Brandon Steen, A friend and Fellow Co-worker of mine who also just happens to be an excellent artist, was having some computer problems. His problem? His case was uglier than sin and an abomination to mankind.

Here are some pics of where we started. It will be properly shot and buried in an unmarked grave after all parts have been transfered.

Note the fine craftsmanship on the PSU fan intake.

and finally the "VW Harness" that supplies Power to the fans.  As you can see this eyesore needed to go away.

The Begining

I had been wanting to try out some things with backpainting and Brandon desperately needed a new case. So we decided to work together on a Mod. Using his awsome artwork and my modding skills. We are trying to create a beautiful master piece.

To start off we had to decide on a theme. I mentioned to him that I really liked a piece I had seen of his with some Psycho Teddy bears. I thought it would be cool if we could just expand on that Artwork and make a whole case of it. Brandon thought it was a novel idea and began working on the artwork right away.

It all started with this piece. The original that I saw was much larger, but it was such a cool image I was glad we chose it for the case. The one you see here is printed on material that is meant to be backlit. Brandon had started the image you see with a doodle on a napkin in a late night coffee shop binge.

Here is the case pre modified. A Pre-assembles Logitech clear acrylic case. It comes with 5 blue LED fans and ready to go.

The thing that I always hear about these acrylic cases is that they look like they would be really cool. Until you get everythng inside and you can't hide anything. No matter what you do it always looks messy inside. What I see is a blank canvas primed and ready to be painted. You just need to decide what you want to show and what you want to hide.

Ok Time to fill the Canvas. First thing I had to do was convert his artwork over to vector format. Then cut it reversed out in paint mask vinyl. I prefer to apply the image to the inside because I like the look of the smooth acrylic on the outside.

If you want to know how to create a custome image and get it cut see my Artwork Tutorial. Also if you don't want to do it by getting vinyl cut you can also mask the entire area in masking tape. Simply draw your design onto the masking tape, then carefully cut around your design with an exacto knife. Try to cut only the tape and not through to the Acrylic. Then pull away everything except what you don't want to be painted. What is left on the Acrylic will now be a window of sorts.

If you went the vinyl route you will need to lay it on the acrylic. It will come between some slick paper and transfer tape. Peel the transfer tape off the slick paper. It will have the vinyl attached to it. One side will be very sticky and you need to be careful not to get is stuck to itself or anyting other than the case. Line it up the the piece and carefully lay it down. Then sqweegee the vinyl firmly onto the piece. Then peel up the transfer tape and leave the vinyl mask behind.

Lay down the Vinyl with Plastic Squeegie.

and then pull back the transfer tape, leaving the vinyl on the Acrylic.

Now you are ready to paint the Acrylic. When painting acrylic you want to use a paint that is specifically designed to stick to acrylic. If you use a regular krylon or spray paint it will stick, but will scratch off very easily. There are many kinds to choose from but I prefer Vinyl Dye or Vinyl Paint. It can be bought at a local AutoZone or Auto Parts Store. It bonds with the Acrylic leaving a hard almost plastic finish.

This is the brand I used to paint the case.

Before you paint make sure your acrylic is clean and dry. Fingerprints and dirt specs will show up sandwiched between the paint and acrylic. Also make sure you are in a well ventillated area and wear a paintmask. You don't want to win a Darwin Award.

Paint several thin coats of paint until you cannot see through it from the front side. Don't pour it on too thick because it will eat the vinyl and make is raisin up off the acrylic. For more detailed instructions follow the instructions on the paint can. When you are done allow the paint to completly dry before peeling off the vinyl.

Once it is painted you will have what you see here. A nice shiny acrylic panel with the Vinyl mask standing out quite nicely against it newly painted background. This is the reason I paint the back. It gives the side you see a nice shiny uniform appearance.

Now you can begin the ever so tedious task of peeling of the vinyl you laid. The Vinyl is after all your new windows.

(note: this pic is from another section as I forgot to document this part)

After the Vinyl was all peeled I cleaned of any residual goo left from the vinyl and applied the image of the teddy bears to the back. This is the Mother board side so the mounts went through the image and helped hold it down.

I highly recomend using 2-part for making things stick. They have different kinds for different materials.

Around the edges I dabbed some two part epoxy between the slight overlap and the paint.

Final Product.

Here you can see that the big vinyl sqaure in the middle became a window for the artwork. All the letters are now little windows. To show you the difference I left the vinyl mask in the top "kill teddy bears" section to accent the difference. They will be removed after this pic is taken.

The letters will eventually have lighting come through to match the blue red fade of the artwork. The arwork itself will be backlit white. More on the lighting later.

The CPU side

This side is done in the same order, using the same techniques as above. First you have your design cut out of vinyl.

Then Once it is Taped with Transfer tape you will need to lay in on the Acrylic. Using a squeegie and pressing the vinyl onto the acrylic

Once it is on the Acrylic pull off the transfer tape leaving the Vinyl.

Then check your work. Make sure everything is there that needs to be, and what doesn't need to be there is gone. (see the holes in the D's need removed). Then clean the acrylic and make sure it is clean and ready to paint.

Spray several light coats of paint in a well ventillated area.

Once the paint is completely dry peel off the Vinyl.

Once it is peeled clean off any vinyl residue. You should now have a shiny new custom acrylic case door with your custom designed artwork. I still have some detail work on this side but you get the idea.

CPU side door commentary

Everything was going well on this side. Unfortunately I cannot control the weather and a cold front came. The Vinyl paint need to be 60F to dry right, and it was getting chilly in the shaded shop. To combat the chill I laid this piece on our south side to get the warmth of the Mid day sun. I had it laying on the ground in the drivebay doorway with some cones around it. Cones aparently mean run me over to the install guys, and they did. Also running over the Acrylic side door.

Amazingly the side was virtually undamaged. You can barely make out the dirt and the tire tread above. A testiment to the durability of the paint could not have been better had I planned it.

The asphalt did leave some indents where there were some pebbles on the ground. It is barely visible and I hope they can be polished out.