Ducks Dragon case..

Start Date. Wednesday, January 29, 2003 (actually planing was before this date, I started modifying the case around here)

where to begin..

Ill start from the beginning and work my way to the finished case (if i ever get it done). the donor case is my old Enlight EN7101 6bay ATX mini-mid tower cost $0.00 I swaped with a new case and this was left over..so you could say it was the cost of my new case or not.. up to you.. anyway I had fun with the old case.

pic1. donor case EN7101. pic 2. K7S5A ecs motherboard

as you can see the donor case is square, and off white, I moded it before by adding vent holes, painted it gold, relocated the power supply and added 2 windows. so it was pretty choped up by the time i started to remod it. I have pictures of it HERE!

disassembly of case.. nothing fancy. take everything apart, drill out rivets, save peices..
i kept the back and bottom together.. thats what everythings based off of..(though it is 2 inches short)


click to inlarge, hover for dicription for all pictures

I saved the rest of the metal so i can modify it to reuse it in building the custom shell. and speaking of which..

Metal:
The steel came from the original case sides, top, etc.. cost: $0.00
The aluminum came from waste material in a HVAC shop, i asked if i could have it and the owner said sure, cost: $0.00

lets get to cutting and shaping some parts!

picture taken Friday, January 31, 2003

this is the first peice i made, didnt really know where to begin.. I knew it was going to have a floppy drive so i made a metal cover for it.. it got changed about 3 times so far (iam up to mounting it and adding the beard)



The Nose.. pic1. inside nose.. I cut it as one peice, left and right nostrals and center part. the picture shows a few bends, I started and said "TAKE PICS" so i stoped, took some shots and we go on.. also shown is my trusty mini wooden mallet i had since i was little. its from a little kids, my first tool kit toy if you call it that with the real metal saw that actually cuts.. trusty and about 18-19 years old and still going, i also use the my first toolkit's chisel to take the gold paint off the steel, it works faster then sanding and dont remove the metal.

pic7. "DANG IT!", the center part is hard to figure and hammer so i had to cut it in half and the tip off. so its not as wide as it started to be, also had to put two pop rivets in it to reattach it back together, i should of only cut the tip off!. rivets are hammered flat and backed with small washers.. iam learning how to hammer aluminum into shapes, shrinking and expanding.

pic8:. The center of the nose..the picture dont do it justtice with the glare.. its the best one at the time.. it has a ridge down it, all edges rounded over.. I think if i had it to do again i wouldnt or couldnt reproduce it like it is.. its sitting on my trusty vice also a $0.00 FREEBEE.. the screw holding the plates on broke and it had a ridge stoping it from holding.. so it was trashed somewhere or given to my dad, i dunno, he gave it to me cause i like to tinker with junk.. grind down the ridge and grip part and file it smooth. now it can ghrasp a peice of paper and hold firm.. also has a anvil on the back, which iam using. soon will clean it and paint it so it looks pretty.

pic9:. This is the finished nose and bottom lip.. also added, cut and rounded mustache/top lip and atached it to the nose. The nose tip is attached to the mustache as are each side of the nostrals.. more rivets, and hammering them flat.

pic10:. closer pic of nose with attaches mustache

side note. yes thats my desk and surrounding area. i have paper templates, stress balls, extra comp parts laying around.. itll get cleaned up dont worry..Its my junk, I have to live with it so :-P



ok got some parts made now what EXACTLY do i want to do and how to make it work.. i guestimated how long i want it.. and trimed the excess metal off the motherboard tray, pic11.

pic12: shows how i took the guesstimated length and made a bottom peice out of steel and a curved front and attached it to the bottom. not to clear but hey. I always think about taking pics as a last thought.. also i put in the floppy cradle, and a floppy drive, just sat it in there saying hmm this would work..centered it up.. attached with 4 screws from bottom to 4 brackets riveted to the side of it for easy (easy enuff) removal. the front had to be cut and trimed severial times to make it fit right. the brackets also raise it up about a half inch. which works out for the better alittle later.. and i quickly mocked up a new template for the beard.. and taped it on, looks ehhhok .... I guess

sorta similar.. should be before the floppy pic but i thought here was best.. made and added eye frames.. and the bridge of the nose.. just sat it on the cdrom cradle to see how it looked.. took awhile to figure where it went in space and how to get it there.. then I made the front curved peice thats above with the floppy in it (pic12). it moved, I went HEY ???? I cut a pepsi bottle for eyes (tell ya later)

I got the bright idea of using cardboard to make the peices stable in space. also used some margerane bowls to stop it from tipping.
(BAHHHH. its genius I tell ya, extra bowls and cups are great for screws, paint and other junk in the shop or when working and cheap)

if you notice I also got some eyebrow ridges taped on and some paper for teeth.



Wednesday, March 05, 2003
I cut out some more paper templates, trial and error.. got some I liked and I cut some metal, aluminum. some I had to hammer into shape, some is flat or slightly flat, peices are 2 each, top teeth, bottom teeth, top lip, bottom lip, mouth crease. cdrom cradle cover. I had to cut and make a left and right side of each so I couldnt use one as a guide for the other. also cut out one beard slightly different from template. and riveted that on. I also drilled a dozen holes and riveted all the mouth parts on and beard.. i made some brackets for the cdrom cradle and riveted those in. and situated it where I thought best.. pics show with motherboard tray in, and my desk area around, the first pic shows white areas for a reason.. it had stuff taken out that i didnt want shown. I also had to make a Y shaped bracket to hold the nose to the cdrom cradle and to the top lip, one for each side. And that eyebrow still isnt attached.. or one mouth crease at this moment...and i took out the pepsi bottle plastic for the eyes, they just wasnt working though i may still use em they did cost $0.00. the cdrom and floppy drives came with the computer the case is from that computer has a new case, chrome floppy and cdrw and it has been modded alittle. but thats another project so cost of the cdrom drive and floppy drive $0.00

I was running out of rivets when I did the front rounded peice.. so I bought a 100 pack. then found some around my dads workbench and got some from mom and even found some in one of my toolboxes.. cost $6.29 pack of 100 aluminum

so far I goofed up about 5 times, trimed some stuff off I wish I shouldnt of, stuck stuff on in the wrong spot or not measured correctly.. drill bit wondered on some holes, some holes were drilled to large (see tools) , some rivets arent stuck flat, or are in areas I cant hammer flat (if i try to)..

Saturday, April 26, 2003

been working on the case again. little stuff, some metal and the insides. more pics also.

this is the peice for the top of the head.. i was tring to figure how to do it.. remembered some techniques in leather work and put it to metal. i took a brick chissel and a another cold chissel and started stamping the back of the aluminum.. its like controlled dents but you have to work in the reverce. above is the scrap aluminum i had and a basic pattern i whiped up, the dots in the back bone pattern is made by hammering a decrotive nut on the metal while it was over the hole in my anvil on my vice, it gave it a nice sphere shape

The Insides

my girl was at walmart and saw some fabric so she got me a yard and when she came home she said here, you can use this for the insides.. great idea.. thought about it somemore and decided to pad it and put studs like a couch. just so happened to have 2 different size conical studs and 1 square studd (rinestones?) after some time thinking of a pattern to put on it i did a 3 inch spacing, stagered.. and heres the pics

as you can see it turned out ok, i had some matalic cardboard so i used that.. made the pattern and put some thin batting over it. wraped the fabric over the edges and hot glued it on the back. so you cant see it. i pushed the studs in through the cardboard (the reason for using the cardboard was to hold the studs and fix the fabric to it so i can take it out if needed). it has a puffy look and iam happy with the way it turned out. so it dosent look retarded with all that gray ill paint the insides red or yellow or some color i think looks ok and blends..

started on the metal for the left side, its filled and just needs the sculped peices. and started on the right side/access pannel which is planed to have a window in it. i just need to figure that out etc..

one eyebrow attached.. the other will be attached soon and the top of the head. iam waiting to do that when i figure out the acess pannel. going to make a bracket and mount two 40mm fans in the nose. the bottom lip cap is built and mounted. some other small random metal is being formed. some gaps filled and some tweaking around the eyes and nose ridge. just thought about the power supply.. i was going to relocate it ontop above the motherboard, i can put it bottom right but it would be in the windows viewing area of the pci cards. needless to say i forgot to work in the extra room, i can still do it but ill need to get more metal (will need to get more anyways so.........)

iam already thinking of color. bare metal, polished, brushed or painted (solid, texture, pattern, multitone etc..) also thinking on a dragon case 2 and a new full custom, things to come, materials to get, more money for projects.

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

these next few pics i decided to take when i do the moc up of the parts that need to be made.. it also shows some hint of what the finished case might look like.. but ya have to remember.. paper goes different them metal and iam sure something will change.. the measurements may be cut different or i may just not like where someting is or the way it looks so dont think the pics are a deffinate..

i used a manilla folder so the peices wouldnt fall and twist.. they are just taped on with masking tape.. some "parts" are just tape themselves.. when i get to the peice ill make the all the needed ajustments i have to make to the template on the metal. such as leaving a 1/4 inch for rivets. leaving some spots long to trim or scribe into place etc..also the templates arent complete (in the pictures), some still need to be trimed and the scribble marks on em are instructions for me.. some are "bend" marks. "shrink" and "grow" etc...

also if you take note the window isnt planed to be a flat peice of plexi. iam also thinking of forming it, maybe more. i just dont know till i get more metal to start the rest of the peices so i know how itll look. right now it looks like a beefy case and the window housing looks kind of thin. it might be something ill change but iam not sure

and YES.. a hit of my next project is at the top left of the "horns" pic..(small page here with a basic diagram)

Thursday, May 1, 2003

Diagrams of the Dragon case before i started. CLICK HERE they were drawn on a napkin while at a resturant and i scaned them in as one graphic.

Wednesday, May 7, 2003

I seem to be updating backwards.. the case then diagrams then metal.. which is below

I went back up the shop asked for aluminum.they were all out so i got some galvanized, I HOPE it is simmilar to work to the aluminum. i also came across some other galvinized that i had but its thin. the 3 metals below are about 26 gauge (i believe)

Sunday, May 25, 2003

updates, been awhile since i did some stuff to the metal on the case. or updated the site. since the last time ive cut the back off and redid the metal, made the window frame, made a custom peice for the back of the head (screwed up).

As you can see i redid the back. cut holes for two 80mm case fans and stood the power supply up on end, ducted out. and do you notice how i screwed up? i attached the scales backwards on the head. AND made a rear patch panel to cover the rest of the head and made those scales backwards also. the big peice i can just drill out the rivets and flip it. the back peice ill have to make a new one. the power supply i stood on end just to make it easyer to look inside without having a huge rectangle in the way, you can put the plug in just fine, the ducting has the same amount of surface holes as the orginal empty spot had. i think it should work out fine. to do that i had to make all the metal on the rear over. the back now has a billboard on it that will get painted and a holographic dragon sticker applyed.

Horn patterns, finished horns, and hair metal. another goof. i thought i could do the horns all in one shot, i tryed but iam not satisfied, they look like cornucopia. iam going to redo them in maybe 3 peices, it should look ok. final look would be chromed. the other metal is the beard hair and hair that goes around the mouth, i beveled the edges so they didnt look flat, the one is split inhalf cause one peice goes on the window frame.

this shows the back of the heads template and my other templates. the window frame and some of the hair taped on. i just hope i saved that rear template beings i goofed it up.

hmm my trusty old vise's anvil, and some cherry red krylon paint for the insides that dont get flamed

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

update day but pictures are alittle older

TIGHT FIT.

the motherboard fits, its close but everything will work fine.

Friday, July 11, 2003

long time. alot done.
pic #58, the one peice horns. SUCK! i decided to scrap them and use polished stainless steel, done in 5 and 6 peices (the left has one less peice due to over hang off the back) the slight gaps between the overlaping peices was filled with Apoxy clay

side made and attached
new horns made and attached
eyebrows finally attached
prizmatic plastic cut for the eyes and nickel (the metal not the coin) keyposts installed for pupals. will attach after painting
beard hair (metal) attached
plexi window heat formed and installed with rubber weatherstriping (A PAIN TO INSTALL)

the paint chosen is Krylon cherry red for the insides and Mirage color shifting paint in magenta/gold for the exterior along with red flame material for the insides. the polished stainless steel horns will not get painted, just polished and buffed alittle to give that chrome look.

i also got 2 "body lights" magnetic blinking LED ear rings/belly rings in red for the eyes.

two 80mm fans with chrome fan grills installed in the rear (temporary, will be removed before painting then reinstalled).

holes in rivets filled with Apoxy clay so they look more like studs then pop rivets. also the seams in the metal blended in with Apoxy . the only peices sculped are the back of the eyebrows, the metal was to small and odd for me to hammer them to a perfect fit. i cut the flat metal and used pliers to shape then used Apoxy to blend and smooth out the shapes

Sunday, July 13, 2003

I used the wizard rotary tool last night with a grinding conical to file down the apoxy to blend it into the metal. worked great. it kicked up some dust but did the job. I also taped off the rubber and window and primed the window frame

this is a pic of some rubber stamps. iam thinking of using them for the case feet. as you can see i plan on using 6 due to the the dragon case having 6 corners. and four are in the shape of feet also and two in the shape of ducks.

Sunday, July 27, 2003

over the past week ive been working on the case. from sanding, painting and installing parts and i think iam finished.
beings my site is loaded with pictures and i only have so much room and bandwidth i have the next set of pics on pbase.

New Dragon Case Pics Here

"body lights" in the eyebrows above the eyes just held on with the magnetic casing.. and a white light in between the eyes inside or over all light.

Motherboard K7S5A
Processor AMD 1800+
Artic Silver 3 thermal compound
stock cooler for processor (came with it)
Ram, 2X 64mb DIMM
Graphics card, voodoo 2 3000
48X cdrom
20gb harddrive (with window)
mitsumi floppy drive
2X 80mm case fans

other case items..
prizmatic plastic eyes with nickel screw posts as pupals.
screening in the nose as a vent
power and reset switches with LED's for each, installed in the lower cdrom bay
stainless steel horns with simulated groth rings painted gold.
3D formed case window with rubber weatherstriping
henged ears with a steel frame with expanded metal mesh webbing
hand hammered aluminun face and head with a steel and galvanized understructure and body
rear extention with 2 case fans and ducting built in for the power supply which is stood up on end
rubber feet, with feet patterns on them.
dragon sticker on the back pannel
red flamed material for apolstered bottom. top of cdrom. rear inside panel and top of inside. all with conical studs
chrome fan grills, rear slot covers and motherboard connector trim (the ring around where every thing connects)

Paint
mirage color shifing paint in magenta/gold for the exterior
krylon cherry red insides
gloss black ears
flat black drives and bay covers
gold trim on polished stainless steel horns

and thats all the pictures so far.. and as far as I got. keep in mind that everything is hand cut, hammered, drilled and riveted. everything that the advarage person can do with the most basic of tools..

I've set up a message board. please add a comment, I want to hear what you have to say, Ill answer almost anything you have to ask..
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