Project: Zodiac

I've been a long time lurker... I haven't completed a project I felt was post worthy until now, so I decided to register and share it with you all.

This mod has already been completed. It was my entry into a case mod competition on another forum. I recently switched the GPU out to an HD4870, and so will be changing the color scheme and adding quite a bit to the aesthetics. If figured that I would post the entire original log first, and then continue the rebuild from there. :)



Lots of changes have happened throughout this mod, but I decided to leave all of the original pics attached for a more natural progression. If you see something missing in a later photo, it likely got axed. :)

I'm not going to clutter the the first post with a whole bunch of stock
rocketfish pics, if you aren't sure what they look like, or would like
a bit of history relating to the "famous" rocketfish case, just type
"rocketfish" in the search. :P

So, lets jump right in. :)

System specs:

E4600
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
EVGA 9800GTX
4Gb G.skill
WD 250Gb SE16
Sony/NEC DVD-RW
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
DDC3.2/MCP355 w/XSPC top
Swiftech MCR320
CPU GPU cooling- custom waterblocks


Here is my case with the front door and floppy bay removed. I also
removed the USB/headphone jacks from the top of the case. I am going
to switch that PSU out for a PCP&C version because it has two PCIE
connectors.

Since the 3.5 bay is gone, I'm going to remove a section to help
with ventilation.

The same section needs to be removed from the inner front panel.
Also seen here, Pnuematic nibbler and the "belt sander gun" as I
like to call it. Modder's best friends. Invest in these puppies,
and cutting window/radiator holes will turn from minutes into seconds.
I am very grateful that I have access to this equipment at my work, and
that my boss is generous enough to let me use it. :)

After cutting. You can see I didn't do a perfect job but it won't matter
in this case.

Some mesh added to the hole

I made up a nice little aluminum grille for the inner front panel
using the punch and shear(the two will be pictured later).

There is a bracket between the hard drives and motherboard tray that
adds quite a bit of strength to the case. I want to make a nice divider,
but still retain this feature some way.

Here is the aluminum sheet sheared to size and drilled out for some
UV Leds. You can see the bend lines marked in red.

Here is the metal about to be bent on the brake.

Perfect fit! :D I love it when that happens, especially because screwing
up means buying more metal.

I hot-glued the UV Leds in the holes on the back of the cover, and wired
them up with a molex connector.

Testing. :)

I was going for the clean look, I think it turned out pretty well.

I used the same mounting holes as the previous bracket to hold in the
so the cover ends up handily serving a dual-purpose.

Today is radiator grille day. Here is a sheet of .080" 6061 alumiunum fixtured on the mill.

After cutting, I deburred the edges with a scraper and a file, and then softened everything
with a handy scotch-brite pad.

While the grille was on the CNC, I cut out the blank for the upper Led lighting, and drilled it.

Here it is after being bent on the brake, hot-glued, wired, and molex'd.

I decided to switch PSU's real quick, so I went ahead and put in some cable management
holes using a step bit and electrician's knockout punches.

The cable management turned out looking excellent. :D

I think I deserve a bit of gaming after all this work, so I will be taking a break for a few
days. :)

If you look at the second to last picture in the previous post,
you can see the rectangular hole I nibbled out in the top front of the case.
It will contain a control panel with the relocated power buttons and
a slightly chopped Scythe Kaze Master fan controller. This is the display after programming the CNC:

I sheared the plate with the angle cuts, and then clamped it into the vise
for machining. This is after a quick beadblast; I'm just about to engrave
the labels for the buttons and knobs.

After engraving and another light beadblast.

I machined a bit out from the back of the power and reset button tabs to make them a
little more flexible.

After painting; I rather like the way this turned out.

Here's a whole bunch of shots:

With the lights on:

The "HDD" label in the control panel will have a small hole drilled above it for a small
piece of fiber optic leading to an LED. I will detail that later in the worklog, along with pictures
of how I mounted the Kaze master.

BIG CHANGES

So, first off, I need to update the system specs.

-The E4600 was switched out for an E7200
-Gigabyte P35 DS3L switched for DFI Lanparty P35 Dark
-G.Skill switched out for 4gb OCZ Reaper HPC

I was busy for a couple weeks, and had some time to review the work I had already completed, and make plans for the rest of the build. I scrapped a few things, and replaced them with newer, better things.

The top power button/fan control panel is gone, and the 2 channel 3.5" Kaze master has been switched out for the 4-channel 5.25" version. Originall channel 1 was going to be the rad, and channel 2 was going to be the intake and exhaust fans.

Now it will be-

-Channel 1, radiator
-Ch 2, Front intake (Upper case section)
-Ch 3, Front intake (HDD/PSU bay)
-Ch 4, Rear exhaust

After deciding on my design changes, the first order of business was to remove those pesky 5.25" drive bays. Who needs em?

Since I removed the drive bays I'll need somewhere to put the DVD drive amirite? It will be hidden under an upper shroud that covers the radiator and DVD, which matches the lower shroud which covers the HDD's/PSU.

I used the same techniques shown earlier in the worklog for the lower shroud. Brake, shear, drill, mill, punch, etc. Show here is the mounting bracket for the DVD drive.

Mounting bracket installed.

Another view.

While I was working on measurements I set the CNC to work on a nice solid brass top for my DDC pump.

Hehe, sweetness. :D

Here are a couple pics I snapped after I got home (*not shown* I set the upper shoud up on the CNC and cut the fan/tubing holes for the rad):

This shows the location of the DVD drive.

Dayuum! That's a tight fit!

KITTY!

Setting up the blank for the front trim panel on the CNC

While I was waiting for the part to come off the CNC I tore the case down and hot-glued some screen into the upper cover as a dust filter. You can also see in the back where I removed the stock grille area to make way for an access panel, this will (hopefully) allow me to better work on my loop without having to remove the radiator.

Part is done!

I mounted the two front intakes. I also removed the 2nd HDD bay to make room for the pump. In the front you can see where I modded the stock audio jacks from the top of the case into easy reach on the side. As you can see I am also working on the cable management.

Here's a close up with the wiring in place.

*Not Shown* I took the measurements for the Scythe 5.25" Kaze master and cut the appropriate holes, then stripped the fan controller down to the circuit board so I could stealth mount it.


Front trim panel w/fan controller after painting:

Here's some pics I took after I got home:


Kaze Master ablaze in all its glory.

Closeup of audio/USB jacks. I used a roper whitney hand punch to make the holes, and used the stock screws to attach the jacks through the panel.

Here's the first pic so far in the log with my new mobo/cpu/ram, and improved cable management. Looks pretty snazzy IMO.

I ditched the old power control panel since I switched to the 5.25 kaze master, so here I am making up the new one...

After engraving

This is the back piece which holds the microswitches and acts as a clamp to hold the panel on...

Painted and mounted:

I started work on a copper mounting bracket for my apogee GT:

After machining, I used the punch, bandsaw, files, sander and scotchbrite pad to finish the bracket. Then I gave it a coat of clear matte protectant.


I figured while I was at it, might as well step the base too:

Perfecting the lap

Matte finish finally dried, so I assembled the block:

Getting the mounting bracket for the Apogee GT done was the last thing I needed to do so that I could install my loop. The pump hangs by its inlet from the bottom of the res, and it seems to have worked perfectly to kill the vibration. Not the prettiest thing, but who cares... you can't see that part anyways.

Here's where I go a bit out of bounds:

I cut a piece of thin plywood to size with the bandsaw, and made cutouts for the sata connectors and power cable, then smoothed them with this little drum sander.

Here I marked and drilled a few notable constellations.

Wig making, case modding, it's all the same amirite?

Here's all the fibers glued in place and tied down. You can see the white LED illuminator bundle I made on the left. I filled up a piece of heatshrink with epoxy, and then jammed the LED's and Fiber optic bundle into each end, then heat cured it.

Back shot lit on the test bench

Front

Mars, Earth and Venus (aka Ping pong ball and round beads painted with UV paint)

I will attach them to the star panel using some epoxy and .035" welding wire, heres the supports for the Earth and the Moon.

Using the handy-dandy micro spot welder to attach the two:

Sweet.

I glued the wire in with epoxy, and painted it black with some flat black spray paint and a q-tip.

While I waited for the epoxy to cure, I started on a shroud for the reservoir. I ended up cutting the ears off because they ended up being ugly when it was all bent up.

Couple shots with the shroud in place and the planets attached:

FINISHED (well, almost anyways)!

Can you pick out the three constellations?

Oops, almost forgot the most important part, Z for "Zodiac", so now it is officially "complete". Too bad I couldn't get a decent picture (I'm stuck at home and the lighting is much better at the shop... darned deadline). :rolleyes:

damn nice work there, super-clean! welcome to TBCS!

WoW man that looks awesome keep up the good work

Welcome aboard!

I've loved the fiber optic idea for years, ever since I saw it installed in a home theatre ceiling. Looks like i was too slow to get the first build with it!

:eek:

I envy your workshop. Nice work!

Very nice work!

Joe, I think we have another LED freak on our hands.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SgtM

Very nice work!

Joe, I think we have another LED freak on our hands.

---

Yep. This one will do quite nicely.

And now back to your regularly scheduled mod...

Thanks all, I got the inspiration while playing Mass Effect, in fact this was somewhat of a testbed for a much larger scale scratch built case... I wanted to do a whole solar system, but just didn't have the room.

I actually screwed the first star panel up, so the one shown in the pictures was my second attempt. Irritating, the fiber isn't exactly big bucks, but it isn't cheap either.

It was rather hard to capture in the photos, but at night the "night sky" inside the case has a convincing depth to it, that could really be improved with some more real estate to work with.

I wanted to do quite a bit more accent lighting work in different colors with the fiber as well, such as a cool shroud for the GPU and some stuff on the front door, but I was constrained by time and materials at hand (since I botched half of my fiber). :(

After I finish converting this thing over to match the big red ATI board now installed, I will likely be starting a much more industrious project, possibly as a Mass Efffect themed case.

Funny, the weekend after I finished this my girlfriend/family and I went to a Toby Keith concert and her folks got a limo... I was like, "SEE LOOK BABE FIBER OPTICS!!!". I have to say their implementation was a bit boring though, just evenly spaced dots and one fiber gauge. Random is nice sometimes.

omg i love every bit of this mod!!!

That looks phenomenal. I love it. The fiber wire tops it off.

This is easily one of the highest quality mods I've ever seen. Good work mate.

Thank you VERY much for sharing your log!
Super clean and I learned some new stuff... like that you know where to buy something I've been looking for for a very long time!

Fiber optic strands!
;)

Excellent and beautiful, uber clean!
-=TD

I love the simplicity and elegance of this mod. Everything looks as it should be, as if it was straight out of the box. Love the milled pieces, nice work.

Is that an Antec mate?

It's a Lian Li Rocketfish Acey.

Oh... the front reminds me of Antec but the brushed metal's not really Antec's... so its a LL

Congrats!

Congratz on the front page.

Awesome Job love the use of fiber optics

Great mod its the fist time I've seen a Rocketfish case modded. Also congrats on the frontpage.

Mod's like yours get my brain pumping and my mind goes crazy with ideas. I don't have the room in my place to do any mods of my own currently, but I'm waiting ... counting the days until I get some to do some of this stuff.

I was fully convinced when I saw the earth and mars that you were going to **** up a fantastic mod, but I have to say, it came together AMAZING. I am joyfully envious.

that things incredible! amazing job!!

:O what an amazing mod you're building there, if it wasn't because I saw the worklog, I'd say that machined metal you got was factory made :D great job!

Damn!! Its neat... Love the metal work...
Are you planning for a CPU wit live hamsters next time?? Jus got the idea from your cat there...

That little planet earth inside the case is my favorite part..a very nice whimsical touch..

Where do you work and how can I get to your shop and make stuff???!

(or steal things)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crimson Sky

That little planet earth inside the case is my favorite part..a very nice whimsical touch..

Where do you work and how can I get to your shop and make stuff???!

(or steal things)

---

Thanks! A little dash of whimsy is almost never a bad thing. :)

The Earth almost got axed though... it looked really crappy when I first painted it (during the daytime) but once it got dark and I held it inside the black-lit case, I knew it had to stay.


My shop is truly a playground, I am lucky to have access to all of the tools that I do. I shudder to think of some time in the future when I no longer work there. :(

Guess I'm gonna have to do some smooth talking to the girlfriend to get clearance for CNC machinery in the garage.

sweet i love machinery

im gunna guess it will take alot of sweet talking