Project Stealthlow

[Waynio]

Attila on bit-tech threw me an idea on how to make this case a good few notches higher in the appearence part but I just can't do it because of the way I designed it to be, these pictures are to show why, it boils down to there not being enough space between the tower heatsink & side panel & the mesh on the back, but I could add internal covering for below the heatsink but it might not look right so I think I'll pass & save something like that for another case.

Took a few shots to show why it would be a nightmare to make internal casing without causing a problem for air flow, the case width is designed perfectly for large tower heatsink & generous space on the other side for wires so there is only about 5mm gap between cooler & side panel.

And here is the result of some elbow polish & the scratch remover stuff, this is on a I think 10 to 15mm piece of acrylic & dark tint so it shows the scratches really well, I roughed it up a bit with 240 grit & had to use all 3 solutions of the novus system, #2 just didn't cut it so used #3 then #2 then #1 & believe it will be much easier to apply on bigger pieces.

[Waynio]

Just to show how bad the scratches got on the main window, I'll update later when I can get a good photo of it restored (thought I got it fully done but was still some scratches there so had to get back onto it lol went over the whole piece on both sides just to be sure from 240 grit wet sanding to 2000 & then a few hours hand polishing until it's as close as possible to perfect condition) & in the meantime I'll do the fan wires & I've said that I don't know how many times now, it's just so much fun wire work lol .

[Waynio]

Ok so I didn't get it quite right & all because I skipped a grit, d'oh I did 240 grit then skipped 600 because it wasn't around & went straight to 1200 & then 2000, it all seemed ok so went on to the scratch removal liquids, it seemed perfect until I seen it in broad daylight which helped it show many many many ultra fine scratches especially when I took some macro shots so next I'll wet sand starting at 600 grit & work back to 2000 & then get the polishing done right this time, should be doing the fan wires now but got to get this piece sorted before I move on .

Random shot

Before

After

Sorry about the continued mass of photos but I did take a few nice ones & showing how it looks in different light, without daylight reflecting direct onto the bad areas you can't tell theres anything wrong so I could cheat it if I wanted but I'm gonna get it back to it's original condition, next bunch will be of the main window sorted & fans extended & sleeved or I won't post any more updates until they are done .

[Fuganater]

Looking good dude. I really really like the copper cable magement.

[Waynio]

Looking good dude. I really really like the copper cable magement.

Thanks mate, I've been told that's a technique they use for shaping bonsai trees .

Heres the freshly fully wet sanded window & new RAM I put in my rig to replace the ocz 4GB 1600mhz 7,8,7,20 I was expecting a drop in performance with going for kingston hyper x 8GB 1600mhz 9,9,9,27 but did before & after memory benches & they are just as good took these 2 without a tripod also but they are part of the progress so got to leave them in.

OK I'm in the middle of doing the fan wires right now & having a little break from it so thought I'd up the photos of the window I took earlier in the day, all these photos are showing it in the worst possible lighting which would highlight any scratches so when daylight isn't on it like this it looks pristine & to be honest not far from it in this raw daylight but to get it in truly pristine form it would take I'd guess at least 14 solid hours of arm killing fun so I'll settle for this .

Also put the warped copper panel back in, it needs some work to get it 100% flat which I'll have a go at tomorrow, it's also 2mm too short for the spot it's in & I do have an extra 2mm copper sheet which I could make a new one if I need to & I don't have to do a hole mesh I could do a complimenting pattern for the front alu piece in the same style as the clamp strips.

[Waynio]

Finally got the very boring bit done extending the fan wires & sleeving them.

Glad that's done with .

[Waynio]

Fan mod time if I don't like these enough once I get them done right I have designed my own frames for if I feel like doing them .

These need bending better, I measured the enermax pieces & made a template, cut them all out on the scroll saw, took them to the disc sander, then brush finished them, then looked around for an ideal sized round hard object to bend it around.

I'll need to make a mould to get it perfect & have plenty of spare scrap wood to do this .

[TheMainMan]

That definitely ranks up there as one of my favourite fan mods of all time. So cool and so perfect for this build! +rep

[mDust]

I could wire twist & heatshrink like I used to do which is probably as good as soldering but I dunno, what you guys think, get the soldering gear or twist & shrink?

Not sure what you ended up doing, but I'd just do the twist & shrink since it works, it'll be easier to swap out fans in the future, and either way it needs to be wrapped in heatshrink.

I honestly wasn't a fan of the spiraled copper cable tie idea at first but it's growing on me. It would especially look good if each spiral was identical and the ends were hidden from view behind the wires.

The easiest way to photograph scratches in the acrylic would be to shine a bright light (such as a single LED) into the edge. Any scratches will illuminate.

And those fans are awesome. Did you have to cut out the middle section or was the fan modular? I ask because of those plastic tabs. Any pics of the fan mid-mod?

Awesomely, awesome work so far on this whole build!

[Fuganater]

I think the fan mod is awesome. Looks perfect from your pics.