Project: OCM Comp: Welcome to Rapture

Telegram 1: Welcome to Rapture

Quote:

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Rapture, an underwater dystopian city. Secretly built in 1946 on the mid-Atlantic seabed, Rapture was entirely self-sufficient and powered by submarine volcanoes. Constructed by business magnate Andrew Ryan, Rapture was envisioned as the solution to what he saw as increasingly oppressive political and religious authority and populated by those Ryan believed exemplified the best in humanity; as revealed in an audio log, Ryan wanted to create an "Eden", a concept furthered by the resources ADAM and EVE, which are named after the biblical inhabitants of Eden. During the early 1950s, Rapture's population peaked at several thousand, though an elite emerged, discomforting many of the inhabitants.

The development of "ADAM", stem cells created from a species of sea slug, by Dr. Bridgette Tennenbaum, further upset the social balance. ADAM's prevalence greatly accelerated genetic engineering research, creating a plasmid industry that sold everything from a cure for male pattern baldness to skills like telekinesis, with non-passive types like the latter requiring a serum, "EVE." In order to improve ADAM yields, Rapture scientists created the "Little Sisters", young girls with the slug embedded in their bodies. Although initially just ADAM "factories", during the war which later broke out they were repurposed via mental conditioning to extract ADAM from the dead and process it within themselves. At the same time the scientists created "Big Daddies", armed and highly-enhanced humans in diving suits, to defend the Little Sisters as they worked.

For several years, Rapture was what Ryan originally intended it to be: a paradise of freedom and wealth. But ultimately, the very reason it was created—Ryan's paranoia about world authorities—caused the city's downfall, and the ideals Ryan had envisaged to be corrupted and lost. To keep Rapture a secret Ryan forbade outside contact, and, as a result, a black market in smuggled goods sprang up. This market came to be dominated by former mobster Frank Fontaine, who, unlike Ryan, wanted control over Rapture as well as money. His wealth, combined with his monopoly on Tennenbaum's research, soon gained Fontaine enough power and followers to challenge Ryan for control of the city. In late 1958, Ryan lost patience with the conflict, and apparently had Fontaine killed—an action that proved useless, as another figure, Atlas, took Fontaine's place as the leader of the opposition. On New Year's Eve that year, Atlas and his ADAM-augmented followers fomented a riot involving the lower and upper classes. This sparked a civil war between Ryan and Atlas that eventually spread to all of Rapture, crippling the city. As the war progressed, Ryan began to betray his ideals. The former advocate of reason and self-determination began using torture and mind control in his battle with Atlas. Eventually, he became so unreasonable that a number of his supporters attempted to assassinate him. By the time the player enters Rapture, only the "Splicers," citizens with severe mental and physical problems caused by excessive ADAM use, are left, scavenging throughout the city. The remaining non-mutated humans have managed to barricade themselves in the few remaining undamaged areas.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andrew Ryan

It was not impossible to build Rapture at the bottom of the sea. It was impossible to build it anywhere else.

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We will begin by having a look at some concept art for things that may appear on the case. First of lets have a look at some of the technology which may appear on the case.

Going back into the 1940, 50's and early 60's the Art Deco styles were in fashion and featured on buildings, clothing and transport. Lets take a look at some of the architectural styles which will appear on the case.

Well thats it for now, until more artifacts are recovered from the now dead underwater city, goodbye.


[/CENTER]
Cheers
slamaa

Telegram 2: Front Panel Designs have been Discovered:


Well Guys, I just received these, they where taken from an office inside Rapture. The Office is believed to be that of Andrew Ryan who was the leader of rapture. Included are some shots from where these remains where found. The front panel designs.


The Designs.

And an original shot of the office was found, here it is to show what the office looked like in its original state.

Thats it for now.

Cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 3: The Argument


Well, after a long heated argument with the diver who was getting me
the designs from inside Rapture, it seems I will not be getting
anymore, so this is the last design i will be getting.

I have a new diver now, but he won't be able to get me the last
bit as he is not experienced as much as
my old diver and cannot go as deep.

So here is the right side panel.

Sorry for the quality, the paper is in very bad condition.


cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 4: It Arrives


Well, today, i was sitting at my desk, doing nothing in particular when a hear a knock on the door.
I answer it, no one is there, just a big white box.
I brought it inside and opened it up, it was the case,
the last one left. Fresh from the stockiest, it was a very
early model, probably very similar to the ones used in Rapture.
This is the base of my project, to take this and turn it
into something which might be found in Rapture today.

Here are some pictures I took.

Brainstorming :D - matches the theme, i think i will do something like this.

Well thats it for now, later today i might begin some work on it.

cheers
slamaa

Telegram 5: Splicer Attack

Quote:

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Splicers, The remains of Rapture's human population, they are the result of a planned attack by Atlas (Fontaine) on New Year's Day, 1959 to end the civil war between him and Ryan. They apparently murdered the sane population. Many of them still wear Masquerade Ball masks, and Atlas asks, "I wonder why they wear masks? Maybe it's because they have a shred of humanity left, and they're ashamed of what they've become." Apparently due to the biological weapons attack, they have become biologically dependent on ADAM to survive. Wandering the corridors and the tunnels of Rapture, they search for ADAM, usually in the form of Little Sisters, which often puts them at odds with their Big Daddy.


Splicers tend to wear very little armor, if any, but they have advanced physical strength and tend to be extremely aggressive in contrast to the calmer Big Daddys. They will sometimes work in groups, use plasmids and sometimes even play dead to get the advantage on the player. They attack using plasmids, Guns or slashing at things with there hands which have developed into mutated claws.

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A Typical Splicer.

The Front panel of this case is going to be made to look like as if it was a door to somewhere a splicer wanted to go.
It will be attacked, shot at and sheared. But overall the splicer would not have been able to gain entry.

First of all, this is the front panel i began with.

Then using the rotary tool I re-created the Splicers Rip in the panel.

Using the rotary tool with i cut of disk i roughed up the edges of the tear
as if was really ripped, i also did other random bits on the front panel.

Then using the drill and the same roughing technique made with the rotary tool i added some bullet holes.
This can be seen in the video Worklog update I made.

Cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 6: Art Deco Look

Today i was contacted by an old man that claimed to have done
all of the leather work in the original city of rapture.
He supplied me with all original designs and sketches oh how all
the leather work was set out. Using this I decided to re create
an old Art Deco leather feel on the top section of the front panel.



For those who don't like reading I also have a video worklog
of this update. (Click the You Tube Video below to watch)

First of all I measured up the leather look vinyl which I got
from Spot Light for $4.

Then using some Bostik Contact Grip adhesive and a bit of
help from my Dad a began to stick the leather look vinyl onto
the front panel.

I then trimmed it back and tidied it up using a very sharp
razor blade.

Once the Glue was dry i attached some carved wooden
molding which I made earlier using the rotary tool.

Well, thats all I have for now, cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 7: Tiny Details tell the story.

Quote:

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With science being unrestricted by, according to Ryan, a "petty morality," inhabitants of Rapture could explore paths previously deemed immoral or too controversial to follow. One of the major breakthroughs achieved in Rapture was the creation of Plasmids, from ADAM, a substance created by a deep sea parasite. Essentially, processed ADAM created stem cells in its host which allowed new genetic material to be 'spliced' into the DNA of the host. However, drawbacks were later encountered by excessive splicing (mainly during and after the civil war) among common citizens of Rapture, such as cellular mutation involving permanent brain and physical damage.

On December 31, 1958, a massive riot of the working class citizens was led by Atlas upon higher class locations, such as the Kashmir Restaurant. This action was most likely done not just to begin a civil war in Rapture, but possibly to intimidate Ryan's administration as well. Despite prior conflicts with Fontaine's corrupt smuggling and plasmid industry, this blow definitively marked the end of Rapture as a functioning society.

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Well A few minor details which contribute too the overall final look of the mod have started or completed.

First of all for those who can't be bothered reading I have a video update, not that much video content in this one, only one small thing on top of the actual written log.

Heres the Youtube Video, please don't forget to comment.

I got a little bored working on the front panel and decided to some work to the chassis and start marking everything out.

First i cut the 80mm fan grill on the front panel out and mounted an 80mm ZALMAN fan. This fan blows ALOT of air and keeps up with most high end 120mm fans on CFM rating.

I then cut a 120mm hole on the back panel and two smaller holes.
These smaller holes are for the barbs of the radiator which was going to be mounted here

I then mounted the Radiator and fan.

Once i had cut all the fan holes I then began work on the right side panel, Using the jigsaw, I cut a ring from MDF which will look like a port hole.

After i sanded it i primed it.

I then began painting the ride side panel with a mural of the BIG DADDY.

The ring will go around this. I still have many more layers of paint to go with this so it will look very different when finished.

Well now i have started alot of differant things all over the case i plan to get them done.

Hopefully i will get some paint I ordered which will give a real metal aging look.

Well thats it for now.

cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 8: The Grill (Video Worklog 4)


For those who want to see a bit more detail or can't be bothered reading (Or want to watch me make a fool out of myself) I have made a Video Worklog of this update.
[CENTER]

Cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 8: The Grill

Hey Guys, The City of Rapture is located at the bottom of the ocean, these means it can get very stuffy and an artificial weather exists. Because of this, a state of the art (for the 1950's) ducting system was introduced. Many grill can be seen throughout the city. Today I am recreating one of these art deco style grills on the roof of the case.

As my diver has been in the city again he has brought back many photo's of what the grills used look like. I had a grill made up for the recreation of this case. Whilst he was down there he also found out more about the story of the lives from the people who lived there.

Here are some words from my diver

Quote:

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I have spent a lot of time in the city, reading old diary entries and trying to figure out the story of those who lived there. I have found out some time after the 1959/1960 New Years Eve riots (where the city fell into chaos) a plane crashed near the entrance to the city, there was only one survivor. I am yet to find out what happened to him, but I do know he made it into the city.

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When i here more information about the story of this city i will write it down.

I began to create an Art Deco look on the top panel by adding a layered affect using some MDF. Using the Jigsaw I cut two pieces of MDF for the top panel which would be layered.

Once this was done I rounded the edges and used some spray putty to get them nice a smooth.

I then stuck the two pieces of wood together using some very strong glue and primed them and got the piece ready to cut the middle out of.

I got a ducted heating grill from Bunnings which i will use only the grill from, so i pulled the shutter section from it so i just ended up with the grill.

I then cut a hole in the top panel which will be a big exhaust vent for the heat to escape from. I cut this hole using a rotary tool.


I then cut a whole a bit smaller in the MDF piece I had constructed and glued and screed it to the top panel.

Then i applied some mesh to the under side of the grill and attached it to the top panel using some silicon.
Once this was all done I primed the chassis and top panel ready for painting.

Painting will commence in the next update, If anyone has any question I'd be glad to answer them.

Cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 9: How old is that Chassis? (Video Worklog 5)


Once again for this update i have a video which goes more in depth into the mod and has alot more details explained. So if you can't be bothered reading or would like to know more, check it out.

Cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 9: How old is that Chassis?


Hey Guys

got an Update, I got the top panel, front panel and chassis all painted now and waiting for
some hardware and watercooling bits.

First of all I started off by painting the whole chassis with a Satin black paint.

I then applied a light coat of Modern Masters Metal Effects Bronze paint which contains
real bronze in it.

Once that was done I then applied another coat, while the second coat was drying
I sprayed the whole chassis with Modern Masters Metal Effects Blue Patina aging
solution. I then left this over night to let the aging process take it's tole.

When I woke up the next morning, i ran outside to see what had happened.
I was wrapped, it looked great, all aged, and looked like it had been sitting, aging
under the sea for years.

I then repeated this process on the front panel.

I am very happy with the result and will have some good photo soon when
the hardware is installed.

If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

cheers
Slamaa

Telegram 10: Cover that Mother


Hey Guys,
Thanks for the kind words, I have another update now. From when I first started
this mod, I knew I wanted a motherboard cover, I had always wanted to do one
but didn't know how, I don't think there are any tutorials out there on how to do
it but I gave it a go just to try something different which you only see on a very few
case mods.

When originally thinking about this idea I was just going to stack the normal brass
motherboard standoff's on top of each other and attach the cover to that.
But this case had to be difficult, didn't it?

So I came up with this, I just drilled a bigger hole in the plastic standoffs which
came with the case and fed a long bolt up through the back of the mobo tray
and into the mobo held down by a bolt in each corner.

I then test it out, worked fine, I then had a Motherboard i could mount to the tray
by simply clicking it in with big bolt protruding from it. Perfect.


Then using a scrap of perspex, I cut the shape I wanted and drilled all the
required holes.

As this perspex was originally green (not shown) I decided to paint it black to match
the rest of the case. Once the black was down I Gave it the same treatment as the
rest of the case, two coats of bronze and one of aging solution.

I think it came out great.


I then added a bolt on nut on each bolt at the level I wanted the cover to
sit, then added and cover, and as soon as I get them i will add some wing nuts
so hold it down.

Here are some shots of it fitted.

Flash

No flash

Cheers
Slamaa

WOW. Freakin' amazing. And I love the "telegram" style. Very intriguing.

Wow this is freaking amazing....+rep dude.

:shoed::shoed::shoed:

I think I'm gonna move to Australia and learn how to mod properly. Every worklog I've seen from down under has been top notch!

Holy crap! This is an awesome worklog :eek: I love the videos & the end rust effect :up: I'm subscribed !

Telegram 11: Paint that PSU

Hey Guys,

Using the same method I used to paint the chassis I painted the PSU. It's just a generic 550watt unit. Here's the results.

Flash

No Flash

Close up of Aging

Rear

Top

Grill with aging

Cheers
Slamaa

I love the aging. Real believable too

Mate good to see another Aussie on the forums. I really like the whole aging/rust technique. I tried it a while back but never turned out quite right. Fantastic work so far. +rep & subscribe

EDIT: I wasn't aware of this modding comp, let alone it being in Adelaide...I live in Adelaide. I should go down and check it out.

Awesome effect. Does that only effect the bronze?

impressing paint:O

+rep dude:)

b4i7 published you on the front page!

Congrats! Can't wait to see more.

This mod has some great potential. Keep up the good work! +rep

Congrats on the front page mate, excellent work.

Great game, great work so far. Keep it up! Can't wait to see how this turns out. btw, I received my replacement big daddy figure Friday, and the art book. I can scan it if you need any reference pictures.

I downloaded the art book about 2 months ago. It is bloody fantastic.

Excellent work, I love the whole theme to this mod. Grats on the front page dude. :banana:

Just started to play BioShock and I love the style of the game and of course of your mod.
Subscribed and +Rep

I played the demo last night.. totally creepy! I'll be playing this one a bit I think, and following your mod also. :)

DUDE!

honestly, i dont even like bioshock that much, AND THIS MOD IS SWEET!

This is absolutely awesome man! Very realistic looking. I'm looking forward to the updates.

Nice job! I like the paint job :D

congrats on the front page, it is well deserved

watching this mod made me go out and get a copy of this game

Great work thus far. I was thinking the other day about how awesome a bioshock based mod would be. I will be definitely following this.

slamaa....thats GENIOUS!
i LOVE the rusted/worn metal look...where did you get those paints?!
MUCHO kudos man, that is sheer beauty at its best! +rep!

custom header added.

:blivnk:

Telegram 12: Hide 'n' Seek HDD.

Now I had stealth the motherboard, and all the wiring for it is hidden so i tought why not do it for the HDD. I started by modifying one of the 12v rails on the PSU. I removed all the molex plugs and extended the cable, i then cut some lengths of 1/2" copper pipe and fed the wire through it. then soldered the molex connector back on.

I then began work on the HDD cover, I hadn't seen it done before so I began by making a template out of paper.

Once the paper template was done i then transferred it to a sheet of gold metal which was thin enough to easily bend but was still quite strong.

I then folded it into the shape of the cover and drilled a hole so i could attach it to the HDD.

I then tested it, fits nicely.

Then so it matched the rest of the case I aged it and fitted it permanently.

Once this was done I then fitted the new Cooler Master 120mm fan i got and 120mm Nexxos radiator.

A Nice clean mount :)


Well thats it for now

Cheers'
Slamaa

Very Nice work, great job.

Nice! Keep it up :D + rep

Superb... great theme, fantastic paint effects. Nice plumbing too. + Rep