Project: APASF ("A Post-Apocalyptic Steampunk Future")

Hello everyone.

This is my new "Main" project, after two small projects, one for a client and the other one being the tutorial project, this being the first main project since Fallout Cause SP back in December 2011.

I´ve had this idea in my head for years now, and you could say all of my projects in the last year and a half have simply been "tests" for techniques, both paint and structural modification in order to get ready for this one.

The concept is as far as I know something that has never been done before. Mixing the post-apocalyptic style with the steampunk style in a small slimline case (the same model in fact as I used for the fallout cause sp project). The reason for this is that it gives me a compact canvas to concentrate details and because the parts do not fit, they give me a modular look that I´ve always liked since I saw the original thermaltake Level 10 case (the first one, not the redesigned GT version).

This project is being sponsored by:

Some are new and some have been with me since the begining, either way I´d like to thank all of them for their support and amazing products!

I don´t normally list the hardware I will be using on my projects, but for the first time, this project will actually become my main PC so here are the basic details.

ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3
Intel i7 2700K
Kingston HyperX 16Gb DDR3 1866Mhz
2x Kingston HyperX SSD 240Gb in RAID
2x MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti TwinFreeze OC 2Gb in SLI
NZXT HALE90-M-850w
B-Move Slim II Case

As for the rest of componentes, cooling and accesories, you´ll see them as they get mounted.

Let´s start then.

I´ve started with the structural modifications I need done on the case, the B-Move Slim II. I really like this case, it´s small, simple yet stylsh.

I´ve taken it all apart, I won´t be using any of the frontal conectors (except frontal USB & Audio) nor buttons or led.

For the design I have in mind to work, I need to cut the cover in parts, fit the upper and lower parts permanently to the case so the door is just the side, so here goes.

First part done:

And the second:

And now a test mount of the side panel:

It all fits fine, mostly because they have grips underneath that grab the frontal side of the case. This way it doesn´t become flimsy or weak.

Now the frontal of the case. I´ve removed everything from it as it has to be cut down in order to be made completely square and straight (which will later be filled to suit my frontal design).

First, cutting the left side so that a drive sized device can fit through it (originally it´s designed not to as it has a trap door with a open close button). Second is cutting all the elevated parts in order to make everything perfectly staight and squared. It will later be sanded down, and filled up to make it a solid block.

Now I´m going to be modifying the lower part of the case to suit the power suply, I´m using a used PSU for refference as it´s exactly the same size as the NZXT psu that will go in. In order to accomplish this I need to cut part of the lower section and modify the grip on it so I can still be fitted without the rear screw.

And done.

and the PSU fits nicely now.

Now I´m going to start customizing the PSU.

I´m going to be using a wood "look" vinyl, mostly as a design base so I have the lines and typical look of wood to work on.

And now the first stage of it´s paintjob, which in this case is mostly a mixture of inks, and ageing effects. Here´s the first stage:

And the final stage:

And the brass detail on the side that will be poping out of the case.

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The camera flash shows what it actually looks like:

And finally a comparison shot between the standard vinyl and the "modified" one:

More to come soon!

i loved your fallout case, so i can't wait to see how this turns out.

Thank you very much xr4man! I think my fallout case has been my most recognisable mod ever, so I´m hoping I can top that with this : ) (also this time round I have a 2 and a bit week schedule, fallout only was one week, so should be at least twice as good... right? :P

Today´s work. Power suply finished.

More tomorrow hopefully, also, last minute change, the MSI graphic cards where no longer avaliable so have settled for 2x Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti DirectCU II TOP 1GB GDDR5, it seems that fate always brings me back to asus for one reason or another. In any case, hopefully delivered tomorrow and can fo more body work over the weekend.

digging it so far

Modders: The only people I know that try to stuff a full-size ATX PSU into a slimline case.... SUCCESSFULLY....

cheers for the comments guys :D

Time for an update.

Unluckly the new GPUs didn´t come on friday so I couldnt do much on the weekend, but they came today and as luck would have it, it was only a half day at work as I did overtime on Friday.

Right, time for a test mount.

The frontal bay system does not close by very little, so I´ve trimmed down one of them so it does.

As for the watercooling, I will be using a full copper pipe system for this project, which while it looks really good is rather complicated for two reasons, first, I need plumbing fittings, luckily I found out that 3/8 is a common size for that, so i got some G1/4 to 3/8 fittings and problem solved.

The second problem, or not really problem just, complicated fact is that there´s no flexing, here, so all the measurements have to be exact at every point, so once all the liquid cooling bits and bobs are in their place I will get the pipes and cut them to size so everything fits, nicely. Meanwhile, here´s a preview:

Right, now the case modifying for the GPUs.

I trimmed this section a bit more to make sure there´s no contact, tomorrow I will clean up all the cuts:

Right, because the fittings are so big, my original plan of taking the pipes out the back is scrapped and I have to come up with an idea to take them out the side panel and still be able to open the case as needed, so here´s the solution. I cut the side panel so I can unlock and slide downwards in order to open it.

And to cover it up, and old school grill which I´ll cut to let the pipes through, this way in order to open it, I just unscrew the grill and slide open the side panel. Problem Solved.

More tomorrow hopefully.

Lovin' the crammin' even more!

Cheers mate! :D

Solid copper cooling pipes, a dream I've had for a long time in a world where I have lots of money (also more time) to do lots of mods. Thanks for doing this. Can't wait to see the final loop.