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Operation Sabertooth (Case Mod)


Christopher Trakimas

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Enter the new vision.............Operation Sabertooth

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The theme will have to change as well as the color scheme....

Asus Sabertooth X990 mobo

Cooler Master V6GT CPU Cooler

Paracord sleeving

Crucial SSD M4 128gb

GSkill Ripjaws DDR3 8gb...the red heatspreaders have to change..

EVGA GTX 550 Ti

AMD FX 8150 Black Edition CPU

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W PSU

I'm thinking a Desert Cameo theme...inside and out,

change the heatspreaders on the RAM to match the theme,

side window will change....

and maybe a few odds and ends....as it progresses....

Removed all the components and separated the case parts.

Stripped and ready...

Let the painting begin....

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Base color is set.....

Decided upon Digital Desert Camo......If i only knew just how much this was gonna be labor intensive....

Being cheap and wanting to it all myself, I went t and printed out my own stencils.....and the cutt'n begins!

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this took me 3 days of cutt'n with an exacto.....but it was worth it coz It's unique!

Second color added over "cuts".......

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If you look, you can see the stencils under the second coat.

More to cut and another color or two to add!

Having cut out 11 sheets of digi prints, time to use some...

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now for the 3rd color....

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Hopefully I won't need a 4th color....will remove stencils when it dries and we'll see how it looks...

Off course....I bought my Ripjaws before I decided on a color scheme...so I need to fix them..

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more on that later.....gonna paint the heatspreaders.

Also started on the cable sleeving.....

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Damn 24 pin is a TRUE pain ....using my customized pin remover!

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Had to change all those pins from the Red Storm (red & black)......Military colors now!

I never relized just how BAD those 'ol heatshrinks looked....I'm embarrassed!

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AS you can see....going with paracord and heatshrinkless connections....

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The moment of truth.....time to peal all them stencils and pray.....

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I was worried that they might get stuck...waited a few days soz the paint would set.....BUT, no problems!

I was concerned @ the "Espresso" color, as it seemed a bit too dark and I was also concerned that I might not have used enough Large stencils on the first color "Fossil"......However, it worked out exactly like the vision I had in my rattled brain!

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Of course, I'll have to wet sand it now to level the layers and gonna shoot it with a Satin Clearcoat......I had some overspray, as a couple stencils lifted on the edges (from the first layer).....BUT, you know what?......they sorta add depth and texture to the print......I might just leave them!!!...........OR NOT!

Also painted the heatspreaders on the RAM....

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Again missed a little line @ the labels, minor touch-up!

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FINALLY!

All the paint is done and ready for sanding and clear coat..........

All the covers in the front Bezel...the will be 2 Optical Drives on top.......

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In the Bezel for final check on pattern......

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All the sleeving is finished.....

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Looks like I'm adding another EVGA card for SLI...

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Front panel wires

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With all the new sleeving, couldn't get them all back into the PSU, so out comes the Dremel and NOW they fit!

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Even found a build for the famous "ugly" Noctua fan.....rear case is perfect for the Military theme...

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I'm guessing @ 80 hrs so far.....painting took quite a while coz it was laid down in three stages, sleeving and PSU mod was a little tedious.....

Did some work today, before the rains came........

Window making time!...........Tools laid out.........

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Window size laid out....

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AND after a couple attempts....the jig saw has to go.....cracked 2 sheets....WTF

In comes the Dremel with my engraving attachment......

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Worked like a charm...used a cutting tip......

Will post pics when I attache the window to the side panel......it started to rain and camera batteries died......

It's been one of the days!!!

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Thanx Bill and Fozensnail......I put @ 80hrs. in that paint job....HAD to get it right!

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Installed the window last nite........

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Clear coat looks good...not sure you can see it......maybe when all's said and done, it will show better...

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Ready for I/O cables......

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.....Had a design change a few days ago, decided to do a little more with the cover---PSU and I wanted to hid the HHD/Optical bays....

Ran across this sheet of mesh at work and somehow it ended up in my truck.....go figure!

Mapped out the cuts...

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A little Jigsaw work and...

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Used the "Trak Custom" bender.....

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And with a little elbow grease and a mallet.....

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Not Bad!

Installed for fit and layout of Holes(Mobo wires)....

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And it's look'n good.....some sanding, priming, and painting tomorrow and she's on schedule!!! a366919b.gif

I primed the HDD and PSU covers...

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And painted them....also drilled out my cable holes...

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One of the new changes was to do a little modding of the Cooler Master V6GT CPU cooler....painted the cover...

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(color appears different coz the flash was washing out the close-up, so I turn it off)

and I changed the fans to Noctua Focused Flow fans...

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this weekend is the final leg of construction....hopefully....and should be able to "Put It All Together" !!!!!

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That is an EPIC paint job! Well done :D

Also you seem to have found the only colour scheme that Noctua fans fit :P

Thanx.....As you will see..Noctua's are perfect for this theme!!!

Moving along.........

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OK....Enough of the case pics......I know, I know!!!!

Got my Noctua fans for the V6GT....let's dress 'er up!

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Gonna start install'n the MOBO and stuff.....and some NZXT lighting!!!

Now the Fun Stuff begins......Making it all fit!

Started with the CPU cooler and RAM...

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Added EVGA 550ti.........Awaiting another card, had to send one back...damaged by UPS!

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Some HDD's and SSD....also the PSU....

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Found this in the Sabertooth box.....from ASUS......put it on my PSU cover, might not keep it, we'll see!

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And of course....the NOT so Fun Stuff....CABLES!..

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Had to change on the go.....Case Feet had to be changed till I found a set that allowed the PSU to fit!....why do they come with large nuts ?....DON"T YOU DARE!.....You know what I mean!!!

and had to turn around the HDD rails and bend the stops down coz the Cover I made was too close to rail tabs.....

Minor things, but time consuming...

Tomorrow...

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