A few years ago I found this: http://www.voidgamers.com/channel/HirstArts/HADD3/b.168.r.192.html Rescently I have been working with some foam core ideas for a case...I have made a 4 HDD holder, and a 2 opticle drive holder...just simple stuff. Have been thinking of making a case out of foam core, but all of my ideas are turning out really gauty, huge, or just impracticle. pretty much have been running into "modders block", if that's even a term . Today I had another look at the pictures in the link above, and thought about something like this, just not warhammer fashioned. As I have been having a lot of design issues, I would like to base the layout off of something so I can have some perspective with the design without being discouraged because it looks horrible. So I scour the net trying to find an idea for a castle layout. All of the ones that I have found that look like a 12th century castles all have open courtyards in the middle, which would not allow for computer harware to be hidden. Most that I have found with a closed top, look like really big houses. I am not trying to replicate any specific castle as I would need specific layouts and measurements which are simply hard to find without a trip to the castle itself. I am just looking for a general layout, that will look like an actual castle, scaled to use pewter figures, hide computer hardware, and be functional. I will be ordering the blocks for this from hirstarts.com which are the same block that the guy used in the link above...they will allow for me to scale this for using pewter figures in the design, but I need to plan the layout first. So I come to the forums I read daily, that just happens to have users from the UK, who in turn live in a country with lots of castles and could offer some ideas . I really just need names of the castle itself as I can look for pics on the net, but if you have a link to a good idea, by all means please post it.
hmmm...err...I think the problem with that idea would be that no matter how many fans I install it will never fly .... Even making something with the illusion of flying with clear plexi would be difficult since it'd be an insufficient support system, and hiding the wires to the mobo would be impossible.
Where's your imagination? You could do a 1/4 cutout and mount the whole thing to clear plexi. That would give you an I/O area, and a neat way to show the components inside if you ever do a lan. Have you thought about doing just a single tower?(of any castle type.) Remains of the old walls on the sides and part of an uneven rock foundation would make it more interesting.
Cool examples of old walls and broke down buildings here: http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/ Browse around. My oldest son buys stuff from them. Pricey! John
I searched a bit more, but was looking in the wrong place. I found quite a few designs that stand out except they are building plans instead of just an general picture. As far as the Laputa idea, this is kinda complex to explain...I am wanting a castle that has ground on it because I have never done a water cooling mod and was thinking that I might be able to make a reservior out of the moat, completely contained in a plexi casing, with epoxy smeared on the top to appear to have a water look. This was something that I was just generally thinking about, and am probably not going to have it in the design in the beginning, but would like to have the possibility open for a future installment. Concerning the walls...I am having to make some major changes to my idea as the cost of the blocks needed to cover this entire case is going to be too much, and I have found a much cheaper way of going about getting the stone wall look. But I have to swap over my motherboards and install 3ds max to make the model for this thing because sketchup for some reason in not very resource friendly on my computers (don't know what is up with that). I can have a large model in 3ds max open that consists of several thousand polygons, but can have a model in sketchup with like 2 texture and I am severely lagging . Anyways, back to the subject...I am prematurely estimating the size of this to be around 20"w x 15"L x 20"h. I know, kinda huge. But I am trying to take into account all the scenery that will go along with this case, as well as my idea for a reservior. However, I am going for a certain look, maybe 12th century, but am wanting to veer away from a massively gothic setup. All in all, the entire case/scenery/models/etc is going to be way under $100, more near $40. And I know this is a computer modding forum, but I am going to do a small tower with the materials just to see how it looks, and will post a pic or two of it when it is painted. Thanks for all the suggestions, and check back as I will be posting some sketches in the next few days of the progress.
Thieving my own thread ...still working on a general idea of the castle layout, but: Today I found an old CD/Radio...it's like 20 years old. I took it apart and was looking at the equalizer and thought they would make great fan controls. Since there is 6 of them, and I have 5 fans I would probably use 1 for all the LED's and the others for the fans...but I don't really know what I am doing so I wanted to ask for help. I would assume that it increases/decreases the voltage running through it when you slide them, but I have no idea if I were to run a molex on the board to power it, if it would be too much for the controls. I am just curious if someone has used something like this before. If by chance there is, can I get some help as to what materials I need to use like the resistors and such so I do not burn up anything. Also there is an LCD with some huge board connected to it...it has 25 pins that is connected to the stop/play buttons. I thought this might come in useful also instead of using the sliders for the fan/led controls, or with them if possible. If needed I can post pictures of the parts, but didn't want to waste the time of doing so if no one has modded something like this. Thanks for any help guys...
