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View Full Version : It's begun....polymorph bespoke car mount.


yabbas
2007-11-07, 15:45
Polymorph + N800 = Bespoke Car Mount :)

Wrapped the N800 in foil, and prepared the polymorph. Placing all on a flat surface I pushed the plastic around and fashioned the initial mount around the N800. Let it all cool down and the result was this marvel:

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6564/ppdsc00201ss1.th.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ppdsc00201ss1.jpg) http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2477/dsc00202ww5.th.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00202ww5.jpg)
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2167/dsc00203um9.th.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00203um9.jpg) http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/803/dsc00204fx5.th.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00204fx5.jpg)

Once cool - the N800 slips in reaaally nice and snug :) It actually clips/snaps in which was something I didn't intend...really feels professional. Unfortunately it's a little too snug and I'm unable to remove it easily :(

I then fashioned a surround using the car console as a template...excuse the poor quality of the images now - it's dark and the camera phone is useless:

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6347/dsc00206hk0.th.jpg (http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00206hk0.jpg)http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/8286/dsc00207wc9.th.jpg (http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00207wc9.jpg)http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9761/dsc00208kj8.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00208kj8.jpg)

Yup, still looks dodgy :D just remember most of what you see will be hidden. Now it's simply a case of resting both pieces on a flat surface and pushing polymorph into the space between to fill.

So here the space was filled in:
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/2929/dsc00210jq1.th.jpg (http://img62.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00210jq1.jpg)

Hmmm - the plastic moulding didn't come out as expected - I was really hoping that the final result was a smooth professional finish. Unfortunately polymorph is really thick; imagine trying to shape glue-gun globules into something worthwhile - that's what it's like to play with. Now as you're shaping it by hand, some bits cool down faster than others and set before you can stick them together. This makes it difficult to handle. I guess a lot of it comes with practice and better planning...I was simply "getting things done".

What should I do about the white plastic now? There were deep ridges running throughout the surface despite me trying to fill in the gaps as best as I could...the original plan was to sand, prime and paint the surface. I'd imagine removing and placing the N800 would result in most of the paint flaking away and rubbing off on my IT - not good!

Hmmm, how about fabric? I decided to butcher an old vest I had; now I needed to stick it on. I had no glue and I really want to finish this off today so how would I go about this....

Hang on - this is thermoplastic! A bit of ironing later and I had this:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2446/dsc00212yk0.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00212yk0.jpg) http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1219/dsc00211va1.th.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00211va1.jpg)

OK - so - it still looks horrible as the plastic has seeped into the fabric making it shimmer somewhat. But it'll do for now until I figure out a better way of doing things.


Final step was to place it in the car console. Because the surround was fashioned using the console int he first place, the whole thing could slide into the gap without any issues. I didn't even need to machine it in place, simply pushed it through and it stuck snugly in the gap.

Results:
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/4235/dsc00219mf8.th.jpg (http://img62.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00219mf8.jpg) http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7439/dsc00218zs9.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00218zs9.jpg) http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/762/dsc00215hg5.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00215hg5.jpg)
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6512/dsc00214cu3.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00214cu3.jpg) http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3293/dsc00213lq3.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00213lq3.jpg)


It's not complete yet. I'm waiting for an amplifier + better set of speakers before working on the rest of it.


Picture Wayfinder Navigator, Canola, and Carman doing the rounds on this thing in OS2008 ... that's where I want to be! ;-)

robmiller
2007-11-07, 16:26
yup, thought polymorph might satisfy the need-n770-hard-cover folks when I saw it too. keep up the nice work :)

rob.

frasej
2007-11-07, 22:02
For those areas that cool too fast, I found using a hairdryer, set on low speed and high heat worked to soften up the plastic again.

BTW: The brand I used is called ShapeLock, but it's the same thing as polymorph.

tso
2007-11-08, 01:56
that just looks so damn insane with the finger shaped edges and all...

there got to be some better way at doing that...

PLeBlanc
2007-11-08, 04:53
I'm a 34th level polymorph in World of Warcraft. How can I do this?

(hopefully I don't need to add a smiley for y'all to get this is a joke. Great mod, btw)