ABS/Tagan Black Pearl - evolution of a water-cooled rig

[Oli4v]

tough, I would go white-Blue, that would make it a nice smurf-computer ^^

[Jonni Nitro]

I am sure you will do fine. Will you be using rattle cans, airbrush, etc. I dont want to insult your intellegence because I dont know you, but find some self etching primer for that bare aluminum. It will bond much better than standard primer and you wont have to scuff the metal as much. Preparation and patience are key when painting and judging the quality of your other projects it seems you have both. Good Luck!

[WinstonSthlm]

Sweet, Shazza is back
Nice shots, red black theme looks really nice!

[shazza]

Thanks again guys. The feedback keeps me motivated to get something done. And, no worries, Oli4v ... smurfy will come to life again in the future!


OK ... an actual, real-life-did-some-work update. Decided to try my hand at painting, so worked with a piece I wasn't planning on re-using as a test panel. First I sanded lightly with 320 Grit, then cleaned thoroughly.


Used self-etching primer (thanks for thinking of that, Jonni - fortunately, that is one of the recommendations I ran across in my research. But never hesitate to suggest something, cause you never know what people do or don't know). Sprayed a couple of light coats, let sit for an hour, then sprayed the panel.


I used two different colors - one on each side. The first, is Dupli-Color Red Engine Enamel:








The second is a Dupli-Color Red Metal Specks paint:






It's really hard to show the colors correctly. For these pics, I'm using jpegs out of the camera with no adjustments to try to show the comparison. Unfortunately, it looks like I moved the lighting just a bit for the two pics on the Torture Rack, but I think you can get the idea. The Engine Enamel has a bit more orange to it, is kind of a semi-gloss/not quite matte. The Metal Spec paint is darker red. I tried to get a pic showing the metal flake, but didn't do very well - here goes anyway:













And, a shot of the cans and the little spray booth (with air exhaust to the outside) that I used. This is what my husband uses for his model train work. It's big enough for all the smaller parts - but things like the motherboard tray will need to be done outside.

[millertime359]

Looks good.

[kgtiger]

Looking good there Shazza.
I like the engine red myself or maybe a more blood red. The Red Metal Specks paint seams to look a litle pinkish, is that how it realy looks.

[Jonni Nitro]

Nice work, and I am glad you found out about the self etching primer it makes a big difference. I figured you would have done your research.

[shazza]

Looking good there Shazza.
I like the engine red myself or maybe a more blood red. The Red Metal Specks paint seams to look a litle pinkish, is that how it realy looks.

I think you hit it on the head, kgtiger. Actually, either will work, but I'm going to tour the local Auto Parts stores tomorrow to see if I can get something in between the two.

The engine red is just a little too orange, but doesn't look bad with the components. The Metal Specks Retro Red is closer to a cherry red. Again, it looks fine in real life with the components. It has the added advantage that it is easier to apply than the Engine Red. If I planned to do the outside of a case, I'd definitely go the Metal Specks version - for the inside,

[anubis_is_evil]

very beautiful photo's for every pic's that comes up shazza...

is it you always give proper lighting or you only using daylight ?...

awesomely beautiful, the picture look so clear, without any single dust captured...

good luck with your progress

[xaxis]

Yep - that's why I thought I'd use the Antec instead of the Corsair HX1000w that's waiting in the wings Still haven't given up the idea of mounting the PSU in the front bays above the midplate - still thinking on it.

If you decide differently when it comes to mounting the PSU in the front bays, have you completely scrapped the idea of throwing a vertical rad within the front bays? ... That is, in addition with any horizontal rads you may or may not implement on the bottom?

If you haven't and don't want to deal to much with mounting a rad vertically in the front, Dave's rad mounting brackets come to mind.

BTW: I really like the way or process you're going about this build Shazza. It's an example I need to use as a reminder to be more flexible and open to different possibilities.

[dreamaxx]

I like the first one more, the one without as much texture

[Jamesrt2004]

good work =)

[shazza]

Appreciate the feedback. I know it's hard to tell the colors on the screen. BUT ... I did find the same Duplicolor engine paint as the "orange-ish" one in a better red. While the color reproduction is not perfect, I think you can tell that the new red is between the other two. (I guess I'm showing these just to prove I did something today, cause it's about as exciting as watching paint dry )
















@anubis - I'm trying to take decent photos, but still learning. Some are taken with one photoflood on them (reflected onto the subject with a reflective umbrella). Others - like the ones today, were taken out side in the shade.


@xaxis - I think I'll go with a fairly traditional radiator mounting this iteration. I do have some of Dave's rad brackets on hand for another project

[shazza]

Progress from this morning follows. I wanted to plug the spare holes in the mobo tray, since I was going to be painting it. Thanks to Jonni Nitro for the hints on how he did it in his Black Pearl.



The setup ... note, making progress here, as I was walking outside when my husband said "just use the kitchen counter." Not ideal for photos, but I wasn't going to turn him down when he was being helpful.








The tray cleaned of fingerprints and smudge - lots of scratches but those will be (hopefully) covered up in the painting process.






Taped the back of the board, as suggested by Jonni Nitro:






Bondo applied ... oh @#%!@#!!! ... they say you have three minutes to work with it. I tried to fill all the holes with one batch. Dang, should have just done some, then mixed another batch. Not like I need that whole can for this tray. I see a re-do coming...





A close-up. You can see where the bondo was getting dry and didn't want to spread. Not sure it filled the holes.






I brought out "Bondi the Bondo" bear for luck with the next step. Sanded off the excess bondo ... used 80 Grit, then 150, then 220. Tried not to sand too hard. A tad concerned about the mess I made with sanding on the tray, but let's hope the primer covers my incompetence.







Closer look at the filled in holes:






And, a view of the holes from the back - no sanding or clean-up required.






I know this is old hat to many of you, but I've never done this stuff. In fact, I was quite nervous before trying it Next step is a good clean-up, a light coating of self-etching primer, then some regular primer and wet-sanding, then some paint !!! (I'll spare you the step by step photos of the next few steps).

[Zeus]

Hey shazza, all looking great so far!! I have to say the engine red looks better as it's more bright and will give even better contrast with the black paint.

Good luck painting, just take your time and spray in light coats.

[aka_GK]

shazza, I can't stop wondering how you are doing such pictures Some of them looks like they was proccesed in photoshop for a couple of hours, but I 99% sure that they don't

You can do nothing for your build, just take the photos

[shazza]

@ Zeus - I hear you on light coats of spray paint. That's the hardest thing for me to get the hang of.

@ aka_GK - Thanks for the kind words on the photos. I can assure you these are very lightly processed - downloaded to Lightroom2, then some clarity, contrast and sharpening adjustments and they're uploaded to smugmug. Lighting is the key, and as you can tell, I don't always have decent lighting. Looks like I could use some White Balance adjustment in a few as well



OKAY ... I get so excited about doing something new, I keep getting ahead of myself. I forgot I wanted to cut out holes in the motherboard tray for the SATA and Power/USB cables. So ... after spending an hour or so making sure I had the right placement (better to do this before taking everything apart!!!), I drew my lines and went searching for help. I thought this would be a good time for dremel practice. Nope, I was told it was time to use the Skill Saw. First, we drilled some holes to get started:




Working on a stool is not ideal, but the workbench area my husband built in the garage is too tall for me!






After being mauled by the saw ...






Happy to report no fingers were lost in this exercise. Although we are now short one blade, and my ears are ringing from the "NEVER PULL THE SAW BLADE OUT WHEN IT'S RUNNING," I have a cutout. Also no tears were shed, so that is progress with my Power Tool Tutorials


Since Bondi isn't going to do that filing, off I go...

[millertime359]

LOL, looking good Shazza

[Chicken Patty]

very good job with the bondo Shaz!

[dingdong555]

Loving it Shazza! It's more like a story than a worklog which is much more entertaining! Love the mascot too!

[CptDreadFlint]

The red engine enamal came out great! I had no doubt your paint job would come out stellar, shazza!

I'm not a sparkly paint fan, but yours seems to work.

Oh...and this pic:

Reminds me that if my 9-month-old niece got into her little Little Mermaid shoes, stepped in a puddle of Bondo and proceeded to walk around on my side panel.

[Jonni Nitro]

Good job Shazza, that MB tray will look great. I hate how smugded up the aluminum gets while your working with it, but since you are painting its no big deal.

[CyberDruid]

Metal Specks. That's a new Duplicolor flavor to me. Thanks. Looking great. You are quite the case modder.

[kgtiger]

Nice work there Shazza, comming along nicely.

[shazza]

LOL, looking good Shazza

Thanks, mt (you're always laughin' at me )

very good job with the bondo Shaz!

Appreciate the support, CP.

Loving it Shazza! It's more like a story than a worklog which is much more entertaining! Love the mascot too!

I brought Bondi out of his cubby hole just for our Australian members ... now he has to go back cause I don't want him to get dirty.

The red engine enamal came out great! I had no doubt your paint job would come out stellar, shazza!

I'm not a sparkly paint fan, but yours seems to work.
R
eminds me that if my 9-month-old niece got into her little Little Mermaid shoes, stepped in a puddle of Bondo and proceeded to walk around on my side panel.

Thanks, Cpt. The paint I'll be using is the engine enamel, so it doesn't sparkle, but does have a relatively high gloss. (And, those would be the Lil Mermaid shoes with the little spiked heels ?

Good job Shazza, that MB tray will look great. I hate how smugded up the aluminum gets while your working with it, but since you are painting its no big deal.

Thanks, Jonni - I saw how well yours came out, so wanted to try it.

Metal Specks. That's a new Duplicolor flavor to me. Thanks. Looking great. You are quite the case modder.

Appreciate the feeback, CyberDruid, as I'm a big fan of your work. The Metal Specks paint really goes on nicely, I'm sure I'll use it on another project. I'm no case modder ... it's taken me 3 years to get up the nerve to make a cut!

Off to do some more prep work for my painting.