Storm'd !

[Defyant]

like i said! this is all trial and error stuff atm! and after playing arouns some more! i decided to ditch the external PLEX Bolt altogther!!!!

and go with just the EL stip under the Tinted plex!!!

This give a much sharper clean lightening effect, and in "BLUE" i think will look stunning.

Not content with just a single bolt effect im practicing "splicing" and re-joining the EL wire!

This will take some more practice as i need to shorten the contact area to get rid of the "dead spot" in the effect! but im sure with some more practice
and using the BLUE EL i should pretty much get it looking ok!

The funny part is! EL is noise sensitive!!! so you can imagine Zak and myself sitting round and making "thunder" and "Crack" noises to watch our lightening bolt flash

 

[Defyant]

update!!!


ok! after much deliberation on my part! i decided to still run the EL wire...but not to join as seen before.


this time i will simply run 3 bolts! that originate from the single source.


and will use some freshly brought Blue EL this time.

Using the same technique shown above a groove or channel is engraved in the smoked overlay outer panel.

the channel is blown clean

and the first of the bolts is layed in the channel and is temporarily taped in before more permanat glueing is applied.

All three bolts are layed in connected to a common power and a thin beed of glue is applied and allow to dry.

The original plex panelis then drilled to allow the EL wire loom to feed thru and layed over the smked plex and bolted down.

A sandwich effect where the EL sits between the 2 panels.

A qick "lights out" test shows how well the wirie contrasts behind the tinted smked outer panel.

Last but no least is to (for now) temp glue down the "STORM'D" letters and fire it up again

the beuty is that the EL wire is sound controlled!!! and flashes like real lightening.


Here is a small 800k avi file showing how the lightening flashes.

Ejoy

http://www.goatlan.com/noozl/MVI_9009.AVI

 

[pilotman2004]

I must say, I was a little unsure, until I saw the video of it working. Thats just too freaking cool. I wouldn't have like it if it was always on, but with it flashing like that, its just too cool. Nice job!

 

[xrdotimcr]

Good Job.

 

[Bassist-X]

That is badass, very cool use of EL wire, doesn't that stuff lose intensity after some time?

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Awesome, the video really shows it off. Very original.

 

[Defyant]

thanx guys i think the basic EL lightening mod leaves a lotta room for better ideas!




to help case cooling ive decided to add a mesh grill right above the HDD, this will allow the HDD to run cool and keep internal temps down.

hole is also cut in the orig plex panel and is routed to allow the edge of the mesh to "sit down" and allow the top shadow plex panel to remain flush.

The mesh will "blend in " better once the brown paper comes off.

 

[Defyant]

From front! to Rear!

You all know of course STORM'D will be water cooled, for the job of cooling water i've selected the BIX single 120 rad, with enuf air flow this rad should comfortably handle the job of keeping hardware temps to a reasonable level.

Again using the "PIGGY-BACK" style of mounting.

first obsticle to get around was the fact that the SUNBEAM case only has a 80mm hole @ the rear!!

There was no real way to simply cut the hole larger....there just isn't enuf room...and somthing ppl should take into a real consideration when choosing a SUNBEAM case!!!!


I'd have to use an adaptor!


An old 80-120mm clear plex adaptor i'd had laying around came to the rescue,

The next obsticle to the PIGGYBACK mount, was side slide panel!

On the SUNBEAM cases the side panel SLIDES out from the rear ! it dosn't open away like conventional cases.
and becasue the RAD is a 80-120mm adaptation it hangs past the side of the case by just a few anoying millimeters.

The solution is to make the RAD Modular! the RAD+FAN+ADAPTOR assembly has to some how be "MOVABLE" to allow the side on STORM"D to slide out.



Heres what i came up with.


The idea was to extend the original fan mounting holes one the back panel in a figure 8.

the bit of plex left between the 2 holes is dremeled away.

Next was to add a "LOCKING" system to the the ADAPTOR



The orig holes are thread tapped , HEX head bolts are fed thru, locking nuts are added to the rear and a decent glop of glue will hold them in place.

When mounted to the RAD and EverCool Allu 120 fan, the assembley looks like this.

After initial testing to see how strong the assembly would be, i decided that adding holes to the ADAPTOR would not weaken it's over all strenght and allow the 120 fan to draw in some extra needed air and help get over the restriction of the 80mm hole.

Last was to simply LOCK the unit into place!!!


The larger holes allow the HEX head bolts to pass thru the panel... they then slide lock down and secure on the smaller holes.

A simple "locking" device will be added to ensure the rad dosnt "unlock" itself

the the tight fit! and the wieght once filled should ensure thisdosnt happen.


All that will be needed as to leave a little extra slack in the Water hoses that lead out to the rad to ensure the modular design works.

 

[Defyant]

On the home stretch!!


Todays lil effort really moves this mod along

Tis was off to the local fastners shop to pickup the last and final batch of HEX heads.

I even managed to pich up replacemant HEX head bolts for HDD CDROM and case screws!!! altho i wont be using any on this mod i can sure find uses for these
sexy lil things on other mods!!!!!

Ive lost count how many hex heads are in this mod! and to be honest with the price of these things per item! i really don't wanna think about it

but the mod wouldn't half as special with em so i'll shut up

First thing this morning was to go back over and rework a few niggly things.

Its was pointed out that the over hang on the internal STORM duct grills could be seen.

A retrim fixed these

The Split loom cover that i's used on the wire for the 4 STORM duct fans was a bit bulky looking,,, so all the wires were redone and covered using more flexible
techflex.

The pump also got the Techflex treatment

Next was to bolt the REAR STOM duct panel back on.

With all the extra wires comming out the side i decided to make a "patch" panel

 

[Defyant]

this is more for asthectics more than any pratical reason! i just thought it would be a nice touch to add a plug in panel somewhere into this mod

its a simple 12mm strip of clear plex, that will sit along side of the STORM Ducts and work as a wire tidy




ive also added a Molex to supply power to the HDD as you will see further on.

2 x RCA power plugs will supply power to the Fans and to the pump.

The other 2 holes will act as wire tidys for the split loom.

.

Time to get down to some spaghetti management



With the Wire tidy secured in place and the fans and pump "hard soldered" to the RCA plugs its time to feed and cover the front panel wires.



These were a bit of a pain in the proverbial to do... because of the "tight fit" but the end result was well worth the effort.

 

[Defyant]

with that out of the way next was to bolt in the CDROM


The CDrom sits above the pump.

and slots into plase from the rear to help stelth it a little and not stand out so much internally its had a few coats of matt black

with the cdrom in place the Matrix Orbital is bolted back in

Next to go back in is the SATA HDD , with its custom brackets its till a simple 4 bolt installation.

 

[Defyant]

A side shots shows that the HDD now sites sidways in the case.

The same splat loom is used for the SATA cable and some simple cable clamps are used to run the cable in the right direction.

Adding the power which wires down to the previously installed female molex

Again a cable clamp is used to give direction.

the whole area altho never actually seen! comes off as being more managable and tidier looking

 

[Defyant]

Again from the front -----to the ---> rear!


Almost forgot to add holes for the RAD's hoses to pass thru!

nothing super special here! holes are cut and flamed to keep the glassy factory look

with the board in the case is actually starting to resemble a working PC

 

[Defyant]

I had to think about this next idea for a few weeks!! the original plan to hold the top water tanks in place , was to glue small plex plates into the sides of the tanks

like plan flaps, then drill holes and bolt the tanks down onto the top of the case!

well i gotta admit! i wasnt keen to spoil these sexy lookin little tanks by gluing ugly wings!


today it came to me! a "locking slide latch type system"!!! yup! a mothfull in theory! but in practice a really easy simple design!


its kinda hard and ling to explain so add comment and hope the pics tell it right




The latches!

these connect to the existing top bezel bolts and silde back and forth

The Strom Res's have groves cut @ both eands ..these will be cleaned and flame polished!!

The Storm res's can then be lowered in from the top of the case and locked into place using the slide latch system.

 

[Defyant]

Time to test the Storm Res's in the case.

this was a great momemt i was itchin to get a full look @ how the top of the STORM'D was going to look with the paper off.




Off with the brown paper and on with a fesh smoked plex top panel

Next was to put the top bezal or "Storm Tank flange"!!! and bolt it down

Bolt the lock slides onto the existing 2 innner middle bots @ each end

Theres only a few mills of movement in the slides, but the tanks were made to be a tight fit so thats all that will be needed to lock them into place.

Drop in the tanks and lock em in!

 

[Defyant]

what the heck! a few more shots it's the first time iv'e really been able to get a good look @ the tanks as they should be.

 

[jdunner3]

What do you do for a living that makes your brain function like that? You have to be conditioned for this work or something.

 

[Sheldog23]

F*@!! Yeah! Now thats modding at it's finest.

Hard to describe the envy I have of your simple/complex and beautiful designs. Just keep inspiring us from the land down under M8.

 

[revlimit]

On the home stretch!!


Todays lil effort really moves this mod along

Tis was off to the local fastners shop to pickup the last and final batch of HEX heads.

I even managed to pich up replacemant HEX head bolts for HDD CDROM and case screws!!! altho i wont be using any on this mod i can sure find uses for these
sexy lil things on other mods!!!!!

Ive lost count how many hex heads are in this mod! and to be honest with the price of these things per item! i really don't wanna think about it

but the mod wouldn't half as special with em so i'll shut up

Nice mod. Do you know the size of the hex bolts for the CD ROM drive and Hard drive?

 

[Defyant]

thanx guys really appreciating the great comments

Those small screws are "M3 x 10" and "M3 x 20" SS SHCS.

not too common, but any good fastners shop or specialty hardware should sell em.

Marine shops like to stock these too!


i do remember from the old " RC10, Kyosho and LOSI" remote contol car days that the smaller "anondised" alloy screws from the kits used to work on pcs too!

 

[Bassist-X]

This has to be I think the most amazing use of plexiglass I've ever seen.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

This has to be I think the most amazing use of plexiglass I've ever seen.

I agree. Defyant's work puts mine to shame, lol. By the way, I like the mesh...may I ask where you got it? Also, what did you use as a gasket/molding around it? It works very well.

I can't wait to see the res's in action .

 

[Scroatdog]

We're not worthy. We're not worthy.

 

[Carbon_Le]

WoW....awesome mod. Very nicely done.

 

[revlimit]

thanx guys really appreciating the great comments

Those small screws are "M3 x 10" and "M3 x 20" SS SHCS.

not too common, but any good fastners shop or specialty hardware should sell em.

Marine shops like to stock these too!


i do remember from the old " RC10, Kyosho and LOSI" remote contol car days that the smaller "anondised" alloy screws from the kits used to work on pcs too!

Thanks, it seems like the M3 x 10 pitch .5 will work with CD ROM but not with Hard drive.

 

[Mohonri]

Just stumbled on this one now. Very nice looking.

It seems like it would be a pain to tighten the bolts on the reservoir latch, not to mention the possibility for user error. Have you considered leaving the bolts slightly loose on the latch, and spring-loading the latch? It would let you drop the res in with a nice 'click' and you wouldn't have to worry about whether you got the latch extended far enough when you tighten it. Something like this:

   +----------------+
   |    Latch       |
  /|   0        0   |\  <--Spring pulling latch to "closed" position
 / | X====X  X====X | \
0  +-H    H--H    H-+  0
     H    H  H    H 
     H    H  H    H 
     HRes H  HRes H 
     H    H==H    H 
     H    H  H    H

 

[Yashu]

This is really turning out to be a work of art... and fine craftsmanship.

Good job.

 

[Defyant]

the original plan was for STORM'D to go streight on display!

but A VERY BIG plee form my son Zak for this to become his new PC has won out

The PSU is a KIMEX brand 550watt chosen because i like the Black finish to it.

As seen below the orig idea was to use a a SFF atx mother board! the small board "when stealthed" would have allowed for an area to hide nasty cables!

BUT! since this this is now goin to be Zaks PC it was decided that a new P4-3.4 cpu will be used in a Asus P5GDC-Delux board a new XFX 6600GT with a Gig of GEIL ram added.


Prolly doing a case like this the justice it deserves




For the bolting in of the cards and blanks ive gone with the some sexy SS HEX Heads with washers.

these are actually way easier to install and suit the theme.

With the parts in place! i could now get on with the LOOMING!


Going for some more "uptown" looking RCA style plugs this time for power.

The NEW RCA power plugs will supply power to the MPC-350 pump and to the 4 X Front STORM fans.

The excess loom tucks behind the MoBo

 

[Defyant]

Not wanting to just go and buy a round cable for the CDROM i decided to make one that would fit in. a bit of twisting..... some heatshrink and more split loom and on matching IDE cable.

STORM'D wil also need power supplied to its REAR BIX Rad.

Again in the same mannor as HP2 and HevyPlex SLB , a female RCA is used.

 

[Defyant]

For the top Dual STORM Res's i wanted a intense but even light.

The choice of light is a 4" CCF tube.

Not on of the cheeper ones that can be brought from PC shops but on of the more expensive ones from Jaycar.

Ive often seen a few horror stories about the cheeper ones dying and taking out whole systems with them.

Touch wood in 2 yrs of using the Jaycar CCF's and inverters, iv'e never had a prob.

I decided just to make the light a bit more "robust" to cover the CCF with some clear plex tubing.


Cutting the Clear plex tube to the right lenght will allow me to "anchor" it to the top of the case with fear of braking the raw CCF

a "dob" of glue is udes to secure the CCF inside the Plex tube

then some HeAT SHRINK on the ends and the Light is ready to go in.

These shots show how the light sits up in the area btween the to STORM Tanks.

 

[Defyant]

I wasn't happy with the clear plex adaptor for the rad so i decided while giving thr RAD a fresh coat of paint i'd also cover the Adaptor

With the power wire covered and an RCA added the RAD can be slotted on

Next was to clamp on the hoses

Tidy up the wireing

dis-enguage the STORM Tanks.

 

[Defyant]

Next was time to fill the system


Again a mixture of Demin water, coolant and a cap of metho is used... The tanks are lifted up and the system is fully filled.

qick check for leeks!

With the tanks uptop and "movable" this was a vey simple system to fill and bleed!

 

[Defyant]

what would a Defyant mod be with-out a motherboard cover of some sort! ?

The idea was NOT to box the board in again, but like PeRs-pLeXeD! make just a feature wall.


Using the Same 3.5mm plex the sheet was cut so that would simply slide into place.

When an upgrade or system check is need 4 screws will allow the cover to again be easily removed.



TO keep in-theme with the rest of the mod the cover will have a small aire mesh grill above the NB chipset and SS HEX heads bolts will be used

to dress the cover up a bit.

the cover is cut and drilled

Custom 3" standoff "POSTS" are made using threaded rod and clear plex tubing

Glue is used to secure the threaded rod into place.

The 4 new standoffs are screwd into the 4 corners of the motherboard into the orig standoffs

The cover after having its bolts screwed in and its small grilled glued into place can be slid into the case and screwed into place


i personally love this look! and think its the best and most simple cover ive done yet...the shine give the inside of the case an infinite "depth" about it as well as highlights the green tubes and all the SS hex bolts.

The reflectivness of the PLEX makes it difficult for this cam to get good close up! but will try again in daylight.

 

[Defyant]

looking @ STORM'D i really wasnt happy with the side rings!and since i decided to remove the "side panel fans" altogether and run them as "passive vents" i decided that a bit more "storming" was needed!



Decided to replace the whole side panel with a nice new peice of 6mm thick #512 tinted plex.

I also decided to to a bit more STORMing of the internals!



First off this morn was a trip to the plastix, to pick up the 3 new peices of plex.

Next was to start on what will be the new side STORM rings.
ive decided to make 4 and have a couple spare for the next mod!!!


Using the same technique as bfore, its just a ,matter of cutting a 120mm x 10mm thick plex ring

then using a 80mm cut the centers out the these

These will be put to good use later!

 

[Defyant]

After some routing and drilling

It's time for some countersinking

you can clearly see that the countersinking leaves a ugly hole!

some good old flame shining will fix that!

the end result is a much cleaner looking hole

 

[Defyant]

i'll be going back and running the good old FLAT TYPE M2 SS HEX Heads

Altho i wont be running fans this shot is just to show that the bolts all line up with standard 80's

Next was again to make up some cleaner grills, trimmed these will bolt down under the rings and the new panel.

Next to mark the new side panel for cutting

 

[Defyant]

Some flaming to clean up the nasty edges

And now the ring assembly

I think this is a cleaner looking assembly and will workin a lot better with whats to come.

 

[Defyant]

The other 2 tinted plex panels will be used to cover the CDROM/pump area and the STORM duct area

The 2 panels are drilled and matching holes are threaded

Holes are also drilled to allow access to the PUMP bracket and HDD bracket

The panel is bolted in popper

The bottem panel is also bolted in

 

[Defyant]

Next is to glue in the sexy clear ring!!!

Remove the paper and bolt in the lower panel.

A super clean look! with great contrast of the green tubes on a glossy black background

Next was to put on the STORM'D letters. These are Custom printed silver vynal stick on letters.

Damm!! this really wasnt easy.... and i may have them redone and placed on by pro's

 

[Defyant]

large logo lettering!

Nearly 20 mins later

Some more inside shots,

as much as i liked the look of the DUCTS i also like the clean look of the all black interior...the shine off the plex is really incredible.

and the addition of the small plex ring becomes a main feature!