Military Surprise

[ccm1092]

Good day LTT forums peeps!

I am working on a project for my brother whom is currently deployed with the U.S. Army to surprise him when he gets home sometime later this year.

Here is the parts I am looking at getting for it at the moment. 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zj7D4q

Went for the APU as I wanted something that would be upgrade-able in the future for not only him but his 7MO daughter (eventually) and wife to use. 

Currently the only parts I have bought is the NZXT S340 Elite. I am painting the case and have already had the glass laser engraved with the Military Police Insignia along with his Battalion number.

 

Had a little bit of trouble getting the case from amazon as they don't ship it inside another box and only in the OEM box, so the first case was damaged.

 

 

I don't know what it is with Amazon and not shipping stuff extra packed, I know when I bought my MasterCase Maker 5T from amazon it came double boxed...Anywho..

Ended up getting 20$ in amazon credit which was nice, but delayed the start of the project.

 

I work for Fastenal, we sell nuts,bolts, paints, safety stuff ect... so I have ended up getting my paint from work. 

At this moment the theme is going to be green,gold, and black. The plan right now is to get a paint booth setup. Having to wait for paycheck before I can get that going, however I do have the case torn down to bare chassis with everything labeled in bags for easy reassembly. 

 

I did do a test spray of the yellow and green just to see it and I think it is going to turn out great once I get it all done!

 

 

Last week 2-13-2018 I also got the glass engraved.

 

A few minor blemish's did  pop up, we ended up going back over the glass twice to hit everything. (Not shown with the extra passes)

If anyone has any suggestions for me in terms of parts, or anything I should look at doing let me know what you think!

 

I am planning on doing the front shroud in green, the cable hide that goes across the back in green, the majority of the case in a gloss black. Any of the small IO plates will be yellow as well. The back panel will also be green with the top, bottom, and back panels becoming black. I will be using enamel paint from a can, alone with obviously a primer which is currently not shown.

 

I will be making the paint booth that Linus built sometime last year with potentially some modifications to allow a co-worker to use it as well.

I will be sure to update you all when I get more progress underway.

Thanks for reading up to this point,

ccm1092.

[NoxiousOdor]

That is going to be super cool, I look forward to seeing more

[dcgreen2k]

Looks good, some people might disagree with using the B3 PSU though.

[ccm1092]

1 minute ago, thegreengamers said:

Looks good, some people might disagree with using the B3 PSU though.

Why would people not like the B3 PSU?

[dcgreen2k]

3 minutes ago, ccm1092 said:

Why would people not like the B3 PSU?

There was a post that said the fan inside the PSU was relatively loud, but I can't confirm that statement.

[ccm1092]

1 minute ago, thegreengamers said:

There was a post that said the fan inside the PSU was relatively loud, but I can't confirm that statement.

Good to know, thanks. Kinda wanting it to be silent.

 

[brob]

Corsair Corsair CX450M (2015) psu would be a better choice. More expensive but SeaSonic SSR-450FM would be even better.

[ccm1092]

2 minutes ago, brob said:

Corsair Corsair CX450M (2015) psu would be a better choice. More expensive but SeaSonic SSR-450FM would be even better.

I refuse to get anything other than fully modular, Can't stand extra cables lol. I may end up going the Corsair RM series. I am still undecided, thanks for the suggestions Brob!

[brob]

Just now, ccm1092 said:

I refuse to get anything other than fully modular, Can't stand extra cables lol. I may end up going the Corsair RM series. I am still undecided, thanks for the suggestions Brob!

In addition to the RM450, you might also take a look at the SeaSonic FOCUS Plus 550 Gold. It's currently less expensive and comes with a 10 year warranty. It also has hybrid fan control.

[ccm1092]

Just now, brob said:

In addition to the RM450, you might also take a look at the SeaSonic FOCUS Plus 550 Gold. It's currently less expensive and comes with a 10 year warranty. It also has hybrid fan control.

Good point, I will add that to the list of potential parts.

[Herman Mcpootis]

3 hours ago, ccm1092 said:

Why would people not like the B3 PSU?

The B3 has issues with overpower protection, that 450w unit would go blooey if it goes over 580w.

[ccm1092]

Small update getting the painting space ready for me to get the PVC and stuff. We currently have our house on the market so, finding a place to setup is important as I don't want it to obtrude anything. The building I do my pc repairs in has lots of space behind the building.

 

Did some raking and think this area will work wonderfully. However, I am thinking about getting some 12 x 12in paving stones for the corners just to provide some stability. I still need to get the ground flat and plum. Hoping to work on that tomorrow. This space has plenty of room for a large paint booth. I am thinking about 9x6x7 feet, Here are the rough plans I will be following. https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Paint-Booth-in-Your-Garage

 

Any additional thoughts?

[ccm1092]

Most of the PVC is cut, with the exception of the middle supports and the potential need to make a sloped roof, Only thing I need to get the frame done is the 3 way connectors which will be delivered tomorrow at some point. (probably while I am at work) Only real thing I have to contend with is the slope of the ground as well. So far I have 2 legs that are 8ft and 2 legs that are 7ft 6in.
Ended up getting 14 Schedule 40 pipes 10ft long. Any suggestions or adjustments I should make will be taken with thanks 

 

I was going to make everything 10x10x10 but due to a couple trees (can't cut down in no-man's land) and the 10 foot roof was going to be too much for my needs at this time.

#DIY #paintbooth #progression

 

[ccm1092]

Structure is up, Need to get some cushion clamps from work to attach the booth to the building (Will be temporary attachment) I don't plan on using anything over 1.5 inches on the screws. Was hoping to get more done on it but this is all I've got between work and more work lol. I would get just regular clamps but I feel the cushion clamp will be cheaper for me to get, I also plan on getting them in stainless steel, just because I can.

#diy #painting #pc #paintbooth #gtribe

[ccm1092]

Paint booth update! Instead of using the small rolls of 2mm Plastic film I instead grabbed the 4mil stuff from work that comes in a 10ft x 100ft roll and for me cost 22$
Here: https://goo.gl/C7EZRc
Got the side up for the most part. With I had level ground but it's whatever, working with what I got. I also picked up a 6x12ft indoor/outdoor carpet for the floor instead of cloth canvas. I figured that the carpet not only would hold up better but would also not move when walking on it and for only 26$.

#progressupdate #paintbooth #diy #paint #gtribe

[ccm1092]

Primer coat partially applied still slightly tacky. Going to let it dry over night. Depending on the weather might start with color tomorrow. S340 Elite front and rear IO shields.
#pc #pcmasterrace #diy @nzxt #paint #painting 

[brob]

Looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

[ccm1092]

First light layer of green has been laid on the front plate. I work all day tomorrow, so I do not think I will be able to get either another coat of green on or be able to start the yellow parts. Supposed to be a high of 51F (10c) tomorrow and potentially raining, not the best painting conditions. And when I built the booth It is sadly not 100% air tight, thing's I know now I will do differently when It is disassembled when we move.

Just a small update. Thanks for following my journey!

 

I would like to ask should I repaint the entire chassis gloss enamel black the same as the green and yellow or should I keep the chassis body matte black? I am still on the fence about doing it or not.

 

 @NZXT #progress #paint #diy

 

[ccm1092]

20 hours ago, brob said:

Looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

Me too, trying to get it done when I have time between 2 jobs and 45-55 hours a week. I am happy I have time to get it done though. Thanks for following!

[ccm1092]

So I have had to temporarily tear down the paint booth as the roof was having issues with how I initially put it together. Also I found out why the booth was leaning so much I had a broken fitting! Ended up returning the broken one and used the 1 spare I had initially purchased, because I actually thought ahead to get a spare!

I have the bottom and the top as secured as I can get it. 1000% better then what it was before. Paintbooth 2.0 will hopefully happen this weekend!
#diy #paintbooth #gtribe 

 

 

 

[brob]

A bit frustrating for you but it looks like progress is being made.

[ccm1092]

Ok, Paint booth is back up as of a few minutes ago! Sorry to say but RIP one partial roll of duct tape that rolled off into the sunset, never to be seen again....

On another note, looks much sturdier and more resilient to water. did my best to seal all of the top edges and have it much tighter than it was before.
#progress #paintbooth #diy #paint

[ccm1092]

I did get a chance to do some actual painting this evening!!!

Applied a second coat of yellow to the rear IO covers along with the center bracket. I also apparently also forgot to show the 2nd coat of green I got on the front cover.

I still need to do a 3rd coat on the yellow to get some spots I missed due to bad lighting and some shadows as it was getting dark. More progress to come this week I hope. Same with the front cover, I will also be painting the main chassis gloss black to have the same color finish.

 

[ccm1092]

Paint update! Ok, I got the 2nd coat of green on the front panel, got the 2ndish coat of yellow on the IO plates, and the back cable thing. I also was able to get the case base coated for the first time with a light coat. Hoping I will get a thicker coat on either tomorrow or Thursday when I get off work.
The main body is going to be a gloss black, I am not sure if I will paint the back in another color (either green or yellow) it will depend on how well the primer adheres to the chassis.
#DIY #paint #gtribe #update #project #hardware 

 

[ccm1092]

Good news! I have the case mostly reassembled! I am now waiting on the other half of my tax return to purchase parts!

 

 

If you didn't already see the parts list here it is again and what the game plan is for the parts.

 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zBw4q4

 

 

 

 

One of the screws for the rubber feet decided to be a pain so I ended up gluing the last rubber foot back onto the case... Not sure why one of the screws simply would not thread into the hole. 

The front Panel is not attached yet as it has a clear coat which is still drying, will probably do one more coat of clear in a day or so, let it dry then install it onto the front of the case.

 

 

 

 

 

Decided to use a twitch streamers hoodie I have to protect the case while I wait on the money to get the parts.