Case Mod - In Progress Project: Alumino Fantastico [Stacker 832] updated 2 feb.

Well, having you reading this i succeeded in making up a totally awesome title for this project! Yay! Before i lose you, let me just tell you about the coming together of this project. The basic concept has been in my head for years, seriously. I even started building it with a 20$ case that was all dented up, just hacking away without a proper plan. After years of delaying, mostly nagging about not having the funds for the kickass hardware that i want to put in this baby, the moment has arrived.

I HAVE STARTED!

The plan is to have at least ONE triple radiator inside and a single one. An AMD quadcore CPU (i may have some luck in getting one), a big fat GFX card, and some memory to dress accordingly The tubes may run partially external, for the looks. Haven't really decided on that yet...
The triple rad will go in one of the parts on the side of the case. Most likely the upper part, so the custom reservoir will be in the lower one.

Yes, i gathered the most important parts for this mod, thanks to some great sponsors. Without them, of course, this project would not have been made until it were antique. Here they are:






Cooler Master Stacker 832 by Cooler Master
MSI K9A2 CF by MSI


Here we go! I started out with a sketch, wich i have drawn many, many times


The case in it's original and full glory


And here it is after taking away the sidepanels, fan rack and front door. Later i also took away the plastic piece in front on the top. Will not use most of that either



Then, created some parts out of cardboard, to see what it would look like roughly.





Time to get the aluminium profile out. I cut them to length and this is the initial way i wanted join them together. After a while i decided to use another longer piece of profile and mount it like on the last 2 pics.







That's it for now! Sorry to leave you hanging just as we're getting to the fun stuff, but tomorrow i will have more modding time on my hands, so until then!


Thanks for reading and lemme know whatcha think!

 

Looking good, very original.

 

So nostalgic!




Grtz,

K*tBelg

 

Interesting project Dennis; definitely keeping my eye on it

I bet you'll make excellent use of the A.C.Ryan gear at your disposal

 

Craig_h: Thanks, hope it will look like i want it to

Thanks mate, Stievius: Yep, that was the 1st attempt Mounting everything on a sidepanel so it could be taken off. Unfortunately, this was one big disaster. I still have it though, sitting under the desk where i am making this new mod

Radodrill: Thanks mate, and yes, i will indeed make some use of the stuff we have lying around

 

Cool design! *subscribed*

 

Yep, coold desing and case.

 

Update January 30th

Hey guys, here we go again with another small update. Things tend to go a bit slower since i change and improve the plans as i go
No talk, pics:

Oh noes! there goes my warranty! No turning back now...


Yaay, rivets! (notice the inscription? hehehe )


And here is the first post onto which i can mount the ...things... damnit, what do i call those triangular shaped things that will bulk out the sides?!?


And here is the framework of the lower...bulking triangular thing... Notice the hinge over there? Will mount it on the bottom part of the bulky triangular shaped piece of i-cant-find-a-name-for-it.
This will make it possible to open up the side and do maintainance stuffs in the case



So, i haven't done as much as i planned to do, but good thing is, tomorrow i have loads of time!!! Big update!!!
Until then, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

 

That's definately a better case to start with than the previous one
Oh now I wonder how you got AC Ryan to sponsor you... Good luck!

 

I thought you just reposted the case, as I remembered the one on stievius' pic Good luck with version 2.0

 

Update January 21st

Damn man, i always end up having less time than intended! I had some things done, but not even close to what i wanted to finish today. Ah well, i changed the mounting of the side wings again check out the pics!

I made the support beam for the lower wing (notice i am calling them wings now).








Mounted the hinge on the wing...




And the whole thing onto the support beam!


And there we go





Now i will have to think of a way how to make a locking mechanism. It will have to support some weight too, so that's going to be fun

 

Impressive work! I think that hinge should be connected to a small motor so that it can swing in/out . Are you thinking about painting it or just leaving it as an aluminum finish?

 

Nice wings! This looks like a great design, i cant wait to see more.

 

looks very interesting!!

 

A motor? Well i will look into it, but i'd prefer to do it manually
This is just the frame onto which i will mount sheets of 2mm black anodised brushed aluminium. then, on top of that, using spacers, there will be blank anodised brushed aluminium panels.

 

Nice progress! =)
Will the top wing also be mounted on a hinge to open upwards? That would look really cool, imo! 8D

 

Judging by the cardboard mockup I'm guessing that the top "wing" will open upwards

 

Exactly, that's the idea Hope to have some good progress tomorrow, as it's weekend! woohooo!

 

Update February 2nd

So i did some work on the project today. Same story as yesterday but i did get to go out for some new parts, so that cuts the time short too!!!

Here we go!

First of all, the insanely cool motherboard that MSI sent me arrived. It's been so long since i last seen a new smashingly cool motherboard Thanks Chantal, i'll put it to great use!


A book?! yeah, that's right, and not just ANY book! this is downright the HOLY BIBLE of anyone that creates someting outta nothing. In here, all ( and i mean ALL!!!!11one) essential information lies about hinges, screws, bolts, locking mechanisms, ... yeah, the holy bible indeed.


Remember i was looking for that locking mechanism? Notice me acting like i've gotten hundreds of replies? Well here we go:


Went to the store and found em too


See the little shiny balls in there? they will push inwards when... ah well, you get it already Notice that the balls can be tighted using the screws, so they will push inwards less easy.


Okay well the idea with the hinge on the upper wing was like this, so i quickly started building it.


And here it is, just hanging there for a test fit. looks pretty damn cool already if you ask me! all of the sudden it kinda becomes something!


And here is just a neat shot.


Last one, the hinge has been mounted to the wing. Wing will be finished off cutting away some parts before mounting it to the case.




Okay, so you're probably thinking, why is this guy going so slow? Well, the point is that i am changing the way i mount the wings constantly. At this moment, i am satisfied with the way they are mounted. It's also the reason why i didnt do the wings on the other side yet. first get this side, the most important one, finished. Then just copy it to the other side

I also found some single radiators, so i will mount one in the front wing thing . The front top section is still a big blur, as i don't like the original plastic thing that i took away. Maybe you got some ideas?

Thanks for readin and till tomorrow!

 

Nice job Dennis , love to see the finished product
Subscribed.