Bear with me - I have never used any kind of 3d modelling package before and after an hour with sketchup I managed to produce an absolutely not to scale whatsoever mock up. It basically represents my idea... I think! I would like to thank Bdigital for providing the inspiration to finally get this properly off the ground, when he posted his completed pics of 'Bobby' it gave me the boot I needed - thanks bro!! Last January I started basic modding the case with carbon vinyl - a black white and grey theme I called 'Monochrome'. It was my first attempt at case modding but I never finished it. Now I hope to do just that but with a totally new idea (bye bye carbon fibre vinyl!). I am trying to make something a little different to 'most' TJ07 mods I have seen, to start with I am NOT inverting the tray!!! The plan is to entirely remove the TJ07 midplate and drive bays and replace them with a full acrylic section housing a full length LED lit panel, bordered in black acrylic. The entire midplate bends up past the mobo section to create a raised platform to mount the drive bay holders. Havent got a clue how to show a smooth bend in sketchup so it is represented by an angular bend in the drawings, it should be far smoother and 's' shaped! This in turn creates a chamber underneath the midplate to mount a 20x4 led screen and the slot loading dvd. This will also house a bigNG auto fan controller and serve to hide the vast majority of cabling to the radiator fans/controller and drives. I have more plans and once I get my head around sketchup a little better I am hoping to show the cable routing and incorporate the panel into a proper TJ07 model. I already have the faceplate cut - originally with the dvd stealth slot at the top. I have however turned it around and like the way this looks. The idea is still very much in planning at the moment, however I have ordered all of the required acrylic. Any initial comments much welcomed!! Again sorry for the poor modelling!!
Been playing around with sketchup all morning and managed to develop the idea and project it into a TJ07 model. Most of this is to scale. I have opted to completely remove the mobo tray and slide rails and instead mount the board directly onto 3 x 20mm vertical acrylic rods aligned with the mobo fixings. The drive bay is also mounted this way. I dont change hardware that frequently for the mobo tray to be a requirement. The drive mount plates will be removable, I have an idea for the mechanism but I was planning on edgelighting these which makes this more of a challenge. A plug and socket will be needed to connect any lighting to the wiring. Am not skilled enough to do the WC loops in sketchup yet but am adding a slimline 240 rad in the roof to 'future proof' the cooling for next gen CPU's. This will mean a second LaingDC and a dualtop but a single loop. I also prefer the angular look of the midplate so will probably look to bend the acrylic midplate more in line with this design than the previous softer approach I was looking at. The 'step' does create a nice chamber to hide the fan controller, screen and led wiring.
Very cool. You're better at Sketchup than I am by far. I have to make due with my imagination most of the time. I just can't get the hang of 3d modelling on a 2d screen. Btw, would you be interested in selling your TJ07 mobo tray and guide rails to me? I need a set for my upcoming G5 mod and would like to not have to cobble something together. PM me about that, please.
Thanks Dark, have pm'd you back but there is a fair bit of ocean between us and I would like to keep the original case components in case of resale at some point down the line, thanks for the offer though Couple of bits arrived yesterday which I couldnt resist playing with The 20x4 white text on black LCD The HD44780 USB controller Soldered and tested! Using Aida64 plugin for testing with LCD Smartie. The acrylic for the complete mod arrived today, briefly checked it over for damage but had to reseal to bring it home. Will be playing with a little spare over the weekend to test the light panel. Been looking around for Dichloromethane (Methylene Chloride) based acrylic solvents to bond the sheets but is proving difficult to get hold of. The only place I have found so far is: Here but postage is around £8 as RM wont deliver it apparently (illegal) as its dangerous!!
cant wait to see the finished thing. i bet that was a nightmare to draw up in sketchup. nicely done though. looks sweet!
