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First injury of the day. Sliced my finger on the side panel of the case.....good work Erik 
Spraying a Chieftec Dragon Full Tower
- Thread starter Schnippzle
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Riiiiiiiiight, and so we can start with the pictures. As this is my first work log, please excuse any brief explanations etc.
This is how it all started:
Fairly bog standard, and colourless pc. I wanted to add a slightly more vibrant feel to the rig and as Im keeping it black/red I thought Id spray the inside.
This is what the pc did look like before the spraying (pardon the terrible cable management)
This is how it all started:
Fairly bog standard, and colourless pc. I wanted to add a slightly more vibrant feel to the rig and as Im keeping it black/red I thought Id spray the inside.
This is what the pc did look like before the spraying (pardon the terrible cable management)
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And so we move on to the empty case:
The Dragon has oooooodles and oooooodles of space, so adding a watercooling system later will be no probs.
After the case had been emptied, I started masking off where I didnt want paint to go. As we all know, spraying can be a bit random at times so to reduce any excess "splosh", good old fashioned masking tape was used.
The colours I chose for this build were from the Holts Dupli-colour range. The primer was Oxide Red whilst the main coat was Radiant Red:
The Dragon has oooooodles and oooooodles of space, so adding a watercooling system later will be no probs.
After the case had been emptied, I started masking off where I didnt want paint to go. As we all know, spraying can be a bit random at times so to reduce any excess "splosh", good old fashioned masking tape was used.
The colours I chose for this build were from the Holts Dupli-colour range. The primer was Oxide Red whilst the main coat was Radiant Red:
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As the side panel behind the motherboard had striped dotted holes in it, I needed to mask that up as well so no paint got through to the outside:
Next came the hard drive cages. These come with a quick release function and a little lever that I wanted to keep silver. Therefore.......MOAR MASKING TAPE!!!:
Here you can see the tape wrapped around the back of the lever so I can still move it and make sure I can spray all the needed areas whilst still keeping most if not all of the lever silver:
Next came the hard drive cages. These come with a quick release function and a little lever that I wanted to keep silver. Therefore.......MOAR MASKING TAPE!!!:
Here you can see the tape wrapped around the back of the lever so I can still move it and make sure I can spray all the needed areas whilst still keeping most if not all of the lever silver:
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Let the spraying begin!!!!
First coat ofc was the primer. It looked really good when first applied but then went a more oxide red (suprise suprise).
First coat ofc was the primer. It looked really good when first applied but then went a more oxide red (suprise suprise).
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After two cans of primer, a bit of time sanding it down, and then two cans of the radiant red, the case was starting to......change.....:
Whilst the primer and main coats were drying I had the chance to pick apart my heatsinks and clean the fans out:
Whilst the primer and main coats were drying I had the chance to pick apart my heatsinks and clean the fans out:
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As hoped for, the hard drive cages turned out really well:
And so did the rest of the case:
It looks a lot more pink in these pics than irl. I blame that on the cruddy camera on my phone (apologies to all, dont have a digital camera). Ill post more pics of the assembled pc in a bit.
And so did the rest of the case:
It looks a lot more pink in these pics than irl. I blame that on the cruddy camera on my phone (apologies to all, dont have a digital camera). Ill post more pics of the assembled pc in a bit.
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And so, the final images:
Has been a fun little project. Took me about 6 hours to do and total cost was probably no more than 14 quid
I have Big.Wayne to thank for the advice he gave, and w3bbo for the inspiration. Thanks guys, much appreciated
P.S. The black lines across the bottom of the case over the gfx card in the last picture is the reflection of the power cord for the hoover
Has been a fun little project. Took me about 6 hours to do and total cost was probably no more than 14 quid
I have Big.Wayne to thank for the advice he gave, and w3bbo for the inspiration. Thanks guys, much appreciated
P.S. The black lines across the bottom of the case over the gfx card in the last picture is the reflection of the power cord for the hoover
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Thank you I think my next mod for this case is going to be cutting away the grills on the front of the case so that I can put the fans through them and put on my own grills. This will allow me to have the hdd's sitting further forward and thereby creating more space around the ram/cpu. After that, if the funds are in the right place, its wc time
I think my next mod for this case is going to be cutting away the grills on the front of the case so that I can put the fans through them and put on my own grills. This will allow me to have the hdd's sitting further forward and thereby creating more space around the ram/cpu. After that, if the funds are in the right place, its wc time 
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The cans were a bit over £3 each. I would like to add some red lighting to the case but the majority of the red lights Iv see are....well....more pink tbh. One thing I am thinking about is getting some of that red neon thread-like stuff and wiring that around the inside so the actual lights cant be seen, but their gentle glow will be enough to light it all up. Also, I wouldnt be able to keep any lighting too close to the window of the case as most of the light would seem to bright.
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These are my current thoughts on rad placement if I go the wc way:
That is the eventual plan anyway. Two loops, the 120.3 for cpu and 120.2 for gpu.
That is the eventual plan anyway. Two loops, the 120.3 for cpu and 120.2 for gpu.
Looks like a good idea, you may also want to consider putting a single bed in there and renting it out to a student or something, you may just get a double bed in there but may be a squeeze! 
[edit] How come the top is so big anyhow? is that for 2x PSU or?
[edit] How come the top is so big anyhow? is that for 2x PSU or?
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Looks like a good idea, you may also want to consider putting a single bed in there and renting it out to a student or something, you may just get a double bed in there but may be a squeeze!
lol.
Show us the end results
Here is a suggestion for the placement of two cathode strip lights, the top one should fit into the semi hollow side bar and the bottom would fit against the edge of the case floor again hidden by the case side.
Its always nice when you can see the light effect but cannot view the light source.
[edit] I just noticed the hoover is the same color as the case
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[edit] I just noticed the hoover is the same color as the case
Had been crouched over this for about an hour or so and the missus said my face blended in with the colour of the hoover and the case.
Iv had two cold cathode's in there before (both of which were said to be red but were more pink), and they wont fit in the bars going across the case. This is one of the reasons why I thought that the thinner strips of bendable lights would be a better idea as I can stick these virtually anywhere.
Just above the psu slot there is a 92mm fan socket (not sure why). One can however switch the two around by flipping the fitting screws onto the case if one wanted to have the psu higher up.
Have had offers from a family of 4 to take up housing on top of the psu and want me to bungie cord some beds above the dvdrw drive. A bit apprahensive though as I wouldnt want them to take up squatting there.....This could however turn into a new mod. House mod, full front and back gard with a porch......Sketches to come soon.