Nuclear Blast Project - Custom Acrylic Case

Bart_Hunt

Bart_Hunt

Bart_Hunt

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Joined
12 Jan 2013
Posts
2,066
Location
Gdansk, Poland
Hello guys

It's time for my next project ;)
I was thinking about building a new rig for some time.
Blame the almighty 'upgrade bug' :D

Back to the topic.
I currently own a CaseLabs S8 and as much as I love it, I also think it is to big and bulky for my taste.
I want a case which will be slim and elegant.

I think that is good enough for an introduction.
Some information about my new project.

Color theme:
Black
Yellow
Red

Size:
70 H x 20 W x 45 D, subject to small changes.
Materials:
Acrylic, aluminum skeleton and some parts.
Aluminum parts I mentioned will be coming from CaseLabs i.e. SM5 TechStation, PSU mount, hdd/ssd mounts, possibly radiator mounts.

Hardware:
MSI x99S SLI Plus motherboard, possibly water cooled if I can find suitable blocks
4x4 gb DDR4 Avexir or G.Skill w/ EK blocks
5820K w/ EK block
EVGA GTX 780 SC x 2 w/ EK blocks
M2 128gb card
EVGA 1000w P2 PSU, custom sleeve
SoundBlaster Titanium X-Fi
2 x D5 + Tube res
Aurora 2 coolant ( 2 colors )
3 x EK PE 360 rads
12 x Powercool Glacier Pro fans, custom painted
Solid acrylic tubing or 11/16 normal tubing, not decided yet.

As usual you'd like to see some pictures, but to tell you the truth I have most of the plans in my head or on paper, so it will take time :D
But don't worry, I will keep you updated.
You can expect something new at least once a month first and more, when I get all the parts together.
Most time consuming part will be getting parts from CaseLabs and custom cut acrylic.

So far I have ordered fans and MTN spray to paint them, I expect the delivery by Tuesday.
You will see first pictures then.
Maybe I will scan some drawings too :D

Wish me good luck and stay tuned !

Bart
 
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Thanks :-)

I am not sure about the sleeving yet.
EVGA have cable kits for g2/p2 psu's and I may buy black one.
I would like to keep colors in balance.
Acrylic parts will come in yellow and black, red will appear on fans and one of the coolants ( Aurora 2 Tharsis Red ).
I will keep your offer in mind ;)

Edit: I forgot to add the budget. I would like to stay below 1500£.
I expect to spend around 800£ for hardware, rest will be materials.

Edit2: Checked acrylic cost at my usual supplier, as I suspected cost around 200£. Have to add another 100£ for cutting. I can do some simple cuts myself, but more precise things have to be done with laser or water jet.
 
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Yes.
M2 card is for OS.
I have 2 sshd's ( 500 and 750 gb ), 60gb ssd and 2tb wd green from my current rig, which I did not put on the list of components.

I am using theplasticman for acrylic. If you provide them with pdf or jpeg with image of cuts you want made, with exact measurements, they will send you a quote with a price.
 
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Hey guys

I just ordered some goodies from CaseLabs.
They are all painted in primer grey and will be re-painted in black/fluorescent red and yellow.
I ordered these first, because I will need it for some measurements for acrylic.

Complete list:

Cart_zps2eed0e8a.jpg


I guess I should get it within next 2-3 weeks.

I made a rough sketch of front and side panels too.
Black = solid wall
Yellow = cutout for window/fan.
Red = vandal switch (power and reset)

Front panel.


casefront_zps465d9b81.jpg



Left side panel (right will be the same except no window).
Large cutout = window
Small cutouts = fans/rads.

Caseleftright_zpsb83dbd5d.jpg


Those are external walls only. Internal walls will have more cutouts, mostly small flat ones for mounting purposes.
There will be 4 chambers:
- bottom (2 rads)
- middle (m/b and rest of components, pumps)
- back (cable management)
- top ( 1 rad, psu)

Top and bottom chamber size will be no more than 20 x 20 x 45 cm, middle no more than 30 x 45 x 16 cm, back no more than 30 x 45 x 3 cm.

That's it for now, I think this gives you general idea of where the name came from :)
 
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I very much hope so :)
I spent a month on thinking about it, then another week or two drawing stuff.
Sometimes at most weird times (3 am at work, just had to grab a piece of paper and draw something).
I am not sure about adding aluminum skeleton.
It would be only in one place and completely hidden from view, but I would have to drill few holes too, they might weaken the acrylic, not sure if it is worth it.
I used acrylic from this supplier (theplasticman) and they have very good quality plastic, very stiff, so I am hoping it will be good enough.
There won't be any huge cutouts in weird places, only necessary ones.
 
Not a great fan of HL ;)
I prefer Doom 2.
By the way, I already spent 20% of budget.
There will be a lot of goodies arriving in coming weeks.
I made a drawing of the loop today, version without motherboard blocks.
I know it's still soon, but I always like to start planing it early.
Will post it tomorrow morning.

EDIT:

I made a radiator cover panel drawing instead.
These will be cut from black acrylic, picture below:

Radiator_zps1caac1ff.jpg
 
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Hey guys

Small update.
Ordered those goodies from CaseLabs and I am expecting delivery within 2 weeks.
Just in time to have good view of x99 capabilities :)

I received delivery of spray paint today, but unfortunately not fans.
I will post pictures when I receive them.
 
Hey guys

A small update.
I received a delivery of fans and some accessories.
Fans I ordered:
Powercool Glacier Pro
1200 rpm 68.4 CFM
15.8 dBA
Power usage 2.16W
Static Pressure 1.21

So overall pretty good.
So far I have only painted them with single layer of white primer spray, waiting for them to dry and I will paint them all in MTN Fluorescent Yellow.
Fan frame looks especially nice, it have a removable silicon frame, sleeve is also made of silicon.

I also bought some accessories i.e. washers, vandal switches and cables for them and 6-32 screws for radiators - I have plenty at home but they are all kinds and I want this build to look clean, so that's why bought these.

I have 2 photos for you, will add more when I paint the fans in yellow.

1. Unpainted fan.

DSCN1053_zpsa43f2e7c.jpg


2. Fan with primer on.

DSCN1057_zpscb77ad65.jpg


EDIT: Primer dried (2 layers) and I painted all fans with 2 layers of MTN Fluorescent Yellow.
I made 2 pictures, 1 with flash, one without, Don't get blind :)

3. Fan painted, flash off:

nouv_zpse832c864.jpg


4. Fan painted, flash on :)

DSCN1059_zpsc197fc38.jpg


I warned you :D

Next update will come when goodies from CaseLabs arrive. I expect them around 9th-10th of September.

I will be buying Motherboard, CPU and RAM around that time too and selling my current gear, case included (so check MM when that happens, you won't get S8 with pedestal and loads of fans anywhere for that price :D ).

As always I appreciate your comments :)
They are invaluable for my success.

Bart
 
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I think about wrapping fans with white led strip after I install them on rads.
At least on the window side.
Now I can't wait to get my hands on the motherboard, planning to do something evil there :-)
 
Thanks :-)
I will send you a 'trust'.
I just got a reply from my supplier with a quote and it's a bit more than I anticipated.
And I have a small problem with design, so there will be changes.

I will be moving all 3 rads to right, so they create a sort of MORA.
This will make the case more compact and will put less strain on whole construction.
Case will be wider, but smaller.
Dimensions look like this:
480 H x 400 D x 300ish W (mm).
There will be less cuts and they will be more simple.
I will post updated drawings soon.
 
Fans aren't the only part that will be painted in this color :-)
I am planning to paint SM5 techstation in same color.
And some other parts.
Maybe ram heatsinks and cpu block.
 
We have to arm in patience :-)
I hope to get my CaseLabs parts sent by Monday and after that it will be fast :-)

Edit: Good news. My CL parts were shipped 3 hours ago, just checked my email :-)
Expected delivery, Wednesday, 3rd September. Can't wait :)

EDIT: I removed the schematics, because it was in Paint and looked silly :)
Redoing it in Sketchup Layout :)
 
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A small update :)

There is a small chance that 'you know what' will get delivered tomorrow.
I am very excited and can't wait to paint it :)

smallchance_zps0e65f7c5.jpg


But most likely it will be here on Wednesday.
 
Luggs said:
Fingers crossed Bart, looking forward to seeing this build. It brightens up my day when I check for updates - literally ��
Click to expand...

Haha, very funny :)

By the way, I found a quite unique way to avoid aluminum skeleton.
I will have to experiment, but it looks interesting to me :)

The simple idea is to use acrylic cubes and rods to make skeleton.
I ordered 30 25x25 x25 mm cubes and 4 meters of 10mm cast acrylic rod
If it works, I will be able to use single 5mm thickness perspex for walls.

I think I will have something to show to you soon.
This week: case parts from CaseLabs.
Next week: Acrylic skeleton.
Week after that: My motherboard should arrive :)
 
I am going to buy acrylic cement or some glue.
I have acrylic drill bits and low speed drill too.
I will make a report when I get this delivered to me :)
oh, the acrylic I ordered was from www.theplasticshop.co.uk
Not the cheapest shop, but best quality I found.
Used their services before too.
 
^JP^ said:
I would guess some kind of solvent based acrylic cement would be the best option, the kind of stuff they use to bond acrylic fishtanks would be strong enough :D and not mist up the acrylic.

Would love to have a go at making something crazy also for a LAN PC.
Click to expand...

I have a case somewhere on paper for LANs :)
A very funny design too, but would require some serious skills and some sacrifices (i.e. no high end full length gpu). I can give you a general idea :)
Send me a trust and I will send you a description and whatever data I have - I won't be making it anyway :)
 
Yeah, I did.
Mt brother works in IT industry as a designer and I kept bothering him about drawing something for me, so he told me to bugger off and download Sketchup :D
Problem was and still is, I can't draw a straight line there.
I was watching tutorial on youtube, repeated every single step, they got straight column and mine was leaning to one side at 45 degrees.
So it wont work, lol. I will keep making projects on paper and in Paint I guess :D
Or give it another try sometime, maybe.

EDIT: I can't do 3D, but apparently Sketchup Layout is my thing, so there will be some layout images coming soon :)
 
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Hey guys

As promised above, I made some more detailed schematics.
I am very happy that I've found Sketchup Layout, it's a great program for newbs like me who can't draw in 3D :D

Ok, so below you will find most of the panels for the case.
Those not listed are top (clear, no cutouts), bottom (single circular cutout for PSU fan), rear (I will add it when I get the CaseLabs SM5 tech station), left panel (with window cutout).

1. Layout from front (with front panel off, EDIT: Dimensions are wrong, cutout for tech station size is 285x205mm):

Layout_front_zps6b85b6c3.jpg


2. Right external panel (radiator side):

Rightlayout_zps74004a2a.jpg


3. Middle panel cutouts (window side):

layoutleft_zpsca6d1937.jpg


4. Front panel (with fan cutouts):

Frontexternalschematics_zps9131aac9.jpg



There are some dimensions missing, but this should give you better idea.
I included placements of acrylic cubes and rods, which will act as a skeleton, you can see them on first drawing.

More updates soon :)
My CaseLabs parts are already on their way from Stanstead and I expect acrylic skeleton parts to arrive early next week.
A little set back, I won't be able to order EVGA X99 Miccro via my friends family in US, so will have to wait until it is available in Europe.

That's all for now :)
As usual thank you for your comments and advice

Bart
 
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