Project; Mark1

[The boy 4rm oz]

Mark I really like what your doing with the top compartment, very nice idea, although it does go against my view of the LEXA being perfect already lol, it is a great idea.

What exactly will you be putting n that top compartment?

[Mark_Hardware]

Well, the main thing that will be in there will be the skull. I am thinking about putting something that will come out the side, but I just can't decide what.....

[Mark_Hardware]

Yay delivery!

Hmm deja vu....

Now why, oh why would I be showing pictures of a new case now? Because it's Lexa case number 2!!!
I know it doesn't seem to make sense to buy a whole 'nother case, but I have several reasons for doing this. 1, it will save me a lot of work if I use pre-existing drive cage, as opposed to building my own. 2, in an effort to help, my desk was cleaned for me, resulting in most of the screws that came with the case getting lost, or mixed in with all my other similiar hardware, thus becoming hopelessly confused.
So basically what I am going to do is take this case, and shrink it down to about half size. I need the two drive bays or my Imon controller. I also decided to give myself one more extra 5.25" bay, just in case. I also went ahead and put in a cage for one HDD, just for the heck of it.
Sooo, some quality time with ye olde power drill, and it's presto, yet another warranty voided. This one within five minutes of taking delivery!!
And here we go, a nice pile o' parts.

Now I'll keep the top and bottom intact, obviously. Also, I am keeping the mobo tray and back panel intact. I won't be using it in this build.


OK, so my big plan for this part; I am calling this the minicase. The idea here is to make it look like the regular case, just, uh, smaller.

So I chopped the the 5.25" cage down to size. I chopped down the corresponding front panel, as well as thee HDD

cage, for one hard drive. Here are those pieces mocked up together.

Cut the right side panel.

Made a psuedo rear panel.

I actually am planning on putting a couple things in there like regular pci slots. One thing will be the video capture

inputs that came with my Hauppauge TV card.
Of course I will have to lengthen the wires.

And now I leave you with this (teaser?) shot:

[The boy 4rm oz]

Hmmm, another LEXA, I am liking this .

[Mark_Hardware]

Alright, did some work on the minicase. Like I said, it's supposed to just be a smaller version of the case.
JB Welded the pieces of the drive bays together. It looks like crap. I'm going to make sure as much of it is hidden as

possible.

Riveted the cage to the front panel.

Cut a new side panel.

Now in the minicase, there are no 3.5" bays, so there is no "step down." So I cut the edge off, and kept the ridges,

to replicate the edge of the other side panel.

Also cut a panel to "cover the psu" Obviously there is no psu in here, this is just to keep the look going.

And we have a problem. The fan is in the way.

I don't want to put the panel in front of the fan, cause then you wouldn't even be able to see the fan. So, I'm going to redo the rear panel. That will have to wait until I get more sheet metal. I need to get a heavier gauge. I will remake it with fewer pci slots, I'm thinkin just 2. That will let me lower the fan, and I think it will help make it look more to scale.

Cut a bottom panel.

lol I promise the smaller pvc pipe in the back lines up better with the hole. That was just a mockup. And of course the 3" is directly underneath that fan grill.

Installed a length of 1.5" pvc, to act as a conduit to run wires back and forth between the cases.

I am going to have the Imon in the minicase, as well as the video capture device, one hard drive, and Idk what else.

I am going to have some servo controlled parts, so I am thinking of mounting the servo controller to the right side, like a simulated motherboard.

Here we go, a couple of progress shots.....

Maybe this will clear up some confusion


Confusing? I prefer 'Enigmatic'

[The boy 4rm oz]

Biggest LEXA I have ever seen lol.

[Mark_Hardware]

Alright, a couple smaller things...
As I got to looking at the HDD cage, I noticed that when it's full, the bottom hard drive won't really get any air from the fan in front. (yes, it will be full, eventually.) So, I decided to fix this by adding a fan on the bottom. 80mm fan fits right in there.

Drilled holes in the bottom panel of the case. Can you guess which one I did and which one is stock?

Yeah looks like garbage. I'm just gonna take the 3" hole saw and use mesh. Even though that won't get seen, I know it's there....

Also, the door sans hinge is annoying. I'll fix that. I'll start by cutting off the rolled over metal.

Jeezas that was a pain.
I cut off the corresponding rolled metal on the case. I don't seem to have a picture of that part right now....

I used a solid hinge, mainly because I knew that if I used a few smaller hinges, I wouldn't get them all lined up right and it would just piss me off.

Cut a few areas in the hinge to get around rivets and such.

Good ol' JB Weld to the door.

Yeah, so the picture isn't all that great, cause I ahem kinda goofed. I used wax paper when I clamped the hinge to the door, to keep the clamps from getting glued to the door. Well, it wasn't wax paper like I thought, so the paper stuck to the door. Nice.
I will sand this all down, and if im not happy with how it looks, I'll just cover it in some bondo. Same with the half that's in the case. I have to figure out some way to cover that up, maybe another piece of that panelling, mebbe just simple sheet metal, idk yet.

I'll do the same for the minicase.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looking great mate, it is gonna be one awesome LEXA when your done. I like what you did to the side panel, I have some really good ideas for my next LEXA side panel .

[Mark_Hardware]

I like what you did to the side panel.

Which one? The door? I thought of you when I posted the work to the door, you should know how that door kinda sux

[The boy 4rm oz]

Personally I have never had any problems with my windowed side panel, fits great and sits flush.