Project: CaseNuke

[exile29]

Hey everybody!
Well, I started my first major case mod this weekend. I am building a PC for my son (X-Mas gift) and I thought it should come in a badass case. So, we sat down and came up with the CaseNuke. We wanted a military look to it. We'll see what we end up with.
Without further ado...
Manufacturer's pic. I forgot to shoot one before we ripped it apart.
It's a great case for only 35.00 US.

Okay. Here is Jr. making his first cut ever with a Dremel. Top blowhole.

Side window all ready to go...

The bare bones. I didn't want to pull everything apart.

Here is the front bez. As you can see, we had to move the media ports because of the intake. I figured that since we aren't going to use a floppy, we'll just use one of the bays instead. We also have to move the LEDs and replace the power button with something a little more interesting. This means BONDO! That's cool with me. We want the front to be pretty clean anyhow.

After all of the major cuts had been taken care of, we were eager to paint it. So... A few coats of primer and then we painted the interior. Safety Yellow!!! (No. That's not my rock salt. My neighbor ran out of space. Don't ask...).

Now to fit everything back and rivet it into place. I decided that it would be a good idea to paint the exterior when it was all back together. Makes life easy (less taping off, no overspray).

To go with the nuke theme, we decided that the side window needed a little extra something. Ya', we gotta fill in the gaps before we primer and paint this side. More bondo? Sure.

Here is the back side of the window. Gonna' need some washers to keep the plexi from cracking.

Here's what we got so far...

Much more to do. It's a good there's plenty of time 'till X-Mas.

 

[Sobek]

Sweet job on the paint. The yellow looks really good. What kind of hardware are you putting in there for you son and how old is he? Is it going to be air or water cooled. I'm sure you could do some great things to fit in with the theme either way. I think it's really cool that you and him are having a great time modding together.

 

[exile29]

Thanks. Working with my son on this has been pretty fun so far. He is 13 and this will be his first PC. We have been sharing mine over the years. He does a lot of level editing and gets kinda' pissed when I have to boot him off the PC in the middle of a project (even though it is only the two of us, processor time is at a premium in our place). This should help keep a harmonious atmosphere in the house until we start fragging each other in Half Life 2.
I'd like to go with a watercooling setup, but I just can't spend the cash right now. I'd rather go with a nice heatsink at 50 - 60.00 instead of a cheaply made watercooling setup at 100.00. Maybe someday.
As for the hardware...

Asrock K7V88 with VIA KT880 chipset.
AMD Barton 3000 @400
Dual 512 Geil (or equivalent quality)
2 WD, 80 Gb, SATA HDD (raid 0)
GeForce FX5700 (maybe the Albatron)
Thermaltake Silent 480 w PSU

List is, of course, subject to change.

 

[exile29]

Well, things have slowed down on the case project a bit. Life keeps on getting in the way of art.
Anyhow, I got the front bezel ready for bondo. I go under the knife this Thursday and I thought I'd take that time during recovery (at home) to get the bondo work out of the way. I hope the painkillers don't completely destroy my judgement.
Anyhow, the prep-work. I cut and stuck the mesh on the back of the bez. Then I drilled holes for the rivets and attempted to countersink them so the rivets will not pop up. The rivets stuck out a little bit anyhow, so I went over them with the orbital sander. It's flat now!

Back view.

Once I recover enough to get off my ass (by Monday, I hope) I'll get out in the garage and get back into things at full speed.

 

[domoMKIV]

looks good so far! gonna keep up with this to see how it turns out.

 

[Fezdog192]

I wish I had a sweet computer like that when I was 13. I think we had a Macintosh Quadra 605. Go Oregon Trail! Teh uber schweet Buffalo FRAGS! But really, thats looking pretty cool.

 

[exile29]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the encouragement.
We are both having a great time watching this thing come together. I also have to admit that I have now officially got the 'mod bug' (I'm pretty sure I didn't get it from that strip joint I was at last weekend). I am already starting to consider building a new rig for myself after I am finished with my son's. I am thinking a Shuttle box...
Okay, one thing at a time.

 

[jmattick]

Awesome project...

Where in Indiana are you? I'm down here in Shelbyville...

And, if you are looking for a cheap watercooling setup, I have a Thermaltake Aquarius II watercooling kit with a Koolance VGA waterblock that I'll sell you for $75 shipped (Complete with new tubing and everything). Kept my Shuttle cool @ under 45degrees under load.

 

[twyztyr]

Wow...more Hoosiers!!! Kokomo represent!!!! I hate this fucking town.

Anyhow, this is a pretty cool looking project. Is that case pretty easy to work with, and how sturdy is it? If it's any good, for that price, I might have to look into it.

 

[exile29]

I am in Schererville which is in Northwest Indiana. Better known as "Da Region" (more like a Chicago suburb).
Thanks for the offer on the Thermaltake setup jmattick, but we pretty much have everything we are going to need right now.
Twyztyr, the case is pretty easy to work with. Out of the box, it doesn't look too bad. It's got rounded edges inside and the slideout mobo tray is sweet. The fact that the front bezel is aluminum makes it pretty easy to work with (no melting plastic). The drive bays don't detach like the more expensive cases, but that's about the only critisisum I have. It just begs to be modded. Everything riveted back together just as tight as it was when it came out of the box. The exterior wasn't coated or glazed at all, so I didn't need to pre-sand before I primered it. For $35, you can't go wrong.
I was able to get a few things done with the front bezel today. I applyed the bondo, sanded, and patched. It looks pretty good. I'll have to post pics tomorrow after I do the final sanding and primer the front and window panel.
Surgery went well yesterday. I am in moderate pain, but maybe that helped my creativity a bit. Doubt it. Just remember, ALWAYS wear a belt when you are lifting weights.

 

[exile29]

Okay. So, as I was recovering I decided to do the bondo job on the front bezel. I messed with it Thursday and Friday then it was ready to primer today.
Bondo:

Now a little patch action to fill in the air holes:

As I was looking at my attempt to replicate the multi-media ports, I had an idea; why can't I just use the plastic bezel from the ports? Made sense. So I whipped out the router tool for my Dremel and got to work.

We are pretty happy with the results.

After patching and sanding, we started to primer. The window side (which needed a little bondo too).

The bezel. So far so good.

Maybe a paint job tomorrow?

 

[Kil4Thril]

I like it (fellow Hoosier out of New Albany here- call it a Louisville suburb if ya' want). Actually, I'm thinking the theme may look better if you don't fully sand the bondo/filler. It will lend a more "industrial" look to it.

 

[exile29]

Paint! We finally got the paint job done today. I am pretty happy with the results. We used a flat, olive drab, cammo paint from Home Depot. I can't even remember how many coats we put on. It was quite a few. Ended up going through 2 1/2, 12 oz. cans.
First view:

A little zoom in on the side window:

Back. We made sure the mobo tray still moves smoothly.

Kil4Thril, we thought about creating some rough surfaces or effects with the bondo, but I didn't want to get in over my head.
I figure we are about 1/2 way through the project right now. At least the paint job is done. Now we can focus on the wiring, lighting, etc...

 

[G.I. Jesus]

Im not too sure i like the color. i liked it silver more. a brushed silver would have looked sweet but im not into yellow and olive drab... eww

but other then the colors it looks good!

 

[CoRPS]

You borked the pics!

 

[exile29]

What? You can't see the pics? I cleared my cache and they're still showing up for me.
Hmmm... Is anybody else having this problem?

 

[Cattata]

I can see them, looks good

 

[altec]

good job only one thing the window trim i wood of paint'ed it black but still good job and i do a lot of bondo work and that was good work. first time bondo'ing?

 

[exile29]

So far, so good...
We thought about painting the window trim (as it were) black, but to keep in line with the military theme I thought it would be best to stay with OD. However, we are goinig to keep the CDRW and Musketeer black and see how that looks (getting lazy and don't feel like pulling off the bezels on either on unless it is absoulutely necessary). Actually, I am off to the hardware store right now to get some post-turkey day deals (Sears is having a kick-ass sale right now) on tools and some wiring stuff.
It's official: Happy Holidays everybody!

 

[MONST3R]

wow awesome job

 

[cornelious0_0]

Very nice job for a first mod, a lot more in depth then a lot of "newbies" go.....props to you for that. I honestly don't like the cammo point at all, looks really dull in contrast to the yellow interior, a nice silver or even a flat, light grey would have looked better IMO.

 

[pbguy434]

The bezel. So far so good.

Reminds me of an iPod...Nice work!

 

[cornelious0_0]

Reminds me of an iPod...Nice work!

Haha, I never even thought of that.....too funny.

 

[Ingonuts13]

Nice work guys! I bet your son is geeked as hell to be getting this for christmas.

 

[rogue_jedi]

I wish I had a sweet computer like that when I was 13. I think we had a Macintosh Quadra 605. Go Oregon Trail! Teh uber schweet Buffalo FRAGS! But really, thats looking pretty cool.

i remember that game!

case looks nice. the yellow came out well it looks like, but IMO the case itself could use some highlighting (darker patches to look like real camo)

interesting color scheme in any case. (no pun intended)

 

[zoom314]

Nice Mods and what not on the case. Now I would have painted the Case Exterior a Bright Fire Engine RED(To go with the Yellow Interior) and had the Window go to as near to the Bottom as I could Get It, Other wise It looks great.

 

[alderweis]

dont listen to the naysayers, that OD green is dead on, and wicked pissa.

Just cause its not metallic or pearlescent doesnt mean its not hot.

I like it, nice and simple and tight.

(btw: what did you go under the knife for and are you recovering well?)

 

[Fezdog192]

This mod is getting better and better. Good job dude!

 

[Yaik]

This mod is getting better and better. Good job dude!

2nd that, indeed

 

[exile29]

Thanks guys!
We are pretty geeked with the way things are going with it. This past weekend we installed the front intake, top blowhole, and neon then I wired it in. I have pics of my novel wiring solution which I will post after I get off work. I am really interested to see what your all think.
As for the bondo: This was my first bondo job in YEARS, so it may as well have been my first. I had forgotten what a malleable media bondo can be... I think it will be playing a larger role in my future mods. As for the bling: It's supposed to look like military hardware, no bling there. Maybe the next one. But I'm getting ahead of myself, we still have a bit of work left on this one.

 

[exile29]

Look! I finally got around to posting my newest pics.
Here is the wiring solution I came up with: We decided that we didn't want a buttload of molex hanging around in the case, so I wired the fans and the neon to one central point. Pretty simple, but I'm poud of it.

Closeup:

Here is how it looks all tucked into place:

Side view (sans window):

Front of the case with toggles (We just stuck the stuff in there to see how it'd look):

And finally, the lights:

As you can see, the neon isn't as bright as we'd like it to be. That kinda' sucks. What you really can't see is the fact that it's one of those "plasma" neons. It has a cool crackling effect. Anyhow, I think I might throw a little shiney, aluminum tape on the back of the side panel. That way, it will reflect the light a little better. We like the location of the neon, so it's going to have to work. On the other hand, the Musketeer is a little brighter than we'd like it. Nothing we can do about that. I'd also like to note that the damn thing didn't work really well with the drive rails that came with the case (they are supposed to be able to snap on, they didn't). With a little bending (of the rails) and pushing, the Musketeer finally fit in. Well, kinda'. There is a fair sized gap between the Musketeer and the CDRW. Guess it's time to hit the hardware store again to look for some black rubber weather striping.

Still quite a bit of detail to attend to. Need to fit the power and the HDD LEDs, need to mount the multimedia ports, need to wire in the Musketeer, apply decals, etc... We can see the light at the end of the tunnle though, and it's green!

 

[cornelious0_0]

Looks good, but I'm really hoping you've got something to fill in that drive bay...cus it's really "killing" the look of the front bezel in that lights out shot.

Oh, and just my opinion, but CCFL's almost always look nicer and have a nicer effect if you place them where you cannot see them through the window, I just always thought it looked weird if I could see the actual CCFL, loses some of the "effect" IMO.

 

[exile29]

We decided to put the power and HDD LEDs in the bay cover. It is missing from the picture because I wanted to paint it after I drilled the holes. I figgured that would allow for some nicking and scratching while I was drilling. I am going to have to make a plate on which I can mount the multimedia ports since they are in what used to be the two 3 1/2" bays. I'll deal with that stuff this weekend.

 

[cornelious0_0]

We decided to put the power and HDD LEDs in the bay cover. It is missing from the picture because I wanted to paint it after I drilled the holes. I figgured that would allow for some nicking and scratching while I was drilling. I am going to have to make a plate on which I can mount the multimedia ports since they are in what used to be the two 3 1/2" bays. I'll deal with that stuff this weekend.

Good stuff, be sure to keep us fully updated.....and good call on the drill-before-you-paint decision.

 

[Gouda]

Hey exile29. I commend you for doing something with your son like this. Not only are you getting him a kickass computer, you are spending quality time with him. In my eyes that's the most important thing in this project. Speaking from the past my father didn't do any stuff like this for me. I am not going to get into that though. Really sore spot.

On the PC. Looks awesome. Your son is going to love it. I will be definitely doing something like this with my son...once I have one...if I have a girl...well she's going to be a cool girl that mods!!

 

[vuduman67]

Casenuke? Looks more like Casepuke!!!! Ha-HA Just kiddin, Looks great. Mighty fine job.
My 2 cents... Stealth the cd drive and move it down a bay and put the guages at the top. As for the decals, what do you have for it because I know this great little company that can make you speciality decals. Lets see whats the name... Oh yeah....
Blackard Graphics! By the way Steve says Hi.

 

[altec]

still looking cool good place for the neon tube really puts the light in the right spots lol.
but two thing
1 the blue power supply.
2 the blue guages you going to make them green it wood go better.

 

[exile29]

Hmmm... I thought of changing the LEDs to green, but that would mean sticking a 150 ohm resistor in front of each one. I'm not sure if I want to crack open the box to do that. Maybe just too lazy. As for the power supply: I wanted to get the black annodized PS, but they weren't in stock. So it's blue. A little color variation never hurt, right?

The Blackard boys better not be dissin' the Hendricks boys mods! Actually, at this point, I just need some very tiny lettering.

 

[altec]

The Blackard boys better not be dissin' the Hendricks boys mods! Actually, at this point, I just need some very tiny lettering.

ok that went over my head any one else?

 

[exile29]

Okay, I guess that was a bit confusing.
I was responding to vuduman67. I know his brother from a place I used to work. They run a graphics company and put out some sweet looking work. However, at this point in our mod, all we really need in the way of graphics (actually decals) is lettering. Nothing big.
Hope I cleared that up for ya'.