Pandoras Purple Box... (ooh-er)

[davido_labido]

Have you considered using something like Warhammer paint? 

 

Yeah, i actually bought some purple and white as well as 2 new paint brushes when i popped into games workshop, unfortunately, i still couldnt get the lines correct =(

[Ostwind]

Excellent work.

[Valaris]

Yeah, i actually bought some purple and white as well as 2 new paint brushes when i popped into games workshop, unfortunately, i still couldnt get the lines correct =(

 

It might be too late but back when I did warhammer I sometimes used tiny things like toothpicks or needles. it would take forever but was very precise. 

[davido_labido]

It might be too late but back when I did warhammer I sometimes used tiny things like toothpicks or needles. it would take forever but was very precise. 

 

 

aaaah, that's an idea! It would take hours, but it might be worth it. EK have emailed saying that the parcel is on the way, so if i get time to have a go at it before that arrives then il give it a go, if not then I will have to leave it to make sure i have enough time to do everything else. I only have a month left to do this build and there is a lot of work to do!

[davido_labido]

Well, just some little updates, nothing much as I'm on my mobile haha....

 

My ekwb parts have arrived and also OcUk have helped me out a lot and made it so I could buy the EK fittings I was missing so massive thanks to the legends at OcUk HQ for continuing to support me when they can!!!

 

Also, I have a new sponsor!! They are known for their cases, cooers and psu's but I was interested in their peripherals!! They have some nice goodies on the way to me as we speak, can anyone guess who??!

[FourCorners]

Well, just some little updates, nothing much as I'm on my mobile haha....

My ekwb parts have arrived and also OcUk have helped me out a lot and made it so I could buy the EK fittings I was missing so massive thanks to the legends at OcUk HQ for continuing to support me when they can!!!

Also, I have a new sponsor!! They are known for their cases, cooers and psu's but I was interested in their peripherals!! They have some nice goodies on the way to me as we speak, can anyone guess who??!

Corsair?

And I'm loving your build log so far, I've been wanting to build a system in the Pandora myself and your log really inspires me to mod it too

[davido_labido]

Corsair?

And I'm loving your build log so far, I've been wanting to build a system in the Pandora myself and your log really inspires me to mod it too

 

nooo, not Corsair this time!!!

 

It starts with the same letter though!

 

[Norman_the_Owl]

nooo, not Corsair this time!!!

 

It starts with the same letter though!

 

Cooler Master

[HellaflushMcSwaggins]

Cooler Master

Cougar m8

[Norman_the_Owl]

Cougar m8

They make more than just orange fans? wow

[HellaflushMcSwaggins]

They make more than just orange fans? wow

Sorry m8, my bad, didn't read the whole thing, it might be CM, Cougar doesn't make peripherals afaik

edit: they do

[davido_labido]

Cooler Master

 

We have a winner!!! Yup! I will be sorting out the logos and such shortly!

 

Cougar m8

 

They make more than just orange fans? wow

 

Sorry m8, my bad, didn't read the whole thing, it might be CM, Cougar doesn't make peripherals afaik

edit: they do

 

Haha, Cougar actually have quite a big line up, cases, psu's, fans and peripherals! Its not them though this time!

 

Well, as mentioned, the EKWB stuff has arrived!!! wooohoooo!

so once again a massive thanks to:

This is mostly just product porn, but hey, I personally think i took some nice pics for once so im going to share them

So, what they sent me:

Out of the box!

120mm LC solution Coolstream PE radiator

The 240mm LC Solution Coolstream PE rad

and them both together having a spooning session!

The CPU block is so shiny i could actually get it to reflect the EK logo from the box

Luckily i actually had a load of fittings so I didn't need any more from EK. They doo look like they are ganging up on this Supremacy EVO block though

The DDC pump Rez combo:

I added this EK DDC heatsink to the pump/rez combo.

I also sleeved the cables <3

I also did a test fit of the GPU block

hmmmmm, tasty.

So, urm... can anyone see the problem?

So, as you can see, most of the products are black.. this will be changing soon! Also, I guess I will have to get creative with the GPU placement haha luckily id already bought a riser cable as I did have my suspicions the GPU wouldnt fit

[HellaflushMcSwaggins]

Haha, Cougar actually have quite a big line up, cases, psu's, fans and peripherals! Its not them though this time!

Ninja'd  

[davido_labido]

So, another day, another bit of modding!

I took apart the CPU block and the rez, and chucked them into my spray box of awesomeness.



Gave them a good coat of primer and white paint.



Once this had dried I started to add some purple!



hmmmm, white and purple!!



The rez, im not 100% happy with the paint job on this, but for now, it will have to do whilst i sort out the loop. If i get time, I will be redoing it!



Both together



I got the dremel out and cut the slot so that the motherboard tray could sit flush!



GPU placement hopefully!



and where it will roughly sit, don't worry, the mounting will look far better when i do it properly lol.



Confused (Garry) from the OcUK forums was helping me today, he bought his pillar drill around, as i don't have a workshop or garage, we were kitching modding as per usual. LOTS of dust and metal flying around today!



Although it looks like we have done very little, we really have made a lot of progress today. Garry has gone away with a little task... re soldering a PCI-E riser... 164 pins and counting!!! This is so we can give the card the angle I want. If we cant, then I will have to change the angle slightly so that we can ensure that the riser doesn't get blocked by the PSU.

It's starting to come together now!!

[Montymole]

I am aroused by the EK mods  

[FourCorners]

I am aroused by the EK mods

 

Just try not to make too big of a mess

[jacobgoblin]

This is gonna look incredible when finished.

[Guest]

So, another day, another bit of modding!

I took apart the CPU block and the rez, and chucked them into my spray box of awesomeness.

Gave them a good coat of primer and white paint.

Once this had dried I started to add some purple!

hmmmm, white and purple!!

The rez, im not 100% happy with the paint job on this, but for now, it will have to do whilst i sort out the loop. If i get time, I will be redoing it!

Both together

I got the dremel out and cut the slot so that the motherboard tray could sit flush!

GPU placement hopefully!

and where it will roughly sit, don't worry, the mounting will look far better when i do it properly lol.

Confused (Garry) from the OcUK forums was helping me today, he bought his pillar drill around, as i don't have a workshop or garage, we were kitching modding as per usual. LOTS of dust and metal flying around today!

Although it looks like we have done very little, we really have made a lot of progress today. Garry has gone away with a little task... re soldering a PCI-E riser... 164 pins and counting!!! This is so we can give the card the angle I want. If we cant, then I will have to change the angle slightly so that we can ensure that the riser doesn't get blocked by the PSU.

It's starting to come together now!!

love the idea with the purple and white on the block and res. It looks so cool. 

[davido_labido]

I am aroused by the EK mods

<3 thanks John!

 

Just try not to make too big of a mess

No, thats my job

 

This is gonna look incredible when finished.

 

Thank You, I will do my best!!!

 

 

Right, so some progress!!!

A huge thanks again to BitFenix! I forgot to grab some fans and LEDS when i grabbed my bits from them last time, so I rang OcUK yesterday and they sent them out for me, BitFenix picked up the bill <3!

So, the fans:

I have never used these on radiators so it will be interesting to see how they do. This build really will be a challenge to cool, the loop layout isnt the best, but with such a small case i have to make some little sacrifices.

I also picked up a 60cm white Alchemy LED strip

with the fans fitted, I could finally see where im going to place the radiators!

The 240mm one will be going at the front, the fans fit perfectly fine, however the radiator doesn't. Im going to have to make a bracket or find another way to attach it as due to me flipping the motherboard tray, the radiator now wont sit flush with the fan holes. Its annoying, but hey, this is modding!

I needed the top rad to go here, unfortunatly this area is reserved for SSDs... Not any more!!

I drilled holes where the red circles are, i also cut away where the red crosshash is so that the PSU will fit in a little better...

Now the fan can sit inbetween the top cover and the chassis.

and the radiator sits pretty underneath

I have also sorted out the placement of the GPU!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!

i fitted the CPU block, and started to add some tubing, its started to finally come together!

The rez is attached directly to the radiator with 2 90 degree fittings and a male to male fitting.

I need to change these fittings to some black chrome ones, but for now, i think im going to do a parallel loop, it looks so much cleaner in this case.

How the GPU will sit, ok, I do need to redo the bend from the block to the rez, tbh, i wasnt expecting to be able to even start doing the loop for a couple of weeks yet!!!!

Excuse the mess!, here you can see how close the 2 radiators are, and also how close the PSU is to everything.

The radiators, PSU, GPU and case will soon be white and Mayhems are busy making me some purple coolant ready to fill it up!

Its starting to get there now! Exciting!

[davido_labido]

So, I got back from working away this morning and had 2 parcels waiting for me !

One was from:



I sent Mayhems a little bit of paper with some spray paint on which im using for this build. Unfortunately in my rush to get it out of the door i didn't wait for it to dry for long enough so the paper got stuck together! Still, they did a fantastic job colour matching and today I got this. So this is what i sent:



It looks like mine and Mayhems relationship has gone past the labeled 1litre bottles and has got to the stage where they are sending me huge 5litre drums haha. I love these bottles!!



I absolutely love this colour! This is made with the brand new "non stain" or reduced stain dyes that Mayhems have created. These are made so that they only colour the fluid and not any hard surfaces or your skin. You can tell they don't compromise on the colour!!!



And here are 2 pictures next to the panels ive spray painted. The colour looks almost identical, ok, its a little lighter, but some of that will be the reflection of the lights, it really is so similar its crazy



Im super happy with this!!



Thanks Mick and Steve!!


Another package was from my brand new sponsors!!!



Now, I have a good relationship with the CM crew, we always have a laugh and a few beers when we meet so its great that they are able to support me!

CM Storm have sent me this lovely bunch of goodies!



They sent me a mouse mat....



The mouse mat is a really nice size and with this stitching around the edges, i can imagine it lasting a good while.



And they sent me a nice mouse!



So far I havnt plugged it in, but it is meant to have some nice LED features, so I will be interested in seeing them!



And now onto my favourite peripheral. The Rapid-I has some amazing LED features and really is a dream to type on (yup, im using it now, but SHHHH!!! don't tell them!!!)



Nice and simple <3



And with no over the top branding... GJ



Just playing around with the keycaps a little



The keyboard is only available with 1 switch type in the UK, luckily its a brown!!!



Love the white LEDS with this font



hmmmm, this keyboard is a little bit... black though...



I am going to be trying to make sure the keyboard and mouse match the build obviously. The Keyboard im not too worried about, i will probably do that this afternoon, the mouse... well... my thinking cap is on there!!!

A massive thanks to Cooler Master and Mayhems again for making this happen!!

It wont be long till my next update! Im going to have a few hours sleep (worked nights) then il be modding!

Thanks folks!

[Valaris]

Which purple dye is that exactly? I think that's the one I need.

 

So how did you end up painting the cpu block and such? Same method as the armor kit?

[davido_labido]

Which purple dye is that exactly? I think that's the one I need.

 

So how did you end up painting the cpu block and such? Same method as the armor kit?

 

It's a custom made dye from mayhems.co.uk. Im not sure which colours he used (at a guess, he would just use blue and red, but sometimes he has to add other colours to get the right shade)

 

and yeah, i just painted them the same way, sprayed them white first, then added the detail later

[CYaN_Bob]

What kind of paint are you using? This looks awesome and I'd like to try my hand in painting parts for my 2nd build.

 

p.s. Everything looks amazing so far, can't wait for more.

[davido_labido]

you getting a banner for this thread?

 

 

Urm, maybe, i hadnt thought of it tbh lol! I might get someone knock me up one

 

What kind of paint are you using? This looks awesome and I'd like to try my hand in painting parts for my 2nd build.

 

p.s. Everything looks amazing so far, can't wait for more.

 

 

TBH, its just cheap paint from B&Q (around 6 quid a can) I do have an air brush kit, but i just dont have the time to learn the skill for this build, maybe the next one though!!

 

 

Right, first of all, apologies the following pics are not so great, ive been neglecting the camera a little in favour of getting the build into a somewhat completed state, I have had a few deadlines dropped on me and i need to get it into a somewhat good looking state before the weekend !!!!!

once ive done that, i will strip it again and add the finishing touches before the event its attending in 2 weeks time

So:

what ive done!

Kicked my bloody cat out of the Pandora box... it seems its his favorite toy lately!

painted the rads:

and also painted the GPU block!

which i REALLY like

(except for the finger prints haha)

I have also started to cut the window, original plan was what you see here with the curved window.

but I ran out of time, i even had to carry the panel on the train with me whilst i worked away from home for 3 days, i took it with me with a file, a saw and some emery cloth!!

by the time id got to work on the train, i had to go sleep, work my 12hour shift, go out with the family for dinner, came home at 11PM (i have to be back up at 4am) and had to finish the panel ready for the powder coaters.

It meant i ditched the curved idea to save me a lot of time. I finally finished it at 1.30 AM so i managed to get a massive 3.5 hours sleep before my next 12 hour shift

unfortunately i did forget to grab a snap of this (I was tired!!!!) I will make sure i get some when i get it back though!!!

Unfortunately the powder coaters couldn't do the actual frame, just the panels, as they weren't sure if it was powder coat or paint on the frame and didn't want to risk it. so i have had to paint it at home

which is still drying on the washing line whilst i post this!!

So, it really is a bit of a Poopadilly update this is, but i will leave you with this pic: this is what it looks like with the new sprayed blocks and rads its starting to look like a PC now!!!

Tomorrow i will be doing some far better pics and updates, including getting my new keyboard sprayed!!!

Cheers folks!!

[Ja Krispie]

Love the build looks gorgeous! If you don't mind my asking, I'm starting to dabble in case modding and with painting, is there a good way to keep the paint from scraping off when you put on or take off side panels?