Case Mod - In Progress Project: Beyond Earth, an Alienware cube- Bad news.

This is my first project, in a while, and will take a while to complete. It happens to be on of the best cases, I have had the chance to get my hands on, and is hands down the strongest case I have ever experienced.

Basically, what I am going for here, is a, "what if Alienware made a cube server?!" kind of deal. It's kind of a dream machine, for me. I love Alienware! Their use of color is spectacular, and it is what set them apart from the competition, back in the day. Not to mention their attention to hardware, and gaming aspects of the hardcore, and rich gaming community! Since they have sold to another conglomeration, (one which I will not name, due to the shame they bring everyone) this is kind of a tribute, to what they were, and what they could have been if they went this route. R.I.P. Alienware as we knew you...

This is for my son Sean, and Will be our file server, Movies, music and games.

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On with the project! This is the case, the Yeong Yang YY-0221.

This is the front, looks rather boring, typical door, and plain.


This is the left panel, if you notice, there isn't a fan grill, as seen as some other YY-0221s on the net. Giving me 100% freedom to create.


The back of the case, with all of the drive bay screws, 2 80mm fan locations, and the typical ATX back plate.


The right side, and top, also clean for the picking!


This is the motherboard side, Pretty basic, but also different that other YY-0221's on the net. It has more stand off locations.


Behind the front panel, look at all the rust! It's been sitting exposed to elements in an old shed for a while...


The heart of the case, the hard drive cages, and optical drive cages.


That's just the beginning of what is to come!

 

In this post, I will be going over what I have started.

I have taped off all the sides, and they are ready for cutting. These panels are pretty thick, I assume 3mm. Heavy too!






You can see I started cutting this before I realized I needed to get a before shot. CRAP! Just as good, I couldn't finish.


Drive cages removed. Won't be using more than 6 drives at the time, this includes 2 above the opticals.


Here is the front door. I removed the grill thing, and opened it up for modders mesh, or a window. Not 100% sure.



Close up of the door after the cuts. Notice the jagged edges.


And finally, me starting on the alien.



I would like to thank my supportive wife for helping me take the action shots. She is a huge help! All pictures taken with my fuji film, s3000 camera. Who says you can't get good shots with a 3.2mp?! lol

 

I wonder what I can do with this cage, that used to hold riser card slots?




And, this is my work space. It has a single GFI plug, one Acura, and all the space I need, to do some simple modding!


I have since moved to my shop, and have a work bench, and a drop cord, just enough to get me into modding again!

 

Ok, so I have started cutting out the design on my right side panel. Originally it had just an alien. I have since incorporated the rising sun to the cut out. The window will get eyes etched in, for the alien.





All of the cuts were done with the Black and Decker RTX-B, with Dremel #420 heavy cut off wheels. The hardest part of this window, is the fact that I rounded some of the corners, to make it look cleaner. Using these wheels, I had to actually grind them down a bit, which I did by scoring some of the other cuts. When the discs were small enough, I was then able to make the curves. I tried the method bob describes in one of his tutorials, but was unable to with these discs. They would just shatter...

I will finish the panel up tomorrow, and go to the next cut, on the top panel. Thus far, I have gone through 9-1/4 discs... I love these discs, when I work on other cases, but the panels on this case are so thick, that it just tears them up as fast as I get them on... Does anyone know if the quick change chuck that Dremel makes, will fit the Black and Decker RTX?

 

I did the top window/power button area. I have decided to split the window down the center, and made a section for the power button. It was a last minute decision. Here are the pics. Remember, they aren't very good cuts, and aren't cleaned up yet.





And here are some of the door, which I feel is turning out excellent!

This is a back shot of the door, which I had to remove a bit of material so that the acrylic would slide into place.


This is a shot of the front, you can see the alien in the middle, this is a separate piece, which will be adhered to the back of the panel, and somehow lit up.



What do you think?!

 

Basically, this case mod started back in 2010. I had it posted over at TMB, but sadly it seems as though RicM is closing it down, due to lack of funding, so I moved it over to here. Let me know what you think!

 

I had a YY case back in Colorado. Never did anything with it. Sadly it did not make the trip when I relocated back to Iowa.

Good work. I watch

john

 

OK, you got your feet in the shot. Next by tradition is the obligatory pet picture. This looks promising, and made me decide to clean my van today.
Is it safe to guess there will be neon green involved?

 

I wish you would have taken the chance to mod the YY case. They are fun! Only thing I really don't like, is how heavy the panels are. They have to be nearly 3mm thick, as the chunks I have taken out weigh something close to, or over a pound a piece! No joke!

My pets don't come in the house, but I can take some shots of them! I have a pitski, a German shepherd, and a chihuahua. I lied, the chihuahua lives in the house because the bigger dogs want to eat her! lol That is my wife's dog, such a feminine animal! lol

And I am glad I was the inspiration for you to clean out your van! lol There will be green LEDs quite possibly, but I am not 100% sure. I might be making the case an orange, with flat black interior, with orange accents. I am again, not 100% sure! Any ideas for colors are welcome!

 

Finished cutting out the rising sun rays, and did some clean up on the cuts. Nothing too impressive, and no pictures. I want to get some work done tomorrow, but beings that it is Easter, that might not happen!

 

Now if somebody would make grey LEDs we could have some real aliens. Just sayin.

john

 

looks good. do you think the rays will not overpower the alien? i first thought the alien was enough and the rays have kind of spun me out. Hopefully you've got a good plan for them.

 

I plan to do the rays another color, separate from the alien. Don't worry, I have a little idea all set for this part. Each ray will be separate from each other, but connected, and the alien will be separated. The rays will have red LEDs, and the alien will be green, unless I can somehow tint a white with grey tone... I remember hobby shops used to have a spray tint that they used for models... It could work, if applied thinly enough, to the right brightness.

I will be able to achieve the separated sections, by painting the outside of the Acrylic in between the alien and rays, just along the edge. Assuming my idea will work, which one should never assume, as it makes an, (ass out of U and Me) my theory should be correct!

Now, I have also toyed around with the idea of painting the alien behind, and lighting up the acrylic from the front, using a white LED. This could give it the appearance of grey... Experimentation is the key to success!

 

Bought the colors for the case! YAY! I went with a krylon pumpkin orange for the outside, and going with a metallic chrome for the inside. Assuming it looks metallic, it should give the inside that extra bling effect I am looking for! I am excited, and want to get painting, but I have more cutting, and finish work to do to the metal to get where I need it. Hope I get some time to work on it tomorrow, and get pictures for ya'll!

 

What about the classic alien silhouette backed by a blinding light?

-I should clarify: I wanted to clean my van before someone used it as a workbench. -Too much caffeine...

 

Started to sand the beast, and get her ready for some paint. The day was pretty nice, up until it came time to paint, and the weather took a turn for the worse... So all I got to do was sand a bit...

Here are some shots of the outside of the case after the sanding.






Close ups of the metal:




There was rust under the paint... The is the top panel, and it is the only panel on the outside, so far, that had rust like this. It is pitted... Bondo time!




Now, the inside of the case, which is the rustiest part of the whole case...

Before:



After:





This is turning out to be a lot of work, but worth it! I can feel myself getting better, again. I think this time, I will mod a lot more, and show my true skills and actually finish this damn case! lol

 

lol Oh cheaps! Yeah, I was thinking about doing something like that... But I thought about it, and lighting it up too much might distract everyone watching anything kind of movie on it, unless I figure out a way to turn off the lights... I have a lot of new ideas I want to try... Who knows where this might go! lol

 

Also forgot to mention, that I am using primarily Black and Decker tools to do all of my modding. With the exception of my files, paint, and sand paper. The orbital sander, drill, RTX, and even the drill bits, and screw bits/screw driver are all Black and Decker. I also used my old school skill brand jig saw for the bigger cuts. I swear, I should be sponsored by B&D! lol

 

Love that case! I also enjoy finding rare cases to mod. Can't wait to see this one finished.

 

Thanks, yeah, I have had this case since like 2003 or 2004. It sat in a dusty, leaky shed until 2009 or 2010. I removed it and brought it home, and started modding it shortly afterwards. I have found this to be one of the hardest cases to procure... I want another one, maybe 2... They are build very solid, and just kick butt!

I probably won't get much done on this one in the near future, as my work schedule is chaos, and only gives me 1 day off ever 4-6 days... And my wife needs to get her stuff all done before I can work on my projects... lol She happens to schedule all of her things on my days off! So it makes my time shorter and shorter! If I happen to get anything done today, I will post some pictures!