Pyramid Idea

[Forvak]

I've been fleshing out an idea for a while now. Here are a few of the scetches that have been produced. (the entire stack would crash the internet if uploaded:rolleyes: )
Sketch 1 (http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d140/Forvak/Sideoutline.jpg)
Scetch 2 (http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d140/Forvak/baseoutline.jpg)
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d140/Forvak/PyramidRender.jpg
Front View
Im producing a 3D model right now so Ill add that in a little while. Probably not for another week or two because of outside world intrusions.

If anyone has comments critics or massive flames please post them. I have a fire extinguisher ready for the last. :D

[OvRiDe]

I've always liked the Pyramid shape. From your sketches it looks A1 to me!!

Good luck on it.. looking forward to your progress.

I bet an LCD display would look sweet on it..

[adreamtraveler]

nice concept..i've seen a few pyramid shaped mods out there but not really anything like this. are you sure that the EL sure will be bright enough to give you a nice big ambient glow? EL wire that i've bought in the past i've ended up not using because it wasn't really that bright. it worked great for spot on glowing, like drive border or something, but in a hidden situation where you'd expect an ambient glow, i wasn't getting all that much.

maybe there are new ultra bright EL wires out now that someone knows of?

cant wait to see the 3D model :D what program do you use to model?

[Zeus]

I think I agree with adreamtraveler. EL wire may be a bit too dim. Maybe some cold cathodes though!

[public_eyesore]

looks good, but it seems a bit too big for practical use

[Forvak]

The pyramid is 18 inches at the base and 13 inches tall. Compared to a laptop or a mini its big but not that big. Yea, the EL wire was a bit questionable but I had never used it before so it seemed worth trying. If I use CCFLs where should I mount them? I took a look at sunbeam's dual CCFL kits I like the color and they look like they would light up the case really well. I like the idea of a LCD screen. but they are all so expensive. :mad:

[DeathCrush]

hey cool idea. i've actually been working on a plexiglass pyramid design for sometime now (hopefully i'll get a chance to finally build it after this semester is done with)

i do sympathize with you on the size. the design i came up with has about a 16" base, still pretty big, but i think i'm going to go with it anyways. good luck, interested in seeing the final product of yours :D

[Crimson Sky]

Looks great--can be very nice with the alum and mesh. Just dont use EL wire like Zeus said--that stuff goes dim in about a year and is not really great looking to begin with--stick with 6" CCFLs or 4" if ya have to, or better yet LEDs

[OvRiDe]

Man.. the more I look at the sketch, the more I REALLY like the look of that!! I am anxious to see the 3D model as well as the worklog and finished product.

All in all GREAT idea!!

[Forvak]

Thanks for the comments, after hearing them Im going to work out a CCFL or LED set up. Sunbeam has the Chameleon Lighting system. That could work out to be a lot of fun. If anyone has used this device any comments would be great. Also instead of cutting big gaping ports to reach into the case to get at the mobo I/O ports Im going to run cables to connect the ports to small cutouts in the case, It will blend in a lot better. Ill try and post some updated sketches soon.

[Rankenphile]

Cool, I'll be watching that closely, I've got a big build in mind that I will need to do the same thing for in the future.

Great design!

[Xato]

Looks like one of the pyramid ships in stargate. (<3 that show btw)
Awesome sketches so far, keep em comin.

[Forvak]

I saw the movie Stargate. I didn't know it was a show. Im more of a Trekkie actually. I was thinking about making a model of the Mothership as the case but decided on something more modern looking.
Anyone have any opinions on paint colors. Black is a sure bet. But maybe a chrome mixed with a little blue to make it "steel blue".

[DeathCrush]

a metalic blue would be cool. i think Duplicolor has "metal speck" paints that seem pretty interesting. their site porobably has some pictures of it.

[Rankenphile]

The blue-ish metalic color is called Gunmetal. I'm sure you could find it somewhere - if nothing else, you can get Testor's model paints in that color that would work well.

[OvRiDe]

I voted. I think a brushed Aluminum would look great, or maybe that titanium looking paint..

[Forvak]

Hey guys. Ive updated the scetches. My new idea get rid of the cut outs in the back. My problem was how to integrate the motherboard ports into the case which has sloping sides. I thought for a while about trying to tilt the entire motherboard until the ports were are 90% angles to the side. That would be hard to do and didnt fit to well. Then I thought of using male to female cables to connect the motherboard and cut out holes for the female ends to stick out of. Here is a sketch.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d140/Forvak/Connectoroutline.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d140/Forvak/SideoutlineV2.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d140/Forvak/baseV2outline.jpg
Also Ive switched the EL wire for a pair of CCFLs. They are mounted horizontally on the DVD drive and HD. Opps, just realized the drives will have cables soming out right there. Imagine them on the bottom of the drives.

[Crimson Sky]

Golden yellow or yellow-bronze translucent plexi would look sweet on this--then with yellow interior lighting--awesome. Imagine the base and top done up in sandstone fleck-paint texture with Eqyptian charms embedded, and translucent plex for the center slices ;)

[adreamtraveler]

hey man, the design is coming out nice! are you gonna make the short connectors yourself for the wires from the mobo to the side? or do you know of a place where you can get them small like that? glad to see that you decide to go with the CCFL's, they're gonna light the case up really nice. :D


Golden yellow or yellow-bronze translucent plexi would look sweet on this--then with yellow interior lighting--awesome. Imagine the base and top done up in sandstone fleck-paint texture with Eqyptian charms embedded, and translucent plex for the center slices ;)

that would be sweet!....could put a pharaohs tomb on the inside above the mobo LOL

[Forvak]

Crimson Sky, I started off with the Egyptian theme at the beginning but really wanted something more futuristic. Im also more than a little enamoured of the silvery blue look.
The idea of the plexiglass center panels is interesting. They would have a good view down on the motherboard. Maybe etching the plexi with symbols. Also cutting out a design in each of the top four triangles would look sweet. Something like the star wars font. (http://nivan.net/prax/aurebesh-table.gif)
Adreamtraver, Yea I was going to make them myself. I dont know of any that have ones that short. Or for that matter Male Female ones. Ive done a bunch of electronics work so cutting and resoldering the wires will not be hard.

[Dark-hobo]

For color I would say go with a anodized gold look or brushed aluminum with black and blue for the indented areas.

[Forvak]

Heres the lates incarnation. thats meant to be an etched foggy window. The top symbol is mainly a placeholder. Imagine something that goes with the symbols a but better.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d140/Forvak/PyramidRenderV2.jpg

[notquitedead]

I like the idea of a LCD screen. but they are all so expensive.
You could try the small psone lcd's, there are some tutorials on different sites about case mods involving them.

For that etched window, you could try sandblasting it. I was reading a worklog a while ago (I don't remember where it was at) and the person aid to just cover up the area you don't want to blast with tape and blast the design.

[Aero]

I voted blue, but I also think that green would look sweet.

[bjrcboy]

Hey there, first post on this forum but anyways. I love the idea of ur pryamid, always thoughtof doing one myself. Here is a few suggestions for a "futuristic" looking pryamid. I was just at the AC Ryan site, and they have this two way mirror acrylic (http://www.acryan.com/news/index.shtml#acrylmirror2). That would look nice for what your doing, in off mode it would be a mirroed pryamid but, when you switch it on and the CCFL's come on then you would be able to see through it, it would have a nice "wow" affect to it i would imagine. Here is another idea, not for the faint of heart. Instead of having hte pryamid split up into sections, have a solid pyramid when it is off, and when you hit the on button it splits apart, it wouldnt be a perfect pyramid then but that would have a killer look to it. You would need some linear motors though.


Happy Modding,
Gerald.

P.S
Those two ideas would look sick together i think 8) anyone else think so? hell go one step further with a smoke machine when you open it haha.. im getting carried away now sorry. Happy Modding:D