Project : Halcyon in Black

Hi all..Now i know its been a whole month since ive posted anything, And im really sorry for the long long wait. All the parts have thankfully been replaced, and im all set to continue with finishing up this project. Just got to work out some odds and ends.

In the meantime heres a teaser pic of the mother covers somewhat installed (this was before i destroyed the hardware)

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several things will be changed,like the rear plate, as one month has brought some new ideas to mind.As you can see the 4 LED holders are not exactly in order.So the whole plate will be redone and something else installed.Will be back soon.Cheers..
 
I'll be anxiously awaiting your next update.. and I'm sure that wahtever changes you make will be as innovative as the rest of this mod... Glad to hear you've been able to get your hardware replaced:)
 
Wow I'm really impressed that looks excellent - I really like the concept and you've done it beautifully, I'll stay tuned on this!

Keep it going this is very nice!
 
Thanks very much for the comments once again..they really keep me going :) apologies for the long wait.Been struggling to get this project done amidst my work, so far ive been able to do a little, so here goes another update :

Now I realised that the HALCYON cut out on the pci cover wasnt doing a very good job of providing ventilation holes. Plus I started to find it a bit ugly.So away it went, and in its place, a simple but functional grill, laser cut of course. A large rectangle portion of the cover was also cut away.

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I forgot to get the mounting holes lasered too, so i had to carefully drill them myself. Luckily the acrylic didnt crack..much better ventilation im sure.

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The temperature display on the rear plate had screwed up (digits only half displayed), plus the previous LED misalignment had been bugging me.So a whole new plate was made, and a proper backlit temperature display ordered from frozencpu.

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Now with the LEDs gone from this arrangement, they had to go somewhere else. Oh if i hadnt mentioned this before, the LEDs serve to indicate which temperature the probe is currently measuring. I decided to mount them on the top mobo cover

Some masking..
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The 2 new added sockets on there are for the LEDs. Plugs from the PCI cover below will connect to them. I kinda wanted the added cabling for looks too.

Here you can see the plugs...
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Im almost done with fixing things up motherboard covers wise, so i hope to update soon.till then.. :)
 
I like the looks of the grill, and I think it will be alot more functional.

Looking good.. now hurry up and give us some more updates:D
 
damnit, I had a relapse again! I remember reading that now. Nonetheless, it's still bitchin' looking!:cool:
 
the end of this project is in sight, and as of this update, if nothing goes wrong, i should be 90 percent done. In this update, ive put together the motherboard covers and tray piece. This whole section will be removable from the main casing.

Completed covers mounted.

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A closer look at the jackplugs, which ive changed from the previous uglier ones. Now they pretty much look like the ones in the Orac3 (where of course much inspiration comes from). :D
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The radiator and pump in the main casing were connected as such. Black loom was placed over some areas of hose, though these parts wont be visible when the case is closed up. In the 2nd picture you can see part of a T-fitting which joins radiator, reservoir and a fill cap.

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The radiator has been sprayed silver to match.

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Now the hard part was getting this whole contraption into the main casing.

Halfway in, note the huge cabling mess which il sort out later.Some cables around the drive bay area will be left as is, as theyll be covered by the side panel.

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The cable tidying begins.Adhesive clips were used to secure some of the cables. Fill cap is visible in this picture.

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After that was done, some test fitting of the watercooling tubes. The tubes will be seperated by acrylic pieces. Im still debating on whether to use them for the final look. And to end off..

Almost there..
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Next update will be on installing the front panel..cheers.
 
Looks really good......but... and I hate being critical of work like yours....I think you should ditch the acrylic tube separator things... they just don't seem to fit with the rest. Just my opinion.. and like I said.. It looks great!
 
no problem and i appreciate the feed back.thanks ;) In case your wondering i havent removed the brown protective paper from them.But yes im still debating on whether to have them there in the end.
 
Imho, those tube separators would look awesome if they were machined from aluminum with all rounded edges. I love the way the case looks so far btw. Using the big 4-prong jacks gives it a great industrial look.

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thanks :) and for the design up there too. I will redesign the hose seperators to resemble that shape, most probably using the same black acrylic though. ;)
 
Absolutely amazing work. Without a doubt, this will be a show-quality mod when it's completed soon! It took me some to to read through and catch-up on this mod since I'm new here. :)
 
At long last, everything is tested, tested again, and all problems were ironed out. My room looked like this all throughout

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So remember the square hole in the side panel where the bio hazard thing used to be? Well i got rid of that plate. I went throught 2 designs, feeling unsatisfied with both till i ditched them and went with something plain.

So now we have this :

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If you notice the plate is mounted on the panel exterior, compared to previously. This way i felt it looked much better compared to this:

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The mounted twin USB ports was something i didnt plan for, but got really really lucky. Not realising the pump and radiator would possibly obstruct them, i just drilled away and installed them on the plate. But after putting the panel on with everything, it fit just exactly between the two. amazing.

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And now, on to the main deal. The completed casing pictures, with 2 video links after.

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Rear end, nothing spectacular here

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Illumination in the day time

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As you can see the temperature display reads farenheit, which can be changed to read in degrees by a button behind the case.

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the interior : (redesigned the hose seperators, so there here they are)

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Some pictures in semi darkness, not very clear, do pardon the poor photography skills.

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interior :

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Top panel :

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Video of the touch start up, cd rom opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re08CYvc3M4

Video of the case lighting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ZRXJ9TEZ0

I thank everyone for all the wonderful comments and feedback that have encouraged me throughout the course of this project.It was especially helpful with this being my first ever work log.And as such i may have left out various details along the way. So feel free to ask any questions. :)
 
My God.... I have been watching this throughout the entire build process... and I knew it was going to be an amazing mod....but..... wow.

Simply spectacular, I really, really love what you've done. Great job!!
 
Amazing, that's all i can say!
Btw, do you know can i buy a premade hdd led meter?
 
Incredible work. Though your finished design is magnificent, the original glowing Biohazard symbol would have been even more spectacular, I wish you would have kept it.
 
I also am impressed with this project. Nice to see how taking your time and not being satisfied with anything less than perfection can make a difference.

On a side note... I have tried to locate the QT110 IC and its obsolete. know something equivalent or where I can get two?... did try digikey and mouser.
 
I'm blown away... such an impressive mod, yet so clean and elegantly done! You really took care to keep a good balance between awe and simplicity. I love the side panel vent and the lights from the youtube movie!
 
Hawt case; it's given me some ideas to rip apart my shuttle with.
 
Im simply taken aback by the comments you guys have given when i logged in just now .Thanks i really appreciate them.:) As for those with questions :

DG25 said:
Amazing, that's all i can say!
Btw, do you know can i buy a premade hdd led meter?
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Not as far as i know of, but if you could, wheres the fun in that :p

Dark Prodigy said:
Incredible work. Though your finished design is magnificent, the original glowing Biohazard symbol would have been even more spectacular, I wish you would have kept it.
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Yes it was kind of a pity that I couldnt use it. I guess when i visualised it together with the whole case and all, it didnt really fit in with the straight lines that you see are quite dominant in this casing.

Willsonman said:
I also am impressed with this project. Nice to see how taking your time and not being satisfied with anything less than perfection can make a difference.

On a side note... I have tried to locate the QT110 IC and its obsolete. know something equivalent or where I can get two?... did try digikey and mouser.
Click to expand...

Try this
http://sg.farnell.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=1000026&Ntk=gensearch_001&Ntt=qt+110&Ntx=

matrix563 said:
your always jealous of me, i don't know what you mean :D


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looks super sweet, can we get a pic of the original halycon system?
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Do you mean the casing from the wikipedia link?

http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/community/related/homesystems/halcyon/images/flyer2.jpg

but that casing actually just looks like a black vcr. Besides the colour and name, im not sure much else from it influenced the design of my project.:D
 
That is scary you happened to choose the same name as one of our models at Aquabox PC. :)

Excellent job on your mosheen!
 
So, you do have intentions of starting another mod, right? And you will post a worklog here at [H], right? And it's going to start very soon, right?

Ok then, good. I will be anxiously awaiting you upcoming mod;)

Again, great job, it's beautiful.
 
digital_exhaust said:
So, you do have intentions of starting another mod, right? And you will post a worklog here at [H], right? And it's going to start very soon, right?

Ok then, good. I will be anxiously awaiting you upcoming mod;)

Again, great job, it's beautiful.
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I'm anxious to see his new skills too!
 
Willsonman : Your welcome, it seems now they have restocked the version with legs..mine was a Surface mount which gave me a hard time.

Equilibrium said:
That is scary you happened to choose the same name as one of our models at Aquabox PC. :)

Excellent job on your mosheen!
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Beautiful cases you have there on your site :) I did check out the halcyon one.
And thank you

digital_exhaust and Optional87:

Afraid it might be a while before i embark on a new project.Im just about to enter university so studies are gonna be in the way for a while.
But no matter, the modding bug will always stay.
 
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