Case Mod - In Progress StarCraft 2 - Day Zero (Terran) by Envious Mods (COMPLETED)

Why:

I decided to do this case mod after a few people requested a StarCraft (SC) based mod. My other build (Dark Side Case Mod) was a very in depth build. This one will focus more attention towards conveying the SC Terran theme. The timeline to completion will be a lot tighter compared to my other build. I currently don't have the case that will be used for this build but, it will be a previously owned one. I chose to re-use the case because it will save money and it will be completely re-done regardless.

Here's what the case looked like before I started:



Mods Planned:

I have 3 parts that I know for sure that I will be adding to the case. Since this case revolves around the Terran race (humans) I am going to make both of the Terran shields/logos. One for each side and I will also make a SC2 logo for either the front or top of the case. Another item that I would like to add is a custom built dual or triple fan mount bracket. As the build evolves more mods will be added to the list.

Mod Ideas: (Will be updated as we go)

• Custom battle hardened airbrushed paint job.

• Triple fan mount with SC themed-3D printed grills.

• 3528 LED strips with infared remote (lightly used)

• Terran shield made from lexan.

• Terran eagle logo made from lexan.

• SC2 logo made from lexan.

• Complete re-design of the front panel.

• 90 degree rotation of HD bays.

• Optical & HD bay shrouds with cutouts for HDs/SSDs.

• Custom built cable management setup.

• One off designed case feet.

• Lots of custom fab work using various forms of metal, acrylic and plastics.

----Updated Mods----

• Moved the PSU from the top rear to the top front.

• Extended power cable for the PSU

• Custom hand built cover for the stock PSU mount.

• 2X120mm fans added to help air cool GPUs

• Blizzard logo hand cut out of acrylic

• Rainer Terran silhouette cut out of acrylic

Link to OCN log: http://www.overclock.net/t/1545635/...-mod-terran-day-zero-final-pics-finished/0_20

 

Terran Shield:




So far I have decided to mount the Terran shield on the right side panel. It will be fairly large and it will be cut from pretty thick Lexan. I will add vinyl to the top and back lite the lexan which will make the edges of the shield glow.

Terran Shield Build:

I found a image of the shield online and used Microsoft paint to scale it to the proper size (8 X 11 inches.) I took the prints template and cut it so that I could make a new template using hard stock. Once the hard stock is cut out I used painters tape to mount it to a piece of lexan. After that I made quick work of cutting out the template on my scroll saw. Now that I have the shield cut out I need to sand all the edges smooth.



Typically I will start sanding with 100 grit sandpaper and a set of small needle files to get everything perfectly straight. The rougher sandpaper also helps to sand away any tool marks left behind from cutting it out on my scroll saw. Working your way up to finer sandpaper (2000+ grit) helps to polish the edges smooth. All I have left is to get the LEDs setup for the rear lighting and figure out what I'm going to use to cover the top layer. More than likely I will use either vinyl or thin metal for the top.

Terran Shield: Almost Finished



After some added vinyl:

 

Original Logo: Terran


The Terrans have two different logos/shields. One is the first one I made that looks like a shield and the second one is an eagle with a triangle. I thought it would be sweet to have them both because, after all it is a terran case. I will go through the same process as I did with the last one. The main difference is the amount of detail and the fact that this logo isn't all one piece. I will have to figure out some sort of backplate to hold all the pieces in place. I could also mount it directly to one of the cases panels as well.



Terran Logo: Almost Complete

I wrapped this one in carbon fiber as well so that it will match the other set. I went through an extensive sanding/filing/polishing phase with this one as well.



Typically I would go all out with the design but, this case requires a few small styling details. Sketchup is a great program for quick design but, it doesn't convey materials and colors to my liking. The final paint job will be airbrushed and distressed to give it a battle hardened look.


Top Panel: Design

The top panel of the case will have 3 X 120mm fans to exhaust warm air. I have aluminum bezels that dress up the exhaust openings. The trim pieces will be cut from acrylic and mounted using black hex headed bolts.



The two red indicator lights are ones that were ordered specifically for this build. The indicator lights are very mechanical looking and fit well with the overall styling. More than likely I will cutout sections of the acrylic trim and place modders mesh behind it. Theres a mount for both a power and reset switch on either side of the corresponding indicator lights.




Front Panel: Design

The design for the front panel may change a bit but, the main view will display the SC2 logo front and center. The original case had a cut out for 4 optical drives and two smaller bay devices. Once the new panel is cut it will have one optical bay and no lower small device mount. The PSU is being moved from the top back to the top front (top 3 optical drive bays.)



Under the SC2 logo two intake fans will pull in air over the hard drives and SSDs. I have custom designed a dual fan mount for these fans that will be 3D printed. The fan grills will also be 3D printed in the matching honeycomb grills found throughout the case. I plan on adding a few small touches to the front of the case as the design progresses.

Update: I've decided to move the two 80mm fans behind the front panel.

 

I have finished enouph of the side panel design to give you a taste of what it will look like. There will be a few more things added to the build that weren't added to the Sketchup designs. The two 120mm fans will have honeycomb grills that will match the other fan grills found throughout the case.

I started by designing the side panel to scale so that I can get an idea of what I need to do in order to cover up that ugly window cutout. The white piece pictured will either be cut from a standard metal or some stainless steel I just salvaged from a BBQ. Yes, I said BBQ. The majority of this case will be airbrushed as previously mentioned.

Terran Shield:



I made a couple updates to the top panels design. I also mocked up some fans to get a better idea of what it will look like. Recently I salvaged some stainless steal sheets that I may use for the panels on the case.

Top Panel Design: Updates




Stock Side Panel:



Sketchup: Side Panel Design


Design: Inside the StarCraft Case

Here's the design files for the inside of the case. I still have more work to do on the inside but, this shows the majority of the layout. Final color choices haven't been determined yet but, black and white will be involved along with a brighter color. The SC2 logo will more than likely go on the front of the case but, I wanted to see what it would look like. The cutout for the SSDs will be done tomorrow as well as the change to the acrylic panel.

 

Today is the day for test painting. I'm going with a flat black. I did this because gloss or semi would look too new and gloss black only works on specific builds. It also serves as a great canvas for future airbrushing. I lightly sanded both the plastic shroud and the acrylic panel before laying down some paint. Each panel was suspended using thin wiring in order to paint correctly. Hanging pieces before painting makes a big difference. After several coats I let then dry for quite a while before test fitting them. I think they turned out great.


Right After Painting:




Re-installing Painted Panels:

 

I have also started painting the inside of the case. I dismantled, sanded, washed and dried each piece before laying down the first coat of paint. My new paint setup works great so far. I am especially excited to try my new clip on brackets I made. This allows me to hang pieces while being painted and then easily move them to try dry between coats.

First Coat of Flat Black:



Hopefully tonight's the night that I finish up painting the inside of the case. Even though this case is approximately 15 yrs old it's still in great shape. I have a few more coats to lay on the largest piece of the inside before it's re-assembled to see how everything looks.

The last couple pieces of the inside are finishing up their drying phase. Tonight I should be able to start basic assembly of the inner structure.

Finishing Flat Black Paint:

 

I started assembly after painting the interior of the StarCraft case. As mentioned I went with flat black and it came out great. I still have a few more parts to put back on but I couldn't help to post pictures of the progress. Before and after pictures help to show the transformation.

Before & After Paint:



Current Progress: Re-assembly



The Majority of The Panels Bolted In:

 

I spent the last couple days in my spare time working on the StarCraft 2 piece that will mounted on the front of the case. I started by first printing out a template and then cut it all out of lexan. I later decided to wrap it in white and black carbon fiber to match the overall feal for the case. The two colors contrast each other nicely. I'm not a huge fan of carbon fiber but, it was requested for this case. Overall I think the carbon wrap looks pretty good once finished.


SC2 Logo: Original Template Used




SC2 Logo: Cutting it All Out





SC2 Logo: Almost Finished

 

subbed

 

All black is definitely better than that silver

 

Thanks for the sub!

I completely agree. I've been a huge fan of flat or matte black. It just looks so clean without the high gloss.

 

Starting work on the full size templates needed to cut out the 4 top panel pieces. Once I have the template all cut out and filed I will move on to the triple fan mount for the top of the case. I added a screen shot of the design files for the top panel I'm currently working on.

Building The Top of The StarCraft Case:



Update: Hard Stock Templates

Below I added a few pics showing the full scale templates that will be used to cut out matching acrylic panels.



Updates to The Design:

After doing an extensive mock up, I was asked if I could solve the issues involved with moving the power supply from the top left to the top right (optical drive bay) of the case. The issues involved are not too difficult to address.

Moving a PSU to The Optical Bay:

The first issue is the power cable. Most people don't want a PSU cable coming out the front. This can be solved by running the power cable to the back and adding a plug on a new plate.

The second issue is fitment and exhausting the heat. Luckily the original design has 3 top mounted 120mm fans with one of those being directly above the PSUs new home. I will add some sort of vent with modders mesh on the front of the case. A few modifications will have to be made in order to get the PSU to fit in the top 3 optical drive bays.

The last issue is also a positive. New location means the wiring will be different. I will now have a large section on the top of the case to do some proper cable management. I plan to come up with something very original in the way of never before done cable management.

The other issue with moving the PSU is the large gap in the stock mounting location. Luckily a friend of mine is going to teach me welding and other metal fab related techniques. The goal for today is to make a cover that is slotted. This cover will fit directly over the stock PSU hole. I want to make a little back piece so that I can slide modders mesh in. I had my buddy make one similar to what I'm going to do today. Hopefully mine will turn out okay and I'm sure, with help it will. I should be able to get some pictures up today.

 

Here's the new cover I made with the help of a friend. I have worked with metal quite a bit but, welding is something I haven't done much of. I tack welded, cut, sanded, bent and painted the new cover I designed. The cover will fill the gap where the stock psu was originally mounted. It isn't completely finished but, it looks great and follows along with the theme.

New PSU Slot Cover:



Updated StarCraft Designs:

I am making my way through the StarCraft case mod design files. Each panel was designed individually and I'm now assembling them into one model. I am also adding the few parts that have been changed from the original design.






Updated Exterior of the StarCraft Case:

Here's the updated design for the exterior of the StarCraft case. I'm very happy with how it looks together. It's even better than I imagined. I will be finishing the front panel and other side over the next few days.

 

I am cutting the top panels put of acrylic. I already made templates for each of the 4 panels. Once all 4 panels are cut out I will spend a decent amount of time filing, sanding and then polishing the acrylic.




Matching The Pieces:

Since the right side is a mirrored version of the left, I will clamp them together while filing and sanding. This will help assure that they are a matching set. For the straight edges, I will clamp them onto my work surface along with a straight edge. Doing so will allow me to use an electric sander to sand them to perfection.




Mock Up:

I laid out the 4 panels after the majority of the edges have been cleaned up. I have some polishing left to do as well as a few little marks that I will need to finish sanding. I forgot to cut off the angled notch that is on the two front pieces. Below in the design pic you can see where the notch is supposed to be. I will make those cuts quickly now that I've noticed.



Design Updates:

I made some updates to the Starcraft case designs. As far as the design goes, I only have a couple pieces to finish. I need to add a power plug to the back panel for the PSU. This is needed due to moving the PSU to the optical bay. I could just run the cable from the PSU out through the back but, I think it will work better if I run it to a plug located on the back. I also need to finish the top panel on the front of the case. I might add 2 hidden 70mm fans which will help exhaust hot air from the PSU.

 

I am working towards getting the rest of the 4 top panels finished tonight. I'm finished with drilling out the holes that will be used to mount them to the top panel. I am using hexed headed black bolts which look great for the cases aesthetics.

Right now I'm marking out the exact mounting locations of each panel. I decided to go with a gap between 8-12mm around the edges of the front, back and in between. One side is almost complete and mounted. I just have to finish the second side before I move on to the stainless exhaust ports.

More Work On The Top Panels:

 

I now have the 4 panels mounted and bolted in place. Work on the 3 exhaust ports has started as well. They are almost ready for paint. The plan is to mark their mounting locations so that I can make the templates for the 3X120mm exhaust fans.

Panels Mounted:





Exhaust Port Mock-up:




Cutting Out 3X120mm Fan Holes:

I used the angle technique to cut the fan holes out but, it didn't work well for this situation. After working on the first cutout for sometime I decided to switch to a smaller, thin cutoff wheel which worked much better. It takes a good deal of practice to cut circles straight on with a smaller blade.

Once I had all the holes cutout I decided to bolt the 3X120mm fans to check for any clearance issues. I quickly found one when remounting the top of the case. The fan that is furthest to the back sticks out where a lip on the back panel is. Ill make a few cuts to make room for the fan.

 

Well well well what do we have here? A fellow SC mod! Exciting to see! Wishing you the best of luck! Really like the composition of the side panel, it has that feel that definetly suits the theme.

 

Thanks Johnny71. I worked hard to try and translate design cues from StarCraft into the overall feel of the case. I still need to finish up the top of the front panel. A recent decision to move the PSU from the top back to the top front warrents some change. Other than that and the other side panel most of the design is done. I will be adding a neat backplate for the PSU power cable extension as well. Thanks again for checkin out the build.

 

I thought it might be neat to show you some of the Terran buildings from StarCraft that helped to inspire a lot of the design cues found throughout the case. I haven't completely decided on what LEDs will be used but, more than likely only a few dim glowing green ones will be used in the exhaust ports.



I will also be working on the PSU power cable extension. I've collected most of the pieces required. I will have some updated pics later today.

 

I started working in the plate for the new rear mounted power plug. I finished up the wiring for the PSUs power cable extension. The extension plugs into the back of the PSU and travels from the front of the case to the back where it is mounted on a panel I made. Since I wasn't sure on where I was going to mount the rear power plug I had to cut out a spot for the plug. A lot of guess and check seemed to work perfectly.

Laying Down Markings to Cut:




I made the plate not too long ago in my buddies shop. He has the tools and experience to get just about anything done in metal. I took the opportunity to learn some new skills along the way. The plate has a second piece of metal on the back that was built at an angle so that you don't see the wiring when looking in through the side of the case. This helps give it a clean look as well.

Power Panel & Plug All Mocked Up: