Bruce Lee TRIBUTE

[commandercup]

The idea of this case is an all black exterior with silence in mind. Its a practical case rather then one that might give you the lowest temperatures.

*for full size pictures (2048 x 1536), visit http://www.bjkdesign.com*

Here are some pictures of the stock case... its a Raidmax xB Performance Series ATX case that cost me $23 off NewEgg! I bought it because its got a nice flat and attractive front bezel/panel that can easily be altered if neccesary.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00879.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00880.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00881.jpg

Ironically... I had some problems with the package as UPS reported that it was shipped a day before it arrived... which could mean that someone stole it and returned it, or that UPS made some mistake... Anyways, I found a rusted screw holding the case together :shock: and the left side panel was missing... :cry:

To start working... I removed the top panel of the case, which alone took me 20 minutes and forced me to push the case and panel in awkward ways...

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00882.jpg

Then I started taking off all the wires after removing the front panel... This was also when I cut my middle finger from pushing out the case speaker! (Nice addition to a $23 case) The sharp steel assembly cut me...

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00883.jpg

The case with all panels removed.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00886.jpg

To start the actual modding, I decided that I would cut out the front 120mm fan grill to increase airflow.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00889.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00890.jpg

Then I proceeded to remove the stock HDD bay.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00888.jpg

All I had to do was drill out some pop rivets... took me quite a while because my drill has very low torque... but it worked out in the end.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00893.jpg

Afterwards I removed the back 80mm fan grill as well to increase exhaust airflow.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00894.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00896.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00897.jpg

The next order of business was to make a new HDD mount by taking out the stock 3.5" bay converter (fits in the bottom 5.25" bay) and turning it sideways. Here are some pictures demonstrating my idea.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00898.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00899.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00900.jpg

I cut a little bit of the back out where that bottom oval on the bays are so that the hard drive cables can fit through easily without having to have a big hole or rectangular area there. The idea is that the bay converter will be screwed in and unscrewed when a harddrive is removed or added.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00901.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00902.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00904.jpg

To mount the converter, I drilled two holes into the base of it.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00905.jpg

I then drilled the holes relative to the position on the converter to the actual drive bay assembly.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00906.jpg

Heres the hard drive screwed in

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00907.jpg

I then decided that the drive rack needeed better mounting so I drilled two more holes near the center of the rack.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00908.jpg

I also drilled two more holes in the corrosponding places in the main assembly. The picture shows two holes on top of each other... I have no idea why, I think something might have been there when I took the picture, but the drilling worked out perfectly.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00909.jpg

Heres teh rack fully secured.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00910.jpg

I then decided to cut out some of these weird support bars to create a little space to fit cables through.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00911.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00912.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00913.jpg

Heres a picture of a generic PSU mounted to try and find a place to mount a mesh filter on the top of the case.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00914.jpg

Here you can also see an optical drive mounted to make sure that the mesh will not overlap any of the hardware inside the case.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00915.jpg

The top panel is masked and the design has been penciled.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00916.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00917.jpg

The weird support bar areas on the bottom of the top panel made it hard to cut... the dremel had to be angled awkwardly.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00918.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00919.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00920.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00921.jpg

The u-channel has been applied to cover up the ugly cuts.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00922.jpg

Heres the mesh which has been c-clamped to the table so that it can be cut.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00923.jpg

This is how the mesh will be mounted.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00924.jpg

Mounting tape applied.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00925.jpg

Heres the beautiful cut and painted mesh.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00926.jpg

The mesh is mounted!

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00927.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00928.jpg

Since the top panel is sexy now, I decided to move onto the front bezel since I dont have the side panels right now... They will be here tommorow.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00929.jpg

Demonstrating the fit of a fan, I was originally planning to mount the fan between the bezel and the case rather then inside the case to fit an optical drive on the very bottom of the case... but it didn't fit correctly with the optical drive in.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00930.jpg

The front panel connectors have been removed.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00932.jpg

Masking tape has been applied.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00933.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00934.jpg

Oh yeah! The cut is finished.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00935.jpg

Demonstrating the mesh fitting. It'll be painted black like the mesh on the top panel.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00938.jpg

SHowing how the mesh will fit on the top portion of the bezel.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00939.jpg

Bare bottom of the case.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00940.jpg

Acoustic foam mounted. As you can see the piece I used wasn't long enough, but I won't be filling that gap in until after I finish padding the rest of the case so that I can use whatever scraps I have left.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00941.jpg

[lemonadesoda]

Very nice work. Keep it up.

[commandercup]

thanks :)

have any ideas on what i should do for the side panels? Black acrylic? Half mesh? Just acoustic foam?

[blkhogan]

Looking good Commander!! What ideas are you thinking about for the side pannel?

[commandercup]

I'm not exactly sure...

I was thinking of having this case be a very conservative design with no LED's or other lighting since it is supposed to be very quiet...

but...

I was also thinking of having a Bruce Lee tribute case which I could make this into.

The left side panel could be Bruce Lee in his uber stance

http://www.bruce-lee-video.com/images2/left.jpg

He would be cut out of the side panel and backed with acrylic.

I could cut out some chinese characters with some cool meanings to place wherever on the case... possibly on the front bezel or on the sides.

I could also easily make some custom nunchuck fan grills... which would look relatively sweet.

You guys know anything about opaque or clear white acrylic? I'm talking about snow white which would look nice if all the cut outs were lit with white LED's.

All acrylic on the case would be mounted with black mesh on top to provide a more industrial look rather then the clean look of just having acrylic

Or... I could just have a simple case lol

edit:

Oh yeah, and I was also thinking of doing a hall of mirrors spoof inside the case with mirrows mounted everywhere inside like the hall of mirrors in "Enter the Dragon" (his last movie?), then the bruuce lee cutout would be done in 2-way mirror acrylic to match the mirrors within.

[spearman914]

I think I will buy this case for my 10 year old brother. And LMAO at the Bruce Lee Pic.

[commandercup]

GASP! Don't insult the master...

anyways, I decided to make it a Bruce Lee themed case, its much more fun that way... so I'll need to edit the title of the project to match the new theme.

... I tried to see if the side panels were exchangable between sides, and they were so I decided to use the one panel I currently have (The case didn't come with both, a replacement panel is on its way) to cut out the bruce lee scene.

Here is the stock panel in all its glory

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00942.jpg

The panel all masked and ready to go!

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00943.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00944.jpg

As you can see, the original design wouldn't work because his right hand is placed over his body... and I can only cut out the silhoutte to make it look good.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00945.jpg

Thus I decided to cut out a seperate design which depicts Bruce Lee doing his favorite kick on some random goon.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00946.jpg

The masked area leftover on the panel is where I'll be cutting out "BRUCE" or maybe "BRUCE LEE" if that fits.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00947.jpg

As you can see here, the cut is still quite rough, but that'll change once I start grinding it and filing it.

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00948.jpg

I'll be ordering some acrylic panels and more modder's mesh as soon as my WC loop gets sold...

[a111087]

haha, nice, but i don't really see how this is going to be ULTRA silent

[commandercup]

yeah, I'm changing it now, it'll be just themed for Bruce Lee now :P

edit:

any mod's or admins, please change the title of the thread to "Bruce Lee TRIBUTE"

[Jimmy 2004]

any mod's or admins, please change the title of the thread to "Bruce Lee TRIBUTE"

Done. :)

[Nitro-Max]

My child hood favorate!! nice man

[mlee49]

Thats awesome work man!!! Great job documenting w/the pics!!

[Azazel]

ahh logo is sweet

[commandercup]

Done. :)

thanks jimmy xD

I think that I'll be doing some light trims on the side panel cut because some of the body parts are disproportionate...

I also need to alter the feet of the guy being kicked since that looks really weird... otherwise I think it looks quite decent and it will look a lot better when its backed with acrylic.

Tonight I'll be cutting out the letters... this'll be easier because if I make any major mistakes I can just cut out the rectangle around the letters and put in a nice little mesh area or a window.

I'm deciding between a more stylized text which would be a lot harder to cut or a simpler, more blocky text... I'll see what happens!

I'll also be filing down the side panel cut today as well as grounding out those heads so its a bit rounder.

Edit, took me 45 minutes to cut out the text... however it seems that the cutting wheel got too hot and the sparks caused the paint around the edges of the cut to melt off... thus I'll be painting the case... Only the side panel around the cuts to restore it... I might consider hand brushing lightly over the effected areas...

Don't forget that it still needs to be filed, so don't laugh... :ohwell:

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00949.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00950.jpg

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00951.jpg

oh yeah, and should I back the cuts with opaque white acrylic? or what do you guys think? white acrylic would look nice and all the fans would be fitted with white LEDs

[EnergyFX]

Nice work. Can't wait to see it finished!

[commandercup]

thanks hehe

the other side panel will be here tommorow... so I'll be doing some more intensive cutting...

today I'll be mounting the mesh on the front panel and starting some work on a nunchuck grill for the back of the case.

edit:

the mesh on the front is complete...

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00952.JPG

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00953.JPG

as you can see in that second picture, the mesh is sunken... the front bezel has some weird structural arches, but I'll be grinding those out in the future, for now it works fine and looks great from the front

http://bjkdesign.com/albums/Blackout/normal_DSC00954.JPG

[MKmods]

Dam I missed this, Very nice job. Subscribed

[AphexDreamer]

Bruce Lee FTW!! Nice case, BTW.

[commandercup]

I've decided that I'll be redoing the mesh in the front with actual bends rather then just having it mounted like that, it'll be a much nicer fit and will sit flush with the bezel

I also received the replacement panel... which I will be cutting up soon to match the rest of the case.

[commandercup]

Decided that artsy fartsy designs werent for me so I just ended the project... I'll post all the worklog pictures tommorow, for now heres a facebook album of the finished product.

The yellow acrylic window turns green with the blue CCFLS

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20402&id=714022127

[kyle2020]

i must say, out of all the project logs on here, this is by far the best i have seen - so inventive and by what i have seen so far of your modding skill i think it will turn out fantastic.

Just keep us up to date with those pictures, id love to see how its coming along.

Well done mate, keep it up! 100% subscription from me.

[Kovoet]

Awesome can't wait for it to be finished

[Da iLLeZt TL973]

bro that thing looks sick and its not even finished!!...i can only imagine what the final product will look like :toast:

[commandercup]

eh, got lazy building a themed case... its for sale as is

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=792431#post792431

next project will be based on achieving silence with performance

[Dia01]

Good reading, keep it up!