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Super Slimline Upright Cabinet
ripsnort:
next i decided to tackle the CP i decided that i didnt want a huge one that stuck out with 20 joysticks and 300 buttons i wanted a traditional style were te CP sits within the sides of the cab. The first thing i actually did was paint the bat tops on the joysticks, i was not happy with the pale blue that they came in as standard and wanted a colour to more match the buttons and the thee a little so another trip to halfords and a can of supersonic blue. these were given about 3 coats of paint and 4 coats of clear laquer they seem to be holding out quite well. the plastic washers were given the same treatment.
not a great pic but you get the idea
the nightmare begins with starting the wiring on the buttons and joystics, i wanted the cp to be detachable from the cab so all power for the led's etc was joined by a connetor so i could simply unplug when required.
ripsnort:
CP fully wired and temporarily fixed to cab for testing, again i wanted to keep it all very simple so used standard hinges the CP would then fasten down using ball catches, these hold pretty firmly as your weight is almost always pushing down on the CP so it never pops open. If you do need to opn it then a sharp tug on the joystics opens it a treat.
next up was the bezel, this caused be the biggest headache of all, once i got it cut out i masked the back off it and sprayed gloss black paint onto it the leaves a great piano black finish on the front, i hen sprayed silver across the stripe to breack up the bezel a bit for the admin buttons
ripsnort:
panel was then cut to sit under bezel, admin buttons and on/off buton will then be secured to this, because i used i thin plexi this meant i could have the admin panel area facing more forward then bend the bezel bacl a little to create the correct angle to veiw the monitor glass or thicker plexix would not make this possible. A recess was made in the panel so the circuit board with the speaked controls could then be pushed through from the back. this would then be glued in position once fitted and wired.
bezel with panel fitted and mounting brackets glued in place, i later removed the brackets and built a frame aroud the monitor in the cab then attached the bezel with sticky velcro, this has so far been the best methos ive found, it sits rock solid, you can see the silver spray were i created the stripe for breaking up the bezel
as i wanted to use black admin buttons on a black bezel i wanted to make the buttons stand out just enough without changing the buttons colours, so i got the hole cutter out and cut 4 rings out, i knew i wouldnt get thses perfect so i made the centre hole a little bigger so i could adjust them a little bit to make them even, these were them painted in the same silver.
ripsnort:
CP and bezel now fitted into place, the central on off button was wired into the pc button making turnong it on a bit more authentic, i wanted to use black admin buttons just to keep it clean but broke this up alittle by fitting the silver surrounds.
The best way i found to fit the bezel was to bulid a frame around the monitor then i used sticky back velcro to attach, this holds it absolute solid. I decided not to use a glass bezel as there are 2 angles to it, the button area is steeper and then it slopes back a little for the monitor angle.
Note the painted bat-tops, these turned out to be a great colour match
i also fitted the T-Mould at this point and it was only ever gunna be chrome, i'd seen so many with blue t-mold so had to be different, gives it a classier look.
ripsnort:
Next up was the rear bling, taking inspiration from the back lit TV's available i thought i'd give it a go and ive not seen a back lit Upright so thought i'd have a go and found these on ebay. I bought 5 metres for only £10 on ebay which was a bargain, They are sticky backed si fitting was quite easy and they also have a t-mold kinda look to them so dont look out of place. i then linked them all together and fed the cable through into the marquee area where a switch awaited
I fitted 2 rocker switches to the top of the machine 1 for the marquee light and one for the backlight, having the option of manually overiding these comes in handy when your not in the mood for full neon bling. When both are switched on they will still turn on and off when the machince is powered on and off.
The marquee light is just a white cold cathode tube linked through the switch to the 12v power of the pc, (sorry no picci)
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