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Case Mod - In Progress [Project]: Big Bro' Prodigy (E-ATX mod) FINAL PICTURES: 12th March - 2014

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Nikkop, 12 Dec 2012.

  1. Nikkop

    Nikkop What's a Dremel?

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    Nice to hear! :)

    I think both will look extremely good. The chromed pipes for their color but somehow I feel that I will miss the colored theme of the motherboard - Having orange liquid in clear tubes wouldn't look too bad!
    I'll maybe end up trying both, haha :)

    If I come to chose the chromed copper pipes - What would you then choose, black or chromed fittings? Chromed are nice, but maybe black to make some contrast to it? :)
     
  2. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    I've always been terrible at this sort of artistic decision, but I'd say black.
     
  3. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    I've always been a fan of black fittings with white tubing, but they'd still look good with chrome pipe.
     
  4. Nikkop

    Nikkop What's a Dremel?

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    Haha, well thanks for your input :)
    I think black aswell, but also depends on what tubing I guess :) I mean black goes with everything so would be nice in any way!

    True! I think so too.
    However, clear tube wouldnt look too bad with chromed fittings, would it? :)
    But for now I'm leaning towards black! Also depends on what tubing haha :)

    However I am currently over seas and not home, therefor having difficulties doing any update ^^
    But I will see when I can get one out! It will be once again about even more mesh and something about water combined with cooling ;) hehe!

    Until then
    Best regards
    Nikkop
     
  5. Fridge Gnome

    Fridge Gnome Blue Everywhere

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    I think clear tubing/orange fluid with chrome fittings would look pretty sharp.

    Maybe darker chrome fittings to match the mesh?
     
  6. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    I'm also going for the metal pipes to keep with the clean stealth look of that GORGEOUS front panel!

    Seriously, I NEED to use that idea for something! :D
     
  7. perplekks45

    perplekks45 LIKE AN ANIMAL!

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    Chrome pipes, black fittings. No question.
     
  8. Nikkop

    Nikkop What's a Dremel?

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    Is that what you will go with with your build? ;) Maybe not the orange color haha, but clear tubing with colored liquid :D

    Haha thanks a lot. Yeah I was satisfied with the front panel, looks so industrial! :D
    And indeed chromed pipes would go nice with that. However, what about polished copper pipes? To match the orange color, but then again it wont match the mesh...
    I think chromed pipes will look great! Haha. Especially with black fittings.


    I am considering that, definately ;)
    Id love to continue making the case have an industrial look like the mesh, and I guess chromed pipes is the best way to dl that? :)

    Btw, just got another idea!

    What about going with chromed pipes and then scratch and grind it to make it look even more industrial, used, scratched and so on?
    So it doesnt look all shiny and brand new ;)

    Thanks for your input!

    /nikkop
     
  9. Shurika

    Shurika Minimodder

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    Oh, realy? If you like scratchy pipes - it's all OK, but I just leave here my vision - don't do it! :nono: Not good idea for me
     
  10. Fridge Gnome

    Fridge Gnome Blue Everywhere

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    I'm looking at a few different things, I'd like to try something new.

    I just really like how black and orange look in a computer :D
     
  11. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Black and orange looks nice as long as you can theme the whole thing properly. I think there's a fine line between just right and way too much orange.

    Otherwise, my decision for this stands- sexy black fittings and smexy chrome pipe! :D
     
  12. Nikkop

    Nikkop What's a Dremel?

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    UPDATE 10/07 2013 Even more mesh! and AquaTuning is sponsoring

    Thanks for your vision and input, hehe :) Do you have any experience with it or you just don't think it will look good? :)

    Ahh, I see and understand you! :D Black and orange does go well togheter, no question about it. Orange is a beautiful color but too much of it can turn out to be very sharp and hard on the eyes. I guess it's all about finding the balance of it :D

    Exactly! Just that I thought about and wrote to the guy above. Too much orange will make it stand out too much and be hard on the eyes.
    I think that having back and steel/silver as main colors (monochrome) and orange as an accent color will be the very best :) Don't you?

    I agree with you about sexy black fittings and smexy chrome pipe! ;) haha.

    And below you can find a NEW UPDAAAAAAATE! :D Let me know what you think! :)

    [​IMG]

    UPDAAAAAAATE! :D

    Even more mesh! and AquaTuning is sponsoring - 10/07 -2013

    UPDATE 10/07 - 2013

    HIP HOPP TO THE TOP!

    Hope you're all doing great! :)
    I just got home from a 2 week vacation and I'm ready to share this update with you! I thought I'd get it out sooner than this but I didn't have the time required and who doesn't want to enoy their vacation while it lasts? :)
    This update will be about something that's not new but still wonderful - even more mesh! I can't get enough of it and it will cover my build quite much. I'll let the pictures and text below talk for themselves so be sure to enjoy it! :)
    BUT!
    Something have happened that will have a huge influence on this mod. That is that I've got a new collaboration partner named AquaTuning!
    [​IMG]
    AquaTuning is a web-store featuring water cooling components with a huge range of nice and great products. They are based in Germany but have multiple language-choices on their site. They do send with UPS and the package is delivered to your door within days :)
    AquaTuning joins me as a collaboration partner and supplies me with a complete water cooling system for Big Bro' Prodigy. This will definately raise the awesome-factor of my project a lot. It will be very interesting and exciting to work with water as I've never done that before :D

    Below you see a couple of pictures of the package and a picture of the products themselves:
    The products will be unboxed and photographed in the next update and I will show every product on it's own :)

    This will be the first complete water cooling system I've ever installed so it will be fun to learn something new, at the same time as it will look completely awesome (hopefully :D )
    Here's the picture! I'll only give you a few as a start, more to come in the next update ;)

    The package I've been waiting for and been thrilled about!
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I open the package up and see that everything is well packed and compact. I didn't think all would be able to fit in this box even tho' it does weight some, haha :)
    [​IMG]

    And here's a picture of all the products I've been supplied with! What I've been supplied with in the package and for this build can be seen in the list below:
    [​IMG]
    The products;

    As you may see it's not a 100% complete water coolig system yet. What is missing is connections/fittings and some kind of tubing. The fittings are needed on every component in the loop and the tube is of course there to transport the liquid :) The reason I haven't gotten any yet is because I don't know what will suit the best. I will find out once I've installed all components and thereafter order the fittings and tubing as I want it to be perfect :)

    That was what I had to show for the moment regarding the new collaboration partner AquaTuning and the products that will be inside this project. Can you imagine a complete water cooling system inside the Big Bro' Prodigy? I can and I like the imagination of it! :D
    Where everything will be mounted, how it will look and stuff a like will of course be shown later on when the time has come. I have quite a few ideas in my head that I need to try :)
    ______________________________________________________

    Let's continue with the case-mod itself that will be about nothing less than even more mesh! :D (which makes me happy as I love it)
    Here's the botton of the case itself where all the contacts will be reached. I have earlier sawn out some holes for the I/O- and PCI-contact and the PSU a like. I did this before I got the idea that I'd like to use the mesh I've gotten my hands on.
    [​IMG]

    Now at a later stage I've made the decision that I want this bottom part to be covered with nothing less than mesh, as well :D
    I try to get the mesh piece inside but I notice that there's two raised parts in the tray (marked with red arrows) that will create some problem as the level won't be straight and smooth.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    This is how I want it to look once it's done. With mesh on the inside of the case and then the motherboard tray and I/O on top of it :)
    [​IMG]

    I could make two things at the same time - Put in even more mesh and remove those tiny "boulders", so I started masking it up and called upon my tools :)
    [​IMG]

    I sawn a huge part of the bottom tray away - where I earlier had made holes for all the contacts. I will later on make the same holes in this mesh so I can reach all the contacts :) The hole thing about this was that I wanted to have visible mesh on the inside.
    [​IMG]

    The rear/back part that I earlier cut some mesh for was to be fixed as well. Since I will have a covering mesh even in the back I had to get rid of what's there original, as the fan-mounting, holes and such stuff.
    I mark what is to be sawn and I then saw the parts away, quite some parts got off :)
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    What is remain to do on these is to make all the cuts smoother and maybe paint the parts so you don't see any scracthes or proof that it has been sawn/modified - even tho the mesh will cove that up quite good :)

    Since both the top, bottom and rear/back and the front have gotten a mesh-makeover I thought it was time to puzzle up the case to see what it looks like :) We've seen the parts a lone but not togheter as a case so it's time!
    I myself think that it looks extremely wonderful and I'm very pleased with the result :D
    [​IMG]

    The inside:
    [​IMG]

    Seen from behind:
    [​IMG]

    And last but definately not least, seen from the front! Both with and without the motherboard I/O-tray. Looks very nice with the mesh and the contrast it makes to the black of the rest of the case :D
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    ______________________________________________________________

    It feels like the modification of the case itself is starting to somehow come to an end and look good! :)
    What remains to be done is to saw the holes in the bottom-tray to allow the contacts to be reachable and then attach all the mesh-parts with rivets and stuff a like. After the modification of the case itself is done there will of course be other moments I will work with, such as sleeving the PSU, mounting and constructing the water cooling loop etcetc.

    There's however one thing on the case that I have an awesome idea about that I think will be really good. However I don't want to reveal it quite yet, haha :) I first want to try it out and see if it fits and such stuff. As a teaser I can reveal that it will be about somehow modifying/replacing the top handles with something that will look better and suit my style in this build even more :)

    Please do comment, ask or give suggestions! I get happy when people write :)

    Thank you for reading and following,
    Best Regards
    Nikkop
     
    Last edited: 17 Jul 2013
  13. Fridge Gnome

    Fridge Gnome Blue Everywhere

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    I like it! I was thinking about doing the exact same thing to get rid of all the bumps in my prodigy.
     
  14. Nikkop

    Nikkop What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks mate :)

    Yeah, the bumps are in the way for sure!
    Will you cut it all out like me or just the bumps? :)

    I'll cut my mesh with holes for the connectors, but that 1mm stainless steel mesh isn't too easy getting through, hope my tools will be able to handle it! ^^
     
  15. stuartwood89

    stuartwood89 Please... Just call me Stu.

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    Interesting, but if you do that then doesn't is stop being a Prodigy, and start becoming something entirely different?

    If opinion counts, then I would say keep the Prodigy look as best you can. That way you have a sleeper which no-one would suspect anything of.

    That said, it's your project, and you've managed a lot of good work so far, so whichever you go for, I'll be watching.
     
  16. Nikkop

    Nikkop What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks for your clever questions! :)

    About the handles (my thoughts); Sure they are a part of the Prodigy, but at the same time it's not the only thing that the Prodigy will be recognized upon.
    The feet are still there, the case is the same size (altho it holds larger components hehe), have the logo in the front, the feet will still be left untouched as long as they don't break from all the heavy mesh, haha :)

    Although my first plans were to do a stealth-mod (original outside, modified inside) I discovered that I would love to have the case covered in mesh and such things, that makes it a little more unique.

    But to finish it up I think that it will still be recognized as a Prodigy with no doubt. As long as I don't remove the feet, logo or the front :)
    Don't you think? :)

    Thanks for your input
    /nikkop
     
  17. saxovtsmike

    saxovtsmike Minimodder

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  18. Subway

    Subway What's a Dremel?

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    I looks awesome! I like how you mod your case. Unfortunately I realized in the last years that the most "modders" only cut one piece and say "look what I done, I'm a modder"
     
  19. Nikkop

    Nikkop What's a Dremel?

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    Yep, seen yours! :) Looks good.
    However, how do you take the side panel off? Do you have to drill the rivets out? I haven't had time to check how you've mounted it, in case you've showed it.

    But yea, definately still looks like a Prodigy! :)

    Thanks a lot! :)

    Haha what you say is true. Some even consider putting in a LED-light as "modding". Well we all know where the difference is :clap:
    I hope you will like the final product as well! :) It will look like it does now, only better, as it's not done yet! ;)

    /nikkop
     
  20. saxovtsmike

    saxovtsmike Minimodder

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    No rivets, 4 Screws. I used the Original mountingthreads for the handles which allready have a beautiful M3 thread ;-)
     

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