Case Mod Azure - Phantom 820 mod - EK Titan XXL Blocks have arrived - Update 15th May 2013

[AverageNinja]

I'm really liking this Maki! Keep on the good work!

[AverageNinja]

I'm really liking it Maki, keep on the good work!
EDIT: can a mod please delete this double-post? I accidentaly pressed post twice on my phone. I'm sorry.

[Maki role]

Originally Posted by AverageNinja

I'm really liking this Maki! Keep on the good work!

Cheers! Shame I can't really post any progress today, I actually got a fair bit done, just because I'm using white acrylic, all of my work is invisible to cameras rofl. Basically polished all the edges on the midplate, I've also drawn up the templates for PSU plate, which again is not present in the renders. It seems either my fittings or the carbon arrived whilst I was out of the house today

Going to have to head over to the post office tomorrow morning to find out which arrived. Hoping it's the carbon as that means I can get the whole thing going again, if not, I'll just post some pictures of some pretty C47s

[Maki role]

Update time!

Well I went to pick up my package from the Post Office and turns out it wasn't the fittings, but the carbon! That certainly has made my schedule a bit easier as it meant I was able to work on that today.

Basically I decided to coat the mobo tray with white 3M Di-noc carbon vinyl. I thought that the matte sheen would look really nice witht eh rest of the build, plus as it's not at the foreground, it will add a subtle depth and smoothness to the back. This was my first time dealing with the stuff, so I was very impressed by the finish. I've worked with a lot of carbon before, pre-preg, fabric, extruded etc. and the likeness achieved by this stuff is really astounding.

So here are the pics:

Lurvely looking sheet.


Before:


After:


Casualty of war


Looking much nicer now than it did before.


I bolted on the midplate also, so no more books to prop the thing up. Still needs more support, but that will come when I add the reservoirs to their official locations.



Really looking forward to when the fittings arrive next week. When they do, it's going to be the largest update by far (well, probably a couple of days after, will photo and post them first no doubt ) and will almost reach completion.

Turrah!

[AverageNinja]

Great work maki. And good job on the midplate

[Maki role]

Thanks Ninja! Since when buying my heatshrink and sleeving I managed to forget to add sata shrink to the basket, I had been wondering where to get it. Internet deliveries are rather impractical for me atm, and I don't feel like paying more for shipping than the item. Then I realised, wait I live around the corner from a Maplins. So today I wondered over there and picked up some 13mm heatshrink and decided to sleeve the sata cables. After all, it wouldn't be a proper build unless ALL the cables had some treatment done to them eh?

Anyway, here are the before and after pics. Really like the shade of blue, should look great with all the other parts in the case.



Look much nicer than before


Really loving the dense weave.


Hopefully tomorrow/Tuesday my fittings will arrive. If they do, then be prepared for a mahoosive update come Wednesday/Thursday.

[siliconfanatic]

Sleeving those sata's must've been a nightmare... then again iunno how you sleeve sata cables Really digging the white carbon fiber.

[k.3nny]

sleeving sata cables is the easiest thing in the world of sleeving, but does a good eye catcher !

[Maki role]

Hehe funnily enough they're probably the easiest cables to sleeve out of all of them. For the kind I did, all I needed to do was slide the sleeving and heatshrink over the connectors

The four must have taken under 10 minutes or so, much quicker than the process for heatshrinkless sleeving on the PSU cables.

[Azariel]

I love how that white carbon material looks. The subtle changes in shades of white/grey really adds something classy to it.

Btw, was it easy to wrap it around all those curved/bulged parts?

[AverageNinja]

I like those SATA cables!

[Maki role]

Originally Posted by Azariel

Btw, was it easy to wrap it around all those curved/bulged parts?

It was a nightmare rofl. This was my first time working with di-noc, so it took me a while to get the technique down. The biggest issue was that the edges of the case are all irregular, made pressing the stuff down really hard. I imagine if I were to do it again, it would be much simpler. Another issue I had is that for some reason I do not possess a ruler or proper straight edge/measuring tool anymore. I honestly thought I had one here but it turns out I don't. I've literally had to cut out everything thus far by eye and freehand. I just forget every time I'm out to go and get a new one, I'll add it to my list.

[Maki role]

Well it turns out the fittings won't be arriving for a while now as it seems they've been sent to the wrong address (billing as opposed to delivery...). Hopefully I'll be able to receive them by Friday, so I can do the big update on the weekend.

[AverageNinja]

Originally Posted by Maki role

Well it turns out the fittings won't be arriving for a while now as it seems they've been sent to the wrong address (billing as opposed to delivery...). Hopefully I'll be able to receive them by Friday, so I can do the big update on the weekend.

That sucks man, hope you'll get them asap!

[Hanoken]

at least its not to some random address! Oh well, a little set back hopefully you get back on target once you recieve the new items, and nice build... Im really excited to see the two 590's in action ^^

[k.3nny]

Originally Posted by Maki role

It was a nightmare rofl. This was my first time working with di-noc, so it took me a while to get the technique down. The biggest issue was that the edges of the case are all irregular, made pressing the stuff down really hard. I imagine if I were to do it again, it would be much simpler. Another issue I had is that for some reason I do not possess a ruler or proper straight edge/measuring tool anymore. I honestly thought I had one here but it turns out I don't. I've literally had to cut out everything thus far by eye and freehand. I just forget every time I'm out to go and get a new one, I'll add it to my list.

Use your moms/sis/GF hairdryer next time

[XNine]

Keep it coming!

[Maki role]

@AverageNinja Yeah I should hopefully be getting the them on Sunday, so looking like Monday through Wednesday for the main updates now.

@Hanoken Yeah that could have been really problematic. I'm hoping the cards will be a little more stable driver-wise than they are currently. They have a habit of crashing in really intensive processes. I'm looking to replace them with Titans when they're released, although I'm not sure how long it will be for waterblocks to be released.

@K.3nny Aah interesting idea, should spread the heat a bit better I assume and not quite so drastically? Although most of the issues came from my not being used to working with the stuff I reckon.

@XNine Will do, bit slow atm but I've done everything I can for now. Bit annoying not having any spare stuff to work with in order to test ideas out.

Well since there isn't much I can do at this point, I decided to attack my iPad. Turns out the white di-noc looks pretty nice on the back, it's a white fronted one so fits in there too.









Not very relevant but thought it might be interesting nonetheless.

[siliconfanatic]

Gives it some character!

[Hanoken]

ek doesnt disappoint the crowd when it comes to churning up a new waterblock... well, hopefully they have one ready, since the pcb of the titan is the same as the K20 tesla meaning that they already have a layout to design a water block for, but you never know, and the titan should be released tomorrow (for me at least since I am in the states)

BACK ON TOPIC

when I clicked on the thread I thought you made some progress, but it was on something else ha ha ha, sick cover for the ipad regardless!, how did you get the edges to look so clean on the ipad?