Hello all, this is my first work log on Bit-Tech. I am looking forward to posting here as it seems like a fun community with a ton of modding talent. Even those who are not lovers of poetry know who Edgar Allan Poe is. His classic poem "The Raven”, despite being published in 1845, still sets the standard for horror even today. I have always been intrigued by the subtlety of the poem as it depicts a mans decent into madness after losing his love. It sets an eerie mood and the stylistic words roll off the tongue kind of like a song. As you may have guessed, I have chosen to use "The Raven" as the inspiration for my next project. Called "Nevermore" this case will feature several techniques that are new to me and custom made parts. Some of the parts I will be using are things I have found and others items are of my own design. Let’s talk a bit about the case Following the War Machine project there was much discussion about how I chose to finish the case. Many felt that the corroded bronze finish ruined the case while others loved it. Well people, get ready because I am about to deface another sacred Lian Li. This time I am starting with the Lian Li V2000 in black. There is no match for the V series Lian Li cases when it comes to construction. The V2000 will allow me to continue pushing my designs and give me that much more surface area to do it. I plan to take all the best and worst lessons learned on the War Machine and apply them to this project with a vengeance. For the first time I will also be including some water cooling components in the design so this case will be ready to go. I will only be including those components that may affect the design such as radiators and reservoirs. Custom parts In addition to water cooling parts this case will feature several new parts that have never been seen before and I am designing just for this project. In fact, work has already begun on the Raven series of case parts. Sculpture is something I have been thinking about for some time now. I am happy to give you a first look at our prototypes in development. Some of these parts are functional and others are purely aesthetic. My design will include 2 new blowhole rings sculpted in clay and then reproduced in resin. Pictured below, the Raven blowhole ring features a menacing raven head set over a rough cast iron ring with mysterious runes. We are still working on the fan mounting system for this piece but the design should be ready for casting in the next 3-4 weeks. You can see that we are currently experimenting with using a talon vs. a modification to the ring to attach the mounting screws. In it's final form, the fan mounting system will not be visible after the ring has been attached. The raven features hollowed eyes that will be fitted with LEDs for a spooky effect. We will also be producing an identical ring without the raven head. The other part we are working on is a matched set of resin wings. These wings are purely aesthetic and will include a mounting system. The ring at the bottom has been designed to also serve as a fan cover. The clay sculpture pictured below is still rough. Feather details will be added before we go to casting on this part, which should also be in the next 3-4 weeks. Nevermore will also prominently feature case spikes in 2 different sizes. These spikes are quite large and are made from cast aluminum making them ideal for powder coating and all kinds of finishing. The spikes come in 2 sizes and are the perfect compliment to a Gothic project like this. Design sketches Below are a couple preliminary design sketches. This case will include window cuts on both sides of the case. I will NOT decide on the window cuts until we complete the wings as the wings will play heavily into the design of the openings. This project will also feature an etched acrylic plate that will run up the center of the case and curve over the top. I am not going to share the etchings yet but I can tell you that they will play well with the gothic theme. I will be using a new technique to make the windows that I think will add a lot of visual interest and amp up the creepy factor on the project. Okay modders, that's all I am willing to give up at this point but you can expect more updates in this log over the next 2 weeks as we finish our sculptures and start casting our parts.
none of the pictures are loading for me, so i just read all of the test. All i can say is like most cases on here this one will turn out pretty good by the sounds of it. (psha modding a lian is like taking a hotchick, giving her some sexy clothes and botox)
wow, a case in a gothic style. Thats cool The best thing until now is the Raven. I looks simply waiting for new pics
COOL, a KikBox project log on bit-tech..!! U-guys may not know him, but I do..!! This guy is GOOd..we are in for a treat..!! Great start, and great name.. I love EAP...But H.P. Lovecraft is-it for me.. More-please...
Sculpted Wings Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Hope everyone had a great holiday...I totally unplugged so I have not posted in 2 weeks! Back to work... I would like to take this opportunity to introduce everyone to Pete. Pete is a buddy of mine and a very talented artist. He is responsible for making my vision a reality with regard to the sculptured pieces in Nevermore. Pete has an extensive background in art, as do many of the dudes I hang out with. His work is incredible and he has managed to make a living of sculpture...not bad. When I spoke to Pete about the project he was excited from the start and has made some really incredible pieces. He has been kind enough to provide some pictures of his process so we can see how the artwork comes together. There are a total of 4 sculptured pieces on this project. We have an intake ring, blowhole ring and a wing on either side. In this series a pics we get a look at how he makes the second wing. Let’s start by taking a look at the first wing he created after all the detail work has been done in the feathers. The effect is stunning to say the least. To get the shape right he creates a template by tracing the first wing he created. The shape is copied to a board and then he starts laying the clay into the outline. This clay is pretty firm stuff. The clay you played with as a kid is much too soft for this kind of work. Using small chunks of clay he gradually fills out the design and then smoothes it out. What's the next step? Our final pieces will be made of resin. We are going to be using liquid latex to create molds of these sculptures. This is a tricky process because we need to make sure our liquid rubber is completely free of bubbles that could mess up our resin parts. After our molds have been completed we will create templates to hold our mounting screws and then we will pour the resin. The mounting screws will be inserted before the resin hardens. The finished parts will be painted so the color of the resin is not a factor in this project. The cool thing is that once Nevermore is completed, we will still have our molds and will be able to produce more wings and Raven fan grills.
we had Raven on our Croatian class this year (translated of course) great poetry that E.A. Poe made, read other his stuff too. great sculpting you did there, congrats, I'll be watching this mod, very nice indeed
