miniG5ized

WOW, you're a genius ;)

I wasn't sure about the wires, but they're growing on me. I am not liking the position of the buttons though... a little too low, they're dipping down along the curve of the plex. Maybe a little higher? (I know this means making the front cover over... :( sorry)
 
Yup I agree on the buttons but it was a sacrifice I had to make. The buttons are thicker than I thought. I didn't leave enough room from the plexi to the case. I had to put them somewhere that wouldn't hit the case and that was the best place. Also the case will be on my desk so getting to the buttons won't be a problem. Believe me this front faceplate had so much planning to make everything fit and look good. The placement of the fan controller took me a long time to figure out. I just need to make a new metal faceplate for it and it should fit in better.
 
I changed the fan controller faceplate. Let me know what you think.

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Looks pretty damned nice. I wouldn't say it really looks like a Sentinel. I like the flow of the cables and the shape of the bus cover is nice as it kind of accentuates these curves, helping to break up the squareness of the front.
 
miazmaticdotcom said:
Where were you going to put the optical drive?
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It's mounted facing the top, disks eject from the top of the case.

Thats a really bitching case, when I first saw you cutting up the G5 I kind of freaked, "WTF is this guy doing to it?!" is pretty much what went through my mine. :)
 
CrimandEvil said:
Thats a really bitching case, when I first saw you cutting up the G5 I kind of freaked, "WTF is this guy doing to it?!" is pretty much what went through my mine. :)
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You and everybody else...There's crow being served all around. Get it while the gettin's good!
 
I really liked the idea of using fonts to create some design aspects for this case. So i decided to use it more throughout the case. Also since the serif fonts looks so organic I think it`ll help the case from looking to cold. The plexi work on the inside made it look cold and that is something I want to get away from. Since that top fan grill is too busy for this case I decided to change it and while I`m at it to also create a fan grill for the psu intake hole too. So here is a fan grill I came up with in Illustrator to cover both of them. Let me know what you think. It`ll be cutout of brushed aluminum of course

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Look's great man. This thread is in my links toolbar in Firefox.
 
Got the new fan grill done and I have to say I like it better than the other one. It looks much simpler and cleaner. Here are the few photos of the process of making it. Sorry I just kept fogetting to take pics.

After cutting out the fan grill from the aluminum I had to find a way to mount it. So i decided to use clear plexi epoxied to the aluminum to hold it in place. Here is the bottom plexi being ready to cut out.
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Here it is done. Sorry but just use your imagination to get to this step. No more pics of in between.
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Then I decided to frost the front plexi to make it look cleaner and blend in the wires of the front better.

Here is the front taped off and ready to be sprayed.
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and here is what i used to give it a frosted look. I wanna thank Kestrel from Austin Modders for showing me this technique. Thanx bud.
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Here it is done. I frosted the plexi from the back to give it this look. It looks frosted but still looks shiny because of the plexi. Gives it this pretty cool illusion.
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and in place. Looks much cleaner.
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Yup more than likely i will but the knobs of the fan controller light up already. So I`m going to see how good they are at lighting the front first. If it does a poor job I`m going to add white leds behind the fan controller faceplate to light up the plexi.
 
Out-fucking-standing. I didn't really like the old fan grill thing, it seemed a bit awkward, but didn't want to say anything since you seemed to like it. the new grill adds enormously to the case. The frosted front will look great if illuminated blue or white. Maybe even white at the top, blue at the bottom?

BTW, I hope you are entering this into some contests when finished.
 
and to think, people were saying you killed an apple case when you showed those first carnage shots :eek:

But now look at it :D
 
Crimson Tear said:
I didn't really like the old fan grill thing, it seemed a bit awkward, but didn't want to say anything since you seemed to like it.
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Just the opposite here, I liked the old fan grills. But, I can see how the new one fits better into the theme of this case. Perhaps you or someone else can use the suspended fan grills for a future mod. In any case, nice proof of concept :)
 
Oh no doubt I'll use those cable fan grills on another project. They look too good not to. :D I can already imagine a whole case with that cable theme.
 
Looks really good so far. Can't wait to see the finished product.
 
Yeah, I've been following this one closely. This case actually inspired me to find myself a G5 case to put my computer in. Keep up the good work!
 
I love it.

But one thing that really bugs me, the way you cut the G5. I can still see the cut VERY clearly- Is there going to be anything to cover/smooth it out?

Great job tho man.
 
Yup I'll hide some of them and make others as a design aspect. I'll get to the seams whenever I get to the detail work when finishing up the case.
 
Not much of an update today. I did a lot of clean up work. Like filing edges and sanding things.

Here is the back fan sanded and polished. I also got the fan blades painted silver but forgot to take the pic of it assembled.
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I didn`t get much done because this showed up in the mail. I was going to use it as a sidekick to this case but its just too big. I`m going to put another pc in it. I`m going to polish the inner shell with the bench grinder I got for christmas. :D :D I just need to purchase polishing wheels for it. Just imagine the inside polished to a mirror finish. I get all giddy just thinking about it. Oh yea I will need to get rid of that apple.
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Here is my bench grinder minus the polishing wheel. Hopefully I don`t get too distracted by my new case.
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good idea on getting rid of the apple, other than that everything still looking sick :)
 
i have learned from personal experience, that any thing less that a 1 hp bench grinder wont really suffice for polishing , it isnt really speed that is needed rather it needs torque, it will take quite some time to polish any thing with it because it will keep slowing down, polishers, have big massive moters, that are capable of keeping the RPMs up... by all means try it, but , try it on something you dont want messed up first, when the RPMs drop it will tend burn what your working on...

thore
 
Cool thanx for the info thore. That helps me out a lot. I`ll try it out and if it doesnt work I`m going to buy a proper bench buffer.
 
Thore I had to go see if the bench grinder was good enough to polish and it was. Pics are below.

K today no actual modding was done but the rewards of modding was achieved. :D

First I had to see how good the bench grinder does at polishing. So i went out to sears and bought a 6in polishing wheel with two compounds, It came out pretty darn good. Only the middle was polished hence the sanding marks on the edges. I can`t wait till I start polishing that G4 cube.
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Finally here is what I wanted to show you guys. I went and brought a spare psu because I just wanted to see how the front looked lit up with the leds from the fan controller. My jaw dropped when it lit up too. :D I don`t mean to sound arrogant but even I have to admit it freaking looks awesome. :D These pics were taken in a semi-lit room. Imagine how it`ll look in a dark room.
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This is one of two messages I have posted on this forum, I just had to, this case is by far the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen.
PLEASE, PLEEEAAASSSEE bring it to Quakecon this year, I would love to see it. I live in Canada, and go to Quakecon every year, make my trip worth it and enter that beauty into the case mod competition!
 
Oh no doubt this is going to quakecon. I brought my other two machines last quakecon and I need to follow up with something new. :D
Thanx man.
 
ScHpAnKy said:
More pics of the stang :cool:
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I would if it was mine. :p

EDIT: Sorry guys but for some reason my server is acting up. If the pics don`t load just keep reloading the page.
 
very nice... man where do you keep getting all the apple cases?! some guy on here tried to sell me a bunged up one for like $90 plus shipping and that's the only one i've seen...
 
Fanatik said:
EDIT: Sorry guys but for some reason my server is acting up. If the pics don`t load just keep reloading the page.
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Or if you right click on the X's that show up and then click "Show Picture". Thats what ive been doing at it seems to work.

That case is incredible man, one of the best ive seen. I love the cable looking wiring in the front, very clean and original. The radiator duct is a piece of artwork in its own, your plexi fabrication skills amaze me! Ive done some work with it in the past, and I can only imagine how much of a pain it is to get all of those peices to fit together right, and look so good.

I honestly think this case belongs in a museum once you get tired of taking it to lanparties ;)
 
most excellent work. makes me think of Project Orac (bit-tech.net). /me subscribing
 
Thanx guys. This case is turning out better than I could imagine and the funny part is that most of this stuff wasn't planned. I'm just designing as I go. The only things that are really planned was the cutting of the case, the front and back plexi, the rad duct and the cable management. Everything else is being designed and created as I go. The aluminum behind the plexi, the fan grill(s), the front with the cables and frost, the metal cutouts; All of it wasn't really planned. We'll see how it turns out.
Double Jesus said:
very nice... man where do you keep getting all the apple cases?! some guy on here tried to sell me a bunged up one for like $90 plus shipping and that's the only one i've seen...
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I got the g5 from ebay and the g4 cube from a forum member on anandtech. Just keep an eye out on ebay and check the for sale sections on forums.
 
Damn.. amazing job there.

I got just myself a dremel, hoping that I'll learn to use it aswell as you people. ;)
 
goddamn that looks nice, props to your skills too, you mold plexi and aluminum like it's clay :p
 
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