Project: Rogue 5 :>o<: Back from dead w/mess o' pics

[Bandit_zoraK]

Introduction

Well I'm back with my new mod: Project: Rogue 5. If you've seen my EmpirePC (in my sig) you can pretty much that I am a big star wars fan. I have already covered 1/2 of the gcw so I figured I would start a project for the other side.
This whole thing started with the concept picture I made in photoshop a while back....


As I am a poor college student, my budget for this project is limited but after searching around, I found this Sky Hawk Alum case on newegg for 50 shipped.
My goal with this case is to mod it in the style of a starfighter- no wings or anything silly like that, but as an inspiration.
Here's a generic pic off of newegg of the case. I could've sworn that I took some pics when I first got it, but I guess they got erased. (Oh well- check out the Klondike's chem warfare mod to see some before pics, same case).


The first thing that I did was swap the side panels of the case- for the left side of the case I didn't want dumb fan holes- luckily they were switchable. For the right side of the case the plan was to cut out the symbol of the Rebellion (what a suprise!)...


I printed sections of the symbol on four sheets of paper then taped it to the panel and traced it. Here is Stimpy surveying my work.


Went over the trace with a sharpie


Oops! to makethis cut I wanted to use my nibbler tool, and because the nibbler scratches up the side that tool is on, I had to redraw the symbol on the other side of the panel. (Cut me!)


I made a small opening with the dremel to fit the cutting part of the nibbler tool in started the cut. This is about 15 minutes of cutting at this point.


About 1/2 done with the cut- still not sure why I wanted to use the nibbler...


Phew that was fun, seriously Here's the piece that was cut out...


...and the resulting mess on the floor- thank god for shopvacs.


After getting the points cut out with the dremel (before sanding), here's the result. Overall I am very happy with how it came out. On the whole it was easier to get that circle cut with the nibbler than with the (no offense to my favorite tool of course)


Another shot


That is where the project stands now- here's a teaser pic of what's on tap:

(figure it out?)

P.S- I hope you show more interest than Vlad here!


P.P.S- I will probably be getting a better camera this weekend so sit tight with crappy pics.

[Rh1n0x]

too bad for the small holes for a fan in the window.
If they weren't there, the rebellion logo would've looked more stunning

[Icecoldbagey]

yeah it looks prtty good but i think it needs to be finsihed and touched up properly so it looks smart and clean cut, Ice

[The Lost Monk]

Yes you are going to get rid of the small holes, right? Other then that you did very well on the cut, keep it up.

[OverFloW]

the symbol will not be upside down when the dooor will be closed?

[Bandit_zoraK]

Originally Posted by OverFloW

the symbol will not be upside down when the dooor will be closed?

Nope- this is the right side panel so it will be right side up.

[TekMonkey]

R2-D2!

I like the Star Wars theme, very cool. You should fill the fan holes with bondo or something.

[Bones]

Looks great and the concept pic is awesome! Cant wait to see how this turns out!

[Bandit_zoraK]

Originally Posted by TekMonkey

R2-D2!

Give the man a prize.

[DerSandman]

Wow nice idea i hope it looks really "far far away" when it's done.

With many accessiors from the movie like a stormtrooper helmet or something.

MIGHT THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, young Lu.. ähm Bandit_zoraK

[Bandit_zoraK]

Small update-
As I eluded to in the original post, the question must be asked: What good is a starfighter without a good astromech to back it up? So I figured I'd make a good R2-based (not him exactly) dome to sit up on the case and plot hyperspace jumps and such (wow, even that sounds geeky to me )

So I just a generic stainless steel bowl that I found at walmart (4$ for four different sizes)


Then I took a cutting disc and the dremel and I 'etched' the square panels, ie the blue parts of r2. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures of the process, but it was pretty straight forward. I also cut out holes where I figured they'd be based on a picture of R2-D2.


Some of the intermediate steps I did:
-Cut the circular shaft off of a cd spindle for the eye pieces (1 front, 1 back)
-Made the main "eye" out of part of a 5.25" bay cover and plexi for the lens.
-Put stainless led holders in various positions around the dome.
-Paint! First time working with model paints, I think I did a fairly good job, though I might buy another bowl and do it again and see if I can't do a better job.
I had to find a somewhat roundish top because the bowl had a flat bottom. So I cannabalized a trashcan lid that I found laying around and used that:


Some finished shots:












To make it feel more authentic I put a servo under the dome and bought a servo phidget to control it via software. I am having a friend write me a program that will mimic R2's movements.

Phidget:


Under the dome:


Still got to wire up the leds in his head and get the program from friend, then I will test it out!

[The Lost Monk]

is there going to be any more moding done to this thing?

[jaguarking11]

I have the same case. I love it and the quality of the case is actualy very good for its price. The alu is high quality too.

[mediacoretex]

good job
btw nice cat

[roachm]

Damn you already posted it. I love star wars (I knew it was R2D2 )

Very nice mod so far, I'll be watchin

[Bandit_zoraK]

I have made quite a bit of progress, I will try and get pics up later this week.

[antiHero]

nice cutout. the r2d2 idea is funny. hope to see more updates soon.

[Valo]

hey! nice mod put a webcam as the r2d2's eye, maybe those controlled logitechs would do? (the ones that you can turn around and aim with software)

[matrixops]

Bandit,
Excellent work so far. I especially like the R2 head. I will be watching this thread closely.

Also, are you in the US? If so, where did you find your nibbler?

MatrixOps

[Isuo]

Hehe, the R2D2 head looks so damn cool.