Case Mod - In Progress Battlestar Galactica Mod: Complete!

This mod is beyond words! Seriously. (there is no smiley i can put for this)

 

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I like that opto switch thingy. Definitely something to look into. I was thinking a rocker switch on the side so the cd or dvd would pass across it and activate the leds. But I have no idea how I'd do it and keep it stealthy.


Anyway, now to the update: Got a bunch of work done over the weekend!

Worked on the I/O panel and pwr/reset buttons. I basically re-used the Stacker's pwr/reset button housing,
and the I/O panel right below it. I'm pretty much putting them in the same location as they were stock,
just formed to the case and landing bay.
Here's the pwr/reset panel mocked up with the landing bay.


And here's the rough position of the lower IO panel.


Taking a sheet of plexi, I drew out my cut lines using the actual pieces.


I cut just on the other side of the lines...


...And trim to fit.


Once it was glued in place, I scuffed the whole thing with my orbital.


Then threw on the bondo.


Sanded it down and sprayed a coat of primer to see where I was at. Almost there!


I bondo'ed the bottom side as well, then added the IO panel.


Trimmed the plexi to fit, and added a touch of filler.


Another coat of primer, and it's looking pretty good.


Here it is on the case with the landing bay.







That's where I'm at. The whole assembly will be removable along with the landing bay. The lower IO panel
covers up the screws that secure the front lcd/optical assembly on. I dont want to paint myself into a corner,
so I gotta keep in mind how this case will come apart.
I'll probably secure both the landing bay and the floor/IO panel/pwr-reset panel to the top of the case with
four bolts, one at each corner. That's what I'll be doing next (tonight if I can get back in the garage!).

 

been a little while since i've visited and i've missed a bunch, but this is a classic for sure.
truly inspired.

 

Looks pretty awesome man. I was kinda hoping to see the top of the case as the main section of the Galactica instead of one of the hangars, but it looks awesome none the less.

Funny, I just saw this thread today, I've been thinking of a BSG mod for this same case for the past couple of weeks, but of a different side of BSG. I will probably post it up here as soon as I get my drawings up and get a start on a few of the mods.

 

Yeah, the top of the stacker just looks like the hangar, so I went with it. And i didn't want to end up with something that looks like a Galactica ship stuck on the top of the case. I'm going for more of a case built in the style of the galactica.

As far as your BSG mod, I would love to see somebody else's take on it. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

 

Looks good.

 

Nicely done, as always
about the cd-present/loaded switch, i thought you were thinking to use a tiny momentary switch that the drives' arms will trigger? I think this wouldn't be hard to make inconspicuous if not concealed.

 

nice as always cant wait to see this mod finished

 

Well, that is a possibility, however, that momentary switch would then be depressed the whole time a disc is in the drive in order to keep the leds lit. I'm not sure if that would be bad or not. lol
Anyway, I'm still looking at options since I'm still a ways out from wiring stuff.

 

it wouldn't be bad! you could even use two momentary switches wired in parrallel, that way when they get old you have double the contacts making a reliable connection, and as the two switches would be in parrallel (short both switches inputs & both switches outputs ), there would be no 'flicker' effect if one switch activates/de-activates before/after the other switch.
I'm not sure if i've over explained or under explained

 

Well, I almost got the front panel finished over the weekend, but as always, I come up with more
ideas and have no choice but to act on them (I swear it will be my undoing!). In the process of
filling in the areas around the insignia, lcd cluster, and IO panel, I felt the need to add more detail
elements (why break precedent, right?) These details will give more depth to the front panel,
which will be consistent with the side panels and landing bay.

So I started making a box with styrene, and threw in some wood dowels and acrylic rod for good measure.


This box will be located just under the insignia and dvd drive.


From the front, it looks like a bunch of conduit running up through the panel. It will get the rib treatment
and more styrene to cover up the left and right sides.


Just below that, the BSG ligature will be placed. I cut a styrene frame to mark its location.


And here it is roughed in. This was laser cut from 1/8" black acrylic. Thanks again to Brian from ModdersMart!


Here is a closer shot. I should have put the ruler in the frame for reference, but the entire ligature is only 4" wide.


Before I permanently glue the lettering down, I wanted to lay down the remaining armor panels.


So no, the front panel is not done, but it's getting there! If I can restrain myself from making this thing
more complicated, I might actually finish it this week. lol Stay tuned...

 

:O more detail the better

if you can put it all in without going insane

 

The attention to detail on this Mod is outstanding I wish I had a fraction of your ability. Excellent work I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished mod. There is so much detail that you will have to do a video to see it all in action

 

Thanks Grumfoss! Yeah, I was thinking when I'm done I will have to shoot the case in front of a green screen, then composite it over some BSG space background. Do some wild BSG-like camera moves and zooms. That would be hilarious!

 

That would be good indeed. Be sure to put that in the story when this gets on the front page.

 

FRONT PANEL ALMOST DONE!!

I got a bunch of work done on the front panel over the holidays! So without further ado, here are the pics!
After finishing the bottom conduit box, I began to extend it on both sides to meet up with the curving panel.
I also added ribs to look like they run vertically underneath the panel and terminate at the insignia.


Here's a shot looking down into the conduit box. You can see I made it tall enough so the bottom cannot be seen.


Here is the top conduit box that will go above the insignia. Sorry I didn't realize it was upside down when I took the pic.


Here it is in its place behind the lcd screens.


I made a 1/8" styrene bulkhead for it to mount to.


Once that was in place, the arduous skinning process continued for both sides. A lot of test fitting was necessary
to get them to fill in the areas with no gaps or overlaps.


I glued a strip of styrene ribbing down the edges of the front panel to raise the armor up even with the side panels.
You will see how they go together once I get them on the case for a trial fit.


Almost completely covered up.


The second layer of armor paneling goes on, same as before.


After many hours, here is the result.






I just have the top section to do, behind the LCD screens, which I will finish up tomorrow.

 

:O looks amazing looking forward to it being finished

 

Throwing out an idea for disc detection. Use an Infared led and an IR reciever. Angle them to bounce off of a CD's reflective surface. It wouldn't require physical contact and if you got reflection off of the plexi cover, the angles would cause it to miss. Granted it might be a royal pain to get it fine tuned but in my head it seems like it would work. I'll try to make a poor ascii picture of what i'm describing.

Code:

________  <- CD
   /\  <- IR Beams
  /  \
 []  [] <- IR LED
 ^IR Reciever

Hope that makes sense. It's 1:22 AM and I'm tired. I'm sure some of the circuit buffs here would be happy to assist in the actual wiring of such a device, but sadly it is out of my realm of expertise.

 

Just incredible work