(Case Mod) MKG-Cosmos II

[bob808]

Hi everyone!

This year I am entering my Cosmos 2 case mod in the 2012 CM competition. Here are some finished pictures with the build log following from start to present. I have been working on this for months and it's just about done, but I will get all of you caught up from the beginning

Finished case mod money shots-

inside

I'm sure that most of you all know what the Cosmos II case looks like so I'll just post one stock photo-

I've been wanting to do a hemi orange/black computer ever since I completed the MKG-RC1 (http://www.overclock.net/t/888554/madka ... t_12113186) so I spend a bit of time with my trusty photo editing software (MS Paint lol) and came up with a few ideas-

I ended up going with #7. Those fans would go nicely with the color scheme! Modding the side panel for the window is going to be... interesting.

[bob808]

Good news! The case arrived in pristine condition-

The only thing that is not 100% is that the front sliding door stops sliding down on its own after the 3x5.25 bays. if I put a bit of outward pressure on the right side of the track, it continues down. I'm guessing that the frame of the pc got ever so slightly tweaked during manufacturing or transport. Even if I cant get is sliding down as it should, it's not a deal breaker, as it will probably remained closed 98% of the time anyway.

I set it up on my kitchen table so I can get a better look at her- She's a big-boned girl but very sexy..

That's a lot of wires hanging out in there for the case being empty-

As you can see, the first thing I did was take the door off. I'll be looking at the inside compartment a lot to think about what I want to do, color scheme and modding wise. I am going to water-cool this monster, and honestly, this case is too mammoth if you just want an air cooled pc. All this room will be nice to work with for water-cooling though!

Here's a picture of the side door, removed from the case-

There's a lot more plastic on this case than I would have guessed. Here's a picture of the backside of the left-side door.

As I plan on placing a window on this door, I need to see what's going on so I can think over my options. After removing 3 screws, I take off the dust filters.

Next, I take off the black chromed hinge and lock strip.

Here you can where the aluminum skin has tabs that are bent over, holding it to the plastic frame, 3 on the hinge side.

Four tabs under the locking strip.

Along the top and bottom edges of the door, I can see four more tabs on each side, covered up by these bits of plastic.

These can (and will) be removed to gain access to the bent over alum tabs-

Carefully, I bend the tabs up using a flat screwdriver-

The aluminum skin is glued to the plastic in addition to the locking tabs, so some special tools are rounded up-

This part I was as careful as possible, I don't want to damage the very thin alum skin on this $350 case. I work my way around the door, pushing the spatulas in as far as they will go. From the little sticky white boogers that are appearing when i pull the spatulas out, I am assuming that its some kind of double sided tape acting as the adhesive.

Whew. I got the skin off without any damage. We're going to have to source some of this type of double sided tape. Its very sticky, and very, very thin. I am pretty sure I know where I can find some, if not I will be contacting CoolerMaster, and beg them for some. Worse case, We can use some other type of adhesive, but from taking this door apart, the tape used is very effective.

The aluminum is very thin. Less than 1/16th of an inch. At least it will be easy to cut haha!

I put my youngest daughter to work removing the sticky double-sided tape mess from the door. She loves getting her picture taken lol.

Modding- fun for the whole family!

I'll probably use goof-off on the tape on the aluminum, but I don't want to damage the plastic, so manual removal then a wipe down with isopropyl alcohol to remove any trace residue.

[bob808]

Well I got the plastic frame all cleaned up with some alcohol.

I couldn'y find the goofoff so I had to settle for some citrus cleaner. I soaked it and let it sit for a while.

All cleaned up!

I temporarily attach it to the door and draw out a couple window lines. One of them has 1.5" reveal from the top edge of the door...

and I drew a another top line, this one square off the left side line.

The bottom line also isn't square, I went with an even reveal off of the line fron the top air vent. There's going to have to be some metal work done on this, as the window cutout does not entirely consume the upper air vents that exist in the door currently. I'm also going to fill in the four detail lines on the right side of the window.

[bob808]

It can only go forward from here!

I decided that it would be better to go square off the sides, so the window will not look out of whack compared to the components inside (like the top edge of the mainboard).

So I took the aluminum panel down to the dungeon and unleashed the dremel on it and here's what it looks like now-

Then I used a sharpie to trace out the cutout onto the plastic door frame. then I drew another like about 1/2" bigger on the outside of the traced line. I used a jigsaw with a metal blade to cut the abs plastic. Here's what it looks like-

Now I'm going to cut the intake filter part and do a bit of sanding to straiten things up a bit. After that comes the fun part of filling in the holes in the door that need filled. Going to quite a bit of work.

Its slow going but I'm making definite progress! Here are some pictures to show what I have been doing-

I filled in the air vent that I am canceling out with some lightweight body filler (bondo)

I cut and super glued pieces of plastic to provide a stop-gap for the filler-

After preliminary filling and sanding/blading on two sides-

I'm going to fill in the handle sections on the door since the cutout lands in the middle of them, this picture shows me cutting plastic to fill a majority of the space, so it's not all bondo-

A piece cut (from the window cut out) and glued in the handle space. Taped off in preparation for filler.

Ready for more filler. I just twisted up some tape to fill in the small voids in the bigger handle section to bondo over-

Then I scraped and sanded until midnight last night while watching tv. It still needs to be filled another time or two to remove any imprefections, then sanded smooth with fine sandpaper before it is ready for paint.

I've got some other things to do tonight, so I may not get to working on this, but more updates to come!

[bob808]

So I bought some filler, primer, and satin black paint on my way home from work today-

Before I started masking off part of the door panel, I realised I needed to get rid of the lip of this air vent since it's going away, so I use a flat razor to scrape it down-

The abs plastic works pretty easily and soon I have it scraped flush-

Covering up some of the door that doesn't need the filler coat -

After that, I take it down to the basement and give it a good coat of filler-primer. While it dries, I figure I can start working on the aluminum skin of the door. I was thinking about cutting pieces of aluminum (out of the scrap) to fill in the vent hole that I am getting rid of, but then I would have to hire a welder and it seems like to much trouble, so I figure I can fill it myself.

I start by cutting a piece of fiberglass cloth that I had left over from a Celty anime helmet project that I made for my daughter ( http://www.overclock.net/t/858096/anime ... oject/0_20 ) -

Then I taped it tight over the area that I want filled-

Then I mixed up some runny knife grade epoxy- I should've scuffed up the aluminum, but I didn't think of it- damn paint fumes lol

Then I forced it into the fiberglass using the putty knife. after that I placed some paper over the epoxied fiberglass, and placed some books on top to wiegh it down and keep things thin.

so while the epoxy was drying, i went and grabbed the other part of the door from out of the paint booth (my basement heh). I grabbed a bowl of water and some 400 grit wet-dry paper and went to town. Here's what it looks like now, after the filler coat was sanded smooth.

Now that has to dry, but the epoxy has cured, so I apply some body filler to the face of the door skin.

and that's where the door stands as of now. Over three days later (mod-time) and the door is not even ready for paint hahaha.

Ah well, sometimes you just can't rush things. thats probably it for tonight, The wet-sanded door has to dry thouroughly, I might start sanding the door down, but pics wont come until later.

I did pick up some needed items though. There is a metal shop right next to the shop where I work. I went over there today and asked the owner if he had any metal mesh. He asked how big and if it was for a personal project. I said about a square foot and yes.Then I followed him into his shop and he pulled out a 22"x36" piece of beautiful perfect size stainless mesh. I asked him how much, and he said that he couldn't remember how much he paid per sq ft, but that it was very expensive. Then he gave it to me and I told him I would buy him some beer! great deal

Heres what it looks like with the CM front filter mesh over the top of it- it looks almost perfect, except the CM mesh is actually little hexagons whereas the mesh I got is round, and the stainless mesh has slighly bigger holes.

After work, one of my errands was to aquire some acrylic, so instead of going to home desparate, I went to a local plastic fabrication shop ( Kel-Tech plastics ) and found some color samples. I picked out a couple and took em to the front counter and asked an employee how much it would cost for a couple of small pieces. He said that one of the colors that I picked out would be hard, because he didnt have any in stock and he would have to order a whole sheet. Then he pointed me over to their scrap rack where they sill misc acrylic (and other materials) up to 2" thick! Anything under 1" thick is sold by wieght at $2.50 a pound( 1" thick and over for $5 per lb)

I got 2 smoked grey panels and a 10x14 or so sheet of some orange. The orange was not my first choice of orange, but the other was oos. Regardless, it may work nicely, but its very transparent. some sanding may be in order- I'll have to test a piece. the orange and thinner of the 2 grey pieces are 7/64" thick (or just under a 1/4" for those of you that don't care to be so exact) and I got a 3/8 thick piece of smoked grey also. It weighed 6 lbs and it cost $16.40 after tax. not bad!

Heres a pic-

Thanks for looking!

[bob808]

Wet sanding the filled aluminum-

Taping off the filtered vent slots in preparation for paint-

Aluminum skin ready for filler-primer

Backside of aluminum-

I put the two pieces together for sanding, here's what it looks like now.

The plastic door frame is ready for paint. I am going to use the spray filler on the skin at least one more time and block sand it some more. Then the skin will be primered with white in preparation for the orange color.

When I was looking at this case before I thought it would be cool if it didn't have the upper set of vents, so there could be a window. In my opinion, this case is geared more toward watercooling and therefor the optional door fans are not needed.

Well after a week of filling and sanding and more filling and sanding and painting, I'm almost there! Ther plastic frame if pretty much done, i"m just waiting for the satin black paint to cure before a light sanding and final coat. I've got the aluminum skin ready for primer also, so I heat up the can of white primer in a warm water bath. I find that the painting goes on more smoothly/evenly with warm paint compared to cold paint.

Primer is applied. I used white primer instead of the black so that the orange color coat will not be darkened by the undercoat.

I let the primer cure for about an hour, then sanded it with 1000 grit wet/dry paper. After that I wiped it with a slightly damp micro fiber cloth to remove all the dust. Here's what the hemi-orange Duplicolor engine enamel looks like after two coats. Sexy :thumb:

While that was drying, I completely dismantled the case as far as I could without drilling out any rivets. Don't worry, that's still coming!

Then I grabbed a few parts that will also be orange and gave them a good sanding with 400 grit sandpaper for good adhesion of the primer. Then I taped off some sections that will remain black, and sprayed them with the white primer.

Here's what it looks next to some black-

planned cutouts for the top and front panels- these should be easy to cut as I will just be able to use my jig-saw.

I got the cutouts done in the top and front panel, and hand sanded them while watching a couple of movies. They're looking nice!

I also picked up some needed items though. There is a metal shop right next to the shop where I work. I went over there today and asked the owner if he had any metal mesh. He asked how big and if it was for a personal project. I said about a square foot and yes. Then I followed him into his shop and he pulled out a 22"x36" piece of beautiful perfect size stainless mesh. I asked him how much, and he said that he couldn't remember how much he paid per sq ft, but that it was very expensive. Then he gave it to me and I told him I would buy him some beer! great deal

Here's what it looks like with the CM front filter mesh over the top of it- it looks almost perfect, except the CM mesh is actually little hexagons whereas the mesh I got is round, and the stainless mesh has slightly bigger holes.

After work, one of my errands was to acquire some acrylic, so instead of going to home desperate, I went to a local plastic fabrication shop ( Kel-Tech plastics ) and found some color samples. I picked out a couple and took em to the front counter and asked an employee how much it would cost for a couple of small pieces. He said that one of the colors that I picked out would be hard, because he didn't have any in stock and he would have to order a whole sheet. Then he pointed me over to their scrap rack where they sill misc. acrylic (and other materials) up to 2" thick! Anything under 1" thick is sold by weight at $2.50 a pound( 1" thick and over for $5 per lb)

I got 2 smoked grey panels and a 10x14 or so sheet of some orange. The orange was not my first choice of orange, but the other was oos. Regardless, it may work nicely, but its very transparent. some sanding may be in order- I'll have to test a piece. the orange and thinner of the 2 grey pieces are 7/64" thick (or just under a 1/4" for those of you that don't care to be so exact) and I got a 3/8 thick piece of smoked grey also. It weighed 6 lbs and it cost $16.40 after tax. not bad!

Here's a pic

Heh- totally forgot to post progress pictures. I got the cutouts for both sliding doors done- here the pics:)

The new mesh is going to look sweet and sassy behind those cutouts :thumb:

I don't think I will get any modding done tonight, just a bit of sanding on these cutouts and on the plastic door frame that still needs one more coat.

Thanks for looking!

[bob808]

I've made a bit of progress. I cut the mesh for the top and front. I also cut the plexi for the window.

Most of my time has been spent scraping down the plastic on the top slider to allow for the mesh.

Then it took a while to sand everything down with 400 grit sandpaper, and to mask it off, getting thimgs ready for primer and paint.

Well i need to put mesh on this panel, but the support frame stuff is in the way-

I take off that stuff with a good 'ol flat razor blade. The abs plastic is pretty nice to work with.

After cutting off the majority of the stuff, I scrape it flat. I just stand the blade up perpendicular to the area, and scrape back and forth-

After a little bit of elbow-grease, Here's what it looks like- ready to accept some steel mesh!

Drawing some lines for window acrylic, and mesh pieces.

My helper Lil'Hammer being clamp boy, holding the window for me.

After I got the mesh cut out, I spent more time bending the pieces to fit the concave panels than I did laying down the lines and cutting them out.

The top panel sliding piece does not have much clearance, so I have to scrape down the plastic a good 1/16 of an inch to accept the mesh without rubbing on the plastic that it rides above. This was tedious work and took a long time with quite a few razor-blades. it also made quite a mess with the plastic fuzz shavings everywhere- I'll take another picture or this finished if I remember.

Top bezel, front slider, and mesh pieces ready for primer-

Here's where I ran into a slight dilemma. On the top slider piece, there is a nice 'Cosmos' logo that is raised above the surrounding surface.

I didn't think I would be able to tape it off for painting. I first though they were metal stickers that I could pull off and replace after painting. They're not stickers. It's actually part of the surrounding aluminum skin, that has been stamped/embossed to stand proud of the rest of the skin. I ended up sanding the logo down and removing it, not that I didn't think it was pretty, but I didn't think it would turn out good after painting. Knowing what I know now, I could've painted right over it and then just scraped off the paint later but no biggie..

I will fill this with bondo and make it smooth. Later I can place one of my own logos in place of the cosmos badge.

Primer warmed up, and pieces wiped clean with a damp microfiber cloth-

after a couple coats of primer-

Some mud and some mod-juice-

Here's the top slider after some sanding. I need to top-coat it at least one more time. It will give me something to do while I wait for paint to dry, which in my opinion, is the worse part of modding haha

I just sprayed the mesh black right before I uploaded these pictures (stupid image shack is going to delete all 1700 pictures that I have uploaded on March 1st unless I start paying.. all my build logs are going to be sans pictures *cry ) so they should be dry now right? Then I am going to paint the plastic pieces that I have ready Hemi-orange.

Thanks for looking and leaving your comments!

[bob808]

I top-coated the top slider piece with more body filler last night and let it cure. I made a sanding block by cutting 4 pieces of cardboard (thanks newegg lol) and taping them together. I didn't feel like paying $5 for a dense foam block. I'll start sanding down the bondo with some 120 grit paper.

I tape the sandpaper to the sanding block after pulling it tight. This should give me a nice even finish I hope.

After sanding with the 120 grit sandpaper, I wipe the piece clean and use some spotfiller/primer for one last filler coat.

Spot filler cured-

Then I sand again with 400 grit to prep for primer.

White primer applied-

I noticed a couple defects in the door when I wet-sanded the paint...

...so I took it down and sprayed it again with some more primer.

I have to figure how to attach the mesh. I'm thinking silicone caulk. What would you guys use?

I have got the top slider painted-

[/img]http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2062/img0255cw.jpg[/img]

I also polished the edges of the side door window, even though you wont see the edges when its installed...

I used 220, 400, 800, and 1500 grit sandpaper then rubbed it hard with some Brasso on a rag. Its nice and smooth-

What would you guys use to attach the mesh to the plastic?

I also painted the plastic part of the door black again. It's looking good now.

Thanks for looking and your comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated-

More to come!

[bob808]

I drilled some holes for attaching the window. I had to be careful as clearances are pretty tight, so I put some tape on the painted side of the door, and drew some lines and points. Next, I put the door together and inserted the acrilic window and taped it to the aluminum skin to prevent it from moving. Then I grabbed my trusty Makita cordless drill and drilled 12 holes for bolts (3 for each side).

Clearance is tight for the nuts, but it fits-

When I removed the tape, this setback happened. I guess I should've used blue tape instead of the green, but I didn't have any...

Not that big of a deal, I'll just sand it smooth and paint it again, but the paint should've stuck better than that. I used the same brand primer and paint, and cleaned the sanding dust off good.. maybe the 1000 grit sandpaper i used to smooth the primer didn't leave enough for the paint to grab onto.. who knows?

I'm in the process of fixing the front panel. Here it is sanded down ready for primer, again-

primer applied-

I wet-sanded the primer and the rest of the door with 400 grit and cleaned and dried the piece, and sprayed it with a light coat of orange. thought I would make a post while waiting for the paint to dry. I'm going to start drilling out rivets soon!

[bob808]

Well time to grab my drill and start destroying some rivets-

action shot-

5 1/4" and 3.5" bays removed-

laying down lines for radiator intake-

I used my jigsaw to cut it out after drilling a hole for blade access-

These pieces are ready for primer- I forgot the 5.25" bay..

The frame (without the plastic and handles) measures 22.25" tall, 9" wide, and 22 5/8" long. just slightly smaller than an 800D which is 24"x24"x9" counting the case feet. I have finished repainting the side door, I just need some really thin, really sticky double sided tape before I can put the door back together.

I'm going to try to track some down this week. Here's a picture of the door skin.

While paint was drying on some of the other case parts, I started filing on the back door logo- the mighty MadKat emerges!

Here are the other painted case parts, as you can see, the pci holder is orange on one side....

and white on the other side. The psu holder is painted on the outside-

This will have some mesh and orange acrylic behind it and be backlit

I ordered a 3-in-2 hot-swap hdd cage along with a replacement fan for it, and some cold cathodes lighting for the rear door.

I need a couple more pieces of mesh so I grab the sheet and lay down some tape and some strait, square lines.

I used my jigsaw to cut them out, then a file to straiten up the cuts. Finally I used some 220 grit sandpaper to scuff 'em up a bit for primer.

This really is some very nice mesh!

I use this paint pen to apply some paint to the edge of the cut I made in the bottom of the frame, much easier than masking and painting. It's also very handy for any touchups or accidental paint scrapes. I've had it for a while now. I think its going to be empty soon, I forget where I got it but will have to buy another sometime as it's a must have-

They painted case pieces have dried for a couple days and I can wait no longer so I place the pci bracket in first, then the motherboard, then grab my rivet gun and some rivets.

A rivet gun is needed for any serious case modder. This one has a rotatable head to get into tight places. Also shown are the white rivets I'm using.

a few minutes later (and about 30 rivets) I've got the pci bracket, motherboard tray, 5.25" cage and floor attached. I left a few rivets out on the 5.25" cage, as I want to make sure I can slide in the hot swap cages without chewing up the paint.

backside of case-

Backside of mainboard tray-

A couple sneak peek pictures of what we'll be seeing in the end-

and completely unrelated, I though I would take a couple pictures of an onyx lamp that I made, sitting of top of a granite chess board that I also made. I made these at work, I have been a marble mason for many years now. Lights on-

room dimmed-