Case Mod - In Progress Project: Bio-Mech

Nice concept for your mod! I was wondering, based on your drawings, do you plan on having some form of green light cables streaming from the arms of the skeleton? to the bottom of the case?

Good work so far.

H

 

All is well and still working on it a bit here and there. A few snags in the road, like my ex-wife saying she "lost" my paint supplies...........argghhhh!!!!!!!!! This really made my heart drop as I know she had it when she moved and I told her I would grab it after she settled into her new place. We're talking $700 in airbrushes and probably another grand or so in paints, brushes and other supplies! Funny she had a garage sale after she moved into her new place, then a week later I go to get my stuff and it's gone............ anyhow, I've had to get some new supplies. I picked up a new Aztek airbrush kit:

And soon, I'll have a new Peak C-5:


These don't quite replace the Aztek metal brush, Sotar 20-20/2 and Paasche brushes I had, but they'll work. I'll be needing these once the front panel is complete.

As I said before, there was a lot of tedious work on this project, mainly filling and sanding all those rough areas to make the transitions smooth:

I also added some skulls under the vent tube and some other minor detail to get the Gigeresque bio-mechanical look.



I also came up with this idea for a 120mm fan grill:

Note it must've been late 'cause one of the tabs is pointing into the grill......LOL.

I copied the pattern onto some aluminum sheet and tried using this method to cut it out:


That blew big time so I dropped even more dough that I don't have and got an el-cheapo scroll saw. I don't usually like to buy low end gear, but I was supposed to get a Hawk scroll saw from a friend and that isn't happening any time soon. This one still made the job much easier:


Cut and sanded:

I also cut out the pattern in acrylic, here is it clamped to the table with the aluminum to fine tune the pieces to exact fit:



I also cut a piece to fit around the drive bay with the "BIO-Mech" name on it. I am going to frost the edges of the acrylic and back them with LEDs so they glow around the edges.
Here you can also get a better look at how the figures is starting to smooth out nicely to the panel. I also gave the skull some long hair:


Unfortunately you can also see my little 'riblet' idea not adhering well to the panel. I'll have to figure something else out for that.

@ Hanz, no light cables for the arms. A quick peak at what I will be using. She is actually going to have one large arm tentacle and several smaller ones which will be placed 'strategically' around the panel. I will be using a drain snake for the larger tentacles and bass and guitar strings for the smaller ones.


So that's about it for now. It will be hit and miss from here, working around the weather as my garage is not heated and until I get my airbrush base so I can paint indoors, I'll work on it when I can. I am also working on a new figure piece and have a couple more on the way. This project will take some time.

A shot of the figure piece...Red Mausoleum Ajari:


I am going to post more pics of this and the new pieces (Takeya Alien and DarkHorse Predator) in the Art and Photography forum.

Until next time.

 

You've done quite a bit since the last update, and it's looking kicka**! You have (&had) some serious airbrush hardware there. I have a $20 testors airbrush that I power with a pump garden sprayer. Want to trade?

 

Man my airbrushes pwn yours. I have 2 airbrushes totaling less then 12$. I know your jealous XD

great work on the front panel!

 

hot damn, that's a sick front bezel, i love it, it looks so fluid, in lack of better wording.

 

you could drill small holes through the bezel into the 'riblets' and attach them with small screws.
Then use some bondo to close/smooth out the gap between the two parts.............

Just an idea that jumped up to me as I looked at it..........

Alan

 

wow this is some awesome work, keep on going!

 

Wow.
Very cool.
I've always loved Giegers work, so I am loving this.
Keep up the great work. (Hope I can be just half as good if I attempt a MOD)

P.s Congrats on being nominated for MOD of the month. You've got my vote.

 

The "Arrow up" with "what he said" icon is missing in here...
But damn beautifull work! And what can I say? women... *LOL*

 

SpQQky, good work man. I just wanted to let ya know I voted for ya this month...not just because this mod is more macabre than most...I resonate with ya on that...and not just because I love old Chieftec-style chassis mods, but because ya also mentioned ALIEN as an inspiration. I'm a huge ALIEN fan.

The work itself stands up by itself too. Can't wait to see where this thing ends up at.

Anyways, keep up the great artistic work!

 

Holy crap, I had no idea I had been nominated. Quite an honor. Thank you all for the support. I only wish I had more done for you.
In the article, it suggests the Ajari will be part of the mod, but I was just showing another project I am working on and why it is taking time to get more work done on this. I feel compelled now to do more though. Thanks again to all and to Bit-Tech for the wonderful compliment in even considering this mod for nomination.

 

Congrats on being nominated for MotM

I'm another huge Alien fan .....
......and you have my vote ................

Subscribed

Alan

 

I've done a bit of Warhammer and a little trick to fasten small stuff better is drilling a very tiny hole in the little thingy and the thing you want to fasten it to and then sticking a little metal pin between. It'll take quite a while though if your doing many of them.

 

WOW!!

 

definately got my vote matey, love the theme and the execution is perfect

 

Thanks for all the great comments and to those that voted for me. Got a small update here, a teaser really.
I got rid of those small little riblets and went with something a bit beefier.


I'll add some caps to the ends and smooth it to the bezel.
I decided to change the idea for the arms. The tentacle thing just didn't look right to me and I didn't want anything to stick out too far from the case. Then I realized I had an extra set of arms from an Alien piece.
I desaturated this picture, I had the flash on but didn't have time to take others without the flash.


So I had to grind down the shoulder area on the skeleton.


Now I need some input here guys, what position should I place the arms.

This striaght down...


Out a bit.....


Or I'm liking the inward approach....


I also started to make a piece to stealth out the area in front of the psu up to the drive bays.




Once the slots are cleaned up, there will be mesh behind it. So that's about it for now. Just really wanted to thank everyone who voted for me and let me see first place for a little while anyway.

 

Gotta love that BIO-MECH swing

 

I personally think like this would make it look like the being is trying to pry itself away from the case, which also works with how you made it's body melded into it already. Whatever you choose it would work, but that's my .02. Good work!

 

Nice job on the bezel so far!! It looks really cool!!!

About the arms.. I'm not very fond of any of those positions.. they all look unnatural with the elbows pointing outwards like that (except perhaps for the bottom one that would look ok with the hands rotated towards the centerline of the body)... imho, the arms should be rotated at the shoulder so the elbows come in a bit towards the body and the hands go away from the body and out from the bezel. If you don't have to have the arms all the way on the outside of the bezel, you could take some off at the triceps and elbow to make em come in a bit into the bezel. You could also take this approach to the extreme and perhaps cut off the middle part of one arm around the elbow, and make the upper part go back into the bezel, and then have the forearm come out a little bit further down (as if the a 90° bent arm was rotated back into the bezel).

Btw, what material is the arms made of, some plastic? I would consider cutting off the hands as well, and reposition them, and then fill up any gap with some kind of bodyfiller (or similar) and sculpt it. It all depends on what your goal is.

My €0.015 tip:
First decide what kind of message you want to relay to the viewers... are the arms supposed to look weakened and bound by the bezel/case (as if being trapped and consumed by the case).. or are they supposed to look strong and dangerous... perhaps one hand should beckon the viewer to come closer, while the other is drawn back with claws ready to strike, or both of them ready to strike? You could go for the Han Solo carbofreeze look if you wanted to.. arms almost completely submerged into the bezel and the fore arms and hands sticking out with a pained expression. The possibilities are nearly endless. Once you have chosen your mood/story/pose, then modify the arms in what ever way required to make it so. You certainly seem to have the skills required to pull it off.

Once again, nice job! Keep it up!!

 

I think the bottom one with the arms inwards looks like the thing is trying to protect its valuables if you know what I mean. I would opt for a version without arms, tentacles or any other appendages.