Project: Nostromo Blackbox - Unoffical Update 7/22/05

Well its time for my next mod. As you can tell from the title, its going to be another Aliens theme – or as I call it, another ‘Weyland-Yutani Corporation’ theme. What I plan on doing is to build a pc that is smaller than my last mod ‘Perforated’. It’s going to be a gaming pc (of course) and it has to be water-cooled (having trouble getting it to fit). It also has to fit into the ‘Aliens’ universe…

What I propose: is to make a Flight Data Recorder from the M class Starfreighter USCSS Nostromo. Like my last mod, it’s not a prop that we see on the screen, but it is something that should have existed in the universe that was created for the movie.

I have to imagine that some provision was made to eject the black box from the Nostromo seconds before Ripley blew it up. Perhaps as some sort of auto eject when the self-destruct procedure was started – In any event, I feel that one should have been on the Nostromo and the black box should have been ejected before the self-destruct sequence was completed. So I am going to make one. LOL

At this time I should point out that black boxes are not black. They are red, or actually a red/orange color with a diagonal white stripe on it. Here is a pic of a real black box.



So how does this become a MOD. Well what I have to start with is an old cd-cloner that is roughly the right size and shape to be a black box. It never had a motherboard tray but it did have a full size power unit in it and space for several 5 ½” optical drives. It will require a bit of modification to turn this into (1) something that looks like it is a black box and (2) be a real functioning computer (nothing new here for you guys).



I will have to make a motherboard tray – my son’s old pc is going to be the donor. But in order to make space for it I will have to relocate the power unit. It is going to have to go right under the reservoir – not a place I am really happy about, but it will have to do. It will also have to be or late least appear to be armor plated.



Wwhen I am done, I will be able to give a fairly accurate estimate of what it cost to make. Here are the specs as they stand now: (I'll edit this later and put the specs here)

Here are some before pics of the duper:




Taking it apart: (also known as voiding the warranty)







For those of you that are actually reading this, here are the specs of the Nostromo: Thanks wikipedia!


These Specifications are current as of: 05/25/2120

USCSS Nostromo (Lockmart CM-88B "Juggernaut-class" Starfreighter)

• Complement: 7 (3 Officers + 4 Crew Members)
• Displacement: 50,000 t (Standard); 45,000 t (Light); 63,000 t (Full Load)
• Dimensions: Length: 1,095 ft (334 m); Beam 705 ft (215 m); Draft 320 ft (98 m)
• Velocity: 0.42 LYSD (Unladen) / 0.12 LYSD (Towing heavy cargo)
• Acceleration:
• 27.9 s Rest - Onset Critical Momentum
• 8.9 s Onset Critical Momentum - Hyperdrive Engage
• 6.5 s 1c - 24c
• 8.5 s 24c - 68c
• 15.5 s 58c - 153 c
• Endurance: 14 Months (Standard) / 24 Months (Maximum)
• Primary Power System: One (1) Laratel 2.8 Terawatt WF-15 fusion reactor
• Faster Than Light Propulsion: Four (4) Yutani T7A NLS stellar drive towers
• Sublight Propulsion: Two (2) Rolls Royce N66 Cyclone thrust tunnels w/ Bi-Polar vectoring; 7,290,000 tons thrust ea.
• Two (2) Weylan L46 chemical maneuvering engines; 850,000 tons thrust ea.
• One (1) Yutani J38 auxiliary thruster module /w Two (2) Lockmart TL-30 thruster groups
• Primary Logic System: MU-TH-R 182 2.1 Terabyte AI Mainframe w/ 2.0 Terabyte MU-TH-R 146 Backup Mainframe
• Operating System: OAM (Overmonitoring Address Matrix) Release 2.2 with 2120 Patch
• Sensors:
• Two (2) 2-Meter aperture telescopes capable of optical, spectrographic and infrared resolution
• Gas Chromatograph
• Centimetric Navigation and Landing Radar
• Synthetic Aperture Ground-Mapping Radar
• Hyperspace Mass Counter
• Weapon Systems: (None)
• Embarked Craft: Two (2) Starcub-Class Shuttlecraft
• Data recorder: Three (3) mark6 Weyland-Yutani Flight Data recorders in ejection capable shock resistant capsules

I amuse myself…. Lol

 

looks good - and saw perforated in MPC - grats!

 

w00t w00t nother themed case, you kick some serious ass ;~} cant wait

 

Motherboard Tray

When I realized that I would be removing most of the metal on the back plate, I decided to reinforce it. Once that was done I went ahead and mounted the motherboard tray.

 

Access Doors - UPDATED 7/17/05

The top of this case was one of those old one piece covers that went over all three sides of the case. I cut the sides off and made space for hinges. Now both side panels with fold upwards to allow me to access the case.



UPDATE Here are some additional pics on the doors:






Workshop is getting messy!

 

i was actually thinkin about doing this but then i decided on Project: Classified

i hope this turns out good. its a really good idea

 

I can't wait, you're one of my favorite modders.. I really liked what you did with Perforated, I'm sure this will turn out awesome.

 

When you get around to hunting for the paint, you'll need "International Orange".
(The same colour as the Golden Gate Bridge!)

 

Nice idea! very original.
OT: your last proyect Perforated is excelent.

SUBSCRIBED!

 

wonderful idea, I really like it
what hardware are you going to put inside? (mobo/gfx/cpu etc.)

 

love the idea! I really like that you have a specific plane you are going to design for.

are you planning on haveing it look a little old and battle worn or be shiny and pristine?

Vazz

 

Thanks – I was pretty excited about the spot in MPC.

This one will be a lot easier than the last one, hope this one kick a** as well!

I have been really curious about your mod, but your bandwidth has always been exceeded. Guess a lot of people have been watching as well. Hopefully I can see it soon.

Wow, thanks… I’ll try to live up to it

That’s good info, if they sell it in a can I’ll use it. I have an airbrush but I don’t use it often. Rather not have to clean it if I don’t have to. It might have to settle with being red.lol

Thanks !

I’ll try and edit my last post tonight and put the specs in. I can say for sure that it will be an AMD64. I already have the mainboard for it.

That’s a good question…. I can’t answer it yet. Right now its still 50 50. BTW: I really hope to have this done in time for Quackcon.

 

Very nice, I particually like the folding side pannels.

 

i loved this idea. cant wait see more update!

 

Happy to see you at work again. As usual a great mod. I made the hinges trick in my ToraToraTora mod with an old baby AT case.

PD: I need from you a explanation about stencils for a new mod

 

This is gonna be another great mod (of course)
Looking forward to more

 

eagerly waiting progress.

 

A Stencil Primer

Nice to hear from you, maybe this will help.

Here is the basic trick on the stencils. I will go into more detail later in this mod when I paint it.

You need to find someone that makes 'Custom Cut Vinyl Stickers'. This is a process that takes a graphic design - most commonly letters - and instead of printing them, they are cut out of colored vinyl. It is fairly inexpensive were I live and is often used to spell out slogans, the name of bands or to illustrate comic characters. Like Calvin peeing on a Ford or Chevy logo. Google will help with this. Many custom sign shops have the ability to make these as well.

My stencils are these stickers and they don’t just have to be lettering. A one-color design works really well!

Once you have your sticker/stencil made. Prime your case and paint the area that you plan on placing your design, be it a graphic or lettering. Let this dry really well - I mean it, let it dry... if you don’t, the sticker will stick to the paint and pull it up when you remove it. It is a sticker after all.

Okay so now we have primed the case, painted the area that we will be covering with lettering in the color we want the lettering to be in. We have let that area dry and placed the sticker down were you wanted it. Now paint the case or the area surrounding the sticker . When dry or before its dry - I tend to remove the stencil as soon as I can do it with out ruining the paint job - carefully remove the stencil. That’s it. Your done.

There is no rule that says you have to use these stickers as a stencil. If you want to, just paint the case the finial color and have the sticker made in the color you want it to be and just place it on the case and leave it. This is the same stuff that I used on my window that said 'perforated, no user serviceable parts inside'. It was also done on the Orac3 case by Gnome.

I happen to like the painted on look and painted on text is something not normally done on pc's, unless it was done with an airbrush. At least I haven’t seen it done so I use as often as I can. Hope this helps….

p.s. I tend to use flat paint for this process. Then when I am done I clear coat it. I find that glossy paint runs more then flat. - and flat drys faster.

 

Ok. THX!!

Check, i need the stencils trick for this: http://www.mashie.org/forums/showthread.php?t=105

Flat paint looks better wit futurisctic-industrial look mod

 

Yes, I have seen it (yesterday) I check out Mashie' site every once in while. I just dont post on it. Good luck