Siverstone TJ 07 Build - Dark Water

Brizzles · 12 Jun 2008 at 16:39

Finally got the pennies together for my perfect case , the Silverstone TJ 07.

But no case is perfect !

I wanted black inside and to hide as much " stuff " as possible from view. Anodising black was an option , but that would still leave drive bays and cables etc. exposed.

So i decided on acrylic to shroud and shield as much of the inside as possible.

A sort of Z shape for the drive bays , a false floor ( and possibly a roof ) and a back panel.

2 water loops Black and Purple ( though the Purple is getting more like a Lilac colour as no-one makes "proper" purple lights and fans ).

DTek fusion + On board NB
EK 3870 Full cover
D5 and DB1 pumps
PA120.3 and 120.1 ( for gfx card ) Rads
2 Alphacool Repack Black Res'
Black and Purple Primocoils
Black Feser and D-tek dyes

Black 3mm Acrylic
1500watt Heat Gun
Dremel ( Ryobi )
Drill
Clamps

An empty shell gathering dust :

A naked TJ07 :

Brizzles · 12 Jun 2008 at 16:41

The hard drive shroud and the floor :

First time using acrylic , surprised by how easy it is to use. Heatgun for bending and Dremel for cutting.
Slight ****-up with the heatgun ( too close to the acrylic ) as you can see the burn near the top of shroud.
Easily removed later with some uber fine wet and dry ( or Photoshop

).
The hardest part is keeping the protective film on the acrylic , this stuff scratches so easily.
8 of the holes are for water tubes , the other 2 are for wiring.

Internal mesh panels

The one time in my entire life i need some Black AC Ryan mesh , there is a world shortage !
Couldn't find it anywhere , only the Hexx which was too big. Managed to track down a sheet of plain Alu , and had to spray it.

Brizzles · 12 Jun 2008 at 16:42

Finished the Hard Drive shroud and floor :

Finished the Back wall :

Next up , hiding the wiring. Need to cut holes in the mobo tray to hide the ATX psu lead , and then the plumbing.

Cheers for now,

Mark

Brizzles · 12 Jun 2008 at 16:43

Update 20/6/08

Few bits of tidying up done.

Sprayed the Souncard PCI plate black and some other small things.

Braiding , love it or hate it , it has to be done.

Mobo ATX Header :

Before :

After :

First problem , the Silverstone HDD caddy i had planned to use was 10mm too long.

So i made a ( far more silent ) alternative :

M3 Bolts and nuts + rubber washers :

Medium density foam ( the type a case would be packed with ) Cut into L shapes and threaded onto the bolts :

The finished article :

Far better than any HDD silencers/mounts i have previously used , well pleased

Brizzles · 12 Jun 2008 at 16:44

The first "incase" fitting of the acrylic pieces :

Inside Front ( fitted a 120mm fan behind the shroud ) :

Inside Back :

Outer :

( Yes , the Silverstone HDD cover is poking out , need to trim the foam behind it abit )

Taking shape nicely

Wiring to tidy up and some minor adjustments to be made to the acrylic pieces.

Plumbing the watercooling next.

Cheers,

Mark

Brizzles · 12 Jun 2008 at 16:44

Reserved 3

Delvis · 12 Jun 2008 at 17:02

Looking nice already

Can't wait to see more!

Question, how have you done the back part of the chassis? Where the rear exhaust fan is etc? Or have you just put Acrylic over that too?

Tooks · 12 Jun 2008 at 17:04

Wow! Looking seriously impressive already!

Nice work with the acrylic and mesh there.

Looking forward to seeing how it all looks when assembled.

Brizzles · 12 Jun 2008 at 17:18

Delvis said:
Question, how have you done the back part of the chassis? Where the rear exhaust fan is etc? Or have you just put Acrylic over that too?

Thats an acrylic piece , cut to fit , in the same style as the shroud and floor.

They are actually intakes .I've mounted the fans on the outside of the case ( they were internal originally ).

The exhaust will be the roof , 2 x 120mm fans.

Mark

Hamoodii · 12 Jun 2008 at 19:34

Looking good

Loving the mesh inside the case as well !

nft_99 · 12 Jun 2008 at 19:45

looking good

sharpygsxr · 12 Jun 2008 at 19:48

this looks like an amazing worklog and the kind of foresight and patience that i wish i possessed

I will look forward to the updates.

RJC · 12 Jun 2008 at 20:42

Ooh have to keep an eye on this! looking good, love the mesh

pingwing · 12 Jun 2008 at 20:54

Im interested to see where this is being taken (i cant really picture the final idea)

Slashiem · 12 Jun 2008 at 21:25

Looks great.
Looking forward to finished build.

~Slash

Diggsy · 13 Jun 2008 at 11:02

Very interested in this. I love these cases. Looking forward to the rest of the build.

Biffa · 13 Jun 2008 at 11:12

What temperature does acrylic bend/melt at?

Brizzles · 13 Jun 2008 at 12:30

Biffa said:
What temperature does acrylic bend/melt at?

No idea , trial and error

A 1500w Heatgun , 6 inches away for a minute or so.

Keep it moving along the bend line ( Stay in one place too long and it will burn the Acrylic , as i found out ! )

If you clamp one end over a block of wood ( where you want the bend ) , heatgun in one hand and apply pressure with the other you will "feel" as it starts to become soft enough to bend.

Bear in mind , this is HOT !

I used an oven glove for the hand i was bending with.

Mark

Edit :

If you Google " A Modder's Guide To Acrylic " ( can't link / competitor forum ), theres some decent info.

RoEy · 13 Jun 2008 at 12:57

I have same case. Awesome and I can't wait to mod mine at Crimbo time. Going to get my internals powdercoated though. Looking forward to your updates...

RoEy

Blackhawk47 · 13 Jun 2008 at 18:40

looks great but it also looks very big . and looks a bit dusty in there , especially the heatsink