Masked and pasted with drawings from Autocad on the plastic bezel and original Silverstone drive bay faceplate.


There is no margin for error. Have to be very careful. If I screw up I got no more spares.


Filing out the button hole.


Done. A shot of the back. I made use of the original drive bay faceplate's shape and had a hook like thing at the two ends.


Filed out two notches on the plastic bezel.


Slide it in. The hooks actually hold it in place but I'll be gluing it later.


Test fit. Perfect match!
The reason why I decided to do it this way is because the original Silverstone brushed aluminium faceplate has a different, more defined texture compared to the side panels. So I can't use the brushed aluminium cut out from the side panel if I want it to match perfectly.
(Click for larger pic)


To be continued tomorrow.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Oct 11 2007, 12:18 AM

actually it's already a functional PC

Masked and sprayed the exposed parts silver.


Then I just remembered I had some brushed chrome sticker. So with some careful cutting, on it goes!


Pasted a template for the button, then filed out the excess to make it a square shape (originally was rounded at the ends).


Touched it up with a little sanding and gave it the brushed chrome sticker too.


Glued together.


And wala... fitted into the Lite-On DVD writer. A shot with the tray open.
(Click for larger pic)


Tray closed


Finally fitted into the case. I love how it looks as if it came as a factory option.

Thanks for the compliments peeps.

actually that was one of the easier parts. making the aluminium faceplate and sanding down the original bezel was harder work.

the lighting for the side panel, will be getting some assistance from Allngap.
still waiting for the Scythe kama meter to do the faceplate mod again.

---

Added on October 12, 2007, 1:11 amYeah, except the cutting. Took the UV acrylic and measurements to the workshop to get them to cut it with the table saw. didn't wanna take any chances with my dremel or jigsaw cuts coz this has to be very accurate (it's gonna hold water!) plus it's a pretty long reservoir. still I had to do some significant sanding to ensure everything is perfectly straight and accurate down to the last 0.1-0.2mm (checked with a caliper) before sticking it together with chloroform.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Oct 12 2007, 01:17 AM

Small update.

My reservoir sprung a leak so I had to drain the water cooling loop to fix it with a little epoxy. Changed two parts of the tubings to Tygon Silver Antimicrobial Tubing. The rest of the tubing is the same Tygon R3603.

Meanwhile, I swapped the power supply's fan to the same colour A.C.Ryan fan as the others.


While I was assembling it again, I took a picture before the reservoir was mounted so you can see the holding block screwed on at the bottom. Standing beside it is the power pole cover before it is mounted.


This post has been edited by MetalZone: Nov 12 2007, 11:13 PM

thanks for the compliments

missed out ur question.
I flattened and smoothened out the original bezel, made aluminium covers for it out of the stock silverstone drive bay covers, spray painted the exposed parts silver, and covered what I could with brushed chrome sticker.
The pictures should speak for themselves?


Meanwhile, I'm doing the same brushed aluminium faceplate mod for the Scythe Kama Meter. Lights for the window are coming soon too.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Nov 12 2007, 11:10 PM

Wah seh thanks.
Actually, I've been modding since 2002 when the modding bug had started to spread.

The PSU is a review sample anyway and I've tinkered with it before, so warranty bantai lah, so I can do whatever I wish. I've sleeved the PSU all the way inside also.

Actually i've posted a number of pics of the power pole already. There are more detailed pics of the construction process of the power pole in the 1st page.
When mounted this is how it looks at the back before the cover is put on:
http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/10002/96.jpg

Bottom of power pole mounting, view from the back:
http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/10002/78.jpg

Top of power pole mounting, view from the back above the partition:
http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/10002/79.jpg

Top of power pole mounting, upwards view:
http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/10002/80.jpg

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Nov 13 2007, 01:56 PM

Scythe Kama Meter Faceplate

Masking taped, and traced from the original faceplate.


Cutting in progress. The curves were cut with the reinforced cutting disc sideways.


Done cutting, drilling, filing and sanding. The drilled holes turned out a little pear shaped but fixed with the file. I need a drill press!


View from the back. The mounting tabs bent following the original faceplate but with so much bending on the aluminium, it became a bit weak, so I added some aluminium L bracings, tapped with M3 threads.


Assembled.


Fitted into casing.

Yes it is an extra Lian Li faceplate I bought. Didn't want to cut another Silverstone one in case I need it as spare.

Actually the only error my work is the top left is not perfectly straight (because of sanding actually). Will fix it with a file later. Was REALLY busy over the weekend.
The right side has nothing to do with my cutting. It is the edge of the LCD behind. Even with the original faceplate, I can faintly see the edge of the LCD behind. But not really obvious in real life la. I'll see if I can adjust the faceplate to the left a little and see if can compensate for that or not.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Nov 20 2007, 09:43 AM

Sorry guys, lolabunny087 actually PM'ed me hahah.

I've been using Mach X for a long time already. It's all assembled up serving me well.
The only thing that I didn't do to it that i had planned to do is to light up the embossed side panel. I actually have all the lights and controllers made for me already but I didnt get around to making the controller panel.
I haven't really been keeping up to date in the computing scene ever since i started work and then now i'm back to further studies. I'm planning to give Mach X a total hardware overhaul sometime mid this year during my long summer break (coz i can feel it's sluggishness already in the work I'm doing). So when I'm at that I'll do a couple more improvements. I need to remake a new reservoir also. the upper part is leaky! so i only fill half the res. hard to fix the leak also (i tried). Next time I'll probably use epoxy as a bonding agent instead of chloroform (i think it doesn't make a very good waterproof seal. lesson learned!).

I actually posted a pic of my desktop in the samsung netbook thread... doesn't show much but yeah, it's serving me well since you guys were wondering. I don't have any other better picture yet unfortunately.

(on a side note I personally took the desktop wallpaper picture)

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Apr 1 2009, 02:59 AM