Scratch Build – In Progress [Bit-Tech/Intel NUC Competition] Moderne - Finished but no final pics yet - 30/04/15

Yeah its only real drawback IMO is the cost, which is a bit ridiculous when compared with other methods. The guys I went to are actually a little bit more expensive than Shapeways, with the advantage that I can just catch the tube over to them and my parts up in person. My brother's had to use Shapeways a couple times when their department printers are being serviced, they took 3 weeks to get his model back to him, and that's within the US! Naturally with the deadlines on this project that's simply out of the question.

To be honest much of the cost was down to me not thinking properly during the modeling phase. The base itself added an extra 20mm to the model height, which substantially increases the cost. I should have disconnected it and laid it flat.

Cheers Wayne!

So whilst I'm in the process of sanding down and priming, I decided to think a little about the future of this little box. Intel (like last time...) mentioned that they would like to use the NUCs as occasional exhibition pieces at events. Some of you may know I've not had the greatest luck with shipping things around, so I decided that it would be a good idea to make a flight case for Moderne. This should help to keep it safe during transit and whatnot.

Befitting of the thread, I went and modeled all the parts that I ordered and assembled the whole thing in Blender. As such, it should look pretty similar to the renders below when complete:

​

 

Heh, that's pretty much what I'll be doing as well. Have the case, and the foam cut out and ready to go. I don't trust shipping lol

 

Well you know what they say, great minds think alike eh?

Yeah I don't trust shipping at all anymore. The last PC I sent (in its own flight case no less) was thrown so hard almost every panel in the case (it was a Parvum S2.0) shattered at various points. The mobo had a PCIe slot ripped off and the CLC rad was ripped out of its threads in the roof. Almost a total loss there, still waiting on the insurance to get all sorted. In the meantime Justin at Parvum very kindly offered to send over a new case free of charge, well that was stolen before it could reach my brother. Also had a Macbook pro bent down the middle despite being shipped in the original box. Needed a new screen, chassis, motherboard etc. pretty much the whole thing. Thankfully that was insured and easier to recover as it was shipped to me, meaning I could easily provide any needed info.

It's enough to make even the most grounded individual rather paranoid.

 

There's your problem. They thought it could fly.
My problem has always been the packing end of the process. I pay extra for S&H, yet what I ordered is usually flopping around in an empty box. Soft goods like clothes, however, seem to always be packed like nitroglycerin.

 

Aha I knew I was doing something wrong! You'd almost think that's exactly what they do, assume since it's fragile they can toss it around because it'll be packed to the high heavens.

UPDATE!​

So I've been rather busy lately, both at work and at home, leaving me little time to get the ball rolling. Luckily I now have everything I need to finish the project, just a matter of putting in the time.

So first up, remember that pile of wood from my last post? Well over the Easter weekend my Old Man and I turned that into something more useful. Whilst there's still painting and finishing details left to do, the vast bulk is now over. Over the coming weeks I'll be steadily finishing it up and moving tools and supplies into it, eventually it should be a proper workshop! The electrics still need to be added, but that should be handled fairly soon too.

I hate roofing, evidently not the profession for me.


Front door windows going in


Floor laid and now just painting to do!

​

I finished up all the priming today, probably used a good 12 coats to keep things nice and smooth. I imagine it'll be a similar number of coats for final paint plus extra for the lacquer, with lots of smoothing in between. I also took the opportunity to thread the mobo mounting points, add the side magnets and get the windows to fit just right.

All primed up




Windows in


Hardware (most of it) in




Bear in mind that massively long cable won't be there, I'll also jazz up the switch too. I just haven't shortened it yet, so coiling it up was the next best thing.
​

 

I packed mine in a flight case too but Intel disengaged on communication.

Looking good.

 

Looks really good,very nice work Maki.

 

Cheers Wayne! Yeah I didn't hear anything from them either, they didn't sound particularly organised if you ask me. Apparently they're doing the same exhibition thing this year, but I have my doubts whether it will actually happen. Still, doesn't hurt to be prepared.

Thanks dude! Loving the progress on your two current rigs, Idoru's res looks awesome and I'm in love with Heretic's red marble paint.

 

Looking good, but VALUESELECT in the window must go.

 

Yep.

 

Yup that's definitely going, ugly as sin as it is.

 

UPDATE!​

So today and yesterday were very productive days. First up I managed to finish off the painting! Lots and lots of thin paint layers, sanding up to 2500 grit and many clear coats later it looks pretty good. I went with a metallic black rather than flat as I thought it looked better on the sample pieces, glad I did. After getting the painting out of the way, I decided to start working on the flight case. In total I managed to complete the whole exterior, just the interior foam left to do now.

You may notice that the flight case has different corners to those in the renders, well this was a surprise to me too. I actually ordered grey, but for some reason was sent black instead. Whilst I'm not particularly happy with that, it does still look good so I'm not that bothered. What I am bothered about though is how instead of being sent 6mm ply, I received 3.3mm instead, which is damn near useless. I have no idea how that happened as the store I used doesn't even sell that thickness, very odd. It would have been a disaster had they not shipped it sandwiched between two 4mm MDF boards. Instead I just cut and glued the ply to the MDF and used that instead, worked out fine.

​

 

UPDATE​

Quiet around here eh? Well let's get a little more content in then.

I managed to find the time to finish the flight case today, in other words lots of foam. Also found out that the best cutting tool for polypropylene foam is a kitchen knife. I had been using a fresh Olfa knife, which should have done a good job, but was getting lots of messy cuts. Switched to my trusty chef's knife an low and behold, perfect cuts. It seems that not only is my chef's knife sharper (I do take care of it) but the extra rigidity really helps with more delicate cuts.

This photo really didn't turn out well, didn't notice until I had to upload it. I can't use my decent 50mm lens for this subject right now as the room is too packed for me to get the distance required. Using the 18-55 kit lens as a result, which quite frankly is crap. It's a nightmare to focus manually, simply not designed for it.
​

 

Very nice Maki.

 

Super job. So far my favorit in intel nuc competition.

 

looks awesome mate, congrats

 

Aweeeesssooommme! Love the flight case

-Jeffinslaw

 

Again, thanks Wayne!

Wow thank you Griso, means a lot especially given how impressive some of the other projects are turning out to be.

Cheers fakeN!

I think I've fallen for the idea of making an accompanying flight case for all future builds (might hold off on that if I do a desk though...), they're just really handy for those occasional moments where some proper moving protection is needed. Rare, but when it happens it's a nightmare if you're not properly prepared.

Although saying that, the case appears to have had some unintended side effects...

Update​

Not a good one today unfortunately, but also not some sort of catastrophe, just an inopportune inconvenience.

So the other day I placed the build into the flight case, all fitted nicely and it was suitably snug., I then forgot it was in there. What I hadn't thought about was the curing time for the clear coat. Now I left it for 2 days before doing this, so I figured it would be cured enough, obviously it wasn't. Interestingly, when I opened it up today to finish everything, I noticed some really curious patterns all over it. It appears that the foam has imprinted the clear coat and left it like the images below.

I mean it's kind of funky in a hideous way, the eggcrate foam has left a nice polka dot look on one side and the flat polypropylene left an almost leather-like pattern on the other sides.

So what does this mean? Not much, I just have to paint it again, it basically means I don't get to play GTAV for a few more days. I have the materials to do it, plus I can easily paint in the evenings so no worries. Should all be fixed up in time. I'll also want to look at the flight case to see if there's much I can do there to alleviate any issues in the future. If Intel do pick them up then I wouldn't want them to unbox it like it is below.


I apologise in advance for the rubbish pictures. Only have my phone with me but more crucially I was lazy so didn't really try to get the most out it. They do the job of showing what I mean at least.

​

 

that is kind of an interesting pattern. I actually checked on mine over the weekend to make sure it didn't have any similar issues. It's been done and in there for about 3 weeks with no issues. That's one thing I like about Shellac, it's dry in a matter of hours. Still planning to use some fabric to keep abrasion to a minimum if we have to ship them though

 

D'oh!