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By Cale_Hagan at 2012-07-16 04:24
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In the last few years, many individuals looking to spice up their computers or consoles have made the choice to do steampunk styled case mods. Steampunk is a style that can be very appealing to the eye, but requires a certain reservation when it comes to additions of copper and other pieces. ArgOs’s SteamPlanet case mod finds the beautiful middle ground to steampunk design.
ArgOs started with a detailed sketch of where he wanted to be with his mod when finished. Once all the extra baubles were where he wanted them on paper, he began.
With his design perfected, he set to the task of making his art come to life. ArgOs started with a basic Sentey case, stripping it and prepping the case for modification. After stripping the case, he checked to see that the pieces he was not fabricating himself would fit according to his sketch.
As with any proper modder, he measures twice, and cuts once, with aid of a full sized paper side panel mock up. A lot of the pieces on SteamPlanet were hand made, and as such required a fair amount of time to perfect.
Once ArgOs has all his pieces fabricated, he has them painted and pieced together according to his sketch up in an artful fashion. The result is one of the most amazingly crafted steampunk case mods TBCS has seen in recent history.
ArgOs is still working on finishing up the detail work, and as such it is still a work in progress but for the most part, this is done. View his full work log here, and give ArgOs some much deserved kudos!
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By Kayin at 2012-05-12 13:15
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By Kayin TBCS (and many other places) member John Hanlon lives with mesothelioma, an incurable form of lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure. He went many months with no income until last month, when his disability finally started. As someone who's disabled myself, I know that it's a pittance to live on, and I'm sure that he has many expenses caused by his condition that it doesn't cover properly. But when people out there on the intertubes heard that John needed help, it's been pouring in from across the world.
John is seen as a mentor to many of us, considering that he's been there and done that (and probably designed) for a massive amount of our hobby. Because he gave so much, to our country, to the hobby, and to us individually, we've decided to give back. We've created a PC with parts from many of the biggest names in modding and we're auctioning it off on Ebay, the proceeds to benefit John.
Exterior mods done by MNPCTech
Interior mods by DarthBeavis
And a list of sponsors so long you'll be shocked. You can find the worklog here and the Ebay auction here. There's also a support John Hanlon FB group here, or you can donate directly through PayPal.
Some people have given a lot to the hobby. Now, it's the hobby's turn to give back. Take a look at the log, bid if you've got the money, or just drop by the FB group and leave a word of encouragement.
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By slaveofconvention at 2012-03-07 12:10
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Microsoft pretty much nailed it for many of us with Windows 7. We got the reliability of Windows XP along with the features and "bling" of Windows Vista. The question then arose, what next? In the last week or so, Microsoft officially released a Consumer Preview of Windows 8. This is (or should be) a very good indication of how the final RTM version will look and act, so now the question is "Well?" - Let's find out.....
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By jdbnsn at 2012-03-04 22:45
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Welcome to duty! It's time to grip and rip and I can't think of a better way to gear up for combat than to load up on a magnificent custom PC with full metal jackets. Our friend Richie123 has been with us for just under a year and he's been making some explosive changes to a Thermaltake Level 10 GT case. Here's the sit-rep... One of my favorite features of this build (for obvious reasons) is the custom etched plexi side window. The detail in this image is breath-taking and if I understand it correctly was done by Dremel-in-hand by his "misses". That's right modders, you have a right to be jealous that you can't can't get you're girl to mod... The other eye-candy imagery is the airbrushed tank from the Battlefield 3 artwork theme, terrific work dude! Richie123 has decked out this modern solution to computerized conflict with lots of realistic war replicas, not an easy thing to get your hands on in the strictly gun-unfriendly U.K. Vega Force Company decided to chip in an amazing replica-model MK 18 Mod 1 AEG which will be seated on the top of the chassis and you must see the detail on this weapon, it's surreal. Calibur11 also tossed him a Battlefield 3 Vault xbox chassis which provided him with a very realistic claymore and canister grenade for the side architecture. And as always, point toward enemy! He has been milling over the choices of decor adding ammo linings and soon to come modeled soldier gear for the Fallen Soldier tribute. Some great use of camo-wrap very cleverly completes the BF3 feel you would expect from a well thought out theme. Although I'm not certain how it will play in yet, an orange helix dual bay res was fronted by FrozenQ which is definitely cool looking and I am curious how it will tie into the BF3 theme. Stay tuned for more updates to this battle-ready PC as Richie123 and the "misses" continue to blow us away like pawns on the field. Guns, girls, and camo....does it get any better? Thanks for sharing the great project Richie, I'm digging it all the way!!! -jdbnsn
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By jdbnsn at 2012-02-21 16:49
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While scoping out a new line of water-centric cases by CaseLabs at overclock.net, his holiness saw the light. Cases designed as "high end enthusiast watercooling cases" are surely taken to the highest level possible right? If you think so, you don't know p0Pe. This crazy little dude from Denmark went all sea-sick on this case, stripped it down to the fish bones and started over. His prior project PC-Beto while a dazzling success left him with ideas for improvement in the design of his water system. PC-Beto had some wicked flows though he was not satisfied with how difficult it was to drain, tune, and replace parts. So his new focus on M8 was not only a heavenly state of cooling ability but also practicality in terms of maintenance. He starts by custom milling some aluminum plate and "glass-blasting" them to a very cool looking rough finish only to learn that he is not an credentialed aluminum welder. Minor set back but no big deal. He switched to steel and re-cut a framework to mount the pumps using a custom rail-mount on the radiator. The result is quite harmonious in design. Moving on to the cable management portion he tosses in a little anti-hater hate with respect to the grand CNC vs artisan debate but don't get distracted, his ideas are unique and exquisite. He designs a block to route wires through and does the 3D printer mills routine to produce a very clean looking wire passage behind the motherboard tray. He also made a very sleek PSU wire harness fastener branded with the Papal seal of p0Pe though that will be on the inside (sorta like a Vatican secret). I'm also nervously anticipating an explanation of the mysterious "go through thingy". When it comes to the reservoirs, you can really start to see the plan come together with slip out filters built into his sassy "show-off" reservoirs complete with angled flow guides.
p0Pe is a long time member here at TBCS and one of our good friends, he's even done some work for us in 3D animation and video editing and we're glad to have him in our ranks. Keep up the great work on the project and thanks for sharing with us my friend! -jdbnsn
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By jdbnsn at 2012-02-13 00:53
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I love a good contrast. Light and dark, good and evil, paper or plastic, life simply cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the beauty of differences. Maybe that is what I love about Smasher. Smasher is a relatively new forum member and if I were to guess by the broken English he is from one of the Latin countries, probably Argentina. Smasher, hehe, what a brute. Don't you just picture a dude with a leather jacket, no neck, and a tattoo which says "suck it" across his bicep? Well you will be surprised if you do. Because Smasher is a man who introduces his case mod project with words like "ideology", "neatness", "extreme beauty", and "sobriety".....well he had me until the last one anyway. Either his vision is one of an artist who strives for the elegance of shape or Google translation went wild with his real intention. The bottom line is, his work delivers what his words promise. Our fine Latino (remember, I am just guessing there) friend has put together a very clean design based on a very openly exposed system built onto a fully custom crafted MDF backbone. This project which is designated "White Timantti" (Finnish for White Diamond) may contradict my assumption of his origin but certainly doesn't contradict his ideology. With an overall shape resembling a sail as it's primary skeleton, he cuts and shapes his MDF with care and finds a very clever solution for tucking a thin DVD drive within the thickness of the board itself and mounted on the sail. Another addition that to me just screams "neatness" is his solution to mounting a small HDD on the reverse side of the sail using L-angle plastic strips fed through slots cut through the sail. The PSU is also dismantled and all wires sleeved in the standard fashion following with the "ideology" of cleanliness being next to Godliness. Well executed though. With the PSU on one side of the sail and the components on the other, Smasher feeds the cables through various slots and a bulk of them curve nicely though what I originally though was a handle to transport the mod with. The flow of the wiring creates a great composition which is not subtle but defines with "extreme beauty". Though the components are open to air in the design thus far, additional measure of thermal "sobriety" are achieved with the combination of a peltier with a custom water block/reservoir which he mounts above a radiator framed into the base. His project is unfinished at this stage so it is an excellent opportunity to drop in and make a new friend while watching the visionary "White Timantti" come to life. Just try not to upset Bruiser...I mean Smasher... 
Welcome to TBCS Smasher!!!
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By jdbnsn at 2012-02-05 19:57
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Meet AnG3L. AnG3L has been with TBCS for a little over a year now and has already shown us some strong work. This time he chose to construct a totally custom PC mod from the ground up based on some architectural designs by Zaha Hadid. While not a direct likeness, it is certainly a beautifully conceptual homage to the famous architect. As you will see in this plan he had to wrestle with some of the classic arguments of architecture, does form follow function, or the other way around? After studying some of the architects numerous designs, he chose one her builds that fit the needs of component placement and free heat control while retaining the crucial element of a bad ass facade. Apparently he has the dedication of professional architect as well since he dedicated a full 200 hours to the plans alone! AnG3L used a combination of high-tech machinery and good old fashioned hand-craftsmanship with a variety of material including fiberglass, acrylic, and modeling paste. One of my favorite features of this mod is the custom designed reservoir made from acrylic tube and stock, definitely unique and elegant and fits his design well. And though he uses state of the art cutters and designing, he also shows that he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and work with his hands. His meticulous nature shows in the fiberglass shaping and the use of wooden blocks for aluminum bending. There is something in this project for everyone to be inspired from and the members agree. They shouted "feature this mod!", and I couldn't agree more. Congratulations AnG3L, you've won the hearts and minds of the TBCS citizens, and that of my own. Welcome to the hall of featured mods!
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By jdbnsn at 2012-01-31 13:37
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Combine a Chinese stock case, heavy sponsored hardware, a Dutch artist, dab of elbow grease and a whole lot of vision and what do you get? Meet kier, if you haven't already. He is building a rather respectable repertoire of eye candy mods and this aptly named Silverstone TJ11 Carbon. Kier has a keen eye for contrast and a very sleek style regarding his layout. Some damn nice components doesn't ding his score much either. So when he saw this case "calling to him" for a robust facelift sleeves were rolled, Dremels were spun, metal was ground, and the Dutch had fun. Starting of course with the Silverstone TJ11 he loaded it with a Coolermaster 1200w power supply, EVGA Classsified E759 main board, i7 930 CPU, and three (you heard me) GTX 480 graphics cards. Topped off with very elegantly sleeved wiring and a custom watercooling loop, this build is real eye candy. The dude has his own website showcasing some of his other work, worth checking out at Madebykier. Have a gander at this beautiful build out for yourself if you haven't already, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. -jdbnsn
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By SXRguyinMA at 2012-01-02 23:40
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Every once in a while there comes a mod that's simply stunning in it's design, assembly and attention to detail. Project Honeycomb by TBCS member Fuganater is one of those mods. It's his first scratch-build, but it sure doesn't seem like it. Read on to find out more...
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By OvRiDe at 2012-01-01 06:00
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Happy New Year from all of us at TBCS!
Looking forward to all the new mods 2012 will bring!
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By SXRguyinMA at 2011-11-24 22:02
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Welcome to part 3 of our Integrating Electronics miniseries. In part 1 we gathered some basic info on the project and in part 2 we discussed the hardware and software side of it. Here in part 3 we'll be doing the modding to tie it all together! Read more....
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By SXRguyinMA at 2011-10-31 17:05
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Midtower cases these days are a dime-a-dozen. Every manufacturer has one and each has their own way of doing things and features that try to make theirs stand out from everyone else's. But the ones that do stand out are those that are innovative and inexpensive - a sometimes hard recipe to get right. Will the latest offering from NZXT get it right? Read on to find out...
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By SXRguyinMA at 2011-09-12 17:46
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Welcome to the second part of this multi-part miniseries on adding custom electronics into your project. In part 1 we gathered some background info on planning your mod. This part will focus on the electronics hardware and software side of the mod. Read on to find out more...
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By Fuganater at 2011-09-05 19:09
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TheGreatSatan is one of our most experienced modders. He has completed roughly 38 different computer mods. Many of them have been featured on our Front Page and we are adding another one to the mix. His newest mod is called Project: Legend of Zelda, and yes, it’s about the game everyone grew up playing, Legend of Zelda. Everyone, except TheGreatSatan… But this case is not for him, it is for a friend who happens to be a huge fan of Zelda.
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By SXRguyinMA at 2011-08-22 03:01
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Waynio is no stranger to modding, already having a few case mods under his belt. He made his first scratch-built case, followed by his second (Air Cube v1), then finally his Air Cube v2 mod. His latest creation is called Stealthlow, and it's shaping up to be one of the nicest scratch-builds I've seen lately! Read on to find out more...
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