Case Mod - Complete Thermaltake Modding Trophy 2018 - SteamPunk 20

Good afternoon everyone!
I am proud to have been selected as one of the 5 competitors in the UK Trophy.
Honestly humbled and look forward to watching my own and everyone else's builds evolve.

What is ''SteamPunk 20''

This is one of my bonkers ideas that take over my brain at 11pm at night.
I don't want to give away too much, but i will say this.
Good old fashioned original steampunk, with electric motors and ofc some steam (Oil based don't panic)
Copper pipes, lots of antique brass,leather and over 200 solid steel bolts!
Let's not even start with the glass, acrylics and custom made metal badges and logos.

I also may attend events wearing a top hat and with a scary looking steampunk cane. (For effect ya'll)

System Specs

• 1 x Thermaltake Level 20 XT chassis
• 1 x Thermaltake M360 Plus water-cooling kit
• 1 x Thermaltake 850W Toughpower ‘SYNC’ Edition PSU
• 1 x Asus Socket AM4 X470-F gaming
• 1 x Asus Duel RTX 2080
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU
• 1 x Adata SX6000 256GB M.2 SSD
• 1 x Adata M.2 RGB heatsink
• 1 x Adata Gammix D10 2,400MHz 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4

My design entry


for now, i welcome you all to come on in and offer feedback criticism and points of view.
Don't worry i won't chew your head off, i'm friendly, honest

I know it's early days, but getting this up is a weight off my shoulders for the coming days.

Thanks for looking.
Craig.

 

Post arrived this morning!
It's time to start work. (Still 3 weeks away from receiving the hardware, however.. In the words of, Benjamin Franklin - ''By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail''

So i'm gonna upload some photo's here, and give a brief description on each one.

First up, i needed a special logo for the project. Something that resembles steampunk but sticks with my gears and wings theme.
So this is now the main case badge.


I'm not sure why i bought these 2 in the next image. But no doubt i'll find a use for them later ha.


These miniature pressure gauges are for the centre of the fans on the case. I do have 3 (one for the rear)


Next up, is this Aged brownish leather. I plan to use this to wrap the midplate, and sides of the case. for a true authentic look. Followed by the use of aged brass pins to hold the leather in place.



This is the electric motor that will control the speed of the cog's over the midplate. This will also be wired up the steam release, to release a burst of steam upon the largest cogs full rotation.


I had a bit of fun this morning, Took a cheap plastic and glass outdoor light, Stripped out the insides, Added my own ROG Addressable RGB led strip, and then painted the black areas in a brass effect (This will be aged at a later date)





This is my to date progress, i'll update more as thing arrive.
Will try include more work in the next post Hopefully the pens arrive and i can modify these cables

Thanks for looking.
Craig.

 

Not gluing plexi on the back and making it a reservoir. BOO!
You should look into Victorian ironwork patterns instead of the 'layer of gears.'

 

Shhhhh! That's what I've been diving into for my next build, LOL!

 

Actually not a bad idea. Thank you for your suggestion

 

Aww no!! Well... i'll only borrow a little bit of the idea

 

With only 2 weeks to go until the competition officially starts.
I decided to start work early. I have far too many smaller details to do, and limited time.
Pulled out a couple of Thermaltakes Pacific Flow indicators and set to work.

First i rustyfied the inner blades and outside.


I then added some mini cogs to the front





Next up i grabbed some 16mm Thermaltake fittings (These are purely for test, final project will be using M-Pro or C-Pro fittings)
Rustyfied these too



I then decided there wasn't enough cogs.... So.. i trimmed down the inner blades of the flow indicator and added a larger cog in each one.



And boom! They work well, no rattle, nice and clean.




I did get another load of stuff in for the project, but i'll leave them till later, and leave you with a photo of these beautiful 1950's gauges from a truck.



More to follow

-Craig

 

I submitted a slight change of design plans earlier this week, which has been accepted.
Keeping the original Theme of 'gears and wings', just moving some plastics around, and taking a bigger chunk off the case.
I think overall it better suits the theme.


Removing the complete back end.
Adding 2x Motor strut bars
Adding Gauges to the sides.
Adding Hinges on the side panels to allow movement.

Engraving top glass (Side lit)
GPU positioning as it shows.

Rusted look and feel panels.
Aged vintage leather on the inside.
(Unsure if i want to use rusted bolts or brass pins on the leather trim)

While i'm here, i may as well show off the finished flow meters.
Tubes are done also, ready to connect new fittings and fit to case.


Look forward to seeing some of your faces at scan meet, this September 29th.
- Craig

 

Last update before i jet off to Birmingham EGX and then Scan in Bolton next week.

Case badge has been completed. This is my main case logo for gears and wings.



Also began work on the 200 bolts for the case.



Remember, your input and suggestions are always welcomed.
See you all later
- Craig

 

ADATA Delivery in!
It's time to start this Trophy!

First up is the ADATA XPG - Gammix D10 DDR4 RAM 8GB x2 @2400mhz




Also there is the ADATA XPG SX6000 256GB M.2 SSD




Thank you to the ADATA UK team for these. They are perfect for this project.
Visit their facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ADATAUnitedKindom/?brand_redir=245305185516061

Thanks for looking.
Check back with more updates over the next couple of days.

- Craig

 

it's finally time to start work!
YAY!

The MASSSIIIVVVVEEEE Level 20 XT is here, a long with all the watercooling!






So.... Within an hour of receiving the delivery.
I set to work on the Thermaltake fan hub/controllers.

Stripped it down


Gave it a quick, light brass coat


Then once dry, i added a rust effect lightly over the top, focusing on the sides.


Let it touch dry, put back together


Once it was fully dry, it went a little lighter, and i was able to put my little cogs on it

It's all actually darker in person, Todays in house lighting was a bit... off ? lol


That's all for together. More to come very very soon!
Thank you for looking
- Craig

 

update!
it's time to kick off this rusting effects.




Right now it looks sooooo bad! I was actually starting to panic lol.
BUT... here's a 2 hour time lapse of the rusting effect



Supposed to leave it 24 hours, so we shall see how it looks tomorrow.
But this is how it looks as of right now




Feel free to comment, let me know your thoughts
Thanks for looking
- Craig

 

Time to kick this project into max gear.
Some major changes to the original rusting effects.

So first i took the original flow indicators and knocked the ffect out of the ballpark! Absolutely in love now.



Last night, i went into the shop, re-alligned 2 lasers and set to work on the midplate.side panels and some other acrylics

We used 6MM clear acrylic for the midplate.






After this was done, it was time to crack open the case, and etch that front panel





And here's where i'm at as of this morning 11/10/2018



Let me know in the comments below what you think.
- Craig

 

Then you're going to love my latest update then

 

I'm still undecided, do i wrap the inside with leather... or rust it.
So i've rusted first. i can change later once everything is in. It's not a problem








More to follow.
Thanks for looking
- Craig

 

Every time i do a new casemod, i attempt something new.
This casemod is no different, today i learned how to weld.
My first attempt the AMP was too high, i blew a hole straight through the steel pipe.
Trimmed down the pipe, turned down the AMPs, and wallah!

Here's a before and after photo.
Am i the only one whom prefers the case having no back end ??
What do you think ?


Let me know below
- Craig

 

I apologise for the double post today.
I'm currently rusting everything again, making it all match up and look like it's all one piece.



Thanks for looking
- Craig

 

Get it any rustier, and you will need to start adding barnacles.

 

Haha! Now that would be kinda cool... if i was going down a sea/punky looking build lol