Case Mod La Fee Verte - NZXT Phantom - 6th March, 2013 Update

[Scirocco]

About time for me to start posting on this project, which has been very slow in getting started. The theme is Absinthe, the Green Fairy. Although some of the build may look steampunkish, the style is more Victorian/Edwardian and Art Nouveau in nature. First, for those who aren't familiar with this drink, a definition:

Absinthe a distilled alcoholic beverage, usually made from a variety of herbs including fennel, anise and especially grand wormwood (Artemisia absinthium.) The title of the green fairy "la fée verte" refers to absinthe's usual green color, although it is produced in clear and other colors as well.

Absinthe was very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe, particularly France. Many writers and artists of the time were absinthe drinkers: Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Mata Hari, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Alan Poe and Aleister Crowley.

The drink has a certain mystique and reputation for being a dangerous and addictive drug. Absinthe is said to open one's mind and cause hallucinations. However, the active chemical compound derived from the wormwood (thujone) is only found in trace amounts in the drink. Studies have not found absinthe to be any more dangerous or addictive than other distilled spirits. Due to this reputation, absinthe was banned in certain countries (including the US) for a number of years.

The case being used in this build is a black NZXT Phantom (thanks to Bill Owen of http://www.mnpctech.com) with custom airbrushed artwork by Brad Galvin of http://www.dirtdesignsgraphic.com. Here are some photos of the prep and painting:








That's Kyle van der Merwe next to Brad.









As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome!

[Scirocco]

Here's watercooling kit going into the build:



A couple of XPPC waterblocks and a 3 x 120 radiator, Corsair fans, a Swiftech MCP655 pump and Mayhems Aurora dyes in white and green.

I have used the Corsair H60 all-in-one liquid cooling in a build before. However, this will be my first time actually assembling a cooling system of parts. Any suggestions you have along the way will be great!

This little darling will suffice as the fill port. It is stainless steel and brass with a great glass window on the front:



Some additional paint and metal leaf to be used:



That's it for now, but more to come soon.

[Editor22]

I can;t get over how good Brad is at air painting... it's just stunning. Great theme by the way!

[Scirocco]

Thanks, Editor22! I would one day love to see Brad in action -- perhaps commission him to airbrush some custom art on my Mini!

[Scirocco]

Have some of the great materials from Nils at MDPC for sleeving everything:



Here's the fan controller to be installed:



I really wanted to get my hands on one of these as it is perfect for the build. Here's a closeup of the controller. I will have to do something about that stark white logo as it just ruins the continuity with the theme.



That's it for today. I should have some more kit to show tomorrow, including the Alphacool fittings.

[Editor22]

Oh yes imagine all I can think of now is a mini with the absinth logo on the bonnet!

perfect choice on the FC10!

[Mankz]

I love those FC10's...

[Scirocco]

The FC10 certainly was elusive thing! I understand the nixie tubes were rarer to procure than Lamptron had anticipated, but it seemed every time I found one for sale, it was sold out immediately. Reminds me of the Cooler Master Musketeer 3 is it -- the one with the analog dials? It's almost a collector piece.

[Mankz]

I had one of those.. they were awesome!

Think it must still be up in the loft somewhere..

[Cheapskate]

You found a decanter with a brass lid?!?!?
I thought most of them had crap plastic lids. All kinds of fun going in this rig.

[kelmannen]

oooh, this has a promising start

[atc95]

Looks good so far, saw the project name and instantly thought of kasabian!

[Scirocco]

Just about have everything needed. Here is the replacement case for the Cooler Master Quick Fire Rapid (Cherry MX Black):



The case is heading for a few embellishments to make it fit in with the theme a bit more. Unsure about a mouse to match it all at this point. I have The Thermaltake Level 10 mouse in green that I got cheaply. Not certain if the style really goes, but it could be interesting.

Changed my mind on the RAM when I saw these sticks, plus it will be 16Gb instead of only 8!



Mmmm, shiny copper fittings! Also some mouse skates I need, a couple 3mm green leds and painter's masking tape.



Next will be some cutting and fitting to replace the side window.

[matiss]

Very nice theme and astonishing artwork. I´ll be watching

[siliconfanatic]

Really hot design!






needs more boob though

[Scirocco]

Originally Posted by siliconfanatic

Really hot design!



needs more boob though

The rest of the boobage is on me. I'm a girl.

[mnpctech]

Great to see everything coming together, this shall be awesome

[Scirocco]

Thanks, Bill. Missed a darned UPS package twice now and today seems to be taking forever. Really planning to dig in this weekend.

[Scirocco]

Woo, an update finally. School and other things have been taking up my time for the most part lately. Here's a few tidbits, however.





Going AMD in this buld, partly because of cost, but also just because I've not used an AMD since the old socket 932. About time I guess! Plus the look of ECS' A85F2-A motherboard goes so well with this theme. The AMD A10 5800K has a decent price point, plus it should be overclockable, which is perfect with the watercooling. The Crucial RAM and SSD were used in a little PC for school, so aren't in this build. I am using that video card though!



Here's the inside of the right side panel. The black and white NZXT fans are nice, but the glaring white will detract from the theme. They'll be removed along with the grill and window, receiving their own special treatment.



The outside of the right side panel shows the overall layout. NZXT included nice dust filters behind all the grills for their fans, which is great. However, I do not like the target effect the look gives when in place. That will change.




During shipping, the upper lefthand corner of the acrylic window snapped at the bolt. Since the acrylic window is being replaced, it was going to be removed any way. I went searching for my allen wrenches and discovered there are none in my workroom! They must have been misplaced during my big move here. Oh well. I added a set to my small Performance-PCs order arriving this Friday. So there won't be a problem removing or adding any of those lovely hex head bolts!



More to come in a day or two. Progress should be coming a bit faster here. Thanks for following!

[Scirocco]

Received my little package from Performance-PCs on Friday. Things go much quicker and easier when you have the right tools handy! Now my workroom has bits for every occasion, including hex bolts.



This is the grill off the NZXT Phantom's top fascia. As you can see, it is affixed via ten retaining screws mated to the posts. One thing I noted is that several of those posts are partially split. I do not know if this is due to over-torquing during assembly at the factory or if the plastic itself has dried and become brittle. I will have to be gentle when it comes time to reassemble the grill.



The top fascia without the grill assembly. I am leaving the protective plastic on to avoid scratches and fingerprints that seem to breed on that shiny black finish!



Removing the snapped window was easy with a proper hex bit to fit the button head bolts. NZXT made the parts easy to strip off the chassis all around. Thank you, NZXT!



Can we say "woven brass fabric?" This material isn't replacing the window, but it will be covering each of the former black perforated metal grills. I am devising a decent-looking method for affixing it to the grill framework.

More soon!