[OcUK Back Room Project] Custom Water Cooled Small FF PC
- Thread starter TheFuzz
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 8 Jan 2010
- Posts
- 636
Nice skills Fuzz that should go a little further when its in your loop
Painting The Rad & Panels PT2
At long last the final set of paints has arrived!!!
Now I can get on and finish the painting on the panels and the Rad.
Having given the panels and Rad a quick clean to clear off any dust, I started to apply the candy apple red base coat to the metallic silver layer.
The trick I found with this paint is to not to use a lot of paint in one go but use lots of layers. I found the best method is to apply a thin layer and wait a couple of minutes to go tacky then apply another layer on top.
It takes a while, and after much painting (and a good 20 minutes to come down from the ceiling - even with the paint extractor on full the fumes are a bit strong!
) I've managed to get a nice coating on the Panels and the Rad.
Candy Apple Red Base Coats
After letting the paint dry and after a light rub, I moved onto applying the clear coat which will protect the paint and also bring out the shine on the paint.
After a couple of thin layers followed by a final thick coat the panels were left to dry again (I managed to get a coupe of good layers on the Rad but the last layer threw up an issue and is need of repair (curse of the paint strikes again!
)
I've posted the picture of the Rad with one of the good layers on before it all went wrong.
After letting the panels dry I unmasked one of the panels to see if the effort has paid off...
After cleaning off some of the glue residue from the masking tape - I'm pleased to say so far so good!
With the rest of the panels drying and the repair work on the Rad also under way I can start on actually putting my build together now.
Stay tuned folks!
At long last the final set of paints has arrived!!!
Now I can get on and finish the painting on the panels and the Rad.
Having given the panels and Rad a quick clean to clear off any dust, I started to apply the candy apple red base coat to the metallic silver layer.
The trick I found with this paint is to not to use a lot of paint in one go but use lots of layers. I found the best method is to apply a thin layer and wait a couple of minutes to go tacky then apply another layer on top.
It takes a while, and after much painting (and a good 20 minutes to come down from the ceiling - even with the paint extractor on full the fumes are a bit strong!
) I've managed to get a nice coating on the Panels and the Rad.Candy Apple Red Base Coats
After letting the paint dry and after a light rub, I moved onto applying the clear coat which will protect the paint and also bring out the shine on the paint.
After a couple of thin layers followed by a final thick coat the panels were left to dry again (I managed to get a coupe of good layers on the Rad but the last layer threw up an issue and is need of repair (curse of the paint strikes again!
) I've posted the picture of the Rad with one of the good layers on before it all went wrong.
After letting the panels dry I unmasked one of the panels to see if the effort has paid off...
After cleaning off some of the glue residue from the masking tape - I'm pleased to say so far so good!
With the rest of the panels drying and the repair work on the Rad also under way I can start on actually putting my build together now.
Stay tuned folks!
Building the System PT 1
Now that most of the painting has been done (and repaired... again) it time to move on to actually building the system.
The first thing that I'll do is get the motherboard prepped and the Mono block installed.
This is actually quite straight forward to do. The first thing was to remove the stock motherboard Mosfet Cooler and rear mounting bracket (The rear bracket is reattached to help mount the Mono block). Once this was done the cooling strips are applied to the chips on the motherboard and the thermal paste applied to the CPU after being installed in the board.
The Mono block is then fitted onto the motherboard and the whole thing is carefully flipped over and the main 4 retaining screws are screwed in. The rear mounting bracket is reapplied and fixed back in place using the new screws that come with the Mono block. Once checking that the Mono block is secure but not over tightened the Ram is installed. At this point I also fitted two G1/4 45 Degree rotary fittings onto the Monoblock.
Prepped Motherboard
The motherboard was then fitted into the case and the PSU was also installed. The Front Panel wires were connected and cable managed. Two Nosieblocker Fans were installed in the front of the case and connected to the fan headers on the motherboard.
The 24 pin ATX/ 8 pin CPU & USB 3.0 Header were also connected and cable managed.
around the back of the case the Power cables were attached to the PSU, being a modular PSU I can only install the cables that I need giving me more space and less cable to manage.
The ION Res/Pump I mounted in the back of the case (I really would have liked it on the front side of the case but after measuring it wouldn't have fitted
).
After finding the right spot I measured and drilled two holes in the case that would let me secure the pump mounting bracket to the base of my case. The pump was secured with two nuts and bolts which holds the bracket nicely in place.
Once the pump was mounted and fittings fixed I started tubing up the build.
Originally I wanted to use 13/11 size tubing and fittings but after doing some testing I found that I could use 16/11 tubing and fittings and still get the bends that I wanted.
This was also lucky as I had been donated a ton of fittings which were 16/11 and found some tubing off cuts long enough for my needs!
After fitting and cutting the tubing I got the build tubed up leaving just the Rad to mount.
Front View
Rear View
Now that most of the painting has been done (and repaired... again) it time to move on to actually building the system.
The first thing that I'll do is get the motherboard prepped and the Mono block installed.
This is actually quite straight forward to do. The first thing was to remove the stock motherboard Mosfet Cooler and rear mounting bracket (The rear bracket is reattached to help mount the Mono block). Once this was done the cooling strips are applied to the chips on the motherboard and the thermal paste applied to the CPU after being installed in the board.
The Mono block is then fitted onto the motherboard and the whole thing is carefully flipped over and the main 4 retaining screws are screwed in. The rear mounting bracket is reapplied and fixed back in place using the new screws that come with the Mono block. Once checking that the Mono block is secure but not over tightened the Ram is installed. At this point I also fitted two G1/4 45 Degree rotary fittings onto the Monoblock.
Prepped Motherboard
The motherboard was then fitted into the case and the PSU was also installed. The Front Panel wires were connected and cable managed. Two Nosieblocker Fans were installed in the front of the case and connected to the fan headers on the motherboard.
The 24 pin ATX/ 8 pin CPU & USB 3.0 Header were also connected and cable managed.
around the back of the case the Power cables were attached to the PSU, being a modular PSU I can only install the cables that I need giving me more space and less cable to manage.
The ION Res/Pump I mounted in the back of the case (I really would have liked it on the front side of the case but after measuring it wouldn't have fitted
). After finding the right spot I measured and drilled two holes in the case that would let me secure the pump mounting bracket to the base of my case. The pump was secured with two nuts and bolts which holds the bracket nicely in place.
Once the pump was mounted and fittings fixed I started tubing up the build.
Originally I wanted to use 13/11 size tubing and fittings but after doing some testing I found that I could use 16/11 tubing and fittings and still get the bends that I wanted.
This was also lucky as I had been donated a ton of fittings which were 16/11 and found some tubing off cuts long enough for my needs!
After fitting and cutting the tubing I got the build tubed up leaving just the Rad to mount.
Front View
Rear View
Building the System PT 2
Ok, back to the build!
After fixing the paint job on the Rad and having the final layers of clear coat applied to it, the Rad is ready to be installed.
The Rad was attached to the front of the case (after putting up some resistance), behind the two noise blocker fans.
I then used two 90 degree rotary fittings (one with a black spacer attached) to give me the angles I need to attach the tubes to the Rad.
This was the part I wasn't looking forward to. I knew that it would be a tight fit and awkward as heck to get the tube onto the fittings, and Boy was I right.
In the end I attached the tubes to the fittings first, then screwed the fittings into the Rad using my favourite tactic of tempered brute force and a pair of long nose pliers. Not elegant but it did the trick!
At this point I was going to fit the storage drive and GFX card but I couldn't wait to get the loop filled with some Blood Red fluid and get the painted panels back on to see what it would look like.... So I did!
With the tubing now complete I moved on and fitted my Samsung M.2 Drive and my Asus Strix 970 GFX card.
After adding a few cable ties here and there to organise my cables and an overnight leak test (which I'm pleased to say it passed) I arrived at the following...
None too shabby so far!
There is just one last detail that needs adding... The final piece of painting!
I'd ordered a stencil with the original plan of adding a graphic to the Monoblock. Due to various reasons (item didn't arrive for ages & I got bored waiting) that didn't happen.
However there was a plan B so here it is... Ladies & Gentlemen may I present the small but powerful Red Dragon!
I will say that the OCUK Painting Curse was in full flow whilst painting the Dragon (less said the better
) and in the end I had to rework the image so that the dragon was graded from light grey (smoke effect almost) into a dark red. Not what I originally intended i'll admit, but with 'necessity being the mother of all invention' (in other words I ran out of Red paint) I don't think it turned out too bad at all.
Now that it's all together I can start to work on seeing what I can get out of my GFX card with an OC & my CPU OC...
Ok, back to the build!
After fixing the paint job on the Rad and having the final layers of clear coat applied to it, the Rad is ready to be installed.
The Rad was attached to the front of the case (after putting up some resistance), behind the two noise blocker fans.
I then used two 90 degree rotary fittings (one with a black spacer attached) to give me the angles I need to attach the tubes to the Rad.
This was the part I wasn't looking forward to. I knew that it would be a tight fit and awkward as heck to get the tube onto the fittings, and Boy was I right.
In the end I attached the tubes to the fittings first, then screwed the fittings into the Rad using my favourite tactic of tempered brute force and a pair of long nose pliers. Not elegant but it did the trick!
At this point I was going to fit the storage drive and GFX card but I couldn't wait to get the loop filled with some Blood Red fluid and get the painted panels back on to see what it would look like.... So I did!
With the tubing now complete I moved on and fitted my Samsung M.2 Drive and my Asus Strix 970 GFX card.
After adding a few cable ties here and there to organise my cables and an overnight leak test (which I'm pleased to say it passed) I arrived at the following...
None too shabby so far!
There is just one last detail that needs adding... The final piece of painting!
I'd ordered a stencil with the original plan of adding a graphic to the Monoblock. Due to various reasons (item didn't arrive for ages & I got bored waiting) that didn't happen.
However there was a plan B so here it is... Ladies & Gentlemen may I present the small but powerful Red Dragon!
I will say that the OCUK Painting Curse was in full flow whilst painting the Dragon (less said the better
) and in the end I had to rework the image so that the dragon was graded from light grey (smoke effect almost) into a dark red. Not what I originally intended i'll admit, but with 'necessity being the mother of all invention' (in other words I ran out of Red paint) I don't think it turned out too bad at all.Now that it's all together I can start to work on seeing what I can get out of my GFX card with an OC & my CPU OC...