Antec 3000

[ryanlusk]

Hey HWC, welcome to my first ever mod / build log, I'mma call it the Antec 3000
I plan to...
Cut cable management holes
Paint the inside black
Stealth the DVD drive
Replace the fans with those orange xigmatek ones
Put CCFL's in it (blue)
Case Window

DAY ONE​

Just got my Antec case in the mail today, was so pumped to start modding it.
Some shots of the box.

Screws and stuff, don't laugh at my flower bed sheet

Was a bit too excited to snap pics of the case before I started tearing it apart
Front Panel:

A big scratch I made while laying the side panels against each other, definitely a :sozo: moment.

The naked case

The fans, once my wallet says okay, I'll have some xigmatek's in there

The top, taped off, getting ready to paint

I know I shoulda cut my cable management holes first, but my motherboard is at my mom's, so I figured I shouldn't guess.

The little parts being painted, more or less just trying to get a feel for the spray paint

Here's the paintjob done more or less

Heh, first time modder / painter ¬_¬

At least it'll be covered by the motherboard

Done, and inside now

This looks really bad here, but looks fine in real life.

The fans installed

The basic idea of everything on the inside

Seriously, what HWC worklog is complete without a cat ?

Yeah I know he looks like he's going to die, he's like 18 years old.
Older than me, possible he's dead in that pic haha, good old Houston.

The end

Before Cable Management

Now to find out where I need to cut...

Doing the Cable Management

Marking where to cut

Weapon of choice

An hour later...

There it is with the holes cut in it.

My ghetto u-channel wannabe, once I get ahold of something better, I'll use that

Running the cables through

From the front

The mess in back

I'm not happy with the cable management yet, I'm sure I can do better, then again, these cables are stiff and annoying to work with.

Inverting the Drives

Flipped HD, tight fit for that fan !

Hiding Fan Cables

I just ran them right behind the motherboard.

Still not sure what to do with the fan controllers though, I'll probably just tape them in somewhere.
But they're annoying.

Also I moved my drives to the bottom slots.

Anywho, I plan on doing a case window next.
Thanks for looking !

 

[misterlarry]

Nice work so far. Welcome to HWC!

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[JD]

Looks about how my Antec 900 ended up. First time modding is always fun :thumb:

BTW to make it look better, use a tripod and no flash, just make sure you have ample room lighting. Another option would be to take it outside on a fairly sunny day. The flash is what makes all your blemishes visible.

 

[enaberif]

Paint would have come out better if you had used a self etching primer first.

 

[ryanlusk]

Looks about how my Antec 900 ended up. First time modding is always fun :thumb:

BTW to make it look better, use a tripod and no flash, just make sure you have ample room lighting. Another option would be to take it outside on a fairly sunny day. The flash is what makes all your blemishes visible.

Thanks for the suggestions, I gotta take some more good pics, my camera is really bad, so it's tough, but going outside sounds like a good idea, the pictures make it look worse than it really is in a lot of the pics.


I'll keep the self etching primer in mind for next time.
Never painted anything like this before haha, I need all the suggestions I can get.

 

[morphy]

nice job and I like how you were straight up about showing your painting skills...most people would just prefer to show the good looking shots.

As for self etching primer I think you're fine since you used Tremclad (rust paints don't require primer). And primer doesn't make a paint job look better - it provides a better surface for the paint to adhere to where if you had used normal paint without Primer the paint job might likely flake or peel in a year or less.
Personally for case interiors I'd use primer then spray it with matte non-rust paint (more even look, paint adheres better, fast drying allowing for multiple coats to be done without waiting long) but that's just me. But Tremclad or any rust paint is fine too.

Those blemishes on the paint job are normal especially when using spray cans. Paint sags (from overspraying on an area or paint dripping off edges) and paint blobs ( from imperfect nozzles ) are hard to avoid for a beginner.

Kinda too late now since you've finished your build but as future reference, to get rid of it you'll have to wetsand those areas with low grit 240-320 sandpaper. If the sags/blobs are rather large start with a coarser sandpaper (180-220) then move to 240 or higher. It's like lapping a heatsink only you're not lapping to a mirror finish , just sanding off the imperfections to get a smooth finish for the next coat. After that apply the next coat and if things go well it'll be the final coat.

 

[lowfat]

BTW, this isn't OCN

I assume you just copied and pasted your worklog from overclock.net?

Either way, welcome.

 

[elwoodz]

nice work, i gotta mod mine someday

 

[sa seba]

That Tremclad stuff is beautiful, used it for my cases too.
What happened with the dvd drive? Is the mesh cover directly attached to the disk pullout ? (you know, the thingy that opens on a drive, don't know the 'real' name for it)

 

[Caldezar]

Welcome to HWC! Good job overall for your first time for sure. And I love the creative use of materials.

A few tips:

+1 for wet sanding for a cleaner paint finish

One of the easiest ways to prevent paint pooling and dripping with spray paint is to keep your can a little bit further from the case when spraying. Two lighter coats > one heavy coat IMO

Lightly sanding the area before spraying helps prevent running as well (also good for the life of the paint since it adheres better)

Electrical tape was a good substitute for u-trim, but measuring and cutting a fitted amount keeps it a bit cleaner

The phrase "what *edit* worklog is complete without a cat?" should be changed to: "What worklog is complete without duct tape?"