Battlestar Galactica Mod

[Boddaker]

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BSG_title.jpg

Time to start on my next project! :D And this time I thought I would include you guys in the progress. I feel I have missed out by not tapping the wide expanse of knowledge that exists on this forum. And with this next project I will be exploring new ground, so I will need all the help I can get!

This is going to be a mod based on the SciFi series, "Battlestar Galactica." I plan to mod my CM Stacker 830
in the style of the Galactica. I'm still in the design and conceptual phase, and I hope to get it drawn up in Sketchup soon.
I will post more detailed pics at that time.

I think this will be a fun one to do! I really enjoy the new BSG TV series, and it has many elements I can draw from for ideas.
And this case will be a huge canvas upon which to work, so there will be plenty of real estate to work with.

Not really sure how I will be able to work on this once my garage gets torn down, but I will figure something
out when the time comes. I'm just itchin' to start something new! :D

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok, some long-awaited pics. :D I messed around in Sketchup, and after many, many long late-night hours I came up with
a VERY rough mockup of what I'm planning for this Stacker case. I tried to retain alot of the original lines of the case,
so you could look at it and know this used to be a Stacker 830. Its lines match up so well with the Galactica, I think it adds
to the overall look (not to mention makes my job a lot easier!). So without further ado, here are the pics! (yeah, like you actually
read this whole thing before looking at them :P )

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Concept1.jpg

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Concept2.jpg

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Concept3.jpg

The top of the case will have the launch bay running through it from front to back, and the landing strip will be lit up on the inside.
The front will sport a 7" lcd monitor (A Boddaker first!), and the BSG insignia below it. I have special plans for that, and you
will have to wait and see (couldn't divulge all my plans first off, that just wouldn't be much fun :P )
The sides will have vertical ribbing to match the top launch bay, with the centers being the armor plating. (retaining the stacker's
side vent shape). There will be four engines, two on each side that will function as either fresh air intake, or exhaust. Haven't
decided yet. I apologize for the crudeness of the engines. Sketchup was not willing to cooperate with me when trying to create
complex curves (as evidenced from the top launch bay). So I cheated a bit and stole the engines off of an existing Galactica
model I found in Google's 3D Warehouse. But I think you get the idea.

I'm still hammering out the details, and don't have a clue what I will do with all that room on the inside. I do know that I am
going all out and doing a full-on watercooling setup! :D (Another Boddaker first) So all you l337 WC gurus be prepared
to answer a ton of questions!

So there ya go. As always I welcome all your comments and criticisms. I am now off to watch more BSG episodes (got all of season 2 the other day :) )

8)

[Boddaker]

I actually managed to start on this today! :D Been doing most of the work on paper, trying to figure out the best way to build it,
especially the top landing bay, as it will be the most complex and detailed part of the case.

So what's the first thing that you gotta do when starting any case mod?
That's right- Disassemble the donor case!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Stacker1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Stacker1.jpg)

After taking some measurements, I set off to what's left of my garage to cut a pattern for the foam out of 1/8" fiber board.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB1.jpg)

I made up a simple jig with a piece of alum flat bar. Traced my curved lines on both sides so they are symmetrical,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB2.jpg)

And cut out the pattern.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB3.jpg)

Set it on the case for fit,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB4.jpg)

And proceeded to cut the foam using the pattern and a long bladed knife.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB5.jpg)

Cut two pieces. These will be glued together, and glued onto the fiber board as well.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB6.jpg)

Sorry, that's all I got done tonight. But at least I started! After gluing, I will commence the cutting, shaving, trimming, and slicing
of the foam to the landing bay shape. Once the basic shape is attained, then I can coat it with resin or fiberglass.
Although I have been eyeballing this stuff called Plasti-Paste (http://www.smoothonsecure.com/store/index.php?cPath=291_1_8&osCsid=edc0f602fc9f3d57d2a07e18e641b3a1) by Smooth-On. It's a trowelable fiber resin that cures into a durable
plastic in just 90 minutes. It would be ideal for making up the landing bay top, and all those ribs too. I would just have to work
in sections, what with its 10 minute pot life and all. :wink:

8)

[Boddaker]

I hate it when work gets in the way of modding! :x

Well, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped this week, but I will post up what I did get done last weekend. I plan to get more done tomorrow to make up for it though. :)

Anyway, here are the carving pics. Snagging the electric turkey carver from the kitchen (shhh- dont tell Mrs. Boddaker! lol),
I started shaving the foam down to the landing bay shape.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB7.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB8.jpg)

Then I took the drywall sander and rounded the sides smooth. And yes, I was wearing a respirator the whole time.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB9.jpg)

Then I hacked off the ends, and marked the eventual openings.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB10.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB11.jpg)

Since that Plasti-Paste has just a 10minute pot life (length of time you have to work with the stuff before it sets up),
I cordoned off sections with strips of cardboard held in with brads.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB12.jpg)

The Plasti-Paste comes in two containers: One with the fiber reinforced paste, the other a liquid. Mix the two at a 3:1 ratio respectively.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB13.jpg)

I mis-judged the amount slightly for my first section, and had a bit left over. So I spread what was left over the other half.
You can almost watch the stuff set up. It changes color from the dark brown paste to the light yellow plastic within minutes.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB14.jpg)

Here you can really see the color difference between the first hardened section and the one I just laid down.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB15.jpg)

Completely cured and ready to sand smooth. I actually messed up and forgot to smooth it out more before it set up.
Now I have more sanding work to do. :x
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB16.jpg)

Also because I didn't smooth it out adequately enough prior to it setting up, there are numerous divots that I will have
to fill in as well. I might just bring out the bondo for that, since the plastic is so hard to sand.
I plan to finish this layer tomorrow so I can move on to the fun part - the ribs!

8)

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys.

Made decent progress today. :)

Got the whole thing sanded down pretty well with the drill and sanding discs, followed by the orbital.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB17.jpg)

Then I layed on a skin coat of bondo to fill in the low spots, and sanded that smooth. You can really see how uneven it was.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB18.jpg)

Lastly, I filled in the tiny air holes with the glazing putty.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB19.jpg)

Since this is the bottom layer and will be topped with all those ribs, it doesn't have to be sanded down perfectly smooth.
My main goal was to get these pronounced lines on each end.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB20_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB20.jpg)

Sprayed a light coat of primer on to get a uniform color.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB21_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB21.jpg)

And demolded the piece. I was careful not to ruin the foam because I still need it.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB22_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB22.jpg)

Shot of the underside. Funny, it actually transferred my markings from the foam to the plastic!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB23_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB23.jpg)

Here I started marking out the ribs. I figure one rib every 1/2" looks about right.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB24_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB24.jpg)

Here I am forming the side skirts of the landing bay. These will attach under the overhangs on each side of the bay.
The ribs will continue from the top , over the edge and onto these pieces. You'll see what I mean a bit later.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB25_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB25.jpg)

All in all a productive day. Happy Easter everyone! :D

[Boddaker]

Wow.. cool... how'd you plan to make those ribs? Alu plats?

I plan to use the same stuff I used for the main piece, the plasti-paste. I'm going to try an experiment and see if it works. If not, I will probably resort to styrene.

But before I tackle the ribs, I have to clean up the side skirts and attach them to the main piece. That's on the docket this week.

[Boddaker]

Well, after referring to my reference pics again, I think I made too many rib lines. Right now I have 1/2" spacing, and I think I will redo the lines with 3/4" spacing. That will reduce the amount of ribs, and make it more true-to-life.

I was lucky enough to stumble across these awesome highly detailed schematics of the Galactica:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BSG_Schematic.jpg
Image courtesy COBYWAN (http://home.comcast.net/~cobywan/mypage.html)

I contacted cobywan to get permission to use his schematics for my project. Great guy! Turns out he built them off of detailed renders that came straight from Zoic, the special effects house that designed the new Galactica. Talk about a great find. Thanks coby! :D

[Boddaker]

Minor update:

Did some work on the side skirts. Got them smoothed down,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB26_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB26.jpg)

and trimmed. This is how they will fit onto the main piece.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB27_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB27.jpg)

I taped them into place, and will add some support braces for strength. Once those are in, I will bondo up the seam and smooth out the edges.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB28_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB28.jpg)

8)

[Boddaker]

Another productive weekend! :D

I managed to get the side skirts integrated onto the main piece. Here's how I did it:

First I needed to make a paper template for the inner braces that will hold the side skirts in place.
Since I formed them on the same foam buck as the main piece, they should be a mirror image of it.
So I took a piece of paper, folded it in half and cut it to fit the curve with the fold facing up. I strung a
piece of tape across for something to square off of.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB29_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB29.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB30_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB30.jpg)

I unfolded it and cut my braces. Made two of those, then made two smaller shapes and cut four
of each so I ended up with five braces per side.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB31_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB31.jpg)

Next was to cut a floor with notches for the braces. I used the built-in line in the plastic (made from the
wood base of the foam buck) as a guide to glue down the floor.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB32_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB32.jpg)

Then I glued in the braces, making sure they were square.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB33_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB33.jpg)

When those set up, I tacked down the side skirts. It didn't matter too much that there were some
gaps here and there, as you'll see in the next step.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB34_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB34.jpg)

Out came the Plasti-Paste once again for a good helping of reinforcement. I cut the floor out temporarily
so I could get to both sides.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB35_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB35.jpg)

Even so, it was a bear getting the stuff in the inner pockets. That was a good stopping point,
so I let it set up overnight.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB36_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB36.jpg)

The next day I rolled the table out for some more sanding and bondo filling. Oh what fun.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB37_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB37.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB38_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB38.jpg)

Didn't need much, and only a few areas needed minor spot putty.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB39_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB39.jpg)

After working the edges a bit more, I blew all the dust off it and brought the case out for a test fit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB40_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB40.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB41_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB41.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB42_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB42.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB43_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB43.jpg)

Not bad! I may not even have to shave anything off. :)

You might think I can put the ribs on now, but there's one more thing I have to do first. I want to
add some detail to the surface: Pipes, various sized squares of paneling and such. It will be much
easier doing it now, than trying to work in between the ribs. If all goes well, I can get that done this
week, then rib next weekend.

8)

[Boddaker]

You should leave that hollow and rig up an HD mount or some thing in there. You could use it as a channel for cooling by adding a hidden fan(s) to it with the hanger bay as the opening.

That is looking great so far though!

Yes, the landing bay will be totally hollow throughout, complete with running lights. Being such a large case, I can fit most/all of the components inside, so the bay's functionality might just be limited to ducting exhaust. I will get all the internals finalized though before I commit to building the floor and mounting it to the case.

8)

[Boddaker]

Time for my Sunday evening update. Not much has transpired since my last significant update.
Last time we left off with finishing up the side skirts and preparing the surface for the detailing.
Well I got most of it done over the last two days. It was good because this type of work could
easily be done in the living room with the wife and our 3-yr old. :) Although when my pile of
styrene piping disappeared, I knew who to ask!

Here I had just finished cutting up the first batch of squares of various sizes and shapes. You can
see the printout of high res reference photos of the Galactica on the right (thank you Starshipbuilder.com (http://www.starshipbuilder.com/forums/index.php)). :)
In order to save myself some work, I drew a rough outline of where the outer armor plating will be,
so I knew where not to add the detail (since it will be covered up anyway.)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB44_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB44.jpg)

...And after I got one side completed. I basically followed the ref photos loosely, just using them
as a general guideline. I proceeded in a random fashion so as not to look too uniform.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB45_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB45.jpg)

Some close up shots. Keep in mind all this will be painted the same color in the end.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB46_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB46.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB47_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB47.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB48_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB48.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB49_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB49.jpg)

For the detailing I used .040 Styrene sheet, and half-round styrene rod for the piping. The sheet came with
ultra-thin flexible strips, so I decided to use them as well for a smaller size pipe.

After adding a bit more detail on the side skirts, I think I can finally prepare the landing bay for the ribs.
If it works out, it's going to look awesome! Stick around.

8)

[Boddaker]

Well, my little ribbing scheme didn't work the way I thought it would. :(

I was originally thinking I could build up the ribs using more Plasti-Paste, first by laying down strips of weatherstripping with a 1/8" gap in between, then troweling the paste over the whole thing and working it into the 1/8" slots thus making up the ribs. But when I couldn't find weatherstripping of a suitable size, I turned to foam strips as a possible solution. I cut a bunch of those and sprayed one side with adhesive. But that didn't work either because the strips wouldn't take to the curves very well and the ends would pop up as a result.
So I am now in the process of laying the ribs down one by one, using 1/8" thick styrene strips cut to 1/4".

Sorry I don't have pics just yet, my DSL is down at home. I will post them tonight if I can get my internet back up.

[Boddaker]

So my internet at the house is still down, so I brought the pics into work and posted them. :P

Here's what I was trying to do with the foam strips, but they wouldn't stick.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB50_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB50.jpg)

So I cut up a bunch of styrene strips and went to work.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB51_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB51.jpg)

I have to fit each strip over the detail pieces. (had I known I was going to do it this way, I would have added the
detailing after laying down the ribs.)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB52_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB52.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB53_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB53.jpg)

The styrene is very soft. Doesn't need much heat to become pliable.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB54_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB54.jpg)

Here's where I'm at, about 1/4 done. But you can kinda see what it will look like.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB55_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB55.jpg)

Once all the ribbing is in place, I will add the outer armor pieces over select areas, then add detail to them.

[Boddaker]

Small update. Basically got more of the same done. Almost got one side completed! :D

Anyway, here's a few more shots:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB56_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB56.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB57_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB57.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB58_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB58.jpg)

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok here we go- a Sunday night update actually posted on Sunday! :D

Well I finished one side of the ribbing, so I thought I would do one panel of the outer armor to see how it looks on there.
I am using a couple sheets of styrene, one .040 and one .010.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB59_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB59.jpg)

I took the sheet of .040 and cut out the shape, after making a paper pattern.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB60_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB60.jpg)

Then on the .010, I outlined the same shape and drew some squares, triangles, and other shapes according to
the reference pic.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB61_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB61.jpg)

I took an exacto knife to it, almost cutting each shape out, but leaving them attached for now. I matched it up
to the main piece and taped the ends together.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB62_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB62.jpg)

Now that I mated them up how I want them, I open it up and put a dab of glue under each panel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB63_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB63.jpg)

Fold it back over and glue it down.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB64_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB64.jpg)

After a few minutes, I can pull off the leftovers, completing all the cuts along the way.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB65_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB65.jpg)

And voila! We have raised armor paneling! Much easier than cutting them out and pasting them on individually.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB66_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB66.jpg)

A shot of the panel in place on the landing bay. It's just taped on for now, because I will need to paint
underneath it before permanently gluing it down.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB67_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB67.jpg)

Now it is on to the other side of ribbing. It may be a while 'til my next post, because I won't be doing
anything different and exciting for some time. At least until I do the ends. :D

[Boddaker]

Oh my effing ghod, Bod.... this thing is going to be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Stellar construction detail!

Styrene... I have never used it. Where do you get it from? Hobby shops? And am I corret in seeing that it is semi rigid but is bendable with a little heat? Very good! How is it after it cools? Is it flexable? brittle? Just curious....

I love the original BSG, and I have loved the few BSG's that I have caught on TV (almost made me start watching the TV again... *almost*)

The use of that Stacker is a perfect use for the style of that case! Your use of a foam mold and plastic is a stroke of genius! I had never heard of that stuff, else I would have used that on the BOSS scoop! Much better results!

(madly scribbles notes down in notepad)

I just wanted to chime in and say, "Beautiful work bro!" I am watching this thing like a hawk!

/me subscribed!

Wow thanks man! :D

Yeah any hobby store will have it. I got my sheets from hobbylinc. (http://www.hobbylinc.com)
Those strips are somewhat flexible, but can turn into a wet noodle with very little heat. Once cooled it regains its rigidity.

I'm taking a bit of a break right now, since we just had an addition to our family last week. A beautiful baby girl! :p Our second one, so as you can imagine my spare time has all but disappeared. Once we get into some semblance of a routine, I might be able to sneak out to the garage from time to time. We'll see how it goes. Right now, I am just basking in the glow of our new daughter and lovin' life!

[Boddaker]

IT LIVES!!!!!!

Ok I'm back on this project, and I actually got something new to show.
Looking back at my last update, I had just finished the one side of ribs,
and one armor panel. Well, I finally managed to finish the ribs on the
other side, and much much more! Check it out:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB68_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB68.jpg)

After that exercise in tedium, I did the ends.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB69_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB69.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB70_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB70.jpg)

The center areas will be cut out later, but I kept them intact for now. I won't know how
much to cut off until I get the inside panels done.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB71_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB71.jpg)

Then it was on to the rest of the outer armor plates. Going off the ref pics, I sketched out some designs
and cut them out just as before.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB72_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB72.jpg)

Using the same technique, I glued the smaller panels onto the main piece.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB76_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB76.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB74_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB74.jpg)

More sketching, going off of my earlier chalk markings.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB75_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB75.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB73_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB73.jpg)

For the end armor panels, had to do some measuring and a little geometry to get the right shape.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB77_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB77.jpg)

I also needed to get the correct curves for the shape so they match.
I brought my trusty flexible curve out again to transfer the curve from the main body to the sheet.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB78_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB78.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB79_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB79.jpg)

Not a bad match! Now to do it again for the other end.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB80_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB80.jpg)

Comparing it to the ref pic.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB81_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB81.jpg)

All the armor panels done! Well, almost all. I still need to do the top.
But I can't do the top until I get all these panels glued on.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB82_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB82.jpg)

I thought I would shoot a coat of primer onto the whole thing to get underneath the panels before I glued them on,
but also because I wanted to see this thing all one color for once!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB83_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB83.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB84_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB84.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB85_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB85.jpg)

Looks pretty good, don't you think? This is where I'm at now. Next step is to get all the armor pieces glued down, and the top armor on.

Feels good to be back on track with this mod. I can't believe it's been over two months since I stopped working on it.
Hopefully I can keep at it now, and post some regular updates from here on out. :)

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok, more work done, yay! :D

Was able to finally attach the outer armor panels to the ribs. I sanded off the areas and commenced gluing.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB86_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB86.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB88_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB88.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB89_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB89.jpg)

Got one side done, then the end.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB87_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB87.jpg)

Once I got both sides done, then I could measure out the top panel. Since this panel overlaps both sides,
I had to wait til everything else was on before making this piece. I drew it up, cut it out (leaving the
panels slightly attached), and glued them down.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB90_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB90.jpg)

...And the gutters removed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB91_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB91.jpg)

...And glued onto the top. I had to add a styrene rib under each end to sort of cap it off and give it
something for the edge to adhere to. After gluing that down, I applied some glazing putty to smooth
out the seams. Once painted, it will look like a contiguous part.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB92_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB92.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB93_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB93.jpg)

A close up shot.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB94_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB94.jpg)

All that's left is adding a few more detail pieces here and there, and then I can paint it.

8)

[Boddaker]

"God is in the details."

Adding more detail pieces on the top. This will be some grates on a couple of the panels.
Took a piece of styrene and drew out some lines.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB95_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB95.jpg)

Cut out some material with my acrylic cutter, taking care not to cut all the way through.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB96_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB96.jpg)

Chopped down to size,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB97_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB97.jpg)

And glued into place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB98_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB98.jpg)

I wanted to add this raised circle portion in the middle of the top panel and put the BSG insignia on it,
but I didn't have a thick enough piece of styrene.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/logobutton_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/logobutton.jpg)

So I found a scrap piece of press board and cut out a circle,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB99_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB99.jpg)

and sanded down around its circumference to get the required shape.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB100_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB100.jpg)

Sanded.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB101_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB101.jpg)

Profile.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB102_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB102.jpg)

Test fit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB103_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB103.jpg)

Next was to skin it with a thin sheet of styrene. In order to work with it, I temporarily glued the wafer
to another scrap piece of wood for a holder.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB104_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB104.jpg)

Cut out an oversized piece of styrene, glued the center down, and turned on the heat. Didn't need much!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB105_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB105.jpg)

After a few minutes it looked like this.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB106_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB106.jpg)

Trimmed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB108_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB108.jpg)

Glued.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB109_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB109.jpg)

Profile.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB110_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB110.jpg)

Test fit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB111_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB111.jpg)

Once I sand down the edges, I will glue it down permanently. Then once the whole thing is painted,
I will go back and apply the insignia along with the requisite weathering and such.

More detailing to be done over the weekend. Stay tuned.

Ok, pop quiz hot shot! Who can tell me the name of the person who said that quote at the top of this post? And no googling! :P

And as a bonus, who can tell me where the quote "pop quiz, hot shot!" came from? Again, no google cheaters!

[Boddaker]

"The details are details. They make the product.
The connections, the connections, the connections.
It will in the end be these details that give the product its life."

Another appropriate quote I found. This one is a bit more obscure, but see if you can get it. You are free to use Google too. :)

Here we go, more detail pieces. These will run along both edges of the top armor panel.
I cut a bunch of wedges off a piece of styrene, then a bunch of smaller wedges from a tiny piece
of scrap .040 sheet.
It looks tedious, but once I got going, it didnt' take long. I had to make 28 of them.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB112_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB112.jpg)

Gluing the small wedge onto the big wedge.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB113_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB113.jpg)

I used a piece of tape to keep all the small wedges in place until it was time to use them.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB114_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB114.jpg)

All 28.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB115_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB115.jpg)

Gluing them to the top panel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB116_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB116.jpg)

I had this package of detail pieces lying around, so I thought I would throw some onto the armor.
I will be doing some kit-bashing later.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB117_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB117.jpg)

Glued in place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB118_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB118.jpg)

...And primed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB119_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB119.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB120_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB120.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB121_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB121.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB122_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB122.jpg)

Here's a few shots of the landing bay on the case.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB123_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB123.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB124_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB124.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB125_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB125.jpg)

The top being pretty much done (other than final paint), I started on the interior panels, which will include support beams with lighting.

8)

Oh, and the answer to the previous quote quiz is: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys! An entire ship would take way too much time. Time that could be better spent modding! :p

Yes, the majority of this log so far has been "mere" model making. But I have a lot of things planned for the rest of the case that I cannot wait to get to.

btw, is there a good (and safe) way to remove anodizing from aluminum panels? I plan on gluing more ribs to the side panels and then painting them, and the glue doesn't stick well to the coated surface. I have heard that oven cleaner works, but I haven't tried it.

[Boddaker]

Working on the ends now, and into the interior of the landing bay. I am attempting to continue
the ribs around the edge of the opening and down the inner panel, as seen here in this reference pic.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LBref_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LBref.jpg)

I start by cutting the triangular panels to shape and gluing them in.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB126_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB126.jpg)

Then I can perform additional gratuitous styrene stick heat manipulation.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB127_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB127.jpg)

Since I need to perform the same manipulation on a number of unsuspecting styrene sticks,
I decided to make a quick jig. I traced the first stick's profile onto a piece of wood.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB128_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB128.jpg)

Routed it out,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB129_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB129.jpg)

Checked for fit,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB130_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB130.jpg)

Then routed some more so a straight stick could be set in place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB131_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB131.jpg)

Voila! Instant SSHM Jig, where the bend is the same each time.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB132_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB132.jpg)

Now it's just a matter of measuring and marking for the position of each bend.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB133_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB133.jpg)

This is why I left the cross beams in place before. I wasn't sure where to cut them.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB134_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB134.jpg)

Now that I have these pieces in place, I can lop them off.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB135_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB135.jpg)

Rounded off and sanded down.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB136_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB136.jpg)

After a small application of bondo at the seams, I did some sanding and a quick shot of primer to see where I'm at.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB137_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB137.jpg)

Looks like there's a bit more work to be done here before the joints are no longer visible. Then its on to the other end!

8)

[Boddaker]

Well, I didn't get as much done on BSG as I had planned over the weekend (hanging kitchen cabinets apparently takes a long time!), but I did finally get to move on to other parts of the case! :up:
I pretty much finished up the landing bay, and set that aside to work on some other things, like the side panels. I tried the oven cleaner trick to remove the anodizing, and it worked flawlessly! I have pics, and will post them up later this evening.

I also did some preliminary work on the front panel as well, but there's really nothing to show there, just measuring and planning.

[Boddaker]

Thanks Remy! I'm flattered to hear that. Maybe the mods agree? :down: :up: lol

Anyway:
Woohoo! Starting a different part of the case!! :banana:
The next part of the case that will get the ol' rib/armor treatment is the side panels.
Not nearly as painstaking as the landing bay was, thanks to the panels being nice and flat,
and that vast expanse of beautiful nothingness right in the middle! lol

Anyhoo, after asking around about what the best way to remove anodizing from aluminum,
I ended up with basically two answers: Oven cleaner, and basic sanding. So I figured I would
test the former, and if it didn't work out, I would settle for the latter.

So here are the panels ready to be stripped.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP1.jpg)

After a quick spray, the oven cleaner immediately starts bubbling and fuming.
(Good thing I was wearing gloves, a face mask and was outside. ;) )
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP2.jpg)

I had read that when using oven cleaner, to let it sit at least 45 minutes before the
anodize begins to fall off. In my case, just 15 minutes was enough to do the job!
My guess is that the 45 minutes refers to pieces that are "hard Anodized", which penetrates
deeper into the aluminum and thusly takes longer to remove. The anodizing on the
Stacker is apparently really light and doesn't take much coercing before coming off.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP3.jpg)

Here are the panels after a thorough rinsing.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP4.jpg)

And here are the panels after a light sanding to remove any missed spots.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP5.jpg)

Now that I have a nice and clean aluminum panel to work with, I can lay out my armor and
start cutting! This armor shape delineates the rectangular window in the middle, with the
peripheral areas of the panel getting more ribbing (nooooooo!)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP6.jpg)

The use of the oven cleaner saved me hours of sanding, and I will apply this method of removal
to the other parts of the case as well.

8)

[Boddaker]

They look so cool like that, will you paint them or leave them as they are. They would look cool if you left em.

The side panels will be painted due to all the styrene ribbing and armor that will be applied. Though it seems kinda silly to have a nice bare aluminum panel and then paint it with metallic aluminum paint! lol

[Boddaker]

I agree! +Rep from me too! Nice website too.

Thx TGS!

(Drew gets what's left of that thanks since he was lazy and just copied him. :p )

Ok progress!

More ribbing done. Compared to the landing bay, this was a breeze! Just a few measurements,
and some logistics to work out and I was cuttin' and gluin'! :D

I used some masking tape to give myself some guidelines, and line out the window area.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP7.jpg)

Working my way across the bottom.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP8.jpg)

The top needed some extra thought, and how it would meet up with the landing bay.
So a quick test fit was in order.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP9.jpg)

More test fitting.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP10.jpg)

Yet more test fitting, this time with the armor panel. You can see I had to cut a bit away at the back.
I will add another armor piece to the landing bay to match it.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP11.jpg)

A close up of the top front. I kept this area clean of ribbing because in order to remove the panel,
it will slide back and out from under the landing bay. So any ribbing would be in the way here.
Rather than hide this area, I'm going to do some creative detailing to make it look like a well-used
portion of the ship. Wear marks, scrapes and the like will enhance the overall look and feel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP12.jpg)

Moving right along now! I just might get the side panels taken care of over the weekend. That would be nice. :)

[Boddaker]

made some decent progress on the engine pods. :D

Studying the ref pics and figuring where the pods would go on the case, I determined the size & shape,
and drew the outline onto the foam.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods1.jpg)

This foam is 1 1/2" thick. I use this long-bladed knife to cut through it.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods2.jpg)

Making several cuts, my last pass is utilizing the whole blade.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods3.jpg)

The large pods at the back are 2 1/2" wide, so I have to double up on the foam to get that thickness.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods4.jpg)

Here's roughly where they will go.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods5.jpg)

Had to make four total. Two being mirror images of the other two.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods6.jpg)

Now its time to carve the foam to the correct curvy shape. I drew the shape of the nozzle
onto the end to give me a starting point.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods7.jpg)

Here are all four pods after the first round of carving.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods8.jpg)

And here they are after round 2, using the orbital sander to smooth them out.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods9.jpg)

I glued the pods temporarily to a 2x4 so I could easily maneuver around them while I spread the plasti-paste.
Got the first one covered. Here you can see the stuff is already setting up. Can't do more than one at a time,
but I didn't have enough mixed up to do more than one anyway. ;-)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods10.jpg)

Thats where I'm at so far. I will try to get back in there later tonight and do the remaining 3. Once I get them all sanded down smooth, I can demold and fit them to the case.

8)

[Boddaker]

Once again, with the faom and plasti-paste. You make it look SO easy. Where do you get the foam amd the paste, and what's the cost of that stuff? Great work.

Remy

hehe I bought a gallon of the stuff from Smooth-on.com (http://www.smooth-on.com) and I need to use it or else it will expire. It's $50, but you can get a trial size for like $35 or something.

The foam is your basic sheet of Owens Corning insulation foam from Lowes.

[Boddaker]

it's been a long week of sanding, filling, sanding, and more sanding, but I think all that effort
was worth it. have a look!

Here's a shot of the last pod getting coated with the resin.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods11.jpg)

big jump in the timeline here, this is after many hours of sanding, bondo filling, and more sanding.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods11b_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods11b.jpg)

A close up of one of the larger pods. You can see the sanding scratches the 80grit sandpaper left.
I used 80grit to get the basic smooth shape down, then i went back over everything with the orbital
sander and 120grit to sand out those scratches.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods12.jpg)

Close up of the back end. Here you can see the thickness of the plastic. There are some thin areas,
but for the most part I got a pretty consistent layer all around. I will beef up any thin areas with
bondo from the inside.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods13.jpg)

Cut off the 2x4, and foam removed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods14.jpg)

Close up of the back end.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods15.jpg)

Close up of the under side.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods16.jpg)

And of course I had to throw them on the case to see how they fit, after hitting them with some primer. :)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods17.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods18.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods19.jpg)

I still gotta clean them up around the edges, and notch them so they fit better around the back
of the side panels. Then they will sit better and not stick out so far out the back.

8)

[Boddaker]

This last week was a hectic one for me, so I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. But I at least got the pods fitted to the case better.
Here are a few shots:

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods20_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods20.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods21_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods21.jpg)

You can see the cardboard template I made at the bottom of the last shot for notching the pods so they fit over the back of the side panels.
The right side was a bitch because I had to work around all the ribs. Thankfully, I hadn't gotten all the ribs on the left panel yet, so
those pods went on much easier.

Doesn't seem like much, but hey- some progress is better than no progress right? If all goes better this week,
I may be able to button up the side panels by the weekend.

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok, well I was going to post an update last night, but my server was down. But now it looks like it's up and running, so on with the update!

Got a bunch of work done on the pods over the course of last week, adding detail and basically
hacking them up! :twisted: Essentially, what I wanted to do was continue the ribbing/armor motif,
but I didn't want to just glue more styrene ribs over the pods. So I came up with the idea to cut out
areas of the pods to give the impression of ribs running through them.

So I drew out my design,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods25_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods25.jpg)

...and cut it out.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods24_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods24.jpg)

Then I proceeded to add a styrene backing to the underside.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods26_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods26.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods27_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods27.jpg)

Once that was done, I started on those rows of ports seen here:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Ports.jpg

Since I didn't have any styrene tubes lying around, I figured a few pens would work just as well. Sorry Lowes!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods28_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods28.jpg)

Chopped it up,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods29_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods29.jpg)

Drilled the holes,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods30_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods30.jpg)

and glued them in. Here's a shot of the back side.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods31_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods31.jpg)

Used some glazing putty to fill in around the edges.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods32_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods32.jpg)

I was trying to figure out what I could use for the inner nozzle. After looking around in Michaels
craft store, I found these wooden beads.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods33_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods33.jpg)

Had to sand them down a bit so they would fit into the pen tubes. I stuck them onto a nail and
rotated them over the belt sander.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods34_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods34.jpg)

One more to go!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods35_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods35.jpg)

For the bigger pods, I had to find bigger pens. These are 7/16" dia. Drilled a pilot hole, then used
the dremel to rout out the rest. A bigger drill bit would crack the plastic.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods36_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods36.jpg)

Pen #2 cut and glued in place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods37_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods37.jpg)

Pen #3 bites the dust!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods38_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods38.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods39_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods39.jpg)

While the pens were setting up, I drew out the rib sections on the larger pods.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods40_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods40.jpg)

And cut those out.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods41_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods41.jpg)

With the styrene backing in place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods42_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods42.jpg)

After more sanding and filling around the ports, I got all four primed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods43_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods43.jpg)

Now I can start lining out the armor pattern. I just did a quick sketch on one to show you what it will look like.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods44_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods44.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods45_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods45.jpg)

I won't be doing these armor panels the same way as before. The pods' complex curves would make it too difficult to
lay them down flat. I have a much easier method in mind, but I'm gonna leave that for next time. In the interim though, feel
free to speculate how I will do it! :P

8)

[Boddaker]

Thanks a lot guys! And UK-Blade, I don't know about that, the real CGI battlestar is flippin insanely detailed. I could spend years making this case look like that.

Well, I was going to have an update for ya today, hoping to have the pods mounted on the case. But alas, it started raining last night and I couldn't paint. So I set them aside and started the front bezel, which will house slot-loading dvd drive, and lcd screens. Yes, I said SCREENS, as in more than one! :wink:

Sorry for the non-pic post, but I didn't want to post only one or two pics and leave you hanging. :P

[Boddaker]

Ok, here's what I got done on the pods as of late. I taped all the gutters off using standard blue masking tape.
I couldn't find any 1/16" pinstriping tape, or anything thin enough, so I made my own. :P
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods46b_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods46b.jpg)

Here's one pod done. I just went randomly, not following any specific plan, or even my previous pencil
marks for that matter. lol
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods46a_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods46a.jpg)

All four masked.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods46_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods46.jpg)

After several coats of primer and about 3 coats of the metallic silver. Ooooh, shiny! but not for long!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods47_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods47.jpg)

Removing all the tiny strips of tape...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods48_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods48.jpg)

... and all four unmasked. Yes, thats primer underneath, and yes, it will be covered with a final light coat of the
silver metallic.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods49_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods49.jpg)

Don't worry about it being too shiny and chrome-like. I will be weathering it and dulling it down quite a bit when
the time comes.

This shot reminded me of "tinsel". Anyone remember that stuff?
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods50_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods50.jpg)

I didn't get to the end caps tonight. Was too tired and wanted to post what I had so far before bedtime.
That's next on the list, and should get to it in a couple days.

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys!

Got the end caps done last night! My son fell asleep early so I was able to get into the garage sooner. :D

First I used the pods as a template for the end cap.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods51_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods51.jpg)

I wanted a 1/4" thickness all the way around, so I measured in from the edge and made marks about
every inch or so, and connected the dots.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods52_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods52.jpg)

And cut out the middle.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods53_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods53.jpg)

Then I took a 3/8" strip of styrene and glued it around the inside edge.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods54_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods54.jpg)

Trimmed off the excess and sanded the edges smooth.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods55_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods55.jpg)

Test fit. One down, three to go!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods56_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods56.jpg)

Done and done. Ahhh, uniformity!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods57_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods57.jpg)

Once I glue them into place, I will sand them down for a perfect match. I will need to do some gap filling in certain areas first.
Regarding lighting, there's not much room in behind there for leds. I'm thinking I can light them from deeper inside and just
let the glow spill out to achieve the effect. Would make for a cleaner wiring job too.

[Boddaker]

Thanks a lot guys!


This is right up there with Paul's Doom 3 mod in my book.

Outstanding detail!

:eek: I think that's the best compliment a modder can get. Thank you! :D

I'll have an update up shortly. Got stuck doing fix-its around the house all weekend, with only a few hours last night left for modding. Most of which was planning for the week. I might get the end caps done tonight, so I can post pics of that at least. :)

[Boddaker]

Got a bit more work done on the pods' end caps. I sanded the edges down to where they look nice and even,
then I applied a bunch of spot filler around the outside as well as inside.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods58_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods58.jpg)

Let it dry, then sanded it down smooth.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods59_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods59.jpg)

A quick shot of primer shows the progress. This one needs a bit more work.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods60_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods60.jpg)

That's it for this update!

[Boddaker]

Well, I can't really do much more with the pods until I get the mesh in. I want to get those in before
attaching them to the side panels, and that is the next step. So I thought I would put them aside and
continue work on the front bezel. Here are a couple teaser pics, as there are a lot more (yes, I've been holding out!). :p

I removed the mesh from the door and marked the area to be cut.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel1.jpg)

...and cut it out with my trusty jig saw.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel2.jpg)

Here is a shot of it back on the case, stripped of its anodization, and with some added framework I built
using aluminum flat bar. I neglected to record the actual cutting and bending for this, but that is all
basic stuff and you didn't want to be bored with that anyways. It utilizes the original mounting holes for
the mesh on the reverse side of the door.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel4.jpg)

The idea is to provide support for the lcd screens and the slot loading DVD drive. More on the layout later. ;)
The Stacker's original power button/reset/usb/audio port assembly will return to its original location,
but with some modifications (of course!). Again, more on that later, as pics will better illustrate what
I have planned. :twisted:

I'm sure most of you are happy to see something new and different other than more engine pod updates!
I know I am! The detailing and such can get very monotonous and repetitive, which is why I'm trying
to liven things up here and posting something different and refreshing!

8)

[Boddaker]

LCD Screens

As I mentioned before, and a few of you picked up on it, I will be mounting multiple LCD screens
in the front of the case. Now it's not what you may think, as these screens are only 2.5" and will be mounted
in a cluster-like fashion, similar to the data readout display seen on Galactica's bridge. I will try to
find a screenshot of it so you get a better idea of where I'm coming from.
After measuring the width of the front opening, I came up with this design for the screen mounting assembly.
This is one of the rare times I actually drew it out on paper, due to its complexity! lol
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD1.jpg)

Again, I neglected to take pics of the actual bending and pop riveting, but here's the end result.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD2.jpg)

The triangular ends are 1/8" styrene.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD3.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD4.jpg)

Since the screens are just the LCD modules and didn't come with any sort of enclosure, I made some pockets
for them. Here are the pieces...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD5a_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD5.jpg)

...And here they are glued together.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD6.jpg)

Here's a shot of the screens by Accele-vision. I got them through Millertech. (http://www.millertech.com) Thanks Patrick!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD10.jpg)

A close up shot of one of the screens. It's got composite in (RCA), and its 12v. Has an on/off switch, as well
as horizontal and vertical flip modes.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD11.jpg)

The screen slides right into the pocket.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD12.jpg)

I made a slot in the bottom for the ribbon cable.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD13.jpg)

Here are the pockets mocked up on the mounting assembly.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD7.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD8.jpg)

And here it is temporarily taped in place on the case.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD9.jpg)

I will be adding smaller dummy screens underneath these to round out the cluster. They will just be stills printed
out on transparency and lit from behind.
The LCDs will run off an auxilliary PCI video card's S-video output. I have an S-video --> Composite adapter,
then a composite cable that splits to feed all three screens. Should turn out pretty slick!

8)

[Boddaker]

I actually got some work done on the case last night. After a stressful couple of days, modding can be quite theraputic!

I started on the framework for yet another LCD screen. This one is a 17" Samsung, and will be mounted opposite
the motherboard tray. The main purpose of this screen will be to play Galactica episodes. I plan to have them
all archived on the hard drives once season 4 is done and released on DVD. :)

First I had to remove part of the hard drive rack.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD14.jpg)

Then I made a bottom support piece out of angle aluminum.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD15.jpg)

I made a wooden template the exact size of the LCD screen to aid in the placement.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD16.jpg)

Here's a shot of the side panel in place over the wooden screen.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD17.jpg)

Next I need to make the vertical supports that will connect the top and bottom. These are the pieces the
screen will be secured to. After all is said and done, I should have about a 1/4" clearance between the screen
and mobo tray. I plan on relocating the LCD's circuit boards, which would normally reside behind the screen.

8)

[Boddaker]

hm that would be nice. how are you going to run the lcd display cords?

As in the DVI and power cable? They will be hidden internally, probably under the floor of the case. I have a DVI cable with a 90° end that will be perfect for routing from the back of the vid card into the case.

As far as the wiring in between the screen and circuit boards, I will have to extend some to make the relocation work.

[Boddaker]

I have a 22" 3d monitor from iZ3D (http://iz3d.com) as my main monitor. The 17" on the side will be dedicated solely to playing BSG episodes, and the front three 2.5" screens will be the data graphical displays. Now for video cards, I will be running 3 cards: two eVGA 8800GTS cards and one e-Geforce 6200 PCI card. The two 8800's will run the main 22" monitor, and the 6200 will run the rest (17" via DVI, 2.5" via s-video split to three composite outputs).

[Boddaker]

Haha that would be cool, I'll have to look into that.

So I found a screen shot of the video display cluster on the Galactica's bridge:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD_cluster_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD_cluster.jpg)

That got me itchin to see what these little screens can do. So I hooked up my eVGA Geforce 6200 pci card to make
sure i could get a signal out to the lcd's. Here's a test shot:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCDtest_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCDtest.jpg)

I will be making up a fully animated graphic sequence that will mimick the actual effects on the show.
Should come out looking pretty accurate. :)

[Boddaker]

Thanks floriske.nl and everyone! :D

HOLY CRAP AN UPDATE!!
It's been over a week since I've been able to get any significant work done on this thing. What with halloween and kid stuff, and waiting on parts, there hasn't really been anything to post about.

But tonight I got the three 2.5" LCD's mounted on the case, along with their controller boards.
To hold the controllers, I made this 3-tiered styrene base that will mount behind the screens.
This is so the power and composite cables will clear the board next to it.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD18.jpg)

Here they are mounted to the base.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD19.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD20_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD20.jpg)

After doing a test fit on the front panel, I had to make a little adjustment to the third tier so it would fit.
I drilled and tapped holes in the screen's mounting base, then drilled through the controller base
and the front panel frame and screwed it all together from the back.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD21_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD21.jpg)

with the controllers in place...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD22_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD22.jpg)

... and with the front panel back on the case, and LCD screens in.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD23_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD23.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD24_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD24.jpg)

View from the inside.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD25_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD25.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD26_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD26.jpg)

I will make some top caps to cover up the opening, and the gold ribbon cable. The white ribbon cable
will be disguised as conduit or something more appropriate.

I hope to get the two dummy screens made up this weekend, and then maybe I can start work on the lower BSG insignia. :)

[Boddaker]

Ok, so I didn't get anything posted until now. But here's what I got accomplished over the past week. More LCD screen goodness! Check it out:

Started on the small dummy screens that will go underneath the three live ones. I cut some pieces
from some 1/4" scrap I had, roughed them up a bit, and glued them together.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD28_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD28.jpg)

Then I proceeded to make the styrene bezels. Cut the faceplate, and glued the sides on.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD29_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD29.jpg)

Then I glued the "screens" in, and drilled the hole for the led.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD30_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD30.jpg)

I skinned the back with more styrene, giving it that LCD panel look.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD31_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD31.jpg)

Next came the arduous task of figuring out how the mounting bracket would go. I must have gone
through at least 3 iterations before settling on a design I was happy with. I ended up making two pieces.
One flat aluminum bar to connect both screens...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD32_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD32.jpg)

...And one vertical piece cut from C channel to mount to the rest of the LCD bracketry.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD34_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD34.jpg)

I decided to forego the use of any screws to secure the screens to the brackets, opting to just use some styrene rod.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD35_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD35.jpg)

After cutting the rod to fit the profile of the screens, I glued them down, holding the bracket in place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD36_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD36.jpg)

After some filling and sanding, here's what I got: Back side...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD37_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD37.jpg)

...And front side. All masked and ready for primer.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD39_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD39.jpg)

The whole LCD cluster primed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD40_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD40.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD41_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD41.jpg)

I thought I had some flat black paint somewhere, but I couldn't find any. So I will have to pick some up tomorrow.
Doesn't seem like much for a week's worth of work! Then again, my weeks have been so hectic,
my modding time has been pretty much nil. So I am thankful I got this much done.

[Boddaker]

OPTICAL DRIVE

I got a chance to actually do some modding over the holiday weekend. :D
After getting the LCD cluster roughed in, I started on the optical drive portion of the front panel.
I will be using a slot-loading dvd drive, mounted vertically behind the BSG logo insignia. Once finished,
you will be able to see the disc turning through the insignia.

So to start, I removed the top cover of the drive.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL1.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL2.jpg)

Here's a shot of a disc inserted half way.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL3.jpg)

Taking the top cover out to the garage, I used a CD as a template and scored a line around it to mark my cut.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL4.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL5.jpg)

..and proceeded to cut out the window.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL6.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL7.jpg)

I also had to cut out the center and save it because it plays a role in disc alignment.
The blue is a piece of plexi I cut to size and taped up. It will be glued to the top of the windowed cover.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL8.jpg)

Setting that aside, I started making the mounting brackets.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL9.jpg)

Here I am using a spare drive for positioning the brackets onto the front panel frame.
Wouldn't want to get any rogue metal shavings in the windowed drive's mechanisms.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL10.jpg)

After marking the optimum position, I drilled the holes and secured the brackets with pop rivets.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL11.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL12.jpg)

The drive in place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL13.jpg)

The base for the insignia over the drive. It's just sitting on there for now.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL14.jpg)

Here's the rest of the insignia. Thanks to Brian at Moddersmart (http://www.moddersmart.com) for getting all these pieces laser
etched and cut for me. 8) Basically, in order to get a 3 dimensional look, I had him cut several layers
so I could build the height up. Some parts will be painted, like the center winged figure and the outer
edge pieces. Then the background will be kept clear so you can see the drive in behind.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL15.jpg)

Here's a side shot showing the slot loading drive face.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL16.jpg)

I'd like to get some red led's in there that light up when a disc is inserted. Probably just re-route
the drive's activity led or something.
I still have a lot of work to do on those insignia pieces, rounding the edges and gluing them down.
And it needs its own mounting bracketry too, cause I want to keep it separate from the optical drive.
After that I can start on the ribbing/armoring phase of the front panel. That will fill in all the areas
around the LCD cluster and insignia. Should look pretty hot when done!

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok update time! Work on the insignia and optical drive continues...

I managed to round the corners of all the little edge pieces and get them glued down to the etched ring.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL17.jpg)

The center consists of three pieces to be layered for that 3 dimensional look.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL18.jpg)

Here they are stacked up.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL19.jpg)

I added a secondary bracket that will hold the insignia in place over the optical drive.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL20_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL20.jpg)

Here's a shot of the inside of the assembled cover with the clear plexi (blue masking tape is on the other side of the plexi).
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL21_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL21.jpg)

And here is the assembled drive mounted with the tape removed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL22_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL22.jpg)

The whole insignia together. Center piece is not glued on yet.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL23_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL23.jpg)

Insignia on top of the windowed optical drive.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL24_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL24.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL25_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL25.jpg)

The insignia won't stay totally clear. I will be painting everything but the background in the center.
The leds that will light up the drive will be inset behind the center piece hidden from sight. Should
light up the drive internals quite well, and give a nice back-lit effect as well. I just gotta figure out
how to run the wires and integrate a small switch to activate them when the disc is inserted.

8)

[Boddaker]

Got a bunch of work done over the weekend! :D

Worked on the I/O panel and pwr/reset buttons. I basically re-used the Stacker's pwr/reset button housing,
and the I/O panel right below it. I'm pretty much putting them in the same location as they were stock,
just formed to the case and landing bay.
Here's the pwr/reset panel mocked up with the landing bay.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel1.jpg)

And here's the rough position of the lower IO panel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel2.jpg)

Taking a sheet of plexi, I drew out my cut lines using the actual pieces.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel3.jpg)

I cut just on the other side of the lines...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel4.jpg)

...And trim to fit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel5.jpg)

Once it was glued in place, I scuffed the whole thing with my orbital.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel6.jpg)

Then threw on the bondo.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel7.jpg)

Sanded it down and sprayed a coat of primer to see where I was at. Almost there!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel8.jpg)

I bondo'ed the bottom side as well, then added the IO panel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel9.jpg)

Trimmed the plexi to fit, and added a touch of filler.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel10.jpg)

Another coat of primer, and it's looking pretty good.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel11.jpg)

Here it is on the case with the landing bay.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel12.jpg)


http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel13.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IOpanel14.jpg)

That's where I'm at. The whole assembly will be removable along with the landing bay. The lower IO panel
covers up the screws that secure the front lcd/optical assembly on. I dont want to paint myself into a corner,
so I gotta keep in mind how this case will come apart.
I'll probably secure both the landing bay and the floor/IO panel/pwr-reset panel to the top of the case with
four bolts, one at each corner. That's what I'll be doing next (tonight if I can get back in the garage!).

8)

[Boddaker]

Well, I almost got the front panel finished over the weekend, but as always, I come up with more
ideas and have no choice but to act on them (I swear it will be my undoing!). In the process of
filling in the areas around the insignia, lcd cluster, and IO panel, I felt the need to add more detail
elements (why break precedent, right?) These details will give more depth to the front panel,
which will be consistent with the side panels and landing bay.

So I started making a box with styrene, and threw in some wood dowels and acrylic rod for good measure.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel5.jpg)

This box will be located just under the insignia and dvd drive.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel6.jpg)

From the front, it looks like a bunch of conduit running up through the panel. It will get the rib treatment
and more styrene to cover up the left and right sides.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel7.jpg)

Just below that, the BSG ligature will be placed. I cut a styrene frame to mark its location.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel8.jpg)

And here it is roughed in. This was laser cut from 1/8" black acrylic. Thanks again to Brian from ModdersMart!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel9.jpg)

Here is a closer shot. I should have put the ruler in the frame for reference, but the entire ligature is only 4" wide. :eek:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel10.jpg)

Before I permanently glue the lettering down, I wanted to lay down the remaining armor panels.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel11.jpg)

So no, the front panel is not done, but it's getting there! If I can restrain myself from making this thing
more complicated, I might actually finish it this week. lol Stay tuned...

[Boddaker]

FRONT PANEL ALMOST DONE!!

I got a bunch of work done on the front panel over the holidays! So without further ado, here are the pics! :)
After finishing the bottom conduit box, I began to extend it on both sides to meet up with the curving panel.
I also added ribs to look like they run vertically underneath the panel and terminate at the insignia.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel14.jpg)

Here's a shot looking down into the conduit box. You can see I made it tall enough so the bottom cannot be seen.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel13.jpg)

Here is the top conduit box that will go above the insignia. Sorry I didn't realize it was upside down when I took the pic.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel15.jpg)

Here it is in its place behind the lcd screens.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel16.jpg)

I made a 1/8" styrene bulkhead for it to mount to.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel17.jpg)

Once that was in place, the arduous skinning process continued for both sides. A lot of test fitting was necessary
to get them to fill in the areas with no gaps or overlaps.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel18.jpg)

I glued a strip of styrene ribbing down the edges of the front panel to raise the armor up even with the side panels.
You will see how they go together once I get them on the case for a trial fit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel19.jpg)

Almost completely covered up.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel20_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel20.jpg)

The second layer of armor paneling goes on, same as before.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel21_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel21.jpg)

After many hours, here is the result.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel24_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel24.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel23_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel23.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel22_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel22.jpg)

I just have the top section to do, behind the LCD screens, which I will finish up tomorrow.

8)

[Boddaker]

Thanks TD! :D

A bit more work done on the top, between the LCD screens and IO panel. This is taking longer than I anticipated,
mostly due to the near-freezing temperatures we've had here lately. I was hoping to have all this done days ago.

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel25_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel25.jpg)

I cut the side pieces so they fit around the IO panel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel26_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel26.jpg)

Then made another piece to go in between them. Tacked them in place, then used bondo to reinforce the joints.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel27_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel27.jpg)

This last shot shows the pieces without the screens in place. I also sanded down the joints.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel28_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel28.jpg)

Still have to add the armor panels, and fit the pieces around the landing bay. Work continues!

[Boddaker]

Finished the rest of the top section of the front panel tonight!

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel29_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel29.jpg) http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel30_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Frontpanel30.jpg)

8)

[Boddaker]

Got the mesh in, so I started on fitting it into the engine pods. I wanted a recessed cone shape,
so it was a bit more involved than just cutting out a basic shape.

Started with a piece of mesh..
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods61_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods61.jpg)

..cut into it on one side and overlapped it to make a cone shape.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods62_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods62.jpg)

The more you overlap it, the sharper the cone. This is about where I need to be.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods63_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods63.jpg)

This shot shows the overlap, and how I'm able to match the hexagons pretty closely.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods64_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods64.jpg)

Starting to cut it down to size, bending it as I go.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods65_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods65.jpg)

Cut down even more. Now I can stick it into the pod for a trial fit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods66_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods66.jpg)

After a few trial fits, I just need to trim a bit here and there.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods67_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods67.jpg)

Done. Looks pretty good!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods68_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods68.jpg)

I've decided to take the easy route with the lighting, and just put a couple white cathodes inside the
side panels throwing light into the pods. That should spill enough out the back, and I won't have to
worry about wiring up individual leds in the center cones like I was planning earlier.

I should be able to finally mount the pods to the side panels within the next day or so. Next update
will show the mounting plates being made, and how they'll go on the side panels.

8)

[Boddaker]

As promised, the pod mounting plate construction:

Here are the pods positioned on the side panel. I guess I got a little carried away when I
applied the ribbing on the side panels all those months ago. Turns out I had to remove some
of them around the area where the pods are. Oh well, at least it's only one side.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods69_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods69.jpg)

I took a sheet of 1/8" styrene, set it behind the pods and traced a line.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods70_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods70.jpg)

Putting my new christmas present to immediate and good use! :D
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods71_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods71.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods72_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods72.jpg)

Here's that sheet after cutting, including air vent holes.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods73_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods73.jpg)

And here are the pods in place over the mounting plate.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods74_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods74.jpg)

Once glued in place, I can then go in and add ribbing around the pods, and addtional armor plating here and there.
But before I permanently stick the pods on, I still need to do some work to the side panels. I'll get the other side
ready to go too, and do them both at the same time. That will be in the next update, hopefully by the weekend.

8)

[Boddaker]

Sorry I haven't been able to respond the last couple days. That storm that came through the north state on Friday really packed a wallop. 60-70mph winds coupled with heavy rains took out hundreds of trees and power lines, rendering most of the city powerless for days, including our house. We had to transfer all perishables from the fridge to ice chests, and endure 56° temps in the house for two days.

Well, power finally got restored this morning, so I can finally get some work done out in the garage. I really wanted to get those pods on the side panels by this weekend, but it looks like that won't happen for another couple days. Gotta step up the pace to try and make up lost time now.



i have a quick question about the plasti-paste stuff you used. i know with many plastics used in pc cases you can use the same glue used to fix plexiglass togeather to bond with case plastics. i was wondering if works with this plasti paste stuff as well. any experiance with that?

I am using a CA glue (cyanoacrylate) for the styrene and it seems to adhere well to the plasti paste too. I used it to glue all the ribbing onto the top of the landing bay.

[Boddaker]

Well, here's what I got done tonight. A small, but significant update, as this documents the
ceremonial joining of the engine pods and side panels! :banana:

I first glued them down after roughing up the surface of the aluminum a bit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods75_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods75.jpg)

After they set up, I applied copious amounts of bondo around them, filling in all the gaps.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods76_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Pods76.jpg)

Here is one side on the case, after adding the armor panels.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP13.jpg)

And a closeup shot showing how I had to fit the armor to the shape of the pods.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP14.jpg)

Not much, like I said. But significant none the less! I plan on getting the second armor layer
done tomorrow, and then hopefully a good jump on the armor for the other side.

[Boddaker]

More work done on the side panels!

Got the second layer of armor paneling down. Here's one of the sections penciled out.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP15.jpg)

..And a shot after gluing it down and removing the left overs.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP16.jpg)

After getting the side panels to a point where they look half way decent, I thought I would take a few shots
of the whole case together. It's good for me to take a step back every so often and get an overall view of it
as a computer case. I've been so close to it ever since I started, working on small sections by themselves,
that I forgot how important that is. :)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit1.jpg)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit2.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit3_sm.jpg
(http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit3.jpg) http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Dryfit4.jpg)

Still got a long way to go, but it's real nice to see that the pieces actually fit together. lol!

8)

[Boddaker]

So I took a little break from the side panel detailing to work on the landing bay a bit more. I need to
secure it down to the case somehow, so I came up with a simple frame that will bolt to the case,
and the landing bay will bolt to that. Here's what I got so far:

Bent two pieces of aluminum flat bar.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB138_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB138.jpg)

Bent them so they follow the contour of the landing bay's ceiling.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB139_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB139.jpg)

Left enough length at the ends to extend down into the case at the sides.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB140_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB140.jpg)

Positioned them so they pick up existing holes in the case frame that are already countersunk.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB141_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB141.jpg)

Here's a shot of the test fit, looking in from the back. If this case does any racing, I got SAE certified roll bars installed! lol
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB142_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LB142.jpg)

Once I get the roll bars fastened to the case, I can drill holes through the top of the landing bay,
then conceal them with some stealthy armor panel covers.

---------------
TEASER SHOT!
---------------

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD1.jpg)

This is a partial inventory as I dont have all the parts yet, but this will go inside the case once assembled.

:twisted:

[Boddaker]

Well, I'm still alive, and slowly getting back to working on this thing. What with the cold rainy weather and the whole fam-damily being sick all week, I've been hard pressed to get into the garage at all.
I did manage to bring some panels into the house so I could apply more detail pieces in between coughing fits, so all was not totally lost I guess. lol I'll try to get some pics posted later.

In the mean time, here's another teaser shot. Basically, all the parts in the first teaser assembled (and no, its not a dual res! lol).
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD2.jpg)

[Boddaker]

Ok here's what I got to show ya. While I was laid up in the house, I managed to get some details
put on the side panels. Of course my son had to lend me a helping hand. He turned out to be a pretty good sander! :D

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP17.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP18.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SP19.jpg)

I got both side panels detailed, as well as the front panel. Once I get a coat of primer on them I will
take some more shots. (primer always makes things look so much better!)

---------------
TEASER #3
---------------

Here is the unit installed in the case. Actually, this thing won't even be seen once the case is finished!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD3.jpg)

[Boddaker]

---------------
MYSTERY MODULE REVEALED!
---------------

OK, here it is: The mystery module is neither a dual res, nor ambient light tubes, but an integral part of a
functional blast door mechanism! That's right folks, BSG will have fully operational motorized blast doors,
one on each side. :twisted:

So far I've got both doors built, and one side totally loaded up onto the spool. Check it out:

The doors themselves are made up of .010 sheets and .040 strips of styrene, spaced 1/8" apart.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD5.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD6.jpg)

The result is a strong but flexible door that looks and acts like a segmented garage roll-up type door.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD7.jpg)

I glued styrene C-channel to the top and bottom of a piece of clear acrylic. These will be the tracks in which the doors will travel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD8.jpg)

Here is the whole thing positioned in the side panel. I forgot to take pictures of it, but I added a gentle curve
to the acrylic on the front end heading towards the hard drive cage.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD9.jpg)

The door in its closed position.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD10.jpg)

I had to cut away part of the drive cage to allow the doors to pass through to the spool.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD4.jpg)

To provide a smooth corner for the doors to travel around, I cut a channel out of a piece of acrylic tubing
and fit it over the sharp edge of the drive cage.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD11.jpg)

A shot from the front...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD12.jpg)

A shot from the side...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD13.jpg)

Here is the panel on the case, with the blast door in its fully open position. It could open more,
but the drive cage's posterior support beam is right there with nothing exciting to see beyond
that, so there's no need to open any further.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD14.jpg)

Shot from the front. You can see the door reeled up on the spool, demonstrating how flexible it is.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD15.jpg)

Now it's on to the other side to finish the tracks and door fitment. I'm still waiting on the servos and limit switches,
so I won't be able to finish the blast door assembly until then. But it's not like I won't have any work to do while I'm waiting! lol

8)

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys! You all rock! :banana:

So since I obviously won't be finishing this case by this next weekend (PDXLAN11), I'm still
going to bring it up and just throw my system into it as is. I just had to fab up a special hard drive
mount for the dual Raptors.

I cut some solid black acrylic pieces and fit them into the case.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD1.jpg)

Then I took the largest piece and cut sections out for the drives. I used a couple spare drives as templates.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD2.jpg)

Here they are positioned in the case.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD3.jpg)

Then I cut two more strips of acrylic, drilled the mouning holes, glued them to the main piece,
and added some triangle gussets for strength.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/HD4.jpg)

Here's a tip: in order to make sure eveything fits the way they're supposed to, screw the pieces
onto the drives first, then glue them down. This will ensure the mounting holes will line up to the drives
after the glue has dried.

I'm building the system tonight, so hopefully I will have another update for you tomorrow, with pics of a
fully primed, semi-complete rig! :D

[Boddaker]

OK

As much as I hate making non-pic posts, I wanted to give you guys a quick update. I got all the components installed into BSG, and have been installing the OS and games to get ready for this weekend. I ran into a couple snags with the dvd drive and front panel though. First, the drive that I so meticulously added a window to, doesn't work. It powers up and takes a disc, but can't get it mounted successfully so it spits it back out. As I feared, that small ring I glued back onto the plexi was off just enough to keep the disc from seating correctly. Fortunately, I purchased a backup drive for just such an emergency, so I was still able to load software.
Then, when it came time to put the drive back into the front panel, I neglected to allow for cable clearance in the back. The IDE adapter took more room than I expected, so the cable hits part of the paneling. The solution was to cut away the interfering part, and make a box to cover it. So that is what I did last night.

I should be able to put it all together tonight and take some pics. However, I am leaving early in the AM tomorrow, so I don't know if I can post before then (I still have to pack!).

[Boddaker]

Well, here are the primed pics as promised:

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime1.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime2.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime3.jpg)

And here it is all thrown together. It actually doesn't look to bad in primer!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Prime4.jpg)

So like I said, I'm by no means done with this case. Still got tons of work yet before I can call this thing done.
But building it up like this really helped to point out some problematic areas that will need to be addressed.
It's good to find out about those now, than during the final assembly.

Anyways, I've got a long drive ahead of me tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Will post pics of the lan when I get a chance.

8)

[Boddaker]

Well, the LAN was great. Had a great time, got a lot of good comments and feedback (and a few new contacts for hardware! :D )
Here are a couple shots, but after looking at these pics, they really dont' offer up much more than the pics i took before I left for the lan lol. But here you go:

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/lan1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/lan1.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/lan2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/lan2.jpg)

I think my next task while it's up and running will be getting the lcd's hooked up and working.

8)

[Boddaker]

HOLY CRAP AN UPDATE!!!!

Ok, it's been way too long since I last updated, and I apologize for that. Life, as they say, got in the way
and I was extremely hard-pressed to get myself into the garage to work on this project.
So enough with the excuses, let's get on with the goods shall we? :D

Last time I posted, I had just thrown the case together temporarily to get up to PDXLAN. None of the special
features of the case were funtional (blast doors, mini lcd's, landing bay), it was just a case with a bunch of crap
glued onto it lol.

Well, these last few weeks I have been silently working on the blast doors. And they have proven to be a lot more
difficult than I had originally anticipated. The basic idea was to have them roll up onto spools that are housed in a
removable module mounted in the drive cage, with the spools being connected to servos. Well, rolling them
up is not the problem. The servo motors are more than capable of reeling up the doors. Where I ran into a bit of
a snag is when the motors are reversed, and they attempt to push the doors back closed. Being as flexible as
the doors are, this was not to be an easy task, as they would just buckle at the first sign of friction, regardless of
the fact that they were contained in a set of tracks.

So I devised a plausible solution: add another spool and servo on the opposite end that will pull the door closed.
This is the main focus of my come-back post. :)

Now that I have given you more than enough back story, I can proceed with the pics!

Here is a shot of the blast door in its tracks. You can see I added a 1/16" aluminum flat bar support on the right side,
and some bracketry to hold the tracks in place along the drive cage.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD16.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD17.jpg)

Here is the bracket i made to hold the servo for the closing spool.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD18.jpg)

The bracket riveted to the vertical support bar, and case frame.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD19.jpg)

The servo mounted in the bracket.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD20_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD20.jpg)

And here is a shot of the closing spool mounted onto the servo.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD21_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD21.jpg)

It doesn't look like much, but trust me, you're looking at a month's worth of work here! Granted my modding time
has been severely cut down to nil, but I still think it was a lot of work! :lick: I will show more detailed shots of the
spool later, and how I devised the upper pivot point, which happens to also be the means of removing the spool.

Next update sometime this weekend! (I promise!)

Glad to be back, and I hope to keep trucking on this until its finished!

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok, finally another update! I know it's not as frequent as I promised before, but at least it hasn't been
2 months like last time! Anyways, I'm slowly making progress on this blast door, creeping ever closer to
a fully functional system.

I wanted to show you how I made the pivot point for the smaller spool. Here is a shot of the piece I added
above the spool that has a screw in the center. It's just a small piece of 1/8" aluminum riveted in place and tapped.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD26_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD26.jpg)

Here's a shot from below looking up.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD27_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD27.jpg)

A shot from below, with the spool disconnected from the pivot screw. I removed the threads off end of the
screw so it wouldn't screw into the top of the spool. You can also see that huge factory-made hole to the left
which was why I had to add that extra piece of aluminum over it.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD28_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD28.jpg)

And here's the top view of the spool showing the center hole where the screw sits. To remove the spool,
I simply unscrew the set screw and lift it out. :)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD29_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD29.jpg)

Ok, so with the smaller spool in place I added the clear film. Got this sheet from my local drafting
supply store. It's 5mils thick.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD22_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD22.jpg)

Taped one end to the blast door, and the other I wrapped around the small spool. Sorry for the pics,
but it is quite difficult to photograph things that are completely transparent!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD23_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD23.jpg)

This shows the blast door open with the acetate stretching across the window opening.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD24_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD24.jpg)

I opened the door a bit wider so you could see the extra pieces I added on the left for the door to glide on.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD25_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD25.jpg)

Next, I got the limit switches mounted. They "limit" the movement of the door by cutting power to the servos
once the door reaches a set position. This one will stop the door after it has closed fully.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD30_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD30.jpg)

And this one will stop the door once it has opened fully. I extended the leading edge of the door with some
styrene, which will serve to trip the limit switches.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD31_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD31.jpg)

Now all that's left is mounting the controller board, and a bit of wiring and it will be ready to rock. :D Video is definitely
forthcoming, hopefully by this weekend if all goes well.

8)

[Boddaker]

Slight delay on getting the blast door working. Ran into some issues and couldn't get the two servos to play nice together no matter how I wired them. So I am looking into a USB controller that I can program via a windows interface. Hopefully then I will be able to program the sequence and adjust the speeds more accurately.

So while I am waiting on that, I decided to focus my attention on another part of the case, more specifically, the other side panel behind the motherboard tray. This is a welcome change of pace, as I was getting totally bogged down and frustrated. Now I get to actually make some progress! I will upload some pics tonight so 'til then. :)

[Boddaker]

Well, I thought I had more pics than this, but I dont. So it will have to suffice for now. Call it a teaser shot lol!

I made up a cardboard template for the other side panel's opening, so I could place the 10" LCD screen along with
the larger BSG lettering I had cut way back when I did the small lettering for the front. (thanks again to Moddersmart.com)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD42_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD42.jpg)

I got something special planned for the lettering, but you'll have to wait to see what that is. :twisted:

[Boddaker]

So while I'm waiting for things, I thought I would delve back into my windowed slot loading dvd drive,
and see if I could fix it. If you remember, the disc wouldn't fully load into the drive. It would go in and try to
mount, but would just spit back out. I pretty much knew what I had done wrong, that I hadn't gotten the
center ring positioned correctly. So after taking the drive cover off again, I carefully unstuck it off the acrylic window.
Then I removed the cover off my spare drive and proceeded to take more precise measurements.

Here is a shot of both covers side by side:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL26_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL26.jpg)

Once I got the measurements, I transferred them to the window and re-glued the center ring back down.
After ample drying time, I powered the drive up and loaded a disc in. This time it took the disc all the way, but
didn't quite seat it onto the hub. As a consequence, it spit the disc back out. After a few more tries, I figured
out that with just a slight bit of downward pressure on the window, it will seat. The center ring is merely there
for the drive's actuating arm to press against momentarily in order to seat the disc onto the spinning hub.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL27_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL27.jpg)

Here it is spinning away!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL28_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL28.jpg)

And here's a shot with the disc ejected.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL29_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/SL29.jpg)

So all I have to do is apply a little bit of pressure on the window for it to work. I will accomplish this by adding
a small acrylic washer in between the medallion and the window, so when i secure the medallion down, it will apply
that pressure and should solve the problem.

8)

[Boddaker]

Holy crap, it's been another month since my last update?? Where does the time go? Granted, the whole move thing
has sucked what little free time I have left outa me, but still! I remember not too long ago I was good for an update at
least once a week. Well, it's time I get back to that, especially if I am to have any chance at making Nvision'08 in August!
(yes, I know Battlestar Galactica actress Trisha Helfer (Number Six) will be a guest speaker there) :D

So, here is an actual update, with pics: I got my LCD panel from Moddersmart (http://www.moddersmart.com),
so I immediately set the lettering in place to see how it will look. First I tore the paper backing off
around the cutouts, and got the lettering lined up and ready.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD43_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD43.jpg)

Here's a closeup of just the cutouts. They look funky by themselves, but they'll line up with the centers of the lettering.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD44_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD44.jpg)

I took a red ccfl and held it behind the panel.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD45_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD45.jpg)

Then I placed the lettering over the cutouts and lined it all up. Here's a shot with the red ccfl.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD46_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD46.jpg)

The lettering faces will be painted to match the logo, so it will be easier to read. Also, not shown is the
smaller "BATTLESTAR" lettering that will eventually be placed above it.

The other item I got in was the vinyl landing deck decal I had made up. I drew up a vector image in
Illustrator and sent it to Liquid Sticker Designs (www.ilovelsd.com) to be printed on vinyl. Special thanks go to Lee Stringer (http://www.leestringer.com/) for
helping me out with the design! He was nice enough to send me a few reference pics of the actual CG model. :D
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD1.jpg)

Here it is in position. It will obviously be trimmed down, and the power/reset buttons will be cut out as well.
Time permitting, I will be adding some chase led's for running lights down both sides. :)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD2.jpg)

[Boddaker]

Here's a quicky update:

Work continues on the LCD panel. Placed it on the case with the side panel for positioning.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD47_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD47.jpg)

Testing for clearance...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD48_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD48.jpg)

After that I decided to get the smaller lettering glued on.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD49_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD49.jpg)

A closeup shot (don't mind the mess, the letters will be painted):
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD50_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD50.jpg)

Here's a shot with the protective sheet peeled off. I screwed up by spilling CA glue all over the front of the panel.
Now I got some polishing to do!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD51_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD51.jpg)

A couple shots with the ccfl's behind it. Looks like the opaque black acrylic isn't as opaque as I thought. Will have to
cover the back of it with something to keep the red from showing through.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD52_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD52.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD53_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD53.jpg)

8)

[Boddaker]

Another quicky update:
Got the foil tape from my friendly neighborhood Pep Boys. Only $3.49 for a 2" x 10' roll. :)
Applied it to the back side of the panel and cut away the area around the lettering holes.

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD54_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD54.jpg)

Here's a shot from the front with the tape applied. No more red showing through! I also hooked up
the LCD screen to make sure it worked, and threw on the landing bay for grins and giggles. :wink:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD55_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD55.jpg)

That's it for now. Will have another update for ya Sunday night. Til then! :D

[Boddaker]

........................................
BLOODY FANTASTIC. Man this mod is absolutely fantastic, keep up the awesome work. +rep

Thanks man! :D


in-freaking sane....

everything has already been stated Bod.... you certainly dont need me telling you how fantastic this baby looks.... but I will anyway!

Truly, an awesome and inspiring piece of work. You are doing a consistently excellent job. Way to go!

-=TD

Thanks TD! Your Deuce project is coming along quite nicely as well. Being a hot-rodder as well I can really appreciate the work you are doing, especially the paint work and flames. Can't wait to see it all finished up! :D

[Boddaker]

Ok, it's Sunday night and, as promised, here is another update! :D

I revised the blast door setup yet again, in an attempt to make it even simpler. Trying to synchronize two servos
at varying speeds proved more difficult than I thought, and produced inconsistent results at best. So I have returned
to using just one servo, and having it control both rollers. Since I already have one servo connected directly to the smaller
roller, I will just need to add a small pulley to it, and a long o-ring to attach the larger roller. The speed difference will be
accounted for in the pulley sizes.

Another alteration is to simplify the path that the door has to take. I had originally intended for the door to travel towards
the front, and make a 90° turn into the hard drive cage where the rollers were located. That was adding too much drag, and the
door was getting caught up at the turn. So my solution is to hack away part of the hard drive cage and mount the roller
closer to the window, thus shortening the path.

So here is the roller, and approximately where it will be relocated to:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD32_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD32.jpg)

After cutting away part of the hard drive cage, I took two pieces of aluminum angle bar and sandwiched
them together, with the HD cage in the middle.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD33_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD33.jpg)

Using pop rivets in a staggered fashion, I fastened them together. This will provide a good solid mount for
the cut-down roller holder.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD34_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD34.jpg)

Then I pop-riveted the holder into place, utilizing the holes I drilled prior to riveting down the angle pieces.
Believe it or not, I actually thought ahead for once! :D
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD35_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD35.jpg)

Once I get the second roller in place, I can measure the distance between the two and see how large an o-ring or belt I will need.

[Boddaker]

Another quicky update:

Worked on making a small pulley for the small roller last night. I measured out a circle about 1/2" diameter on 1/4" thick acrylic and cut it out.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD36_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD36.jpg)

I stuck a bolt through it, then using the ol' drill press, I proceeded to file it down to size. This makes a perfect circle.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD37_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD37.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD38_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD38.jpg)

Then I made the channel of the pulley with a round file.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD39_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/BD39.jpg)

Next up, gluing it to the roller, and adjusting the servo mount.

8)

[Boddaker]

Moving right along, I'm getting things wired up. Starting with some led strings, one for the dummy lcd screens in the cluster,
and another for backlighting the medallion.

First, I printed some BSG graphics onto transparency paper and cut them out. This particular transparency
paper has an adhesive backing.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD56_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD56.jpg)

Stuck them onto the screens. These leds will be white.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD57_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD57.jpg)

I forgot to take a picture of the leds wired up and in place behind the screens. I will post that and a shot
of it all lit up this weekend.


For the medallion, I drilled six holes behind the bird to fit the leds. These will be red.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion3.jpg)

Then I soldered them all together in series.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion4.jpg)

For the medallion base, I routed out some material to make room for the wiring. This will all be hidden
behind the bird, which will be painted.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion5.jpg)

Here's a shot of the leds placed in the routed area. I drilled a hole through the base at the bottom
for the wires to feed through.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion6.jpg)

Once I get it all soldered together and tested, I will use some hot glue to keep everything in place,
then sandwich it all together. Then I can paint it! :D

[Boddaker]

Thanks, everyone!

I've been working more on the led strings, and did some testing. I decided to do all six led's in series,
with a 10ohm resistor. Here is a shot of the medallion string soldered together and in place:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion7.jpg)

Since I haven't painted the bird yet, I threw some masking tape over it to give you kind of an idea of how it
will look with the backlight. So disregard the faint bleed through! Although it does show you where the leds are. ;-)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Medallion8.jpg)

And here is a shot of the other dummy LCD screens all lit up:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD58_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD58.jpg)

Starting to come together!

8)

[Boddaker]

I've been working on more led's. This time I'm wiring up the running lights that will blink sequentially
on the landing deck. Now I'm no electronics guru, I think I've mentioned that before. About all I'm good
for is determining positive from negative, and basic soldering. :P So since I can't make up a custom circuit
that will make the led's blink in sort of sequence, I found one online!

Here is the landing deck as I am drilling holes for the leds.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD3.jpg)

A closer up shot of the front.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD4.jpg)

Qkits (http://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/FK176) sells these led kits in many forms. This one in particular has 15 leds in a row that blink sequentially from the center out.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD5.jpg)

The kit is really quite simple, it just requires you to solder all the components onto the circuit board.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD6.jpg)

After about an hour of soldering, I got all the pieces mounted, with the exception of the leds. I will be
replacing the red 5mm ones with white 3mm leds. The resistors in the kit should make them a bit dimmer, but thats ok.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD7.jpg)

Now obviously, I won't be soldering the leds onto the circuit board, as they have to be relocated to their
respective places on the landing deck. To accomplish this, I will be using a spare floppy drive ribbon cable.
It has 34 wires, but I only need 30. So I simply slice off the remaining 4.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD8.jpg)

I soldered one end to the kit's pcb where the led's would have gone.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD9.jpg)

Done!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD10.jpg)

Now with the led's in place, I can cut the individual wires to length and solde them up. This kit has 15 leds,
and runs the lights from the center out. So I will be putting the first led up front under the power button, then
the rest down both sides so it will blink in pairs into the landing bay.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LD11.jpg)

I also made some rails out of styrene to hold the pcb underneath the landing deck. You can see them in the last pic.
Hopefully I can finish this thing up tonight and do a test run.

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok, finally got the vid up! :D So, withour further ado, here is the testing of the running lights:

za33Fe5Ygvc

[Boddaker]

Well, I'm trying to button up the whole front panel this week, so I test fitted the small 2.5" lcd's into their pocket frames. I needed to figure out what to do with the top to cover the opening. The screens give off some heat, and they have small flat cables coming out of the top, connecting them to their control boards, so I couldn't just make a lid and cover it all up.

So I decided to make some vent covers out of one of the stock mesh grills that came with the stacker case.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD59_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD59.jpg)

Here are all three cut, with areas cut away for cable clearance.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LVD60_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LVD60.jpg)

Installed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD61_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD61.jpg)

A close up of one.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD62_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD62.jpg)

Also, the cables were an ugly orange color, so I colored them all black with a sharpie. :glasses:

[Boddaker]

Thanks again for the comments!

Ok, time for an update! I got some goodies in last week, including my Black Ice X-Flow 360 radiator, so I
could do the last bit of hacking on the case (hopefully). I will be mounting the rad under the floor in the base.

Here is the case upside down, showing how I expanded the existing cutout to match the radiator.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC2.jpg)

Here's the rad in place.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC1.jpg)
Now I know what your thinking, that I am mounting a 360 rad where a 240 should go due to the shorter opening.
Well, I have my reasons! :lick: I will explain a bit later, and all will be clear as mud.


So, if any of you eagle eyes noticed, the rad is about as thick as the base is tall. And since putting wheels on this thing
(or any style of case feet for that matter) is pretty much out of the question, I need to extend the base somehow
to give the rad ample airflow underneath. So I got some 1" aluminum box tubing and threw it into the scroll saw.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base1.jpg)

The resulting piece. I'm matching the base's curves for a nice clean extension. This is the front...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base2.jpg)

And this is the rear, with lines drawn where to cut.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base3.jpg)

Here are both front and rear in place for a test fit.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base4.jpg)

If you'll notice, the base comes straight down a bit at the very bottom. This will need to be rectified in order to
continue that angled body line. Before...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base5.jpg)

And after.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base6.jpg)

For mounting, I was able to pick up a few of the existing threaded holes originally meant for the wheels that
came with the case. So after I marked the hole positions on the bottom, I drilled them out.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base7.jpg)

And in order to get the screws in, I drilled out oversized holes on the top. one done, three more to go!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base9.jpg)

Once the extensions were mounted, I moved to the front of the base. I need to do something there as well, otherwise it will look funny. So I made a couple pieces out of angle bar...
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base10_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base10.jpg)

...And mounted them in place. Now the body line below the front bezel continues down to the bottom of the extension.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base11_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base11.jpg)

I will be finishing up the base tomorrow, so expect another update real soon!

8)

[Boddaker]

BASE EXTENSION PART 2:

Having finished the extensions yesterday, I was able to skin the whole thing with styrene today, complete
with armor paneling. :) Here I am gluing down the base layer of styrene. I roughed up the metal
surface with the dremel, using a cut-off wheel, to make the glue stick better.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base12_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base12.jpg)

After the glue set up, I trimmed the excess.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base13_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base13.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base14_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base14.jpg)

I then removed the base from the case and brought it inside to apply the armor paneling. I did it just as before:
sketching out a random pattern, cutting the panels out almost completely, gluing them down, and cutting away the remainder.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base15_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base15.jpg)

Now I just need to go back and glue all the edges down and this side's done.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base16_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base16.jpg)

With both sides done, I shot it with some primer.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base17_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base17.jpg)

Stuck it back on the case, and threw on the front and side panels for kicks to see how it looks.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base18_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base18.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base19_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base19.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base20_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Base20.jpg)

Pretty good I'd say. At first glance you'd never know it was extended, which was my goal. :D

[Boddaker]

Ok, so I was going to start painting last week, but as i began to make preparations, I realized I needed to do
a few more things before I could begin the paint process. Parts needed a bit more detail added, and the keyboard
and monitor needed some work as well. Might as well have everything ready so I can paint it all at once.

So the keyboard and monitor got the ol' rib/armor treatment:

First I drew some random armor paneling onto the palm rest, and cut out a few portions.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB2.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB1.jpg)

Then I added the ribbing behind the cutout areas.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB4.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB3.jpg)

Then I covered the bottom.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB6.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB5.jpg)

Here it is attached to the keyboard.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB7.jpg)

Still gotta add a few more details, and prime.

For my main monitor I'm using an IZ3D 22" widescreen. I removed the front bezel and started adding the ribs.
These are just on for placement.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ1.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ2.jpg)

Gluing them down. Using a piece of tape to help keep the top and bottom ribs lined up.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ3.jpg)

Ribs done, and some detail pieces added for good measure.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ4.jpg)

Primed.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/IZ5.jpg)

Now there are just some minor things to finish up before masking and painting everything.
If I can get the base coat on tonight I will be looking really good. :)

[Boddaker]

Here's a quick report of what I did last night. I set out to replace the psu fan with a red led fan. Sounds simple right?
One would think! It would be quite simple if the psu had a standard 120 mm fan in it, but I quickly found out that the
Cooler Master 850w modular psu wasn't going to adhere to standards!

Here is the stock fan I removed from the psu after breaking the great seal of warranty advocacy.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF1.jpg)

Here you can see the difference between that fan and a standard 120mm fan. It measured 136mm!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF2.jpg)

So what to do? I doubt I could find a 136mm red led fan anywhere, and I can't easily fit the 120mm fan in without
fashioning some sort of adapter plate. While I was pondering this, I noticed the 136mm fan had pre-drilled
holes through it at each corner that were suspiciously the same size as a 3mm led.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF3.jpg)

Upon further investigation, I found that the holes were the perfect size for a 3mm led!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF4.jpg)

So I got to work wiring up some red leds.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF5.jpg)

Rounding each corner, connecting them in series.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF6.jpg)

Then I got the (not so) bright idea to connect the led wires directly to the fan's 12v source, where its original
wires are soldered in the center. I thought it would be so clever and stealthy to have it all self contained!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF7.jpg)

Well, upon powering it up, the led's were quite dim, and the fan wasn't spinning very fast lol. Here are a
couple really crappy no-flash shots to try and capture the dimness.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF8.jpg)
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/PF9.jpg)

Because of the lackluster result of my fan modification, I resorted to running the wires externally. I did
contemplate soldering them directly to one of the many 12v sources within the power supply, but I chickened out,
thinking I could potentially fry the whole danged thing (my success rating for the evening was less than admirable).

So there you have it, one of 18 days before Nvision burned and only a black fan with red leds to show for it. lol... (sigh)

[Boddaker]

Started painting over the weekend! Got the base coat down on everything, so the case is finally a uniform color.

Here's a shot of my makeshift paint booth, which really isn't a booth at all. I just strung a line across my garage opening lol.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Paint1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Paint1.jpg)

You can't really tell from the pic, but the paint has a nice sheen to it. Not to shiny, not too dull.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB8.jpg)

A closeup shot. Still the pic doesn't do it justice!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB9_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/KB9.jpg)

Once I get it assembled, I will give you a teaser shot. Then I will start adding various shades of gray on
the individual panels, shadowing, weathering, etc.. Having never done it before, I hope I don't screw it up!

[Boddaker]

Getting the water cooling components installed. Got a nice package from Moddersmart (http://www.moddersmart.com) on Wednesday
which consisted of the pump, hose, clamps and fittings, and fluid. I will get the cpu block in first thing next week.

I permanently mounted the rad and fans on the bottom. The triple rad extends the length of the floor, with
one end close to the cpu block.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC3.jpg)

The other end has the fitting emerging in the hard drive cage area,
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC4_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC4.jpg)

...which will connect to the pump mounted above.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC6_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC6.jpg)

Here's a shot of the blast flow GPU blocks. I just have them on for placement right now.
Waiting to see if I can get the plates. If not, I'll use ram sinks.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC5_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC5.jpg)

I also worked on assembling the front bezel. But you don't get to see that until later. :twisted:

[Boddaker]

Sorry for the lack of updates, but with only one week to go, I've been too busy to worry about posting pics!
But here's one to tie you over, a shot from behind the front bezel. Had a bit of wiring to do!

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Wiring1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Wiring1.jpg)

Had to remount the lcd screens' circuit boards in a different configuration than I originally had them, mostly for clearance purposes.

Also, having a modular psu really helped as well, as I was able to take one of the 4-pin cables and plug the DVD
drive in first along with the IDE cable, then string them into the case as I put the front bezel on. Much easier! :)

[Boddaker]

Almost there!

Here's a shot of the interior panels that Moddersmart cut for me:
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Panels_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Panels.jpg)

Getting the wc up and running. Had a couple leaks, on both rad fittings. Wrenched on 'em too hard and
squished the o-ring out. doh! But I managed to replace them without too much trouble.
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC7_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC7.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC8_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/WC8.jpg)

Shot of the left side behind the LCD panel. Distribution blocks for supplying power to the led's and lcd's. What a mess!
http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Wiring2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/Wiring2.jpg)

And a final teaser shot of the lcd panel up and running complete with DRADIS. :)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD63_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/LCD63.jpg)

Will get more pics up during the showw. Gotta pack up now!

8)

[Boddaker]

Well I made it to Nvision! Here are some shots I took after we got the lcd's all working. :)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/NV1_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/NV1.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/NV2_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/NV2.jpg)

http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/NV3_sm.jpg (http://www.bods-mods.com/BSG/NV3.jpg)

Sry the flash doesn't do it justice. It really looks sweet in low light!

8)

[Boddaker]

Thanks a ton guys! :D

Well, I made it back from Nvision last night around midnight. I will post pics of all the mods a bit later. It was a real great turnout, with about 15-20 mods competing. I got a third place finish. I was hoping for better, but I can't complain. At least I placed and took home some cash ($500), a new EVGA 790i FTW mobo, and GTX 260 vid card. :D

[Boddaker]

I was curious about your side lcd. How did you get signal to it and could you link to it on moddersmart, I can't find it.

The side LCD is connected to an EVGA USB video card. (http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=100-U2-UV12-A1&family=USB) It has a different driver than the main cards, and it fired right up first time with no problems. I have it mounted inside the hard drive cage area, hidden from sight. It was one of the last things I did during my feverish scramble to finish the case for the show, so I don't have pics of it.

[Boddaker]

Ok, for all of you who were waiting for a blast door video, I have sad news. I had to scrap the blast door idea. However, I didn't give up! I took a step back, regrouped, made more changes to the rollers, and made an airlock door instead. :) Mind you, it's not without its flaws. It still produces inconsistent movement and I'm not 100% confident in its operation, which is why I didn't mention it to the judges at Nvision. But it works!

Here's a video I made detailing the DVD drive and the airlock. Enjoy!

x1UaIXbt1VA

8)

[Boddaker]

Ok, this is cool... SciFi.com's sister site DVICE got wind of my case and did their own article.
http://dvice.com/archives/2008/10/battlestar_gala.php

What's even cooler is that SciFi put a linky right on their BSG home page! :D
http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/

"Somewhere between Earth, the Galactica, and awesome, lies the Battlestar PC..." lol

[Boddaker]

Thanks for everything guys! :D
Things have been going great for BSG lately. I've got a couple things to announce:
As I'm sure most of you know, BSG was nominated for "Mod of the Year" on Bit-Tech. You can check it out here (http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2008/12/24/bit-tech-mod-of-the-year-2008/1). Even if I don't win, just being nominated is truly an honor in and of itself!

In other news, I just found out that BSG will be featured on a Canadian TV show! :D
"The Circuit", (http://www.spacecast.com/thecircuit.aspx) which airs on SPACE, will feature BSG in an upcoming episode on January 16th to commemorate the laast half of the final season of BSG premiering that same day. Should be pretty cool, I wish I could receive Canadian channels lol.

[Boddaker]

Here's the segment on BSG from "The Circuit" TV show that aired last Friday:

-sPVNyBX4AA

8)

[Boddaker]

Thank you Spyrious! The led's that light up the optical drive are on constantly. I had aspirations of making them light up only when a disc is inserted, but never got around to it. Most standard 5 1/4" bay drives actually have disc-in, disc-out headers on their pcb, and there is a worklog on Bit-Tech by someone showing how to utilize them for lighting purposes, but I can't seem to find it right now. The slimline drive I used was difficult to work with though. Its pcb is buried underneath all the actuating arms so I couldn't get to it to see if it had any headers like that. So my thought was to mount a momentary switch at the drive's entrance so it would be depressed by the disc, turning the lights on when inserted and off when ejected.