Cygnar Storm Strider Casemod

[monkeyfun]

Count Down: Only 39 more days until PAX 2011.

The days are counting down faster than I’d like. I’ve had on snag with my casting. I won’t be able to finish casting the legs for another week or two due to scheduling at the shop. This period of stagnation is eating through my modding zen. It’s time to crank up the caffeine and kick this case into gear.

Let’s start things off with some mod stylin’. Remember, if you’re walking down a dark alley behind a computer shop and a bunch of geeks jump you for that sweet videocard you just purchased, just flash your geek sign. Nothing says you’re a hard core geek like TCP/IP.

I like that my bandana is blocking the ‘a’ in ‘mad scientist’. You can almost mistake it for ‘mod scientist’.

This morning I’ve put in my order for some necessary items:

4x - Logisys 4" Cold Cathode Kit (Dual Ready) – Blue
1x - Lamptron 4 Channel High Output Aluminum Cathode Inverter
2x - Blue Illuminated Bulgin Style "Latching" Vandal Switch - 16mm - Silver Housing - Dot Illumination with Latching Switch Cable Harnesses
1x - Blue Illuminated Bulgin Style "Latching" Vandal Switch - 16mm - Silver Housing - Ring Illumination

Hopefully they should be arriving by the end of the week. Once I receive the Cold Cathode tubes I should be able to finish the spine to the point of painting.

But let’s look at some of my other progression.

As you can see here, I’ve drawn a bunch of meaningless stuff on my base plate. Just kidding, I’ve taken my pattern and drawn the respective parts like the motherboard placement, the case walls and posts on the painter’s tape.

Then I cut a bunch of .5” thick aluminum into the same height but varying widths according to what they need to support.

I also started working on the walls. I am going to try annealing the aluminum walls to bend and create the desired curve in the front of the case. I spent most of yesterday carving out a block of wood to the correct curve for both sides.

Finally, here’s a picture of the design for the lightning coil spine. It will house all of the wiring and the cathode inverter.

I’m on a roll so there should be a couple more pictures on the posts, walls and spine in another day or two.

Thanks!

[mDust]

Are you getting a degree or certification in metal fabrication or something? How did you decide to do this? This is just way too far above and beyond the average mod...

[monkeyfun]

Are you getting a degree or certification in metal fabrication or something? How did you decide to do this? This is just way too far above and beyond the average mod...

I wish I had that excuse. I have a weird mix of curiosity and stubbornness. When ever someone tells me I can't do something I figure out how to do it. My wife tells me it is because I'm sassy. I did make a friend who is a metal worker. But like anyone who works in their field they tend to not like holding beginners hands. So, I pick his brain on a couple of things. He talks over my head but I'll grab a word or two. Look those words up and research their processes and then approach him with a couple of quick questions. For the most part, I try to make things as easy as possible for people who do the things I'm looking to learn. I can demonstrate a willingness to learn, to earn the end product, do my homework and research and ply them with the alcohol/coffee/food they want while they're explaining it.

Personally, I'm curious why more people don't do scratch builds or elaborate mods. These things can be ANYTHING you want them to be. Why not go all out?

You might have seen my next: http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...ad.php?t=26880

I'm currently studying on how to make functioning clock movements so that the case will be fully animated on 12V when I'm done.

I also want to do a XBOX360 mod that is an octopus. I know, weird, but I'm pretty sure I can do it by pouring silicon around extended ports and water cooling insides.

I think my biggest hangup is not having more money to do casemodding with.

[billygoat333]

haha. Love that last post. And very good filing work... your attention to detail is good

[mDust]

I think my biggest hangup is not having more money to do casemodding with.

That's what sponsors are for. And considering what you've done so far, I'm pretty sure that companies would throw themselves at you if they knew you existed. Introduce yourself to them.

A willingness to learn new things is one of the best characteristics anyone could have. I wish more people in the world had your curiosity and stubbornness 'problem'.

[monkeyfun]

haha. Love that last post. And very good filing work... your attention to detail is good

Thanks!!

That's what sponsors are for. And considering what you've done so far, I'm pretty sure that companies would throw themselves at you if they knew you existed. Introduce yourself to them.

Oh, I've been sending out emails. But I think I need to get to a 'more finished' state before I'll see any response as I don't have a body of work to show my commitment or quality of work.


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Update #15: Work on the Spine
Count Down: Only 37 more days until PAX 2011.

These last few days I have been a slave to the file. I have been filing on the dome to even out some of its pocks and patches. I have been filing on the lightning coils to provide some additional detailing. But this update is about the filing on the spine. I’ve been working on giving my case some tangible shape. Last update I posted the pattern I was working on, now I’ll show it in action. First I cut out 2 pieces of aluminum (1/8” or 4mm thick) using the pattern

I keyed the two pieces with 2 separate holes and screwed the two pieces together.

Then, I began filing.

And filing.

And filing until the two pieces matched up exactly. Because that’s how we do it when you don’t have a CNC machine to perfectly replicate pieces.

Next, I took a ½” thick 3” wide bar of aluminum and sliced off pieces for the frame of the spine. The front piece will be filed to fit exactly in the front.

Since the 4” Cold Cathode Ray tubes are being shipped to my location, I did some more clean-up work on the lightning coils themselves. The tubes will be inserted inside of the coils. For the clean-up work, I utilized my trusty Dremel.

But sometimes, the little Dremel just won’t cut it and I have to break out with the Roto-Zip.

Assuming the 4” Cold Cathode Ray tubes and not 4.5” or 4.8” I verify that I’ll be able to fit the tubes and their wiring inside of the spine.

Once I make sure, the tubes fit in both the coils and the spine, I’ll seal the coils and make sure they have enough space to shine and there’s no pressure on the tubes from the aluminum. The last thing I want is a cathode tube bursting in transport or setup.

We’ll that’s it for today. I should be able to completely finish the construction of the spine and coils after the tubes arrive. I have to wait until Friday before I can continue on the main enclosures as I have to pick up a plumber’s torch, more dremel wheels, and some cold chemical weld. Until then I guess I’ll start working on the lower enclosure.

Thanks for reading!

[CorsePerVita]

Man this is crazy stuff. I've seen people cut stuff before, but never seen anyone pour stuff out of molds like this. AND showing the process is pretty rad! Very cool man! I can't wait to see it all assembled and put together. This is going to be awesome!

[monkeyfun]

Arrived last night!:

1 White Illuminated Bulgin Style "Latching" Vandal Switch - 16mm - Black Housing - Ring Illumination
2 White Illuminated Bulgin Style "Latching" Vandal Switch - 16mm - Black Housing - Dot Illumination
with Optional Cable Harness used to control any 4-pin molex powered devices.

4 Logisys 4" Cold Cathode Kit (Dual Ready) - Blue
1 4-Channel Inverter-Black4-Channel Inverter-Black

Picking up today:

16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Dremel EZ-lock Wheels
Plumber's Torch
Cold Weld stuff

Arriving later this week:
PCI-Express 2.0 x16 Flex Riser 5"



Only thing left on my shopping list:

35 5mm Blue LED
8 100 Ohm resistors
5 220 Ohm resistors

& Paints!

[CorsePerVita]

Pics moarrrrr pics!

[monkeyfun]

Update: Still alive and working!
Count Down: Only 31 more days until PAX 2011.

In the back of my mind, there is a certain amount of panic setting in… I only have 31 more days and I’m still making parts. I think many of my fears will be alleviated when I’m actually assembling the case rather than devilling the details.

But I got toys!!!!

I am now able to proceed with the lightning coil creation!

And the PCI Express x16 Flexible riser has arrived!!! I can now proceed with the video card placement.

I borrowed an idea from something I saw on Nhenhophach’s ROG Rampage scratch build. I’ll be utilizing the motherboard’s mounting screw holes to create a platform to hold my video card. I’ll post more on this process and implementation later for now all you get is the plate I cut for it.

Next, I began working on the main two walls of the main enclosure. I started by making a minor cut in the aluminum to help fold wall. This helps you bend the aluminum to the desired angel.

Next, I decided I didn’t want to wait to get access to the machine shop to anneal the aluminum. So, I went down to the local hardware store and picked up a plumber’s torch. The packaging says the temperature can reach up to 2100 degrees Fahrenheit which is more than adequate for annealing the aluminum. (Annealing the aluminum makes the aluminum soft so it can be bent over a curved shape and retain that shape.)

Unfortunately, the torch is too small. Every time I’d start to heat up one part of the aluminum the torch would run out of butane. I was defeated.
I will have to wait until I can get into the shop. So I traded the plumber’s torch for a different toy!

I have also worked on the framing for the case. I started off with an shape… and then relented to simpler C shape.

I’ve made some progress with the coils. Since I received the cathode tubes I was able to test-fit the tubes to the coils. With that completed, I started cleaning up and assembling the coils. First I broke them down to their parts by removing any excess aluminum sprues. As you can see each coil broke down into 4 parts… except for the smallest coil because I didn’t notice one coil not completely attached to either coil cap or the base.

Fortunately, I’m just working with a giant miniature and I can use the same techniques used for modeling those figures. I can ‘pin’ the pieces together to give it stability. Matter of fact, I even use Privateer Press’s P3 model glue to do the trick. For pins, I’ve simply snipped up an old wire hanger.

That’s all for now. Soon I’ll be working completing the coils, removing the part separation lines, annealing the case walls, and casting the legs. So much to do… so little time.