I want to do this...

[MinerAl]

... but with a Q605 and a Classic instead of just Photoshop.

(Also with post-Snow White keyboard and mouse.)

 

[markyb86]

Make it so! I'll join the alpha test team if you want

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

iLikey!!!! Just gotta find a nice SVGA 9" Grayscale CRT!

 

[olePigeon]

Did you want B&W, Grayscale, or Color?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Color CRT is way too deep to fit and you can't drive the B&W 9" Periscope w/o going through a lot of trouble.

So finding a 9" POS Terminal Display is about the only reasonable thing to do with a MicroQuadra's great Video Out within the confines of a compact's case . . .

. . . or so I've been led to believe. [] ]'>

 

[MinerAl]

It'd have to be a grayscale 640x480 or 800x600 display.

I don't have any of the parts yet; I just was noticing the similarity between the LC facia and the Classic's, and how much better the 475/605 looked. The photoshop has made me lust after this imaginary beast.

I always wanted to facelift a 67-69 Camaro/Firebird with Oldsmobile styling cues. The Quadra Classic seems more in my skill range.

Should it be a "Quadra Classic" or a "Quadra 300"? I couldn't decide

 

[markyb86]

Classic DCV (DCV = 605 in roman numerals)

 

[beachycove]

Might be doable with the guts of a Duo 280. The screen would fit, is glassy and very sharp, outputs 640x480, and looks great in B&W.

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

Would be sweet if you sold it as a kit, I'd order one. :3

EDIT: Also, I understand keeping the BW monitor for keeping with the rest of the compact line, but I do remember a case mod that used a color monitor if you'd be interested. I'd like to see it as an option.

 

[MinerAl]

I must be procrastinating, because I keep messing with this...



I'm looking at this as more a "what if apple had made one more Classic" than a "what can I cram into a Classic case." I'll stick with the CRT if I do this.

I'm more worried about the body work. I can hack stuff together, but the finishing will be paramount, and I don't know if I'm up to it.

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

Oh, it was a CRT. Some kind of monitor they used for voting on a game show, and about period correct too since it was from the early/mid 90's... Hang on.

Oh, so it was black and white. Nevermind. Either way, maybe the model of monitor used here could be a good candidate?

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/mac-itx/

And yeah, I understand completely. I used to wonder what a compact would look like given the iMac treatment, hehe. XP

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Bondo for wood! [] ]'>

You'll have to paint it anyway, along with the peripherals to get that Not-Snow-White-but-Snowy-White-Design-Language in the V-Hack. (very BTW)

It'll have to be ProtoMacSmooth unless you can figure out a way to texture the (paint?) just right.

I don't recall it being Bondo branded, but ISTR a two part resin filler for wood that should have a closer hardness to the plastic than old-school metallic auto body filler did to styrene back in my plastic model hacking days. * That was always a PITA because it was about as hard to sand as sheet metal so the surrounding plastic has a disturbing tendency to give way around it. That's when I learned to shape and smooth the joinery with files instead of "waving it up" with sandpaper.

For doing smoothing on this scale, you can make hard sanding blocks by gluing your sanding paper to to blocks of wood (soft pads are your enemy!) so they'll act as big files for reshaping the floppy bezel's curvature to match the Classic's (shorter radius?) curves.

* Smooth the peripherals set and Classic to rough powder coat white or platinum?

** Kurt Vonnegut Jr. just built the model planes as a teenager. I was coming up with original and combination model hacks in my pre-teen years. I hadn't drawn the parallel between that and MacHacking until searching for that wood filler simile just now. Thanks for that blast from the past. =8-D

WOOT!!!!!! 8-o

< WATanget mode >

You've got me hooked now! This Classic notion of yours is probably the easiest bezel I've seen yet for patterning a vacuum forming buck!

You wouldn't want it see thru, because of the hacked innards, that'll have be ugly. However, back-painting thin clear plexi Graphite, Blueberry, iMac White or whatever teh 2004-correct-TAMacintoshClassic™ would have been would be killer!

I'll go along with beachy on the LCD, (have you fitted one already?) I pulled apart a DOA 2300c LCD and figure it would almost-maybe just might work with the goiter's bits bent back at a right angle. I've been nosing around the lids of a 270c and 280c to c if they'd work out a bit better.

RESET!!!!!! 8-o

OK, yer killin' me with this one now, Al! The shell of teh_2004-correct-TAMacintoshClassic™ (IRL typo just became part of the name! :lol: )

sorry about this stream of semi-coherence, but . . .

< spinoff from tangent mode >

The shell of your hacked classic can BE the vacuum forming buck! :approve:

Since you're paying homage to the Classic series, the backpainting on the inner surface of the vacuum-formed acrylic would be the Classic form factor encased in a glossy acrylic outer shell! Whoohoo! This bonks a bevy of birds with oneBB! [] ]'>

When prepping the Classic as a buck, you'll need to make a few thickness adjustments for the plexi anyway, soooooo . . .

. . . a 2004 Classic would at the very least have a Flat Screen CRT to accent its classic curves . . .

. . . you'll have the entire outside dimension of the Classic's shell to fit a Duo's LCD . . .

. . . reshape the curvature, depth and size of the CRT flange opening to perfectly match the Duo LCD of Choice . . .

. . . that's one of the easier procedures, you'll be leaving a flat round-edge rectangle for the LCD . . .

. . . the first painting step will be masking off the exact visible outline of the LCD on the backside of the clear bezel . . .

. . . second will be masking off the remainder of the bezel up to the ersatz CRT-Bezel interface . . .

. . . spray the remaining area black, this will be the back porch (non-pixellated) portion of the Flat Screen CRT's face . . .

. . . this leaves the exposed LCD rectangle as the active area on the fake CRT in a sort of floating image effect . . .

. . . you'll need to shave the floppy slot back the thickness of the plexi for it to function properly . . .

. . . I'd do this by making a negative casting of the LC/605 slot in plaster or resin, leaving the "donor" intact . . .

. . . then vacuum form the same thickness plexi over the negative form to give you the proper positive buck section automagically . . .

. . . this technique would probably work nicely for the CRT section as well . . . hrmmm . . .

. . . gotta flip some images about in post processing whilst doing something else! :approve:

Long story short, Al, you'll be using your signature CC-Zip opening as the model for the positive casting process outlined above and you'll have updated the obsolete floppy slot to something a bit more useful in teh_2004-correct-TAMacintoshCOLORClassic™! [}] ]'>

< /WATanget mode >

What was it I was saying? :-/

< . . . shakes head, rearranging cobwebs a bit . . . eschews the very notion of proofreading . . . ambles off to nuke his VERY clod cup of undrunk coffee . . . >

 

[MinerAl]

Heh.

Responding to a few of the more coherent things I could glean from that:

I have a 2300c, and I'm pondering making it the insides of my otherwise pretty toasted CC+Zip. I would like to see how much bend you can put to the LCD panel without getting rainbows... I'd need a duodock-mini... anyone?

I'm thinking the LC sized 040's cases are too curvy on the horizontal axis (top to bottom) to be useful for this. I'm thinking a 650/7100 will be a closer match, with much less top to bottom curve. Maybe the 630. I'll have to look through some pics to find a likely candidate. Any suggestions?

I'd love to cast a whole new front, but I wouldn't know where to begin. I'll look into resins.

Really committed to the LCD for the Quadra Classic (c.1994) idea.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That's cool, a TenthAnniveraryMacintosh works well for me.

I'm thinking the curvature isn't all that important, you'll be covering up the scars of the graft anyway, or am I missing something here? The way I see it you'll be doing an inset of just the FDD opening. I'd do it protruding to the lowest common denominator, backing up the whole thing with Epoxy Putty to reenforce the joint and the shaping away the protrusions.

Please outline the process you're considering for the graft as you intend to do it. I'll try to image it in the 'ole noggin' and try to help.

I'll also see if I can dig up that borked 2300cLCD for some pics a/o a mailing address, but I think you can probably forget about bending the LCD panel itself if that's what you've got in mind. I've never even thought of bending an LCD panel, but it doesn't strike me as being in the doable class of hacks . . . but I've been wrong a lot more than I've been right!

Meanwhile: anybody got a sacrificial Classic front bezel or two? [}] ]'>

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

I'd donate my whole Classic so long as I could have it back after the project, hehe. XP

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

:lol: Thanks for the chuckle, Blue. I've already got a (slightly hacked) Classic shell for trying out the non-destructive approach.

I'm toying with the notions Al gave me for the (non-destructive) automagical generation of plexi thicknessed vacuum-forming bucks for mac cases. Iterative plaster-casting and vacuum-forming sessions may yet remove the necessity for 3-D CAD software and rapid prototyping in the creation of clear plexi knock-offs . . . for the well and truly mad-craftsman! [] ]'>

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

Seriously, someone needs to start an eBay store selling things like that. Aftermarket goodies for reviving a battered, yellowed, cracked, scribbled on or otherwise damaged compact? Yes please! : D

EDIT: It could also reduce the amount of good original shells being used for some of the more extensive case hacking projects, like Mini-ITX mods. It's win-win. :3

 

[MinerAl]

I want the horizontal axis as close to flat as possible because I'm concerned about the indents above and below the slot (what shall we call that? The pout?) if they end on a horizontal axis curve they'll be a b***h to blend with epoxy or whatever. I want to do my blending farther away from them if possible.

This is the extent of the cosmetic alteration (I'm hoping) -



Note the authentic bondo color.

I realize I'll probably wind up with some more drastic blending, but the further from the pout the better.

 

[markyb86]

The sickest thing would be if you could center the floppy drive.. and embed stereo speakers a la iMac '94....