[Case Mod Comp 2008] Project: Slow Chemicals - Overclock.net

**alexgheseger** · 04-23-08

Welcome to my build log, simply entitled "Slow Chemicals."

First off, credit given where it's due:

DAE JA VOO for the excellent drive stealthing guide.
Syrillian for the major inspiration behind my mod - Liquid chameleon.
My dear old dad for letting me take over his shop for 2 months

Now, what will this project entail? Well, it will include:

A thermaltake Armor
Chameleon paint!
Dual internal Rads (front mount, and roof mount)

Of course, Initially i had planned to do the exterior in a metalcast blue paint, but it just didn't turn out good at all. So i switched to more chameleon paint.

The Parts

QX6700
-I'll be watercooling this badboy with my stinger V8 waterblock.
2x Radeon HD 3870
- This was going to be a pair of CF 4870's, but no availability yet

.

2x 240 mm rads
- A Swiftech MCR220, and a BIP240.

All the other stuff is in my sig

2x 320 GB seagate Barracuda
Asus Maximus formula
4x2 GB mushkin HP2
Tagan ITZ series 900 Watt PSU
Auzentech X-plosion

**alexgheseger** · 04-28-08

April 28, 2008 - Still waiting on case

. It looks like it's lost in transit. I've contacted the seller and he is making an insurance claim on it... Well, there goes some more time.

**alexgheseger** · 05-01-08

Time for 'nother update:

Still no case, but at least now i know where it is. I just got this PM from the guy i bought the TT armor from:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seller

Good news and bad news.

Armor is accounted for, Armor is back in The states.
Rejected by customs because of unclaimed items in the package

I packed the extra side panel between 2 furnace air filters, I did not claim the filters on the customs form.
Didn't even think about it.

It's been back in the states for 10 days, problem is that I moved 2 days after I shipped it and the notice went to my old address.

I will reship it on Friday, that's ok, yes?

Sorry about this.

When I saw this, i just laughed. Looks like some kind of higher power is against this mod... However, I shall press on!

**alexgheseger** · 05-23-08

one word: SANDING

Here we go...

Got paint?:

there's 11 cans there, (4 base coat, 4 color coat, 3 clear coat)... I'm a 5 coats kind of guy, what can i say?

Here is the chassis all stripped down, and partially sanded.

The bottom:

The top:

The first Panel:

Lets sand this fool!:

Getting there:

GAHH! It's bent!!:

It's Hammer Time!!:

better:

**alexgheseger** · 05-23-08

I'm going balls to the walls with the sanding and painting today... Got a lot of lost ground to make up for.

I hate sanding these, it's such a pain:

the paint on the fins is ridiculously thick. I finally gave up and just sandblasted it.

It cleaned up pretty well actually

That's IT!! I'm done sanding for today at least... Time for some painting:

It's good to keep the paint in a nice hot water bath, it sprays a heckuva lot nicer... But i'm sure you knew that:

Base coat is applied:

Now for the color coat:

It just looks a little rough because the picture is out of focus, honest!
Here we go:

This first result has got me all excited. I love the look! more painting tommorrow.

**alexgheseger** · 05-24-08

Time for 'nother update...

Just got some goodies today!

The panaflo's i got from crazycookye (thanks

). The rivets are for putting the case back together, as you will see it in pieces soon. And the plastic polish, well, gotta get that shine somehow, don't I?

But enough of the fun stuff, it's back to the grind for me... First up, drilling out rivets:

The bit quickly chalked up with the tops from the rivets...

So... many... rivets

Fun fact: Before releasing the Armor+ and Armor Jr., Thermaltake tried releasing the Armor "kit"... Unfortunately, the pile of panels got the thumbs down on many review sites.

**alexgheseger** · 05-26-08

Alrightey, tons of progress today... take a look:

Preliminary polishing on the panaflo's is going relatively slow, The polished one is on the left, and the unpolished is on the right...

Well, a little progress is still better than nothing right?

Otherwise, nothing fancy, just a heckuva lot of sandblasting...

This thing has saved me so much time already, it's a great tool to have.

All the pieces I've blasted today:

Now it's time for MOAR PAINT!
Base coat applied.

TADA!!!

I wish chameleon paint would photograph better

.

Oh yeah, remember those fins? I've been working on them as well:

Not quite polished up, but I'm getting there.

The mesh bay covers are gonna get a little lovin' today:

The first one is blasted, and prepped for paint:

Can't say I'm too happy with the color, but it's nothing a little persuasion can't fix :

The big 250 mm fan grill is painted too:

And that's all for me today.

**alexgheseger** · 05-26-08

Well, it looks like the rainy weather is finally clearing up. That means work, and no more daily updates

. But, it's a good one today

. Just kidding, it's pretty weak actually

.

Sanding the 6 front covers:

180 grit:

220 grit:

320 grit:

400 grit:

i also blasted the other 5 mesh pieces:

Oh, I also painted 3 more pieces, but i'm not going to bore you with more base coat etc. pictures, just final result!

Notice the reflection in the top left piece

That's all the pieces I have done to date. Me likey!

Just one more internal piece to paint, then it's on to rad mounting, drive stealthing/rewiring/LED'ing, exterior painting, and plenum making

. That's a pretty big list...

**alexgheseger** · 06-11-08

YAY! It's raining today! That means no work and all play for alex!

Well, I just changed up the mod plans entirely. Where there was a plain blue exterior, there shall be moar chameleon paint! This time it's a red-blue shifted color

. Of course, I couldn't make the decision until AFTER i'd painted all the panels, and wasted 4 cans of paint and 6 hours of my time, but oh well, the mod will be better for it... i hope.

Got my second 3870 today! thanks microman!

it's purty

Here's a blue panel:

Not a bad color in and of itself, but when compared to the chameleon, it just looks "meh"

They be blasted (again

):

Holes for the roof mounted rad:

When i make the top cover piece, it's going to look like there is a 360 rad in there though... you'll see

fans on top:

Trust me, all will become clear soon

The rads (thanks Darkninja420 and Cyberdruid

)

the swifty is going in the front, and the BIP in the roof.

And, the first dose of red-blue shift chameleon!

From Blue:

To Red:

You have no idea what kind of acrobatics it took to get those shots

Of course the shift isn't that dramatic unless you lift the thing to the light, rotate it 90 degrees, and tilt your head just so.

**alexgheseger** · 06-15-08

Did the Top panel today, and boy is it looking fine...

It's stepping up to the fans i've mounted on the roof, kind of an incan pyramid vibe to it. Nothing fancy, just a couple of steps up to the fans, but a little lower than the fans to give a nice profile. But you'll see that soon enough

Just finished up the MDF frame that's going to support the polished angle aluminum

. See, I told you it would start to make a little sense!

Second "step" complete

Now for the aluminum:

Sanding the aluminum to a 45 degree angle

The top "step" is now covered with the aluminum:

The bottom "step" is still in construction

. Ran out of aluminum

Oh yeah, I painted my mouse too:

Not the best picture, but it does the job.