Case Mod - In Progress Battlestar Galactica Mod: Complete!

Awesome, see you there!

 

Here's a quick report of what I did last night. I set out to replace the psu fan with a red led fan. Sounds simple right?
One would think! It would be quite simple if the psu had a standard 120 mm fan in it, but I quickly found out that the
Cooler Master 850w modular psu wasn't going to adhere to standards!

Here is the stock fan I removed from the psu after breaking the great seal of warranty advocacy.


Here you can see the difference between that fan and a standard 120mm fan. It measured 136mm!


So what to do? I doubt I could find a 136mm red led fan anywhere, and I can't easily fit the 120mm fan in without
fashioning some sort of adapter plate. While I was pondering this, I noticed the 136mm fan had pre-drilled
holes through it at each corner that were suspiciously the same size as a 3mm led.


Upon further investigation, I found that the holes were the perfect size for a 3mm led!


So I got to work wiring up some red leds.


Rounding each corner, connecting them in series.


Then I got the (not so) bright idea to connect the led wires directly to the fan's 12v source, where its original
wires are soldered in the center. I thought it would be so clever and stealthy to have it all self contained!


Well, upon powering it up, the led's were quite dim, and the fan wasn't spinning very fast lol. Here are a
couple really crappy no-flash shots to try and capture the dimness.



Because of the lackluster result of my fan modification, I resorted to running the wires externally. I did
contemplate soldering them directly to one of the many 12v sources within the power supply, but I chickened out,
thinking I could potentially fry the whole danged thing (my success rating for the evening was less than admirable).

So there you have it, one of 18 days before Nvision burned and only a black fan with red leds to show for it. lol... (sigh)

 

Oh man, I feel your pain. I've lost many a day to a 'simple' fix or mod gone awry. I'll admit though, I'd give anything to have a whole 18 days left... I'm leaving for Mexico on the 15th and won't be back until Nvision. That leaves me with a week to finish things up and package the Rogue for shipping... 18 days is an eternity man! You'll pull it off!

 

Even though it doesn't glow as much as a clear fan it still looks good IMO. Not over bling, subtle.

 

it may have been a failure, but the idea is sweet

 

Definitaly my favior mod at the site. But it take to damn long

 

Yeah, seems like the 'standard' size fans these days in PSUs are actually 135mm fans. Which is odd, because they can't be found anywhere otherwise. Only thing close are 140mm fans, which I've seen people drop into a 135mm fans' place (depending on how much room you have to work with).

 

Started painting over the weekend! Got the base coat down on everything, so the case is finally a uniform color.

Here's a shot of my makeshift paint booth, which really isn't a booth at all. I just strung a line across my garage opening lol.


You can't really tell from the pic, but the paint has a nice sheen to it. Not to shiny, not too dull.


A closeup shot. Still the pic doesn't do it justice!


Once I get it assembled, I will give you a teaser shot. Then I will start adding various shades of gray on
the individual panels, shadowing, weathering, etc.. Having never done it before, I hope I don't screw it up!

 

Looks nice Bod...can't wait to see what you do with the shadowing and weathering.

 

I believe that finish is called Satin, looking good dude

 

Looking extremely good, Bod!!

 

yeah it is, very nice indeed!

 

damn teaser shots prolonging the suspense

edit: i can't get enough of that detail... it looks like what you see in a large & very detailed model kit, i need another fix! I wonder if printing out the photos and sticking them on like nicotine patches will work?

 

Getting the water cooling components installed. Got a nice package from Moddersmart on Wednesday
which consisted of the pump, hose, clamps and fittings, and fluid. I will get the cpu block in first thing next week.

I permanently mounted the rad and fans on the bottom. The triple rad extends the length of the floor, with
one end close to the cpu block.


The other end has the fitting emerging in the hard drive cage area,


...which will connect to the pump mounted above.


Here's a shot of the blast flow GPU blocks. I just have them on for placement right now.
Waiting to see if I can get the plates. If not, I'll use ram sinks.


I also worked on assembling the front bezel. But you don't get to see that until later.

 

Man you are getting so close. Mod on.

 

Oww that's über sexy, loved the last updates

 

Damn! I know this is just the keyboard wrist rest but the detail on even this piece blows me away. This is going to be a visual uberfeast when complete. Sorry your red fan didn't go as hoped. Good luck with meeting your deadline. My fingers are crossed for you*


*My greed to see how this finishes has no bearing on the luck wished to you........ I swear

 

Oops, I maxxed out your bandwith. (yeah, I did it. :hehe)
I know you will make the deadline. You worked out all the kinks and just need a little paint now. -And the fumes make you stay up late, so you can paint longer.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates, but with only one week to go, I've been too busy to worry about posting pics!
But here's one to tie you over, a shot from behind the front bezel. Had a bit of wiring to do!



Had to remount the lcd screens' circuit boards in a different configuration than I originally had them, mostly for clearance purposes.

Also, having a modular psu really helped as well, as I was able to take one of the 4-pin cables and plug the DVD
drive in first along with the IDE cable, then string them into the case as I put the front bezel on. Much easier!

 

Go! Go! Go!

/Frido
PS. My hard-on doesn't last forever