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Thread: Tardis

  1. #41
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: Tardis

    Fun with hardware
    Now most of the main case bits were assembled I started to look at getting in the mounts for the TARDIS hardware. I started with the motherboard as that really couldn't go in many places other than up the side. I cut 2 pieces that would sit snugly between 2 column posts with an L shaped overlap onto the posts. Marked up the mobo holes and drilled them out for the motherboard risers to go in.



    Once the motherboard was positioned I set out the other components to check it would work. I had hoped to make access easy to things like the hard drive, without having to take the entire case apart. That means I need access to both side of the drive to get access to the screws or I hook the hard drive bracket onto the side to make it removable. At the time of writing I haven't decided fully, but I'm likely to mount the hard drive horizontally above the motherboard rather than have a removeable bracket, as I think a bracket may cause some serious vibrational noise. I also had to make sure that the leads I had would connect up neatly. The power supply lead can be tucked under the mother board, but I will need to cut into the motherboard brackets in order to do this.


    Ohhh, shut that door
    The last bit of external building for the case that needs to be done was for the door for the TARDIS telephone box bit. I got some small hinges from B&Q, and attached the hinge to the door. Then I realised that I wouldn't be able to nail the other bit of the hinge to the case as hole for the door is quite small and doesn't fit a hammer. So, I very carefully cut away behind the door to create a recess, and made a small "beam" to nail the other hinge to. Once done I glued the beam into place. I got a bit over excited with my cutting away the wood and had to stick in a massive amount of filler to hide the gap. I taped a straight edge down one side to make it, err, straight. If I'd have thought about this a bit more I'm sure I could have came up with a better way of having the door opening, and my rushing has caused me some problems. Firstly, working with filler on such a small scale isn't easy, and it won't be straight forward to get sand paper in where I have filled. Secondly, the 2 sides of the hinge hit together meaning it doesn't shut as well as I'd hoped. As the door is on the front of the case it really could ruin the look of the whole thing. As I write this I'm waiting for the filler to dry. I may well have to rip out the door tomorrow and start again.

    m4gnum.com/tardis/ - Doctor Who inspired case

  2. #42
    Overclocked _ferry_'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Tardis

    A dutch guy made a tardis case too. maybe the dutch worklog is interesting for you?
    click


    edit: oops, i should read the reply's before posting hehe, it was already posted.

  3. #43
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: Tardis

    AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH........

    Ok, so the door looked crap. I ripped out the lot and started again. I cut a new door, straighten the hinges, cried a little bit, and then glued the hinges to the door. Who needs nails? Not the Doctor. Photos of the brand new telephone door during the next update. Photos of the messed up, useless, door below.

    So, moving on from the door, I went back to the hard drive mount. I decided to mount it above the motherboard. I cut a drive tray out of an old case and then just used the vertical bits of it. One was attached to the motherboard mount, the other one is just going to be a support. The red tape on the photos below is because the ends are sharp and I don't want to cut myself.


    Well, at least somethings working, perhaps it's all going to be easy from here on in?

    I saw the sign Part II
    While in my local model shop getting some tiny bits of wood for the sign. More on that later. While looking at the remote control helicopters, the plastic kits, the trains and paints I noticed something that might come in useful. It's a make your own decal kit, called SuperCal. Similar to those waterslide decals you get in Airfix kits, this will allow me to print out the police box signs and the door sign. Hurrah!

    Firstly, I had to get a decent version of the sign, and tweak it to the dimensions I need. I then printed it out on this special paper, similar to glossy photo paper. Somehow, the resolution was only 72dpi, although I'm sure I set it to 300. This means my first attempt is going to be wrong, but I want to test whether this stuff will work. I left it for an hour and then sprayed it with some super magic aerosol stuff. Supposedly this will stop the ink from coming of the paper. I leave it for a couple of more hours to dry.


    I then cut it out. While cutting I accidently stick my finger onto one of the blue bits. Worryingly it leaves my finger print on it. But, I press on and stick it into some water. I'm supposed to take it out when it starts to curl. Never mind about it curling, I might as well take it out when all the ink washes off into the water. And so the saga of the signs continues. I'll try again with this stuff (it's expensive, so I don't want to just chuck it away) but not today.
    m4gnum.com/tardis/ - Doctor Who inspired case

  4. #44
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: Tardis

    Never mind, thanks ferry.
    m4gnum.com/tardis/ - Doctor Who inspired case

  5. #45
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: Tardis

    It's been hotter than a barrel load of monkeys for the last few weeks. As a result I really couldn't get motivated enough to do anything to the TARDIS, it's supposed to be a fun project - not one to lose sweat over. However, it's been fairly cool the last 2 days so I've started again. I've finished the door, and made the back board for behind the door. In this board I've drilled some holes for the status LEDs, the power/reset switches and the super duper LCD. I need to find a way of securing the LCD to the board, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

    As for the door. Well, check the picture below for how that turned out. Hurrah!


    The next question was mounting the DVD drive. Being a slimline drive I couldn't mount it using a 5 1/2 inch bay as it's a lot narrower. I eventually created a little drawer type bracket thing that it will sit in. One side of the drive is thicker than the other, hence the difference in size. The bar across the top will be screwed 'n glued to the inside of the case, just above where the signs are. The front sign will be removable to allow me to put discs in.



    On top of the drive bracket is a thin strip of wood which create a snug fit for the pyramid to sit on, and prevent light from escaping through that area of the roof. The light from the fan should only shine through the signs, although as the DVD drive now sits just behind the Public Call sign I'll need to do some electrickery to route one of the LEDs into a more suitable place.
    As having electronic equipment in a very dusty garage isn't a great idea, when I'm not measuring it etc I put the stuff into a zip lock bag. I do the same with the digital camera. For the plans and reference photos, I Sellotape the top of a Polly Pocket (plastic holder thing, suitable for ring binders). This makes them wipe clean and completely waterproof.





    It's good to start back on the TARDIS case again after a break, as it's let me think about the final few details that will make it. With some luck and a following wind, I hope to be finished by the end of September.
    So what's left to do?
    • Mount the LCD screen and switches
    • Glue the third side into place (currently only the front and right hand sides are attached to each other)
    • Make the signs
    • Make the lantern for the very top
    • Mount the fan and LEDs
    • Make the window panes
    • Remake the base (the current base doesn't look very good)
    • Attach door furniture
    • Paint
    • Install hardware
    • Install Ubuntu (also known as Um Bongo, due to my continual mispronounciation)
    • Skip freely through time and space.
    Easy. Right?
    m4gnum.com/tardis/ - Doctor Who inspired case

  6. #46
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: Tardis

    Click all the pics to enlarge

    Below is the back panel for just behind the door. I needed something interesting for the power and reset switch, and while having a clear out last weekend I found an old Airfix kit. In the box were two round, chromed, wheel trims. I'm going to run with this for a bit and see if I like it. The back panel is a front of wood, but behind that is plastic as I'm planning on hot glueing the switches and LEDs into place. I don't really want to hot glue the LCD into place, so I'm making a little bracket/frame for that to sit in.





    In other news, the signage has finally gone right as I got the SuperCal system working. Turns out I needed to spray a bit more on than I had. I've created a little frame round the inside of the top sign brackets. This is what I'll glue the signs themselves to. I then plan of putting another thin strip of wood behind top and bottom to hold it flat. No pics of the sign itself, sorry.





    I thought it was about time I did a full installation of the components to check the wiring was long enough, everything would be neat etc etc. First problem: The weight of the harddrive is causing the mobo to fall away from the side of the case. As all my other tests have been with the side horizontal, rather than vertical, I hadn't noticed this before. I'll have to create some way of locking the hard drive into place. See the second pic below for likely locations for the locking bracket. The reason I'm doing it this way rather than glueing the mobo mounts to the case is I want it to be easily removable, and as the case isn't very wide, it's difficult to get a screwdriver in.





    I still wanted to continue to put all the rest of the hardware in, so I taped the mounts into place and carried on. The only lead that won't be long enough straight outta Compton the box is the fan, but I've got a spare 3 pin extension somewhere so that's not a problem. The other thing that may cause an issue is the parrell/usb lead that powers the LCD screen. I'll have to loop both back inside the case, but I'm not sure how to keep it tidy. I'm regretting not putting a fixed back onto the case with a hinged door as then I could have made life a little easier. That might still happen though.





    I took the rest of the hardware out apart from the DVD drive and the LED fan, which is mounted just above (first pic). I need to check whether the fan could provide enough illumination to show the signs up nicely and highlight the windows. Well, it does, but not with the DVD drive in. The second pic is with the drive in place. The third pic is without the DVD drive in place. It makes quite a difference. The third pic is where I'm planning on mounting the fan.What this means is I'm going to have to take the LEDs out of the fan casing and mount them beneath or to one side of the DVD drive, otherwise I'll get a nasty shadow cast by the drive.


    m4gnum.com/tardis/ - Doctor Who inspired case

  7. #47
    rest in peace mate GT40_GearHead's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tardis

    Q where did you get the slot loading drive

    LOUD AND PROUD !

  8. #48
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: Tardis

    It was either from http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=5
    or http://linitx.com/index.php?cPath=59

    Whichever company sent it to me don't check their returns very well. It had an XP Pro disc in it. Shame it didn't have a license number on it, but even so.
    m4gnum.com/tardis/ - Doctor Who inspired case

  9. #49
    rest in peace mate GT40_GearHead's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tardis

    ha haaaa

    thats so funny ))
    anything new on the project

    LOUD AND PROUD !

  10. #50
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: Tardis

    There will be something very soon, probably Monday. Thanks for the interest.
    m4gnum.com/tardis/ - Doctor Who inspired case

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