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[sorienor]

More updates!

[DeadManWalking]

[The_Vulture]

Im new to this and that's beyond my hopes but DAMN that looks sweat and sounds freaking cool , who cares what other people think if ya wanna do it do it!

[haloloser]

so today i was planning on getting alot more finished but i didnt.  i think thats the story of my life.  i was a little disapointed when i tried to polish the fan, and  after about 20 minutes of wetsand and then some polish i hadnt made a dent.  i believe im going to leave that for a rainy day because i was very frustrated with it.  hopefully i can get a little more done tomorrow, but im not sure because of this large algebra test i have coming up.


i got this idea when messing with computers.  i have been using this for a trashcan, but when i explained what i was going to use him for he was glad to help.


a little closer shot of the metal mesh.


this is my idea.  of coaurse there will be a bezel for the dvd drive made with the same technique.  what i have done is taken a piece of plex, frosted it with 600 grit, and placed a portion of the wire mesh in front of it.  in my haste to see how it would look, i forgot that i wasnt going to frost the portion in fron of the xlcd.  i will have to cut another piece of plex, bu its ok.  also, the mesh around the  lcd will be cut to match the unfrosted section of the plex, and have some nice rubber trim around it.


it will have a nice glow when i actually install the leds correctly (countersunk in the side).  this picture really doesnt show anything but me trying to capture an idea.  obviously, it didnt work.


you wouldnt believe how long it took to complete the other bracket and mount them.   i decided that im going to zip tie the screen in place after quite a bit of testing.  the lcd looks a little crooked here, but thats because of the angle i took the picture at.  in case you couldnt tell i used some of those pointers, and they are getting much better.

if nothing else i will paint the chassi tomorrow.  that means i can really get some mounting and things like that done when its finished.  until then.

-haloloser-

[Zeusydude]

wow thats wierd, just one thing about pc -> xbox, all of them are cool, its just they all look the same

[haloloser]

i dont mean to be a prat, but just think about what you said.  every xbox mod originated from a technique used in pc case modding.  as a matter of fact, there are 100's of pc cases that look completely different then the next.  thats a heck of alot more then can be said for an xbox.  of course it wouldnt really matter if you just left the case the way it was, but if you mod xboxs you should definately be able to respect its roots.  almost every xbox on this forum looks exactly the same with a two tone paint job and some leds of choice.  im personally sick of those.  i will agree, usually the xbox to pc mod is just that, typical.  take a second to read through the entire log, and see if anything i have done so far has resembled your typical xbox to pc mod.  i havnt even started the wire management process (which should make the entire project), or added the temp lcd and its associated bondo work.  not to mention that the xbox has a complete watercooling setup equiped with a custom waterblock.  that in itself makes it something above and beyond your average.  my worste  pet peeve is when someone tries to flame a project before its even near completion.  watch it unfold.  i wont let this become another typical xbox mod.

-haloloser-

[Zanzang]

QUOTE(haloloser @ Sep 20 2005, 11:53 PM)

i dont mean to be a prat, but just think about what you said.  every xbox mod originated from a technique used in pc case modding.  as a matter of fact, there are 100's of pc cases that look completely different then the next.  thats a heck of alot more then can be said for an xbox.  of course it wouldnt really matter if you just left the case the way it was, but if you mod xboxs you should definately be able to respect its roots.  almost every xbox on this forum looks exactly the same with a two tone paint job and some leds of choice.  im personally sick of those.  i will agree, usually the xbox to pc mod is just that, typical.  take a second to read through the entire log, and see if anything i have done so far has resembled your typical xbox to pc mod.  i havnt even started the wire management process (which should make the entire project), or added the temp lcd and its associated bondo work.  not to mention that the xbox has a complete watercooling setup equiped with a custom waterblock.  that in itself makes it something above and beyond your average.  my worste  pet peeve is when someone tries to flame a project before its even near completion.  watch it unfold.  i wont let this become another typical xbox mod.

[dynamike1]

[haloloser]

of course the algebra test got me like i thought it would.  i did manage to do a few things today before i actually started studying.  tomorrow is free, so hopefully i will  work on everything a good bit.



a little fairy dressed in black and purple came today when i was at school and brought me presents.  its 2ft. of black 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2" heatshrink tubing, and a compunurse advance.  i had no idea but this thermometer comes in two versions, and i just happened to get the one that is powered by a watch battery.  i was furious when i got it.  even worse, the battery was dead...



i couldnt find the power requirements for the lcd so i looked up the watch batteries output.  then i calculated how much resistance i would need to get the same output as the watch battery (10k ohm) and wired that bad boy up.  this is the way it looks now.  i think its pretty proffesional.  crappy pictures of my heat shrink in action.


here she is up and running.


the lcd will be placed right here.  obviously it will be mounted flush in a piece of plex, and the plex will be epoxied over the 3 1/2" bay hole.  finally the edges will be bondoed and painted for a nice finish.


this is  my heatshrink device, a 120v, 10amp swtich for the submersable pump, a rubber grommet that is too small, and a hing for the usb cover.


im ashamed to call myself a computer dork because i have only just now purchased a slash memory stick.  512mb $35 mail in rebate is a good deal in my book.  my dad also gave me this homedepot gift card, and this is all sitting on algebra notes.  sweet.

i painted the chassi white today, but i forgot to take a picture.  ill  post it tomorrow.

-haloloser-

[ClintiePoo]

Good luck on the Algebra dude.  I bought a TI-89 and used it up until Calculus, when they said I couldn't.  

Sweet mods.

[haloloser]

so i had this really good idea to get rid of that blank space on the right side of the side panel window.  my original idea didnt work out, but the one that kinda came up by mistake is 100x better anyways.  the only problem is that i didnt have a drill bit even remotely close to the size hole that needed to be drilled for the grommets to fit.  i masked everything off  so that i wouldnt destory the paintjob, or so i thought, and dremeled the holes out...



i really love the effect, but when i pulled the tape off i guess it had gotten so hot that it pulled the pain off with it.  i was so pissed, and i then had to strip the whole side again and prime.


i gave the thing a ma bob accent a polish, and it looks really nice in person.  you cant really tell because my photography skills  are not up to par.


after the ordeal i got some more done on the drive stealth thingy.  looks pretty nice.  im ready to see the xlcd fired up.  it will be the same concept as the dvd drive except in a lower spot.


another shot.


the reason why i didnt get much done today.

-haloloser-

[haloloser]

started back working today.  got some things done.


for starters i went to homedepot today and picked up some bolts.  i finally figured out how i am going to mount the ports.


this is where they will sit.  if you look over a bit you will see that i have cut the hole for the temp. lcd, and make a cover out of plex for the rest of the 3 1/2 drive slot.


another shot.

i cut the holes for the bolts, and jb welded them into place.  while that was drying i started the daunting task of mounting the motherboard.  i was dreading it, but it turned out to be really easy.

i cut the bottum off of another xbox and just mounted it liek the pc motherboard...


then i mounted the borken mobo on just for kicks and giggles.

when i felt the jb had dried sufficiently enough i added the bondo.  

if you are proficient with bondo, do yourself a favor and dont stop using it.  i had forgotten how hard it was to work with.  


another pic.  i felt like this was the first time i had ever applied it before.


finally, started working on the usb ports.  i used the other part of the controller extension cord to wired these up.  they will be for ports three and four.  call me a halo snob, but i wont have more then one other person on my tv.  its just not worth it.

untill tomorrow. haloloser.

[haloloser]

i worked on extending the wires for the xlcd today for my whole life.  it took forever, and by the time i finished i was ready to kill someone.  16 wires,  two solder points, an additional 32 solder points for the wires i used to extend, and heat shrink.  anyways, that was my biggest task so far and now its over.


picture of the screen working.

i used four strands of wire that had four wires connected together.  it looks about as good as i think it could get.


this is how much i extended it.  i added about 1 1/2'.


i also, finished wiring the usb ports up.  here is the pic of xbmc with the arrow for the mouse.  i have never used this program until about two weeks ago, and i absoultely love it.  if someone could explain to me why i lock up sometimes when i click on an option that would be awsome.


finally, i started sanding on the bondo.  i have some spot putty on it right now.  the pictures dont show what it really looks like.


a pic of it standing up.  you can see how the drive cover is doing its job.  tomorrow ill wetsand and maybe get some primer on.

im not sure if i want to extend the dvd power cable after today.  i might save that until sometime in the future.  ive also run into another problem.  i cannot find an ide cable that will fit the specifications i need.  im going to try and email llama tomorrow because i just dont know anyone else who might be able to build one for me.  if you know where i can get the cable and connectors myself i would greatly appreciate that also.  im also going to work on some of the inner wire management tomorrow.  i hope i can get a good bit done.  untill next time.

-haloloser-

[haloloser]

ok guys, the newest information is that i just entered (or at least i think i did), the acryan great worklog contest.  the idea is that i will be judged not only on the moding itself, but the quality of the worklog as well.  i think its probably safe to say that i have the only console entered into it right now, but i believe that they will appreciate something like this in the contest.  SO...  give me your constructive criticism, ideas, anything.  just basically interact with me.  if you have anymore questions, or you would like to know more about what it actually is, check the link out in my siggy or shoot me a pm.  thanks.

-haloloser-

[ubernewb]

first off, this looks like it's going to be an awesome mod when it's finished. definately original

i love the controller port idea (but personally i think i would have left the nut sticking out a bit to go with the whole 'industrial' look.. ) .. i also like the temp screen.

and of course the coolest part would be the watercooling.. very slick