Need Ideas

[krissyboo222]

So, I'm planning on doing some fairly basic mods to make a build around the MSI Evoke RX 5700 xt.  I decided on a steampunk-esque build with highlights of pink and gold.  So there will be a decent bit of wood veneer and leather.  The attached picture is mostly what i have planned so far, with the just brown being leather. But, aesthetically, it definitely needs something pink in the bottom left hand corner internally and maybe some things on the clear window side panel.  I could really use some help with ideas!

 

Thanks!

[Bombastinator]

I don’t get the pink but I suppose you have a reason.  Color wise it’s not working for me at the moment, but I don’t know the intent so it’s hard to think up other concepts.  It’s the only part of the entire thing that has color blocks rather than patterns. So more color blocks or go a different route.  Zebra wood can be pink and purple.  There are some wacky woods and wood finishes out there though they can cost a lot.

 

As far as the window goes one method is etching or engraving a design and filling the design with paint.  It is also possible to paint freehand, though it’s famous for being touchy. Not a thing to make a mistake on.  Is the side panel glass or acrylic? Techniques differ.  

[krissyboo222]

35 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I don’t get the pink but I suppose you have a reason.  Color wise it’s not working for me at the moment, but I don’t know the intent so it’s hard to think up other concepts.  It’s the only part of the entire thing that has color blocks rather than patterns. So more color blocks or go a different route.  Zebra wood can be pink and purple.  There are some wacky woods and wood finishes out there though they can cost a lot.

 

As far as the window goes one method is etching or engraving a design and filling the design with paint.  It is also possible to paint freehand, though it’s famous for being touchy. Not a thing to make a mistake on.  Is the side panel glass or acrylic? Techniques differ.  

I really want some pink in there to match my mouse and keyboard.  I'm using a custom Magicforce 68 which i soldered Kailh box pink switches to and topped those with Tai Hao pink and white doubleshot keycaps, and my mouse is the Sades Musket Angel edition.  My keyboard has a bit of a Sakura theme going on with the spacebar, too.  I think with the way this build is theoretically going, i might replace my "WASD" keys with some wooden ones.

 

But I was thinking some rose quarts set to flicker in the bottom right hand corner, but when i mocked up what that would look like, it really didn't look all that great.

[Bombastinator]

13 minutes ago, krissyboo222 said:

I really want some pink in there to match my mouse and keyboard.  I'm using a custom Magicforce 68 which i soldered Kailh box pink switches to and topped those with Tai Hao pink and white doubleshot keycaps, and my mouse is the Sades Musket Angel edition.  My keyboard has a bit of a Sakura theme going on with the spacebar, too.  I think with the way this build is theoretically going, i might replace my "WASD" keys with some wooden ones.

 

But I was thinking some rose quarts set to flicker in the bottom right hand corner, but when i mocked up what that would look like, it really didn't look all that great.

Pink is hard for steampunk. There just wasn’t a lot of pink stuff in the 19th century besides cloth.  One thing there was that was pink was glass.  If there is a custom Stained glasswork place that does things like church windows in your town there might be something interesting there.  Maybe replace the wood veneer with that.  One issue with glass though is edges.  There are leading systems that might both work and provide attachment points though.  Gonna be spendy to have done.  Maybe out of budget.  Glass leading isn’t supremely hard though it does require some special tools like a really big soldering iron.  Also lead fumes are really bad for you.  Glasswork is an interesting medium.

 

anoher thought is ditch the pink front plate and fan and only have pink stitching on the leather handle wraps.  You don’t necessarily need a lot.  Need more or need less or need different though.

[krissyboo222]

20 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Pink is hard for steampunk. There just wasn’t a lot of pink stuff in the 19th century besides cloth.  One thing there was that was pink was glass.  If there is a custom Stained glasswork place that does things like church windows in your town there might be something interesting there.  Maybe replace the wood veneer with that.  One issue with glass though is edges.  There are leading systems that might both work and provide attachment points though.  Gonna be spendy to have done.  Maybe out of budget.  Glass leading isn’t supremely hard though it does require some special tools like a really big soldering iron.  Also lead fumes are really bad for you.  Glasswork is an interesting medium.

 

anoher thought is ditch the pink front plate and fan and only have pink stitching on the leather handle wraps.  You don’t necessarily need a lot.  Need more or need less or need different though.

Well, it doesn't necessarily need to be true to steampunk.  I'd be very happy with some sort of fusion theme. Matching gold is hard, and steampunk was a fairly obvious choice. 

 

And stained glass is probably out of my price range... A lot of the materials id be using is stuff I already have.  I'm thinking I could just vinyl wrap my psu, or wrap my sata ssd and tape it on there. Im just hoping to find something a bit more thematic. 

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, krissyboo222 said:

Well, it doesn't necessarily need to be true to steampunk.  I'd be very happy with some sort of fusion theme. Matching gold is hard, and steampunk was a fairly obvious choice. 

 

And stained glass is probably out of my price range... A lot of the materials id be using is stuff I already have.  I'm thinking I could just vinyl wrap my psu, or wrap my sata ssd and tape it on there. Im just hoping to find something a bit more thematic. 

Yah.  Nothing really matches gold except the same gold.  Metallics are all like that.  It’s by definition a faux material.  Not really a color.  You can’t mix for it.  You could leaf everything I suppose.  There is some gold colored aluminum leaf that is cheap enough to do large areas with.  Leafing is it’s own technique though.  A bit like ultimate decopauge

[Bombastinator]

Actually that’s a thought if you want to get pink into a steampunk design.  One other thing that is pink and period is printed material.  Print out some scroll work edging from a currier and Ives print or something, cut it out and decopauge it on.

[startrek03]

To add more pink, LED stripes would also be an option and a decal (cheaper/easier than engraving and easier than painting) could help with the emptiness in the bottom left.

Also, I think brass is more steampunk-ish than just gold (and cheaper). Being available in all sorts of forms, you should be able to do some interesting stuff with it.

[krissyboo222]

2 hours ago, startrek03 said:

To add more pink, LED stripes would also be an option and a decal (cheaper/easier than engraving and easier than painting) could help with the emptiness in the bottom left.

Also, I think brass is more steampunk-ish than just gold (and cheaper). Being available in all sorts of forms, you should be able to do some interesting stuff with it.

I do agree with brass being more steampunk, but the MSI Evoke RX 5700xt is gold.

 

I'm thinking a vinyl wrap of my psu is going to be the cheapest, most effective way to add more pink.