Project: Swashbuckled!

[Munty]

About a year ago, just before the release of 'Pirates of the Burning Sea' I came up with a water cooled case mod concept on a theme that would perfectly complement said game. Unfortunately no sooner had the idea made its way into a basic .bmp file I moved house to start a family and things have kind of spiralled from there (don't even own the game let alone have the mod done!)

Recently though I was inspired anew, most likely by some of the mods here! So a month or so down the line I find myself with 90% of the materials I'm going to need, a working mockup of the system it'll be running and several more uber-basic .bmp images and I feel like it's time to dip into the community for some help and advice. This is an absolutely £0 budget scratch-build so I'm doing well to have got this far but I'm convinced I'm going to need a lot more than keen eyes for salvage to get me through the main body of the build itself!

Now I would put some pictures up here to show off my materials (generously 'donated' when a nearby neighbour replacd their old boiler!) nd the very fetching - if not slightly squashed - cardboard mockup of the system itself (which I'm using right now by th way, bully for me!) but not only does the missus have the digital camera (that the cat broke anyway) but I have no idea how to upload pictures or even a signature/mod header for use on this site!

So that's Q.1 for whoever reads this post! Before I ask any more it's probably best to explain the mo itself in a little more detail, so here goes!

The rig I'm using has a good few years behind it but thanks to a few donor parts from newer machines it's erfectly capable of most things I throw at it and it isn't intended to replace my primary gamer, just to complement it. If all goes to plan it ill probably be my primary platform for all my swashbuckling needs (Pirates, PotCaribbean, PotBurning Seas-one day- Caribbean Tales, Seadogs, the list goes on) hence the whole purpose of this mod and its theme!

So what I've taken from the donor machine and added from elsewhere amounts to 2xCDDs, 2xFDDs (yes 2 floppy disk drives! It'll make sense when I'm able to link pics but I don't expect they'll get much/any use!) 1xHDD because the other is in use elsewhere but I'd like to leave space for it and a P4 CPU on whatever mobo its on! I believe the GFX card is an Nvidia Geforce 7600 or something similar but th cat's on me so I can't check. Not that it really matters a I'm on the computer in question now so it clearly works!

{THIS IS DESCRIPTIVE - SKIP AHEAD FOR PICS}
Now for what I want to put it inside of... First of all, think horizontal, like the computers at my old school where the monitor was sat on top of the tower (is it still a tower if it's lying down?) They were back to back so we ued to swap each others cables over so it looked like the mouse was out of control, classic times Moving on... Picture a rectangularbase, 400x460mm with a maximum height of 140mm and then remove one corner down to a height of 50mm to create an L shaped top and a rectangular 'chunk' missing from the front right side. That makes the front elevation a true L shape and places the 2xCDDs in the upright on the left and the 2xfloppies in the horizontal 50mm high part (that's why I have them, because they fit nicely there and I wanted 1 anyway!) The mobo is behind the CDDs laying flat with the PCI slots and Interface panel to the rear of the case (400mm face) The hard drive fills up space alongside the mobo and the PSU (bought specifically for its dimensions) will reside towards the rear of the case alongside the outputs from the mobo.

The PSU hasn't arrived yet but everything else has. This includes rounded cables for the CD and Floppy driv datas and UV everything else exceptthe lights which I'll need in order to illuminate it. Basically the whole interior will be UV reactive providing a blue glow throughout, the two side panels (460mm lengths) will then be either custom cut to allow appropriate viewing of the interior or they will be entirely transparent. This is really an after thought in the grand scale of thngs but is hoped to dd to the naval/aquatic theme of the case.

To the detail itself, the case will be representing a caribbean port, complete with buildings, moorings and yes, even water! The original plan (which developed with no prior knowledge) was to make this case water cooled but this proved impossble for several compelling reasons! The 'missing chunk' I referred to earlier will be enclosed on the two exposed sides with plastic, glass or whatever is the most suitable, transparent material for the job in order to create a cutaway harbour if you like. In this harbour will be a boat, on the L shaped case top will be a street/market area and further detail in the way of housing and shops and in the corner directly opposite the tank will be a clocktower which will be one of the extraction fans. This fan will in turn blow over our dockside scene and give the boat and water some movement, adding a nice touch to an otherwise still diorama!
{END OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXT - READ ON!}

As I said however, I currently have some way to go! This is literally a no budget build so everything I have so far has been begged and borrowed, or scavenged if I'm honest! As I said, the actual case itself consists of several panels from a neighbours old boiler which give me a rigid base and a fairly lightweight case all in one (the base of this boiler was actually so perfect a size that I simply extended the planned length of the case by 1cm so that I didn't have to make a single cut!) Anyway, I finished making the last cuts in this material earlier today and now need to get it all together. Unfortunately the only way I can think of doing this is with a bit of welding and I have neither the skills nor the tools!

So for now at least this is where I stop, there's a bodyshop next door but when I went to see them it was closed so it'll be Monday befoe I try that avenue. In the meantime I'd love some feedback from anyone who has enough time to read this gargantuan post whatever it may be. Worried about water so close to electricity, got some UV cathodes to donat or just want your old boiler back let me know what you're thinking!

Something I'd quite like to see is a good 3D representation of how this case looks in my mind but I am once again totally lacking the skills and tools. I do however have several scale drawings and diagrams though so if anyone wanted to get the noob a greeting gift you could always bring my imagination to life!!! (Oh yeah and how do I upload pics etc?)

Thanks for sticking with me! None of the other posts are going to be quite this long, promise!!!

[theshoeshineman]

Sounds like a very interesting case build!

First of all the easiest way by far to upload images I have found is to just use http://www.imageshack.us/ (it is free and will resize your image aswell).

Water and electricity don't mix so assuming it's well sealed and the insides are protected from spashes that will occure when case is bumped.

One thought that instantly came to my mind was instead of using "water" was to use a "coolant" and have the bay act as a resivour for potential watercooling.

Keeping it all clean would be the next concern but I'm sure you could pick up something from an old aquarium to filter it.

I know you were pretty descriptive but I think I'll need a sketch or diagram to give me a better picture.

[Munty]

The water v. electricity is by far my bigest concern in the long run but knowing that means I can take every possible precaution so it shouldn't be an issue.

I had wondered whether it would be possible to use the bay as some sort of cooling medium but the way everythingis arranged inside the only thing it will be near to is the floppy drives so there won't be much heat there. Cooling stands on just a few fans atm but should be plenty. The 80mm mobo fan will need some guidance but that will blow out of the back of the case as will the PSU fan and I'm thinking about a PSI slot extractor for prolonged usage (it will give my GFX set the extra oomph it needs to chuck out the heatits producing) The clocktower fan is mostly for visual effect so although it will be dcted it will most likely provide minimal cooling

I had thought about things growing and living in the water but to be honest that's probably not a bad thing! The case itself (including the bay) will be very angular before the detailing begins but before the water goes in I'll model a more natural dock, ground and walls, so it wil very likely resemble a fishtank! I'm awar that it will need fairly regular maintenance though, don't want green water :s

I'm going to pop over to image shack now I think! I may see if I can turn my bitmaps into some more representative images too, after all a picture is a thousand words so three o them could replace my first post

As an afterthought, the water/coolant in the bay could possibly serve to cool the HDD which isn't far from it but I would need a way to convey it from the drive to the drink! Any thoughts let me know, I'll try and post later with some pics even if they are crappy bmps :p

[Munty]

Ok so I officially hate imageshack... I had a play with Sketchup after seeing it used in so many other mods here and I love it! It's turned out great and took virtually no time at all as I was able to take the measurements directly from my mockups!

On the otherhand... The nd result of producing these images was that they needed uploading to iageshack... I'm still trying to do it as I type (wireless net not helping with speed) It just seems to be uploading totally the wrong images, I ave 2 of one image and none of another. The only ones I've been able to upload with minimal stress so far are the full sized ones which will be too big for use here. Then I started trying to upload smaller ones and file management has become my greatest enemy..

Bear in mind I'm uploading the same 3 images twice each, and then take into account that imageshack doesn't give any information on a particular image until I've opened it up in wo new browsers... Why does it not say '640x480' when I hover over the thumbnail or something? That's what I want!

To make matters worse my IE now seems to have a problem with the site itself so I'm having to upload each image 3 times before it even works... That's enough moaning though, I think I'm getting there so here (hopefully) aresome sketchups of the planned case;

(Note there are 4 pics now as I realised I wasn't showing PCI, I/O or PSU locations) (And then note that I'm only uploading 2 as the others don't really add anything new!)

Here's a front view showing CD and Floppy drives. The clockface (although white) s a fan 60-80mm not decided yet

And here is a back view showing PCI slots, mobo intrface and the PSU input and fan (though this sn't guaranteed as the PSU hasn't arrived yet!)

Feedback as before is more than welcome!

[DonT-FeaR]

nice gunna be sweet good luck

[Munty]

Thanks DF I hope so but it's money I need more than luck right now! Still I've not done badly so far and I've spent practically nothing, it won't last through detailing though unfortunately...

I finished my last it of cutting yesterday and mocked up the majority of the case to get a feel for hat I'm making and it's turnedout pretty well albeit rough for now. Below is a picture of how it looks taken on my crappy old webcam as th cat actually has totally destroyed our digi somehow. I hate cats...

As I was tying to prop everything up to get a picture and also while I was working with Sketchup I gave some thought to how exactly I could achieve a nice finish to such a low budgt build. The metal is all hand cut (2 sizes of hacksaw and a value jig!) and my workbench has consisted of the garden step and a piece of damp wood. See what I mean about no budget?!

Anyhoo, I liked the look of the wooden txture I used for siding in sktchup and decided that tat would be a good way to present a nice clean case and much eaier to work with than meta (especially once all th brackets, rivets and welds are done, it'll look horrible!) I also revisited sketchup for some detailing, including adding the side windows and the arious drives although no mob or PSU models were up tthe specs of what I'll be using sothey're still mising.

Basically though, theidea is that oce the case is structurally complete - the base, front and back panel together, all top panels together ad the side panels seperately giving me a four part case - I'll get some thin sheets of wood or realistic laminate or something similar which will cover the four sides (this will allow for the eventual join between the case and houses tooso no nasty lines) The side panels will be sheet plastic with the material applied directly to it to provide the frames.

So here are some more pics anyway, one of the case itself so far and two of the detailing in Sketchup, I tried to align the sketchup image similarly to the atual photo for comparison.

Again I apologise for my numerous spelling mistakes, my keyboardis really playing up lately and I can't be bothered correcting everything (though I did add a missing 'S' earlier on so people don't think I detailed on ketchup!)

Feedback and any advise always good!

Back view ino case cavity with drives in situ and HDD floating but representative of its actual position!

Front view including pirates for scale! Arr!!! Try to picture it without the boat and people, they detract somewhat but serve well as visual aids!

An here is the actual case itself! Not much to look at but it gives a good idea of what a little scrounging can do. There's nothingto see on the back, I'm not going to cut interface or PCI slots until the mobo is mounted and I can take exact measurements.
Note that the small hole on top (already in the sheet so it's nice and rounded) will house the on/of switch and the middle (smallest) piece of sheet is actually cardboard as it's not yet been cut but soon will be.

[SgtM]

Looks like good plans. One question though.. why 2 Optical and of all things.. 2 floppies?

[Munty]

Thanks Sarge! A lot of the hardware coes straight from the donor pc to be honest, the original comp had 2 opticals and one floppy and I don't recall the last computer I had with only 1CDD to be honest...

As far as floppy drives, they are fairly redundant if I'm honest, the computer would be just as useable without them. It all stems from my second most recent tower purchase which didn't have a floppy drive at all which gave me a real headache as I was offline and not networked so I had no really good way to transfer files between computers. Obviously 1.4mb doesn't store much by modern standards but it was mostly small images, word or other documents and save game files I wanted to transfer so floppy was ideal most of the time!

A large reason for the inclusion of floppies though (and the sole reason for there being two of them!) is that they fit well with the overall design. The original component specific case design was arranged with cardboard cut outs of the drives etc I was using and this layout made most sense so its what I've ended up sticking with! 2CDDs and 2floppies fill out the front of the case perfectly so I'm happy with the setup.

I'm at a bit of a standstill now waiting for my PSU (which I had to pay for, gasp!) and some material for internal component support to arrive hopefully this week. I still need to find a welder for my base plate before any more can happen though so I'm shortly off to visit my friendly neighbourhood chopshop!

[Munty]

So the last few days seem to have been beset v bad news (although possibly not entirely) The garage next door seems to be in the process of closing down and I was typically a matter of days too late to catch the resident welder who has now left! I've had a few hits online in my search but most of the welders close to home seem to be too commercial for my needs and those more suitable are miles away!

Still the good news should be mere moments away as I'm expecting my PSU and internal materials hopefully any day now! When that arrives I'll be able to finalise the internal hardware positioning and I need to make 3 mounting brackets for the CDDrives, floppy drives and hard drive. They're all planned to be as simple as possible and sould allow easy component access for all of the generic hardware in the case.

Unless I have more luck finding a welder tomorrow for m base plate the next update will be when my materials arrive. Once that happens though things should speed up, it'll only be lack of tools holding me back!!!

[jdbnsn]

Great mockup! Very cool looking design and concept, good luck on your project and I'll be watching. As for imageshack, I hate it too. I use an ftp on our site now but before that I dropped imageshack for photobucket which seemed much easier to use. You might give it a try.