Not posted about this yet because I've been pretty busy with it.
Any way, I managed to buy a Omaura Karma TF8 chassis for £10 plus delivery. A case that cost an absolute fortune circa 2009. It is supposed to look like this.
Yet mine looked like this.
Basically it had been left in a conservatory in the sun and the sun had bleached the anodising. This wasn't an issue really because I like black and white things so the modder's itch was soon upon me..
The case arrived.
And I set to work. Firstly it was very dusty, so I broke it all down (it's very clever how each panel is individual ! kinda like Mechano !)
And then filled up a bath full of hot water and washing up liquid to make sure everything was very clean. Once dry I laid down a base coat of beige that I had lying around from a Noctua project I did a couple of years ago. Mostly just to fill in any minor scratches the case had and provide a foundation.
Now the paint I use is not that horrible stuff you can buy from Halfrauds and so on. This stuff is professional grade cellulose paint. Due to that it comes out fast, and thick, so you need plenty of experience in painting. The finish however? absolutely amazing. Nothing but a compressor will give you a better finish IMO.
For the colour I decided on Snow White.
On with the main coat then. First up were the small parts.
It's basically the power button, dvd eject and flap there. Then onto the main parts.
Not to worry. Mr Curious Fly and I have now parted ways. I doubt he will make that mistake again
I can reassemble the case in about a week. The paint I use takes a good week to harden properly. Not only that but with any spray painting the key is in putting down lots of layers, and putting down just enough so that you don't get pools or runs, but not too much. Again, that takes a fair bit of practice but with these cans you can get professional compressor like results.
Onto the hardware.
My main aim with this project was to keep the price to £150. Not a bad idea, especially as the case alone was worth more than that as new. It really is a solid case mostly formed of billet plates that have been machined.
In the end I decided on -
Pioneer IDE 16X DVDRW. I bought this from OCUK about 15 months back because I used to run SSD in RAID 0 and they had no TRIM. So, I was constantly running Diskpart and I could not get that to run from a SATA DVDRW. It's pretty much remained in the box under the bed for over a year.
IDE-SATA converter. £1.50 from Fleabay.
250 Seagate Baracuda that was removed from my PC and replaced with a 500gb.
Intel Celeron G530 - £30.
Corsair Vengeance blue 2x2gb 1600mhz £23
Asrock H61MVS - £39.99
OCZ Mod Xstream 2 600w £27 (from AVF)
I decided to fit the CPU and cooler, then put in the ram and wire it up. This way I got on Windows 7 Professional ready for when the case is complete.
Any way, I managed to buy a Omaura Karma TF8 chassis for £10 plus delivery. A case that cost an absolute fortune circa 2009. It is supposed to look like this.
Yet mine looked like this.
Basically it had been left in a conservatory in the sun and the sun had bleached the anodising. This wasn't an issue really because I like black and white things so the modder's itch was soon upon me..
The case arrived.
And I set to work. Firstly it was very dusty, so I broke it all down (it's very clever how each panel is individual ! kinda like Mechano !)
And then filled up a bath full of hot water and washing up liquid to make sure everything was very clean. Once dry I laid down a base coat of beige that I had lying around from a Noctua project I did a couple of years ago. Mostly just to fill in any minor scratches the case had and provide a foundation.
Now the paint I use is not that horrible stuff you can buy from Halfrauds and so on. This stuff is professional grade cellulose paint. Due to that it comes out fast, and thick, so you need plenty of experience in painting. The finish however? absolutely amazing. Nothing but a compressor will give you a better finish IMO.
For the colour I decided on Snow White.
On with the main coat then. First up were the small parts.
It's basically the power button, dvd eject and flap there. Then onto the main parts.
Not to worry. Mr Curious Fly and I have now parted ways. I doubt he will make that mistake again
I can reassemble the case in about a week. The paint I use takes a good week to harden properly. Not only that but with any spray painting the key is in putting down lots of layers, and putting down just enough so that you don't get pools or runs, but not too much. Again, that takes a fair bit of practice but with these cans you can get professional compressor like results.
Onto the hardware.
My main aim with this project was to keep the price to £150. Not a bad idea, especially as the case alone was worth more than that as new. It really is a solid case mostly formed of billet plates that have been machined.
In the end I decided on -
Pioneer IDE 16X DVDRW. I bought this from OCUK about 15 months back because I used to run SSD in RAID 0 and they had no TRIM. So, I was constantly running Diskpart and I could not get that to run from a SATA DVDRW. It's pretty much remained in the box under the bed for over a year.
IDE-SATA converter. £1.50 from Fleabay.
250 Seagate Baracuda that was removed from my PC and replaced with a 500gb.
Intel Celeron G530 - £30.
Corsair Vengeance blue 2x2gb 1600mhz £23
Asrock H61MVS - £39.99
OCZ Mod Xstream 2 600w £27 (from AVF)
I decided to fit the CPU and cooler, then put in the ram and wire it up. This way I got on Windows 7 Professional ready for when the case is complete.
