Project: Interdictor

[meticoeus]

Hey guys, project interdictor is officially underway. I don't have or have access to a camera right now so picks will be slow in coming, but actual construction won't be starting for a week or three so there isn't much to photograph.

The Project: I'm building a custom case mostly out of aluminum and plastics (I think plexi falls under that category, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). I've decided to base the case on Star Wars TIE Interdictor, though I will be altering it as I see fit. I'll get some form of concept art up when I have something presentable.

This is my first mod so I have quite a bit to learn but the end result will be worth it. I'll probably be asking lots of questions so please be patient with me :D . Right now I'm working out the final dimensions with foam board and buying tools.

[meticoeus]

Ok, I only had paint at me disposal (meh) but here are a couple rough, READ VERY rough, sketches with the basic layout from the front. The little blocks represent slightly more than an inch, so the case is about 30 inches wide as it stands.

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5004/frontzd3.png
the basic layout with blocks for distance orientation

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/1935/frontlabledtn6.png
this one is labled...

The second pump may not be neccessary (and it might not easily fit) depending on the final configuration. I plan to run copper pipes along the inside front of the case (top or bottom) and use tygon to connect the water blocks, pumps, etc. Depending on my budget, I may add a small touch into the cockpit area or even just a small lcd with the slot load dvd rom under it.

Once I have time to begin construction, the first step will be to complete the aluminum chasis.

[simon275]

Yeah you will probably only need 1 pump. It would be cool if you made the wings of it into giant radiators for the water cooling now that would be cool.

[meticoeus]

I plan to place the rad in one wing (or use two for symetry, lol). I'm not sure what I'm doing with the wings yet, I'll probably make them solid aluminum and try to make them giant passive heatsinks for the rads, though that may require getting someone to weld things.

[meticoeus]

Minor update:

My used to be a professional airbrush artist and has agreed to give me lessons :D so I should be able to paint this thing when I get there.

Thanks to google's sketchup software, I'll have an actual schematic post soon. Working with the internal bits and getting the surfaces to work correctly and making this take ages... but its coming along. I got most of basic layout done when I realised that there is a measuring system so I'll have to go back and resize it, meh.

[simon275]

Cool can't wait to see the pictuers. If you want an idea of size so you can make sure compents can fit and stuff and work out the internal layout there is a really good source of computer componets you can get for sketchup. Clicky (http://scc.jazzle.co.uk/)

[meticoeus]

Thanks, that will be really helpful.

[meticoeus]

Wow that was a pain... Update:

The schematics are basically finished.

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/4479/wingvs6.jpg
An inside shot the wing.

Beside the 120mm fan duct will run the piping to the custom reservior/radiator on each wing. The radiator will either span ther whole wing and thus hold a sizeable amount of water, or it be in the center with a reservior on one or both ends.

In the next three shots, for some reason it stopped rendering the surfaces of the wings. meh

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/3081/interdictor1pv7.jpg
A semi-transparent shot of the front.

The lcd is optional but it looking like it will be plain lcd (not touch screen) and it will mostly be behind the cockpit plexi anyway. The slot load dvd rom below the lcd will be directly accessable as long as it doesn't stick out too much, though I may have to mod the button to make it blend in.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/1667/interdictor2wa7.jpg
Top-down view.

This a the top-down wire-frame view for the placement of the guts. They are not all there because the notebook I'm working on only has 512mg ram. grr... Anyway, as soon as I places psu, the whole thing starting operating at a snail's pace and my page file got overloaded. Restarting in the middle of graphics work is no fun. I left it as is since it was a hasle just to set the wings and set up the pics. I think the overload of stuff also caused the wings not to render properly.

http://img173.imageshack.us/img173/2507/interdictor3cy6.jpg
Rear view.

This is a view from behind the case, showing the psu. I may place it on either top or bottom depending on which works better for tidiness/cables reaching/etc. I'm trying to keep fans to a bare minimum and may look for a water cooled solution for the psu as well. The slot not taken by it will hold the hdds and their water cooled cage. If I can, I'll probably make their blocks from scratch.

I plan to run the copper piping through the top front of the case so it will cross over to the hdd before going back to the rad/res on that side.

I don't have an exterior collor scheme in mind yet but the inside will most liekly be solid, glossy black for a very clean look.

I may update the schematics if/when I get my pc online. Right now its having some weird network issue and can't get an IP address. meh

kudos goes out the people who host and post things on http://scc.jazzle.co.uk/ for such a wonderful resource!

[edit]In case you can't tell, the flat blocky end of the wing is the front. The piping cover is the back half.

[Drac998]

Cool, you'd be able to get plumbing tubing for a reasonable amount $14-$30 to make the bulk of your hull. Just curious to what your scale is?

[elbarto241]

like the plans using Sketch up, they look better than mine :D

[meticoeus]

Thank you.

The circles are all 7.5" diameter and the whole case ~30"w x 24"d x 19"h.
The case will house standard ATX mobo and psu.

BTW, how do you change to millimeters instead of inches?

[edit]never mind, I fgured it out.

[meticoeus]

Update:

I'm still looking into supplies of the aluminum that I need but in the mean time I've updated the schematic.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4808/interdictorfootdj9.jpg
A shot of its new feet. 1" x 1mm bars on a 3" x 1mm plate.

The feet will be mounted directly to the chasis, as they'll be suporting the bulk of the weight of the body. They should set level with the wings so they can support their own weight. If anyone wants to comment on any structural issues this might pose, feel free.

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/4079/tieinterdictornz9.jpg
An updated front shot.

I doubt I'll render the mid section of the wings as I do not yet know if I'm using a prefab solution. The top and bottom parts will be for passive cooling of the liquid system.

If I can find some appropriately sized steel tubing, I'll probably use it for the chassis for the cylinders.

I'm off to bed. Night.

[tresk]

Wow!! going to be one sweet looking case!

[meticoeus]

Update.

I've finished most of the chassis design (in sketchup) in detail to make sure things will fit. What I didn't think about as much while I was making were the rings for the chassis (oops...) but it turned out that their ID is almost exactly 7" so I should be able to find something that works.

I want to start work on the body this week so I'm not worrying about the wings atm, though I've left plenty of space for their inclusion later. An since the wings aren't there, none of the accompanying plumbing bits are either.

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/5995/tichassisdb7.jpg
Standard frontal shot.

The low-profile slot dvd player's rack has been finished to ensure no conflicts with the mobo. You can see the mobo tray behind it on it's own rack (the dark gray bars) so that it can be moved around during constuction and easily removed later. I may use thumbscrew from below to mount the tray.

The dark gray angles throughout are for joints/etc. You can also see how the flats (though I may use angles for some of these if it makes more sense) and circles will make up the bulk of the chassis.

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/2636/tichassis2ae7.jpg
A close up of the mobo tray from the back. I've sense moved the tray's left rack bar to the right so it doesn't overlap with the mobo bolts or whatever I use.

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/5922/tichassis3tj1.jpg
A cleaned up top-down.

I temporarily removed most of the reference lines that plague this model so that a clean view of the case could be achieved.

I may need to use much thicker bars than are indicated here for the bottom bars with the feet on them, as they'll be supporting the bulk of the cases weight.

The PSU is currently still planned to be in the bottom right cylinder (from the front) at the back of the case, but if the bottom support gets much thicker, it can easily be moved to the top, as I plan to use simple standoffs from the side rails to secure it in place.

The hardrive rack has not been done yet b/c I'm sure what I'm using yet, but will be either above or bellow the PSU as long as the cables are long enough. Otherwise it will be in front or behind the mobo on the other side of the case.

[elbarto241]

wow........................ur attention to detail is chilling

[meticoeus]

Thanks, I think. What can I say? I'm a perfectionist :p

I've been considering ways to design the wings and came across some else's work for a passive system on overclockers (http://www.overclockers.com/tips1093/). Hopefully he doesn't mind me posting a link to his work. Any way, I'm going to try and cram two similarly designed piping systems into the wings. I'm designing a prototype in Sketchup now and depending on how it turns out, I'll plan from there.

I'm also toying with idea of placing two small ionic breeze type "fans" on the front of the wings (one each) if I think the airflow will help. Plus, they could be integrated into the look of case easily, compared to any traditional fan.

[edit]with the current setup, the estimate is that about 75 feet of copper tubing total for the two wings. pics of the design will follow when I'm finished with the design. I'll probably have to use 2 pumps after all. BTW, the current ID I'm looking at is for these is 1/2". Adding to the small diameter, all of the turns (about 80 soft 90 degree turns) will cause a lot of head loss.

[meticoeus]

Update:

Well, when I just sat down and made it, this didn't take that long. Here is the preliminary sketch of the wing radiator. The above pictured slots on the wings are still valid though, hopefully.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7280/wingradiator1mj0.jpg
Maze of pipes ;p.

I really have no idea what kind of flow problems this may encounter. Any input?

I plan to soulder all of the joints to ensure they are watertight which should mean lots of souldering practice :D.....:(. Anyway, I'll either have to find a sufficient supply of aluminum piping and elbows or lots of copper flatbar, so it looks like this is leaning towards more aluminum. To extend the surface area (and because it just looks cool) I'm going to see how feasible it is to still go with the flats idea once construction begins. I'll have lots of materials anyway once I start work on the main body, which will hopefully be this week.

[dgrmkrp]

this looks great:) very good idea for cooling! i love it!

all those turns won't really be that much of a problem for a good pump... but! the pumps will move lots of fluid (seeing that much fluid will fill the cooling loop :) )..so.. what kind of pumps are u using? i would go with twin 1500+ l/h..just to have enough flow thru the waterblocks..

also.. if u can get cheap aluminum panels (<1mm thick).. cut patterns and holes and mount the pipes thru.. and make radiators :) i say you take your time and make this as cool as possible :)

[meticoeus]

Thanks,

I'm considering dangerden's D5s, as I've heard they are very quiet but still powerful. I'm starting to wonder how heavy this thing is going to be when completed ;p.

[silverdemon]

awesome job, really!! can't wait to see it for real (on photo's that is)

And I wouldn't mind about the weight... a mod like this needs a place in the middle of the room, with some spotlights on it... no need to move it ;)

good luck with the actual building!

[modding.fan]

Update:

Well, when I just sat down and made it, this didn't take that long. Here is the preliminary sketch of the wing radiator. The above pictured slots on the wings are still valid though, hopefully.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7280/wingradiator1mj0.jpg
Maze of pipes ;p.

I really have no idea what kind of flow problems this may encounter. Any input?

I plan to soulder all of the joints to ensure they are watertight which should mean lots of souldering practice :D.....:(. Anyway, I'll either have to find a sufficient supply of aluminum piping and elbows or lots of copper flatbar, so it looks like this is leaning towards more aluminum. To extend the surface area (and because it just looks cool) I'm going to see how feasible it is to still go with the flats idea once construction begins. I'll have lots of materials anyway once I start work on the main body, which will hopefully be this week.

That's an awesome/insane amount of passive cooling. My worry is, when you encase all this piping with an outer wall for looks, won't it basically be rendered useless? If it's contained within a 'box' per say, no air will flow over all of this tubing.

How are you actually going to work the issue of having air flow over the piping in combination with keeping it looking good?

[meticoeus]

Stay tuned to find out ;p

While it is going to be complicated, I've got a plan that will not only significatly increase the surface area for the rads, it should have the look I'm going for when I'm done.

I don't think screens of sketches will show what I'm talking about that well but it become apparent oce construction begins.

[meticoeus]

Well, it looks like using copper is out for the most part, as I refuse to pay more only part of the case than I'm paying most of the rest of the components. Copper is way to pricey right now.

[crazybillybob]

As a bit of a side note. You can always cut a copper tube in half and flatten it to get Copper flat bar, plus The Thinner Plates will allow more Surface area. To help keep the copper smooth don't just waaack it with a hammer, Use a bench vise with two long peices of steel or thick wood (2x4) that are longer then the pipe half then tighten the vise, the steel/wood will help spread the pressure out over the whole peice of copper and you will not have the peen marks The bonus to useing Copper flatstock is that if you drill holes for the pipe to pass through you can then solder the Flat stock to the pipe....Increasing the Heat transfer. But your Right the Price of all metals are up now (Alum, and copper prices both have went through the roof in the last 2 years!!!).

I wanted to let you know that I love the Idea of the mod, I'm really Intrested in how she looks as you pull it off. But you've got the planning down very well!


CrazyBillyBob

[isunktheship]

I love the detail in your renderings. I like to do the same thing! I jsut measure everything out in 3dsm, because I know the program better than any other 3d software atm. I can get any design I want, which makes for a stylish case! Now I just have to recreate the design IRL!

Good luck, this will end up in the featured worklogs if you can pull it off! (which doesn't look like you are going to have trouble with)

[meticoeus]

Thanks guys. I think I'm just going to stick with aluminum unless I can find a good deal on copper before I buy the materials for the wings. Hopefully I can find some aluminum 180 elbows, but if not, oh well, more souldering.

Does anyone think using square tubes would work for water cooling? I'm considering using some for the section that connects the top and bottom portions to have direct contact with the end of the wing. And possibly to make hdd blocks.

[dgrmkrp]

as long as it's a tube.. and it doesn't leak.. and it's about the same area inside like the round tube(or bigger)... why shouldn't it? plus.. a circle has a smaller external area than a square with the same size ..err.. u know what i mean :)

[meticoeus]

Well, I've ordered a small sample of aluminums to find out what is strong enough for what. Once they get in I should be able to go ahead and order the main bit to get started on the body of case and maybe the radiator if I've figured out what I'm going to do by then.

Until then, I'll be looking into the little tools like drill bits and screw-hole threading thingies.

If I go with the res-rad version, I'm just going to connect the top and bottom with a square tube down one side. I can saw into the ends, fold them into the tank and soulder them or something like that. If I can cut acurately enough it should work fine.

*note* for some reason when I type my posts it always ends up skipping words every so many and I know that I type more accurately than that. Bugger.

[meticoeus]

Well, I still haven't found a source of 7" ID pipe. I may have to resort to bending things or employing a fab shop to do it. The problem with doing it myself is that these are the primary elements in defineing the shape so they *must* be uniform or it will look wierd which is unacceptable.meh.

Any suggestions?

I guess it is possible to upgrade to 8" but that will increase the size of this already mamoth case so I'd really like to avoid that if it is at all feasable to do so.

[GT40_GearHead]

if you cant find 7", you should upgrade to 8", shops are expensive

[meticoeus]

I guess I'll have to... But now I have to actually find some.

On the plus side, there will be room to fit a mobo vertically. So as it is currently designed, I could fit like 7 full sized servers in this thing, lol.

I'm going to contact local vendors today and see if I can find some scraps, hoprefully since all I need are ~1" sections I can find something for free :D

[meticoeus]

Well this is the rough hardware list for this pc when it comes time to buy it:

System:
Core 2 Duo: E6600 or E6700
DX10 mid to high card
Sufficient psu with headroom (most likely 600-750W)
Soundcard? (depends on sound quality of mobo)
mobo will be dependant on graphics solution

dual gigabit lan is a must
2Gb Corsair or OCZ 800Mhz min.

Cooling:
Integrated radiators...
1 or 2 DD-D5 pumps (suggestions/recomendations welcome here guys)
blocks not yet determined...
Tygon and aluminum tubing

I know this is kind of vague but this is primarily for reference of what is going into this thing. Depending on the room left over, I may be able to fit a dedicated firewall box inside and even a file server. A large array of hard drives happen to fit in just one cylinder, heh. But these will come later and as needed.

[meticoeus]

I've decided to go ahead and make the HDD block, both as practice and for a proof of concept for a method of water sealing. The parts have ordered and should be here sometime b/w friday and tuesday. Also in that order I've ordered two thicknesses of 8" tube to test for strength, hopefully one of the will work, if not, then I heading to biglots/dollar store/something cheap and buying pots and cutting them to ribbons:mad: and if for some reason that doesn't work (which is extremely improbable) I think I'll just blow up (also extremely improbable ;p).

Anyway, I've some renders of the block so here are pics:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5540/meticoeusdualhddwatercooledrackkq7.jpg
A shot from the joining end.

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/1932/meticoeusdualhddwatercooledracktprj1.jpg
A transparent shot. You can see the thin sheets I'll be using to break the flow to make sure that the fluid circulates.

The two block are joined by a ~4" length of 1/2" id tubing. This block is designed to rest underneah the mobo tray in the bottom-left cylider of the case. Unfortunately, they'll come after a pump and possibly the gpu block(s) in the loop right before the left w-rad but it can't be helped without giving it its own loop.

I case anyone asks, yes this is for two standard harddrives.

[jestyyr]

just a question, with the sides of HDDs being plastic, will that actually affect heat much excepting what the HDDs radiate into the air from their top/bottom(less so)?
interesting mod so far though, I seem to say this a lot, but this is another mod well beyond my own means :P

[meticoeus]

The HDDs I've looked at seem to emitt heat pretty uniformly. I've no current plans of using +10k rpm HDDs so this is more to deal with the fact that there will little-to-no airflow around the drives. Anyway, the top drive will be against the top plate and bottom drive against the bottom plate (I think) so these plates should act as heat sinks. I'm basing this design on a product from Auquacomputer (Its quite different from there's, just the same block placement). This block is purpose-designed to fit where I'm putting it and also can be expanded with a third block to accomodate 4 HDDs, though if/when I add it, I'll probably put the whole thing in it's own loop and put a 120 rad in the back of the cylinder.

Since I've started this project, I've given a lot of thought to how get the most out of the interior space, and this block and its placement are part of that. Plus I'll get experience of what works and what doesn't ;p.

The materials should be here monday so I probably won't be able to get started until the weekend after next (school starts next week). Plus I have to figure out what methods I'm trying and order the stuff (thanks for the suggestions in the AL sealing thread). I think I'm going with durafix and straight souldering. The plates will also be screwed together for added strength.

[meticoeus]

Update:

Well, its turned out that the original ring idea is economically infeasible. In other words, it just costs too d#$& much. For beefy enough rings to bear a load without deforming I haven't found anthing inexpensive for even an inch. meh.

Well, I've had another idea that I think in the end will work far better and cost far less :D. I'll be using angles, slicing out chunks of one side and folding them into hexagons. If I think they are still not strong enough as is, I'll use something like durafix to weld each joint together. This will take far longer to do, but the flat sides will be much easier to work with, be natrually reinforced and just work better overall, I think. The cylinders will still be cylinders, though. I'm going to use bondo or some other putty like substance to form the circular outer edge for each ring for the final cover to rest on.

The down side is that method will add dozens of hours to this project, but no one ever said building your own case was quick ;p.

Anyway, here are some renders of the new design for both the body and the wings.

http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/8364/tichassisv21nv3.jpg
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/9560/tichassisv22dm2.jpg
These two shots show the back and front of the hexagons and their implementation into the design. For reference, these are 3" hexs, each side is 3 inches long.

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6943/wingradiatorv31ka5.jpg
Here is the wing from the outside.

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/7793/wingradiatorv32su3.jpg
From the inside. You can see the hose connections and the chassis connection angles.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/1160/wingradiatorv33wu1.jpg

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/3063/wingradiatorv34fp3.jpg
Exploded views.

If you look closely, you can see the inner mechanics of the inlet and outlet. A cover and seperator pushes the input to the top and pulls the output from the bottom where the water should be cooler (heat rises). There will be slots cut out with a jigsaw probably for the water to flow between the sections. The gap b/w the sunken plates is a little less than 1/3" horizontally so there should be little enough space for decent heat transfer and not severely limit flow.

As you can see from the exploded views, I designed this modularly, keeping in mind realistic build order. Each component will be completed first, then added in the order that allow me the weld/soulder/other as much from the interior as possible to reduce need to sand down stuff for finishing. The slants are 50 degrees off horizantal and the middle is ~5" tall. The frame will be pretty hefty so I'm not that worried about the somewhat extreme looking angle.

I know it may seem like I'm just designing stuff over and over and not really doing much, but right now I'm still waiting on snail mail (UPS ground) to deliver my samples so I can figure out specifically what I'm using for what and I don't want to get mid project and decide I really don't like something. I'm a perfectionist, you've been warned :p.

[modding.fan]

You are a sketchup god! 8)

[meticoeus]

Well my test batch of materials are in so now I can order the main bit for the body, 48' of 1/4" x 1" square angle bar. I also just picked up my drill press (luckly, as today is the last day of their sale). I'll be borrowing the cutting tools (a jigsaw and a circular saw if it is needed) so all I need are the right blades. I also picked up some painting supplies so I can go ahead and paint my mouse, pics will follow when I get back to school and can borrow someone's camera. It is one of logitechs rollerball mice, don't know the model number off hand. This will be my first attempt to paint something so wish me luck ;p.

[meticoeus]

My class schedule is murder so I haven't had time to do much. My other test batch arrived, proving my original design is perfectly feasible, except that it costs so much more. So now ordering is out until I have the time to make the first octogon. If it isn't insanely difficult to make them uniform, then that version will work and I can continue as planned. Otherwise, I'll be modifying the design (again...) to compensate. Hopefully I'll have time next weekend to make the test octogon and paint the mouse.

I've already ordered the multimedia part of the pc: the monitor, speakers, headphones, and soundcard. They'll just migrate to the other system when it finally exists ;p.

[meticoeus]

I finally had time today and the first bending test was a success, proving to be very easy to make uniform cuts thanks to a miter saw. But now another problem has arisen. The cuts are too wide to allow the edges to rest toger easily and the resulting vertices are a little weak. They are still strong, but not strong enough. The simple solution would be to use those small angle bracket things that have pre-drilled holes in them usually. Anyone know what I'm talking about here or where to find them. If they don't don't cost to much I could conceivably strengthen all of the joints with them and it would still cost less than the other method.

Help please?

On the down side, I won't be able to paint the mouse until the next long weekend/vacation as it is my only mouse right now. meh.

On the plus side, once my next shipment of metal arrives it should take around two or three weekends to make at least the basic octogons and posiibly even the initial construction of the frame.

[meticoeus]

Right now I am swamped with school stuff so I haven't had time to order the frame's metal yet. Mainly b/c I'm tired of relizing ten second after I hit the submit order button that there was something else I should have gotten. Anyway, I should be able to get to it this weekend and hopefully get everything I need to work on the frame of this beast. That will just leave largely the wings and the skin of the body which is still undecided.

The water block in on stand-by until I determine whether or not I have a welder.

I've been told I can find the little bracket things at lowes/home depot/etc so I can hopefully also look for them this weekend.

off to bed...

[nzcubey]

dude your sketchups and detail are absoultly wicked :D
where did you learn to use sketchup? or did you previously use another 3d application?

~Charles

[chedabob]

^^

youd be suprised at how easy sketchup is.

[meticoeus]

I always play around with new software for a few hours when I first get to get used to it. If I don't know to do something I just google it to fidn out how. That is where their library site comes in handy. Just make liberal use of the abilty to exactly define dimensions and for circular stuff the follow me tool is you friend. Sketchup is certainly one of the easiest programs I've ever learned to used. And I didn't have any serious prior experience with 3d modilng software.

I'm making a check list of stuff to buy right now and am re-designing part of the back (for asthetic purposes), no major structural redesigns this time ;p. I've finally decided what I'm doing for the output and control panels.

[Acey]

Wicked sketch... *thumbs* Looks like sumthin from star wars (im not a fan of it so i dont know what its called lol).. cant wait to see the finished mod

[meticoeus]

Major update:

The metal for the frame of the case is finally on the way and should be here next week. Then the fun begins, even more so due a recent development ;p.

Ok, after working on this design for a while, I really just don't like the wings. But I love the body of the case. Of course, it looked silly the way it was oriented with no wings so I just rotated it ;p.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8995/tichassisv31zq6.png
new idea

I left it basically alone indside, but now the hdd's and psu are on top. This is because no the radiator(s) will be in the bottom. Airflow will proceed from the upper-outer diagonal panel, through a shroud/radiator and out of the lower-inner diagonal panel. This way it should still have a resonably low center of gravity, especially if there are two rads. I hop to make this a fairly silent pc which is why this beast keeps at least the first part of its name:
TIE: Twin/Triple Ionic Engines (note if someone can think of a better E' word feel free to suggest one). I will be using two or three ionic 'fans' to move all of the air in this case. Supposedly the air flow is quite decent, locally. I still have to find one and see for myself how much first, but I hope it works. Otherwise I'll just use fans...

The main problem arises in the form of necessary precision. The outer panels will all be plexi so the octogons must be as uniform as I can possibly make them.

Anyhow, the third (or second) 'fan' will be placed vertically front and center, moving air over the mobo and out of the back of the case. This flow will become much more dispersed, but as all major components will be liquid cooled anyway, I don't really see a problem.

The slotload has been left almost exactly where it was, as it is now vertical. You can see it in the front center of the case if you look closely. The model of slotload I was looking at was suposedly okay at any orientation, especially horizontal and vertical.

From the shot, obviously the front still need work, but I will probably make it all some form of uniform mesh, except for the two humps on the sides of the center. These will house the front ports, power/reset and the slotload dvd. I'm goind for something similar to the thermaltake armour, or the heavy ordinance (dell xps case) fronts for my bezel, but I'll see what I can find.

I really like this overall design more now, as I was never quite happy with the wings. Plus now I can really 'mod' the case and just do more with it easily. Plus the footprint has been rreduced by like 60% ;p.

Thoughts? Critisisms? Whatever?

[meticoeus]

I'm still trying to figure what I should do for a front bezel. I'm considering some form of dense metal mesh, if anyone knows what I'm talking about. It is only just transparent but with a dust filter mesh behind it, it probably would not be anymore (which is what I'm going for).

This is one idea
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/7650/tichassisv33tz4.png

I'm not sure if you guys can tell, but the octogons are raised (like gem-like) in the middle and taper into the case on the sides. I don't know what the final color scheme will be, but the gray and black were just for contrast anyway. It looked pretty bad as all one color so those will *need* to contrast some.

I also tested a mobo again, but the back was just slightly to small so I increased the height of the middle section. The overall case dimensions are now ~
40cm X 70cm X 61cm
1.4' X 2.3' X 2.0'
(width,height,depth)

My supplies it to Dallas before the weekend, lol, so it will be here Tuesday-ish. I need to figure out what I'm going to do soon, as that will dictate how much to trim down the front four support octogons, and where to trim them.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[meticoeus]

Good news, the main order is now in:

1/2 X 3/4" alum flat, 6061-T6, 24" Length

1/8 X 1" alum flat, 6061-T6, 36" Length

1" X 1" X 1/8" alum angle, 6061-T6, seven 96" Lengths

The 1/2" thick stuff is for joining the octogons between sections. I didn't want them to look crammed together once the outer cover was applied. The 1/8" stuff is for the mobo tray to rest on, making it easily removable.

As you can see, somewhat, in the scrn shot above, the lower two sections will be isolated radiator housings. After testing them in sketchup there was very little space left for fans, let alone a ion generator, should it actually prove sufficient. For that reason, I decided to increase the octogon sides to 3.5" up from 3". As I had already cut several bits from what was needed when I ordered, this will leave me with a whole lot less scrap afterwards, lol.

As long as nothing comes up, work will commence this weekend.

[meticoeus]

I've gotten the bulk of the cutting done, but only the cutting-to-length. Between leting the blade cool between every so many cuts and having unreliable help ;p it took like 6.5 hrs. It was longer than expected, but not too much. Next, I'll be slicing into all of the 28" bars so that I can start bending them. I still have to find something to fasten the the joints, but I've been extremely busy and haven't had time to go to a hardware store to look for anything.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics. There isn't really anything to take pictures of atm, though. Just a pile a angle bar ;p. It does feel good to finally make *real* progress on this case though :D.

Next time I'll make sure and have a cammera with me to ake pics of the octogon creation/bending process.

[moOmL]

I REALLY like the last sketchup picture you posted. Everything about that looks awesome.

I'm kinda confused on which parts will be metal and which parts will be plexi.

[meticoeus]

Thanks moOml, on the exterior sides, if it is black, it is plexi; if it is gray it is aluminum. On the front, it will probably all be metal mesh, the kind with the tiny round holes you see on speaker a lot. The color difference on the front is because I plan to make it at least two tone, just not sure of the color scheme yet.

[nzcubey]

this is looking mighty sweet, i love your sketchup skillz. only thing i cant get my head around is how heavy that beast is gnna be! hope you have a good back XD

[meticoeus]

I've finally had an idea for the control panel of this case. Now it is just a matter of whether I can actually pull it off :D.

As I've posted elsewhere (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4507), I'm considering a car radio-style flip-out display console that will have the power controls for the system and the lighting in it. Underneath will be a more traditional input panel with the frontside usb and firewire, possibly with other inputs like a media card reader. The panel will probably be something like this: link (http://www.xoxide.com/sunbeam-superior-panel.html). The lcd's control board will obviously have to be relocated to the inside of the case and there are probably some problems with this I'm not seeing, but I guess we'll find out ;p. Part of the purpose of this is that no input panel is going to go well with the look I'm going for in this case and because they are quite convenient, I thought it easiest to use one and then simply cover it up when it isn't in use.

The panel will be located vertically in the right trapezoid thing, opposite the dvd-rom.

[meticoeus]

Progress report, at long last ;p.

I had time to start making the first octagon, mainly for further testing, over the Thanksgiving break from classes. Unfortunately, the angles refuse to bend straight and have been giving me hell to get a decent result. When I get more time I'm going to attempt to use clamps to set them the way I want them but if it doesn't pan out I've got a contingency plan. We've got a local ad place that will do just about anything you want with plexi, provided you can pay for it. Hopefully this week or next I can get a quote from them for the plexi I need, and I can probably reduce the number of structural octagons needed from 12 to 10 with much thinner, solid pieces for the other 2.

As soon as these pesky octagons are finished this project should start to actually take shape.

I've decided to go with regular fans for now, there are too many safety issues involved with high voltage to bother with ion-fans right now. I'll probably just use 1-2 low rpm 120 mm fans in the front center for airflow over the mobo and I haven't decided on a specific radiator yet so I can't decide fans for it until then. At any rate progress is occurring, slowly but surely, and now I have a car so I can more easily get to my uncle's shop to continue to advance this project :D.

[AKA_RA]

Anyone else seeing what I'm seeing?

http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/books/bomber.jpg

You gotta tilt your head and squint your eyes a bit.

[DaveW]

Jonny 5?

http://www.ijsmp.com/albums/Smitty5k/jonny5.sized.jpg

-Dave

[intergalacticman]

looks genius, how will you fit the mobo in those tubes?
and ps, its the TIE interceptor. i like the fan placement

[meticoeus]

The mobo will be in the central tower section. You can see part of it if you look closely at the sketchup on the previous page. The bottom tubes are for radiators and the top two are currently mostly extra space.

[Zephik]

Very cool sketchup's man. This is a very interesting looking design. :up:

-SnowFire

[NocturnaL]

Those are some sick ass designs man. Your modeling skills are awesome. I see alot of mods around here are stepping aside from the traditonal Plexi and trying some metal work, This i like. when will you be starting it?

[meticoeus]

Thanks for the comments guys. A friend of mine and I are working on a way to effectively bend the aluminum. Once that works I can finish the octagons and begin building the frame. I'm still not exactly sure what the skin is going to be, but I'm leaning towards plexi.

[meticoeus]

As I anticipated, while bending aluminum is hard, bending it consistently is nigh impossible w/o a metal shop :(

Here is one of the more gruesome results :p
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/8452/dsc00014jr6.jpg
bending was going unsuccessfully to begin with
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6264/dsc00018pu6.jpg

If you look carefully at the fist pic you can see that the angles are too wide. Whenever I bent it would either be very skewed on one side or just break.

So now it is time for plan B.

Plan B:
ditch annoying bending of metal
replace metal octagons with cut to order plexi octagons
the rest of the frame will still be metal, however

I recently found out we have a local shop that handles plexi so if I have time tomorrow I'm going to ask them for scraps to practice on. If I can cut accurately enough I'll just cut the octagons myself. If not, they'll do it. I got a quote from them already and wasn't particularly happy with it or I'd just have them cut it now.

Fortunately, my department (physics, woot) has a fairly well stocked machine shop so I have what I need to deal with plexi already.

My old pc is starting to really get on my nerves so this project is going to be moving into the actual construction phase soon by necessity.

[b4i7]

i was wondering what happened to this...glad to see you still workin on it! good luck gettin the bends down!

[meticoeus]

The octagons are in at last. After discussing what they were for with the guy at the plastics shop he recommended sanalite. In case you don't know what it is, it is a rather dense, heavy, and sturdy white plastic. It is supposed to be much easier to work with than plexi and it isn't easily scratched. It won't likely be visible anyway, though. It also wasn't as expensive, which helped.

Even if I don't paint the outside b/c I cover them completely, the inside will need to be painted later.

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/2992/dsc00021mz5.jpg
one of the octagons, I'll probably paint them a light gloss black.

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/296/dsc00022nw7.jpg
the rear view of the front frame section

Now that I'm working with plastic, I'm just going to embed the side frame angle bars into the plastic so that the sides remain flush, rather worrying about stand-offs like before. It should make adding the skin easier in the long run. Next I have to get the rest of my angle bar from my uncles shop so I can work on the frame this weekend.

[meticoeus]

The guy that was showing me how to use the mill turned out to be out of town for the weekend so I had to wait until yesterday for the tutorial of sorts.

Later on I was setting up the first octagon only to realize that I didn't have the right bit (by breaking the tiny one that was in there, oops). So I'll be heading to the local Lowes after class later this morning (and after speaking to my professor about what bit I need).

So for now I'm working on the plans for the radiator housing. I've decided to go with the Thermochill PA 120.2 and two quiet fans, though my housing will be able to accommodate 4 fans if I really want them later.

http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/6785/fanassemblyshotyr5.png
the fan assembly wip. this is the bottom section of the case.

The goal is to have the radiator(s) thermally isolated from the rest of the case so I'll probably be employing rubber gaskets when it is ready. The exterior will be identical for both sections so I can add another radiator later when I add more stuff to cool. I may go ahead an build the second assembly now and get it over with as it will help to balance the weight distribution in the base.

I can't get the exact dimensions until that section of the frame is finished but its kind of difficult to make a diagonal "rectangle" fit in a smaller octagon, lol. I'll probably mount the assembly to the angle bar of the frame bit with more left-over pieces of angle bar. I should be easiest to place that way.

[meticoeus]

progress :D

After replacing the other bit and trying again I decided to go with a larger bit and file down the edge. The combination was effective and took much less time. I still only got one cut finished (same notch for three octagons) so 1 down, 11 to go, but I now know what I'm doing so i just need time to do it later this week.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2064/dsc00035qw2.jpg
cut 1 of 12

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8281/dsc00032gd0.jpg
angle bar placement

It's late, I'm out.

[meticoeus]

Using a milling machine takes ages. Any-who I finished all of the notches in the octagons earlier and made some test cuts on a spare angle bar. I feel pretty comfortable with the scroll saw now so I'll be cutting all of the notches in the angle bars later today and post pics then. Once all of the side bars are notched I just need to drill the pilot holes in the setup. Hopefully then I can start putting the frame together.

[meticoeus]

Update at last!

The scroll saw didn't work as well as I'd hoped so I had to wait until I got a chance to use my uncles table saw, which was today (last weekend I was at a math competition/conference :)). Well, the table saw didn't as well as I'd hoped either, but it did enough that could easily finish up the angle bars with the mill. I knew I'd have to use it anyway since it was the only way I could think of for the middle notches, which incidentally were the only notches that turned out well. The rest are decent, though so whatever.

After considering the size of this behemoth I've made a few decisions. I've decided to go with the Thermochill PA120.2 radiator, which should be better and shorter than my last choice. Having shortened that, I was able to shorten the case depth by about 3 inches (~75 mm) as well as shave off a couple inches to the other dimensions while I was at it. It still looks basically the same though, just a little more manageable and probably a bit lighter too. New dimensions: 27.9" H x 16.9" W x 21.6" D (hence behemoth).

Having finished all of the notches, now I just need to go get screws and rivets tomorrow and I can start putting together the frame.

This it what one of the octagonal prisms looks like quasi completed:
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/1245/dsc00047hr3.jpg
From the outside and on the side.

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8273/dsc00048pg2.jpg
Same side but higher.

You can see my messy workspace in the background :p.

Some of my notches in the plastic went a little deep but I think it can be accounted for easily enough with some strategic washer placements. When I get the screws to use for the metal to plastic connections tomorrow I can pre-drill those holes and I'll be using rivets for most if nor all of the metal to metal connections (frame only).

Edit: The lighting in those two pics looks off to me but I'm going to blame the overheads in the workshop :p.

[meticoeus]

I got an idea for a custom designed removable mother board tray. If successfull I should be able to secure it via a few thumbscrews on the back panel.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/6735/remmobotraylj1.png

I'll be milling the slots in the two thick bars in the front (1/2" by I think 1/4"). The tray will slid into the case from the back and rest in those two bars, though if it is too much stress it may be better to add a simple track instead of one bar. The assembly on the back will be dictated by need so what is shown is just a rough estimate.

Despite the size of the case, I think the unconventional shape of the side will cause difficulty in working with the mobo so this should help. Also I like working with removable mobo trays and I think building one will be fun, lol.

[meticoeus]

Stupid Lowe's closed before I had a chance to go (I hate DST) so I'll have to pick up the screws sometime this week...

I think railings will probably work better for the mobo tray system. Any thoughts guys?

[meticoeus]

This project has seen a lot of revisions since first concept so thanks to anyone has kept up with this work log. Any newcomers can probably safely start on page 5, lol.

I have finally decided on the external theme and how I will execute it. I've been torn between a more 'modded' look or a professional 'factory finished' look and the factory has won, with a blend of the two in certain areas (the back). The external color scheme will be glass black with red and possibly silver accents. I'm pretty sure I can accomplish what I want for the DVD slot, with the eject button relocated to the instrument panel.

For the most part I can't work on the case until August as I'm out of state for the summer so I'll be looking for materials to use for the skin. I'm thinking of laminating thin sheets of styrene onto sheet aluminum, any suggestions?

The goal for the outside is to look like a sheet of black glass (so no apparent texture) but I would greatly appreciate suggestions for how to do this. Btw, the result shouldn't be fully transparent if is transparent at all. It would help, too, is the exterior is at least fairly scratch resistant.

The bottom groove will be skinned with a simple layer of mesh for optimal, unseen airflow. The back will also utilize mesh as the radiators' exhaust will be removed there via ducting.

The internal theme will be a bit different, with the color scheme reversed and a focus on visual wire management but I'll work out the details when I get there.

[b4i7]

glad to see you are still around! ive been wondering what happened to this project...

as for scratch proof gloss black finish.... look into annodizing... they may be able to give you a glossy finish on it....and that stuff is tough as s***