Son of Zodiac (aka Rocketfish redux)

[iandh]

This is case is a sequel to my project Zodiac, from about a year ago. This build was commissioned by a fan of that project, a member on another forum that I frequent.

I usually don't do commissioned builds, but I couldn't resist this one because my personal computer budget is zero atm (hardware fix on someone elses dime :D), and it is somewhat nostalgic for me as well. Plus it's almost like getting a second chance, I get to do some things on this build that I wish I would have done/changed on Zodiac.

Day One PSU mounting and divder/cable shrouds


Here I prepare to shoehorn the beastly CP-850 into the fish
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1002.jpg

Marked up mtg holes and cut lines
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1003.jpg

After cutting with air nibbler, finishing with handheld air belt sander, drum sander, file
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1010.jpg

Mounted, looks very nice...
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1013.jpg

Made up lower shroud, .062" 6061 Alu
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1014.jpg

Another shot
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1017.jpg

The customer wanted a front wire management cover. I am making everything very uniform and flexible on this build because he plans on having more than one different rig/setup built into this case over time, so needs room to expand/make changes.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1022.jpg

Close-up
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1024.jpg

There is plenty of room behind the drives for cables, etc.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1025.jpg

Final shot for the day. More coming later this weekend. :)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day1029.jpg

Day Two Pump mounting

I'm going to be adapting the 3.5" drive bay to vibration mount the pump. The top of the drive bay has some handy little pre-punched grommet mounts that will be perfect for the leftover Antec silicone HDD mounting grommets I found in my junk box. I wanted the pump mount to be effective in deadening the vibraton from the pump but still stay compact and sleek looking.



A couple before pics:
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2002.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2005.jpg


I removed the 3.5" mount, flipped it upside down and relocated the mounting holes, and then trimmed it, and installed the grommets.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2007.jpg


The pump mounting plate has holes to allow for backwards facing, 45 degree, or sideways mounting for the pump.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2009.jpg


The pump is mounted using 6-32 screws with nuts attached from the bottom. The nuts are tightened slightly on the grommets, and have star washers between them and the pump plate, so should not come loose (hopefully), if there is a problem a backer nut can be used.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2012.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2015.jpg


Here's a couple shots with the front reattached:
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2033.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day2038.jpg

[DonT-FeaR]

this would be one happy chappy im guessing?

hahah

looking awesome!

[Kumo]

Nice and very clean start.

[Zeroignite]

Yup, Clean's the word. Looks very professional.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I really enjoyed watching your original mod, I will be keeping my eye on this.

[iandh]

I really enjoyed watching your original mod, I will be keeping my eye on this.

I enjoyed doing my original mod, but so far I'm thinking I may enjoy getting a re-do even more. Not that I have any major regrets about Zodiac, but it's kind of like getting to travel back in time and change the past... very cool. :)

I'm hoping for a chance this weekend to do another update.

[Beta-brain]

Nice work, :up: that PSU is very neat with the external fan I had search for that PSU and the fan is a 120mm so that PSU must be quite a big lump but a nice lump, it's obviously alright the way you have fitted it but wouldn't it be too big to fit in a lot of cases in the usual way at the top, just a thought?

[iandh]

The front door of the r-fish is pretty restrictive, here's the front panel on the CNC getting some more venting cut out
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day31.jpg

I used the shear and hand punch to make up some grille bars (the skinny ones are spacers to help me with installation)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day32.jpg

I was originally going to thread the panel to attach the bars, but decided to use nuts instead to help squash the two door panels together.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day33.jpg

Some assembled pics:
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day35.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day36.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day37.jpg

This looks a LOT better in person, this was the best pic I could get when I got back from the shop... the laundry room has the brightest lighting in my house. I'm kinda vampire.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day38.jpg

[Karbon Killa]

OoOoO Very pretty. I like +Rep and subd. :)

[The boy 4rm oz]

Really sweet front vent, very industrialistic but it looks oh so modern ;).

[Kayin]

Nice to see ya over here!

I look forward to the redux of your system...

[iandh]

Nice to see ya over here!

I look forward to the redux of your system...

Likewise,

I spent a good half hour looking through your mithril worklog the other night, it's good to see things are still moving forward

[XcOM]

my god that looks tasty!

[iandh]

Thanks for the comments!

Now that I've got some sunlight I decided to snap a couple more pics of the front door:

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/casepics022.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/casepics025.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/casepics032.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

That really does look very nice.

[iandh]

Day Five Side panel window

I marked the window cutout with a fine-tipped sharpie, and marked the drill points for the corners by using a 1/2" centering punch.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4002.jpg


I drilled the points out to 1/2" using a step drill, this leaves a nice 1/4" radius on all of the corners of the window hole.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4006.jpg


I drew out the window mounting screw holes and then marked them with an automatic center punch.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4012.jpg


The window cut-out is rough cut using a pneumatic nibbler:
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4014.jpg


Then the eges are rough finished using a pneumatic belt sander, I use the edges of the tape as a sanding guide (that second line visible close to the edge of the tape was added after the previous photo as a guide for the nibbler, it isn't the sanding line; I just sand to the edge of the tape)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4021.jpg


Here's the window hole after sanding with the tape removed... you can see in this picture that the corners are still a little rough.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4027.jpg


After using a flat mill and half round smooth file to finish the edges, the cutout is starting to look pretty clean.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4031.jpg


I used a hand punch to make the mounting holes I marked with the automatic center punch earlier. I also used a magic anodizing pen (sharpie) to finish the raw edges of the aluminum
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4036.jpg


I held the 3/32" acrylic window sheet against the cutout on the side panel and traced the mounting holes, then used a rule to mark a cut line 1/2" outside the holes. The holes were drilled out with an acrylic bit, I cut the panel out using the bandsaw at high speed and finished the edges with the sander and a file.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4037.jpg


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4050.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4052.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4059.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4063.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/ryan_day4/Ryan_day4069.jpg

[madd0ct0r]

very very clean.
a good example of taking care as you go along.

[gaz_the_chav]

Wow that look lovely and sharp. Great work! +rep

-gaz

[Waynio]

That psu is pretty huge, not seen one like that before.
Nice idea for the step drill to make perfect rounded corners.
The holes you are cutting look very nice and clean.
The shroud looks simple but great and as if it came with the case.
The front wire management cover looks great too.
Very nice pump mount with good access for the speed.
CNC wish I had access to use CNC homer drool lol.
Awesome front door mod nice and simple again but very good.
The window looks like it has been laser cut, very nice, looks factory made.
Oh yes, great photography too.
Overall so far = ultra clean mod, have some rep :).

Some very good tools you used so far that I have added to my tools to get list :).
step drill bit
good drill
fine-tipped sharpie
centering punch
pneumatic nibbler
pneumatic belt sander
hand punch

[iandh]

Thanks for the comments all!

The customer wants a really clean case that is heavily modded but looks stock at the same time, I'm really happy with how this is turning out so far. I seem to do pretty well just by using "the force" and letting the mod take me where it wants. :)

It also doesn't hurt having lots of toy... um tools to work with. :D

[KiLLERMAN21]

Wow man, that looks really nice. Simple, yet elegant. Plain, yet striking. Really good work there.

[PoSaiDoN]

Amazing Craftsmanship

[jhanlon303]

If somebody wants to do a Rocketfish. THIS is how it's done. Very nice.

I too got several tools added to my shopping lists. That step drill idea for the corners earns a rep from me.

john

[Beta-brain]

Thanks for the comments all!
It also doesn't hurt having lots of toy... um tools to work with. :D

Having the tools and facilities definitely helps but you've got to know how to use them as you have done, great job. 8)

[DonT-FeaR]

wicked!

[The boy 4rm oz]

That is a very nice window, and the toy you used for sanding is also very cool ;).

[iandh]

Thanks again for the comments!

I really wanted to be able to do another update this weekend, but yesterday I helped a friend do some framing on a remodel, and forgot that I can't take a beating like I used to. :/

[iandh]

Day Six FAIL


Didn't get jack done, horrible night. I almost destroyed the rad by dropping it, luckily I caught it before it hit the ground, unluckily it scraped the case as I caught it and put a big gouge in the paint. So instead of working on the case, I ended up re-blasting and repainting the rad, which sucked.

I did, however, install these nice Delrin case feet that I made the week before last
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/day6010.jpg

You can see them mounted to the case in this pic... this is how far I got on the work until I scratched the rad.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/day6015.jpg

This SUCKS. It's like 90% humidity too, I was literally dripping sweat all over everything.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/day6011.jpg

Solution: Disposable cellulose sweatband. Lifesaver for humid desert dwellers.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/day60232.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

You have such an awesome shop. Sucks about the rad mate, hope you get some more progress soon.

[DonT-FeaR]

yueah man awesome shop!

[Mark_Hardware]

bad times with the rad man. sounds like something I would do. But now you've got your Rambo rag on so you can go in there and kick some case ass!

[iandh]

Day 7 Rad mounting and switch panel


I cut the hole to mount the RX480, but realized I had ordered M3 instead of M4 screws, so I wasn't able to assemble it. I did snap a preview with the parts laying together.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pics017.jpg

Machining the infamous psr/rst switch
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pics020.jpg

After a beadblast and clear matte. I was planning on having this done black powdercoat, but I want to see what ryan thinks of the silver, it kind of matches the color scheme of the front door.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pics027.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pics029.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pics038.jpg

[985323]

Omg I love those switches, in my case I'd normally say to paint it black but in this case I would have to say to leave it silver

Will

[DonT-FeaR]

i love those switches...

[The boy 4rm oz]

Switches are awesome, I must try that myself sometime ;). +rep

[jhanlon303]

Consistantly excellent work. That switch panel and rad grill are sweet.
Are you going to lose the top optical bay in favor of a full rad?

+rep from me.

john

[Mark_Hardware]

I, too, will join in the rave of those sweetass switches. Looks awesome!

[Waynio]

But now you've got your Rambo rag on so you can go in there and kick some case ass!

:D lol

Wow that grill looks really nice and the power reset switches are very awesome, +rep if I haven't already

[iandh]

Thank you for the comments and rep everyone


Consistantly excellent work. That switch panel and rad grill are sweet.
Are you going to lose the top optical bay in favor of a full rad?

+rep from me.

john

There is about 2" left, so the top bays will house a shallow mount rectangular reservoir, and the fan controller and DVD will go in the bottom two. :)

[iandh]

Day Eight Back from powdercoat

Rocketfish in 23 pieces, beautiful work as usual from my fave shop:
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot010.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot013.jpg

After about 50 6-32 Stainless screws, a half a tube of blue Loctite, some angled surgical forceps, and MANY MANY curse words.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot017.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot030.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot036.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot038.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot049.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/ryan_rig/pwdrcot066.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Powdercoating looks great, really nice result. The whole thing is coming together really well, really clean build.

[iandh]

Powdercoating looks great, really nice result. The whole thing is coming together really well, really clean build.

Yeah, I really love this new shop I've been using.

You can tell they really care about how the stuff comes out, and pay attention to detail. It's really nice not having to bite your nails praying that you don't get back garbage. They're fast as hell too.

[DonT-FeaR]

looks great!

[SXRguyinMA]

:stupid: looks awesome!! :bowdown:

[billygoat333]

looking really really good. gonna be sweet all said and done! cant wait!

[iandh]

Day Nine Finishing Touches, Part 1


Yep.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1002.jpg




Got the mill started on the back piece for the reservoir
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1012.jpg




Meanwhile, mounted rad, made up some nifty trim panels
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1064.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1043.jpg




Part done, test fit of o-ring
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1021.jpg




Mounted power switch
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1068.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1046.jpg




Looking pretty slick :D
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1025.jpg


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/touches_1035.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Those detail pieces up top look fantastic, really takes teh mod to a whole new level.

[billygoat333]

wow. looks absolutely fantastic. could see this in a computer shop, sitting next to the stock cases. brilliant!

[iandh]

Day Ten The case gets punished

I give Ryan credit for this, we both thought the front panel was bare, but he suggested the logo
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished002.jpg

After tracing with an exacto knife
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished004.jpg

Cutting will be done with a jewelers saw
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished008.jpg

First I cut the outside profile with the bandsaw, then drilled pilot holes for sawing out the eyes/nose
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished012.jpg

I really should be more careful...
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished016.jpg



At least it was worth it:
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished021.jpg

Proof that you don't need a CNC or laser cutter
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished019.jpg



I also added the trim pieces around the window, wasn't sure about them at first but they are growing on me steadily
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished2005.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished2010.jpg


One last shot:
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/punished045.jpg

[Waynio]

Wow the top panel is looking seriously awesome after the powder coat and the extra trim, yes indeed very slick :).

Punisher logo = that extra touch of kick buttery :D, and I think I should get me one of those jewelers saws :), I am not so keen on using dremels these days (they kick lots of dust at you, overheat and can be pretty dangerous), the result you got from the punisher logo is fantastic, and with the side panel trim it just rocks, nice simple touches that look good :). So I've picked up on some great & affordable tools from your worklog which I should get around to buying, the punisher logo really does look perfect 8).

I'm glad I'm getting emails when updates are coming along again :), went for a while without getting any, dunno why that was.

[iandh]

Yeah, tools don't need to be expensive to be useful, just carefully chosen. They also don't necessarily make the job... but they sure as hell make it a lot easier. :D

Updated prior post with v2 trim pieces, now are loose representations of the punisher's weapons. :)

[The boy 4rm oz]

The punisher logo looks great, wouldn't have been my choice but looks great all the same. A good coping saw leaves the dremel for dead with small detail pieces like that.

[DonT-FeaR]

i like it alot! looks sweet

[Waynio]

Updated prior post with v2 trim pieces, now are loose representations of the punisher's weapons. :)

:D Sweet :up:.

[iandh]

Day 11Lighting, Reservoir/bay cover, Final shots


I picked up a couple nifty self-adhesive red LED strips from the xoxide sale, the first is mounted on the front wire cover and the power wire is fastened on the back using a self-adhesive ty-rap anchor
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/case_final009.jpg

I made up this aluminum reflector to mount the top light strip, the inside is polished to help reflect the scattered light back onto the mobo and away from the window
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/case_final011.jpg

The outside of the reflector is flat-blacked
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/case_final013.jpg

It attaches to two screw holes in the bottom of the rad fans... I mounted it straight to the rad here just for the photo
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/case_final015.jpg

I tapped the reservoir housing shown a couple updates ago... it sandwiches the acrylic front window of the res between the housing and the trim panel, thereby compressing the o-ring. I went ahead and blacked the power panel, it was just too much silver with it and the res panel. :)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/case_final021.jpg

Here's a couple final shots, unfortunately that is all I can offer until this case is in the owners hands... hopefully he can provide a couple shots of the system up and running to add to this worklog once he completes the case. ;)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/case_final025.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/iandh27/case_final037.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

This is looking very very nice. Do you have a pic of those LED strips lit up? I am curious to see how they fare compared to a CCFL with the reflector, my guess is sharper but more direct light.

[mittelmeier]

Looking great, can't wait to see it lit up.

[Mark_Hardware]

Nice work with the reflector strips... Might steal that one from ya ;)

[sloppyc]

Wow. I don't know why you don't take commissions, you could probably make a decent amount doing it.