case mod ideas?

[Hydroblitz]

a few days ago, my xbox 360 got the red ring of death for the third time in a row, and my parents surprised me with a new one. I then promptly took apart the old one to see what made it tick, when I noticed how easily the case snapped apart. I got the idea to steampunk it, and if my dad doesnt let me put it on the new one, sell it. anyone have any ideas? I was considering making it look like wood, then adding brass plating and gears.

[von Corax]

Wood is good. Brass trim is good. Gears, not so much.

I'm fairly certain you've been around long enough to apprehend the prevailing attitude toward ornamental gears, but I'll run it down for you anyway:

"Gears added on" is almost certain to draw universal scorn and have your work labelled as "SteamJunk."

Gears which appear to perform some function, even if it is not even remotely apparent what that function is, are far more likely to be accepted. One (although not the only) way to achieve this is to have the gears visible through an inspection window. Bonus points if the gears turn.

A subtle gear motif worked into the design may earn high praise if it appears well-integrated into the overall æsthetic. This approach, however, is probably the most difficult to achieve. Examine Will Rockwell's USB thumbdrives for an example of how this should look.

Hope that's of some use to you.

[zpyder]

I hope the old xbox was over 2 years old, as MS made an extended warranty where they'd have fixed it for free for you! Ours got the RROD about 23 months after we bought it which was lucky, though i'd like to get a newer xbox as ours is 1st gen, and put it in my room!

As to gears, it'd be quite cool to work something into the DVD drive so that when it opens and closes big cogs move?

[Joozey]

Is there any xbox still alive that has an active warrantly? I bought it as soon as it came out, immediately after warrantly I had its bios flashed. That seemed like an eternity ago now. The xbox is long dead, its chips got burned. R.I.P. good old friend.

[Hydroblitz]

Wood is good. Brass trim is good. Gears, not so much.

"Gears added on" is almost certain to draw universal scorn and have your work labelled as "SteamJunk."

Gears which appear to perform some function, even if it is not even remotely apparent what that function is, are far more likely to be accepted. One (although not the only) way to achieve this is to have the gears visible through an inspection window. Bonus points if the gears turn.

A subtle gear motif worked into the design may earn high praise if it appears well-integrated into the overall æsthetic.

I was think cuttin a little hole, then making a few gears showing, and cut a few to have them like half showing.

I hope the old xbox was over 2 years old, as MS made an extended warranty where they'd have fixed it for free for you! Ours got the RROD about 23 months after we bought it which was lucky, though i'd like to get a newer xbox as ours is 1st gen, and put it in my room!

As to gears, it'd be quite cool to work something into the DVD drive so that when it opens and closes big cogs move?

I got it on september 27th, 2007, a few days after halo 3 came out. The deal is, we took it to the game store (they fixed it for $50 USD) and it worked for a few weeks. when it came back, they fixed it again, no charge, and said if it didnt work, they would give us $50 off of an arcade model.(two years of gaming on my hard drive.) It failed a few days before christmas, and my dad surprised me with an arcade.

[Grave]

I would get a couple of brass pipes and tubes, a steam gauge and some 'rust' paint. The paint is good because it dries and cracks to look like a random patterned rust. If you find the good stuff. You could do a wood veneer base, kinda like that PS3 mod from a while back.
http://brassgoggles.co.uk/blog/200906/damnation-timberclad-ps3



As for gears, you could do a 'window' like a PC case. Dremel the hole in the deisted shaope and mount a clear piece of Plexiglas inside. On the glass mount a string of gears in a desired pattern, making it look as if functional of course. Place a false back and a small LED light and your GTG. 

[SashaGears]

I like gears if they have something aesthetically artistic about them...like a big gear in the center covering the X part on an Xpox with maybe a resin gemstone or something so when you turn the Xbox on, that little gem glows a tiny bit?


Uhm....I would use FAKE, shiny wood if i were you, as if someone put a preservative type of resin over wood, just for....durablity and cleanings-sake.

uhhh...brass corners would look interesting, but you have to make certain that you keep it at least recognizeable if you DID end up selling it, so that the recipient would still be able to navigate it.


maybe....some sort of.....velvet-ish material on it, too?

[Zaro_the_Great]

What I would love to see is perhaps some clock movement in there. Like, remove the movement from a brass gear electric (so you don't have to wind it all the time), place in an empty space inside the case, and put a glass viewing window over it.

[J. Wilhelm]

I totally agree.   Functional gears are best (e.g. actual clock movements) and non-functional ones are the worst cliche.

[Narsil]

I would approach something like this from a functional perspective. Obviously making an actual clockwork computer is a bit ambitious but if you can come up with some sort of concistent engineering concept then it will make for a much more engaging 'prop' than sprinkling it with components at random. 

[bcrowley]

Why not do it up like an old book?  Use some spray adhesive and dark leather to completely wrap the console.  Poke holes in the leather where the venting needs to be and add rivets around the edges to secure and embellish the console.  Then get some gold or brass colored self stick block lettering, perhaps from a scrapbooking section of Target or Walmart to put something like "Direct X Box" subtitle "Volume 360" by "Microsoft"


Just seems to be a little different then the "treasure chest" type look of that PS3.....

[Mr. Hatchett]

RRoD?  The last console I bought was a PS1 - can someone translate that into oldfartan?

[theDapperDocent]

RRoD - "Red Ring of Death" is a term used to describe the unfortunate event where an Xbox 360 overheats and stops functioning.  It comes from the fact that when this occurs the normally green glowing ring on the front of the console turns red.

[Joe of Loath]

Don't make consoles like they used to, eh?

I'm thinking some thermionic valves, or are they too recent for steampunk? I mean, I see references to radio in a few people's designs, so I guess they wouldn't look too out of place?