Project "tensa sama ke-shi" (Heavenly Chain Computer Case :P)

Hi everybody,
I'm starting my new mod here and hopefully, all the experience I gained while I lurked in the shadows and did funky "experiments" will pay itself :)

This mod is a scratch build with maximum transparency, shadows and blackness :). It's based on the anime series Bleach and mainly on the theme of the man character, at it's max power.

Some info can be found on clicky_here
Some pics from the last episode:

the sword named "tensa zangetsu" (天鎖斬月), but in a whiter/hollow form.. i like it better in this case 'cause it offers more contrast and detail.. than the norma black on black one..

Ichigo's eyes when he gets focused on fighting.. can you say blue leds?

the main "dressing" for the case: black flames with white highlighting? bankai (final release) mode..

another shot.. same idea.. I just love this effect.. tried it with scrap plexi :) more on this later..

and a white Ichigo, his inner hollow :) nice idea.. would be nice to paint all the PC's guts in white, but neah.. too risky..

and a small ("accidentally" resized by the server) wallpaper: click_me

Now, time for some pics of the stuff I'll use:

xp 2600+, epox nforce2u mobo, 2x512DDR400+ akasa copper hs, 6800gs/256, akasa fan control, vortex2 hard drive cooler, asus dvd-rw, 2 ac3 fans and a katana 2 cooler..

If you may be wondering how a non-socket A cooler can fit... Well, I do have a dremel, drill and grinder.. and scrap steel and aluminum :) sooo:

It fits! Perfectly, snuggly, no fear of transport problems 'cause the cooler is mounted with nuts and bolts.. the above mobo and cooler aren't mine, but we did buy 10 katanas and needed only 5... so all PCs in the room got a nice HS now :) almost... still waiting for my Infinity to come... 4 of them..

The ideas i went trhough up to now are:

flames made of plexi.. sanded.. frosted.. err... looked nice but not quite the effect I was after..

getting closer to what i was looking for.. I made the virtual black flames by painting the inside of the plexi. Just like I'll do in real life..

more than what i wanted.. but most redo it.. custom made to fit a katana cu and I have a katana 2...

more info after i find how to actually pronounce the freakin' name i just invented ;) it was supposed to be the "tensa zangetsu case".. but' this ain't no sword.. now it should be like "tensa <something>"... much better... if any one can help with this.. by any means, please do.. oh, this mod should be completed in about 2 weeks... hopefully...

天鎖様ケーシ
tensa sama ke-shi
Master Tensa Case

Pretty sure that is the right kanji for sama, but I'd look it up first anyway.
日本語ができ増すか。なんえんせにぐらいにほんごをべんきよしはじめますか。

BTW never use Babel fish for translation. I threw my easy sentences in there and It came out with something CRAZY.

Sounds cool man. Though I'm not much of an anime/manga fan myself (only one I really got into was Rurouni Kenshi... 5th grade baby) this should be awesome.

And just a side question. Am I the only one seeing a bunch of ?s instead of (I imagine) Kanji?

All I see is ????? as well.

That's because you guys don't have asian language support installed on your computer. You can do it via the Windows disc. I myself have all languages supported.

^^^ DaJe is correct.

I don't think you actually need the disk though, older versions of windows simply compresses them when you aren't using them and leaves them on the drive. Not sure if this is still true...

-Dave

either way, the question marks are just as easy to read as Japanese and make as much sense to me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maz

天鎖様ケーシ
tensa sama ke-shi
Master Tensa Case

Pretty sure that is the right kanji for sama, but I'd look it up first anyway.
日本語ができ増すか。なんえんせにぐらいにほんごをべんきよしはじめますか。

BTW never use Babel fish for translation. I threw my easy sentences in there and It came out with something CRAZY.

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so... you hit the right spot :D babel fish.. baad..
this is a pic of the name for those that don't have the language packs.. although I don't have them either, each time I install firefox, I get them :)

so, any mod care to please change the name of the thread into tensa sama ke-shi?

Back to elaborating ideas:

I wanna use plexi and bend it.. Use 2 pieces to form the main body and the big cover.. smaller pieces will be made for the drive section and maybe for a duct.. my deadline for case design is by Friday, so that I may cut the pieces and do mock-up assemblies and redo/reshape if needed.. and then paint! etch! I have the plexi in sheets of 1 square meter...

Also, I will buy black window tint foil and add it in layers.. to create some kind of transparent flames.. this is optional..

Hmm.. what else.. need white leds? I have 25 blue ones.. but man I'm short on cash after buying stuff for my other rig.. :rolleyes:

Soo, name is nice enough to keep: Tensa Sama Ke-Shi :) And I did manage to come with an idea of what to use for cooling the old xp cpu: the old sonic tower... of course, it didn't fit the way it was.. not visually, not in my opinion... so I committed the ultimate sacrilege in heat sink design and...

..painted it black!

I tested it.. therefore the dust particles caught by the flash.. and it still cools.. to what extent have I marred its cooling capabilities? I shall see later on.. Anyways, I gave away my katana2 cooler for a brand new and big infinity, with 5 pairs of heat pipes.. so, I killed the option of using the Katana for socket A.. someone else will, though :)

Of course, anyone that knows the cooler I will be using can fit 2 120mm fans will ask themselves how can I fit a 170mm tall cooler in a 140~150 mm case.. Well, I'm gonna let the cooler passive and just allow it to stick out of the case.. Weird, but why not :)

More update later tonight...

If you don't wan't to use the blue use A pair of white 10cm CCFL's. That will set of the black flames perfectly and would work perfectly with Ichigo's inner Hollow issue lol.

Oh and I think Tensa Zangetsu means white moon fang, or is that the attack he uses. I forget haha.

Even though I havn't seen the latest episode I know well enough that thats Rukia's Zanpaktou impaling Ichigo.

Quote:

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Even though I havn't seen the latest episode I know well enough that thats Rukia's Zanpaktou impaling Ichigo.

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Well, this is from episode 125. So ...nope, that's Ichigo's, but it is white because he is fighting his inner hollow.. who is also white.. with a white version of tensa zangetsu :) It's an interesting theme: black vs white, good guy black, bad guy white.. yin yang concept and with a bit of bleach twist :) Hope this is not a spoiler ;) :twisted: :santa:

back to the work log.. a friend bought a jig-saw and 10 blades for acrylic.. so either tomorrow ( Sunday.. maybe not) or later next week (more likely) I will cut the panels to be bent..

Whoops my bad haha. Because of my lack of broadband my friend (who is also a fan) downloads the episodes and gives them to me. I only have up to episode 120.

Anyway I like your idea, should look awesome when it's done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Even though I havn't seen the latest episode I know well enough that thats Rukia's Zanpaktou impaling Ichigo.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by dgrmkrp

Well, this is from episode 125. So ...nope, that's Ichigo's, but it is white because he is fighting his inner hollow.. who is also white.. with a white version of tensa zangetsu :) It's an interesting theme: black vs white, good guy black, bad guy white.. yin yang concept and with a bit of bleach twist :) Hope this is not a spoiler ;) :twisted: :santa:

back to the work log.. a friend bought a jig-saw and 10 blades for acrylic.. so either tomorrow ( Sunday.. maybe not) or later next week (more likely) I will cut the panels to be bent..

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:mad: Can you guys warn me of spoilers at the BEGINING of your post?
I would really like to keep up with this thread, since I love Bleach, but not at the cost of having it spoiled. If not, then I guess I'll just look at the pictures and not read a word of it. :mad:

Anyways, best of luck to you. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

sorry dude.. I knew it would be a chance that others hadn't seen it, so did say "Hope this is not a spoiler".. sorry again..
errm, we haven't seen the episodes past 125 and because we like them so much, we read the manga... that's a bit more evolved, but it still is just a series of images.. the anime version rocks! if you wanna be thrilled even more, don't read them too.. but if you are curious and patient(japanese >> english).. ;)

worklog:
I'm still working with the .max model each night and now have a bit of a difficulty with the big silencer on the 6800.. I lent it to a friend and forgot to measure it.. before.. so that now I don't know how much it sticks out beyond the pcb of the video board.. hmm.. can solve this if I can find pics and schematics :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maz

天鎖様ケーシ
tensa sama ke-shi
Master Tensa Case

Pretty sure that is the right kanji for sama, but I'd look it up first anyway.
日本語ができ増すか。なんえんせにぐらいにほんごをべんきよしはじめますか。

BTW never use Babel fish for translation. I threw my easy sentences in there and It came out with something CRAZY.

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only a few of those characters are actually Kanji. Most of them are Hiragana. (no idea how to spell it in english that is phoenetic.) Kanji is the picture language. Hiragana is fairly similar to our alphabet and Katakana is similar to Hiragana but is the alphabet that is used to spell any foreign word and they are all spelled phoenetically.

just seen this i have been planing a hollow ichigo
themed case for a wile but i
haven't seen many anime stile cases around.
and so far it looks great
im exited to see how it turns out

Im a big fan of bleach this will be interesting...ur design looks cool but i think you should include more bleachish stuff than just some flames and a logo.

Also im pretty sure this is mostly kanji, I know hiragana and most kana so id say its kanji.

Btw take a look at my black and white mod if you wanna see some contrast.
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...?t=7311&page=4

Hello everybody :)
It's been 3 exams since I last posted and hopefully I nailed them all. Many things have happened, so let's jump back to work..

@Smoking_pig, nice case! And the color theme is beautifully implemented. But that's not what I want for my case.. My "white" should be opaque plexi, lighted up white by LEDs.. So that if I wish, there would be no white or light or anything bothering anyone when I watch my favorite anime :)

@linoge: thank you and good luck with your case. I've seen just one Bleach case, but there are tons of cases (expect weird shapes or mods) out there.. Just search for some anime series and then for mods with their name, or a characters name. I found a lot..

And now, on to some pics (still with a borrowed camera :( ):

I've been using a heat gun and a 400x1000mm sheet of plexi.. After the first bend, I wanted to see how it matches size-wise. I'm using a riva video board with a pentium heat sink on it just to approximate the height of the 6800 cooler.. and an old sound blaster to keep at least one pci usable..

The second bend... Oh, I am off by half a centimeter now vs the .max project, but that's easily taken care of.. I did actually take care of it :)

I measured the angle of the bend with a block of aluminum.. Didn't turn out perfect, but it is very close.. I hate it that I couldn't find plexi with paper protection.. this plexi has sheets of plastic glued to it and that thing shrivels when heated :(

..the inner sides in the making.. a thin strip for the clear side, and a fat chunk of plexi for the PSU and drive bay support.

.. a draft for the back panel.. I've been pondering and seeing how I will be using AC fans that have a nonstandard screwing technique (can't use bolts and the screws supplied aren't long enough), I am researching some form of glueing them, but also keeping vibrations at bay..

At the back I decided to make holes for all connector and place the power and restart switches there..

..some interior planning.. I must wake early in the morning and go buy some screws and the brass things used to raise the mobo from the case.

..a draft of a possibility of what the front could be... I was in a bit of a dilemma: I added 2 fans for exhaust and have a 3 channel fan controller.. so the solution is to add one more.. but where? So, seeing as the front has lots of free room and I still don't have a nice LCD to put there.. A fan there can enhance the cooling power of the case :) And gives me the possibility of more fan modding and grill-assorting :)

I must leave the modding world now and go study the exciting world of.. microwaves :) See you later..

update:
I have a hard drive and a PSU, plus, by pure luck, I found a way to mount the sonic tower, but rotated 90 degrees, just the way I wanted! ...I used a clip from a water cooling kit :) more work will be done in the future :) pics later, I've been up for 20+ hours..

they use plastic because it streaches when you bend it. otherwise, you would either need to remove the paper or have it tear, a lot.

I love the idea for this case. I havn't really watched much of bleach but enough to be interested in this project =P.

repzz

Sorry for overshooting my deadline... and for the lack of progress.. but measures have been taken: I assembled the guts and they still work, except for my old DVD burner.. It seems one of these lasts no more than a year in my hands.. The battery is dead too, but that can be easily replaced. I started the cutting on the plexi shell, bought some glue and tested stuff.. One problem I'm having is the heat that forces me to cut for half an hour than take a pause for several, until the rotary tool cools down. I think it's age is showing..

Some pics of the test:

What I don't like, is the fact that the big atx cable and the smaller P4 cable run above the video adapter.. And also, it's gonna be a very tight fit in other parts...

Not to forget the theme of the mod, I shall re-watch a large portion of the series to get involved and better understand what I must do for the aesthetics part. Till next time...

I hate this show but every night i just watch it. Anyway good luck with you mod!

Wouldn't painting the heatsink make it retain heat more?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VCR

I hate this show but every night i just watch it. Anyway good luck with you mod!

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I loved this show at first sight, because I had 80+ episodes to watch from starters.. Then I took a brake and allowed them to accumulate to 110+... Now, I have to wait till fall for the action to start again.. Just fillers nows (I enjoy them too).. And I can't not look at them every week :( Guess they hooked me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Greco101

Wouldn't painting the heatsink make it retain heat more?

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I think it does trap more heat, but I'm using the system now (the other I have is under re-construction) and I'm running almost silent (arctic cooling fans are really good) at 39 degrees centigrade, with average load (music, browsing, downloading and some minor image editing >> 30ish% load). It's true that I've seen even 34 temps but with more fans and with an opened window ;) Right now, I'm happy to hear a slight humm and have the black sonic tower, although the 5 degrees are there too :|

Oh, my soldering tool died with a really bad smoke act and because I'm at home, I can't do any work on Sunday.. nagging parents :p

I did manage to almost cut the I/O bracket, but I sincerely don't like it.. must think of somethin..

So, this would be the time to announce the version one of the case... dead :dead:.. Why? Answer: my dad didn't like it.. And because I am doing this for him, a change of plans was imminent..

Yesterday I went shopping and found something more appealing to his tastes.. please do not laugh.. I used a local online shop and searched their offerings of PSU-less cases to find products ranging from Thermaltake, Lian Li to.. unnamed cases.. Guess what I ended buying for a mere 15$? (vs 75$ the far-from-completion acrylic version :| ) This:

(I had to clean the pics for them to be usable in further max processing.. watermarking was there and it did say something.. but the respective site didn't say it was copyrighted material, so I was able to edit them.. no photoshop here, just paint.net)

Can you say clone? All in all, this suits my needs, as you will see..

Wavey? White.. Low quality, cheap plastic, weird marks on the interior metal works.. bleah..

The door isn't that flimsy, because it is held with some nice and simultaneously weird hinges, but still.. bleah.. And then inside.. Lighting will be carefully placed and light bleeding has to be controlled..

The side screams cheap.. Normal holes are there, in the way as usual is the air duct, but the one thing that caught my attention is a 10-bladed, 2-level 8cm fan.. will show pics after installing the dreaded phone camera utility..

The back, after a bit of "modding", with the paint brush, is what I wanna make it.. No bloddy grills.. Chromed wire grills are the way to go!

First attempt at "improving" things.. Ok, photshop rules and Paint.net is just an evolved version of paint.. nothing more.. but still free..

OK, this is all theoretical now.. but things change a lot in one day (plus a night).. So, after digitizing the case dimension and it's only 'feature', the door, I get a canvas to work on..

Simple box with a face.. I looked at it, turned it around.. thought of some ways to improve it.. Then I asked my dad what he was thinking.. He said it has to still be white.. And look normal.. errm.. That pissed me off for about 36 hours.. I had a nice "chat" with both my creators.. and finally, seeing how pissed I was, dad said I could cut "some" holes.. Anyways, I was kinda overworked today and blew off in the wrong direction.. But it was constructive anyways :D Watch the thread..

First problem to tackle by 2x120mm fans: no intakes!!! How the hell? I was curious and ran the system that way right after taking the case apart, putting it back (IT HAS SCREWS INSIDE, NOT JUST RIVETS >> did not expect that!) The temps rose up steadily in 24 hours, until I had 64/40 degrees on cpu/hdd!!! No way! And this with stock settings, not maxed out.. Talk about bad airflow.. or no airflow.. Also, the top of the case was hot and I couldn't keep my hand on the PSU exhaust.. eeeek.. So, I'm running now with the side panel away.. 49 degrees with 75% overclock.. hihi.. nicer, but I've seen 36ish too..

So, how can I keep everything as it is yet make it functional? Cut some holes on the side of the plastic face plate.. Also, I added a weird shape for the window, that would cut away the side intake, hide the PSU and the bays and keep the side PCI/video vent.. weird.. but workable.. as you will see..

A nice fan control PCB will be donated by the akasa jr fan controller. Also, fans must have filters and a mounting plate (already marked on an aluminum plate now and prepped for cutting.. someday, after I become once again home alone.. I hate being alone, but this is the only I can work nowadays..)

The next part is what made me think this as a do-able mod.. What would make it unique? What can I use that doesn't mean copying or just adding stuff together?

THIS:

Custom, made-by-me "vector" drawing of Ichigo's mask! I took some screen shots and contoured the mask I found most appealing.. Then I edited it and added some wind effect (played with the vertexes and lines).. I accidentally stumbled upon this arrangement! And I just love it! Still, the more I watch it, the more I get used to it and find it lacking somehow.. patience.. and I will find the answer.. I downloaded an entire website for this one idea.. After watching about 800+ wallpapers of various charachters in Bleach, the one thing that popped in my mind was either the mask, or zangetsu himself, or Ichigo going for his first Bankai.. errm.. Guess what I could vectorize..

Some 5 min rendering.. with a background.. this isn't final though, because of some mechanical inadequacies.. Anyways, black and white for now. With a high gloss.. Darkest black I can find will be used, and the purest white applicable.. I'm searching for either some black self-adhesive plastic surface or black and white primer plus paint plus clear coat, but judging from my past experiences with black paint and clear..!?..

I have been working today on an update, v2.02 (couldn't finish it.. I'm strolling in the dark, trying to see some shape there.. For the top of the case, the other side and the front.. Flames looking like ragged clothing are what I wanna "dress" my case with), on the rest of the case..

Some redecorating in the inside area: a custom (lit) plexi etch on an inside piece I will mount to hide the drive bays (Cut it today, prepped for drilling LED holes, masked for drawing the etch pattern.. have no clue yet what tot etch, but have to!).. Some bondo (bought nice white and sand-able stuff today) filling on the face plate outside and inside.. And some more stuff.. If I could just get some alone time.. Aaaargh.. Well, I think it is enough for now.. I should get some sleep, as I have a long day tomorrow (chores, trips, doctors, bureaucrats).. Bye for now..

PS: the black paint does appear to harm performance on the sonic tower.. and of course, the dust.. So, unless sacrificing headroom, don't paint your heatsinks :rolleyes::redface::p

I liked the old design but this is so much BETTER!!!! I live how you incorporated the hollows mask into the window area.

10ks :) It took me 3 hours to plan.. I wonder how I'm gonna end up doing it :) more updated coming today.. I still have some 500 pics to study and a new episode to watch :D

I'm only up to episode 123. My mate wont give me the ones he has downloaded :(

Well, I am at 136.. won't say a thing tho about what's going on! shhh, silence and secrecy :) Also, I'm watching claymore too.. Gonna take some good cookies and a nice drink and watch them now.. Cheers :)

Well episode 123 has just downloaded so I may start to watch it, and download the next lol.

mhmhmm... you mean it is just being aired? ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dgrmkrp

Well, I am at 136.. won't say a thing tho about what's going on! shhh, silence and secrecy :) Also, I'm watching claymore too.. Gonna take some good cookies and a nice drink and watch them now.. Cheers :)

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Going to watch it later today!

And good luck with the mod! I'll defenitly watch this one :)

Nice mod man, I also plan to do a Bleach hollow tribute for my case(well its a cube). its going to be mostly the 2 Vizard masks I have seen so far, ichigo's hollow mask and menos grande masks with body. (I may also add some of the espada mask like Ulquiorra) but nice mod, I can wait to see it finished.

uuu, this is interesting.. you see, after watching the entire series and having taken a lot of screen shots.. I can say that the masks are prime mod material.. So, good luck and can't wait to see what takes shape from our dark imaginations :>

after a couple more hours of modding the desings ;), I ended up here:

..evolved window side.. I don't like this that much.. so I'll redo it :)

..the other side :) this I just love.. going very well with the mask and Zangetsu's shredded coat :)

I'm having some trouble making a uniform shredded pattern.. Because I ain't using any models, but rather drawing them after an idea.. I get some various conflicting ideas.. And now, I think I must rework the window side..

You may be wondering why the hell am I trying so hard to do these shapes in 3d.. well, I plan on having them printed in full size so that I can use them as masks, pardon the pun, for either painting or cutting vinyl layers :) Hopefully, my dad can help me there, as 50x50cm prints should be possible with a big f-ing plotter :D Then, I'm gonna cut the model with a nice and sharp blade and glue it somehow for either painting or.. for good..
Going to sleep now, I have to wake in less than 6 hours for more house-work... bye

...Although I did more modeling, I can't just move a mouse and have a case "rendered" in real life :think: :alien: So, it is time for some fabrication :)

So, let's see what we have after stripping the case:

..empty shell of the cheap kind.. made of flimsy.. and easy to cut steel!

..this is where I wanna etch.. something: either the name of the case/project or something else..

..uuh.. I wanted to make something, cause I have some 1mm Aluminum to spare, but they are too small to do any case work.. so, they will be radiators for the transistors in the fan controllers..

..something like this..

..or this..

..or this.. unfortunately, I must have f*@#ed somewhere.. Cause I burnt the transistors.. Not to worry, as I expected it.. So I bought some spare NPNs :) and made the unit back, but without the make-shift rads.. Still, I have no clue where I did wrong, as I did use shims to isolate the transistors and I did install radiators before, without side-effects..

I marked the plexi piece for the holes I will drill for the LEDs.. sometimes..

this is something I spent all day on.. the front aluminum piece that will hold 2 120mm fans..

in the meantime of not modding and thinking.. I bought some vinyl and some bolts and nuts.. and masking tape and other things..

then I cut these using the angle grinder and the 'dremel'.. took much longer than expected cause I wasn't happy with it: first, I found out that this is a weird aluminum that is tougher to cut, but brakes easily. So, after marking round holes, I cut what u see.. then sanded, filed and cut again.. took a looong time to get it closer to my needs..

.. after tweaking a lot I got here: no drill means I had to use force and a screwdriver to make holes..

..this is after putting one fan.. then two..

..this is where they will go after I cut the case too..

..till that point comes, the fans are 5 volted and used to cool my amp :)

more to come tomorrow :)

You are amazing! I absolutely love what I am seeing with the renders. The masks and shredded cloth looks great.

Good start, should turn out great.

with those transistors you could try putting a bit of thermal paste on them before the 'heatsinks'