OGKwon - Chieftec Dragon Modding

[xenkw0n]

And here's the white exterior;

 

[slick2500]

I had one of these cases back in the day.

Thermaltake Xaser II

AMD Althon 2500+ Barton( I cannot for the life of me remember if I had an unlocked one or not)

1GB dual channel ram

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe

Asus 9600XT(Came with a free copy of Half-Life 2)

I miss that computer.

This thread is getting me all nostalgic 

 

If you look below the case in the first pic you can see top my "server"

AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton

51mb ram

Biostar M7NCD Pro(this motherboard had so many issues, if I tried to update it to the latest bios it would refuse to load windows, my cpu ran super hot all the time)

nVidia Vanta something or other.

 

 

[xenkw0n]

Nice!  Yea these cases are quite old but they were the best for a while.  I see yours is also the steel version.  So much heavier than the aluminum models but feels more 'solid'.  Was a bitch to work with when cutting parts and sanding down but now that I'm past those parts I'm happy to have only aluminum side-panels.

[xenkw0n]

Had some nice weather today and didn't have the daughter so did the red stripes... Had a little bit creep under the tape on the bottom piece by the corner... I'll probably just touch that up since it's the bottom piece and only a bit at the corner.

 

[xenkw0n]

And finally enough paint completed so people can really see what I'm going for.  Next I have to revisit the front grill that has been neglected.

 

[Puck]

Looking good!

 

I miss the case modding days.

[xenkw0n]

Looking good!

 

I miss the case modding days.

 

Thank you!  Wish I had started sooner.  There are definitely a few things I would do differently but for a first try I'm happy with how it's turning out.

 

 

Ended up using the dremel on the plastic which was an interesting experience.  Cut out the inside curved vent bars to leave it completely open.  Left enough edge of the plastic so I could sand it down to the right spot and not have to worry about rough cuts along the inside.

 

 

 

 

You can start to see the sanding on the bottom.  Finished sanding the entire piece and a few drive bay covers.  Leaving a 5.25" and 3.5" bay open since whatever I put in there will get another one of the USB3 + Audio jack front panels and at least 1 disc drive.

 

[xenkw0n]

Got the front pieces painted... The white has a tendency to run more than the red or black which is kind of a pain in the ass because I had to spray a little more than I wanted in-between certain crevices to make sure the paint got in there.  Still, wiped away some excess and re-sprayed certain areas shortly after a first coat to make sure it didn't run TOO bad.

 

[xenkw0n]

Finished the clear coat on the exterior pieces.  The main thing I'm realizing after this is that you would really benefit from having a specific place that is ventilated and CLEAN to paint.  There are a handful of imperfections that are triggering my OCD to want to do more.  I'm going to stop myself though and call it finished as far as paint goes.  I am still very pleased with the outcome.  Will let everything dry for a couple weeks before re-assembling.  Will be back for more updates when the time comes.

 

[xenkw0n]

Now that I know everything has dried *enough* I went ahead and put on the u-channel rubber edging in the cuts I made on the motherboard tray.  Later today I'm going to try and rivet the case back together as well.

 

Worked out really well and it fits well enough that I didn't have to use glue;

 

[xenkw0n]

Re-assembled... Fans added... Almost there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

[xenkw0n]

And here are the final pictures taken outside for better lighting.

 

- I waxed the case... I didn't like the 'painty' feel that smudged and scratched easily so used some Mothers Carnuba Car Wax I had laying around and it worked great!

- Added a DVD drive I had laying around to fill in the top 5.25" drive bay slot

- Added a 3.5" 4x USB 3.0 + HD Audio front panel bay

- Re-connected the front panel power button and reset switches

- Added a 4x 2.5" SSD bracket that is meant for 2 3.5" bays.  Used 3M Velcro tape so I can easily remove it to add SSD's but keep it secure when it's in.  Notice it on the bottom near the front fans.

- Bought some m5 x 8mm screws and m5 nuts to secure the old Alienware fan grill to the side-panel so I don't have to have a fan installed.  Without the side fan installed this case can support heatsinks ~165-170mm in height.

 

This will be the last update for a while until I decide on an actual computer to put in it... I know, why go so far to not even have a computer lined up to use in it?  Curiosity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2016 by xenkw0n