[blt111]

Well it's time to start my project i guess. this project is going to take a while to complete (probably a month or so). The components are largely the same as i have now since i have not much money to upgrade so instead its the looks that are changing. Here's a list of the hardware:

P4 2.8C Northwood
DFI Lanparty Pro 875B
Galaxy 6800GT
1GB Geil PC4000
OCZ Powerstream 420W
Antec True Power 480W (with orange acrylic cover mod)
OCZ DDR Booster
TDK DVD+-RW/CD-RW
Matrix Orbital MX210
CM Stacker
2x120GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.7
1xWD 80GB
1xMaxtor 160GB
old SBLive sound Card (still works great after 6 years but may upgrade soon)

DD TDX
DD NV68
Laing D4
Thermochill 120.2
DD fillport (removed innovatek tank-o-matic res since it is made of alli
Tygon R3603
(Bright Orange UV dye)

3xUV Cold cathodes
2xYS Tech 120mm fans
3x Antec DDB Pro 120mm fans
1xCoolermaster 120mm fan

Nexus fan controller with LED mod
2xbulgin vandal switches (power + reset)

[The stacker will be covered in an antique map of central London that I have and clear coated and the lighting theme will be UV orange (no lights at all other than UV and the led's in the fan controller) - hence the name 1666 (year of the great fire of london)] - idea changed

[edit] the theme of this project has changed due to the failure of my initial idea. i will be etching a picture of a jellyfish (by ernst heckel) onto my top window i will install. the project now has a new name; Irukandji. this is a small jellyfish which can be potentially lethal although it looks quite harmless

waiting for a few more pieces to arrive and will begin the case cutting this week. I'll post pictures as soon as i get organised and start

[blt111]

first few pics. just drawing all the lines to cut for the 120mm blowhole and the rad on the bottom

rad before cleaning!



layout from top:



rad placement:

[subtotal]

if you really want to go for the "flame" effect you might consider a neon-plasma tube

[blt111]

Originally Posted by subtotal

if you really want to go for the "flame" effect you might consider a neon-plasma tube

i'm not really trying to achieve a flame effect. just a sort of hot glow. i'm tired of the usual colour schemes and so i chose orange even before the london fire theme came in

[-maddog-]

You can secure oarnge, red, and yellow flame shaped pieces of thin fabric to a fan and put a some lighting and it will look pretty good or get a halloween flame projector and put it in the case.

[blt111]

update: well my plan has encountered a serious problem. i tested on another side panel of an old case if clearcoating the map would work. the problem is the clear coat reacts with the spray mount (used to stick the map on the panels) and everything comes unstuck. I'm considering dropping the map, and either leaving the case as is or painting it black. all the holes have been cut, which i'll post pictures of a little later

[edit] i'm gonna do a second trial, giving the spray mount several hours to dry properly

[blt111]

**&%$$$*%*$%*%&$*&$&%** !! the map isn't gonna work and painting the case is gonna be a real b**ch since its anodized aluminium . so the whole theme of my project is down the drain. i'm obviously still going ahead with the project but it's going to be just another stacker project....oh well. hope you enjoy it anyway

[dom_08]

@blt111

looks nice...

but i think you should place the rads on the upper part of the case... (hot air goes up?)... anyway... just a thought... ehehe...

i'm gonna enjoy watching your project...
i want those kind of case, really big!!

oh btw: you might also want to visit my mods... (just so that you won't be surprised... they are cheap...)

[blt111]

Originally Posted by dom_08

@blt111

looks nice...

but i think you should place the rads on the upper part of the case... (hot air goes up?)... anyway... just a thought... ehehe...

i'm gonna enjoy watching your project...
i want those kind of case, really big!!

oh btw: you might also want to visit my mods... (just so that you won't be surprised... they are cheap...)

cheers dom. it's actually ideal to have the rad on the bottom since the fans will be sucking cool air from under the case through the rad. there is then a 120mm blowhole up top to continue the air flow through the case. this gives optimal cooling to the rad and the upward airflow is ideal to help cool the ram

[blt111]

UPDATE:

i cut the rad hole in the bottom of the case. it still needs dremel work to get rid of some corners and clean it up though. also i decided to install a window above the PSU. obviously you wont see much but keeping with the orange theme i will use clear orange UV acrylic and etch something in it to illuminate it with a 6" UV cathode from the side so the etching lights up. any thoughts?

[shard]

dude, where did you get that awsome fan grill? i love it!

[dom_08]

cheers dom. it's actually ideal to have the rad on the bottom since the fans will be sucking cool air from under the case through the rad. there is then a 120mm blowhole up top to continue the air flow through the case. this gives optimal cooling to the rad and the upward airflow is ideal to help cool the ram

now i am enlightened how water cooling works... i don't have any hands-on with a water cool system...ehehehe

[dom_08]

re: hole for the rad

that's a big hole you got there...

re:acrylic window
nice idea... 2 uv on both sides, will give a better look, or a single uv on the drive bay side of the PSU...

have you thought of adding some underbody lights? (i wanted this for my case, but don't have extra cash, school will start.. and getting excited to save my allowance...heheh)

[shard]

EL wire should do the trick

[blt111]

Originally Posted by dom_08

re: hole for the rad

that's a big hole you got there...

re:acrylic window
nice idea... 2 uv on both sides, will give a better look, or a single uv on the drive bay side of the PSU...

have you thought of adding some underbody lights? (i wanted this for my case, but don't have extra cash, school will start.. and getting excited to save my allowance...heheh)

hehe. i didn't cut the whole thing. there is already a whole in the bottom of stackers but not all the way across. the rad goes where the 8 screw holes are. i'm all out of cutting disks which id why i haven't been able to clean it up. i've broken most of my dremel accesories including grinding stones . going to buy some more today. as for the lights i thought about it but the whole point is that there are no actual lights other than UV reflected light. only a couple leds in the fan controller and the vandal resistant power switches.

the fan grill came from coolercases.co.uk. i'd be surprised if you could get it in the states though

[blt111]

UPDATE:

well i have to wait for a moment when my girlfriend is not around to cut the rest of the holes in my case (holes for switches, window and general clean up) since my girlfriend is very noise sensitive and we don't have a garage. meanwhile i've done the led mod on my nexus fan controller changing them from blue to orange.

fan controller uncovered: leds to be change are circled


Tested it after changing 2 leds to make sure it works


Finished product:


I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. don't know anyone else with this . very simple mod too if you have a soldering iron

just on a side here are my bulgin switches i received today. the rings around them light up. the red one will be the power switch and the green one will be the reset switch with the green led in the reset switch being the hdd activity light.

[blt111]

this is the jellyfish i will attempt to sketch on my top window over the PSU (the big one not the other 2 on top). of course it will be simplified for the etch

[shard]

something about that picture is just not right

[maxxoverclocker]

Originally Posted by shard

something about that picture is just not right

lol

[blt111]

it's an old illustration by ernst haeckel. i love all his work. it's not supposed to look exactly like the real thing. he embelishes a little on his illustrations . for some reason i also love jellyfish (not physically though... before anyone says it ).

[blt111]

UPDATE:

finally got around to finishing the case. I'll post pics a little later. i cut the hole for the window above the PSU and holes for the vandal resistant switches. i also decided to sand down the top of the case for 2 reasons. 1. i wanted to get rid of the scratches from the dremel i made. 2. i used 70 grit (by hand!) in reciprocal motion along the length of the case to make it look like the brushed aluminium on the side panels. at the mo i'm cleaning out the rad with vinegar and i'll then start putting stuff in the case. i'm still waiting for some acrylic pieces to come but those are for final decorations and so i can still start putting the pieces together and finish the looks later

[-maddog-]

Originally Posted by shard

something about that picture is just not right

He's right!

[Elif Tymes]

it's not supposed to look exactly like the real thing. he embelishes a little on his illustrations .

Wasn't he the guy who drew all those embryos of the humans, horses, etc to show how similiar they were?

There goes my faith in science :-p

Anyways, I was gonna do an Orange mod Flames etc. pinted on by a guy I know who's l337 with the airbrush, otherwise, looks nice Keep em coming!

[DocGiggs]

That Jellyfish resembles at little too much of something else... Froyd? Where for art thou Froyd to set our young modder straight?!

[blt111]

PIC UPDATE:

OK pics!

here's the case top sanded with 70 grit to give a "brushed" look like the side panels



mock up to get the right tubing lengths. conveniently the tube from rad to pump supports the GPU in the corner to help with the weight of the NV68





the pump is housed in a cage with sound proof foam. the top of it will have a cut out for the outlet of the pump so it can sit fully in the cage. there will also be a cover on the front so the pump is completely sealed in (other than some holes for air flow to cool it a bit)



finally the mounted bulgin switches



i need 2 560ohm resistors for the switch leds so i'll get those soon.

[sicloan]

Very nice looking. Cant wait to see another update!!

[blt111]

UPDATE:

got the orange UV acrylic for my window today and already etched it and installed it. i think it looks pretty sweet though many of you probably wont like as no one seems to like my design

with flash so you can see the etch properly


without flash so you can see the transparency


pic of whole case with side panel on to give you an idea of the final product


front of case with bezels on


one thing really bugs me and thats the fact that my case looks like it has a face with the switches being the eyes and the fan controller being the mouth. i can't help but see it all the time now but there's no other slot i can put the controller in not that it would make much difference anyway. i'm also going to be covering the side of the drive cages which is visible in the window. I don't understand why they made the window that big if all you can see is ugly screw holes and stuff. there will be a backlit piece of acrylic covered with black card and the name "Irukandji" cut out of the card. should make a nice effect hopefully

[blt111]

here's another pic

[shard]

nice little touch with the pump cover.

and yes most of us just plain luagh at the "jelly fish" sorry but i find it just ODD. besides that looks like a damn good job at etching. by and far better then my uber suxxorz skillz

are you going to do any thing about puting dye in you WC system? perhaps some orange to match that PSU window. and then get some UV lighting to light that orange up.

and maybe another project for a later time, is paint the inside, black maybe?

[blt111]

Originally Posted by shard

nice little touch with the pump cover.

and yes most of us just plain luagh at the "jelly fish" sorry but i find it just ODD. besides that looks like a damn good job at etching. by and far better then my uber suxxorz skillz

are you going to do any thing about puting dye in you WC system? perhaps some orange to match that PSU window. and then get some UV lighting to light that orange up.

and maybe another project for a later time, is paint the inside, black maybe?

yes i have orange UV dye for the water and 2x12" UV cathodes and 2x4" UV cathodes (one of which is illuminating the etching). I'm just not into japanimation and stuff that much. i'm more into art so as you said, i hope others appreciate the etching if not the design

PS in the jelly's defence it is capable of killing someone who's mildly weak...