Case Mod - In Progress [BATMAN v SUPERMAN casemod] Hellbat by RandomDesign

Now it is time for a new project. This time my mod will be located in the
Batman vs Superman univers. Because, I like the art design of Gotham´s flying bat the most, my
mod will feature the Batman side.

The Hardware:

CPU: I5 6600K
Mobo: MSI Z170 Gaming Pro Carbon
VGA: MSI GTX 960 Gaming 4G
RAM: HyperX Savage 16GB DDR4 2133 (4x4)
SSD: HyperX Savage 120GB
PSU: CoolerMaster M2 1500W (may be I will change it)
Case: NZXT S340 Black and Red
Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 AiO



In addition Alphacool gave me some really nice fittings, water tanks and other watercooling components.

I will post pictures of the Hardware later because some is still on its way.

In the first two concept drawings, you can see my general design idea. I want to change the case to fit
the design of Batman´s helmet of the trailer of the movies when he fights against Superman.
I will incoporate a self opening mechanism and a custom made watercooling to give it a nice
industrial like look .

The name "Hellbat" is originated in the Batman and Robin Comic Vol 2 #33 (Sept 2014)
where Batman wears this kind of armor for the first time.





In addition to my drawings made by hand, I also did a 3D model to get a feeling for the right proportions. Moreover
I will use it as a template to convert the 3D file to Pepakura, Yoou will see later why

 

Sooo... a giant Batman Pez dispenser?

 

If I can find a recipe for such large Pez I can think about it

 

And here are the pics of the hardware:

 

Subbed. Always fancied a bat as pet. They do have incredibly soft hair on their belly...

 

Cheaps be nice

Cool idea, will the "mask" be able to open, motorized?

 

Yes, I am planning to make it a motorized opening.

 

This .... ^^^^^^^

Reminds me of this ....

 

Now lets start modding 

First, I needed to import my selfmade 3D file into the program Pepakura.



Like in many other fields it is better to do stuff yourself. As you can see on the left side, the automatic unfold option of Pepakura is not very good. That’s why I created the template on my own. I disassembled the 3D model and arranged all the parts on 62 sheets of paper.


After printing, I redrew the folding lines to make the paper fold more easily later on. Then, I cut out everything.







Afterwards, I glued all the pieces together.







After a few hours, everything was put together.









To achieve a more stable construction, I coated the entire model with one layer of fiberglas resin and let it dry over night.

 

Mid week Update: After the layer of Polyester resin was completely dry, I started to apply some layers of glass fiber. I tried to use as less as possible to safe some weight, so later it will be easier to install the opening mechanism.















Then, it was time to give everything a nice layer of body filler. After it dried I sanded down the edges with my mouse grinder.



















Afterwards, everything started from the beginning again. To fill in the rough spots and smooth out the surface even more. I applied multiple layers of body filler again and sanded each layer down before applying the next one. This is maybe the most time consuming step in this project.







And here is my result so far. Still a lot to do.











Next, I will deal with the remaining rough spots and will work only in little areas at once. In addition I will create the detail lines on the eyes and on the cheek bones. Hopefully, I will finish this work this weekend.

 

Nice job Looks very cool!

 

And the sanding went on and on and on... After I made the biggest parts with sanding machines, I did the fine tuning all by hand.





To create sharp edges, I applied body filler and waited for about 10 minutes. Then the body filler is like leather and can be easily cut with an exacto knife. This way you also save much time because you don´t have to sand everything down.



Befor the final layer. I made the bottom straight to later attach an Aluminum plate for more durability.



The last two layers were made with body filler to hide the sanding marks. Looking good so far.

 

Massive! It's more like bat-hulk. Excellent job on the sculpting. I can't stand working with filler. It clogs files and paper like crazy.

...And the burning question: Have you tried it on for a laugh yet?

 

Unfortunately, I missed this while being in working mode. Now the helmet is already cut in two parts.

 

this time only a small update, because I am ill and can not work at full capacity at the moment.

I started by sketching some lines with a pencile for the battle damage. Then I cut in the lines with my Dremel. Later these lines will be highlighted with paint to give the entire helmet a nice used look.









For the opening, the helmet needs to be cut in half. Now I can start insalling the motor for the opening and can make the layout for the hardware.





Next up, I will clean up the edges and attach some aluminum parts so that both parts will stand on each other perfectly.

 

And lets move on.
For more stability I cut an 2mm aluminum plate into shape and attached it to the bottom half.





Then I started to work on the opening mechanism. I use actuators normally used to move your satellite dish. To make it move, I simply modified a switch so that it can change the plus and minus pole.



Afterwards, I made a test fit of the motherboard, and played around with the layout of some components like the water pump, radiator, motors and the PSU. I also made the holes for the fans as well.











To get both parts back together, I cut some aluminum intoshape and directly attached it to the helmet.







Because the helmet was cut in half by hand, I needed to rework some of the edges. Therefore , I simply masked the top part with some tape and also attached some from the inside. Then, I could apply body filler into the gap. After everything was dry, I could remove the tape and the two parts are matching nearly perfect together. I could not ask for more precision 

 

Made the first try of the automatic opening system:

 

After the video here are some pictures of the mechanism
Before I installed the actuators, they needed to be trimmed off a little bit. Then I built a small construction to hold them in place.





In addition, I painted the entire inside black.



While the paint was drying, I dissembled the case and sorted out all the parts I will be using later on.
That’s why I already installed the feet to the helmet.







To match the overall design of the motherboard, I applied carbon foil to all the metal parts of the mod.

Next, I build a new plate to hold the motherboard. I started with a cardboard template to get the right measurements. Then I cut an aluminum plate into the right shape. Because of the lack of time, I had to use some thin aluminum from the hardware store. So I stabilized everything with two more straps of aluminum that I screwed in place.

 

After the mounting plate for the motherboard was done, I also cut more aluminum into length and attached brackets. To hold the plate in place, I drilled screw threads into the brackets.






After I installed the spacers, I wrapped the mounting plate in aluminum foil and made a first test fitting.



Because I wanted to build a panel for the On/Off switch, I cut an rectangular shape into the bottom half of the helmet.



Then I primed the entire mod with black spray paint to prepare it for the next steps.







Before I paint the helmet, I finished the panel for the switches and made a test fit as well. The empty space is reserved for the On/Off switch. In addition, I cut the shape of the MSI Gaming logo into the surface. Later the logo will be set in here to achieve a flush surface.

 

So the time is running short for this project.

After the priming dried I started with the paint job. The paint was dabbed on with a brush and details were added with a smaller brush in a lighter tone. I aimed for a used and handmade look. After painting, I included the MSI logo on the premade spot.






















Then it was time for some work on the hardware. First, I removed the sticker from the memory and colored the red SSD blue. In addition, the silver elements of the motherboard were painted black with plasti dip.













Next, the GPU was modified. After everysthing was dissembled, I made a new cover panel. The red plastic elements were painted in a blue metallic tone.













For the little light spot on the GPU, I had some special planes, even it will only be visible from certain spots. I removed the original MSI logo and made Batman´s new logo instead.













Because, the GPU position should be slightly above the motherboard, I build a new mounting system out of aluminum. The PSU, also got a new mounting.













So here is a picture so far, with the hardware in place.






Next up is the water cooling and by the end of the week, the final pictures will follow.