Project : Synthetica by AnG3L

[AnG3L]

Intro:

Hello my friends again! Time for a new project!
This time I am going to follow my friends advice (Chris!) and replicate a design by the famous
architect Zaha Hadid!
This is not a copy of the design you are about to see but a replicate of her particular style!

It was a very difficult task for me to choose the perfect design amongst hundreds of beautiful
structures and buildings.
I had to take under consideration the placement of the components and the heat dissipation (airflow, materials etc)
This design though with the proper changes was the only one that fitted in my concept as all the other designs due to the very "free flaw" technique Zaha Hadid has, would have been huge and not so functional.

The other problem I faced was the finding of the right material. I choose so many materials but some of them were heavy, some of them needed molds and some of them werent durable enough. So I ended up with 2 different kinds of fiberglass and probably some modeling paste.

The main piece that I will work with will be acrylic, were I will do all the curves and crazy design with the fiberglass. The rest that will house the components will be aluminum. Most of the work will be done by using cnc and laser machines.

So far I worked around 200 hours on the designs and the concept. This mod will be watercooled even if I was going air this time I changed my mind due to the heat and aesthetic reasons!
All the parts are going to be removable, not a single rivet in my designs so far! As always I give emphasis first on the functionality.
The colors are going to be blue metallic and black!

So lets begin our 5th humble journey!! I promise that you will enjoy this as I have a lot of surprises for you! (No painting techniques as many people dislike them)

[AnG3L]

So lets begin!!

As I told you in the intro, the main part that it will word as a "top panel" will be the architect replicate theme.
The material I am going to "build" on it will be 3mm clear acrylic. A lot of windows will be attached on it and also radiator ventilation holes and mesh.
Here are the parts after the cnc "preparation!"

The main top panel piece was routed in the bending areas for more accurate and tight bend.

This small piece is a part of the reservoir stand! You will love it once I finish it!

Some windows will be bended too.

Some of the windows bended already!

This small 2cm acrylic piece will be glued together with 4 more the same to become the angle of the components chassis. This
will also hold the box together. You will have to be patient till we get there though!!
In 8 of them (top and bottom parts) I made threads for the screws that will hold the box together.

So lets cross our fingers for a nice journey guys!!!! Peace to all of you!!

[AnG3L]

So guys time to post the next update!!
As you saw in the first update/post I showed you a piece of clear 2cm acrylic that I am going to
use for the main chassis as corners and also as supporters for the aluminum construction.
I cut 20 pieces as they are going to be 4 corners 10cm each.

I had to face some problems though. The laser machine didnt cut the pieces right, so when the people in the acrylic shop tried to remove them from the main piece, they broke most of them.
Also they were cut pretty unshaped so my files and sanding skills had to take action.

Here are glued with acrylic cement glue.

The filing and sanding took me 10 hours in total as I had to fix the broken pieces also with isopon and titanium wait for them to dry sand again and repeat the process till I had the perfect shape. Unnecessary trouble but hey, we are modders we have to fix things that are broken!

Filing each side and then sand them with 150 grit sandpaper. One more problem I faced was that my mouse sander broke during the work and I bought a new Bosch one.

Isopon and titanium for maximum durability even though isopon was more than enough, my
perfection madness told me to use titanium too.

Finished shots for now. More to follow soon hopefully!

Next job was to sand the reservoir stand pieces and prepare them for assembly.

The pieces glued together with plastic welding glue. I also cut the 5mm acrylic rods that I am going to attach on the stand for... aesthetic reasons mostly!

Here it is fully assembled. As you might notice the edge of the acrylic isnt smooth due to the !#!@!%$ lasers machine bad functioning. So I will have to sand it and smooth it isnt it????

After 2 and a half hours I finished sanding the edges!! The inside of the circles its not though as it holds the reservoir pretty tight and I didnt want to mess with that. Here is the final piece.

Thats it for now guys thanks for reading my worklog. More to follow, hopefully soon as I need the hardware and aluminum pieces in order to continue!!

[AnG3L]

Time for the next update guys!!!

First of all a big thanks to Corsair for supporting my mod!!!

Here are the goodies I received!

Now lets move on with the work I did these days.
I installed some of the windows on the mod. Two more to be installed later on. Some of the holes will be uncovered or I might use mesh, still not sure about that.
Marked the holes for 2 mm drilling and 3mm threads.

I also cut some 1mm acrylic in small pieces to cover the threaded holes to cover them so they wont fill from the fiberglass I am going to add later on.

Next thing I did was some "guides" out of modeling paste in order to work my way with the fiberglass later.

Thats all for now guys! The creation of the main top part will take a long time as its very difficult to follow that free flow design. It requires a lot of sanding, filling with fiberglass and isopon and sanding again till I will manage to create a smooth surface. Also I will have to bend the top piece in a way that it will not interfere with the radiators and all the other components and then attach it on the main piece. The part in the corner that is missing it will be a half circle bended acrylic which I am going to add later.

Thanks for watching more to follow later!

[AnG3L]

Ok guys a midnight update (basically its 1 AM here!) its coming your way!!
Lets get down to business asap!!

First off all I glued the modeling paste parts on the main frame as I dont want them to move around while I am going to work with the fiberglass.

The aluminum parts arrived from the laser!! Here you see the 2 radiator stands. I am going to bend them later on and also do some minor modifications if its needed.

From left to right. Hdd and dvd stand, ssd stand and power and restart button holder. I know that its difficult to imagine how these parts are going to look like fully assembled and finished but after the bending and the addition of all the extra pieces you will know! A tip though. I am going to "hang" everything on the top part of the case....

The top and bottom part of the case.

These are the sides of the box. From bottom to top. Ssd window, power and restart button, dvd bay, ventilation for 8mm fan. The piece on the side its the PSU stand.

And this is the ssd window which is going to sit flush on the aluminum side.

As you see I decided to redo the corners of the case as I encountered some problems when I tried to fit them but also I didnt like them after all the fixing!
Here as you see I did the threads on 8 pieces (4 for the top and 4 for the bottom)

Glued together with acrylic cement glue.

After a lot of sanding!

I also cut a 3 mm piece of acrylic in a way that will allow some light *white ambient lighting effect* to "escape" through the bottom. In that way a gave a little space to the sides that are going to be attached on the case, so they wont be tight and get scratched while you remove them.

A big hole for the screw to pass easier into the thread.

Glued and ready for some drum sanding and filing/sanding.

Finished!

And here is a quick shot of how the case is going to look like. The sides are going to be attached on the acrylic corners also on the top part it will be the motherboard, psu and rads.

Thanks for watching and reading my work guys! Hope you like my job so far and be more curious for later!!!! Peace!

[AnG3L]

Indeed the overall design is somehow "strange" yet unique and thanks for pointing that and actually reading the thread instead of just browsing the pictures as many others do!!

I am a lucky guy if you consider that I mod on the washing machine as I have no bench and on my bed and floor which are my secondary benches!! I live in a very small house with one room and I also live with a pension of 450 Euro per month after the series of accidents I had 5 years ago.

I feel rich though as I have 2 hands and 2 eyes and I bless the Lord for that and for my friends who work in the laser and cnc industries.

So you are lucky too my friend, bless the Lord for what you have and let your passion to modding do the rest!!! Thanks for your wonderful comment my friend!

[AnG3L]

Its time for my next update lads!
I did many and different things as I have to wait for the components to arrive in order to take measures and move on to the rest.

First I did some bending on the top part of my creation. I had to take in count the height and the position of the front 240 rad and the 120 one on the back side of the mod. This is going to be attached with fiberglass on the main body and then work my way with modeling paste and more fiberglass etc etc.

As you can see I am using my "hand made" brake to bend the aluminum parts. The bend its not so tight as with a cnc brake but I didnt want "aggressive" bends as this mod must have a flow and a unique minimalistic design. I am using a soft face hammer and sometimes a piece of wood for extra support during the bending.

First the HDD - DVD cage.

I forgot to take some finished pictures lolz you will see it later though
Next is the PSU holder.

This is the 120 radiator stand. I need a stand cause I wont attach anything on the top main part in order to remove it and have access on the hardware.

While I was trying to put together the bottom case I realized that the aluminum sides didnt fit right between the acrylic corners and I cant understand why as the 2d 3d designs seem ok! Anywayz I had to do a small redesign which I believe came out better than the original plan. I will cut a small part from the edges of the 2 panels (front - back side) and a bigger portion from the other 2, giving also the screw holes a different design.

I also rounded the edges for s smoother overall look. I used clamps to file them together to leave space for no mistakes.

Cutting the 2 panels a little more and also cutting the holes on their edge to give them an "open circle" design which it works the same as it was a plain circle.

Finished pictures you will see once I finish the bottom case.
I will use many spacers in this mod as all of the components in the bottom case they will be "hanged" from its roof. They will also hide the threads from the screws I am going to use.
I cut some just to make some tests and see how they look/fit. I am using an aluminum rod 10mm OD 8mm ID.
This is just some testing, I will add acrylic o-rings later and plastic anti vibration parts.

I also marked and drilled the acrylic corners in order to make some threads. Later on though I decided to use 3mm aluminum threads and embed them in the acrylic. It was the best way as the threads were quite small and easier to brake through time.

I also countersunk the holes for the threads to sit flush. I added isopon 38 inside the hole and also on the top to keep the threads steady rock!

Thats all for now guys, more to follow many more yet to be done. Thanks for reading and above all thanks for commenting and supporting my efforts.

[AnG3L]

Update no 6 guys and we move on!!

After I embedded the threads into the acrylic corners and fixed them with isopon, I sanded them
with 150 grit and finished with 300. More sanding and detailed work will follow prior to painting.

Then I used this dremel bit to clear carefully the threads from the isopon.

Finished!

My first thought was to use countersunk screws in the front and back side but then I choose to do the same on all the sides. Cutting the screws in size. After I changed my mind I cut more countersunk screws for the other panels too.

Countersinking the holes.

For the 2 other panels I couldnt use the countersink bit due to their different design so I had to file them.

Attached all the side panels of the box. Front part will be the buttons and probably the fan controller but not sure yet, left panel is the dvd-hdd, right panel is the ssd along with their window and back side is the 80mm exhaust fan.

And here are the restart and power buttons. I am going to attach them later on 2 momentary switches.

So, I also started my work on the top part which is going to take me a long time due to its difficulty. First I used a thin carton which I folded in two and bended it to use it as my guide for the fiberglass.

I used two angles to keep the piece in a particular angle, not complete 90 degrees but close to that due to my design.

Preparing and applying the first layer of fiberglass.

I also applied some fiberglass on the back side of the curve.

Attached the top piece with cement glue in order to keep it steady for me to work with the fiberglass.

I took the piece inside my room to leave the fiberglass rest for 12 hours and then I did some more work on forming the top piece in the proper shape.

Added the final cloth fiberglass and finished the main body. The amount of work in this particular piece is unbelievable as the flow that the design has its very difficult as it will have many curves which they must combine with each other flawlessly.

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment in my worklog it means a lot to me. Till the next time, peace!!!

[AnG3L]

So Update no 7 its here guys!
I ve start working on the most difficult part of this mod which is going to take some time and that
is the main top part.
Here you will see the progress which is simple enough, yet very difficult in execution.
I am using fiberglass paste for the rough first fills and then Isopon 38 known as body filler for the finishing touches.

The design is really complex with many many curves and details. The angle of each curve its different (30 to 70 degrees) and I have to create a smooth curve to attach each and every one of them.

The progress requires sanding with grinding wheel, mouse sander, files and by hand.
After I finish sanding I add one more layer of isopon to cover any imperfections and holes and then sand again, then new spots are revealed so I repeat the process over and over again.

I estimate to finish this piece after 50 or 60 hours of work.

I will post the pictures without comments as I ve explained everything already! Enjoy.

Thanks for reading this worklog guys till next time, peace!

[AnG3L]

Update no 8 guys and lets see together what I did so far!!
First of all I received 2 packages, one from Bitspower and one from Aquatuning!!

First the products from Aquatuning! Thanks to Christian for his amazing support so far!!

Now the products from Bitspower!!! Thanks to Mr.Vincent for his very kind approach and professional attitude!! You rock my friend!!

A big thanks to my sponsors for one more time, I will give 1000% to satisfy you with my work!


Now lets move to the hard part! The work (under the burning sun!) which seems will take for eva!!

I had to harmonize the top part with the aluminum box as the curves where a bit out !
So I masked the case and applied as much fiberglass was needed!

Then I created a mold out of 1mm acrylic. I used that mold to create 2 "feet" kind off, which they will be used to screw the top part on the aluminum case. I ve been thinking for 2 weeks how I was going to attach those 2 pieces together and the most functional and cool looking way was that.

The next day I removed the aluminum case and the masking tape and here you see the excessive fiberglass which needs to be filed.

After a lot of filing and sanding!!!

Here I cut some parts from the curvy part of the top in order to create later the "neurons" design which is going to serve as ventilation holes.
I also had to work on that side to finish it so I could move on to the next side. That included 5 layers of Isopon and a lot of sanding!!!!!

Thats all for now guys I hope you enjoy my little journey, till next time, peace!!