[Project Log] Red Black Redemption

Guys I need a suggestion before I continue with the front black mesh part.

I was thinking and maybe thought of cutting a front 120mm or 140mm fan into the plexi, something like the following picture. Now I will be using some fancy fan guard and possibly a Red fan with black blades. thoughts?

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So the main questions are, should I do the mesh or the fan on the front and if the fan should I go with 120mm or 140mm, personally I think 140mm will be a bit too much but I'm to suggestions.

Edit: For a 120mm i'm thinking of this
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from mnpctech. I'm still looking for a nice 140mm one.
 
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Update!! 08/06/2013

So the mesh and fan ideas are completely trashed, the fan one, I'm not really a fan of it and it was just an option and I don't really like it so that one's gone. As fore the mesh one, I went through with it and the final result looked like crap and I trashed that too. I will probably leave it as is and if sometime I'll build a machine inside it I will design something cool and have it printed as a custom sticker for the ODD bays.

So this morning I bought some mesh.

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First cut.

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And fitted it.

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Now it wasn't perfectly flat so all my college books will help with that :)

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sprayed the mesh black.

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Stuck some double sided tape to mount the mesh.

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Don't worry it's transparent :)

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Mounted it, and it looks like SHITE :( It looks much worse in person.

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So I removed it and the double sided tape.

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And I cleaned it with some white spirit.

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I masked the bottom part and gave it another coat of spray as with the white spirit the red became a little blunt. It is currently drying as I am writing this.

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Thats it for now, I thought I'd update you on what was happening.

maniac out.
 
Yeah, doesn't look too great... Shame! :(
Maybe with some thicker mesh?

Yeah thats what I went for in the first place, But the thicker mesh was way too thick. Well, it's a learning curve for me. I might go buy the thicker mesh just to see how it looks and I'll discard it if I'm not happy with it but I'll have to wait till monday afternoon to be able to go to the ironmonger again.
 
The digital camera fails at reproducing the real red of the case but the phones camera does a way better job so here are some pictures of it next to the switch 810. When comparing them you can really appreciate the size of the 810.

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And after seeing it like this, I think I won't bother with the front panel anymore and I'm just waiting to get the reset switch, pci brackets and leds. The latter should be here next monday. After I get those I should be able to assemble it with screws this time :)
 
It actually looks pretty good right now. Red isn't really my favorite colour but it looks pretty easy on the eyes and it just works! :)
 
It actually looks pretty good right now. Red isn't really my favorite colour but it looks pretty easy on the eyes and it just works! :)

Yep the red is much nicer than what the camera shows. The camera photos made it look like a very very very bright fuckin red that would blind you if you looked at it haha :P
 
What about getting a fan grill like from mnpc and mount that in the front?

Do you mean just installing the fan grill for aesthetic reasons or actually put a fan there? I'm not really a "fan" of installing a fan in the ODD bay although I did mention it, but as I thought of it and imagined it in my head I didn't really like it.
And also stuff for mnpctech is stupidly expensive, a plastic fan grill inc. shipping is about 25eu.

On another note I got the pci slot covers yesterday and leds today, and I will update and hopefully finish the thread when the reset switch arrives so that I can assemble the whole thing.
 
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Update!! 11/06/2013

To start off with, I know it's technically a double post but I'm not gonna edit a whole update, it would just look stupid imo.

Going on with the update, yesterday I got the pci slot covers and a few hours after I sanded them down primed and top coated them in cherry red.

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Whilst I was waiting for the parts I also took some shots of it near the switch 810, it looks stupidly tiny haha :)

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This morning I got the two led strips I ordered late last week, now these are car leds that run on 12V so I had to do something about the connector, it wasn't exceptionally hard, pretty straight forward tbh.

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I had to test them before doing anything to them so heres a 15 year old power supply that I use to test stuff before I blow anything up hehe.

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and they work, so off to installing a molex connector to one of them for now, if the second one is needed I'll just do a molex connector on the other.

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and done.

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Installed the pci slot covers after 2 days of drying, used thumb screws I had as they look much better than normal screws, anywho here it is.

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and also installed the red leds on the back, I figured cable ties are much more secure as double sided tape would just peel off over time.

p.s I also sleeved the leds but I forgot to take a picture, oops!

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this is how it looks from the back, the red slot covers look very good from the back :P

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And tested with how it looks with the leds on.

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and I had to test it with the side panels on.

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thats it for today, next update will probably be the last, I really had fun doing this one and I'm seriously considering buying another old oem case and modding it whilst doing something different, although I'm limited on space and I already have two unused cases.

maniac out.
 
No airflow PCI slots? :p

Not too sure on the red lighting, if I'm really honest. I liked the black and red contrast, now it all looks red :o
 
No airflow PCI slots? :p

Not too sure on the red lighting, if I'm really honest. I liked the black and red contrast, now it all looks red :o

The airflow pci slots are pretty expensive and I barely found the normal ones let alone the ventilated ones. I am thinking of doing dual 40mm fans but I don't really feel like taking it all apart again whilst its not in use. About the lighting I do feel the same way. I will eventually take out the white lighting from my main rig and try it on, if it looks good I'll leave it there and get a blue kit for the switch 810 :)
 
Update!! 14/06/2013

So where to begin, I took your advice and changed the led's to white from my Switch 810 (now I have to get new ones for the Switch hehe), and here it is. Note that the led's are just placed for now and I contacted NZXT to try and get hold of the led clips that mount the leds to the case.

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As I installed the pci bracket, it looked awfully out of place.

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so it goes again.

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and while that dries, I decided to extend the Led power cable as it's way too short.

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boom, instant extension :)

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and sleeved again....for a change.

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the pci bracket is dry.

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and installed.

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its like a ninja between them hehe :P

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and finally today the reset switch arrived, it took 16 days to get here :|

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and another one sleeved.

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installed in its honorable place.

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thats a ton of cables for an empty case :O

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installed the front...with proper screws this time.

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and now some shots of the case completely assembled. just remember I use a digital camera and no lighting, but anywho, here are some pictures.

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I love how much effort you've put into this mate! :D

Great work on the cables and it looks really good in those last pictures :D
 
I just want to point out how good nzxt support is, I just got a confirmation e-mail that they sent the led clips so I can mount the white leds to the case, free of charge, no questions asked. well, they didn't sponsor me in any way but they do deserve a shoutout :)

Thanks to Yun-Lai :P

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