My newest mod... BOSS : FX-57

[Tech-Daddy]

Completed last night, for the CoolerMaster case mod competition.
:)


http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/CM_Final7.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/CM_Final13.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/CM_Final16.jpg

More later!

[DarkSynergy]

As always, that is a pimp mod man. I am now an admirer of your work! Can't wait for more pictures bro, leep it up!

[Rob Williams]

Oh my God... wow.

[Tech-Daddy]

The top "hood scoop" is actually a cover for the 80mm blow hole fan in the top center of the computer.

When the lights are out, there is a bitchen white glow that comes out of the scoop!

Kinda reminds me of "Christine", that old Stephen King movie about the possesed car? ;)

[Rob Williams]

We need a front view of the PC!

[Tech-Daddy]

http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/CM_Final10.jpg

Did not want to cause the paint to run firing it down the throat of the scoop, so it is a bit light in this front shot.

:)

Enjoy!

[Rob Williams]

Man, that's gorgeous. I am not even into orange that much usually, but it works with that case so well. How exactly did you make that roof scoop?

[Tech-Daddy]

Used paper as a mock up, then put that on to sheet aluminium to cut the template piece. After i Had the aluminium shaped, I covered it in "great Stuff" aersol insulation. After that cured, I could cut it/shape it into the general shape.

2 layers of fiberglass later, I sanded it and then used bondo to bring up the low spots.

Glaxing putty after than, 2 coats of high fill primer, then color!

Voila! You have a scoop!
;)

[madstork91]

Not sure if Id go with a christine comparison or an old chevy camero. The entire thing reminds me of a car though.

[Tech-Daddy]

Not sure if Id go with a christine comparison or an old chevy camero. The entire thing reminds me of a car though.

Good! It should remind you of a 1967 BOSS 302 Mustang! ;)
That was where the whole inspiration came from!
:D

[Jakal]

That was my first reaction. "OMG a Boss 302 schemed pc" That definitely DEFINITELY is an awesome case! I like the stripes and window, that cooler is a nice touch too. Love the carburator design! The front grill is just sweet man. Great work!

[noonie]

Good! It should remind you of a 1967 BOSS 302 Mustang! ;)
That was where the whole inspiration came from!
:D

Ran accross your mod. Looks great, knew what it was supposed to resemble immediately.
Upon reading further in this thread, I am confused and interested about the 1967 part. I thought that the original bosses were only made in 69 and 70, although I had a funky boss2 in 78 or so.
BTW, I used to have a yellow 69. If I would have known that they would have increased their value so much, I never would have gotten rid of it.

You may be familiar with this link http://www.boss302.com/buying.htm

[Tech-Daddy]

Ran accross your mod. Looks great, knew what it was supposed to resemble immediately.
Upon reading further in this thread, I am confused and interested about the 1967 part. I thought that the original bosses were only made in 69 and 70, although I had a funky boss2 in 78 or so.
BTW, I used to have a yellow 69. If I would have known that they would have increased their value so much, I never would have gotten rid of it.

You may be familiar with this link http://www.boss302.com/buying.htm

Excellent point! I may have been mistaken! I pulled a picture off of a website, and it was titles as 1967, and I assumed that the picture was accurate. Looks to be a 69 then!

Thank you for the link! I have a bt of correction to do!
;)

Glad you like the rig too!

(Edit: Spot on bro, thanks!
http://home.pon.net/hunnicutt/history_69_73.htm )

[Jakal]

Yeah the Boss Mustangs only ran between 1969 and 71 offering the 302 351 and 429. The overall best performer of the 3 was the Boss 302. They were fitted with either a shaker or regular hoodscoop. The case is undeniably a great tribute and the color combo is pretty much stock what you could get for the models. My personal favorite is the 69 Mustang body style, but there's not too big a difference between it and the 68's. I'm a Mustang enthusist, I guess.

A man who lives in my neighborhood has a 69 convertible sitting under a barn roof and 2. I've watched it sit there for the last 8 years. I'm hoping to possibly buy it from him and make it a side project. Beautiful cars.

[Tech-Daddy]

I am very happy that a Stang enthusiast finds my mod a accurate and good tribute to the 302!

That is an awesome compliment that is going to stick with me for months now!
Thank you!

[madstork91]

... Ive lost all respect for you two...

< Chevy guy.

[Jakal]

Tech that's a piece of art not just a pc! :D I personnally like the Acupulco blue and white stripes but the orange and black is very nice indeed. I'm glad you put forth the effort into a case like that.

http://www.mustang-stripes.com/1969_boss_302_mustang.htm
http://www.myhotrod.com/ArtRW104.asp

[Tech-Daddy]

That first link is *the* one that I based this off of!
;)
:D

[Tech-Daddy]

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_rotm_march06.html

Damn... I'm sorry guys! I'll get some of my other pics of hte rig up asap!

THought I had updated you all! *sheesh*
"head slap smiley...."

[Rob Williams]

Damn, where hasn't your mods shown up? Your mods are like whores..

Ok, nevermind.

[Tech-Daddy]

BWAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
LOL!!!

Niiiiice!
:p

[Tech-Daddy]

It's all about the details....
I felt it necessary to pull out some of the little things left undone on BOSS, and here are two of the things I have picked up on to complete this weekend.

http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mustang_acrylic.jpg

This was one of those little things that I did not do in the end... the chrome will be smoked with the MetalCast smoke that I used on the middle stripe, and the red color will be painted over with the OSHA orange. There is a little fan inside the unit, as well as a blue LED that I need to replace with a white one to keep it inline with the rest of the mod. Guess I could go orange on the LED too... might esperiment a bit on that route:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mouse.jpg

While I work on the case build out on DST, since I am out there... figured I'd quit slacking off and get these little ones worked out too!
;)

Pulling that mouse apart was a PITA!!!!

The top over the IC is the blue LED that lights through the vents and the fan. That will be what I replace with a white or orange one.
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mouse_internals.jpg

6 screws holding the internals together.... cripes...
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mouse_palm.jpg

Finally... broken down:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mouse_palm_components.jpg

These parts will be OSHA orange:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/orange_mouse_prime.jpg

and these are with the first layer of smoke paint:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/smoke_chrome1.jpg

I plan on 2-3 more layers of paint on these parts.

[liqnit]

it is amazing!
so beautiful.
is it very quiet also?

[Jakal]

That's sweet! Love your work man. Great stuff!

[Tech-Daddy]

after 2 more coats of "Smoke" and the 2-3 coats of clear:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/smoke_chrome2.jpg

the top pieces:
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/orange_mouse.jpg

Pulled the blue LED out of this beastie, and replaced it with a white 5000mcd light. I then sprayed it with a glass frosting so that the light would disperse and not just spotlight. These pics were prior to me spraying the frost.

http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mouse_led.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mouse_led2.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/mouse_led3.jpg

[leecho7]

Very impressive Mod, first time I saw it I knew it looked like a car. Not much of a Mustang fan but impressive either way.
Which reminds me, at work, we finished repainting this dude's 87 Mustang. It's a car he used for car shows and light racing. The car was a beautiful sunfire Yellow, and he wanted us to repaint the entire car. So we stripped it down and put on a fresh coat of primer, paint, and clear coat. Cost him 3000 bucks.
Two weeks later, he gets clipped by an 18 wheeler and his insurance wants to total the car even though the car has a racing engine and transmission that costs about 20k alone.
OK I'm getting sidetracked.
Awesome mod.

[Tech-Daddy]

Test fit...
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/assemble1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~craig.tate/Boss/assemble2.jpg

couple of take aways on the pics....

Mice have pretty tight clearance tollerances on the buttons, and a thicker paint causes these to stick due to the gaps being tighter.

*SO*

I am forced to file down the gaps to allow for more space, then repaint the buttons and such to fit properly together... but this should let you know where this baby is going...
;)

[Rob Williams]

Holy cow did you make that mouse look good!

[Tech-Daddy]

You like that?

Here ya go, finished! The mouse is done!

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/dst/final_mouse1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/dst/final_mouse2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/dst/final_mouse3.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/dst/final_mouse4.jpg


Here is a little trick I pulled tonight. The Rubber surround on the wheel was a clear rubber, and I wanted the opaqueness of a "tire"... so I took the rubber piece off of the plastic center. I then boiled some water in a glass dish, then poured in 1/2 a package of RIT black dye. Mixed it up good, then dropped the rubber piece into the dye. Let it sit there for about 30 minutes, essentially letting the water cool with the rubber in it. I let the boiling water cool for about 2 minutes prior to adding in the rubber piece for fear that I was going to melt it and mis-shape it.

But the piece came out PERFECT! Opaque black, and still fits the original dimensions!

I need to buy some mouse skates for the oval patches that I took off the bottom, but otherwise it is done!

[Rob Williams]

Man, that is seriously impressive, I love it! Because you dyed the scroll wheel, is there a chance that it could wear off on someones finger after a lot of use?

[Tech-Daddy]

Man, that is seriously impressive, I love it! Because you dyed the scroll wheel, is there a chance that it could wear off on someones finger after a lot of use?

Dunno... I doubt it though. Ther color should be bonded into the rubber if I understand what I just did properly).

My vinyl dye and my marker, both of those approaches flaked or rubbed off badly.

[Jakal]

That's quite ingenious! I would have never thought to try to dye the rubber. lol It really does look great man! Nice effect and addition to the mod ;) :D

[Tech-Daddy]

Just a quick update, I took the Saitek keyboard down to Austin for the AustinModder meeting this last weekend!

I got PoMan, the rework master over there, to generously donate his skills to replacing the surface mount LED's in the keyboard. No blue for BOSS... the keys all illuminate white now! Looks super cool!

But before I go and put up pics, I took the board apart one more time, and I am now painting the external frame OSHA orange (same color as BOSS). I'll be leaving hte keys the silver that they are.

After I get the paint completed, I'm going to work on getting the BOSS logo on the keyboard, possibly some striping.... dunno yet. Still experimenting with the layout.

;)

[Tech-Daddy]

Updates on the keyboard as of last night:

Patient is on the table:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1.jpg

Intestines removed. These are the light bars on the Saitek that have the surface mount LED's on them. This is the part that PoMan rocked like a concert! ;)
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1a.jpg

Putting the boards back in place (notice around the edge
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1b.jpg

At home on my workbench:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1c.jpg

14 TINY little screws holding the keyboard onto the front plastics:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1d.jpg

*BAM!* magically they are apart and I have lightly sanded the plastic to give the primer something to grab onto:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1e.jpg

"hellp me... pleeeeease!" ;)
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1f.jpg

White primer, to help brighten the orange when applied:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1g.jpg

[Tech-Daddy]

First coat of orange:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1h.jpg

"BAAAANNZAIIIIIIII!!!!!" Frikken bug... Why the **** can't they get the hint that wet paint is NOT for resting on??!?!?! Look right next to the flash in the middle, and up to the right a bit... see that little booger with wings... lil punk....
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1i.jpg

*lightly* sanded the bug out and then reshot another orange on the top to even out the paint.
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1j.jpg

1st clearcoat:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1k.jpg

2nd clearcoat:
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard1l.jpg

More later!

[Tech-Daddy]

getting closer!!!

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard2a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/keyboard2b.jpg

I will have the graphics to figure out... but Mmmmm....MMMM!!!!

I like the look of that! ;)

[Tech-Daddy]

Well, I botched my CD ROM front panel trying to make it "thinner":

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/bay_mistake.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/bay_mistake2.jpg

It got sucked into the lower belt cover and smacked around and sanded where it should have been.... ;)

... well, I fixed it last night!

I found my spare 5.25 panel, lopped the legs off of it, plopped it on my belt sander (after adjusting the work stop to be lower so that the front plate would not slip under the stop) , and made it nice and thin!

Then I used some adhesion promoter and colored the front panel to the same color depth as the others!

I now have the front panel attached to the computer, and it was the right thickness, as I hot glued a little piece of acrylic on the inside of the bay cover so that it is positioned right over the eject button. Now, because I sanded down the bay cover, there is a little play in the front, and by pushing the lower right corner of the panel, it depresses the eject button.

Works like a champ now! It does not look ant different than the last panel, only that it now functions to allow for the eject button to be hit!

YAY!!!

The family is about done! I just need to get some decal paper for the BOSS logos on the keyboard, but I may be able to take a family picture of everything by this evening!
;)

[Tech-Daddy]

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/boss_family1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/boss_family2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-modz/boss/boss_family3.jpg

Not done... but getting Daaaaaaamn close!
;)

[Jakal]

That's just hot. I don't care what anyone says. You've put a lot of time and effort into this thing and it does look really great. :D

[Tech-Daddy]

YIPEE!!! This was a great Monday!
www.bit-tech.net

[DarkSynergy]

I read that today! Congrats Tech-Daddy, I am happy for you. That is honestly a hot mod. One of the better ones that I have ever seen.

[Rob Williams]

Grats bro :)

[Jakal]

Excellent article on your build Craig! It was inciteful reading up on the full progression of the mod. You pulled it of wonderfully and a congratulations is well deserved. Great work! :D

[Rob Williams]

I should mention that this mod was also seen in a recent Max PC. You are going far TD... you deserve every bit of respect.

[moon111]

Awesome. The scoop, chromer air-cleaner lid, muscle-car graphics. The only flaw I see is it appears to be based on a Ford rather then a Mopar. ;)

[Tech-Daddy]

You guys are great!
Thanks for the wonderful support! Thanks guys!

[BlindMonk]

I know it's been making the rounds, but reading about the BOSS in the latest issue of Computer Gaming World is just too sweet. Just too, too sweet...

[DarkSynergy]

It really is a killer mod. Oh, by the way, congrats on the Dell contest.