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A CLASSIC CASE MOD e
Modding your First PC Cas AnG3L Case Mod Frosting the Acrylic
apter
an Ad Making your own Multi-F m
At the New Mod City Foru
Greene We care about the environment where we live. Did you care?
by Deshaeness Betances
That’s why we decided to print our Magazine on Recycled Paper to take care of our Environment and the Planet.
vious Article s From: NMC-MAG #0
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Lil’ Hannah
his was a Case Mod I did with my daughter as a birthday present, she’s Hannah Montana # fan so she needed a new computer but not a regular one so I decided to make it one. We made this Case Mod in 3 days. Custom paint to match Hannah Montana theme, cable management, custom side panel window and more.
er! 1.
Having too many computers in one place waste to much energy.
2.
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The XICLE
his project began when masbuskado traveled to the Dominican Republic for the spring break vacations there he found a round piece of cardboard and he immediately associated it with his knowledge of modding then he decided to cut a piece of inch wide of the round cardboard. This was the first PC Case masbuskado constructed from scratch, everything was customized to measure.
Turn off your Computer (Desktop or Laptop) when you are not using it.
3.
[The Sample]
Modding 2.0
A
s we all may know Modding is NOT a local phenomenon Modding has become a global movement but there is an issue about Modding with a lot of Modders out there nobody knows about modding only those who are modding knows about what we do and why we do it. So then come to my mind why not let them know what are we doing.
Putting your Computer to Sleep the right way can save you some $$$ but we recommend that you Turn it off completely if you are not planning to use the Computer for about 2 hours or more.
4.
TIPS
Faster CPU and Old CRT Monitor require more energy than Slower CPU and LCD Screen.
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“I had this computer for about two years now the only thing good was the Video Card then I start making some research and came across the CasemodBR Forum after following some really good and interesting projects I decided to make my own Case Mod.�
W hat has been done ?
On the Side
Side Panel Window: I ma ke 3 openings in the side panel 2 small windows one on the top of the side panel and the other at the bottom a big window in the midd le of the side panel cove r with 2mm clear acrylic and the small wind ows also have a nice wire mesh.
On the Front
Front: I replace the stock Power and HDD LEDs for 2 High-Brightness 5mm Blue LEDs. In the 3.5 bay section I placed a thermometer that measures the temperatur e of the motherboard. I us ed one of the 5.25 bay section to add a fou r switches panel to contr ol some of the lights inside my case. In the oth er 2 5.25 bay I add a 80mm transparent Case Fan with 4 Blue LE Ds.
Inside the Case
I placed 2 bars with 10 LE Ds each 5 Blue and 5 Re Yellow Cable Organizers, d LEDs, UV UV Blue SATA Cables, UV Yellow and Blue PCI Slot Covers, a UV Co ld Cathode. Also to cool everything down I placed another 80mm Tr ansparent Case Fan with blue LEDs below the HDD taking the warm air from the Video and HD D from inside to the Outside of the case. I spent five months worki ng on this project and fin ally in March 29, 2009 I manage to ge t done. During the cons truction I learned enough about Case Modd ing. The experience can not be changed by anything. I hope that you enjoy my CLASSIC Case Mod Proje ct, you can find more amazing and good quality pictures at the Ne w Mod City Forum, feel free to leave me some comments. Until the next time!
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ting elcome to the exci low world of Modding Be ide is a comprehensive gu e same you in 10 steps within th and complex will know how simple . it is to modify your PC nfuse Case Many people co re Upgrade. Modding with Hardwa dware is not For me adding a “har you’re going case modding. So if u should be to read this guide yo not hardware aware that this is any kind. Upgrade or Update of
Choosing the Caseth:ing to do is The first se. get a new or old ca eve The best way to achi ay, this is by going to eB a craigslist or in the fle w. market section at ww ty. nmcstore.newmodci ’ll com. In our case we a use as an example . Micron Mid-ATX Case
e War ning: This guid le is not for peop r ei th who enjoy boring computer.
E
oose 7 very Monday we’ll ch the Case participants to be in mpetition. Mod of the Week Co osen every The winner will be ch n days to vote Sunday. You got seve oose from. and seven Mods to ch ll be chosen? Q: Which projects wi stom Built, A: PC Case Mods, Cu and/or Game Console Mods . ds Hardware Mo st be 1. The participant mu unity (NMCmm co r ou registered in Forum) te work log at
2. Must have an upda NMC-Forum
rcentage (If you can post a pe rk it will wo ed let of your comp oose the be easier for us to ch participants) % Completed 3. Project must be 50 or Completed at all.
ld have a plan (Your work log shou tes, pictures of your project, upda and video (optional)) ur project 4, Doesn’t matter if yo um (you can is post in another for tire work log either re-post the en best 20 pics over here or post the plain briefly of your project and ex lude before what you do, must inc and after pics) ct in xxx. (If you post your proje tter to us ma forum.kom it doesn’t at the ur yo but you should post ted, na mi NMC-Forum to be no the of ge “a another thing is the that t ou ab re project” we don’t ca post ld ou sh u either if it’s a Mod yo it to compete) rticipants for 5. We will choose 7 pa Monday. Mod of the Week every chosen 6. Participants will be ek of the by vote during the We Competition.
announced as 7. The Winner will be winner on Sunday. t compete in 8. The winner may no th the same future competition wi project. not win 9. Participants who do in future ate cip rti pa will be able to competition. me to the
10. Bring you “A” ga competition.
s? Q: Are there any prize now we are ht rig , A: Yes there are Magazine developing a Modding all the Weekly “New Mod City” and ll battle in Case Mod winners wi down to be ow Sh r the NMC Cove w Mod City in the cover of the Ne nners from Magazine. Also the wi be feature (Pics, previous weeks will the main page info, links, video) on e a Case Mod of NMC and will receiv of the Week Badge.
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o now you have your PC Case so is time to make some rough sketch! The first thing we must do is remove all the screws on the case. Save all the be screws in a reusable bag to l be used again. If the modding wil to a little bit extreme I advise you as e cas remove all the rivets in the ove well. The easiest way is to rem the rivets with a 1/8” drill bit. ts Remove all the componen as: h from inside the case suc Supply, Power Motherboard, s Hard Drive, CD/DVD Rom, Cable the and Fans. After that put all you components in a safe place if are going to use again. r I recommend that you take you m case and put it at 4’ (feet) away fro of you then sit with a blank piece
paper and a pencil and start sketching the case. Then add what you may think will look cool or improve the case by modding it. Always think as many possibilities as you can because the more you add on your sketch the less you’ll be working with the real Mod. After that grab a black marker and trace your design on the case, see how it looks like, sketch some more if you don’t like the result and the repeat the process. So when you decide what to do go to the next Step.
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his guide can save you time if you followed correctly. These were the tools and materials used for thi s project, some projects requir e less or more tools and materials than this project.
Please use the tools with care and caution if you do not know how to use some of the tools listed below please visit our forum (www.forum.new modcity.com) leave us a message and will be a pleasure to help you develop you r masterpiece.
ls o o T rewdrivers, Ruler,
w Bits, Sc Power Drill, Drill Bits, Hole Sa Gun, Painting Mask, Solder, Measuring Tape, Manual Rivet Jigsaw or Dremel and Clamps.
Materials
Blue Masking Tape, Sand Paper s, Primer Spray, Color Spray Paint, Crystal Clear Spray, Penci l, Black Marker, Gloves, Bondo, Acrylic and a piece of Cardboard 2’ x 2’.
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Ftoulis, I am 27 years old Hello there! My name is Alexis and of Cyprus. and I come from the beautiful isl er, some tribal wings and...
I am into the PC “hobby” for about 13 years now and 3 years e in Case Modding. So far I hav is ” G3L “An and ds Mo made 2 my latest Project.
I decided to create project “AnG3L” one day a friend of mine asked me why I put the I signature Angel in every Mod my is it t tha him told I e. had don artist nickname so the idea was born. Sketching after sketching nothing was coming up. So I told myself “Why don’t you l improvise!?!?!” So the Radgril
! was born... from a toy car , ting Cut : Then the fun begins ! g... Bonding and Paintin
d Then were the wings. I use of lot A ... acrylic, fiber glass and imagination and some artistic skills! The colors? Black and orange always! I had to order a case then... Lian Li FTW! So here come the troubles.... I decided to draw a design for the side panel to be laser cut. I didn’t know anything about CorelDraw!!! Nothing! So first, a piece of
pap Endless hours on CorelDraw to finalize that!
I wanted perfection! The “best” part was the bezel. Double g turbine mod with some paintin required that techniques e 40 layers of paint!!!! Sam technique for the panel also. In the meantime I had to paint the case Black matte and orange e fluorescent FTW! More to com in Part 2. You can follow the Work Log at the New Mod City Forum.
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Are you Ready to do some damage?
If the answer is Yes, please co ntinue reading this guide. You already have the case disassembly, your ma terials and tools ready now yo u need to combine all that and start creating your own masterpiece.
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rab the piece of ca rdboard and take th e hole saw. Press the Hole Sa w bit against the cardboard using the marker m ock the outside ro of the hole saw bi und shape t. Now cut out the round shape (Now you have a round shape Hole in the Cardboard). Mask the area you are go ing to cut out with the blue masking tape this will redu ce the debris. Plac e the Cardboard round shape hole wherever you wan t the blow hole to appear in the case and mark it with th e black marker. If you find this tech nique difficult then try it with a Fan Grill (Size of your Choice). Now you have to find the center or radius of the hole you are going to cu t. You can draw a square; you can do this by using the same fan or w ith the ruler, and then trace 2 lines from one corner to another across the square (Now yo u should have so mething like it an “X�). So you have your center. Take your drill and drill a hole where the 2 lines you trace previously intersect.
How to cut with the Jigsaw If you are going to make som e complex cuts in a flat surface you have to drill a ho le first to fit the jigsaw blade remember to do that ins ide of the area you are going to cut then start cutting from the inside to the trace mark that you did before . To Cut acrylic with the jigsaw always use the clamps to tight the acrylic to a flat surface (we recommend a table or a big piece of wood) then proceed to carefully cut the acrylic. Always mask what you are cutting wit h the blue masking tape that way you’ll not scratch the surface you’re cutting off.
How to Cut the with Dremel It is always easier to cut with a tool as simple as the Dremel. Just place the disk specified for each material and carefully follow the trace or design done recently on the surface of the material. If you are cutting metal please use safety goggles and gloves. www.newmodcity.com www.newmodcity.com00 0
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Ready to Paint!
mendation this guide. Our recom of ep st t es si ea e th are ainting is Now you need to prep s. re tu ra pe m te e bl mask, is to paint at suita Always use a Painter t. in pa to g in go re u’ the surface yo safety first!
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for painting r Preparing the Surface ndpaper grit 80, afte sa a th wi ce rfa su e th a fine First you must sand ntinue sanding with co , ce rfa su h ug ro rface to the removing all the obtain a smooth su to 0) 22 or 80 (1 it sandpaper gr touch. Always ke ep your S pray paint recommen in a warm d to put th e place (We spray pain water befo t in a buck re painting et with warm ). Always before you try out you start painti r spray pain ng. t Now is tim e to apply your first 3 layers o layer of pri f primer o mer. App n e every 1 ho Then let th ly ur after th e piece cu e first one re for abou find any im . t 12h perfection after havin rs or 24hrs. If you coat, use a g applied fine sandp the primer aper grit a nd carefull y remove it .
ondo ork with B How to w since it requires o is not an easy task
er Working with Bond n. A little bit of harden tio na di or co d an e nc rdener a lot of patie er to heal, too much ha ng lo st la ll wi o nd bo and the s. You can y in just a few second dr ll wi o nd bo e to th d an sand it by hand is up or er nd sa c tri ec el an either use e desire looks. you to accomplish th
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l technique and his is an additiona u’ll need a piece very easy to do. Yo ass). of acrylic (Plexigl
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t the side panel In this case we fros u e project. First yo th of e m na e th with e design, you can us need to make the you e doing letters or MS Word if you ar ter if you want to. Af can draw it by hand ng lic with blue maski that mask the acry e th ur design on top of yo e ac pl d an pe ta sign d transfer your de masked acrylic an to the acrylic. out knife carefully cut Now with a razor ue masking tape the design in the bl re you design will just the areas whe r e of fine sandpape ec pi a ab gr en Th be. the ting your design to grit and star t fros er : you can use wat acrylic! (Safety tip e th ) then remove all lic ry ac e th nd sa to ur there you have yo masking tape and design. first frosted acrylic estion or doubt on If you have any qu simple technique How to make this . rum at http://forum please visit our Fo newmodcity.com
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or this technique you will need an old damage Motherboard or you will need to buy 7x Male 3 Pin Connectors, a little piece of acrylic, your solder with rosin-core solder, a glue gun and 1’ (foot) of wire. First you need to heat up your solder after that take your old motherboard and rem ove all the Male 3 pin Connectors. Cut a rectangular piece of acrylic 0.5 (1/2)” W x 2” L then find the center of the rec tangular piece (0.25 = ¼”) after that you’ll need to dra w a line for each piece and make some kind of gri d (See the Picture). Now you need to drill some ho les for the pins for that you need to use a 0 .0591” (1.5mm) Drill Bit. Safety Tip: the best way to do this is by drilling the holes before cutting the rectan gular piece of Acrylic. Insert all the Connectors in the acrylic and glue it down, now you need to strip the foot of wire (you can either use a wire stripper or you can use a lighter to burn the wire and the n you can strip it by hand). Heat your solder aga in and weld every positive line together do the sam e for the ground line. After that use the glue gu n to cover the strip wire you just weld. That is…! No w you have a 3 Pin Multi-Fan Adapter. I hope you enjoy this little project.
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his is a very simple change bu t very effective. You only need to replace the Male Molex Connect or from the Cold Cathode for a 3 Pin Female Connector. This can be done by using a molex pin remover and a 3 Pin Remover tool some soldering are requir e to complete this modification. Take out the Pins from the mo lex then cut the pin attach to the wires and strip the wires. Then take the Pins ou t from 3 Pin Connector and now you need to solder the wires to the Pins fro m the 3 pin Connector and you are all set! Safety Tip: Remember that 3 Pin Connect Positive and Ground wire are dif ferent than the molex connector (Molex Connector Yellow = Red in the 3 Pin Connector / Remove the Yellow wire from the 3 pin connector)
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hese are the two most dif ficult stages in case modd ing. To Mod your PSU (Power Su pply Unit) you will need Tim e and a lot patience. For Cable Mana gement you need a to sle eve all the cable inside your Case inc luding the PSU Cables an d some space to hide those cables. You always have the optio n to do it by yourself, pa y someone to do it for you or don’t do it aft er all. This guide is for PS U that haven’t previously sleeve. I always prefer to do it by myself is fun and you ca n learn a lot. I will not describe in detail the steps, only the basic thing s to know about it. So let start! First you will need some tools and Material(Molex Male/Female Remover, ATX Pin Remo ver, Heat Shrink Tubing, Cable Sleeving and a Blow Dryer) to accomp lish this task. Now you need to take a pic ture of the PSU 20/24 Pin Connector or you can draw that will pr event that you put the ca ble s in the wrong place. Remove all the pin s from ATX 20/24 Pins Co nnector. Now cut 2 pieces of the heat shrin k tubing (1” each) measur e the length of the PSU ATX Cable and cut the Cable Sleeving with the sa me measure as the PSU ATX Cable. Int roduces the Cable into the Cable Sleeving Material, removes any ex cess material. Now caref ull y introduces the first Heat Shrink Tubing and use the Blow Dryer to shrink it, repeat the process for the end of the cable you are sleeving . Safety Tip: Don’t shrink the end where the Pins are located, put all the pins back into the 20 /24 Pin Connector first an d then Heat Shrink the tubing. The same technique appli es to sleeve all the PSU ca bles. If you have any question or want to know more ab out case modding just go to our forum and we’ll answer any questio n. Thanks for reading this guide and un til the next time.
Top
Back & Side Panel
Side Panel
Lighting
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