Case Mod - In Progress "Under Construction" LEGO Mod Finally Finished

<Note: Started this log on another forum, but will finish it out here...>
I've wanted to do a mod for a while now, and since I love LEGOs I wanted to do a LEGO case, but not just a case out of LEGO.
I liked the look of the construction sets that have come out, so decided to do a case where the LEGO guys are in the process of building on it.
Because the DangerDen guys are awesome, I decided to base the mod on their Tower21 case.



I modeled the entire case to scale in 3D, and then began modeling various components. I already have a large library of LEGO models modeled up in 3D, so this would allow me to start putting things together and planning them out, and then determine if more pieces needed to be purchased to supplement the existing bins of LEGOs I already have.
I decided that the large construction crane would be the corner stone of the design, and will ultimately be secured to the back corner of the case, with the main crane arm and control seat extending above the top of the case so that it can have the full 360 degree swivel.



Early on, I hadn’t really determined a color scheme, so a lot of the renders have varying color in them. I worked in a rough lego shell to get a feel for the scale of the case vs. the legos themselves.



Ultimately I decided on a Black/Yellow color scheme to match the caution tape feel.



I had trouble finding the crane, as the set decided to be end-of-sale’d between my original vision and actual purchasing phases… fortunately the wife was kind enough to get it for me as a ‘daddy’ gift for our first child. Lucky me!
Here’s a picture of the crane and the DD case (rough assembly). Towards the bottom of the crane you can see the little gates with caution striping that formed my color theme…



The open edges inside the case will be painted to have the same striping pattern, which is turning out to be a tedious job, but I think the result will be worth-while.



I drew up some striping in the scale I wanted, made a stencil, and then started trying some paint methods on some scrap pieces of plexi that I had lying around.



Applied some yellow paint and let dry…



Peeling off the tape showed that I used too much paint and it bled under the tape, but the effect looks passable. I will use a more stencil style of painting (more a dabbing and multiple coats) on future attempts.



Last night I started taping off the actual pieces of the case to be painted.



I did a test run of the paint on the black plexi on a side that wouldn't be seen, turned out pretty good IMHO.





Today will be more masking and then some painting and then the long arduous process of removing the tape without mucking up the paint.
The fans will have a black casing, and then the blades themselves will be painted yellow. I was originally going to use yellow fluid with some black anti-kinking wrap, however I already have black fluid, so I will use that with yellow anti-kink wrap on the water cooling tubing. I like this effect better, as the yellow stays a highlight, rather than a base color.
I am still working out how I want the lego portion to work. I will have lots of partially build structural elements throughout the case (including on/around the watercooling components). I plan on having a hanging scaffolding on the case, and various little lego guys performing construction tasks throughout. I am planning on having a lego guy with a welder hood and welding equipment working on a piece of the case. I will have a bright-white LED at the weld point that is wired to the hard-drive activity, making it flicker when the computer is working.

There is a full gallery of renders at various stages and more pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/klschuff/CaseModWork?feat=directlink

 

Hardware Specs:
Intel Q6600 Processor
Intel X38BT Motherboard
EVGA 8800 GTS 640MB
4GB OCZ Platinum DDR3
1x 150GB Raptor X HDD
1x 1TB Toshiba HDD
CPU and GPU cooled by DangerDen waterblocks

Finished masking off the areas to be striped. Took WAY too many hours, but hopefully the results will be worthwhile.

Will paint and remove tape over the next couple days and then it's LEGO TIME!!!







Yes... my 'workshop' happens to be my living room.

 

After a little painting...




and a LOT of peeling...



My stripes are nearly done. The fans still need a little touch up, but should be peeled and the case ready to loose assemble this evening. There's still a little touch up to be done, cleanup, etc, but the hard part of them is over. They don't pop as much with the protective sheet still on the acrylic, but I need that on there for some drilling and marking that I still have to do.

 

Ok, making good progress on the painting. Fans are done, case is basically done, few other things I might touch up or paint if time allows, but now it's on to the fun part... the Legos!!

 

Quick update before I take my computer down...

Crane attached, pump enclosed, things are coming together now. Side structure is being fine tuned, but waiting until components are installed so that it works out visually.

 

Here's where I managed to get to today (actually a little farther... ). Currently writing the post from the computer, so that means things are up and running! Still a fair bit of work to do with the lego structures, and then it's detail work as time allows.

 

Oh wow, that's original! Yet very disorienting...
Interesting =)

 

The HDD Activity Indicator on my case:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...?authkey=Gv1sRgCIvfpuToie-aWw&feat=directlink

And here I had started wiring lighting and LEDs:

 

Best Lego mod i've seen so far! Looks amazing.

 

Ok, here's some pictures late in the build:

 

I also painted the mouse and keyboard to go with the theme:

 

And here's some shots of the nearly finished rig and the setup at the LAN:

 

OH WOW! THIS IS AMAZING!
I LOVE YOUR IDEA AND STYLE!
VERY COOL.

 

Computers and lego, two of my favourite things. Lovely mod.

 

Very very nice.
Lots of detail.

 

Case Mod Project: "Under Construction" LEGO Mod Finally Finished

Finally done. Cleaned up the power supply, painted the lego logo on it, etc. Also added a raised floor structure out of LEGO on the bottom that acts as a cable tray. Had to swap out the 80mm fans in the back as they originals were dying. New ones have removable blades, made painting easier.

Lego logo painted on both sides of the Power Supply.

The mesh plates lift off and the cables run through the yellow columns attached to the floor.

Case mostly disassembled, fan grill on Power Supply painted yellow to go with theme.

Quick lighting shot.

Set up outdoors.


That's all she wrote for this one. Glad to be done, as much fun as it was, it's nice to have it set up in the living room on my desk.

Last round of pictures

Mod in progress

 

Feel like I'm having some sort of Fraggle Rock flashback.

 

LEGO Cheesecake

Really awesome looking mod