Tutorials on How-To Customize: Post them HERE.

[JakofallAces]

That's not true. Lisa Gleave wants to have my baby.

I'll try for something from Bungie but I don't have an appointment with them.

darn and who exactly is this lisa gleave CJ wont be pleased.

[LeThAl REMiX]

Lucky.. Lol you get to go... I wonder how much a flight there from Toronto or Ottawa woule be... with a return flight.. :P

[KatamariKutie]

darn and who exactly is this lisa gleave CJ wont be pleased.

Its okay with me. She's hot.

[JakofallAces]

Its okay with me. She's hot.

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Eddie_the_Hated]

Hey Space, got a couple questions about your vynil decal technique. I'm a visual thinker, so sometimes the explanation isn't enough.

A certain somebody pointed me in the direction of a vynil decal source, but I'm uncertain about how exactly to go about deciding what to send to him.

First question. If I want a photograph/film clip/complex drawing turned into a template, will I have to alter my photo to polarize it, so it can be turned into a decal, or does that all get taken care of on his end?

IE. What did you send out to get

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...aveVersion.jpg

That.

Second question, I'm having a hard time visualizing the templates themselves, especially on some of your multicolored, higher-detail pieces.

IE, for your Galaxy plate, did you get a "Super Mario Galaxy" relef decal [solid vynil with text cut out], and then smaller sticker-style decals for the letters? How do you go about doing that? Any photos, even just a few decals laid out, so I can see how you go about that would be greatly appreciated.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...LegoandSMG.jpg

[SpaceGhost2K]

Hey Space, got a couple questions about your vynil decal technique. I'm a visual thinker, so sometimes the explanation isn't enough.

A certain somebody pointed me in the direction of a vynil decal source, but I'm uncertain about how exactly to go about deciding what to send to him.

First question. If I want a photograph/film clip/complex drawing turned into a template, will I have to alter my photo to polarize it, so it can be turned into a decal, or does that all get taken care of on his end?

IE. What did you send out to get

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...aveVersion.jpg

That.

Second question, I'm having a hard time visualizing the templates themselves, especially on some of your multicolored, higher-detail pieces.

IE, for your Galaxy plate, did you get a "Super Mario Galaxy" relef decal [solid vynil with text cut out], and then smaller sticker-style decals for the letters? How do you go about doing that? Any photos, even just a few decals laid out, so I can see how you go about that would be greatly appreciated.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...LegoandSMG.jpg

Shockwave first. I got his pic that he photoshopped for his avatar:


I played with the contrast until I got it so it was only black and white with no grays:


Then finally, I had to go into the picture and remove some of the detail or the vinyl cutter could never have cut it.


I peeled out the parts of the sticker that look white in the pic (they whole sticker was black vinyl). I used transfer tape to put it onto a black-painted plate, sprayed it white, let it dry, and removed the sticker to leave the image.

Here's the image I used for SMG:


I painted the the plate white and attached the sticker (the letters weren't removed yet), then painted the plate black. I flicked paint onto the plate with a toothbrush for the stars.

Once dry, I masked off the rest of the plate except the sticker, and then removed the "Super" and "Galaxy" letters and painted them gold. I covered them up again, and then just pulled out the "MARIO" letters one at a time and painted them each with their respective colors. Once those were painted, I removed the sticker to show a white outline with gold letters and multicolored MARIO letters, on a black background with white stars. I sprayed the whole thing with a polyurethane sealer.

I cut a little piece of 3/4" PVC pipe and glued it to the power button, then glued the coin to the top of that. You can't see the pipe and pressing the coin still works the power button.

[Eddie_the_Hated]

I painted the the plate white and attached the sticker (the letters weren't removed yet), then painted the plate black. I flicked paint onto the plate with a toothbrush for the stars.

Once dry, I masked off the rest of the plate except the sticker, and then removed the "Super" and "Galaxy" letters and painted them gold. I covered them up again, and then just pulled out the "MARIO" letters one at a time and painted them each with their respective colors. Once those were painted, I removed the sticker to show a white outline with gold letters and multicolored MARIO letters, on a black background with white stars. I sprayed the whole thing with a polyurethane sealer.

That's f*cking brilliant. Thanks a mil Space. That'll help me immensely with my platework.

[spartan_043]

Hey space i recently got a batch of 10 silver microsoft faceplates for about $4 each including shipping, and was wondering if you think this is a good route to keep buying them like this or if hunting down cheaper ones for 1.99 from gamestop or kmart is a better idea. What im trying to get at is are the Micro$oft ones really worth the extra monez?

[SpaceGhost2K]

Hey space i recently got a batch of 10 silver microsoft faceplates for about $4 each including shipping, and was wondering if you think this is a good route to keep buying them like this or if hunting down cheaper ones for 1.99 from gamestop or kmart is a better idea. What im trying to get at is are the Micro$oft ones really worth the extra monez?

I think I probably get mine from the same guy you do. The cheaper plates are too spread out and you'll spend on gas what you could pay for a better plate. The MS plates are absolutely the way to go. I need to get about twenty more from the guy. They end up costing me about $5 each though.

[spartan_043]

i got mine from "cordolio" i just asked him how low he could go on shipping. Im not sure how he gets so many for so cheap but oh well im not complaining.

[SpaceGhost2K]

i got mine from "cordolio" i just asked him how low he could go on shipping. Im not sure how he gets so many for so cheap but oh well im not complaining.

Yeah, that's the guy. I think he bought somebody's clearance or something. I could use about fifty plates right now. Don't exactly have $250 laying around.

[Eddie_the_Hated]

I just bought five from him the other day. Should be shipped to me by Saturday, and assuming I get my decals soon, I can create a WIP image gallery to contribute to the "how-to" thread here.

Edit: I just remembered. I have high-resolution scans of a blank white 360 faceplate which may be of some use to people who have a hard time visualizing their final plan.



All credit for the scans go to SICKDimension and grim_d of the Xbox-Scene forums, but the images they posted there seem to be dead, and I happened to have backups. Hope this helps some of you out.

[spartan_043]

Thanks, i just used that to plan my 28 weeks later plate!!

[Eddie_the_Hated]

Any time. Glad I could contribute.

[Ohsay]

Hey silly question time.

Is there any way to change the green LED from the power button to another colour?

and if so would that count as "modding"?

[gameking28]

Yes it's possible, but to do so requires opening up the console. Kind of a general rule around here is that anything involving opening the console to play with the juicy insides is... well it's kind of don't ask don't tell.

[SpaceGhost2K]

The theory of color goes like this:

To change the color of something reflective, add to it.
To change the color of something transmissive, take away from it.

In other words, if you have something like paint, say a yellow paint, you can add red to it to get orange. Primary colors are red, yellow and blue. With light, the primary colors are red, green and blue. You can't reduce those colors down to any other colors. If you put a blue filter over a green light, the blue filter stops all light from passing through that isn't blue. Since green (light) isn't blue, your light will just go away. It won't turn blue. If you put a blue filter over a purple light, you WILL get blue, because the filter blocks out the red.

[Eddie_the_Hated]

Hey silly question time.

Is there any way to change the green LED from the power button to another colour?

and if so would that count as "modding"?

Yeah, you can change them, yeah, it's modding, and yeah, you'll void the warranty.

It requires you to de-solder SMDs (those itty bitty half-grain-of-rice LEDs) from the RF module (a small motherboard right beneath the power button, faceplate and plastic casing), replacing them with the color you want.

Take it from somebody who's tried and failed; if you don't know absolutely what you're doing, have somebody do it professionally. There's plenty of folks in larger Xbox communities who will be more than glad to help, but as stated earlier, the intricacies of it are somewhat taboo here, so I won't get into the gory details.

[Ohsay]

Yeah, you can change them, yeah, it's modding, and yeah, you'll void the warranty.

It requires you to de-solder SMDs (those itty bitty half-grain-of-rice LEDs) from the RF module (a small motherboard right beneath the power button, faceplate and plastic casing), replacing them with the color you want.

Take it from somebody who's tried and failed; if you don't know absolutely what you're doing, have somebody do it professionally. There's plenty of folks in larger Xbox communities who will be more than glad to help, but as stated earlier, the intricacies of it are somewhat taboo here, so I won't get into the gory details.

Wow, i think i asked that question ages ago i dont even remember posting it, and since then i have learned
A) I shouldn't talk about it here
B) How to do it

[Nanoman]

WOW!! thanks SpAcEgHoSt! and everyone else who contributed to this article! it will really help with my Valve games faceplate that I am currently working on! umm soz but I didnt really get the changing of colour for the light on the xbox box so could u just tell me how to make it red?