Steampunk Computer:The final phase?
A minor tweak to largely finish off the computer, and some serious progress on the keyboard. I'm not sure I want to start on a monitor yet, they just look to much like hard work.
Popping into Jessops to get the slides developed from the Zoo trip last Sunday I find a photo album in green and brown leatherette is somehow the princely sum of £0.10. Bargain of the year on that I think. Really rather marvellous, because other than buying it by the metre I don't think I was going to be able to get any- and a metre is far too much for what I need.
Cutting off the outside of the album, and cutting up the green stuff, I've covered the optical drive and I/O port doors. MacCullough and Wallis didn't have the leather, but did have a rather nice little gold button that looks rather nice on the front, indicating where you push to get the door to pop open. The rest of the leatherette is a nice shade of light brown, and I'll be using it on the keyboard. I haven't even damaged the album too much, so I could recover it in some nice fabric. Crushed velvet maybe?
Unless I add some handles to the top (which won't happen for a while) I think its complete. (I wouldn't mind modifying the big silver panel, but it just isn't something I think I can do without running the risk of breaking it totally, nor do I know what to replace or cover it with.)
The keyboard however does need some work, but is getting on very nicely.
The surround is sprayed black, a few strokes of black enamel paint lend an industrial "used" look. The surrounds for the power keys, leds and the space bar are then touched up in copper enamel. I've done the same with the key-posts. A few coats of sealant, and it should be done.
A couple of hours in photoshop and the labels are written and printed off. All done, cut down, stuck on the buttons and placed on the spare keyboard to check how it all looks. I'll be covering the labels with Humbrol Glosscote varnish, which should be fine. Yep I'm happy with that. I need to pop down to John Lewis and get a smaller version of the flowery return button for the keypad enter key. I've followed mbarrick's lead and used a compass rose design on the cursor keys. Baskerville Old Face is quite a nice font for this I think, though I've used something more flowing for the f's on the function keys. I was tempted to use "Lucida Blackletter". Maybe for the innerbrat's clockpunk mod?
Popping into Jessops to get the slides developed from the Zoo trip last Sunday I find a photo album in green and brown leatherette is somehow the princely sum of £0.10. Bargain of the year on that I think. Really rather marvellous, because other than buying it by the metre I don't think I was going to be able to get any- and a metre is far too much for what I need.
Cutting off the outside of the album, and cutting up the green stuff, I've covered the optical drive and I/O port doors. MacCullough and Wallis didn't have the leather, but did have a rather nice little gold button that looks rather nice on the front, indicating where you push to get the door to pop open. The rest of the leatherette is a nice shade of light brown, and I'll be using it on the keyboard. I haven't even damaged the album too much, so I could recover it in some nice fabric. Crushed velvet maybe?
Unless I add some handles to the top (which won't happen for a while) I think its complete. (I wouldn't mind modifying the big silver panel, but it just isn't something I think I can do without running the risk of breaking it totally, nor do I know what to replace or cover it with.)
The keyboard however does need some work, but is getting on very nicely.
The surround is sprayed black, a few strokes of black enamel paint lend an industrial "used" look. The surrounds for the power keys, leds and the space bar are then touched up in copper enamel. I've done the same with the key-posts. A few coats of sealant, and it should be done.
A couple of hours in photoshop and the labels are written and printed off. All done, cut down, stuck on the buttons and placed on the spare keyboard to check how it all looks. I'll be covering the labels with Humbrol Glosscote varnish, which should be fine. Yep I'm happy with that. I need to pop down to John Lewis and get a smaller version of the flowery return button for the keypad enter key. I've followed mbarrick's lead and used a compass rose design on the cursor keys. Baskerville Old Face is quite a nice font for this I think, though I've used something more flowing for the f's on the function keys. I was tempted to use "Lucida Blackletter". Maybe for the innerbrat's clockpunk mod?