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macquariumguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 7, 2002
857
361
Sarasota FL
Doodling on yet another mailbox this fine afternoon.
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Paul Graham

macrumors regular
Jan 22, 2011
163
27
Plymouth UK
Awesome way to re-use these cases and sick airbrushing skills dude!
No doubt my comment will get a down vote as it seems every positive comment about your work and your posts themselves have been getting voted down.:roll eyes:

God knows why lol:confused::D
 

macquariumguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 7, 2002
857
361
Sarasota FL
Painted up a new planter this weekend.

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This old Mac was an unusual beast. For those not familiar, the HyperDrive was an internal hard drive that clipped directly to the 68000 processor. It was blazing fast compared to Apple's external HD at the time and insanely expensive. As I recall, that hard drive cost about the same as the computer itself (~$2500). :eek:
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Mr. Retrofire

macrumors 603
Mar 2, 2010
5,064
519
www.emiliana.cl/en
@macquariumguy:
Good work!

that's crazy

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world,
Are the ones who do.

Btw, here is an extended version (from the Apple Headquarters):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianaberle/707947387/

;-)
 

macquariumguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 7, 2002
857
361
Sarasota FL
Every year in December I clean up all the planters, repair them as needed, and print new pictures to go in each. I also repot and trim the plants and add new ones as needed.

Anyway, all done for this year. It's interesting to watch those early paint jobs. Some are fading pretty badly. I'm learning as the years go by that nothing lasts for long against the Florida sun.

Here's this year's lineup. I have 21 planters here at home and 1 more on my desk at work.
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I still have a couple Lisa/Mac XL cases and a Performa LC5xx case that I want to get around to doing something with. Maybe 2013 will be the year!

Oh, and here's something you don't see every day. It's cold today so I dug in my closet for some warm clothes and came out with this vintage gem. Merry Christmas!
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macquariumguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 7, 2002
857
361
Sarasota FL
I've been scanning old photographs.

I tried several times to make an iMacquarium and failed. I wasn't happy with a rectangle tank but couldn't figure out how to make a shaped tank. I spent good money on that iMac, too.
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My very first Macquarium. No filter, no lights, no easy way to access the tank (top not cut off case). But, it was hella stout, I've still got it and no doubt it would still hold water.
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One of the last tanks I built. Much improved design from the first. Room for a filter, designed for a light, holds almost twice the water of the first design.
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These were the last 3 I built, late 1999 or early 2000. I wonder if any of the approx 50 tanks I built are still in use.
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This was my first tank. An Apple 2 page monochrome monitor. I was working at an Apple store and we kept this on display out front.
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Here's my first Lisaquarium with the front & top removed. This was the perfect form-factor for a computer aquarium.
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Lisaquarium #2.
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And lastly, the old hex tank, still one of my favs. Holds a nice amount of water but the light in a tube scares me. I never had a tank break, but this was the one I worried about.
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That's it, maybe more to come. I'm hoping to find some pictures of my Mac TV aquarium but they may be lost forever.
 

macquariumguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 7, 2002
857
361
Sarasota FL
Here's a bump to show you something you've probably never seen. I know I hadn't, and in a matter such as this if I haven't seen it, nobody has!

Anyway, I'm refurbishing a bunch of my planters. In truth, I have too many of them. I painted most of them 6+ years ago and they've suffered in several ways. I'm in Florida and the sun down here destroys everything eventually. Most of them are on my lanai where I've been able to observe the gradual degradation of the shiny and/or more colorful bits of the classic Mac cases.

One thing in particular is the 6 color Apple logo on the front of all of the old 9" Macs. For years I covered the Logo with painter's tape when I sprayed the case so to preserve the logo. Sadly, every year that passes has taken its toll on the logo. This is about as good as I've got these days.

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The lettering is fading from the sun, but the logo colors have mostly survived. Contrast that with what more of my planters look like.

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Anyway, as a result of these funkylicious logos, I have painted over more than a few. For this most recent refurb I got the sandpaper out and was quite surprised to find this.

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The Apple logo is made from a different material than the rest of the front bezel. After 3+ decades of tearing these things up, I didn't know this. The Apple logo is made from a metallic covered piece. I guess it makes sense if I think about the assembly process required to make an unpainted plastic case with a multi colored logo piece.

When I paint this batch of planters I'm going to give much thought to that little bit of shiny. I could mask it and paint it back in 6 colors, but I think I'll do something different. Stay tuned!

Also, I should note the logo on the back case is also not the same case plastic and has a metallic appearance!

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More to come.
 
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