Railgun Mod Worklog

Z

zeusenergy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 24, 2004
Messages
323
That's right. I said a Railgun. As in, a full sized replica of the Quake III Railgun with PC components inside good enough to run any modern game. I've been working on this idea for quite some time, as you will soon see. Currently, there are about 30 drawings in my notebook along with pages and pages of ideas and specs. This machine will be tight as a drum with many innovations- such as an inverted motherboard (that's right, upside-down), an internally opening DVD-drive (drive tray ejects inside the case), and a powered opening mechanism which will slide the outer portion of the case off the inner frame.



Even the display base will be a work of art. I plan to run the cables through the "trunk" of the base so that you won't be able to see them. The single mounting flange for the base is set just before the handle of the Railgun. There will be mirrors in the base itself to see the inverted motherboard in the lower window of the Railgun, along with the windowed hard drive. The DVD-drive is finished now and it is a work of art as well, it will be viewed from the two top windows in the Railgun (see pic below). Oh, and the handle is a genuine Colt J-Frame grip. The stock will be custom cut out of a single piece of aluminum, as will many other parts. Even the "sight" at the top will double as HDD and DVD indicators, and the levers on each side of the rear cover that you can see in the game will be functional. To top it all off, the front barrel of the gun will have an intake fan mounted in it, with the exhaust fan at the rear of the gun between the handle and stock pipe. A straight-thru design should do the trick for cooling. The Nvidia 6800 will be viewable from the left side, in the lower window.

Speaking of cooling, the Biostar 210v SFF case I bought for this project runs COOLER upside-down! This goes against the theory of thermal transfer with a heat pipe design, but my readings were triple checked. Maybe the motherboard tray with its thermal bonds on the back of the motherboard chipset and power circuit helps? Cooling perfomance was not my original plan for having the motherboard upside-down. It's a great side effect though! Actually, it was to hide the motherboard tray area from view at the side of the gun, where the outer housing connects the front and rear of the gun. It also allows the DVD-drive to be bolted to the top (bottom?) of the motherboard tray and still leaves room underneath it all to mount the HDD on center supports that will reinforce the front cooling duct and attach it to the motherboard backplane area. The power supply will only power PC boards, the cooling and lighting along with the powered opening and audio amp will be powered separately from an additional transformer arrangement and harness custom built by me. The power supply itelf will be mounted above the handle, and behind the motherboard connector backplane.

The DVD-drive tray opens inside the gun. You will be able to see the opening from the top windows of the Railgun, and you can access the disk by powering the outer housing forward. The powered housing also allows access to all internal components, and since it acts like a sleeve to the inner frame, it slides completely off too, with no screws or fasteners to deal with. Just keep holding the powered open switch, and the housing becomes detached, safely remaining on the rails and tracks attached to the motherboard tray itself for someone to pull it off. Reattaching it is just as simple.

This will be one of my serious mods, one that will take many hours of love and devotion to the hobby. I hope that some of my ideas will insipe others to do something different with their hardware! My website is still up as always, and www.zeusenergy.com is now redirecting traffic to it. Soon I will be changing the zeusenergy.com domain to be a business site with info on my services, but till then you can see my personal stuff. I'll be updating all of this soon enough, not enough time in the day you know :0)

Here's my teaser shot:
railgundvd.jpg
 
Cool! Now make one that works as a railgun too! (Alright, maybe not)


/me wants more!
 
looks very interesting... pic made me scroll, though. not often i have to scroll side-to-side to see all of a picture. its a very nice picture, though.
 
Looks very interesting! I am curious to see what the final product looks like.

Have you thought about making it portable so it looks like you are carrying a "real" railgun? :p You could put the battery pack in back pack. Oh! And hook up a head mounted display over one eye! Now, that would be uber cool! :cool:

Also, maybe cut the pic size down a notch as I had to scroll left-right to read all of that.
 
I can't wait to see it. My favorite weapon next to the rocket launcher. Nothing beats the feeling you get when you make a snap rail shot on the run :)
 
What's with people being paranoid about idea stealing? I mean, if you can do it better than someone else, it wont matter. So why worry?

Anywho, did you do the acrylic cutouts yerself?
 
Very cool Idea!..Cant wait to see the progress. I'm actually working on a game weapon case mod as well--although portable and not teathered to a table--not a serious gaming mod like yours but lots of fun building with plastics---Good luck keep it up !!
 
Hope to see ya at QC man. When it gets closer to that time and your still looking for a room hit me up, I might be able to share one with ya.
 
Thanks for the good words, every1. This project will be a very cool tribute to id software. I feel like I owe them something for all those Quake III CTF Instagib sessions way back in the day...
Muttsta: you are going to see more now. Got some sketches to give you guys an idea of how I'm pulling this off.
Farseer: The design calls for the Railgun to be removable from its base. I might use some batteries with LEDs for hand held display, but nothing like what you're suggesting :0)

Keep in mind these drawings are in no way set in stone. I also added a pic of the completed hard drive, and the previously mentioned Colt pistol grip.



railgunframe.jpg

railgunconcept.jpg

railgunhdd.jpg

railgunhandle.jpg
 
Qtip42 said:
What's with people being paranoid about idea stealing? I mean, if you can do it better than someone else, it wont matter. So why worry?

Anywho, did you do the acrylic cutouts yerself?
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The acrylic work on the DVD came out great. I am learning to work with it as I go along, and it's a great material. Everything in this mod will be done by me except for the machine work involved with the stock end for example.
Sometimes you think you have a good enough idea you want to keep it to yourself :0)
 
what materials do you plan to do the building with other than acrylic? Those brackets won't be very strong affraid to say..the slightest irregularity will break it once its screwed down--its very strong but painfully brittle material :(
 
CrimsonSky said:
Very cool Idea!..Cant wait to see the progress. I'm actually working on a game weapon case mod as well--although portable and not teathered to a table--not a serious gaming mod like yours but lots of fun building with plastics---Good luck keep it up !!
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Thanks, man. That means alot coming from you :0)
Mine won't be permanently tethered either, it will be removable from its base. What are you working on? I'm curious! Love to see your work as always....
 
CrimsonSky said:
what materials do you plan to do the building with other than acrylic? Those brackets won't be very strong affraid to say..the slightest irregularity will break it once its screwed down--its very strong but painfully brittle material :(
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Those are decorative brackets for the DVD only. The rest of the inner frame will be made from aluminum. Do you think those brackets will be okay for the DVD?
 
zeusenergy said:
Those are decorative brackets for the DVD only. The rest of the inner frame will be made from aluminum. Do you think those brackets will be okay for the DVD?
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Hmm..I would use alum angle--polish it up or brush it. Build for longevity.
 
Xipher said:
Hope to see ya at QC man. When it gets closer to that time and your still looking for a room hit me up, I might be able to share one with ya.
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Yeah, thanks for the offer. I might actually need the help when it comes time. I'll have one friend coming with me, we are driving there from New Hampshire (!) since a Railgun is not your favorite carry-on in these days of terrorism! Besides, I think this thing would get quite damaged if I shipped it anyway.
Me and the friend are prepared to pay for hotel expenses, so don't worry about that. If you end up helping us out, we will give you cash to compensate you.
Thanks again!
 
CrimsonSky said:
Hmm..I would use alum angle--polish it up or brush it. Build for longevity.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised to hear you say those brackets won't be strong enough. Sometimes when I score acrylic to snap it off, if I dont go deep enough, I can bend it till I'm blue in the face and it doesn't break! I might go ahead and add some aluminum underneath the acrylic brackets to reinforce them. The ones I built just look so sweet!
I'm probably going to have some issues with the front fan duct, as it's designed to be more or less two pieces, with alot of bends. Maybe I'll be better off trying to build that piece with adhesive, since it will be supported with an aluminum frame inside? Hmmmm.........
Thats the trouble with these long-term mods, once you get thinking you don't want to stop so you keep revising the damn thing! Thanks for the advice, I'm going to have to watch that acrylic, I guess! Especially with the cold up here in NH!
 
Ok ok I gotta address this. Why do you mention sponsorship? Often times sponsorship is a behind the scenes deal that you don't talk about in public. I'm sure you really want free money but it's tacky to mention in the first post of a worklog at a place you've hardly posted at in the past. And thus far you haven't posted hardly any pictures so why would anyone just up and say "hey lets send you to quakecon free of charge."

Anywho the point is, keep the behind-the-scenes stuff private. You're making it sound like everyone who makes a mod (that takes a long time to build) deserves sponsorship. Sorry that's not the case. Sponsors are looking for business opportunities, not kids wanting free hardware or free plane trips.

No offense :D
 
Qtip42 said:
Ok ok I gotta address this. Why do you mention sponsorship? .... And thus far you haven't posted hardly any pictures so why would anyone just up and say "hey lets send you to quakecon free of charge." No offense :D
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It's a valid question. Have you ever looked over my previous posts? Notice something? I'm brutaly honest in every one. In fact my friends tell me I'm too honest... it gets me in trouble sometimes. Maybe I should have kept that part out, but I'm just telling the story as it is. But I agree with your point. Fact is, I have been in contact with one company already, but I'm unwilling to change my design for them. It's been a couple months, and I had an offer before I even began work. It wouldn't be a handout at all for any company to sponsor me anyway. This display will be superb, and attract loads of attention..

:Anywho the point is, keep the behind-the-scenes stuff private. You're making it sound like everyone who makes a mod (that takes a long time to build) deserves sponsorship. Sorry that's not the case. Sponsors are looking for business opportunities, not kids wanting free hardware or free plane trips.:

Obviously, you don't understand how important this deal is for me. I want to begin a business with custom work, and I am willing to actively market my designs to customers much more vigorously than most of the pro modders end up doing. There are so many different possiblilities.
My problem is that I am 32YO w/ limited funds, two kids, work hellish hours for basic needs. I'm lucky to be able to mod in the first place. I want to do something with it, and anyone who wants to be on board once things get going will be welcome. Maybe I'll be able to give back to some other people out there who have it tough. I want to own my own business, doing what I love. So many of the "pro" modders have great skill and patience, but are unwilling to take the "plunge" and take lots of risk (meaning, diversify your client base and advertise, not just try to sell something.) I plan to do just that, and I know I will succeed.
In fact, this trip to Texas will be my first trip out west. Me and a friend are DRIVING from New Hampshire, as Airport Security will not allow me to carry-on the mod, looking like a gun. So I don't want tickets anyway. I would be happy with a spot in the vendor area for even more exposure. Yes, this is a business trip for me.

You know about my previous work. I've been featured in three different magazines (one of those twice), plus a chapter in a book. (EDIT: and it was my first full mod) Companies and even those publications came looking for me in almost every case. I didn't choose my destiny, it has chosen me. As long as I work hard it will work out for me. I'm just now studying business on my own. But it took me from 1998 until now for me to go from "never touched a keyboard" to the front cover of a magazine. I feel it should be easy in comparison to learn business, just study the ones that don't fail.
See what I mean? Honesty. I won't lie to you all and say I don't have an interest in this. But I wasn't in any way pimping my wares in here, at least not intentionally :0)
No offense taken, but I thought I'd set the record straight as to why I worry about spilling the beans about my ideas. Once somebody begins making TRUE boutique PC's and displays, the idea will take off. Just wait till you see where they will pop up. This hobby will turn into a booming economy on its own. Look at the millions of dollars changing hands now just for modding supplies. But my competition will not be far behind. Paranoid? Nah. Just prepared. The innovator is always known by name, the imitators are just names.
Best of luck to you, as well. Hopefully your business does as well as I hope mine might. You've been in this game for a while now, right? How's things going for you?
BTW, you are right about me only posting a few times in here. I been a bit of a recluse, busy designing and planning. :0)
 
Wow..that was better off sent in a PM I think. It's nice that you want to go "pro" and promise that your work "will be superb", however you should be a bit more humble on the forums. You can be a pitbull when it comes to any business (and I wish you all the luck) but you need a bit of humility and modesty here among the other modders and non-modders here--This reallyisnt the place to "be vigorous" or do marketing and advertising for sponsors. Mainly we wanna just see cool stuff ;)

Hola Mashie !
 
CrimsonSky said:
Wow..that was better off sent in a PM I think. It's nice that you want to go "pro" and promise that your work "will be superb", however you should be a bit more humble on the forums. You can be a pitbull when it comes to any business (and I wish you all the luck) but you need a bit of humility and modesty here among the other modders and non-modders here--This reallyisnt the place to "be vigorous" or do marketing and advertising for sponsors. Mainly we wanna just see cool stuff ;)

Hola Mashie !
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Thanks man. I understand. When I get the inner frame going this week, I should have more stuff to show. I'm doing this because I love it, don't forget! But I'll chill for sure.
 
mashie said:
I'm here...

Ok first off, this is a worklog, not a business pimping board so keep on topic, we want to see cases nothing else.

As for sponsorships, you don't get it by begging, they will come to you if you deserve it. Same with magazines actually, they will come to you when your skill level is high enough.

I will not delete any posts as of now, I will let those of you who think you are off topic to edit your posts first.
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Thanks for not deleting anything, Mashie. I'll keep on topic. Shouldn't have gone off the deep end like that!
 
Qtip42 said:
^ what he said.
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Btw, how's the Batman idea going? Your One of the designs I came up with was for my son's PC, it was the Bat-Computer idea. Kinda like Bruce Wayne's machine in the Bat-Cave. The symbol was an oval object with a masked window with yellow acrylic for the symbol background and a mobo inside, supported by two towers, one per side, with power and data cables passing thru flexible conduits that support the symbol and pass over to the towers. The towers would be art-deco layered deals with the drives at the top of each. A full desktop would be built-in to the design with LED banks flashing away on the surface between the main structure and the desktop. If you want some drawings of my idea I'd be willing to let you have them. I won't be building that machine now that I found a different subject for his computer :0) Maybe some of my ideas would be useful to you.
Good work on your design. You don't really need my help, but the offer is there.
 
Fuckin' uber man. It would be cool if you could mount a laser inside the barrel and bring a fog machine with you. When you display it you could "fire" off some rounds. :D
 
redhalo said:
Fuckin' uber man. It would be cool if you could mount a laser inside the barrel and bring a fog machine with you. When you display it you could "fire" off some rounds. :D
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Thats a great idea. I've thought about using a green laser after reading your suggestion. That way a fog generator wouldn't be needed. Maybe I can do both the red and green at once?! The shame of it all is that the fan at the front will be taking in air through the barrel, but maybe I could move that fan back in its duct? Then mount both a red and green laser side-by-side (mount them to a rotary mount and add an alternating flasher? LOL!) and cover the assembly with a convex disk, similar to the large center portion of the in-game railgun barrel. That would do the trick.
Thanks for the good words, and especially thanks for the idea. I don't know if it can be done with time and cash restraints. The green laser alone is $100, maybe more.If you or anyone else has suggestions where to acquire them cheap, let me know. I wonder if a red laser can be filtered with another color, and still have enough brightness to travel far? Filter with blue, get purple laser. Not so sure this would work.Maybe a coated mirror? Or a powered mirror instead of having to move the lasers? So many ideas, so little time :0)
But it gives me plenty of distracting food for thought!
 
mashie said:
No lasers are visible unless they hit dust in the air no matter of the colour.

Now if you could emulate that swirl effect around the beam... ;)
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Yeah, the swirl would be righteous! The green laser apparently does become viewable in "dark" conditions. You can see the beam from 20 ft away, but I'm sure you're right and there must be particles in the air. I'm not so sure I want to add lasers to the complex arrangement ahead of me already. I could spend a bunch of time designing and constructing this laser feature, just to toss it out later because it just doesn't fit the whole design.
Purple lasers might suit my fancy tho :0)
HEY MASHIE why not use some acrylic rod and create a section of the beam, as if it was frozen in time? Do you think It would be worth trying? That might look good... Frost each rod and use bright LEDs on them? Suggestions?
 
The weapon is very rudimentary in shape---would be really easy to replicate the exact handgrip from Id's design.--and since you told us it is a tribute to Quake, why not keep some aspects of it as faithful as possible --Carve it on a bandsaw from alum then hand finish, use laminated PVC sheet and carve it, or even use a model maker's milling machine
 
zeusenergy said:
You mean in the drawings? Or the actual pistol grip I chose?
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Well it does not really go with the gun at all. Come on it looks like the one on my dads 357mag lol. What Csky sed i think.
 
CrimsonSky said:
The weapon is very rudimentary in shape---would be really easy to replicate the exact handgrip from Id's design.--and since you told us it is a tribute to Quake, why not keep some aspects of it as faithful as possible
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Thanks, Paul. You and Altec convinced me of what I expected. The hand grip only cost me $3, so I thought it would be foolish to pass up. It would work but might not look right. It was the closest to what you see in the game the gun shop had. Stocks were the same, there's no real stock that looks like the railgun's. I have to make a structural support to fit within the real gun grip, so making the whole handle custom would be easy enough. The game handle is bigger than the grip I got anyway.
 
Looks sweet but are you talking aboat my work log or my old site that i forgot to update the link?

EDIT: All most for got did he just paint the plexi? Sorry if i'm going offtopic here.
 
If you scrap the idea with the laser, I would think it's still expected to have some kind of lighting in the chamber...even if it is just an led fan (omg they'll finally actually go with a mod and not be distastefull! j/k, no flame please).
 
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