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Mod Project: APHEX

Well, yesterday I pretty much laid around all day. I tried to mod a bit and was only able to paint about half of the cooling compartment. Today is a little better though. I actually got outside to mow the lawn and I continued sanding the second fiberglass piece and went at it with a dremel. Sadly it is now about to rain. I like how nothing ever goes right. Ever.

Oh well, life’s a bitch.

Also, is it just me or are the thread views messed up? For a week the # of views on this thread have been 2751. Even as the number of posts go up, the views stay they same. HardForum bug?

Oh and thanks for the support or whatnot CrimandEvil :)
 
Yeah I've noticed that with the views too.
Yesterday I got some time in for modding myself, mostly taking an old Mac apart and sanding/ prime/ painting alittle of it. :D
 
It's a Performa 637CD from '94 I believe. I don't have a dig camera so I didn't put up a log (wish I did though). The thing was built like a tank and will require that I fab up some things to make it work but I can fit a M-atx board in there with a PSU like the ones that Shuttle uses for their XPC. I'm having fun with it. :)
It's going to be my HTPC and iTunes server.
 
CrimandEvil said:
Take your time then :)
You should always mod with a clear head unless you want to see your Dremel eat into half of your case, lol.
Click to expand...

or half of your hand :)
 
Sorry for the delay. I was having some non-computer problems which are finally getting better. I have gotten back to work.

I have been trying ever so hard to get the very light scratches out of the first piece of fiberglass. It is taking some time because I am trying to retain the very delicate shape of the piece (right angles and whatnot).

My work on the second piece of fiberglass is kicking ass. Worked out a lot better so far. I don't have any pics yet, but fear not, they will come. It has been raining all day today, so painting is out of the question. Hopefully I will be able to display my progress soon.
 
Ok, I finally uploaded some pics of my progress. I didn't take many pics of the second piece of fiberglass' construction. I snapped some of the cutting and shaping of the foam and then wrapped in aluminum foil. This time I sprayed and spread some cooking spray on top of the mold. It was a little more difficult to get the first layer of fiberglass on though. What I ended up doing was just brushing the resin all over the mold and let that harden and then do the fiberglass cloth layers on top of that. The cloth wouldn't bend well enough due to the non-stick spray.

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Now here are some shots of the second piece which is done with the fiberglass work and awaiting Bondo. The part of the case that it attaches to isn't done yet, and still has to be painted on one side. I wanted to show you what the piece was and how it would fit in with the mod though. The piece covers the hole where the power supplies wires will come out and the hard drive cables go in. All the wires and cables will be routed through some cool 5/8 inch OD rubber tubing to go along the lines of the car/engine theme. There should be four black tubes which come out of the power supply (through the first fiberglass mold) and route through this piece and then down into the case. This second fiberglass piece, once cleaned up with some Bondo, will probably be painted with that truck bed spray stuff. You know how the parts under the hood of a car are kindof rough... I think I'm going for that look right here. We will see.

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Holes still need to be drilled in the fiberglass piece and the panel it will be attached to. I'm not sure if I will tap the holes or just use rivets. I'll probably tap em though.
 
nice piece (of fiberglass - get your mind outta the gutter :) ) looks like you did a decent job there. keep up the good work.
 
Nice, I'm thinking of try out fiberglass for some mods (maybe do some cases for my little crappy speakers lol). How hard is the stuff to work with? I'm reading a few guides and I understand what I need to do (I'm pretty good with that kind of stuff) so I'm just wondering.
 
The first time, no matter how much you read or plan, will never go how you think it will go (doesn’t mean failure though, but it might). It takes time and patience, and if you can work with Bondo, fiberglass is just a little more of a mess and a lot more of a hassle to stay away from the dust when cutting and sanding. The resin is a lot more fluid than Bondo, so it is easier to get into cracks and you don't have to worry about pockets of air as much (they are visible through the clear resin, so you can spot them easily). The fiberglass cloth coming apart in strings and sticking to your hands and in between your fingers can get quite annoying though. It will try your patience (at least it did mine), but it is really fun to work with, and it is a blast when you finally realize the endless possibilities.
 
Someone once said "A plan only last until it encounters reality" (or something like that :) )
Anyways I planned on using some old white T-Shirts intead of the cloth for that reason, I didn't really have trouble with Bondo (had mini vac next to me :) ) speaking of which would fiberglass be good for going over Bondo? I'm thinking of finishing my case front with the stuff and I've used some Bondo on it. Thanks, your case is coming along great. :D
 
Fiberglass can go over Bondo. It will stick. There are some things that fiberglass won't stick well to and that is metal and plastic. Unless you sand metal or plastic real well, it probably won't stick. This is what I have heard and seen from others but have yet to see for myself. I will personally find out later on in my mod though. With a T-Shirt, you might have to work a little extra to make sure the resin soaks through, I'm not sure. You could probably ask Mashie for some tips; seems like he has done everything... and then some.

Thanks for the compliments on the mod so far guys. As different parts near a finishing state, you shall be in much more awe! I Promise! :D
 
t-shirts work alright, but are not very strong and you would need like 6 layers to equal maybe 3 layers of fiberglass(it would be thicker, but not as strong). t-shirts work really well if you want to stretch over a form to make a shape. I would personally just use t-shirt material for just one layer maybe.

the trick with cloth is this...have precut strips and squares of various sizes on hand. brush on a little bit of resin and then lay the cloth on it, and use a short-bristled brush to "pull" the resin through the cloth from the bottom. you can pretty much tap the cloth if you have a brush that you've cut down like I suggested a few pages back. you'll still need to brush more on top of course.

another method is to have your resin in a paint pan or similar and actually dip your strips of cloth in the resin, take it out, wipe off excess with your fingers and then lay it down and flatten it out with a brush...quite messy but sometimes its the best way.

and if you're doing a second or third layer on top of a dry layer....3M spray glue is your friend. keeps the cloth on there so you can do what you need to do.

and if you think strands pulling off cloth is a mess and a pain, try using the mat sometime...it just gets rediculous :)
 
Just remember that Mashie had used the shirt for making a mold, stupid me. :D
Anyways my mom does sewing work so I could always grab some cloth (denim feels like it might work, no?) from her. Damn tomorrow I have to go to radioshack and get some stuff and maybe go by compusa and see if they have anything that I could use (usually not) maybe I can stop by an auto shop and see what I can there.
 
siege, do I have the right impressions on the metal and plastic? You told me plastic is my friend if I don't want the fiberglass to stick to it, is it the same with metal? If I sand down metal or plastic well enough, will it stick?

Maybe you already told me, I don't remember :p

Oh yeah, and siege is a good person to talk to too :D
 
yeah its tough to get fiberglass to stick to metal and plastic. I'm not sure how well just roughing the surface of plastic would work. I've never actually had to bond fiberglass with plastic or metal before, but here's a technique with plastic I've read...

rough up the plastic with some low grit sandpaper. then get some plastic epoxy (i think that's what its called - used for bonding plastic to plastic, etc) and spread a light coat on the plastic part. then lay the fiberglass cloth on the part and kinda let the epoxy soak half way through the fiberglass...I know it sounds odd and difficult. when the epoxy is dry it should still pretty much feel like cloth..then just throw some resin on that, put down another layer and some more resin, and voila...if all went well you should be good to go.

as for metal...well idunno. bondo seems to stick well so maybe do a light bondo coating and then some fiberglass? seems like it might be worth a shot

demin may be a bit thick for the resin to soak in properly...not quite sure. I know a lot of people use polyester sweater material when doing initial forms..still not very strong though. I personally think you would be best of using fiberglass cloth still. really once you get the hang of it its not too difficult.

once you get it down, don't move it around much, and when you're brushing the resin into it, don't use strokes. its really easier to use a cut brush to "tap" the resin through the fiberglass.

if you get it on your fingers, dip your fingers into some acetone and rub the rest off with a paper towel. acetone will kinda soak thru the thin latext gloves but I don't think its too bad really..shouldn't be enough to irritate your skin unless its sensitive to that kind of thing.

hope this helps

I know this video isn't exactly about laying fiberglass but watch the technique he uses once he gets to the fiberglassing part. The laminating resin is actually cool as well...can leave a nice finish :) (never used it tho). also note the PVA that is used and see how easy it comes off...that's like 3x easier than using cooking oil.

http://www.freemansupply.com/video/epoxysurface/epoxysurallqt300.htm
 
I slapped some Bondo and Spot Filler onto that second fiberglass piece and smoothed it our real nice. Also drilled the mounting holes, tapped the holes in the panel on which it will mount, and painted it with the truck bed spray stuff. I need to get some nice black screws for mounting it, or paint some shiny steel ones I have.
 
siege said:
you can spray/brush it with cooking oil to aid in the release when its cured. of course you could also go buy PVA Mold release but that's not too easy to find and cooking oil works adequately
Click to expand...

Something I've found that works even better as a mold release: neutral colored Kiwi shoe polish. With cooking spray, my epoxy always seems to find a spot to clinge to anyway. The shoe polish stays put, and cleans up easy ;)
 
homersapien said:
Something I've found that works even better as a mold release: neutral colored Kiwi shoe polish. With cooking spray, my epoxy always seems to find a spot to clinge to anyway. The shoe polish stays put, and cleans up easy ;)
Click to expand...

Wow I've never even thought to use shoe polish. I would assume it doesn't come as a spray and you have to wipe it on? Might have to try that sometime, thanks for the tip
 
Wow, the page views are actually starting to count up again. Hopefully the bug is fixed!

I have some updates for you all which I will post tomorrow (Thursday). I will be on vacation Friday through Monday or Tuesday, so I won't be able to get any work done :( *whimpers*

This part of the mod is finally coming together. Check back tomorrow!
 
siege said:
Wow I've never even thought to use shoe polish. I would assume it doesn't come as a spray and you have to wipe it on? Might have to try that sometime, thanks for the tip
Click to expand...

It's a paste, wipe it on, wipe it off. Just seems to work a lot better for me than cooking spray, though I miss out on the sweet buttery smell of the spray. Mmmmm...butter.
 
homersapien said:
It's a paste, wipe it on, wipe it off. Just seems to work a lot better for me than cooking spray, though I miss out on the sweet buttery smell of the spray. Mmmmm...butter.
Click to expand...

yeah the butter smell is delightful. however, I think I might just pick up some PVA soon...I feel a little ghetto using cooking oil for some reason :) plus its only $10/qt. plus shipping at http://www.fibreglast.com/showproducts-category-Mold+Releases-23.html so I might as well
 
Bah, oh well... I'll update Monday I hope. Sorry guys.

EDIT: this is Brian, Erronreq...
 
Got back from the lake Monday night! Sooo relaxed. Will update tomorrow. Tired, must sleep :p
 
Well, here is the update I promised! This is all stuff that I have done in the past week or so.

I finished the second piece of fiberglass. Once the basic shape was made and cut, I used Bondo and Bondo spot filler to smooth it out and make it all purdy. Then I applied a nice coat of the truck bed coating. This gives the piece a very "manufactured plastic mold" feel instead of "crappy fiberglass work" feel ;)

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Here are some pics of the fiberglass piece and how it will be attached to the top cooling compartment. The screws I used are not final. I want to find some nicer screws that better compliment the style.

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Here are some pics of the first fiberglass piece all painted and purdy.

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And here are the top cooling compartment panels all painted and whatnot.

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Today I started the clear coating of all of these pieces. They should be completely done in a few days and ready for some sort of assembly... assuming I don't have to leave it unassembled for other mod work. Oh and before I forget... KITTY PICATOR! She got in one of my shots earlier, so I figured I'd take a pic so you all can see the little monster that likes to get in my way of my mods!

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I envy your skills. :D I have to get some film developed ( :( no digi cam) and then maybe I'll start posting some of my mods.
 
I am really wanting to try the fiber glass thing out - I need to build (mold) a supercharger air intake - if you do not mind can you provide a shopping list of the products that you bought?? I am considering this but the shape is rather complex. (4 me)
 
Everyone has their own way of doing fiberglass and depending on what you are trying to do, some ways are better than others. In my case, I do it a weird way that probably not many do. There are other people here that could describe a better way of doing it than me since I don't do it the "right" way :p

For any case of working with fiberglass, you need cheap brushes that you can toss ($0.50 at Walmart), fiberglass resin and hardener (Walmart or any auto part store, fiberglass weave or cloth (same stores as resin and hardener), some kind of oil so the fiberglass doesn't stick to the mold (I just use cooking spray), and materials to construct a mold of what you want (I use foam [Home Depot], but you can also use clay or similar).

The best way to do it is to create an exact mold of what you want to construct, this is called a plug. Then you put a thin layer of oil on it and make a mold of the plug with fiberglass. The oil allows the fiberglass mold to be pulled off of the plug and you will then have a nice invert mold of the piece you want to make. Then cover the inside of the mold with oil and use fiberglass again to make the actual piece. This is just a basic description. I don't do it this way so I am not going to go into any details. You can check google for many MANY guides on how to work with fiberglass, from the very basic to the annoyingly expert.
 
ErrOnReq pretty much his it right on the nose with that info. little note, you can also get fiberglass resin at Home Depot and the likes. I personally recommend getting a gallon of it, cause you'll use it all eventually....sooner than you might think :)

making the plug mold is a little too lengthy for my tastes...I like to shape what I want with foam and clay, and then do a couple layers of cloth - not too thick - then demold, and add thickness to the back. However, if your plug mold is nice and smooth, you'll get a much better finish on your final piece and it will require less finishing work (sanding/bondo). After I move later this month and get settled in, I'm gonna start working on my case and I'll include a hefty fiberglassing tutorial within - unfortunately we can't really expect this until september...sorry guys I'm busy and broke :(

very nice work ErrOnReq, I really like that truck bed stuff...might have to refinish the inside of my case with that
 
Thanks :)

I don't need to do the whole plug - mold - final piece thing either, so I don't. But I know it can be good in some situations, especially when the outside of the piece needs to have exact dimensions or something.

Some guy on Bit-Tech was telling me this long and involved way of doing it with a plug, and spoke as if any other way would screw up the entire project :p

As you can tell, I didn't listen to him :D
 
You know I'm pretty impressed with the amount of stuff you can get from Walmart, the other day I found these switches for the same prices while I was looking at the auto paint.

I can't wait for that walk through Siege! In the meantime, TANKORR I learned somethings reading through Mashie's little guide that helped me understand some of what goes into using Fiberglass.
 
I am currently working on two other fiberglass pieces that will aid in the hiding of the motherboard. Tomarrow I should finish up the fiberglass and do the Bondo. I also finished up the clear coat on the top cooling compartment. In two days, the coat should be completely dry, at which time I shall attempt some sort of assembly for pics.
 
Ok, finally time for another update! Sorry for the delay. All the top cooling compartment pieces are completely painted and dry so I mock-assembled them so you get an idea of how it will look.

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As I mentioned earlier, I have been working on more fiberglass stuff for the parts that will be covering the motherboard. There are three parts that cover the majority of the board, and others that will cover the graphics card and below. So far I have two parts which will eventually be painted with the black truck bed stuff. There will be a middle piece which overlaps the other two and it will have some sort of chrome or metal look to it. The notches on the edges allow for the water cooling tubing to enter and exit.

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I installed them onto the motherboard tray for an idea of how it will sorta look.

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Here is an in-case shot with a few other components so you can get a better idea of the layout. There is a lot of work to be done.

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Here are the two fiberglass pieces after some good Bondo work.

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I used the fiberglass resin to attach some nuts to the fiberglass parts so they can be secured into place with screws.

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Here are the parts installed on the tray and in the case.

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I still have to do some cuts for the airflow system but they are nearing completion. I have also done some more planning for the top of the case and I am getting very excited about this mod. Stay tuned for more updates within the next few days!
 
Awesome work log! Just read thru all the posts and it looks fantastic. Keep up the great work.
 
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