Modding a Soundcard i/o panel

PogMoThoin

Right folks. Slipped in some of the components in my case (temporary). Soundcard i/o panel looks outa place in black, as in pic. If i spray it silver i'm gonna cover the writing. Any ideas or should i leave it alone? Got time, conroe not coming for while.

Cuddlesworth

Besides getting a strip of plastic and cutting out the holes for connections or painting the existing panel by removing it and masking off the important areas before spraying not much.

L31mr0d

the only thing I can imagine to keep the text would be to respray it. You'd need to spray the front panel silver (either by removing it, or masking) then get the logos off the internet, make some templates and respray. Do you really need the text? I mean a clean silver panel would look better IMO without the text.

PogMoThoin

Pity they dont come in silver. Soundcard was an impulse buy. Didnt think of the colour.

Ya I might just loose the txt and spray it. Would look better. Can put old connections in the sockets and spray it. Would I be able to get a Creative sticker anywhere? Its not built yet, only slotted in temporary so removing it is not a prob.

Revalco

Spraying over it all with make sense, as the text is white and would hard to read anyway.

Or make your own facisa, so that you can always resell the the soundcard.
1 thing you could do is try getting a second-hand facisa.

L31mr0d

you could spray the rest of the case and drives black Does Creative even do silver front panels?

PogMoThoin

Could have bought all in black but i wanted silver. Stereo & tv silver. Creative dont make them in silver.

Where would i find a second hand fascia? Could get stickers made 2 put on after spraying. I know someone who does signs. Gonna ask him what he thinks & if its possible to do stickers so small. Would really need to distinguish between inputs and outputs.

TomCo

You could make an attempt to scan it or take a photo of the bezel, Im sure you could get some black transfers (or black text on transparent stickers) made up.

Edit: You got in before me.

PogMoThoin

I'd take a pic so i know what it looked like 1st. its not hard find Creative logo 2 scan 2 make new sticker. Dunno if its possible to make stickers that small.

Revalco

I think L31mr0d's idea would be easier to do, and probaly cheaper also.

For a second-hand fascia ebay maybe or you could ask Creative themselfs.

PogMoThoin

just emailed creative. I'll see what they suggest. I didnt know their european office is in IRL.
Gonna check ebay now.

TomCo

Revalco wrote:

I think L31mr0d's idea would be easier to do, and probaly cheaper also.

I think its pretty obvious at this stage that money is not an issue.

L31mr0d

you COULD get a silver marker pen from an arts stockist and just colour in the panel then colour in the text with black or something? For a second fascia, you could just get the dimensions of the original fascia and the holes and then cut one of the original stacker front panels to fit, it would look cool with the grill and be a pretty good mod. Did the stacker come with any front panels that didn't have the grill in them?

PogMoThoin

No. Didbt get any flat front panels. All front panels are the same.

subway

how about this?

scan an image of the front panel.
use photoshop to change it silver and the witing to black
bring it to a speciality printers and have them make a sticker of the enw silver face plate image with wiritng intact.

cut the holes out with a sharp sharp knife and your sorted?

L31mr0d

lol I'm using photoshop atm so decided to show you what I was talking about. It would just take drilling a few holes in one of the front panels you've already removed.

Revalco

L31mr0d wrote:

lol I'm using photoshop atm so decided to show you what I was talking about. It would just take drilling a few holes in one of the front panels you've already removed.

Looks sweet, nice chopping skills

PogMoThoin

Good idea (the sticker) but i/o panel has curved edges. Dunno how you get round that.



L31mrOd's idea looks good. Gonna wait and see what response i get from Creative. I'm a chippie so boring holes in the right place isnt a problem.

po0k

Use a CAD/drawing program to create the lables.
Print out the drawing on a contact sheet (clear adhesive plastic sheets).
Use a craft blade and cutting mat to carve out the lettering.
Use bumper primer on the plastic panel.
Maybe undercoat with grey.
Spray the panel silver.

Apply the contact sheet to the panel.
Spray with black.
Carefully remove the contact sheet, and your lettering should remain.
Spray with clear coat to seal it in.
Buff and polish with rubbin compound.

Have a cup of tea.

PogMoThoin

Good idea but, e's and a's wont come out properly ie. the middle would be solid colour. how ya get round that?

subway

what about my suggestion above?

po0k

Dump the silver case.

I'm very much biased against silver.

Otherwise: look again at what you're asking.

You want the panel to fit in with your case yeah?
The case is rather simple and uncluttered. It has those two split front doors.
The panel is very *busy*, Fatality is a corporate whore, and if you're actually using the panel, you either won't need labels or simple block symbols could be used instead.

This is an opportunity to mod the panel.
So mod it.

PogMoThoin

Subway, I like your suggetion. Gonna call round to fella who does sign writing later 2 see if he can make a full sticker with writing that small. Just the Creative logo would do & symbols.

SyxPak, I'm a racist bastard & dont like black. Will prob use your option if Subways fails. Gonna mod this thing anyway. Give me something 2 do while waitin for my E6600.

TomCo

To get around the problem of the curved edges you could recess the module a bit and put in a thin transparent acrylic sheet with cut outs.
Stick the sticker on the back.

PogMoThoin

Called in2 fella that does sign writin. Said its 2 small 2 do anything with. Said my best bet is 2 spray it. Gave me a can of metallic silver paint. Also gave me some silver stick-on vinyl. Gonna spray it & write on it with with fine tip permanent marker afterwards. I've noticed that i can remove the front plastic 2 spray it so theres no worrying about masking the connections. Will let ye know how i get on.

PogMoThoin

:cool: Front came off easy. Just clips off. Got it primed & 2 coats on it dis eve. Dont take long in this heat. Give it another in morn. Got yop bottle full of plastic primer off mate in garage. Got a neat trick for ye.... wrap an old pair of tights over bristles of brush to stop streaks when painting. Did a neat job with primer cos i didn't fancy buyin a can. Cost me nothin so far. Gonna get missis 2 write symbols beside connections with permanent felt tip pen. Will post a pic when fully finished

Edit: just saw 2 lunatics on news gonna travel round country in yellow Fiat 2 promote road safety. They gettin people 2 sign their car. I'm gonna meat them & rob their felt-tip-pen. Just what i need..:)