Initial Plans

My main intention for this from the beginning was that it would be used primarily as an HTPC. It would ultimately house an mATX motherboard with everything onboard(LAN/AUDIO/ETC). The only thing I would put on the mobo was a graphics card so I could plug it into my TV. I only wanted to have one hard drive in here because I really didn't have the room to spare, and of course one DVD Drive for the movies. The powersupply would definitely have to be a small rackmount 1u PSU.

The Design

I had the basic idea inside my head as I'm not to great at translating my thoughts to paper so I don't make sketches or blueprints to work from. What I originally wanted was an all chrome case, that would look sexy wouldn't it?. I just thought that it would look great with a mirror-like surface because this thing is very curvy. I was hoping to get some great reflections off of it. Mashie suggested I get it airbrushed with some Alclad2 paint. This was my plan but CrimsonSky (The Best Case Scenario) informed that this paint tarnished instantly at any contact with finger oils. Oh well, I would just paint it black myself.

The base would undergo the most treatment and detail work because I need to fabricate the fins I wanted in order to get the look I wanted. I was planning on using aluminum since I had an abundance of and had grown quite good at working with it. I wanted to transform the base into something that could be perceived as a rocket. I wanted the base to be a little wider then the top(shell) of the case, to sort of flare out to make it stand out more.

The Repairs

After all the breaking and cracking to the shell of the case it was time to put humpty dumpty(so to speak) back together again. To do this I used one of the worlds strongest adhesives, JAB Weld. It comes in two tubes which you mix together in equal parts. I used a toothpick to mix and apply the stuff. First and foremost I had to reattach the piece that had been broken away from the shell so I applied the JBWeld all around it and put in place. Then I moved on to fixing the other cracks that were on the shell as well as a few other things that had broken off. I wiped away the excess that squeezed out with a paper towel so I would have clumps of steel like glue on the outside of the shell.

This worked out great but some of the cracks were still opening up, and this would show in the paint job. I decided to add something stronger and more permanent, Fiberglass.

With most of the materials I used for this case I purchased some fiberglass resin and some fiberglass cloth from Home Depot. That store is GREAT. Much like the JBWeld you have to mix two parts in order for resin to harden. I didn't take any pictures of the mixing process or application process. If you ever use this stuff make sure to get some gloves to keep it from getting on your skin. I used some old plastic bowls from such items as "I cant believe its not butter" to mix it in. I used a piece of plexiglass to mix it and one of those sponge paintbrushes to apply it, I didn't use the paintbrush until the second application and it really helped. I would recommend wearing old clothes to, I now have have a hardened section of fiberglass resin in a pair of good pants. At first I only applied one cloth to each section of cracks, this wasn't enough as I originally thought I added several pieces of cloth later in an attempt to strengthen it further.

When using fiberglass I would recommend EXCESSIVE masking to keep fiberglass resin off of parts and areas you don't want it. This stuff is strong and hard to remove.

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