Case Mod - Complete Neptune's Trident: Wallpapers

Great job; I have always found dremelling out for FP connectors to be one of the most tedious things in modding since it's so unforgiving of mistakes in the cutting and filing. You pulled it off well!

 

Really great work on the front Trident and good place off the IO

 

The I/O panel looks almost factory fitted, good job.

 

Thanks guys!

And now, the acrylic portion of the front trident:

I traced the shape onto a piece of blue transparent acrylic.


Used my scroll saw to cut it out. As you can see, I cut a rectangular hole for the IO module to fit through.
No need to cut individual holes.


Then it was time to do the bends. I found this piece of acrylic tube to be the right diameter. Had to be careful
though not to melt it while heating up the trident piece lol!


Bent. I did distort the tube a bit, but it wasn't enough to worry about.


I bent a little bit more than I needed to, just to make sure I had a nice curve. I marked the aluminum
trident where it meets the case.


Then transferred that mark to the acrylic and cut off the excess.


I sanded it down to a nice sharp edge...


...so it will fit snugly in between the case and the outer piece.


It still needs a bit of cleanup and polish around the outside, but it's pretty much there.

Next up: running the IO cabling through the mesh, and covering the backside of the power button.

 

Looks great!

 

Nice work on the plexi Bod.

I found some RAM for your rig, G.Skill Trident:
http://www.techpowerup.com/90470/G....t_Series_Triple_Channel_DDR3_Memory_Kits.html

 

Excellent metal work, and a cool project..

 

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great Easter weekend. Mine was excellent, the kids had a blast searching for eggs in the yard.

But because of that, I don't have too much to show, progress-wise, but it's progress none-the-less!
So we left off last time fitting the acrylic piece behind the aluminum Trident up front. Well I got the IO
port module to fit, but had to make some "adjustments" to it first lol.

I marked the area to be removed. Too bad it goes right through where I de-badgified the case lol.
Oh well, it was going to be covered up by the front Trident anyways.


And cut.


I also removed the old IO port openings. This will get addressed a bit later.


Here's what I had to do to the module. There was a clearance issue with it and the front radiator fan, so I had to
get the cables to lay over to one side. To do this I removed the exterior molding and some of the surrounding glue/wax stuff.


Here's what it looks like from the bask side. The cables will be sleeved and organized better for final assembly.


In order to secure the top of the Trident to the case, I fabbed up a small mounting bracket that takes
advantage of how the power button is secured. This way I avoid having any unsightly fasteners on the front face.


The bracket is attached to the case with one screw from behind.


Here's a side view..


Done, with the exception of one thing... lighting! That will be next on the list.

 

Looks really good.

 

Excellent work man

 

Hey guys, been a while since I updated (damn, third page! lol). Other pressing matters been taking up my time.
But I did manage to get in the garage and finish up the IO hole...

I got an extra front bay cover so I could use it as a patch. So I placed it behind the hole
and traced out the area to be cut, and cut it out.


Sanded off the anodizing and filed the edges til I had a nice snug fit.


A shot of the "nice snug fit"


I taped it from behind and slapped some bondo on it.


Since the patch was a bit thinner material than the case was, I decided to bondo the back side as well.


After it set up, I sanded it down, first using a cheese grater file, then a orbital sander.
Then I used the bay cover as my drill guide, and drilled out the holes.


Done! Can barely tell it was even there. Once the primer is on, it will disappear completely.

 

You sir win my Internets, and 5 stars.

 

From where I sit I wouldn't even be able to tell there was a hole there first lol.

 

Whooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaa!
That was so cool!
Amazing eye for detail

 

lol Thanks guys.

 

Ok, I got some stuff to show you.

I have been working on a new floor design with Geno from Boxgods, in an attempt to alleviate some of the mess
of tubing down by the radiators. The floor is made up of three sheets of 1/4" clear acrylic and there
will be six channels through the middle, each 1/2" wide, with compression fittings on each end.
Of course the design had to be trident-approved. ;-)

As you can see, I color-coded the channels so you can tell the three loops apart.


Here are the three floor layers, the top being the farthest away. I also incorporated cut-aways
for the optical drive, power cables, and lighting, as well as notches for case fitment and alignment.
This is not the final version, as there are some areas that need minor adjustments (which
weren't apparent until I did the mockup tests).


Here's a shot of the middle layer with the channels placed on top of the bottom layer.


And all three layers together. I set them on a piece of cardboard so they might be easier to see.


Here is the floor assembly clamped in place in the case.


I will also be employing the new compression fittings from Primochill.


I screwed them into the floor to see how they fit. This is when I realized the bottom holes were too close
together. So that will be addressed in the final revision.


A closer up shot:


And with the compression rings on.


In addition to minimizing the amount of tubing, this new floor design will look pretty cool with the
coolant running through it. I plan to paint the underside of it so you won't be able to see through
to the radiator compartment.

Now the trick to pulling this off will lie within the gluing process. If I screw it up, I will have leaks and
cross-channel mixing of fluid (which will not be good since I will be using three different colors of coolant).
I've got some scrap pieces I can practice with, and I will make a jig so that the layers will be lined up
correctly. Should be interesting, so stay tuned!

 

Wow that floor is an awesome idea. It removes so much tubing mess and makes a cool feature. Good thinking Bodakker...

Laz

 

I can't wait to see how the floor comes out!

 

Bod that is a sweet floor idea. The one thing I don't like are the compression fittings. The plastic looks a little fragile. Personally I would use chrome or gun metal BitsPower fittings

 

Thanks, but after all is said and done, I will have 48 total fittings in this thing, 18 for the floor alone. And at $10 per fitting (yikes!) for Bitspower, well you can do the math...

And I'm told these fittings are poly carbonate, UV stabilized, and plenty strong, so will last quite a long time.