leave 3 hours to dry, sand down with fine sandpaper in preperation for the 2nd coat of primer

 

IMG_6609.jpg

 

I dont wantto put my usual three coats of primer on as this all has to fit back together again. So two should do.

 

I left the last coat of primer to dry overnight and on goes the first layer of gloss white paint:

 

IMG_6603.jpg

 

dont worry if the first coat of white gloss is thin and patchy, thats for the reason its meant to be (remember about using thin layers?)

 

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REMEMBER TO FINELY SAND BETWEEN PAINT LAYERS (as you would on the primer stage) so that the next layer of paint can grip (leave a couple of hours between each stage)

 

After the 2nd layer

 

still patchy but not as bad.

 

IMG_6614.jpg

 

Use 600 grit sand paper and sand again once dry

 

Once the third layer has been applied WAIT AT LEAST 48 HOURS BEFORE application of the clear protective coating.

 

After this has been completed

 

IMG_6613.jpg

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Next stage is the Drive Bay area

 

as you can see this has had a really good sanding down.

 

IMG_6607.jpg

 

After using two coats of primer, drying and sanding

 

Using polar white for this in order to create a more balanced feel inside the case.

 

IMG_6608.jpg

 

bought this nice handy attachment at wilkinsons

 

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Once all the sanding/washing/primer/paint and clear protective coating has been applied...

 

IMG_6615.jpg

 

Motherboard tray all marked up

 

IMG_6619.jpg

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PCIE Section.

 

FOr this I used two coats of primer, two coats of Hycote Tango Red (Metallic) and a coat of crystal silver (same company)

 

FOr this I didnt just wish for a candy effect, one wanted a kind of a cloud/mixed colour painting

 

Anyway I applied the crystal silver coating whilst the tango red was still wet in order to achieve this effect.

 

IMG_6669.jpg

 

IMG_6671.jpg

 

this is before the clear protective coating has been applied.

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First of all made a bit of a mess drilling these holes. These are for the LED's the will be mounted near the edge

 

I never realised how thin the aluminium was, well at least the LED's are going underneath the motherboard in order to create a nice backlit effect.

 

IMG_6673.jpg

 

IMG_6672.jpg

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Some more shots of the same plate but on differing light conditions.

 

IMG_6679.jpg

 

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next the cross struts

 

After the usual sanding, de-greasing and primer etc

 

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Finally I used Polar white on the outside

 

And gloss white on the inside.

 

IMG_6664.jpg

 

this is the first coat only. note i havent coated this side of the ends really. The reason for this is that all this has to be assembled again:)

 

Plus this side of the ending section is never seen as it slots into the front and back panels

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Redid mother board tray.

 

I cannot alter the slight messup I did with the LED holes, however at least I can repaint the aforementioned tray.

 

This now marries with the PCIE backing plate.

 

This is before the clear protective layer has been added.

 

 

IMG_6748.jpg

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Front Panel outside

 

After de-greasing and priming (as shown earlier)

 

To get this look, I used 'Polar White' then masked the first 8.5cm off the bottom as this will be for the red colour.

 

IMG_6770.jpg

 

The red used is a Metallic Hycote 'Tango RED' which goes fairly well with the off-white, but it is still a little harsh even though its a lot more classy than what I call 'Slapper' Red.

 

To balance it out a little i sprayed a fine mist of crystal silver so it appears there are clouds within the red.

 

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As you can see there is still a small issue to fix on the bottom right near the colour line.

 

The inside was essentially the same as above, however gloss white was used instead.

 

IMG_6775.jpg

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First of all

 

First Side panel completed

 

Please note all photos are taken before the final clear protective layer has been added, the reason for that is that I allow a MONTH to cure!

 

Side panel outside

 

IMG_6777.jpg

 

Side Panel inside.

 

IMG_6780.jpg

 

Ok next

 

The only spare NEW spacing style rad i have right now is an Old Black Ice GT Stealth. UV BLUE at that =yuucccccccccck. Obviously the colour doesnt go with the builds......

 

IMG_6769.jpg

 

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So after some painting and yes i had to paint the fins:(

 

Due to paint type it wont effect the performance very much

 

it now looks like this:

 

IMG_6781.jpg

 

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The build is REALLY starting to come along now:)

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