Hell's Illusion - Project Lament II

ARTbyTROY

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
176
Project Lament II: Hell's Illusion... (what's a dining room?)

Sequels as a rule suck, especially horror movie sequels. The HellRaiser series is one exception and there are sadly far too few others. HellBound is every bit as good as the first, or better in every way, depending on which fan you talk to. I am currently working to create a new HellRaiser themed PC far different than my first... there are those that have put their computers into puzzle boxes, I am going to put a puzzle box into the PC and hopefully entirely conceal the computer in the process. Dining rooms are over rated... so it begins, my HellRaiser sequel mod "Hell's Illusion".

Illusion00m.jpg


"The illusion scares me mommy..." he whimpered again through trembling lips, "Shut up Billy!", the crack of my backhand solidly connecting with tear soaked and tender flesh, "Just hurry up and finish solving the damned thing."

The above takes care of the obligatory beginning fiction regarding the back story of the mod, I don't know why I feel the need to make the mods tie in with the mythos but I will admit that I do enjoy writing bad fiction. I will continue the story as I go and also illustrate parts of it as well, it will be a good excuse for a creativity release while I stress out over the mod itself.

My mods run in two's so doing a sequel to my first HellRaisermod makes sense for more reasons than one. My MOBY cases were just that, cases... modded to beat hell, but they were store bought. My Project Lament: HellRaiser Cenobite PC would be considered a "found object" mod, one where the hardware was installed into an existing housing, though I did mod the mannequin like mad.

Which all leads up to the highest level of modding, where the case is designed from the ground up and built from scratch... that is this mod. I mentioned above that the PC will be entirely concealed from view, that is not entirely true as I will have a switch slickly installed to flip the lights and kill the illusion when needed. I already have the basic design sketches finished and almost all of the hardware involved has already arrived. Now I just need to finalize the design, buy some more Alum-angle, order acrylic and then start modding this bad boy out. I don't know why but I like fitting hardware into spaces smaller than intended, it is kind of like playing Tetris or putting together a puzzle. The picture below was taken a couple of weeks ago and does not show all the hardware going into this mod, so instead of piling everything back up again I will show the parts up close in the next couple of pictures instead.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion01ms.jpg

Below shows the Main board and memory. I am using an EPIA MII 12000, small in size but rich in features, the tiny main board is nothing short of amazing... and it supports LVDS, so as soon as I figure out exactly what is involved I plan to add a laptop screen to this mod. Since the EPIA MII supports up to 1GB of PC2100 DDR memory I bought a 1GB stick of Crucial that will be installed. You can see how small this board actually is when you compare it to size of the stick of RAM and IDE cable next to it.

Illusion02m.jpg


I chose an IN WIN (IW-P240F1-0) TFX12V 240W Power Supply, it measures 1.75-2.0 x 3.2 x 7.1 but I don't know if I will use it for this mod. I just ordered an even smaller PSU, but in doing so will lose 40W as the new one is only 200W... but that should still be plenty. Also shown are a couple of 60mm and 70mm fans, I will likely not be using all four in the mod but they are good to have on hand anyway.

]http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion04m.jpg

Since a single 250GB Western Digital hard drive did not seem quite outlandish enough for this system, a PC that should come in at around 10"x10", I ordered a second... 1/2 terabyte of storage should do more than nicely. Also shown in the picture below is a Panasonic slim line slot load CDRW/DVD combo drive and the IDE adapter for it, this is the same drive as was used in the first HellRaiser mod.

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Choosing a TV Tuner card for this mod was one of the hardest parts, the card shown below was not my first choice, that would have been the Leadtek WinFast TV2000XP card I ordered and then found would not work... no big deal, it will go into a different mod. The Tuner I settled on is the KWORLD (VS-TVMP2RF) Creator TV–MCE 200 Deluxe (W/FM), it is a hardware MPEG2 card with a remote and IR receiver. I had to contact KWorld regarding this card as the included manual is quite half assed and less than informative, they were however fairly quick with their response. Since the EPIA board has only one internal audio input I needed to know the configuration of the white audio input/output connectors on the tuner card, running the tuners audio internally will allow me to use all the external audio connectors for the motherboards onboard sound in a true 5.1 surround setup.

Illusion03m.jpg


Next up is a CMG trademark mod, the 6" TFT LCD monitor shown below has been a staple of my last two mods and this will be no different... well, maybe a little different. I plan to stealth the monitor into the case so that it is not noticeable when the machine is off. Same deal with the Matrix Orbital MX222 shown, it all ties in with entirely hiding the hardware in this mod. The MX222 has temp probes, fan control and a three LED array for event monitoring... it will all be worked into the mod.

Illusion06m.jpg


There will be a HellRaiser box inside this mod, along with the hidden hardware it will be the biggest part of the illusion. Below the box(es) in the pic below is a 40 red LED automotive brakelight, it will be worked into the case and serve as the mods lighting. The small SPST momentary switch is the same type that was used in my first HellRaiser mod, as is the handle shown below it. WindowsXP media center edition will be the OS for this system, I bought an OEM copy off NewEgg and though straight XP was cheaper, media center seemed to fit what I have planned better.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion07m.jpg

The hardware is all here, other than the different PSU I ordered and I will take final measurements and order the ACRyan Acrylpanel needed to construct the case soon. Until then enjoy a bit more of this mods back fiction...

ACT 1
Main street was already blocked off, first day of fall and the trees were already starting to turn, the view from the porch of the ferris wheel framed by flame orange and coppery leaves looked almost surreal as the sun set. Fall carnival, a happy time consisting of three days of greasy food, bad sideshow attractions and some of the most rickety rides imaginable... fun. It also meant the carnies were back in force, not a big deal to anyone other than the local merchants getting shoplifted, but it also meant that Ben would be back in town too.

The weather channel forecast a chance of evening rain, by nine o'clock the sky had torn wide open and a severe thunderstorm warning was in full effect with high wind warnings in our area. The leaves were being forced off the trees ready or not by a sideways rain and a few times I thought the trailer would almost be blown over, but by ten o'clock the winds had finally died down and only the rain and occasional crack of thunder remained. "Time for bed Billy", he paused his game and looked up sheepishishly, "Awe mom, do I have to... it's the weekend, there's no school tomorrow and can I PLEASE go to the carnival this year?". His asking always got the same reaction and this time was no different, "We'll see."... "That means no.", he said. "Well how about this, I let you stay up an extra half hour to finish your game, let me think on it tonight and I will let you know in the morning.". I could tell by his look that he was happy for the bed time extension but knew he would not be going to the carnival this year.


I took final measuments today and found that the full size HellRaiser puzzle box that I intended to use was a hair too big for the mod, at 114mm corner to corner it left less than 28mm from each edge, not enough space to work well for the illusion.

Enter HellraiserPuzzleBox.com. first off, for the horror afficianado the site is way cool and secondly, if you want or need an authentic HellRaiser puzzle box they have it.

If you checked out their site you would notice that the 2/3 scale (2") puzzle box is out of stock. I contacted the owner and inquired as to whether they would be getting the 2/3 boxes back in stock and he said no, but he is willing to print out a few sheets of the panels for the 2/3 scale puzzle box so that I can make this mod happen.

The Puzzle Box Shop came through for me and instead of the two sets of box panels I requested Kevin sent three, that will give me an extra chance at building the box correctly and was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Also pictured below is a 12"x10' roll of cherry red chrome mirror metallized vinyl, it is an adhesvie coated metallized PVC film, above it is a 12"x10' roll of Red Multiple Fresnel Lens Metallic Vinyl which may or may not be used in the mod. Last but not least are a couple of cans of black vinyl dye, it will be an important part of the external illusion.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion08m.jpg

The PSU I had intended to use is shown at the top of the picture below, it is pretty small measuring only 7" long, but the PW-200 PSU is absolutely tiny in comparison. I will be losing 40W by using the PW-200 instead of the IN WIN PSU, but it is a fair trade off and 200W will be plenty for this system.

Illusion10m.jpg


Ok, we have covered all the hardware, materials and tools I plan to use for this mod but so far I have not shown anything regarding the actual design, mainly because I did not want to show exactly what I had planned for this mod too soon and spoil everything... and that was actually a good thing because it allowed me a little extra time to rethink certain aspects of it. It is hard to visualize a 3-D object and convert it to 2-D sketches. Below is an early layout design sketch, the placement of parts has changed a bit since I drew it, but you can see that it measured 250mm (or roughly 10") on each side of the cube... too big for my liking.

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I decided that the biggest design problem was the technique I was using and hand sketching this mod was not going to cut it, having heard good things about the program Sketchup I downloaded their 30 day trial and started watching the tutotials. It only took an hour or so to get up to speed and I set to redesigning the whole thing with making it smaller in mind. Enjoy a bit more of the back fiction before I disclose the final(?) design in all its 3-D Sketchuppy goodness...

There was a knock at the front door, knowing that the weather had shut down the festivities early I had a good idea who it was calling at this late hour, I had an equally good idea why he was calling, same as it always was when fall rolled around. Against my better judgement I unlocked and opened the door, just a crack with the chain still on. Lightning flashed as he stood on the porch clutching a trash bag in one hand, "Hello Jen" he said while staring down at his feet, "Christ Ben, why are you here?". Standing in the rain he looked up at me, wet red hair plastered against his forehead, smiling with a slightly wild look in his eyes. I could tell he was digging deep to find just the right thing to say, but instead of the standard 'I missed you' line of wrong answer crap I was expecting he simply asked "Do you have a toolbox?".

Likely it was my having been caught off guard by his unexpected reply coupled with the small voice from the living room asking "Who's there mom?" that made me unlatch the chain and let him in, "Just an old wet friend Billy, why don't you unhook your game and take it into your room to play so we can sit and talk". I waited for his bedroom door to shut before muttering, "It's late, this better be good Ben". I knew it wouldn't be, the last few times he showed up in town ended in argument, although secretly a part of me hoped this time would be different. He set the trash bag on the dining table and took off his jacket, "I'll go get you a towel" I said and turned to head down the hallway... "And your toolbox", he called back. Walking down the hall I heard the sounds of video game action coming from Billys room and the rustling of plastic from the dining room. I grabbed a towel and pulled the toolbox from the top shelf in the bathroom closet and made my way back to the dining room where Ben stood, carefully removing the contents of the trashbag. "Got a Philips screwdriver in there?", he asked as I handed him the towel. "Yes, but how about you tell me what's going on first".


Sketchup, wow that's good stuff. I have never really used any type of design software before but I know it's not supposed to be this easy. I followed the work along tutorials and less than an hour later I was ready to begin designing my computer. I wound up shaving nearly two inches off each side as a result of using the software, here is my "almost" final 8"x8" design sketchup for the mod.

http://www.casemodgod.com/sidemockwindowlcd1.jpg

Below is the view from the other side, the Sketchup designs merely show component placement, the fun part will be connecting it all together... but I have a plan.

http://www.casemodgod.com/sidemockrearhdd1.jpg

Now measuring around 8"x8" it will house two hard drives, a CDRW/DVD drive, a 6" LCD monitor, Matrix Orbital, two 60mm fans, the Mainboard, a TV tuner plus the lighting and illusion... much better.

Enough with the planning, let the modding begin...

Since this mod is being built from the inside out I have to start with the 1/2 wooden cube because it is the innermost part of this mod. The first thing I did was fix the rough cut that using the hand miter box made on the wooden cube, the table disk sander made short work of it.

Illusion19m.jpg


Next up a couple of coats of black enamel spray paint, nothing fancy as it will mostly all be covered up in the next part...

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion20m.jpg

It was a really good thing that Kevin from The Puzzle Box Shop sent me three sets of panels because I wasted a bunch by trying to get the cut exact before I figured out that I was cutting the wrong panel in half. Below is the finished 1/2 puzzle box with the corrected panel placement.

Illusion22m.jpg


Funny how things work out, I built and delivered a computer today to a very cool guy that just happens to own a laser cutter/engraver... he did me a solid and cut out the panels for the illusion section. Below also shows the 1/2 puzzle box atop the freshly cut 2-way mirror, it really looks like a full cube and is nearly seamless.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion25m.jpg
 
I have also been busy typing away at the back story fiction, my short story just keeps getting longer and because of it I have a big chunk to share this time...

ACT 2
He dried his hair, threw the towel around his shoulders and sat down staring at the small black box on the table. There was red lettering on one side that read 'Hell's Illusion', it appeared to be a shadow box with a fancy brass cube inside it but the way Ben was looking at the thing you would have thought it held the cure for cancer. "Well," he began, "about two months back I got promoted from the 'Tilt-A-Whirl' midway ride to the 'Chamber of Oddities" side show attraction as a barker, it's nothing more than a tent with some displays set up in it, mainly jars of glowy colored water and rubber props. The only really good part about the new job is not having to mop barf as often, but this black box was sitting over in the far corner and I never really gave it a second look until this afternoon". He looked up and continued, "Come to think of it though, my first day running the 'Chamber' there was this guy that got to talking about how he was a computer 'modder' and made all these crazy custom machines, said he bought one of those fancy brass boxes like what's inside this thing for cheap off ebay and was going to put a computer inside of it, weird". His gaze returned to the box, "Anyway, there was this older woman today that saw the thing and told me that if I wanted to make a fast two grand I should call her and she gave me this". Ben reached into his shirt pocket and handed me a business card, on it was the name 'Dr. Bethany Chanard', below that was the title 'Professor of Parapsychology' for the state university and a couple of phone numbers.

"I called her cell right before the storm hit, she said she wanted the brass box that is inside this thing and if I got it for her she would pay me. I told her for that kind of cash I would just bring her the whole damned display, but she said that was not an option, that she only wanted the box inside the box or the deal was off. So you let me use your tools to get the thing out and I will cut you in for ten percent, two hundred bills in your pretty little hands just for letting me use your dining room table and a screwdriver." he said looking directly into my eyes. Two hundred was more than I made a week in tips at the local cafe, it was tempting especially for as little work as was involved but my better judgement kicked in, "You stole this thing and want to make me an accessory for a lousy two hundred dollars? I am no thief, criminal or accomplice... I have a child and responsibilities, plus I don't think 'my cut' would even make bail." I replied. Still looking directly at me he said, "She only wants the box inside, that means I can take it out and return the rest of it to the tent... the computer modder guy said he got one of the boxes cheap off ebay so they can evidently order a new one". I thought about it all for a second, "Then why doesn't she just get herself one off of ebay?" I asked.

"Hell Jen, I don't know. Maybe she just really liked the way this particular box looked, I don't personally care. You know what, I will up your cut to five hundred and swear on my soul never to mention your name in this deal, C'mon baby", he pleaded. I hated it when he called me baby, but then five hundred dollars with fall taxes due and the pickup needing a transmission made me start to rethink the whole 'hand over the screwdriver' thing, finally I said "Alright Ben, but you weren't ever here tonight if you get busted for this". I opened the toolbox and handed him the screwdriver, he started right at it furiously working one screw and then the next, "Something else is they both called it a puzzle box." he said as he looked up at me. "They?" I asked, "Yes, the computer guy said it was a puzzle and that he had to open it and today I'm almost sure I remember the old lady called it a puzzle box too.". He had the sides and top off in a matter of minutes with the panels lying scattered across the dining room table, but inside there was no box. It was completely empty except for a couple small lights wired inside the front corners, "Oh, what the hell?!?" Ben exclaimed, "Where did it go?". I picked up one of the panels and turned it toward him, "It does say 'Hell's Illusion' like it's a magic trick or something Ben, maybe it has to be taken apart a certain way." I said putting the panel back down. Ben sat there scratching his head and staring intently as it lie in pieces, noticing the lights wiring he grabbed the base and turned it over, "Or maybe it just needs to be plugged in." he said pointing to the hidden power connector. "But there was no cord attached to it when I grabbed it... they must have unplugged it before the storm hit, I've got to go back."

"Maybe you should put it all back together and see if the box inside even comes back first." I suggested, "There's no sense in going after the power cord if it's broken." He shot me a look "I didn't break it, I just disassembled it." he grumbled as he grabbed the screwdriver and began the task of reassembly. The pieces did not go together quite as easily as they came apart but as soon as the final panel was reattached the box did indeed return. "See, it ain't broken", he set down the screwdriver, shrugged off the towel and head for the front door, "I'll be right back." he said and hastily let himself out leaving his wet jacket and the black box sitting at the dining room table. Hearing the front door close Billy cracked open his bedroom door, "Can I come out now?" he asked, "Sure, bring your game back out to the living room and time for bed after." I replied. He came out and set the game on the stand next to the TV, "Come here and give your mom a hug and kiss goodnight." I said, he started walking toward me and his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the item on the table behind me, "Wow, what's that mom?" he asked.


I concentrated on the side panels for the illusion section, since they will sit flush with the mirror it was necessary to find a pattern that was absolutely symmetrical. Once I finally found and Photoshopped the image I printed it out at high res onto some photo paper and cut it out with an X-Acto knife. I took the triangle pieces of laser cut acrylic and scuffed one side of them with 800 grit sandpaper so that the spray adhesive would have something to make proper contact with and applied the printed images. I then clamped both sides together to make sure that everything would adhere properly.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion26m.jpg

"Angel to some, demon to others"... MC Escher is awesome, serious props (even though it took an assload of image editing to make it look right), the below picture shows the two finished sides with a blow up of the original image in the middle. The Escher image just seemed to fit the theme and it also tied in with the illusion aspect of the mod, so win all around.

Illusion27m.jpg


I had to add a layer of varnish to the puzzle box to keep the images from smearing, before I did though I tested it out on a practice piece... it worked well.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion28m.jpg

I set up my drill press and added a hole to the back of the puzzle box so that it can be screwed onto the mirror panel.

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Below is the test fit of the acrylic panels, I used wood cubes to hold everything in place while I eyeballed it.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion30m.jpg

Once it all lined up I taped the panels together and also taped down the wood blocks on the inside edge to help hold everything together. The edges of the mirror panel were sanded with 80grit as was the connecting edge of each side, I also drilled a hole for the cube in the center of the mirror panel.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion31m.jpg

I ran a thin bead of Weld-On 16 across the edges and attached the side panels, clamped the whole shebang together until it set up and moved onto this next part...

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The bottom panel of the illusion section is carefully covered in the red chrome vinyl stock, care was taken while applying the film so that it lined up well with no trapped air bubbles.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion33m.jpg

The bottom section was attached and below shows the completed illusion section of the mod, I still have a tiny bit of deatil work to do to it but for the most part it is done.

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And finally another shot from a different angle, I like how the box is reflected inside on the red mirror chrome and that it came out measuring exactly to spec... the hard stuff is out of the way, now all that's left is to build the PC around it.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion35m.jpg

I did a little modding today, before I got to it though I totally re-did the Sketchup design to remedy the niggling bits that bothered me... like the fact that I made no allowance for the thickness of the Alum-Angle that will be used for the frame work (stupid Sketchup noob).

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I set up my compound miter saw and using a 200 tooth blade cut some Alum-Angle pieces for the bottom framework...

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion36m.jpg

Below is the test fit of the bottom brace pieces, the adjoining edges will need to be sanded up a bit, but it all lines up really well so far. I put a dollar bill inside the bottom frame to show a size comparison, this mod is not going to be very big...

Illusion37m.jpg


I made the top section of the mod, it is exactly the same as the bottom section...

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion38m.jpg

I also cut the side edge pieces for the mod, the thinner pieces of Alum-Angle will sit to the inside and the thicker pieces will be the outer corner edges of the sides.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion39m.jpg

Here I am test fitting all the cut pieces together, I used wood cubes to hold the side inner braces in place and taped it all together.

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All the parts together that make up the main framing of the case, it is exactly 200mm x 200mm cubed...

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion41m.jpg

Below is the fit together frame with the illusion section set up inside it... looking pretty sweet so far, but there is still much to do. Below is a gratuitous parting shot of the test fit mock-up...

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The 12" subwoofer speaker grill has been sitting inside my mod closet for a while, I ordered it from All Electronics Corp. some time ago and did not have a mod in mind for it... until now.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion44m.jpg

I used a nibbler to cut it to shape and then used a hammer to flatten the corner edges, it fits really nicely beneath the bottom frame.

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I also did a little fine tuning to the pieces that make up the top and bottom sections, I hit them all on the disk sander so that they are all exactly the same size, I also sanded down the edges of the bottom grill section. Below is the second test fit...

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion46m.jpg

Here is the illusion section set up next to the final test fit frame section, I have to hit the hardware store for some wider Alum-Angle tomorrow so I can start placing the hardware.

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After making the bottom of the case I decided to work on figuring how best to mount the motherboard, then I remembered the sheet of scrap carbon fiber that my brother had given me.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion48m.jpg

I measured and cut the carbon fiber to fit snugly within the inside edges of the cube, below is the test fit of the motherboard tray.

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Here it is from the inside, the carbon fiber only looks good on one side and that side faces the outside...

]http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion50m.jpg

Below is a test fit of the motherboard within the cube, it fits real nice...

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While the MB was in I also popped in the TV tuner card and marked the case material to be removed to make room for it, so far things are falling into place really good.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion52m.jpg

Speaking of things falling into place, take a good look at the picture below because it is a fluke... it was not measured for or planned into the mod and I only put it in to find placement for the MB, but the rear panel cut-out fits perfectly within the side panel of the mod. Since it fits so nicely I have decided to use it, this may or may not affect placement of the CDRW/DVD drive... but I don't care, it's an omen.

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I masked off the shiny side of the carbon fiber and the mother board screw positions were marked onto the carbon fiber using a silver Sharpie marker. I drilled the holes using a 13/64 bit... why 13/64 you ask?

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion54m.jpg

Because 13/64 is the diameter needed to allow an aluminum binding post to pass through. After days of thinking I finally decided the best way to mount the mother board to the tray would be to use the posts mainly because they are as thin as a single layer of Alum-Angle. Below shows the aluminum binding posts (of which I only need the female half), four filister screws and eight rubber grommets.

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Here is the mother board installed onto the freshly made tray, it was placed into the case for a test fit and everything almost lines up. The screw in the lower left sits smack on top of an aluminum support that will have to be notched out, but I knew that before I even cut the carbon fiber so no big deal.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion55m.jpg

Below is a close-up of the mounting method, it is not set in stone and I have another idea I plan to test using nylon washers with the rubber grommets, but for now it is good enough.

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The backside of the mother board tray was pretty nasty looking, nothing that a couple coats of vinyl dye couldn't cure. The vinyl dye does double duty by preventing any light from shining back into the mod.

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Below shows the back sides of the aluminum binding posts on the MB tray, I also made a notch at the top of the carbon fiber panel so that lighting can be wired into the back.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion59m.jpg

A shot of the finished vinyl dyed mother board tray with the binding posts, rubber grommets and filister screws.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion60m.jpg
 
Oh, and just in case anybody is following along with the fiction here is an update to the story...

ACT 3
The four block walk back made me start to think that I might have offered up too much, what was I thinking? My fifteen hundred dollar payday for a couple of hours work wasn't bad, but then Jen would have probably settled for less than five hundred... flipping stupid. Whatever, she was always good for a romp and this payday should at the least make that part of it all the more special. I walked onto the carnival grounds from the side street closest to the "Chamber of Oddities" and made my way inside the tent, it was pitch dark inside and a flashlight would have helped but slowly I worked my way to the back corner. I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled beneath the display table feeling for the cord, a few seconds later I had found it and and followed its length upward but could not quite feel my way to the plug end, impatiently I gave it a good yank to try and free it from the outlet. There was a loud crash and then broken glass and sparks as the six outlet power bar ripped from the tent wall and fell squarely onto the jars of water and rubber props sitting on the table above me, I should have probably let go of the end of the cord when the water began pouring off the table onto me, such is hindsight. Every muscle in my body tensed and tightened as the the electricity coursed through me, I caught a quick waft of burnt flesh and then everything went dark.

I tried to move my arms but couldn't and my hands felt numb, opening my eyes the intensity of the light was overwhelming, I tried to scream but a low raspy noise emanated from my lungs instead. A rush of fear and pain... where am I? There are tubes coming out of my nose and neck, I could feel tubes in other spots too... bad shit. "He's coming to", a womans voice from behind me said and I heard a door open. A man in a suit stood over me, "Nod your head if you can understand me." he said, I did and nodded. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say...", the woman cut him short, "Why don't you give us a few minutes before you grill him, we do have set procedures." she said. No, no, no, not the cops... Jen must have freaked out after I left and called them, how else would they have known I had stolen the illusion box or done anything wrong, she sold me out that bitch. "We have set procedures too." replied the man in the suit as he turned to walk away, "You make sure to let me know the minute you finish with him". I heard the door close again and she stood over me "You are lucky to be alive, you must have laid there for hours before they found you. You actually died twice on the table and the doctors brought you back, the last time you swallowed your tongue in a fit of convulsions, you truly are lucky". I did not feel lucky, I couldn't move with my arms and legs shackled to the bed, I could not talk or think straight, the words kept repeating in my head... right to remain silent, like I had a choice.

The doctors came in and ran their tests, as they poked and prodded me they spoke of how remarkable it was that I was so responsive after spending three days in a coma. It did not feel like I had been out for three days, more like a long nights sleep with a lot of restless dreams. There were a couple abrupt points in the dream that felt entirely out of place and both times I found myself lost and wandering through the same series of labyrinthine stone corridors, the moist smell of rot and decay was over powered by the howls and tormented screams of the unseen echoing across the dank decrepit halls... I peered around a corner to see a man dressed entirely in black, there were nails in his head and face and he held a puzzle box in one hand, he was laughing. The rest of the dream as much as I could remember was mostly of the carnival and the events that led up to my current situation. The doctors had finally finished with me, the door closed as they left and opened again as the man in the suit returned. He held a plastic bag in front of me, inside it was the Hell's Illusion display. "Are you familiar with this item?" he asked, of course I was... my fingerprints were all over it, but as I looked closer I noticed that the puzzle box was missing from inside the display box and also that there was blood pooled inside the bottom corner of the evidence bag.


I worked on the project for a few hours today, hands on assembly revealed a design flaw and the side mounted HDD now sits vertically as a result... this also affected the placement of the fans since there is no longer room on the side to mount them with the hard drive positioned this way. The illusion section sits above the HDD with the MB tray showing in the back.

Illusion61m.jpg


Below shows the hard drive in its new position and the motherboard plate, I placed the illusion section inside the mod to get a feel for the parts placement.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion62m.jpg

Money shot... the slim line CDRW/DVD drive that is sitting atop the mod in the picture below will actually be mounted in its new location just above the illusion section and below the Alum-Angle front edge.

Illusion63m.jpg


This is the side where the 6" LCD and Matrix Orbital will be located, designing the Alum-Angle framework for this mod is not easy, it is a puzzle in itself and the pieces being fit together do not exist until I make them... I am not complaining as I enjoy the challenge.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion64m.jpg

A shot of the backside showing the position of the MB tray, the top notch will be used to wire lighting behind the mother board tray. So far this whole thing is being held together entirely by Duct tape, I bought some J-B Quick and will set to removing the tape and making it all permanent as soon as I am done marking and cutting the Alum pieces that need it.

Illusion65m.jpg


Below is just to show positioning, the CDRW/DVD drive and 60mm fans will be positioned exactly below their current placement, moving the fans fron the side to the top makes better sense anyway since they will be located where they can best remove heat from the side HDD and 6" LCD.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion66m.jpg

So here's where I'm at, I will be building a cube framework around the illusion section that will also house the CDRW/DVD drive, it will need to be removeable in one piece to allow access to the mother board and rear of the 6" LCD... as always, I have a plan. I also need to frame out the 6" LCD/Matrix Orbital side with some Alum-Angle and figure out final positioning.

Illusion67m.jpg


STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
Oh boy, if this one turns out half as good as your previous mod, it'll be enough to make me crap on my pants! :eek:
You work is amazing, and I'm following you story too... can't get any better than this, a cool story and a kick-ass mod :D

/subscribed
 
mashie said:
Cool, did you get inspired by Envador's Mystery box?

No, I hadn't seen that mod by Envador, it looks really cool though and thanks for the link. The inspirstion for this mod came directly from one of these banks, I had one when I was a kid.

Thanks everyone for the positive response, when I get off work I plan to start right back at it.
 
Man, looking at that first pic of the illusion box, I had to stare at it for like 5 minutes to figure out where the seam was, and that was AFTER I had seen the work-in-progress pics. Very well done. I'll be watching this one for sure.
 
I bought all those big expensive table top tools and they rock, but sometimes you need to kick it old school and when that happens you break out the nibbler, Dremel and file. Back to basics, because there is no good way to mount a slim line slot load CDRW/DVD into a custom mod... there, I said it. I used the same drive in my last mod and there was no good way to mount it then, nothing has changed.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion68m.jpg

I decided to make a tray for the drive, my first design involved J-B Welding stuff onto the drive and I might want to upgrade to a slim slot load DVD burner later so that wouldn't work. Below are the cut pieces of Alum-Angle for the tray, I also cut a piece of some plastic mesh I had laying around for the middle section to allow air in and also because it looks neat.

Illusion69m.jpg


I tested the tray against a forty-five degree angle ruler in preperation for J-B'ing it all together. J-B Quick, Skinny Sticks and lacquer thinner... sounds like a party.

http://www.casemodgod.com/modules/Illusion71m.jpg

The connecting edges of the Alum-Angle CD tray were coarse sanded and cleaned with laquer thinner, the J-B Quick was mixed and applied to hold it all together.

Illusion72m.jpg


J-B quick is freaking awesome, strong stuff and building the CD tray with it was the true test for the rest. Hand pressure is enough to make the J-B hold, no need for clamps and it is set in four minutes.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion73m.jpg

Below is the finished CD tray duct taped into place within the mod, everything lines up and fits perfectly.

Illusion74m.jpg


And finally a test fit of the drive, it fits sweet. Designing the CD tray has been a three day ordeal consisting of a lot of head scratching, parts cutting and rethinking, I'm glad it's over.

http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion75m.jpg

STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU
 
With the CD-ROM tray finished it is off to another side of the cube, this time we will concentrate on the LCD and Matrix Orbital side, figuring out how to mount these components was a lot easier that the slim CDRD/DVD, below shows the test fit.

Illusion77m.jpg


The parts fit to size and ready for some J-B Quick...

Illusion78m.jpg


Here is the final design for the mounting of the 6" LCD screen, I used thumbscrews because they fit in and look killer.

Illusion79m.jpg


The thumbscrews fit into some shiny steel standoffs that have had the screw section removed with the Dremel. There is still a small amount of cutting to do but I plan to J-B the whole shebang together by the end of this week.

Illusion80m.jpg


STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
Wheres the rest of the story? That's as good as the mod itself, and the suspense is killing me!
 
joshmxpx said:
Wheres the rest of the story? That's as good as the mod itself, and the suspense is killing me!

Thanks for that, I didn't think anyone was reading it. I have to write the rest of the story, I have been doing the mod while writing the fiction... lately mostly modding. There are only a couple parts left to the story and the mod is at about halfway, I want it all to wrap up at the same time.

Below is a picture showing one of the banks that this mod is based on sitting atop the mod in progress. Notice how tightly the illusion section fits in beneath the CD-ROM tray, when I am completely finished I will take some pictures to highlight the extremely close tolerances within the case.

Illusion81m.jpg
 
So who was killed? The Woman, Jen? Did Billy see it happen?
Whats going to happen to Ben?

The Story is awesome, makes the mod even better!

Also, that Box in your mod, looks so real! I mean looks like it is 6 Full sides with shadow and everything! AWESOME!
 
awesome looking case. haven't read the story, but because of the glowing reviews (all 2 of them :p) i may have to...

keep up the good work!

the black knight always triumphs!
 
Cool beans that you are following along with the story Majin... I will get back to writing it.

I have been busy at it the last couple of days, below shows the final test fit of the parts ready for install. The deisgn has been simplified and any Alum-Angle pieces that do not absolutely have to be attached to the frame have been removed to allow easier parts access... it all fits toight like a toiger.

Illusion82m.jpg


I made a cut-out for the TV tuner card, not the cleanest cuts ever but I plan to do some filing to the whole thing before I J-B weld it together... http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion83m.jpg

The picture below shows the LCD positioned and ready for final install, it also shows the two 60mm fans placed below the CD ROM tray awaitng some form of mounting method.

Illusion84m.jpg


The following picture more clearly shows the fan placement, but still not mounted... http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion85m.jpg

So, here is what I came up with... http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion86m.jpg

And the view from the other side... http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion87m.jpg

Here they are as they will sit when finished, the cut-outs for the fans are not perfect but I will fix that before the final install, for now I am more interested in being sure it all fits together.

Illusion88m.jpg


Mod it Til it... um, yeah. The damned thing bit me, fresh cut Alum-Angle is sharp and I did not even notice until I saw this... http://www.casemodgod.com/Illusion89m.jpg

I drilled out all the mounting holes for both hard drives, they will be attached using the screw holes on the undersides of the drives...

Illusion90m.jpg


Finally a test fit of HDD placement, the drives shown below are just dummy drives being used to test fit and will not be used in the mod. Everything has been test fit and all the cutting and drilling to the frame is finished, just a small bit of filing and I can begin J-B'ing the sections together... I might just make my self imposed weekend deadline, which is good because the Duct tape is really starting to wear out.

Illusion91m.jpg


STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
AWESOME MOD!!! who cares it is not an Athlon X3 with a GeForce9000 (hmm, a green theme).

I can't wait to see how you make the ouside of the case look.

Also, I take it that once you build it, it will be near impossible to change/upgrade parts like a HD or the fans or the Mobo (everything looks so crammed).

Oh, and the trick-window? Amazing. This case will be a clasic! In my book, you are up there with CrimsonSky, ZapWizard, Mashie, and very few others.
 
Ozone77 said:
Also, I take it that once you build it, it will be near impossible to change/upgrade parts like a HD or the fans or the Mobo (everything looks so crammed).

I built my last mod so that everything could be easily removed and upgraded within it and that was pretty hard, dealing with the space limitations within that mod was easy when compared to this project. This mod is downright cramped and I still have parts to add (custom 40 LED lighting, MB back lighting, illusion section lighting and the like) but everything will be removeable and upgradeable, from the illusion section and side panels to every piece of hardware... including the fans. Upgrading the MB would require removing the illusion section, both HDD's and the 6" LCD, so that would not be easy... but it can be done, everything else comes out like butter.

Ozone77 said:
Oh, and the trick-window? Amazing. This case will be a clasic! In my book, you are up there with CrimsonSky, ZapWizard, Mashie, and very few others.

Thanks for that, I was trying to be original with this mod and once I made the illusion box section I knew that the entire mod was going to work. Mentioning CrimsonSky and Mashie along with the trick window in the same post reminds me that I never really went into detail when "Oh snap" happened on page 1 and my mod was deemed "almost exactly like the Mystery Box by Envador!"... well I had a look at his mod and like it, but my mod is NOT like his (at all).

I cannot be sure but it looks to me that he used either a glass mirror or has his box mounted to the wrong side of mirrored polycarbonate, I assume this because of the gap between the box and the reflective surface and I also reckon that is the reason there are dividing lines on the box that appear to cut it into 8 pieces. With a real mirror there is a gap that shows between the backpainted reflective material and the thickness of the glass and it reflects a bit of the backside of the object being attached as a result. 2-way mirror is different in that the reflective is directly on one side of it and if the object to be reflected is attached to that side (when done right) it can appear seamless.

Envadors mod is cool in my book and if he had inspired any part of what I am doing here I would have no problem crediting him as an influence, but he didn't... oh snap.
 
Hahaha,

I never saw Envador's box before, I think he did the grooves on the cube to hide the mirror/cube seam, so yeah, in essence, it is the same kind of trick.
What makes yours amazing is that the window is so large that makes one think that the puzzle is floating in the middle of an empty box.
 
Ozone77 said:
What makes yours amazing is that the window is so large that makes one think that the puzzle is floating in the middle of an empty box.

That is EXACTLY the effect I'm shooting for... thanks again.
 
It's been a week since we last heard about Jen and Ben...

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, the case looks amazing!
 
This mod has not been abandoned, I have actually been working on it almost every day since my last post. The cool part/bad thing about this mod is that everything sits so tightly next to everything else, when it is completely assembled you can't fit a fart in between some of the components. The space limitations were made evident when I mounted the Matrix Orbital, both HDD's, the MB tray and 6" LCD... not a lot of play. I disassembled the entire thing, removed all the duct tape and began sanding and filing the pieces that mate up in preperation for bonding them together with JB Quick.

Illusion92m.jpg


After sanding and filing the peces were cleaned with Laquer thinner to remove any dirt or oils and then JB welded together. Below shows the base assembled.

Illusion93m.jpg


After the base I started JB welding in the corner supports, the blocks are there to help me keep everything square for the four minutes that the JB Quick takes to set up.

Illusion94m.jpg


All the corner braces are installed and it is finally tarting to shape up and look like something...

Illusion95m.jpg


Next I mounted the slim CD-ROM tray to the top Alum Angle pieces for the mod and then attached the whole thing onto the corner braces, as shown below.

Illusion96m.jpg


I had to put the illusion section into the freshly built frame, mainly to see how it looked sans duct tape but also because things seem a hair tighter after removing the tape and gluing it together...

Illusion97m.jpg


I mount the Matrix Orbital and the 6" LCD in their final position in the side... looking good so far.

Illusion101m.jpg


Below shows the back of the mod where all the mainboard connections are and where the second hard drive will be mounted. It also shows a mistake... the top fans are too close together to allow an IDE or power cable onto the CD-ROM drive, not a big a deal as I already have a plan to fix it.

Illusion100m.jpg


Below is the fix... move the fans as close to the edges as possible without interfering with any other components, doing so required the removal of the fan grills from the inside of the mod, goodbye to dead weight any way.

Illusion102m.jpg


The slim CD-ROM had to be elevated, the power connector for the CD drive sat smack dab inside the fan for the processor and it would have prevent it from working at all, the fix is shown below... elevate the drive and cut into the frame equates to problem solved.

Illusion103m.jpg


More of the back story fiction will be coming soon...

STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
Ok, from where we left off... I drilled some holes in the top for four screws that will hold the top on and added decorative brass corners to the mod. The brass corners will not be seen in the final mod, as such they're not being used decoratively they instead provide an extra level of structural support to the framing.

Illusion104m.jpg


A friend from work that has been following the work log mentioned that I have not been including enough shots of the mod in the log, so to make him happy here is the LCD/M.O. side of the mod...

Illusion105m.jpg


Next, the back of the mod... all the cables for the mod will reside on this side, I also cut out for the power connector. I am considering putting the power and reset switch on this side as well, I will make my final switch location decision when the switches I ordered from allelectronics.com arrive.

Illusion106m.jpg


Below is the view from the back of the motherboard tray, also notice that I sleeved the cables to the 60mm fans... totally decent sleeve job, they look sweet.

Illusion107m.jpg


Lastly a shot of the bottom showing the underside of the CD-ROM tray... this is where the home grown lighting for the mod will reside.

Illusion108m.jpg


Time to make some lighting, below shows most of the tools and materials used. Wire, heat shrink tubing, soldering iron and solder, X-Acto knife, electricians scissors, Sharpie marker and drumroll please... a 40 LED red automotive brakelight strip.

Illusion109m.jpg


I am skipping a bunch of steps as far as pictures go, but it is all really simple. First I divided the brake strip into fourths and marked it with a Sharpie, next I broke out the dremel and cut the strip into 4 equal pieces. Using the X-Acto knife I scraped back the traces at the cut edges to expose the copper lines and soldered a short piece of wire to each one. Once one section was wired up I connected it to the next, and so on until it was done. The back side of the lighting was given a nice thick coating of liquid electrical tape and was left to sit and dry.

Illusion110m.jpg


Test firing the lights, I spot soldered a wired four pin molex connector to the backside of the lights and plugged it into my test PSU to make sure that they worked before moving on to the next part...

Illusion111m.jpg


I bought a Logisys remote from Xoxide, it was supposed to come with 2 remotes but mine only had one... but that is ok, I only need one. I removed the PCB from the black plastic casing, wired it to the lights and zip tied the whole shebang to the underside of the CD-ROM tray.

Illusion112m.jpg


Time for the final test fire, the picture below was taken with the camera flash on and does not show how bright the 40 LED's actually are...

Illusion113m.jpg


The flash off shot below shows the lighting effect a little better... the lights point directly toward the location of the motherboard and TV tuner card and give off a creepy red glow.

Illusion114m.jpg


STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
The mod looks cool so far, and I really like the puzzlebox mirror.

How do those types of soldering irons work? I've heard mixed opinions, that they're really finicky to get to work and such.
 
Hinokagutsuchi said:
The mod looks cool so far, and I really like the puzzlebox mirror.

How do those types of soldering irons work? I've heard mixed opinions, that they're really finicky to get to work and such.

and you can't solder on pcb.....


I have some alum-angle laying around and was thinking of mod ideas but couldn't think of anything good, but this is awsome, expecally the lcd and the box.
 
Thanks for the replies.

The cold heat soldering iron kind of sucks... good for the little things but I would not want to have to try anything tricky with it. The 6" LCD is from PartsExpress, it is a little pricey but it is high quality (I have one in every system I own). Ok, back to the modding...

I ordered some speaker grills from AllElectronics.com and cut them to fit over top of the fans, they didn't have to be perfect since they won't really be seen, but they came out well.

Illusion115m.jpg


I also spray painted the motherboard device panel piece black, I still have to polish it up but that will have to wait until I am closer to throwing hardware.

Illusion116m.jpg


Below is the 6" LCD/Matrix Orbital side of the mod, I cut (with a nibbler) and filed a hole in the upper left corner and another at the center of the bottom, filing circles by eye is not easy (sucks actually), but as you can see they are pretty round.

Illusion117m.jpg


The bottom circle cutout is for the IR reciever from the TV tuner card, without it the remote is useless so it had to be there... but then again it really is the best spot for it.

Illusion118m.jpg


I blame AllElectronics.com for the hole in the top left corner, $46 for a pinhole camera w/mic means I have something else to cram into the mod... not a problem, I fit it in.

Illusion120m.jpg


So now that I have a video camera going into it the mod will also be able to pull security duty on top of all the other things I have planned for it, I'm going big while still keeping things really small and after coming this far I have a new found respect for mini-ITX modders.

Illusion119m.jpg


STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
I plan to illuminate the interior of the illusion section using three white 3mm LEDs that will be connected to the LED breakout from the Matrix Orbital display. I drilled three evenly spaced holes into the bottom panel of the illusion section and then used the Dremel with a grinding bit to make the holes large enough to fit some 3mm LED clip holders.

Illusion126m.jpg


Below shows the illusion section bottom panel with the LED clip holders installed, I also filed down three white LEDs and they are placed into the clip holders to test for fit, the left side of the picture shows the Matrix Orbital LED display... pre-modified.

Illusion127m.jpg


Ok, the idea is to make the illusion section completely removable which means that the LED's and Matrix Orbital breakout PCB will have to be attached directly to it.

Illusion121m.jpg


In the pictures above and below you can see the Alum-angle that I cut, nibbled and filed into submission and then JB-welded to the bottom of the illusion section.

Illusion122m.jpg


Here is a side shot of the magic, the illusion section will sit directly over the lower hard drive and will lock into place above it... Alum-angle is indispensable, easy to work with and fairly priced stuff, the cuts here were all made with a nibbler and cleaned up with a file.

Illusion123m.jpg


Below is a back down shot that shows the hole I cut in the back to allow for the LED wiring to pass through, and yes the protective film is still on the back of the 2-way mirror.

Illusion124m.jpg
 
What time is it? Time for some serious wiring and cable beautification... Wheeee! The sleeved power button is at the top of the image below, the wired and sleeved LED breakout for the Matrix Orbital sits below it and a custom sleeved and vinyl dyed molex Y-splitter cable rounds things out on bottom.

Illusion128m.jpg


Here is the Matrix Orbital LED PCB all wired up and test fit into place, at this point I'm still thinking out how best to mount the PCB to the illusion section...

Illusion130m.jpg


A view of the illusion section upside down with the reflected LED's shown positioned within their clip holders, just throwing it out because it looks so damned cool...

Illusion125m.jpg


Here is the mounting method I came up with for the Matrix Orbital LED PCB, basically it is a strip of door edge molding that has been JB-welded to a piece of Alum-angle and the PCB sits snugly inside of it.

Illusion131m.jpg


This next picture might clear up any questions about the mounting method, it clearly shows the short piece of Alum-angle that I used to mount the door edge molding and PCB to as well as the wiring beneath.

Illusion132m.jpg


Close up shot of the LED break out, the solder job is entirely newb looking but based on past experience will work. I have a variable temp soldering station on order and it should be here soon... hopefully it will help me solder better ;P.

Illusion133m.jpg


I used liquid electrical tape to hold the sleeved 3mm LED's in position, this was necessary... otherwise they just kept popping out of the clip holders.

Illusion134m.jpg


With the illusion section all wired up it is time for the final test fit, I also added a couple of cut pieces of flat Alum-angle to the framework at the bottom to keep the illusion section from moving around and also keep it centered within the mod.

Illusion135m.jpg


STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
kinda off topic... sweet mod so far... but does that cold heat thing really work like it does on tv... or you smart enough to not test its cooldown haha...
 
atherton213 - The cold heat soldering iron does cool down as fast as they claim on TV and I have touched it to test... but the thing is not all it's cracked up to be and is really more a novelty than anything else.

Splurge-thirty PM... Since the mod will for the most part be used as an HTPC the parts below just make sense, on top is the slim line slot load DVD burner that I found online for less than $100 (bargain) and the wireless RF keyboard/air mouse combo I picked up for under $80.

Illusion136m.jpg


I wired up three 3mm red LED's to illuminate the backside of the carbon fiber motherboard tray, when this side is is entirely finished and the back painted panel is installed the lighting should produce a pretty cool effect.

Illusion137m.jpg


You can kind of see it in the picture above but the one below shows it better, I installed a piece of aluminum flashing overtop of the 3mm LED's in an effort to make sure that the red lighting will not bleed through the outer black back painted panel. The flashing got the sand and clean treatment and some JB-Quick was used to hold it down, once that was all good and dry a dollop of some liquid electrical tape was used to keep the LED wiring in place.

Illusion138m.jpg


I hate sleeving cables, it is one of the most boring and non-creative parts of modding... if the cables were all hidden I would have maybe skipped the Flexo sleeve and heat shrink, but since most of the wiring will show I decided to sleeve everything. From left to right in the picture below, first up is a custom cable created to plug into a PSU molex and power the top lighting and pinhole camera surveillance system. The next two cables are actually mates, the top cable utilizes a 2.1mm plug and a standard fan plug that will draw power from outside the case for the 6" LCD and the cable beneath it will run from that cable to the back of the LCD module.

Illusion139m.jpg


I added a power connector and sleeving to my home brewed remote controlled case lighting and also sleeved up the three LED cluster to the back, it's all about being consistent and that's the best part about being anal... attention to detail.

Illusion140m.jpg


Next up on the agenda is a little cable management for the mini PSU... lol, get it? A "little" cable management... the PSU is little. Whatever then, on with the mod...

Illusion141m.jpg


First up is de-soldering the wiring from the power connector leads to prep it for sleeving, basically heat them up and tug them off... so no big deal there. If you look closely at the PSU you can see the two sleeved power leads I added to the power supply to power the lights for the mod.

Illusion142m.jpg


If you did not see the sleeved add on wiring in the picture above then check out the one below as it shows them both much better, they will power the remote lighting and the back LED's.

Illusion143m.jpg


Fast forward to the finished product, if you want to compare before and after shots the original un-modded PSU is three pictures up... it looked ok as-is but it is so much sweeter this way.

Illusion144m.jpg


The thing looks so nice I thought I would shoot you another view from a different angle, give y'all a little sum-sum for the ride home because I know you think it's sexy... don't you? You want to smack it on the backside and call it naughty names... and who could blame you. Admit it, you do... right? Um, ok... whatever, me neither then. The finished product does look entirely nice though, I'm glad now that I sleeved it and did not just cheese out and leave it as was.

Illusion145m.jpg


I'm now ready to start throwing all the hardware into the case, everything is sleeved up and itching to be installed. Do or die time, the moment of truth is at hand... wish me luck.

STAY TUNED, I HAVE SUCH SIGHTS TO SHOW YOU.
 
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