Case Mod - In Progress The Riddler [w/c & Airbrushed H440] - Completed

Hey everyone, welcome to my build log for my "Riddler" build. I have a H440 Special Edition Green Case and I went with the "Riddler" theme from Batman.
Decked out with Green and Purple, this build has a beautiful airbrushed mural on the case to go with the added touches of vinyl which helped the build really pop.
I used vinyl to fill in sections throughout the build to add color and character, including the EK badges and the yellow designs on my MSI Mpower board and much more.
I included custom Purple anodized screws to help balance the Purple and green and to bring a little dazzle to the build. Leave your comments and post your opinions.
Thanks for checking out my build log!

System:

CPU - Intel i7 3770k
Motherboard - msi Z77 MPower
RAM - Corsair Vengeance lp green 16GB 1600mhz
SSD - Samsung 256GB 850 Pro
HDD - WD 2.5" 750GB Black Edition
GPU - XFX HD 7950 DD-Black Edition
Case - H440 Green Special Edition
PSU - Seasonic-X 750W Fully Modular
Fans - Coolink Fans (1st fans used)
New Fans - EKL Alpenföhn Wing Boost 2 Plus Fans
Dazmode Darkside white LED's

WaterCooling

EK-7950 - Acetal+EN (Nickel) Waterblock
EK Supremacy CPU Liquid Cooling Block - Acetal + Nickel
EK- X3 250 Liquid Cooling Reservoir
EK-DDC 3.2 PWM X-TOP CSQ Pump - Acetal
PrimoChilll 1/2" PETG 16 36" tubes
1 360 and 1 120 EK PE Rads
Redharbinger EK 250 Reservoir Cover
Mayhems Coolants and dyes











This is the start of my build log and what my case looked like air cooled, before I started on the water cooling.





This is my setup.



Here's some pics of my fittings. Absolutely love the color.










I then purchased:
4 low profile plugs
2 extenders
1 valve
1 5way (Multi-F block)

All from Bitspower
and 1 EK-7950 - Acetal+EN (Nickel) Waterblock





Here are my 120 and 360 EK PE rads..





The boxes, they are soooo pretty :0
I think I might have a box fetish..









I got a new background (got rid of that hideous white one).











Here are some pics of my EK water pump.

I took pictures without sleeving and then with the wires sleeved, both my husband and I sleeved them.







I bought a Samsung 256GB 850 Pro.

As well as a 750GB WD Black too.











Got some shiny screws!

I had screws custom anodized for me to match the compression fittings.

A local friend of mine did them. Got to say he got the color spot on

I will have custom anodized screws throughout the entire build.

I bought some of the screws from Probolts too.



Here's what the screws looked like on the rads with the compression fittings.

It's all starting to come to come together, though these fans I got rid of. I didn't like the way they looked and the color was too much and off.







So I decided to buy some new fans that I thought looked a lot better.

Here are my new Alpenföhn Wing Boost 2 fans. Some of you may recognize the design of the fans, they are the OEM version of the Parvum F1.0 fans.

Performance wise these fans are very quiet, you might as well call them dead silent.

The static pressure also exceeds what I though they would push.

I'm amazed at the quality and the frame, it's not hard plastic it's made out of a dense rubber material.









So here, just like in the pics before last, is one of my new Alpenföhn Wing Boost 2 fans on one of the rads with the screws and compression fittings.

I would say these blend much better than the last fans. No more ugly stand out grey and overwhelming yellowish/green.

I think with these there's just enough green to compliment and it matches the case near perfect.











Here are all my anodized screws, there will be a lot of detail in this build. This will help the build pop and help to even out the green and purple within my build.



-Here's a pic with one of the anodized screws and one of the screws that came with the mounting bracket.



-In this pic it shows both the anodized screws in and how it will look. Makes a big difference, and goes to show how every little detail counts.



Gonna do some artsy fartsy stuff XD

I will be changed the stickers on my fans to black with a green question mark, and also the yellow on the MSI Mpower board green.

Riddle me this...





Here's some pics of my Alpenföhn Wing Boost 2 fans redone and my MSI Mpower board with green instead of the yellow.











I think I'm in love... Here's my SSD redone.





Here's the Redharbinger reservoir cover I got. I decided to get this to not only make the Res look sleek but to dim down the color as well.







My Mayhem dyes and Darkside LED's

Added vinyl to my EK button badges as well.





Put the GPU block on and added a nice simple touch of green to it. I did the the Res brackets as well.











If you notice, I made the NZXT lighted logo purple instead of the clear. This is the build partially put together. I couldn't resist and just had to see it, especially the screws.









Here is the memory done with vinyl. I nearly pulled my hair out with these lol but love how it turned out. It was worth the time and patience.







Here is my cable management, this is in the begginning and changes throughout the build process but it pretty much stayed this tidy. My husband and I also redid the sleeving, I decided I wanted to go with a different pattern, and we also shortened the cables to custom lengths.

Zip ties are a geeks best friend..



I bent the tubes freehand to get the decired twists and turns for the runs.

I also purchased some new cable combs to replace the old ones. i didn't like how these looked and wanted something more sleek.



















My artist sent me some pictures of the work along with steps of the process of creating the Riddler theme on the computer case. This is one of the three panels that had being done.

1- We start by cleaning all surfaces to be painted with a wax, grease and silicone remover.


2- Next, we mask off the back side of each panel to keep things clean.


3- We also mask the clear acrylic window.


4- Then we begin to prep sand the panels.


5- Notice sanded vs un-sanded.


6- We also use a scotch brite pad to help sand the edges and tighter areas.


7- Everything is ready.


8- Notice sanded to the very edge.


9- Next, two coats of black base coat are sprayed.


10- Now we begin the artwork portion. The supplied artwork is resized to fit the panel.


11- In this case, the highlights are trimmed and the neon green base coat is airbrushed through it.


12- You can see here the details of the layering process. Several different greens are used to create depth and black is used to tighten things up.


13- Here is an example further along in the process. Things are getting much tighter and detailed.


14- The artwork is about 80% complete. A few more details to pack in, highlights to pop out and we are ready for the matte clear finish.


15- An angled pic shows the layering.


Here is the fluid I used. Mayhem's pastel green with half a bottle of UV green dye added to it.



Here are the final pics of "The Riddler". It took me over the course of nearly a year. I wanted this build to show character, be riddled with details and stand out and make a statement. I feel I have finally succeeded in this. I hope that you all like the outcome and please feel free to comment and share your opinions on the completed build. And so now I give you...

​

The Riddler















































Now on to the next build..

 

Looks great. Especially that artwork

 

Hole smokes, batman!

 

Thank you I wanted the build to be its own art piece. My artist surprised me, I was expecting a good job but he went beyond my expectations.

 

You're welcome. I think you succeeded in that goal nicely, the artwork really stands out.

And yes, I'd agree your artist did a great job too!

 

Thanks again. I'm working on another one right now and this one will have an airbrushed paint job as well.

 

superb

 

Totally BLOWN away!! very well thought out, you must be extremely proud of yourself

 

I'll keep and eye out for it

 

Looks awesome, I was just thinking about a green themed build last night, maybe some sort of matrix theme, but your build looks awesome!

 

Thanks

 

Thank you, I put a lot of heart and soul into it so yes you can say I'm very proud

 

Thanks, and I think the Matrix idea would be cool. Add some binary code to the case, green LEDs, the works. I have so many ideas I want to do it's hard to choose which one to go with next. Lol

 

My favorite H440 build

 

Thanks Bill that means a lot. The only thing left to do for this build is to buy one of your side panels ;D cuz the one it comes with just won't do. Scratches too easy, and can't clean it at all. I want to get your panel so when I buy the Dreamhack tickets for Austin Texas, which will be available on Sep.15th (so stoked!), I'll be able to show off my build there with a nice clean panel. Course I'll probably keep the panel boxed till about a couple days before the event in May, that way it looks its best.

 

That's totally beautiful.

 

Thank you

 

techPuppet, this has to be my favorite non scratch built case I've seen on bit tech. Your attention to detail and planning is spot on. Then again I may be partial to the riddler character. have been since I was little. I still have the limited edition Riddler cup from Mcdonalds when they sold cups for the 1995 release of Batman Forever.

 

Wow thank you I really appreciate the compliment. I used to collect those as well when I was younger. Not sure what happened to them but they probably ended up in a yard sale I regret not keeping half the stuff I had when I was a child.