Project Cirque du Soleil

[tybrenis]

I would first like to mention that this worklog as well as all my other projects and reviews will be first updated on my website, so that will be the most up to date site on my project. Here is a link:
Power Packed PC

I have been debating with myself for a while, trying to decide what type of case I would like to do, a sort of theme to work off of, a central idea, etc.

Many of you may have seen my "IceCube V6" project. That was originally going to be my new case, and construction began on it. However, things were crude and my tools and skills weren't great.

I made a decent case, and it could house a computer, but it wouldn't be much greater than my case that I previously had, a Logisys UV Blue acrylic case. A nice case, certainly, but just not quite so unique as us modders always strive for.

So, I went back to the drawing boards. Car themed computer cases have been done before, and cars aren't honestly one of my passions. I have a passion for great performers and amazing circus feats, such as contortion, trapeze, juggling, tissue, etc. My favorite circus is Cirque du Soleil, which is translated to Circus of the Sun.

Many of you may have seen Cirque du Soleil before, whether it be in person or on television, I am sure you have been impressed. They are by far the most amazing group I have ever seen perform and I do indeed truly have a respect and passion for what they do. So, I decided on a Cirque du Soleil case.

I wanted this to be a dark and sort of mystical design, but I also wanted to make it completely transparent at the same time. I chose yellow acrylic with red cold cathode lights, provided kindly by Logisys Computer

I opened up SketchUp and began gathering a general idea of the case I wanted to build. Here is one of my original design drawings:

Now, with my design in place, I will need to begin mocking up components for the case to see how everything will fit and be laid out.

[DeathCrush]

pretty nice designs so far, translucents are always cool any idea of what the specs are going to be on it yet?

[qoou]

isnt cirque du soleil those canadian circus preformers?

i think they are coming to texas in a few weeks with the show Delirium.

btw to make the case more mysterious use that security glass that can be seen through when it lights up.

[tybrenis]

Specs will come in one of my next entries. Yep, Cirque du Soleil is French-Canadian. Delirium is great, you should check it out (as well as any of their shows).

Construction is 3/4 done by now, I am just sort of posting this is chronological order.

[Rankenphile]

This should be interesting. I was just in Vegas for a tradeshow for work and was going to go see KA or Mystere, but didn't get a chance.

Good luck with the project.

[qoou]

Specs will come in one of my next entries. Yep, Cirque du Soleil is French-Canadian. Delirium is great, you should check it out (as well as any of their shows).

Construction is 3/4 done by now, I am just sort of posting this is chronological order.

so far ive seen O,Alegria,Mystere,and Varekai...i never liked mystere though...o was the best...

[tybrenis]

I haven't seen O yet, I hear it is pretty good. I agree with you, that mystere is one of my least favorites. You have to marvel at the talent and skills involved, but the show itself isn't that great compared to some others.

[tybrenis]

I would like to thank everyone for the great support and feedback for this project, it is time for our next update.

In this episode, I will be mocking up the components using cardboard pieces and glue. It is quite simple to do, and if you are scratch building, this step is almost required. This just gives me a general idea of how big the case will be, what it will look like in the end, and where I should place the components come the real deal.

Here are our supplies that we will need:


1.) Hot glue

2.) Hot glue gun (Optional: Can be old and disgusting as shown in picture)

3.) Cardboard, not too thick to cut easily, not too flimsy that it won't be able to support itself easily.

4.) Decent, atleast vaguely comfortable, sharp scissors

5.) Components that you can use to size up your case - old cd rom drive, hard drive, motherboard, case parts, etc.

6.) Newspaper to protect your parts and work area (optional)

7.) Snacks

8.) Lots and lots of patience and free time

Okay, here are all of our parts and my current computer rig set up laid out on top of my ping pong table covered pool table in the basement.

Here are all of our supplies laid out:

Now, I dis-assembled my current case for parts to be used.

I removed the back panel from my computer case to be used to make a tracing so we will know where to cut for our PCI and AGP slots and place our motherboard I/O shield plate.

Next, I taped two pieces of paper together to make one continuous sheet to fit the back panel piece. Then I traced it and all the features of it.

Then, I cut out the insides of the sheet of paper and glued it to a piece of cardboard. The cardboard will later be cut out with an exacto knife, giving us an easily template to follow when tracing onto our acrylic to cut.

Next, I took my CD Rom drive and traced around the outsides to get the dimensions for my cardboard mock up. I cut out the pieces and glued my cardboard drive together.

Next, I followed the same procedure for my 3.5" drives, hard drives, motherboard, and power supply. Here are a few drives that have been finished, laid out.

By this point, things are starting to get a little messy. My table is covered in components, glue, and cardboard scraps, and my hand is covered in the little spiderweb-like glue.

Now, with my components all constructed, it is time for building the case itself. I should mention that this case layout is my original design for the case, it was eventually changed a bit. Nonetheless, the concept is still the same. Here I am gluing along a seem of the cardboard.

If you want to make circles or rings, it is actually quite simple. Here is our cardboard laid out for making the desired rings.

In order to bend the carboard for the rings, I simply rolled them along a pool stick. Yes, it is a little odd, but isn't that just the beauty of modding? You can use virtually anything. Remember to roll the cardboard nice and tight for a round effect, otherwise it will be square and blocky.

Then, simply glue the rings to fit the diameters desired. Here are our six rings, laid out.

Next update: building the components out of acrylic.

[Vaantal]

I love that your mocking up all the components first. All that hot glue reminds me of making Building models for my architecture classes. Might I suggest you try chipboard for the component mock ups and the case mock up. It's cleaner to work with and easier to manage than regular cardboard because there is no air pocket between the inner and outer layers. Check it out http://www.dickblick.com/zz131/15/
plus it's pretty cheap and you can just glue it with regular elmers and not have to deal with the hot glue.
I'll be watching your progress, have fun

[tybrenis]

Ahh man Vaantal, great find! Yes, the hot glue is a pain to work with (literally, I got burned so often it's not even funny), but it sets pretty quickly and thats what I was aiming for this time, it was an attempt to meet a deadline (which in the end proved pointless anyways since the deadline was moved). That chipboard looks perfect for mocking up components, I will definately have to pick some up myself for future mods. Thanks!