Case Mod - In Progress Team Thermaltake - 24h Jewellery - live @ Gamescom - DCMM 24h Livemodding Challenge

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Welcome to our worklog about our entry to the DCMM Livemodding Challenge 2015 at Gamescom in Cologne. In this worklog we will try to give you an insight into the preparation for the Livemodding Challenge and will then keep you up to date live from the faire.

About the DCMM 24h Livemodding Challenge:
The 24h Livemodding Challenge is a part off the „Internationale Deutsche Casemodding Meisterschaft” (Internaltional German Casemodding Championships). In this category six teams of two battle it out against each other. They all get the same case and have to transform it in 24 hours live at the faire in front of all the visitors.

The Team:
My Teammate Semme and I (der_george) are taking part as Team Thermaltake. Thermaltake is our main sponsor – hence the name. In the last few years we took part as Team Aquatuning.



About "der_george"
No, I don’t want to bore you with a long story about myself. I am just going to give you a quick introduction into my casemodding stuff.
Casemodding is my biggest hobby and I have been doing it for quite a while now. I am one of the We-Mod-It.com admins – a forum all about casemodding and where the german speaking core of the casemodding scene comes together.
A few of you may know some of my projects – don’t worry I am not going to list them up here and tell you all about them. The following are probably my most well known: (Links lead to the worklogs where you will find some more information and pictures if you are interested.)

The 24h project for the DCMM 2010 I did together with Patrick– 24h Stealth – which was also filmed by a popular german tv show (Galileo) (1. Platz DCMM - 24h Livemodding)


and the project "taabar sin" from the DCMM 2012: (2. Platz DCMM - Casemod)


I think that that is more than enough about me. I hope it didn’t bore you too much.





About "Semme"
Semme is a very talented modder and the youngest participant in the Livemodding Challenge which he has been for the last couple of years. He also has a lot of modding contest experience – like the just ended We-Mod-It Casemod Contest 2015 powered by MEDION!, where he came second..
He also has quite a few well known casemods. The best known are probably "Black Swan" and 24h Semmetastic. (Links lead to the worklogs where you will find some more information and pictures if you are interested.)

The 24h project which he built together with der_george – 24h Semmetastic. (2. place DCMM - 24h Livemodding 2013)


and the project "Black Swan" also from the DCMM 2013: (3. place DCMM - Casemod)


I think that that is also enough about him. If you have any questions – don’t hesitate to ask



This year’s motto:
As in the last few years, this year there is (sadly) a motto again:
"Beauty Case - let us see your feminine side!". We want to approach the female modding community and hope to spot girls who are interested in modding to give them an opportunity to reveal their skills. Besides we want to see whether our male participants are able to think like a lady. Especially the teams of the 24h Livemodding Challenge will have to present their ability of dressing up and showing off!.


Our concept:
We don’t want to reaveal too much but our banner-text for the DCMM gives away quite a bit if you read between the lines:
„diamonds are a girl’s best friend“
We are going to build every girls dream. We have got everything that all women wish for: Gold, sparkling crystals and luxurious hardware.


List of Updates:
Update 1: The motherboard
Update 2: Graphicscard, PSU and Watercooling
Update 3: Day 1 of the Livemodding Challenge at Gamescom
Update 4: Day 2 of the Livemodding Challenge at Gamescom
Update 5: Day 3 (final) of the Livemodding Challenge at Gamescom
Update 6: Videos form the Gamescom



Sponsors:

Thermaltake:

Thermaltake is supporting us with:
A Toughpower DPS G 650W PSU, Pacific RL240 Watercooling-Kit, V-Tubler PETG Tubes and Riing 12 Fans

ASRock:

ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M KILLER High-End Gaming Mainboard

AVEXIR:

AVEXIR is supporting us with an AVEXIR CORE GOLD DDR3 KIT

Aquatuning:

Aquatuning is supporting us with a Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm

ZOTAC:

ZOTAC is supporting us with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti Arcticstorm


We would like to thank all our sponsors for their trust and support!

The next post will be all about Hardware.

So long :0)

 

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The first update in this worklog is about one of most important pieces of hardware in this build: The motherboard. Today we are going to show you the motherboard and show you some of our preparation. All these things we are going to show you before the Livemodding Challenge are all things that are too complex and take too long for the challenge itself. Some of the things are really complex but only have little effect or things that need to be done with enough patience (in plenty of time) so that the hardware isn’t destroyed. Everything that is done beforehand is not rated by the judges and doesn’t count towards the final score. But it is still important for us to have this done because we want to have the best possible result in the end. And it doesn’t matter if we get points for everything we do or not – it’s only the result that counts. And seeing as we are doing this work we might as well show you.
ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer High-End Gaming main board. Link to the Homepage





I think that it is a very beautiful main board. A well thought out layout and colour scheme.

Our casemod has to appeal to sophisticated women. Luxurious hardware belongs to that. From „Zalando in 4K“ [To quote Semme] to high end games it has to master all. That is why we are using a gaming motherboard for this build. But so that it fits into our concept from the technical pont of view AND from the looks we are going to make the female version of the Z97M Killer. To do that I took it apart as far as possible. Then I masked off everything that was red and painted them gold. (RAMS-slots, PCIe-slots and SATA ports.) I had to be very careful not to paint any of the contacts otherwise the motherboard is killed right away. I also painted some of the caps and the edges of the PCB black.



I still have to do a few little things bevor the Livemodding Challenge. But a couple of them we will do live at the Gamescom – like painting the heatsinks.

Sponsors:

Thermaltake:
Thermaltake is supporting us with:
A Toughpower DPS G 650W PSU, Pacific RL240 Watercooling-Kit, V-Tubler PETG Tubes and Riing 12 Fans

ASRock:
ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M KILLER High-End Gaming Mainboard

AVEXIR:
AVEXIR is supporting us with an AVEXIR CORE GOLD DDR3 KIT

Aquatuning:
Aquatuning is supporting us with a Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm

ZOTAC:
ZOTAC is supporting us with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti Arcticstorm

We would like to thank all our sponsors for their trust and support!


The next post will be all about some more Hardware.

So long :0)

 

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Todays update is all about hardware. We want to fit all this luxurious hardware into our project:

Thermaltake Pacific RL240 Watercooling Kit. Link to the homepage



The kit is really cool. It has a D5 Pump with built on resevoir, a high-end radiator (over 60mm thick) and a high-end CPU-cooler. It all fits into our concept very well. Live at Gamescom we are going to modify the parts slightly so that they fit into the design even better. There is only one thing that doesn't fit very well - that's the tubing. Thats why we are going to use the new V-Tubler PET Tubes if we have enough time at the end. Link to the homepage



Wee also chose some really nice fans that fit into our concept perfectly: Thermaltake Riing 12 LED White. Link to the homepage



And last but not least a really nice PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G 650W Link to the homepage



It is quite gold allready - that is very good - but it's still not enough. (too much red ) So we are going to do something about that aswell - live at Gamescom.


and to finish off todays update I have got some H-H-H-H-H-Hardwareporn!



And what ryhmes it self with hardwareporn? Arcticstorm!



We will also be modifing this beauty live at the Gamescom - I am really looking forward to this!



Oh yeah. A ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 TI Arctivstorm! Link to the homepage


Sponsors:

Thermaltake:
Thermaltake is supporting us with:
A Toughpower DPS G 650W PSU, Pacific RL240 Watercooling-Kit, V-Tubler PETG Tubes and Riing 12 Fans

ASRock:
ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M KILLER High-End Gaming Mainboard

AVEXIR:
AVEXIR is supporting us with an AVEXIR CORE GOLD DDR3 KIT

Aquatuning:
Aquatuning is supporting us with a Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm

ZOTAC:
ZOTAC is supporting us with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti Arcticstorm

We would like to thank all our sponsors for their trust and support!


The next update will be all about the first 8 hours of livemodding at Gamescom.

So long :0)

 

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Here is the promised update from Gamescom. Today I am going to show you the progress from the first day. The Update is not quite complete with pictures from every step – to start off with just the pictures from my own camera. I will add missing pictures when I get them. We also filmed it all with a stationary camera. When we have processed the videos I will add them as well.

But first of all a short update to the last of the missing Hardware:

AVEXIR is supporting us with matching RAM: A really nice Core Gold Series set which fits into our concept really well. We got this Kit at Gamescom.



Both of us arrived late at Gamescom on Tuesday night. But we still had enough time to build everything up. The next morning we finished preparing the last missing things – and then it was time to start.





And so it began. All the teams got given the same case and the powersupply.



After the clock had been started I started with our circuit boards. I put them into our etching bath. It always takes a while so I could do something else parallel and just keep on checking on them. The picture shows the circuit boards how they looked like when we started. Up to this stage I did all the work at home.



Whilst the circuit boards were in the etching bath I started to dismantle the case. The case is really bad quality – but everyone gets the same – so it is fair. 


Here it is nearly completely dismantled. In this picture you can also see the aluminium profiles which I started off. On the right there are a couple of finished circuit boards.



This is what the circuit boards look like when they come out of the etching bath. The ones on the left have been cleaned up a little.



In the mean time Semme took care of the all the sheet metal work.



And here is a picture of the dismantled case with the profiles added. In the background you can also see Semmes first finished piece for mounting the radiator.



After that we started the most difficult thing up to now. We milled some Vs into the big piece of acrylic. These had to be absolutely perfect otherwise the case will be wonkey. Just a tiny bit off and it will look really crappy. In this picture Semme is sawing one of the cutouts.
Dann folgte auch schon die schwierigste Arbeit bis jetzt. Wir haben eine große Plexiglasplatte mit V-Nuten versehen. Die müssen absolut perfekt sein, da das Case ansonsten windschief wird. Hier sägt Semme einen der Ausschnitte aus.



Before the day ended I started to paint all of the aluminium pieces that Semme and I made.




Sponsors:

Thermaltake:

Thermaltake is supporting us with:
A Toughpower DPS G 650W PSU, Pacific RL240 Watercooling-Kit, V-Tubler PETG Tubes and Riing 12 Fans

ASRock:

ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M KILLER High-End Gaming Mainboard

AVEXIR:

AVEXIR is supporting us with an AVEXIR CORE GOLD DDR3 KIT

Aquatuning:

Aquatuning is supporting us with a Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm

ZOTAC:

ZOTAC is supporting us with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti Arcticstorm


We would like to thank all our sponsors for their trust and support!
The next update will be about day two of the livemodding challenge at Gamescom.

So long :0)

 

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The second day went as planned.

And this is how it started:



The day started just like the first ended. Semme finished off the cutouts in the acrylic and I did some painting.



After that we bent the acrylic. This was the most difficult work of the whole 24h Livemodding Challenge.



With lots and lots of patience it worked really well.



After that we fixed the acrylic to the case.

:

And I carried on working on the curcit boards. A lot of SMD soldering was required.



And this is what they looked like when they where finished:



Hier are two of aluminium pieces from day one. Here they have been painted black.


We also made the lid for the case.



And primered it .



That was about it for the first day. We were very pleased because the bending worked out perfectly. And were looking forward to the last day.

Sponsors:

Thermaltake:

Thermaltake is supporting us with:
A Toughpower DPS G 650W PSU, Pacific RL240 Watercooling-Kit, V-Tubler PETG Tubes and Riing 12 Fans

ASRock:

ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M KILLER High-End Gaming Mainboard

AVEXIR:

AVEXIR is supporting us with an AVEXIR CORE GOLD DDR3 KIT

Aquatuning:

Aquatuning is supporting us with a Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm

ZOTAC:

ZOTAC is supporting us with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti Arcticstorm


We would like to thank all our sponsors for their trust and support!

The next update is going to be about the last day and the last 8 hours of the livemodding challenge at Gamescom.
So long :0)

 

Here is the update from the third and last day::

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First of all I sanded down the profiles and primered them. I also primered and painted some screws.



I also painted the top and the motherboard heatsinks gold. Semme cleaned up the rest and started the assembly.





This is what the heatsinks looked like fitted to the Motherboard. I forgot to mount the smaller heatsink for this picture but you will see it later on.



I also modified the graphics card. Now it really fits into our concept.



After that we carried on with the final assembly. I didn’t take any more pictures because our time was running out. But I will post more pictures that other people took when I find them.
We were able to do everything that we wanted to except for the hardtubing. (Our plan A) We would have only been able to do that if everything had gone according to plan. But that is something that I am still going to do in the future.

Here is a picture of what our project looked like when it was completed:



Sponsors:

Thermaltake:

Thermaltake is supporting us with:
A Toughpower DPS G 650W PSU, Pacific RL240 Watercooling-Kit, V-Tubler PETG Tubes and Riing 12 Fans

ASRock:

ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M KILLER High-End Gaming Mainboard

AVEXIR:

AVEXIR is supporting us with an AVEXIR CORE GOLD DDR3 KIT

Aquatuning:

Aquatuning is supporting us with a Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm

ZOTAC:

ZOTAC is supporting us with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti Arcticstorm


We would like to thank all our sponsors for their trust and support!

The next update will include the videos and a short conclusion.

So long :0)

 

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Today we are going to show you the timelaps videos of the build.

Day 1




Day 2




Day 3




If you watched the videos closely you would have noticed a little explosion. While we were cleaning the circuit boards with some aceton steam it caught fire. The flame was a lot bigger than on the picture - sadly the camera only took pictures every 5 seconds.





First of all inspect the (unprotected) camera...




Sponsors:

Thermaltake:

Thermaltake is supporting us with:
A Toughpower DPS G 650W PSU, Pacific RL240 Watercooling-Kit, V-Tubler PETG Tubes and Riing 12 Fans

ASRock:

ASRock is supporting us with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M KILLER High-End Gaming Mainboard

AVEXIR:

AVEXIR is supporting us with an AVEXIR CORE GOLD DDR3 KIT

Aquatuning:

Aquatuning is supporting us with a Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm

ZOTAC:

ZOTAC is supporting us with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti Arcticstorm


We would like to thank all our sponsors for their trust and support!


Our next update will be some more pictures of the finished case.

So long :0)