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DIM - Aluminium and Carbon Fibre DVD Drive Facia

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  • 28-03-2004 8:50pm
    #1
    Adeptus Titanicus
    Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭


    DIM as in Do It Myself... :)

    I have a beige DVD drive I want to put into a Chieftec Aluminium Dragon. Needless to say, I'l like an Alu finish, and I have lots of options; stealth it, make a new front plate, spray it etc...

    I don't really want to stealth it with a bay cover, as the bay covers on this case are really thick and are basically black plastic coated with Alu-coloured paint. I thought about asking about to see if anyone had a spare Alu drive bay cover from an Alu Lian Li case, as this could make it an easy job to make a face plte from one.

    Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone know a good source for getting thin Alu sheets (in small quantities of course) with a brushed finish. Failing that, has anyone just spray painted a drive facia (siver preferably)? What was the quality of the finish and how durable is it?

    I'm also looking for self-adhesive carbon fibre sheets (was going to face the tray with this, but might use t for other bits as this project goes on). I've googled for them a bit, but can't seem to find a source online. Will pop into the local motor-factors durig the week, but if any of you know where I can get this stuff for sure, I'd appreciate it.

    Thanks!


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    #2
    Venom
    Registered Users Posts: 6,984 ✭✭✭Venom


    Coolmaster sell cd/dvd drive face plates in both silver and black metal finish.


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    #3
    Adeptus Titanicus
    Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭Adeptus Titanicus


    Thanks Venom. I might have a look into that for future bits. I actually went out a couple of hours ago and got some aluminium finish car paint and some plastic primer to see how it looks. Have been trying it out on a spare beige drive bay cover. So far it blends perfectly with the case! :) I wanted to get some chrome finish spray paint as well, for the CD tray and eject button, just to give it some definition/relief. They didn't have any, but a friend tells me you can get very nice results with some fine sanding and multiple coats. Will look around...

    The only thing I worry about with the spray jobs is durability, but it seems pretty good. I guess if it;s for a car it would want to be durable! Anyway, I got some laquer too, just to see what kind of finish that might give.

    Having fun with the fumes if nothing else! :D

    If anyone is interested I can post some before/after pics when I do the full works on the actual drives.


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    #4
    CombatCow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,317 ✭✭✭CombatCow


    yah post up some pics if ya can,the laquer will give it a shiny and durable finish.I found when i was spraying my cd drive that do a few light coats instead of trying to cover the whole facia at once.good luck


    CombatCow

    ** O and you can get plastikote chrome spray/paint in B&Q or car accesory shops **


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    #5
    Adeptus Titanicus
    Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭Adeptus Titanicus


    I got my hands on the Plasti-Kote "Chrome Effect" spray, but it's pretty far from looking like chrome. The top of the can makes you think you'll get a mirror finish, but it's more like a brushed chrome finish that ou get on some fridges. More like a glossy grey. Have you tried this stuff before? If so, what kind of results did you get? Was wondering if the type of primer would make much of a diff...


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    #6
    CombatCow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,317 ✭✭✭CombatCow


    dunno if a primer would make much differance tbh,but i did use it on a black fan to try and copy one of the titan alu-fans.it didnt turn out to bad but as you say,it wasn't a mirror finish by any means.still beats a plain black coloured fan.post some pics if you have the time,when your done :)


    CombatCow


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    #7
    Adeptus Titanicus
    Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭Adeptus Titanicus


    Yeah, those Titans look real nice. Was tempted by them but went for the Sharkoons instead.

    Here's a before and after shot of the drive. A close up of the drive as it is now is in the next post. It's hard to capture the metallic feel of it, but the main body of the drive blends perfectly with the case. The drawer looks pretty shiney, but not chromey like I said before.

    How does the finish compare to how your fan turned out? I'll probably do another couple of light coats to see if it gets a little more metallic.


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    #8
    Adeptus Titanicus
    Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭Adeptus Titanicus


    close up of section of drive.


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    #9
    CombatCow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,317 ✭✭✭CombatCow


    Wow nice work, actually that looks fantastic,iv the exact same dvd-rw drive as you,i might just have to spray it now :eek: It looks nice with the aerogate 2 aswell.The fan i did turned out prety good but nothing like the titan 1's.


    CombatCow


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    #10
    Adeptus Titanicus
    Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭Adeptus Titanicus


    Thanks! I think it helped that the plastic protector over the strip at the base of the unit was still on. Gave it a nice bit of definition when I peeled it off after the respray. The Alu was, in the words of the guy in the motor factors, what "the Boys use to do their wheels" and I was v. happy with that. But you see what I mean about the "Chrome". Still, it blends alot better than before the spray :).

    /me looks for more things to spray... :D


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