US Navy Chief Petty Officer Tribute

[firebirddna]

Hi, I am a US Navy Chief Petty Officer with 15 years of service. I have been looking at all kinds of tutorials and mods all over the net for a long time now. I decided to something myself. For a first timer, I will be doing something smallish and easy, nothing too fancy.

To start here is my donor case. Don't laugh. I have had this thing since about 1999. Haven't used it in years, its just a case. Says Pegasus on it.
Now, I don't have any new parts to go inside, so I think for this I will focus on just the outside. Mainly the sides.

Ok, so the idea then is this:
on the one side, as there is an outline for a rounded square just inside the edge

might be a little hard to see, but I can cut that out and insert an etched/engraved sheet of plexi.
The image I want to use is this one:

this one of the front, lower half anyway, yes that is an actually floppy drive, I want to make look like diamond plate, with the words 'Deckplate leader' most likely 'Deckplate' on one side, 'leader' on the other side.
Thats what we call it.

On the top of the case, I want to use this, our new recruiting slogan:

For the other side, I haven't decided whether to do it as plexi, or to create a cutout in the metal, using this:

and this:

I have my Dremel, and I bought a #107 engraving bit, as well as some plexi.
So i need to get some work done.
Be back later with an update on how it goes.
Thanks for looking.
Moderator guys, I hope I did this right. The pics look a little small though.

[firebirddna]

Small update just a little while later.
Disassembly.
Various pics showing the pieces. Turns out, this case had a removable mobo tray, the CPU socket said AMD Socket 462, anybody know what that was?
The blue surround on the front came off rather easy.

Thanks for looking. its late, so off to bed with me.

[firebirddna]

If I had the cash to get new innards, i'm torn between Intel and AMD.
Intel
Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R
Twin PNY GTX 260
Corsair 950TX PSU
Intel Core i7-920
Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 RAM
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB internal HDD
I already have 2 dvd-rw's

AMD
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT UD4P
Twin XFX Radeon 5770
Phenom II X4 945 125w
same memory, PSU and HDD as above

of course all of those materials are priced over $1k, so i got to live without.
My current system as listed in the profile is actually a HP Firebird 802. Again, don't laugh. I actually enjoy it. it plays Crysis and Crysis Warhead well on very high, and its nice and quiet. Looks great actually.

[msmrx57]

Welcome to TBCS. Nothing wrong with your system if it gets the job done. I'll be watching to see what you do with this. Good luck.

[Airbozo]

Welcome Chief!

I am also ex navy.

Good luck on the project!

[firebirddna]

I am in process of working out a deal with a local waterjet cutting place for the case sides and then some designs out of plexi. I'll let you know how that comes out. If its too expensive I may just have to do it myself.
Also here is a bit of a mockup with image.

Thanks for looking.

[x88x]

Looks like a good start, welcome to TBCS! Did you give up on the designs for the second side?

the CPU socket said AMD Socket 462, anybody know what that was?

More commonly called 'Socket A', that was used by AMD Athlon, Athlon XP, and Duron chips.

[nevermind1534]

I have some new CPUs (still in the package) for that socket, so let me know if you want one ('Ill let them go for a somewhat low price).

[firebirddna]

x88x, I didn't give up on the second side. I'm still going to put something else on there besides the wording.
Thanks for looking.

[SgtM]

Welcome aboard, Chief!