CES Project - ZBOX x 7

I have finally started these Zbox's for CES for Zotac.

These are awesome little units. It's amazing how powerful they are and yet they are so small. You can get them with tons of different options including Bluray.

There are 7 different ones that will all get a different paint scheme.

They will be displayed at the Zotac table for all to see so I really need to make sure they are perfect.

The patterns will be -

Carbon Fiber

Cheetah

Snake Skin

Lightning

Skulls

Chrome w/ holographic prizm effect

and a bunch of $100 bills.

Here is the pile of Zbox's

I had to tear them all apart to sand them down -

Hope I don't lose any pieces!

I was able to get them all primed and painted. I used white on all of them. They even look great in white. But I will start getting them done with the designer looks. And then they'll be fantastic.

Oh, and by the way - - - This build is sponsored by ..... Zotac of course!

http://www.zotacusa.com/products

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like

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Blah Blah Blah

This will be neat!

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Some failures and successes...

I am creating these looks by using hydrography. Or, also called Water Transfer Printing.

It's a process where you use a printed film, lay it in water, spray with activator, and dip the part. Sounds easy right? Well not so fast.. it's one of those things where you watch all the Youtube vids and it seems like a piece of cake, and then you try it and find out different.

You have to have a certain water temp, let the film soak a certain amount of time, use just the right amount of activator, and wait until just the right moment and dip it verrrryyy carefully. Then hope it worked.

And to make it even trickier, different films and activators act differently. Some have more ink, etc, blah blah blah.

Anyway, I had my first success with the skulls pattern -

It came out great. This will be clear coated too so it will really bring out the depth.

Here is what failure looks like -

But like anything else you must keep trying, and learning from mistakes.

So, tonight, more success!!

Cheetah pattern baby -

I have a couple tiny little touch ups to do but it came out pretty good.

And then the mac daddy bling machine -

That's right. . . $100 bills

I have so many films and not enough stuff to dip.

Razz

I'll be dipping the carbon fiber, snake skin, and some blue lightning soon. I might also try a wood grain.

.

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this will work great for optical drives

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Blah Blah Blah

More success ... and failures. Confused

I am still having issues with some of the patterns. I've sanded and refinished these so many times that it's starting to not be fun.

Here are some all polished and put back together -

The money pattern...
It's done in a flat clear and actually has a paper feel to it. It has a lot of depth to it as well.

And the tan digi camo was done in a flat too. Glossy and camo don't belong together.

And the Cheetah fur I did in a high gloss. I also used a black paint pen and built up some of the black areas of the paint to give it extra depth and texture.

I have the Skull pattern wet sanded and will be polishing it tomorrow. Then it gets assembled too.

The snake skin is giving me nothing but problems. The carbon fiber was almost perfect but I had a couple tiny spots that I couldn't live with so back to sanding again.

I will start the chrome one this weekend too. I hope it goes well. Razz

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Sounds like a tough process, I think a wood grain one would be my personal favorite.

Looks good.

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Skulls are done. Cool

I used a high gloss on this one. It had a slight texture so I very carefully wet sanded it and buffed it to get a super shine.

Here is the reflection -

And all back together-

I've got a couple more to do now. I'm almost there. Very Happy

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I finished the snake skin one today.

I added some texture to it by spraying paint on it and then using a textured rubber glove to make it bumpy like a snakes skin. Then when I clear coated it I did it some more. It feels like the real thing! I've picked up enough snakes to know that it is on the money.

And this pic shows the texture. Hard to photograph but you can see it in the upper right pretty good.

I tried the carbon fiber pattern again and I just can't get it to look perfect so I think I might do a wood grain look instead.

And I am working on the chrome one too. I'm in between coats of paint right now.

Smile

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These are awesome!

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Love the texture on the snake skin one. Great job! Very Happy

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That snake skin one looks awesome!

I assume you are going to cut slats into the wood grain one so its uber authentic? Kidding!

These look slick!

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Thanks guys!

Looks like I won't be able to do the wood grain one after all. My supplies won't get here in time.

I also gave up on the chrome look. The materials I'm using just don't seem to work as advertised. Not sure why but I'll be calling them and asking.

So, I went another direction on the one that was going to be chrome. I painted it mirror black, buffed it out, and sprayed it with a product called Prizmatic. It gives it the look of a holographic image sort of.

As you can see - mirror black. It's actually a shame to cover this up it's so perfect.

Then a light dusting of the Prizmatic -

And after 2 light coats -

It looks black'ish until the light hits in and then it pops with all these colors.

I sprayed one of the ZBOX stands with the chrome paint and then with the Prizmatic also. It looks cool but doesn't show it nearly as well. And I think we can agree that it looks nothing like chrome Evil or Very Mad

I will be wet sanding and buffing these out tomorrow. Then it's assembly time.

The last one I'm working on is making me rage. I'm trying to do the carbon fiber look and I just can't get it to cooperate. I think I will try it one more time and then I may scrap the idea and paint it pink or something!

Cool

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BOBDBONE wrote:

As you can see - mirror black. It's actually a shame to cover this up it's so perfect....

Then a light dusting of the Prizmatic -

It looks black'ish until the light hits in and then it pops with all these colors.

And it looks GORGEOUS!!!

BOBDBONE wrote:

I sprayed one of the ZBOX stands with the chrome paint and then with the Prizmatic also. It looks cool but doesn't show it nearly as well. And I think we can agree that it looks nothing like chrome Evil or Very Mad

I will be wet sanding and buffing these out tomorrow. Then it's assembly time.

Nice - if ti goes with the black, it's a real, nice subtle touch. Chrome is nice, but I go for subtle....

BOBDBONE wrote:

The last one I'm working on is making me rage. I'm trying to do the carbon fiber look and I just can't get it to cooperate. I think I will try it one more time and then I may scrap the idea and paint it pink or something!

No pink. How about a reversal of the black and silver? Silver Zbox and black stand using Prizmatic?

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BOBDBONE wrote:

The last one I'm working on is making me rage. I'm trying to do the carbon fiber look and I just can't get it to cooperate. I think I will try it one more time and then I may scrap the idea and paint it pink or something!

Are you set on using that process for all of the boxes? You could always use that Di-Noc carbon fiber film Bill Owen sells to cover that last one.

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Boddaker wrote:

BOBDBONE wrote:

The last one I'm working on is making me rage. I'm trying to do the carbon fiber look and I just can't get it to cooperate. I think I will try it one more time and then I may scrap the idea and paint it pink or something!

Are you set on using that process for all of the boxes? You could always use that Di-Noc carbon fiber film Bill Owen sells to cover that last one.

That stuff is alien material!

When you use the heat gun on it it is so freaking flexible! Once it gets cold(few seconds) it keeps its new shape and it comes back to it's natural not so flexible state

BOBDBONE you need to try this stuff even if you don't use it for this project.

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That stuff is awesome!

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Thanks guys. I was thinking about the Di-Noc right about the time I felt like smashing stuff around me after my 8th failed attempt. I think I have it figured out now. I was able to get a good dip last night that I think I will use.

I will be getting some Di-Noc for future use though.

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BOBDBONE wrote:

Thanks guys. I was thinking about the Di-Noc right about the time I felt like smashing stuff around me after my 8th failed attempt. I think I have it figured out now. I was able to get a good dip last night that I think I will use.

I will be getting some Di-Noc for future use though.

Just curious, what is the cost for doing something like this, in raw supplies?

CyberCrist wrote:

BOBDBONE wrote:

Thanks guys. I was thinking about the Di-Noc right about the time I felt like smashing stuff around me after my 8th failed attempt. I think I have it figured out now. I was able to get a good dip last night that I think I will use.

I will be getting some Di-Noc for future use though.

Just curious, what is the cost for doing something like this, in raw supplies?

If you are looking for cheap carbon fiber vinyl, I suggest that you check out Metro Restyling. Automotive grade that is a fraction of the cost of Di-Noc