Still not done yet!!

Ha! You thought that's the end eh? Heheh! Not that the white front bezel wasn't cool or anything, it's just that I'm wasn't satisfied with the look! I've seen all those full colored graphics cases on the Net like the ones on CaseArts.Com, CaseWraps.Com and some other sites so I wanted to do the same. So while browsing around the local PC heaven one day I saw this clear adhesive inkjet paper in a Ink and Paper Supply store display window. I went in and checked it out and it was perfect for my Epson Inkjet Photo Printer! I thought I could print full color graphics and then just paste it over the white front bezel! The damn paper was expensive though! 1 A4 size paper costs S$3.00!!! Oh well... the things we modders do to satisfy our cravings! LOL!

For the graphics, I used the album cover of my fav band, Stratovarius from Finland as the graphics. So now you know where the name StratoBox came from! hehe! The title of the album is "Infinite", the perfect description for modding! The size of the front bezel was a little bit larger than the A4 paper so I had to separate the graphics into two pieces of paper.... a little wasteful but I had no choice! ;P And just like any photo printout on an inkjet paper, I had to let the thing cure for at least a day before I would even dare to touch it! I had to make sure the printout is set onto the paper properly.

Album cover for "Infinite0
Copyright Stratovarius.Com"

Separated into 2 pieces

Peel it off...

bottom part pasted

Once the print out is totally dry, I started off with the lower part first. Peel the graphics off the paper and paste it over the front bezel. I used a dry lint-free cloth to press the paper onto the bezel. I start from one corner and work my way to the other, constantly checking for any air bubbles trapped under the adhesive paper. Next up is the top part and getting these two parts perfectly aligned is very critical. Same method is applied and it didn't take long before the whole bezel was covered with the colour graphics! If you look carefully, you can see the line where the two separate papers meet but from a distance, it looks flawless, like it's from a single adhesive paper.

Aligning the top part

Done!

Cutting out the holes

Next job was to cut the openings on the adhesive paper for the CD-ROM drive trays, the power/reset buttons and the USB/Firewire ports. Althought I've already used the Decadry Letterings to label them, they are still slightly visible from under the adhesive paper. Everything now really done... put the case back together and VOILA! StratoBox is born!

Looks really nice!

Another view with drive trays out

w00t!

Final thoughts...

Well, there you have it folks! My second... or was it third.. custom case... heheh! I'm really loving working with acrylic right now... they're so easy to work with and they can be bend into varius shapes too. The full colour graphics was a first for me as well and after a few weeks, the ink really sets well and is really smooth to the touch. Just don't go scratching it with your fingernails! LOL! It's not as tiny as some of the Mini-ITX projects out there but it serves its' purpose well. On first look one might mistaken it for them Shuttle boxes eh? Hhmm... there's an idea... mod your Shuttle front bezel with your own full colour graphics! Oh well, maybe next time!

Another day... another mod project! Heheh! I hope you enjoyed the article as much as I've enjoyed working on the case project. So until next time when I mod another unsuspecting case or build my own one, so long and have fun folks! A big shout goes out to Mikey over at Directron for the EPIA Mobo for this project. Check out their Mini-ITX Section over there for a wide selection of Mini-ITX cases and mobos! And then some! Over and out! /rushes back to camp for second week of military duties!!