Case Mod - In Progress Battlestar Galactica Mod: Complete!

Thank you DragonONE. With this particular subject matter, I have to take several ques from the TV show in order to do it justice. This mod not only resembles the Galactica on the outside, it parallels the entire ship as well. Hence the lcd screens and other details.

 

HOLY CRAP AN UPDATE!!
It's been over a week since I've been able to get any significant work done on this thing. What with halloween and kid stuff, and waiting on parts, there hasn't really been anything to post about.

But tonight I got the three 2.5" LCD's mounted on the case, along with their controller boards.
To hold the controllers, I made this 3-tiered styrene base that will mount behind the screens.
This is so the power and composite cables will clear the board next to it.


Here they are mounted to the base.




After doing a test fit on the front panel, I had to make a little adjustment to the third tier so it would fit.
I drilled and tapped holes in the screen's mounting base, then drilled through the controller base
and the front panel frame and screwed it all together from the back.


with the controllers in place...


... and with the front panel back on the case, and LCD screens in.




View from the inside.




I will make some top caps to cover up the opening, and the gold ribbon cable. The white ribbon cable
will be disguised as conduit or something more appropriate.

I hope to get the two dummy screens made up this weekend, and then maybe I can start work on the lower BSG insignia.

 

That looks sooo cool already, i can't imagine how good it will look when finished

Will each screen be playing different stuff?

 

This is a great mod, i'm with mvagusta on wanting to see the finished article !

 

Boddaker, You are the Master Fabricator! excellent update.

 

Looking good.

 

thats looking great
most detail mod ever

 

That is just too cool. Honestly, very cool. beautiful execution of the original design from the show!

 

Thanks a lot everyone! It feels good to finally get an update out.

All three screens will play the same graphic sequence. I will be splitting the video signal off of the s-video port of the pci card, so there's no way to display different things on each screen.

 

What about if you made the graphic sequence 3 times as wide as the resolution? That way the image would just cascade over to the next screen and every screen could have a different image from a single source. Pretty much what people do for different wallpapers on windows when they just want to extend the desktop onto the other monitor.

 

That would work if I had the screens hooked up to three separate outputs. But since they are split off of one s-video port, the computer won't know there's three screens there. Spanning only works if Windows detects them.

 

I bet there's some sort of splitter or maybe a kit out there that divides the video signal across three screens. Like what they use when they have like 9 screens in a 3 x 3 grid, and the one video signal is spread as one big picture using all 9 screens. We should pm cpemma & cinnander, chances are one of them might actually have the circuit for exactly this, or at least know where to get one

Edit: Great news, have found out where you can get a splitter that will divide the video in 3 horizontally and it's under $4.5k. It's not very small however, so you'd probably just wanna get a 2nd vid card, and use the s-video & vga out to drive the other two lcd's. Having three independent movies playing is the sort of detail the lcd's will need to complement the rest of the case

 

Nice one matey, I saw Battlestar Razor the other night and it bought it all back, I have to say, your mod really does capture the design, it is brilliant!!!

 

Hey guys, here's what I got accomplished over the past week. More LCD screen goodness! Check it out:

Started on the small dummy screens that will go underneath the three live ones. I cut some pieces
from some 1/4" scrap I had, roughed them up a bit, and glued them together.


Then I proceeded to make the styrene bezels. Cut the faceplate, and glued the sides on.


Then I glued the "screens" in, and drilled the hole for the led.


I skinned the back with more styrene, giving it that LCD panel look.


Next came the arduous task of figuring out how the mounting bracket would go. I must have gone
through at least 3 iterations before settling on a design I was happy with. I ended up making two pieces.
One flat aluminum bar to connect both screens...


...And one vertical piece cut from C channel to mount to the rest of the LCD bracketry.


I decided to forego the use of any screws to secure the screens to the brackets, opting to just use some styrene rod.


After cutting the rod to fit the profile of the screens, I glued them down, holding the bracket in place.


After some filling and sanding, here's what I got: Back side...


...And front side. All masked and ready for primer.


The whole LCD cluster primed.




I thought I had some flat black paint somewhere, but I couldn't find any. So I will have to pick some up tomorrow.
Doesn't seem like much for a week's worth of work! Then again, my weeks have been so hectic,
my modding time has been pretty much nil. So I am thankful I got this much done.

 

Looking forward to seeing those turned on

 

So far every one has picked up on something you [Bod] has done on this project that gives it your kind of signature in terms of attention paid to detail, mine is going to be the fact that you filled and sanded the back of those little mock screens even though the backs will probably never be seen and the flat black would have covered any imperfections.

Outstanding work as per usual, it really seems to be coming together now (asthetically at least, god knows what you have planned inside lol)

 

That looks coollll +1 vote for 3 independant videos playing/2 x gfx cards/4 outputs total. The 3 independant vids could get split to other lcds in other places maybe 6 total

I'm guessing the dummy screens will have a pic that gets lit up to look like a still image/data readout/security cam/etc? Very cool +1 vote for some of those dummy lcds inside the landing bay & case!

I'm not voting for bush next election btw, +1 vote for BODDAKER!!!

 

Huh, can't see any pictures from the latest update??? :cry: Need more! Need... more....!!!

/Frido

 

Yeah, sorry bout that Frido. Had to do some house cleaning on my web server.

 

OPTICAL DRIVE

I got a chance to actually do some modding over the holiday weekend.
After getting the LCD cluster roughed in, I started on the optical drive portion of the front panel.
I will be using a slot-loading dvd drive, mounted vertically behind the BSG logo insignia. Once finished,
you will be able to see the disc turning through the insignia.

So to start, I removed the top cover of the drive.




Here's a shot of a disc inserted half way.


Taking the top cover out to the garage, I used a CD as a template and scored a line around it to mark my cut.




..and proceeded to cut out the window.




I also had to cut out the center and save it because it plays a role in disc alignment.
The blue is a piece of plexi I cut to size and taped up. It will be glued to the top of the windowed cover.


Setting that aside, I started making the mounting brackets.


Here I am using a spare drive for positioning the brackets onto the front panel frame.
Wouldn't want to get any rogue metal shavings in the windowed drive's mechanisms.


After marking the optimum position, I drilled the holes and secured the brackets with pop rivets.




The drive in place.


The base for the insignia over the drive. It's just sitting on there for now.


Here's the rest of the insignia. Thanks to Brian at Moddersmart for getting all these pieces laser
etched and cut for me. 8) Basically, in order to get a 3 dimensional look, I had him cut several layers
so I could build the height up. Some parts will be painted, like the center winged figure and the outer
edge pieces. Then the background will be kept clear so you can see the drive in behind.


Here's a side shot showing the slot loading drive face.


I'd like to get some red led's in there that light up when a disc is inserted. Probably just re-route
the drive's activity led or something.
I still have a lot of work to do on those insignia pieces, rounding the edges and gluing them down.
And it needs its own mounting bracketry too, cause I want to keep it separate from the optical drive.
After that I can start on the ribbing/armoring phase of the front panel. That will fill in all the areas
around the LCD cluster and insignia. Should look pretty hot when done!