Project: Evolutionary

[AlumaxX]

Almost there....

I started filing all the pieces as you can see. The outer piece on the right is the best place to look what I mean. I will have to add one small piece of acrylic on the sides and then it needs more filing and sanding before I can use a small torch to make it shiny again. It already took me four days to get this far and I will have to do this work another three times

 

[Teknokid]

wow, looking great!

 

[AlumaxX]

The first fingerguard is finished for now. I will clean it up later. I starting to doubt wether I should add that reinforcement. I will create one and if it doesn't look better I will forget it. The construction doesn't need it. I expected the contruction to be much more fragile before I started on the fingerguard.

Now you can see why I made the aluminium construction the way I did, with that strange looking top. That's the place, lefttop and righttop where the vents are now.

I will start on the other three guards later on. Want to do some other things now. I hope the weather will get better so I can start on the fibreglass sides for the case.

 

[Majin]

Cool, it kinda looks like a Fencing face guard.

 

[invalidbuffalo]

Cool, it kinda looks like a Fencing face guard.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[AlumaxX]

After all the work on the fingerguard I wanted to work on other things for a while. A little less fragile parts. I had to close the gap from the radiator to the top of the lid. This because the air must be forced to go from the radiator to the vents on the lid. I used a piece of acrylic and cut out a small piece for the aluminium frame.

Here the part is in place. You can see it on the right of the picture. Another piece will be mounted on the left as well.

The piece I cut out to fit around the aluminium tubing.

And a photograph with the radiator in place.

Right now you can still see through the transparant acrylic, but that will have to change.

 

[AlumaxX]

After a long time without any updates, a small update again. I've been very busy with "real life" stuff and had very little time to work on the case. I also had some problems getting the materials I needed, still have b.t.w.
The car airintakes I wanted to use still are not delivered and I'm not going to wait for those anymore. I will make them myself from fibreglass ofcourse.

I use some MDF to create a mold for the fibreglass. This is a drawing frm the mold. I will glue three layers of MDF together. On the left you can see what material I will have to file of to get the shape I want, on the right side.

When this is done I will saw the mold under an angle like this.

So first saw some MDF.

Drill a hole in the smallest one.

Now I can saw a bigger hole in this layer.

Time to glue these parts together.

With a file I will remove the material to get a rounded shape.

I made a paper mold with the rounded shape. When I hold it against the side of the MDF I can spot the places I have to file more to get the right shape.

and after sanding the mold.

 

[-(Xyphox)-]

Looking very nice

 

[oneil]

Like everyone said, extraordinary work! Cant wait for more

 

[AlumaxX]

It's time to finish the fibre glass mold. The most difficult part right now to saw the mold under an angle of 20 degrees. For this I made another mold. The base of the sawingmold has to be 90 degrees.

Now add the sides of the sawingmold.

The glue will be dry in a couple of hours. Before I start sawing I will add some scres in the mold. So I will put in the MDF fiber glass mold and secure it there. A sawblade will be guided by the opening in the sides of the sawing mold.

I should and up with a nice 20 degrees angle like in this sketch

The last job will be glueing the fiber glass mold onto a piece of MDF and finish the surfae with polyurethane resin. I will use this mold a least four times, maybe even 6 times. I will have to see what looks better, 4 or 6 airintakes.

 

[AlumaxX]

Ok the thing is ready for sawing.

Here we go.

The last bit has to be done outside the sawing mold.

Almost ready.

 

[AlumaxX]

After the small problem I'm ready to give it another try.

Time to put on the latex gloves again and mix the resin. I used more layers of fiber glass this time, because it has to be much stronger this time and the outside isn't important, because this polyester part will only be the mold that I will use to make the final product. I need a negative.

It's important that the polyester part is a perfect negative of the MDF mold. So I used a MDF disk to push the fiber glass in the corners and keep it there untill the resin is cured.

Just before the resin had cured I pulled out the disk with the hook. I had some problems this time getting the polyester off from the MDF mold. Drilled a hole in the middle to let the air in, but that wasn't enough to do the job. My old man had a great idea, put the mold with the polyester in the freezer and yes it worked! The polyester came of without any problem.

This is the final mold I need. This polyester mold I will use to create the four intakes.

 

[mrpawick]

Your my hero. =]

Amazing modding. Can't wait to see the end product!

 

[blairellis]

Ive only gotten to the first page, but wanted to know if you had a high res of this pic? http://franklin.noph33r.com/evolutionary/IMG_1196.jpg

 

[oneil]

This is modding at it's best... gogogo!

Ive only gotten to the first page, but wanted to know if you had a high res of this pic? http://franklin.noph33r.com/evolutionary/IMG_1196.jpg

lol random request eh? seconded

 

[AlumaxX]

Yes the original picture has got a higher resolution, I uploaded it for you.

http://franklin.noph33r.com/evolutionary/Whitsunday Islands.jpg

I have seen so many beautiful places in Australia and this was one of those places.

 

[AlumaxX]

I had to adjust my plans slightly. It was to difficult to use the negative as a mold, so I will use the mdf mod. This means I will have to spend more time to give the surface a smooth finish with polyester bondo and sanding. No big problem.

I started with drawing a shape on paper. This is the shape I need to cut from the fiber glass. Put the paper on top of the fiber glass and mark it.

Cut it out three times, because I need three layers.

and ready for use.

The mdf mold is waxed and ready to be used again. First apply some resin on the mold. When the mold is waxed in the right way, the resin seems to try pulling together and form some kind of drops. This is good, because it means the polyester will come off easier later on.

Put the first layer over the mold.

Applied the resin in the middle.

With the tip of the bruh I tapped the resin onto the fiber glass. Tap, because you want the remove any aitbubbles underneath the fiber glass.

To prevent the fiber glass coming loose again, when tapping the outside of the mold I used some kind of plug. Also made from mdf and also treated with the molding wax.
The plug is slightly smaller then the hole, this because the lauyers of fiber glass will need some space ofcourse.

Working from the edge on top of the mold, down to the bottom of the mold.

It's easy to see when all the fiber glass is soaked with resin.

Time to take out the plug and repeat the whole processa another two times.
I will have to sand the intakes and apply one more layer of surface tissue. This because it will be easier to smoothen the surface. Right now the intakes look like this, a bit rough but that will change in a couple of days.

I will remove the orange area. Some sort of fingerguard will be placed in this opening later on.

 

[blairellis]

Yes the original picture has got a higher resolution, I uploaded it for you.

http://franklin.noph33r.com/evolutionary/Whitsunday Islands.jpg

I have seen so many beautiful places in Australia and this was one of those places.

THANK YOU! One of the places to add to the list to visit

And in your honor:

 

[AlumaxX]

I use the same photograph on my desktop.

It's summer in the Netherlands but last few weeks I,ve only seen rain. But not the last days :clap: I can work outside again, much easier working on the sidepanel outside. No molds this time just some glass. Put on some moldingwax and clean it with a cloth. Ready for some polyester action. Put some resin on the glass first

Put on the first layer and use a roller to smoothen it.

The fiber glass on this picture is a special fabric that is for the surface. The endresult will be very smooth. This was the first layer. After this I added 5 more layers of the normal fiber glass.

The result was just as smooth as I wanted it to be. Does not need much work to finish the surface later on for a paintjob. Made two big holes with my Dremel for the air intakes.

And with the intakes in place.

More close ups.

The intakes and the sidepanel wil be glued together and I will use some bondo between the panel and the intakes.

 

[xLiquidx]

Looks amazing.





Did y'all not listen in geometry?! They're called foci or focus points. Elementary property of an ellipse.

Learned that in grade 10 math.

 

[Emission]

I think the intakes would look better if the fingergaurds we're recessed into the holes, just a thought.

 

[AlumaxX]

I think the intakes would look better if the fingergaurds we're recessed into the holes, just a thought.

That's just what I will do, but I had to make the things slightly bigger now, because the polyester will be sanded. I don't know what size the hole will be after it has been sanded, so I kept it somewhat bigger.

Everything is going smoothly at the moment. I can't show you much new stuff, but that doesn't mean I did not do much. I finished the second and third "fingerguard" for the outtakes for instance. A lot of work but you know what it looks like. Also opened the airintakes so I can start working on the acrylic pieces that will be mounted in there.

I also did some work on the acrylic that will lead the air from the radiator to the outtakes on top of the case.

The acrylic ( with the tape still on ) had to be cut at the top so the lid will fit over.

There is still some tape on the clear acrylic, but that will be removed ofcourse. When removed it will be possible to see through the airduct into the top of the case.

That's not what I want, because I want to use that space to hide cables and some other stuff. So in order to make it almost impossible to look into the case and see the cables I will cover the duct with some black mesh.

Bending the mesh first to fit the tube.

Looks good. It's almost ready to be cut in the same shape as the acrylic.

Next thing I can show you is my design of the logo.

The logo will not be flat but 3-dimensional and I think I will also add some lighting from behind.

 

[AlumaxX]

Waiting for some materials from AC Ryan, so I had some time for brainstorming on the logo. I want a simple logo, so I'm not going to use the whole word Evolutionary, just the first three letters E, V and the O. An other thing I wanted to do is making it different from the usual logos. I took some mdf, acrylic and aluminium ( leftover from the Lian Li case from my finished casemod ) and started cutting out the letters.
The E and the V from mdf and acrylic, the O from aluminium.

The acrylic on top of the mdf.

The mdf from the E had to be carved, so it will fit over the V.

Not finished yet, the mdf will be painted and the acrylic will be sanded, but this is what it will look like.

When finished, it will be mounted on a black surface and some leds will bring some light from behind.

 

[AY786]

sweet, cant wait to see the end result, keep it up

 

[AlumaxX]

A while ago, I posted a sketch from the powerbutton with the activity leds. Today I started working on this thing. It will look a lot like the drawing but it will not be exactly the same.

The aluminium, a piece left from a Lian Li casemod, was already finished. I will only need to cut a hole in the big circle for the button to fit in later on. The frosted white acrylic will have to fit in the button. I wnat to light the thing up from behind, that's why I used the frosted acrylic.

It's not that easy to get the acrylic fit into the button. But now it's almost finished. The last bit I will do by sanding it.

 

[AlumaxX]

I cut out the opening in the aluminium for the button.

and with the button in place.

I bought a 2.1 Philips speakersystem.

The satellites will be integrated in the case and the subwoofer will get the same look as the case. Before I can mount the satelittes I will have to cut of the feet and cover up the steel fronts with something more suitable for my black case.

mark the acrylic before cutting it.

Cut out the circles

They almost fit, still need a bit of sanding.

Because of a thunderstorm I had to quit working on the polyester sidepanels. I was bored and used some tape to put some parts onto the frame.
It far from finished, but just to give you guys an idea of what it will look like.

Please keep in mind that the case will be painted and that I will add so many details, like windows and decoration.
I glued in the airducts in the left side panel. Used some heavy materials to press the polyester sheet down.

Used some bondo to fill up the small gap between the airducts and the sidepanel.

The airducts themself also need some bondo and I will have to sand them several times.

I also need another mold, a mold for yet another airduct. It will look like in this sketch.

The fan will be mounted on the right side and I already made the acrylic to hold the fans. These are two AC Ryan 90mm. fans.

The duct will be placed over here (one on the left side and one on the right side of the case)

and the mold is almost finished. Only need to paint, sand, paint, sand and paint it before I can use it.

First duct is ready. It will be painted black of course.

This is what will be visible in the endresult. The bottom of the case will be covered with some aluminium later on. The black aluminium plate is still covered with a layer of plastic, I only removed a piece around the fan.

Underneath the fan you can see an opening, won't be visible in the finished case. This opening is for the dustfilter that will come underneath the intake. It needs to be removable to clean the filter, that's why I cut that opening, so it can slide underneath the intake and back when it needs to be cleaned.

AC Ryan send me a lot of new materials for this casebuild, but not only the acrylic and aluminium comes in handy, but also the cardboard that protects the materials. I made a model from the duct that will guide the air from the intakes on the sidepanel to the radiator.

And this is what it will look like withe the black aluminium panel, that will divede the front of the case from the two compartments in the back, in place

From the side, without the sidepanel on, it will look like this.

With this cardboard model it's easy to see if you missed something and if the thing will fit in there and it does, so it's time to make the same thing from acrylic.

I finished the acrylic ducts that will guide the air from the intakes on the sidepannels to the radiator.

and the ducts placed in the frame

I will mount two parts of these ducts onto the sidepanels.

The left duct from the inside of the case and with the sidepanel on.

Front picture from the left side.

Also did some work on the mobo tray and the backside of the case. This part i mean.

Coolermaster sended me a damaged mobotray for FREE. It only needs some small modifications. The back needs to be covered to match my black case.

The backside of my case is starting to look much better.

I think this will look great.

 

[AlumaxX]

Yes it is starting to shape up quite well. That's why I started working on the frontpanel. Just like I did with the powerbutton I will use mdf and aluminium. I used some brushed aluminium from AC Ryan.

There is still some tape on the aluminium, because I have to file it a bit more. The DVD player, Aquaero and the front panel from the soundcard will be placed in the middle and that's also the spot where I will use the mdf.

 

[Scotty_SFF]

Fucking HOT!

 

[AlumaxX]

Did not have much time to work on the case last weeks, but this week I can show you a small update. I had to solve the problem with the airducts in the top of the case. Needed to use acrylic because the ducts will to guide the air to the outakes on top of the case, but the acrylic is transparant, so when you have a close look through the openings of the outtakes, you would be able to see through. So there where the MeshX has to come in.

Also had to fabricate some aluminium pieces to mount the harddiskbox.

It's not finished yet, need to drill a hole to attach the springs to the mountingpoints. I'm working hard to close all the sides of the case. Hope I can show you a closed case in a few weeks.

 

[AlumaxX]

The PSU will be mounted with the normal screws at the back but it will need some additional support. A sheet of 2mm AC Ryan aluminium is all I need. First draw the part.

Saw it with my scroll saw.

Time to see if the part fits.

Looks ok.

The aluminium parts for the PSU also look good in combination with the harddiskbox.

The reason that I mount the PSU on its side is that I want to show the best side of the PSU and also make the cables visible. Sometimes cables even look good and I think that these will look good.

 

[renovoCS]

sweet case love the shocks your using, do you total hours that you've spent on this?

 

[AlumaxX]

How many hours, don't know but many.

Started making openings in the front for the Aquaero and the I/O box from the X-Fi Platninum soundcard. Need to decide what optical drive I want to use soon.

I also started working on the drivebay. It will be build from scratch and I will use aluminium profiles in combination with acrylic. It will be a pretty complicated construction, because I can't use the bottom of the case to support it. This because it's not strong enough and I don't have room to strenghten it, because the two ducts are in that place. Also need to keep room for a cable from the soundcard. No problem, I solve the problem with an aluminium construction that doesn't even touch the bottom plate.

First make a cut into a profile.

Remove parts that are not needed.

Looks like this.

Bend the end, by hand.

It's a beginning. Run out of aluminium profiles. Will have to buy some more tomorrow

 

[digital_exhaust]

Um... holy shit....

That is awesome... I haven't checked this thread in a while and the work you've done is amazing.... Looking forward to seeing more!!

 

[Sicario]

yup, very nice work

 

[AlumaxX]

Made the last three polyester parts I need for this this.

After about 40 minutes the part can be removed from the mold.

Cut a bit of the material on te sides.

Need to cut some openings in the top of the lid for these vents.

and an overview of all the openings for these vents. There is no hardware in the top of the case and the radiator is shielded with some acrylic, but there will always some heat underneath the polyester lid, so that's why I place these vents. One vent in the front of the case, left and right from this vent I will cut openings for the two waterreservoirs, and two at the back.

Glued the parts into the lid.

the vent from the other side, that will be visible.

When the glue has hardened I will use a file and some polyester bondo to give the opening a fine finish.

I'm also working on something that I'm not sure of wheteher I will use it.

Everything that is black will have to be cut away.

the thing on the harddiskbox

The last thing I want to show is the handles I started working on.

All the pics hosted on the AC Ryan server are down at the moment. Problem will be fixed soon.

 

[khanable]

holy shit this is coming out amazingly

I bow before you

 

[AlumaxX]

Working on several parts at the moment. No pics yet, I want to wait a while and post the pics when these parts are mounted, because it's difficult to explain what all these parts are for.
The panels that will cover all the sides of the case could have been finished by now, but no they still aren't. The problem is the lack of daylight. When coming back from work it already is dark and I can only cut the panels outside because of all the dust. So I can only work on the panels in the weekends. But I have two photos from last week.

Man I just can wait to get this case painted black.

 

[AlumaxX]

I don't want to hide all the cables like I did in my previous case, but the cables will need to be ordered. That's why I made some cableholders. I used two layers of white aluminium from AC Ryan with some mdf in between. Strange I didn't see anyone use the white aluminium from AC ryan yet. It looks very nice in combination with the black panels.

I won't use any bolts or glue to mount the holders. I will just slide them in.

Need these small openings for mounting the cableholders. Just slide it in there.

and the result

The black aluminium sheet will divide the left and right compartment of the case.

In the next picture you can see what the distance is between the hddbox and the cableholders.

I'm also working on the side panels. Some aluminium profiles will give it some strenght and prevent it from bending.

 

[AlumaxX]

I mounted the aluminium U-profile to the sidepanels.

The profiles on the sidepanels fit inside the aluminium frame from the case. I'm happy with the result, it fits very well.

On both the left and rightside panel I will mount a piece of the airduct.

When the panels are in place the duct on the sidepanel touches the duct in the case. I will modify the duct inside the case a bit more to make sure there will almost leak no air.

I'm also working on the two reservoirs I'll use for the watercoolingVerder ben ik de reservoirs aan het maken voor de waterkoeling. Need several circles og acrylic. The small ones will have to fit inside the tube.

I used a file and some sandingpaper to get the small circles to fit into the acrylic tube. Now I'll need to glue the small and big pieces together.

Need to file and sand the big circle till it has the same diameter as the tube.

With the parts in place it's easy to mark acrylic that needs to be filed and sanded away. This one is almost ready.

 

[AlumaxX]

I glued some polyester parts, for mounting the duct to the sidepanel, to the sidepanel.

Drilled some holes in those pieces to be able to use small bolts.

All the parts I need to make the shocks, from the harddisk box, function are in now, so I started mounting all the parts to the case. The parts that came in yesterday I will show you in another update. It's something to prevent the harddisk box from flipping over to one side.

Making some thread for the bolts.

Ready to mount the part.

and finished.

The drivebay is also almost finished. It looks a bit funny, because top top is very small. That's because that's the place for the Aquaero and a VFD and those aren't as big (deep) as a DVD drive.