Project: Hitman Tribute PC- Concept 2/3/08

I just got a hold of an old Lian-Li PC-86 case along with some used MNPCTECH hardware, so I'm about ready to start a mod I've been thinking about for a while: a computer based on the Edios Interactive Hitman francise, my favorite game series.

Here's what the stock case looks like:

My objective is a clean, well designed case. I want it to look spectacular but I don't want to anything beyond my ability and end up with a mediocre result. Ideally this case will be adorning my desk for a very long time.

I'm a sketchup noob, but I managed to produce a fairly accurate representation of what I want the case to look like. To the best of my knowledge, everything is to scale.

Here's a brief synopsis of my plan:

Front- If my budget allows, everything will be powder coated either black or red (except the mobo tray, more on that later). The color sceme for each exterior piece can be seen in the sketches. The drive bays will hold one CD/DVD cover, one Lian Li fan controller (I'll replace the LED's with red ones), vandal resistant power and reset switches along with a power and HDD light, and four toggle switches which will control the LED light strips inside the case. The drive bays will be trimmed with aluminum and the area below them will be red round hole modders mesh (hard to see in the picture that it's mesh). I'm going to put a 120mm aluminum blowhole on the front, but instead of putting a fan behind it, I plan to use a circle of translucent red acrylic with the hitman logo cut out of aluminum. The fans will be placed elsewhere...

Right Panel- To get the picture on the right panel, I plan to cut a window-like hole with transparent red acrylic behind it. Behind this acrylic sheet, I'm going to put a piece of mirrored red acrylic. Sandwhiched in between will be the image printed on a large transparency.

Left Panel- The larger window on the left panel will be similar to the right panel window except that both acrylic pieces will be transparent so that the case can be seen into. The smaller window is the "mission window." It will be transparent red acrylic and the names of eight key missions from the four games will be printed on it. However, it will be backed by a thin sheet of translucent black acrylic so the words will be difficult to distinguish when not backlit. Each mission will have a laser LED behind it (partitioned of so there's no cross contamination) controlled by the rocker switch next to the mission. If the mission's name is visible this indicates the misson has been completed.

Top/Bottom- I intend for this case to be almost entirely vertically cooled. Two 120mm fans on the bottom of the case will intake air and an exterior 92mm fan on the back along with a 120mm fan on top will exhaust it (the power supply will exhaust as well). There's a mistake in the picture of the bottom, the case will be watercooled so there should be a dual 120mm rad between the case and the fans. As shown the case will sit on MNPCTECH billet aluminum case feet. Billet handles will be mounted on the top along with an aluminum blowhole for the exhaust fan. Inside the blowhole with be another aluminum hitman logo.

Interior/Cooling- I intend to use carbon fiber vinyl on the mobo tray and powercoat the rest of the interior black. I've never watercooled before, so any suggestions here would be greatly apprieciated. To me, looks are as important as cooling. I plan to use black coolant and mount the res and pump underneath the drive bays. My tenative plan for the loop is: res→ pump→ bottom dual rad→ gpu→ 92m rad on back→ northbridge→ 120 rad under top fan→ cpu→ res.

I suppose that's about all. I don't want to be begin only to find I've made a major planning mistake, so any comment, criticisms, or suggestions would be greatly apprieciated.

Looks interesting...I'll be keeping my eye on this one

Your right, it does look interesting, can't wait for more.

Can you build me one ? I can't wait to see you start building :D Subscribed.

Subscribed. This is going to look awesome. I love Blood Money. I think its the best of the series. And I only just started playing these games. So it fits in with my life right now. Good luck on this one man.

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Originally Posted by BigJohnson

I love Blood Money. I think its the best of the series. And I only just started playing these games. So it fits in with my life right now. Good luck on this one man.

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I agree. Blood Money is the best although Silent Assassin comes very close.

Thanks for the nice comments everybody. I haven't had much of a chance to work on the case yet (school) but I did cut one of the left side windows and I figured I should post a pic just to give people a taste. I used an old scroll saw to do the window. Shown here with the trim molding I'm going to use and with the panel still taped off.

I'll try to cut the other two windows tommorrow but I don't know if I'll get a chance.

I love that molding, great job on the window.

I finally got time to cut out the other two side windows. I'm going to be using that trim molding on all three. As you can see, there's still tape on the left panel because I'm about to drill the holes for the rocker switches.

I also thought I'd post pics of some of the MNPCTECH hardware that I got with the case (got it off ebay, somebody apparent started a mod and them quickly lost interest).

I've got some vents and aluminum fans too but I don't know if I'll use them.

Still trying to decide whether or not to use a barcode and, if so, where? Any ideas would be apprieciated.

More updates coming soon.

I have been going over this mod looking for a place to put the barcode. And I think, it might add something to the theme, it just wont fit in anywhere. Progress looks good though.

Just a small update. I drilled all the holes for the rocker switches on the left panel. All unsightly cuts will naturally be covered by molding or switches.

I'm thinking about putting the barcode on the back of the case just above the PSU. After all, it's on the back of 47's head.

Very nice work so far.

Modding finally resumed this Thursday night. I mounted the handles and blowhole on the top panel. I have to say, MNPCTECH makes some awesome bling.

Eventually, the panel will be powder coated chrome black and the handles and blowhole will be red.

As you can see, there are a few errant holes left by the previous owner of this case. I'll fill those in with some high temp JB weld (supposedly compatible with powder coating) after I go to the hardware store in the morning.

My goal for tomorrow is the completion of the front bezel.

Very nice work!
This thing will be a beaut!

If you want a screenshot on the side of the case, I could set it up and print it on vinyl.

Looking good buddy.

Sorry for the long time between updates. Most of the work I've been doing has been important, just not glamorous enough to post. I've been filling in a lot of holes, sanding, cleaning, etc.

Here's a pic of the aluminum trim I made for the front bezel. Still got about an hour of filling and sanding to go before it's perfect.

The trim will eventually be powder coated red.

I'm agonizing over whether or not I want to powder coat my panel. I really want the great finish, but I'm worried about outgassing from the JB Weld I used to fill in several holes. It might be safer to just paint the panels or use vinyl film.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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I had some setbacks today (most notably my dremel dying in a fiery ball of ciruit-breaking electricity) but I still managed to make some progress on the front panel. I extended the drive bay holes all the way to the bottom and drilled some holes to screw on the aluminum trim. Here's some pics of the progress. I apologize for the glare, the flash on my $40 camera does not do well with shiny metal.

The empty areas outside the blowhole will be filled with round hole modders mesh and the area inside will be red acrylic.

That looks fantastic mate, great work.

Glad to see some more progress on this. Try externally lighting your project and shutting the flash off. It may help with the glare.

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Originally Posted by BigJohnson

Glad to see some more progress on this. Try externally lighting your project and shutting the flash off. It may help with the glare.

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Yeah, that's probably a good idea, I'll try to take some pictures outside next time.

Thanks for all the comments.

Looking great, love the shiny metal bits. You could also try shooting flash pics from an angle so that the reflected flash 'bounces' away from the camera lens. It worked for me when I photographed my fish in a glass aquarium. :)

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Originally Posted by jiggiwiddit

Looking great, love the shiny metal bits. You could also try shooting flash pics from an angle so that the reflected flash 'bounces' away from the camera lens. It worked for me when I photographed my fish in a glass aquarium. :)

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Good idea, thanks for the advice. It's now Friday night so it's mod time!!!

nice, can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks for the excitement Braveheart.

I finally got time last night to start working again. Deciding it was time to get to work on the chassis itself, I cut out the fan holes for the two bottom fans.

Marked and ready for cutting

Fan holes cut

I'm currently working on filling in some holes in the bottom of the case. I'll probably cover the cuts with U-channel if I can find some big enough.

More updates coming soon. It's paint time!

The painting has begun! I'm still sanding and cutting some pieces, so not everythings getting painted at once, but I have made quite a bit of progress. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

All items were primed and then the top and right panel were painted with metallic black while the blowholes, handles, switches, and fan controller were painted with gloss red. I'm going to let everything cure for a week and then wetsand and clearcoat. I'm also going to paint the nubs of the handles black.

As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated.

They look good in red. I think they look better chrome though.

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Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

They look good in red. I think they look better chrome though.

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Yeah, the bare aluminum does look really good. I think red fits in with the theme better though and it'll be really shiny once it's wetsanded and cleared. Thanks for the comment.

I guess your right, the clear coat will make a huge difference.

looks nice so far, i am amazed you got paint to stick to that chrome 0.o

I would think you'd have to sand it back to get it to stick.

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Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

I would think you'd have to sand it back to get it to stick.

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same here, or put some kind of primer on it first, i guess not though, it seems to be sticking:)

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Originally Posted by Braveheart

looks nice so far, i am amazed you got paint to stick to that chrome 0.o

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It wasn't actually chrome, just really shiny billet aluminum. Trust me, if I had real chrome, I would not deface it with paint.

Its ok, we deface a lot of stuff around here.

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Originally Posted by Braveheart

same here, or put some kind of primer on it first, i guess not though, it seems to be sticking:)

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Sorry, I somehow managed not to notice this fourth page until just now :neutral:, so I still need to answer the question of how I painted the bling. I first sanded the aluminum very lightly with 400 grit sandpaper and then put on three coats of metal primer. I let the primer cure for about 6 hours and then wetsanded it with the 400 grit and applied the red. This method seems to have worked; the paint is sticking really well.

Thanks again for all of the comments. They really give me the juice to work hard on this mod. You guys are the best.:banana:

Well thats why we are here and not doing our own stuff. We're all talk. Nah. Its great to support each other and help anyone along the way. It makes things fun and it makes this a great community.

Unfortunately, this weekend has been very busy and I havn't had much time to work. I finally got a couple free minutes tonight but I didn't get very much done. The painting is going slowly, but that's okay, it leaves me more time to save up for the goodies inside the case :D .

During the week I managed to get the nubs of the handle painted black. They still need to be wetsanded and cleared, but I think they already look really cool. Here's a brief recap of their progression.

The "stock handles," already so nice and shiny.

Painted entirely red (sorry, massively cropped picture)

Painted red with black nubs (current state)

Im liking this mod the more I see it. Looking good.

Congrats on the front page, keep it up!
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