Case Mod Project N7 - A celebration

[B.o.B]

Hey Everyone,

As you can all tell I'm new here, I've followed the projects on here for a while now but only just got up the courage to start my own. I have limited funds so I'm trying my best to stay within my budget, which probably wont happen.

This is a celebration of the Mass Effect series and it's sudden and yet inevitable end... Although I hear whispers of an ending not yet told, one with suspense, drama, intrigue... and PONIES!!!... ok maybe not ponies.

As a bit of background. I've always been interested in case modding and got into computers pretty hard. I work as a PC technician and spend my days fiddling with hardware. But despite my love I've never actually gone the full mile of stripping and modding my case. And it's time that changed.

So without further delay, here is the basic concept:


I created this with sketchup, Sorry it's not the greatest but I'll dedicate a post later to a full explanation.

hardware I intend to use:

Motherboard - Asus Maximus V Formula (To be released)
CPU - Intel Core i5 2500K
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 4x4GB
Graphics Card - Single XFX ATI 6950 2GB
PSU - Silverstone Strider Plus 1KW
SSD - 120GB Corsair Force 3
HDD - 2TB Seagate Barracuda
ODD - LG Blu Ray/DVD Combo
Fan Controller - NZXT Sentry Mesh
Fans and Lighting - Bitfenix Spectre Pro series fans (White LED) 2x Bitfenix Alchemy LED Strips (White LED)


So now that's out of the way, the case:




I fell in love with the Bitfenix cases and I'm proud to be starting out with one of their fine cases. I do however regret that these cases feature a rubberized finish on the front and top panels. It's one of the reasons I love these cases, it looks great, it feels great, and it stops you from scratching it when you move the case around as much as I do.... However, for this mod I intend to coat the front and top in a carbon fibre wrap, so that rubber finish has to go.

You may have noticed the package on top of the box in that first pic, it contains red mesh strips that bitfenix make for this case to replace the standard back ones. Perfect!!! My red strip on the side of the case is half complete already. Now to look at the rest of the case!





Mandatory pic of my makeshift work area, with the master technician inspecting my work


So far so good right? I'm soooooo nervous doing this lol. Oh well, no time like the present to start destroying things, starting with that rubber finish.



So 2 hours of work and so far so good. That rubber was a headache to sand off by hand, but with it gone the front still looks pretty good

Comparison with the top panel which so far has not been sanded


So we're off to a great start and I've made 3 trips to the hardware store so far for tools and whatnot.
That's it for now, next update is sanding down the top panel and figuring out how to stealth the ODD and fan controller.

Cheers for looking people!

[BnZn]

Ooooh, I love the concept for this! I'm working on a Shinobi myself, at the moment, and it's great to see that you actually CAN sand that 'soft-touch' stuff off. Will definitely be watching this

[B.o.B]

Thanks BnZn, would be great to see what kind of mod you have in mind. I haven't found to many Bitfenix mods.

I was hoping to have another update by now, but unfortunately this week has been unbelievably busy. More work starts tomorrow so I'll have an update soon.

[BnZn]

It's a wonder there aren't too many, really. They seem to be an awesome blank canvas Where did you order those red mesh trim pieces from, is it an Aussie seller?

[B.o.B]

For anything Bitfenix there's 2 places I usually turn too. PC Case Gear and MWave, they're both Aussie resellers. The Aussie Distributor is Altech and I've had to check in with them for a few pieces that aren't currently available in Aus.
They're very helpful and can usually point you in the right direction if you can't find a piece of gear, or in some cases, give you a release date for the Aus market.

[BnZn]

Awesome, thanks for that! I usually shop through PCCG, i didn't think Altech sold to the public though? Have to check MWave out, though, cheers!

[B.o.B]

Update Time!

So here's the first update. It's been a pretty busy week for me, and finding time for modding has been a challenge. But where there's a will...



I only got halfway through sanding this piece before I realised I had run out of sandpaper . So it took a couple more days before I managed to finish it.

Also a quick note. If you intend to sand down the rubber off a Bitfenix case by hand, make sure you have plenty of sandpaper and start with something rough. I started on 240 grit and moved down to 180 to get the initial layer off. Then moved back up to 240 when there wasn't much left. After it was bare I finished it off with 400 and 600 grit. Don't attempt this if you don't have 180 to start, otherwise you'll find the rubber sands down too finely and just clogs up the paper >.<

So after running out of sandpaper I moved onto sorting out the front piece that will become my N7 logo. Printed out the logo to the size I'll be using as a guide.


I cut down one of the drive bays and removed the clips off the back. I fully intend to keep the rubber finish on the front for a little texture.

Here's the front piece cut to fit the logo.




Cleaned up the edges and tried a test fit


Not bad if I do say so myself

After that I got back around to sanding that top panel down. that's all the rubber from the case gone!


W00t! so that's one tiring part out of the way.... now for something different.


I bet you're all wondering what I'm intending to do with that, well that's going to have to wait until my next update

On a last note, I did say I was going to be looking at stealthing the fan controller... Well here's the new fan controller





It's a very nice and discrete controller, I really do like the NZXT controllers. But I'm a little lost as to how to go about stealthing it. I currently have 2 idea's and I'm not sure what the best one will be.

Idea 1 - Cut off the clips from a drive bay cover and attach magnets to the front of the controller and the back of the cover, then set the controller back from the front of the case a little and have the cover sit flush in front of it so I can pop it off when needed.

Idea 2 - replace or mod the mesh front of the controller so it's flat and discretely have it shown at the front with carbon fibre across it so it blends in.

Anyone else have an idea or can help me decide? not sure what will look better at this stage.

[B.o.B]

Update Time!

So it was a public holiday today and I managed to get a bit done. First up is the conclusion to the photo of some gloves and a tube of Selleys.

Tada!




I used an epoxy putty to fill in the channel on the side and sanded it down nice and smooth. If anyone's a little unsure what epoxy putty is, it's basically the same as Green Stuff used on the miniatures for the Warhammer tabletop. And boy does it smell terrible! My partner banned me to the other end of the house and I ended up working outside to try and avoid the smell (with a face mask on)

Also, I've already made a mistake, I underestimated how heavy this stuff is and on hindsight I should have used some acrylic or something to fill the channel before applying the putty. The top panel now weighs at least 4 times as much as it did previously
Well I've ordered some acrylic anyway so I'll use some of the leftover to fill the front panel before I attack that with more putty.

Also did the work on the N7 Logo. Took that guide I had printed out for sizing up the bezel and reprinted on hard card paper, then cut out the logo and taped it to the bezel.




Here's the rough cutout I made using my trusty dremel


The only tools I used were my dremel, a mini set of files and sand paper


The finished product!


It took a lot longer than I expected to get this done, but I was stopping every minute or two to check it and make sure I didn't accidentally file or sand down an edge to far.

That's it for tonight, Cheers for looking.

[Baguette]

This is very interesting :O

I wonder what the air intake will be like with one side blocked up though...

[BnZn]

Love the clean work on that N7 cutout there! As for stealthing the fan controller, i'd probably be going for the carbon fiber look myself, foregoing the mesh entirely. Make it look a little more 'whole', i guess?

Or, you could cut slots in the actual 5.25 cover of the case, and mount it so that the sliders sit flush with the bezel. That could look pretty good, IMO. But given how well you've done this so far, i'd say looking good is practically a given!

[B.o.B]

Originally Posted by Baguette

This is very interesting :O

I wonder what the air intake will be like with one side blocked up though...

Hey, yeah I know I'm killing a lot of ventilation by covering up that side. But I will be cutting some slits in the front panel to pull air in through the bottom fan. And the top panel has spots for 2x 140mm fans so I don't think I'm really going to lose any cooling ability.

[Foregasm]

Love the logo. How effective is that bit though?

[B.o.B]

@Foregasm

The bit I used was just a standard multipurpose cutting bit. I drilled a hole before beginning and tried to keep it as steady as possible while doing a circular cut along the lines. As you can see I had the bezel clamped down pretty firmly, I found that even the slightest vibration caused the bit to jump and I would lose control of it.

All in all, it worked really well and I had no trouble getting a nice smooth cut once it was clamped in place. I also only had the dremel turned up half way, any lower and the bit jumped, any higher and I started to melt the plastic.

[B.o.B]

Update Time!

W00t 1K views, thanks guys, you don't how motivating it's been to watch the views climb as I've been working on this

Ok... So I don't really have an update on how the mods going atm. Truth is, I had to work this weekend and I haven't been feeling to well. So the time I did have to myself was mostly spent relaxing.

I did however take another trip to the hardware store to pick up more supplies for this week.

Here's a little sneak peak of what's to come




Just a little note... Acrylic does not cut well using a normal cutting bit


I've replaced the bit and looking at getting a proper blade to cut the rest.

Now, in my first post I only showed a general concept of what I want to make. Since I don't really have an update this weekend I'll try to explain a little more about what I'm doing.

I wanted something that wasn't just Mass Effect, but a big element of the games. It had to be dark and there had to be an opportunity to flood it with light. I love the armor in the game, and none more so than N7 themed armor. It has those nice Carbon Fibre lines, that mean red/white stripe, and the assortment of lights across it.

Here's the major points:

- Red Mesh and white painted stripe down one side
- Mass Effect weapon heat vents for front fan grill
- Side window (based on ME3 multiplayer unlock cards)
- Carbon Fibre wrap across front and top casing
- Custom made N7 logo
- Water cooling (Red fluid, clear tubing)

To tie this all together I've chosen to go with white LED lighting. I have something sneaky up my sleeve for some of the lighting so you'll have to wait and see how it all goes.

Cheers guys, I look forward to getting back into it and giving you more soon.

[B.o.B]

Hey guys,

I know I haven't been very active this week and there's a very good reason for it. I've had to jump onto another project (which is a bit of a secret so I can't post details at this point). I have a very strict time limit to get this done so I don't have time to continue with Project N7 until I'm nearing completion of it.

I should be ready to post details on this project in the next 2-3 weeks and I will try to do a few small updates for N7 in the meantime.

[B.o.B]

No progress, but I couldn't help but take a few pics of the 3M Di-Noc Carbon Fibre wrap I got today!





Oh no! My picture is ruined!


And here's the culprit, now lying on my nice new CF sheet


Oh, and I decided to try and clean up my pictures a little, I'm pretty awful with a camera but they look better than before at least.

[B.o.B]

Update Time!

So I managed to get some time away from my other project to come back and do a little bit of work on this baby today.

I ordered in some plain black acrylic so I could try a different approach at sealing up the mesh strip on the front panel. I admit, I really screwed up the top panel, I'm less than happy with how it turned out. But I was determined to not make the same mistake twice.

Here's what I did with the front panel:









And a couple of fashion pics




So I filled in the channel with the acrylic just as filler. It's super light and flexible making it perfect for filling. But I still needed a little shape to get the front right, so back to the Epoxy Putty we go!





And the finished product nicely sanded down






Super happy with it this time around It's barely gained any weight at all and still has a lot of flex on both sides. There's a couple of areas I may need to touch up later when I lay the carbon fibre vinyl but we'll see when I get there.

[B.o.B]

Haha, looks like my photobucket account got smashed with views... Thanks guys.

I'll update the thread late tomorrow when I can upload my shots to bit-tech... I'll edit to lower the res on the shots. cheers for looking guys