Case Mod, Day 2

The other night, I started on that case mod I mentioned.  Theme: "The Punisher" (2003? film version and related publicity imagery found online in about 15 minutes of searching).

First, I had to use a pair of needle nose pliers to tear out four rivets to remove one side of the hard drive mounting brackets because the motherboard is an old AT form factor that is long and short, not tall and narrow like the ATX form of the case.  I didn't need these brackets anyways, because as in most of my systems, this one uses 5.25" front hard drive bays so I can swap out operating systems with the swap of a drive.  I also stripped the side panels and front panel off the case and removed any buttons or lights that I didn't want painted.  Finally, I had to disassemble the front panel because I didn't like the silver trim snapped onto it.

That trim is now painted flat black, with the original coat on the rest of the case being a gloss black.  It gives some texture to the case.  Today - day two - was paint day.  I didn't want to do it inside the apartment, but thanks to the below freezing temperatures, I discovered the bathroom (with exhaust fan) makes a good fume hood to keep the rest of the apartment smelling somewhat normal.  I also cut out the form and masking-taped and painted the skulls on both side panels (the skull is about 7" wide by 10" tall, one side panel is clear cut with masking taped edges, the other has a main coat with misted edges; both are not solid white, but are a misted coat of semi-gloss).  The front of the case (now with trim re-attached) has a small, less detailed skull over the power button (large silver) and reset button (very small silver) that is directly below the first button.  I'm interested in putting these two buttons back on and seeing if I need to paint them or if I'm okay with leaving a little silver.

Day three will be comprised of hunting down an electronics store that sells LEDs and removing three green and one yellow and replacing them with four in the red color.  Also, re-attaching all electronics to the front, securing with hot glue (bought a hi-temp hot glue gun the other day), and remounting all the panels will be on the list.  And of course, I will have the Punisher wallpaper to set up on any/all OSes used on that computer .  I had planned to add some red cathodes to the inside for a nice, bloody ambiance (doesn't make sense? watch the movie...), but my employer no longer carries red in stock, and I will also have to hunt for those (or order from NewEgg, but paying more for shipping than the product doesn't make sense to me).

Photos to come as made possible by my roommate's digital camera.