I started this mod log on another forum, but I wanted to move it here. Time to get back into modding, using the one resource I have the most of - Bawls. The idea is to create a themed case using Bawls, with a blue/white/silver color scheme. No window on this one, so I will improvise one. I feel that case windows are over-rated and too widely used in many cases. The Case Early birthday money has given me the funds to purchase a Lian-Li PC-60. I chose this case for a few reasons. The first being that is a very blank slate. Hardly any curves or wierd grilles, it's sturdy construction, and it would be a nice change to have a case without a window already in it. I also chose it because the second I saw it when looking for a new victim, I immeadiatly had the idea for this case. After staring at some pictures for a while, I became convinced this was the case I was after. Now onto the ideas I had. For starters, the side panel. This will probably take a good deal of time to do, just because I plan to do a good bit of work on it. Most cases would have a window put here to show off the interior and to allow the use of cathodes. I want to light my case from the inside, but have some dramatic effect. My solution - cut out a shape of a bawls bottle, and put a bottle into the cut made. The idea being that light from inside the case will illuminate the bottle, and the geometry of the bottle will refract the light some... not into a rainbow or anything, but into patterns across the side panel. I want to have two bottles on the door. However, just those two would be bland, so I need to spice it up a little. This is where it gets tricky. I want to take some sheet aluminium and cut out the 5 letters B A W L S, then cut the same letters, only slightly smaller, into the panel. I will then use small screws or nails to mount the larger letters behind the cuts in the panel. The idea being that the same cathodes lighting the bottles will also light the letters, giving them a sort of glowing outline. For the opposite side panel (the side the motherboard is mounted on... if there wasn't a motherboard tray, I have something similar, but totally different planned. These are acrylic half balls. And this is the chemical formula for caffine. My plan is to have the chemical formula put onto the side panel using the half balls as the points. The lines between the points I will cut with a jigsaw, and then light everything from behind with a cathode or two. The, hopefully, resulting effect will be the glowing chemical formula for caffine... which I think goes nicely with the theme. For the front, I have something planned, but I havn't completed my ideas thus far. I want to stealth the drives, but also keep with the bawls theme. To do this, I will cut a bawls bottle in half, then into sections (the same height as the drive bay panels). The idea here is to have a seemingly intact Bawls bottle on the front, but when the CD-ROM is opened, to have that section of the bottle move forward. I still need to figure out how I'm going to cut the glass, but I have enough bottles to mess up a whole lot and still have many left over to cover my desk The power button will be a Bawls cap. Simple, but still with the theme. And for the top, I am still debating. So far, the best idea I have come up with so far is to have 4 bottles protruding from the top, neck up. Then to have the bottles connected to my water cooling system. Also, lighting thse from below will give more of a glow effect. As for the paint, I have Dupli Color Metalcast spray paint a chrome and a glossy, almost chameleon-like blue. Main color will be blue with chrome highlights. With many of my previous cases, I have been working on my main PC. Hence I would rush the project to complete it and get back to playing games. This time, I will have a functioning PC and still be able to work on a case, so expect this one to be of much better quality. Any input, suggestions, comments etc is always welcome. I will be spending the next week or so gathering materials, then I will start work.
I have been thinking about what I can do for the top. My previous idea included having tubing run between the bottles to keep the water moving. I decided that the tubing would be more of an eye sore. Instead, I have an idea from a previous mod design I had in the scrap pile that I can easily use on this mod. What I plan to do is cut some holes (how many I have not yet decided) and have some Bawls bottles standing straight up in those holes held in place with some bondo. Each bottle will have a small hole drilled into the bottom, and another hole drilled into the cap at the top. I would run a small air pump used in my fishmod case and have small air hoses running to the bottles, which will be filled with water. The result should be glowing bottles with bubbles. The only problem I can see with this is space. I would preferably like to put these bottles at the front, or all over the top. In either case, the CD-ROM bay will be in the way, and in the back the PSU will be in the way, leaving only the middle. But even there the fan on the top of the case is in the way. And I still have been un able to think of what to do with those front grilles. I need to do something... but I just havn't been drinking enough Bawls recently.
damn sake man, you posted all of that in a 2 minute time frame!!!!! anyways, looks nice and go dremel more....when they take the dremel away, just use your mom's expensive kitchen knives.
Very cool! Nice idea with the molecule. Are you going to drill a small hole behind each sphere, so they light up too? Or, you could even stick an LED behind them and light the spheres up with a different color?
Maybe you can look into getting them to sponsor you a little, since you're putting in all this work for what is essentially free advertising for them. (hint: Easy to sell them on VFDs because it can display the company name in all your shots)
ADD A MINI FRIDGE!!!!! Cool the Bawls!!! lol yeah kindof a rant there but a fridge in there would be sweet!
Got struck by a giant flouescent light tube of an idea. I was trying to figure out how to cool some bottles. Then I realized I would need to have a way to store them. I figured cooling them would cause too many problems, and it would probably run up a lot of money. Then I was looking at the case all torn down, and noticed the two 80mm fans at the front. I grabbed an empty Bawls bottle (always one nearby... about 400 sitting in my basement) and stuck it in the hole. Plenty of room on either side. So, my idea is this: Get some PVC piping big enough to hold the bottle, but small enough to fit through the hole. It's 3am, so I'll measure it out later. If I have to bend it, so be it. Anyways, the two holes will each have half a PVC pipe with a Bawls bottle in it, connected at the front. The idea being that I can grab the end, pull and instantly have a bottle. So the plan now is to finish the caffine molecule (I need to resize the right hand portion, and use masking tape - thanks Leeum) and then start working on the Bawls holders. The only thing I can't work out is a release mechanism. Any ideas on that?
