Scratch Build – In Progress Future Neon - Type R [UPDATE] 16/12/2008

Future Neon, the dream that become much more than a reality for myself, and now it sits humbly in my closet, why I hear you ask?, well its too big, and theres not much room in it, to create a massive multi media pc like I had originally wanted, but I'm not dissappointed by that, but beacause it won't fit in the entertainment unit in the lounge.

So I began thinking of a way I could improve on the original design, smaller was a priority, and with hard drives getting bigger and prices going down, I'd only need 2 hard drives (640gig x 2) to have a decent media centre pc.

The old computer in it, although will work with what I'm building, it does not have onboard DVI, I have another Micro ATX board that does, so I will be using that instead, with 4gig of DDR2, this should be more than ample for my system needs.

FN was huge, its almost the same size as the NZXT Lan PC Case, I sized them up.

So I have drawn some designs on what the new FN will look like, although I dont have them with me for this particular worklog session, they will be in the next, but I have begun work on the new Future Neon Type R ('R' - Revised)

Again I will be working with MDF of various thickness most are scrap from recent shed build exploits, so rather than put them in the bin I'm going to use it in this and most likely all my scratch build's to come, why?, if I make a mistake with MDF, its cheap enough to replace, and sometimes making templates dont go to plan.



The Front Panel Design.
This is a very rough look at what the front panel will look like - onc the conversion to alu, everything will be done properly, this is a rough template to achieve a basic mockup of what the case should look like.


Using a Jigsaw, I removed the CD Rom area, the new grill area and the LCD panel area for the home theatre unit.


The raised pieces will either be alu or acrylic, as I'm thinking of building the shell completely from acrylic and using polished alu tubes to hold it all together, but this is only speculation at the moment.
This also gives the front more body.

I'll have some fans mounted on the inside drawing the air in.


The back panel consists of Power supply, IO ports from the motherboard, a 92mm fan, and some futuristic looking vent holes, which will be covered by mesh at a later date.
The ruler is there so you can see that it isnt going to be a huge cube type design as its predesesor.

Height: 18cm
Width: 38cm
Depth: (revealed in tomorrow's update)


Whatever material I do decide to use in the final product, wont be as thick as the MDF your looking at in the photos, this was cheap so I got it, 4-6mm thickness (MDF)

With future neon I had alot of tubes holding it together, which obstructed my hands from getting to hardware, this is ok if I'm not going to tinker, but in the new one, it will be a hand safe area, much like how most pc cases are these days.

I'm hoping to have enough room for up to 4 Hard Drives - should it be needed.
Fewer fans but more ventilation overall.
And I'm undecided with the color theme, this may become Blue, rather than my preferred red color choice.

More updates to follow.

Seth

 

looks awesome cant wait to see more

 

Mini Me Neon. I can't wait.
To be announced= sled. You beat me to it. I was selling the idea of a 6"Hx12"Wx24"L case to a friend.

 

hey seth, nice to know that the future neon has a sequel

this will be surely awesome, SUBB'D

 

I CAN NOT wait to see more my friend. Being linked to your original mod by a friend is what made me join Bit-Tech. Very clean, very well executed and above all very bling lol. Good luck with the rest of the mod.

 

x06jsp, ty

Cheapskate, ty, I do have mini FN concept designs in the making, just didnt want to flood bit-tech with too many of them too soon.

n0cturnull, ty and i hope so too

The boy 4rm oz, ty

 

I added the base in and measured out a template for the Motherboard, a Hard Drive and a DVD Rom made from MDF, these will help in a better plan of the internal as the project unfolds, (I didnt want to use the hardware yet as my work invironment is constantly covered in sawdust)



I thought long and hard about how to get the front panel to attach to the base panel, without using tubes or screws or bolts or rivets...

Then this idea hit me.


The will be manipulated into the front,side and bottom panel pieces to form one strong unit.


Like so...


They look well suited, I attached then briefly to the side and flipped 2 around, each to be a corner support then procceeded with the steps.

The one thing that posed a problem for me, was the the top corners on both the front and rear, were on angles and my corner pieces dont bend in the same fashion, so I remade the front and rear panels, adding the corners back in.


I know it looks dull and boring, but as it will be in a entertainment unit once complete, no one will ever see anything but the front, and it helped me achieve the desired effect I needed.

The Process:
Draw Design onto MDF, (this is the back panel)


Drill pilot holes in all pieces to be cut, I found that a cordless drill goes through MDF without causing to much pressure on the board.



In these photos you can see how the process works, I cut the first section then file it down before moving onto the next section and the reason for this is as each step takes place, the MDF weakens in certain spots, so to avoid any mistakes with the particular application, this is the process I use.

With each of the corner pieces complete and the front and back panel redone, I moved to cutting out the left side of the front panel and also the bottom panel, the corner piece on each side will respectively sit and lock into place from here in which at a later date they will be glued into place, by doing this i have reinforced each side within the structure, added some decoration to the project and created something for the top panel to sit on, hopefully at the time of conversion it will come together nicely



Close Ups:


This just shows you how I did each one and how they slot into on another.


With a Top.


Future Neon - Type R Concept Designs



I try to keep with my original idea as much as possible, but along the way sometimes I may find a different solution to what I orginally drew.

Seth

 

Amazing amount of craftsmanship here, I'm really impressed. I spend more time on xbox forums and everyone pretty much mods from the stock case so this is mind blowing. Very impressed with your store too by the way.
Can't wait to see the next steps.

 

What more can I say...AWESOME!

 

I see awesome plastered all over this.

 

I remember the first future neon,that was awesome seth
This will be another awesome build

 

Looks pretty cool. What kind of processor are you using in this system?

 

This looks great! Does the mdf come with the graph paper pattern, or are you adding that yourself? I've never worked with it, but I was just reading about what a great material is it is, especially for jig/template making. You've got some cool looking designs going on there. I like the original front panel. I appreciate the effort you're making with your log here. I'm looking forward to the next update (and I'm gonna track down the original)

 

The graph is penciled on.

 

phenoptix, ty

the boy 4rm oz, ty

Thacrudd, ty

skullen, this would be a much calmer version of the original FN, this is actually an inbetween build, I have something else in mind, I just needed some inspiration first.

nitrous9200, well the board in question can take either a dual or quadcore processor, 775 intel, I dont think I will need quadcore for a hometheatre unit so prolly just the E8200 or E8400 dual

ModMinded, Unfortunately it dosnt, it would make life alot easier, I draw the lines on and go from there, the mock-up isnt exactly straight lined in some areas, these will be fixed in the next version, its just a guideline for me to research my ideas with, practice and learn from.
MDF is great to work with, the only exception is that you cant really bend it, like you can with plastic or metal, but many a modder has used it in model frame building on their mods.

 

Had to rethink how I was going to do the DVD Rom Bay , coz the last one just wasnt right for my liking, so I came up with a plan and went for it and it seems to have worked.


Cut the appropriate holes...


Made two brackets in which the rom will fit into, and placed them into the cuts from the first picture.






Nearly all the internal structure completed...


Randomn angled shots




Also worked on a top piece to reinforce the overall structure of the DVD Rom bay, but I may not use it in the final build, was just an idea.


Also cut out a makeshift top to see how it will look, this is the mockup version and does not represent the final version.

I still have another piece for the other side to obscure the PSU, and make some hard drive holders....its getting close to transforming it into the final product.
There's alot I wont show in the mock-up build, that will come at a later date.

Seth

 

The internal is just as detailed as the external. I respect that. I thought you said this mod was gonna be a small one? Looks pretty big to me. What are the dimensions?

 

I had to check too. Up top some place he says 38 CM X 18CM. It's a little taller than my Coolermaster ATCS but the CM is 42 X 42 cm square. Reasonable size for HTPC - fits on my TV stand.
I like it already

 

Nice! love the originality and consistency of your style
Have some stars!

 

I give you stars too. This is nice.