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Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Metal Gear Mk. IV Case (Update Oct 07- Final Construction Shots Posted)

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Aceanuu, 18 Jun 2008.

  1. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    Bad News! And some good stuff to!

    UPDATE - July 29

    Well, this update is sad. At least for me. I've got this week of work, next week off, trip to Maine the week after, one week back, then college. So, effectively: not much time to get this wrapped up. This leads me to the problem of I still haven't found a good place to get my monitor milled. However, being in Architecture and knowing a ton of people in engineering, it shouldn't be a problem to get the acrylic I've already purchased milled at UT in the next semester or so.

    Meaning... the monitor is currently being dropped, or more really: postponed. For now, I'm going to do a touch of a redesign on the case, but its not going to have the monitor swivel onto it yet. It shouldn't prove too much of a challenge to add at a later date. Anyways, now I can move on to the next part of the update.

    While at Fry's for work yesterday buying an external enclosure, I was browsing the entire computer component section, mentally checking off "well that's cheeper online... so is that... and that... Damn, why can't something be cheep so I can just buy it and finish my impulse shopping!" Well, lo and behold I came across a Silverstone black fan controller. Newegg has it for $11 more than I payed, heh. The good thing about this controller is that it is basically just 3 potentiometers, so it will be incredibly easy to get these added to the case, since there is no large, slot-wide pcb. There is a small, 1.5in X 1.5in pcb with all the fan plugs, pot plugs, and psu plug, so that shouldn't prove a problem. Anyways, I'm adding a fan controller for the two 80mms exhaust and the 140mm intake. The 120mm will be controlled by the mobo or the PSU.

    Next up: the bulgin switches I bought are of course momentary. Which works great if thats what you need... but I only need two of them to be momentary... the other one I'd prefer to be push on, push off. The two momentary will be Computer Power and Computer Reset, but the third one I'd like to set up to turn the lights in the base of the computer on and off, thus I'm curious if there is some sort of circuit (I'd assume with a transistor) to allow this to function as an On/Off switch. If not... I suppose I could wire it to the slim DVD drive as an eject button.

    Anyways, the parts are almost all on, just like 4 more panels to glue and brace. Thanks for the long attention span. :dremel:
     
  2. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    Update - August 4

    Work continues here... faint hope of monitor work... maybe. Anyways, this is about a week's worth of work... so there are a few days represented here. Onwards to the update!

    Ok, so parts going' on, this is where it was at a bit ago...
    [​IMG]

    Damn, this 260GTX is huge.
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    Every single screw in this case I have started and screwed in with this awesome ratcheting screwdriver. :D I failed when I tried to use a regular one... I tried to ratchet... and I just unscrewed my work!
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    Next piece glued on and clamped. The first time I've been able to use a clamp!
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    Time to fix some imperfections in the wood.
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    Progress as of a few days ago...
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    And I thought my old 8800 gts 320 was big!! I put it in my current rig to make sure it worked.... :naughty: Crysis from medium to very high shaders and high all elsewhere in DX10 35fps by upgrading only the card. Hot damn! Can't wait to get it in my new box!
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    More progress shots and some sanding. I love the shape its taking.
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    Oops, this piece is a tad tall. Sanding time!
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    More progress shots.
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    Blue painters tape, win. Who needs a stand to hold the dremel vertical while I use the flexi attatchment to sand!
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    I cut this corner off with a cutting wheel, heheh, not a saw. I like the burning from the cutting wheel... but only for the first two seconds, then the smoke is just annoying.
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    Sanding to fix the part to be all smooth and nice.
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    Rain! I lost all natural light for about 2 hours as a storm came through in the middle of the day.
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    Dremel-Jigged the bottom of the piece to shape. Then sanded more. :dremel:
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    Test fit... so far so good.
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    Only problem is the piece that has the two fan holes is not a flat cut on the edge. No matter, just build a trough and pack it down with wood filler. Excellent solution. Worked wonderfully.
    [​IMG]
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    The piece is now drying in place.
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    I've got the next piece already attatched and am going to go put the last piece in soon here. Tonight I'm heading over to my former physics teacher's house to borrow his drill press and circle cutter for my base. I'm also gonna stop by a place and see about laser cutting my monitor this week. Another update today!

    *gets to work*
     
  3. jegerjon

    jegerjon What's a Dremel?

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    starts to take shape, good work :)
     
  4. barry99705

    barry99705 sudo rm -Rf /

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    Freaking cool looking! Gonna weigh a ton though!
     
  5. I <3 Men

    I <3 Men What's a Dremel?

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    Wow. You have a really nice shape!
     
  6. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    UPDATE - August 6

    Well, my goal is get it done by friday night! But... we'll see. (There is a LAN party... :geek: )
    Not much left aside from the base, painting, wiring, and assembly of the PC parts.

    Well, here's the case with just one last piece missing!
    [​IMG]

    Unfortunately this piece is way to big (like half a centimeter to long) and it needs angles on its edges. Nothing a little dremel planar can't fix.
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    Now to fit it into the slot...
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    ...Nope, still to big...
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    ...soooo close....
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    ...perfect! :dremel:
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    Next up, that front bezel was put in intentionally at an angle... now to fix it with filler. This "lamp" is more "space heater" than light source... so it works nicely to cook the filler.
    [​IMG]

    Well, here's the case, all finished (sans paint and door and such). (at the time of writing this update... there's been a hell of a lot of sanding done, so basically all the harsh edges on the body are rounded, (save for the edge between the side of the case and the panels attatched to it, that whole loop around the case will maintain its hard edge)
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    Next up, cut the slot in the top so that the motherboard tray fits in nicely.
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    Ta da. Cut nicely... fits perfect.
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    I traced the PSU brace directly off of the case, so time to make two of those...
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    Now, later that evening I headed over to a friends house to use his drill press with my new-fangled circle cutter. I needed four circles stacked together to make my base.
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    First one's outa the oven.
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    Now two...
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    Here comes number three...
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    And now we've got a nice stack of four. I'm headed over to his house again to borrow his massive bench belt sander to round the whole base out.
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    Now to cut out the PSU braces.
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    Perfect.
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    Now to make a second one, but this one doesn't need a little leg like the first one.
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    Now you get an idea of how these will fit, I'm very pleased with the results.
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    :nono: :lol: The case also doubles as a storage unit!
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    Off to the next house, this time another friend, to borrow a miter saw (which, ironically enough, he's borrowing from someone else...) to cut the slice into the base so the case fits nicely on top of it.
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    Ta-daaa... wait a second... :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash: Thats a 26degree angle allright... but I needed the compliment... 64 degrees. DAMN.
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    Well... if we attatch it to the wood again and then cut a 38 degree angle into it from this angle then it'd be a 64, right? :eyebrow:
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    Fail. In so many ways. Lol. But not really a lol... more like :waah: Well, it seems that we even we able to leave metal nail spikes in the cut (we used very small nails to hold the wood piece to the wood board... we just basically fubar'd the entire operation). Drill em out and ply 'em out.
    [​IMG]

    Its time to go... its technically a tropical storm all day long and its getting dark... really dark. And drizzling.
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    The next day (today) I took to it with the dremel planar... and fixed it a bit like this. The part on the left was the first miter cut. That little sliver on the top of the right piece is the second miter cut. All the rest missing is dremel planar. Belt sanding to fix the rest of the not flatness of it.
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    Next up, cut a notch in the PSU brace to allow the fan through. Ta da. :thumb: Much better than the cuts I made on the base!
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    Now for a template for the 3 bulgin buttons and the three dials for the fan controller.
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    Now we're getting somewhere... :D
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    More to come this evening!
     
  7. praetor coda

    praetor coda What's a Dremel?

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    Metal Gear case

    ...or you could've used the wood box as a mold and wrapped it in fiberglass, pulled out the shell and walla!
     
  8. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    Yeah... but then I'd have a fiberglass case! How much fun would that be?... exactly.

    Wood Cheesecake... or something like that... :sigh:

    I've got plans still workin' on in my freetime for next summer's project... acrylic will probably be the material, unless I can figure out a good way to make it out off aluminum. Its kinda hard to explain without revealing the plan. Oh well.

    Button holes going in tonight, so is the base (at least thats the plan). The acrylic portion of the base is getting cut tomorrow as well.
     
  9. praetor coda

    praetor coda What's a Dremel?

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    LMAO..wood...LMAO

    ...wood is for building houses and furniture not...lmao...PC cases LMAO. And I am a carpenter, and know best to use an inferior material as wood, let alone pine, to build a PC case. But I am putting the material down, not you. You are doing a fine job of building the metal gear case and I commend you for it, I think your bold to use wood and I am following the build almost religiously because, well I like what you are doing. If you want some pointers on working with any materials you can ask me. I am actually an engineer, I was a carpenter that used my skills to become an engineer. If you are going to use metals to build a custom case start off with this:


    http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=82817

    using a strong thin gauge aluminum will allow you to build a very good PC Case, Hell you can re-do the metal gear case in aluminium.

    as a mater of fact try starting off with micro-marc catalogs to help you may be a good idea, again if you need some pointers use the private message here on bit-tech and I'll help you along when you're ready. My home shop is equipped with a milling machine, a lathe and a cnc machine... I have yet to build a case because I haven't the time until right now, literally, so I am bringing my materials togther to build my first case.

    keep up the good work you seem to be a good craftsmen, what with your build... is turning out, it looks very slick...cool. again if you need some pointers let me know..
     
  10. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    Well, mini-update/response.

    In regard to the wood, too bad, too late, too *insert here*. Blah. I'm actually quite pleased with the case, even the woodeness. Since I'm going into architecture, I'll be using a helluva lota wood (granted not this variety/quantity) in the next couple years for models and such, so I figured a little bit of a modelling project of my own for free XP never hurt. (... fine. Experience. But you know XP is better. And it sucks that I don't get twice as much experience after sleeping either!) The wood is quite easy to work with, and frankly cheep as hell relatively speaking. Of course... had I gotten this whole thing CNC'd or whatnot, then it woulda been way faster, just not as cheep. Meh. Thats how it happened. So... in the forseable future... if we could keep the wtfwood to a minumum, that be great... :clap:

    Ok, now on to the mini-update. There is a large LAN party on friday that a friend of mine is hosting before everyone here heads off to college, so I'm trying to get basically everything together in the next 24 hours. I've got all the parts. I've got all the pieces. And I've got the motivation. I've also got a frighteningly long to-do list for the case. *sigh* Time to push it. *hums Push it To the Limit song*

    First off, sorry, i went to use a belt sander and borrow some drill bits, and of course I forgot my camera, so here are the afterproducts of my journey. First off... the holes for the fan controller and bulgin switches.
    [​IMG]

    Now with 100% more switches! :clap:
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    Belt sanded to make the angle correct and then sanded with the circular rotating stationary sanding device thing (I have no idea what it is, but its basically just a big really tough circle of sandpaper that was part of the bench belt sander) to make the roundness on the base.
    [​IMG]

    Next up, had to cut slots for the power plug on the PSU, the fan controllers, and the switches on the PSU brace. Just noticed on the other one, I have to cut a slot out so the Mobotray can open without ripping out the 260gtx.
    [​IMG]
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    Also had to sand down the mobotray so that it hinges open properly. Doh! Didn't realize this would be needed until I test installed it. Oops.
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    Screwed up the surfaces with a dremel so that the gluing would be stronger... then glued them together.
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    Filled in the base... will sand it as soon as I wake up.
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    Lastly, I tested out the PSU braces to make sure the PSU would slide in nicely. Sweet.
    [​IMG]

    Tomorrow... almost today in like one minute... will be a busy day. :dremel:
     
  11. Macros_the_Black

    Macros_the_Black Yup.. I'm a f-ing reptile

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    Sweet! Game inspired scratch build, that's what I'm designing (and redesigning *sigh*) too. =D I can totally relate to the "what's the largest MB I can fit into this limited space?" and "if I mount this thing here, where do I put the other stuff??" and "what if I use a flexible PCIe extender?" problems. <=)
    About the monitor, if you decide to include it at a later stage, then perhaps you can put modified drawer slides on the top and bottom face of the monitor to allow the hinge to slide along the monitor.

    I'll be following this project closely! Keep up the good work!!

    @Xtrafresh: You don't happen to remember how long the ribbon cable was on that PCIe extender?
     
    Last edited: 7 Aug 2008
  12. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    Well, today is gonna be hell. Break neck pace to get this all done... so update when I get the time this evening probably.

    Here's a trial to-do list... sure theres a hell of a lot left off...

    Bondo Base
    Sand Base
    Drill hole in body for base
    attach base
    fill top groove
    carve deeper mobo notch
    cut brace for 260gtx

    prime mobo tray
    prime braces
    prime case
    prime door

    while out:
    buy black paint
    buy Resistors, small heatshrink
    cut clear base
    cut little feet

    paint outside of case grey
    paint black portions
    attach front USB guard

    wire ***********
    wire front switches

    affix cords to the slots
    wire front USB

    attach interior fan

    affix second PSU brace

    put components in
     
  13. Moriquendi

    Moriquendi Bit Tech Biker

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    You work with what you can, if you're not set up to work with metals then you have to choose something else, laughing at someone for working with what they've got is just immature. There's nothing wrong with wood as a case material (and its plywood not pine), many people have created very fine cases using wood, there are quite a few here on Bit-tech. One big advantage of wood over metal is that 18mm or plywood absorbs an awful lot more noise than 1-2mm of steel or aluminium.

    Keep up the good work Aceanuu, I'm looking forward to seeing the end result.

    Moriquendi
     
  14. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    I just read the whole worklog. Awesome work mate. A very cool idea with an even better execution. Keep it up :).
     
  15. Caliber

    Caliber Minimodder

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    Thats a really inspiring log youve got there, thinking outside the box while planning ahead takes you a long step as this project shows! Keep on it, cant wait for more ;)
     
  16. Nolimited

    Nolimited What's a Dremel?

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    nice update and work it will be nice to see the finishing work :thumb::thumb:
     
  17. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    Just taking a second to breathe... my back is sore from bending over all day sanding, drawing, cutting, painting, etc. I'm gonna go back to work here in a second. Time to wire up 12 white LEDs, then put the topcoat on the rest of the stuff. Gonna be a long night workin', but its gotta get done.

    Well I'm sure my sites bandwidth meter is off the rails by now from all this traffic... :jawdrop: Oh well. :naughty:

    More mini-updateness now.

    More sanding and more filler. Ta da. Ready to be painted.
    [​IMG]

    Hmm... what could these be for?
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    This right here... took a while. Whew. But it turned out to be for nothing... I couldn't get the PS2 or those two USB to fit without busting out the wood... so no problem. I picked up another motherboard USB dual head from a friend with a computer business and I suppose for the odd occasion that I need PS2, I can just open up the case. *sigh* I'll fix that eventually, but I need a different cord, and I just don't have one/time atm.
    [​IMG]

    Motherboard standing off on its tray...
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    :clap: It fits!
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    And so do the cords... er, three USB. Thats going to get intensely crowded. Heheh.
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    Ohh... thats what those were for! :idea:
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    My method of mounting the hdds. Little L-brackets with thumbscrews through em and rubber washers!
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    And thats how they'll fit... in theory... :geek:
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    Theres a time to paint (er, prime)...
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    ...and a time to dry...
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    ...a time to tape...
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    ...and a time to prime some more! (hmm.. I just noticed I missed a "prime time" pun... darn)
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    When you realize you are out of compressed air... use a straw! Heheh... sad... but it works great.
    [​IMG]

    All dry now! Time for the white topcoat. The base is getting black finish coat tho.
    [​IMG]

    Tomorrow morning/afternoon I'm getting the rest of the base lasercut then I'll come home and light it hopefully.
     
  18. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    It's looking really good mate. Keep it up.
     
  19. Aceanuu

    Aceanuu Will-Mod-for-Food

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    Update - Middle of the night.... so I guess its the 8th. Ooo... Olympics today! :clap:

    Anyways, on to the update.

    Quick descriptions... its 4:15 and I'm getting up at 7 to work on this... LAN starts at 8pm... heh heh. CRUNCH TIME.:jawdrop:

    Wow... for some reason I just didn't think that would work... sweet. I used the guide in the modding section on LEDs. Handy stuff.
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    My soldering station... notice the Bawls.
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    So... it turns out that the foam stuff my 260gtx came in is great for holding things. Like awesome. Poke wires into it to solder... cut a square and push a bulgin into it for a clean holder. :thumb:
    [​IMG]

    So here's two done... I made four in all.
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    Two plugged in at once! :eeek:
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    Priming the case. (thats me in the picture btw, dear goodness my back hurts from being hunched over all day)
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    My magical bulgin holder.
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    Work so far... it took much longer than you'd like to think it did.
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    Now I've added cables to the LED and power on each button. Whew. Wow. :clap: done with almost all of that.
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    My workstation/current rig/messy place
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    Expect much more today... mainly the paint job... the lighting... the parts... EVERYTHING! WooooooooO! Its 4:20... and I feel the need for sleep.... I'm gonna-- *falls asleep*
     
  20. Mr. Wonko

    Mr. Wonko What's a Dremel?

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    very cool build :)
    /subscribed

    how heavy is this going to be? all that thick wood...
     

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