Nuclear Blast Project - Custom Acrylic Case

Bart_Hunt · 2 Sep 2014 at 23:21

Just a small thingy.
I managed to find a US retailer with EVGA X99 Micro, who actually ships stuff to Europe.
I paid a bit more than I planned, but I think it will be worth it - or so I hope.
At least I will be able to tell you guys if EVGA fixed their early BIOS issues.

Bart_Hunt · 3 Sep 2014 at 18:02

Hey guys

My CaseLabs parts were delayed in customs and I will have them delivered by tomorrow evening - this means no updated until Friday.

I will die of boredom...

Bart_Hunt · 4 Sep 2014 at 12:35

Hello guys

Good news for today

I received a FedEx parcel from CaseLabs, today around 10 am and right away started unpacking.
I left accessories for later and I unpacked the techstation first.
It's solid built, all screws align, powder coat was good too.
I chose primer gray as color for all parts as they are going to be painted in different colors.

I took few photos for you, with flash on and with natural light only.

1. At last

2. Radiator mounts and tubing routing plates.

3. Tech station in natural light.

4. Tech station - flash on.

5. Motherboard standoffs.

I am running out of yellow and black paint, so will have to stop painting stuff for now

I will order some more tomorrow and will continue next week.

EDIT: Actually, scratch that - spray cap was stuck, had to replace it.
Everything is sprayed with at least 2 layers, tech station also have single layer of mat varnish.

Bart_Hunt · 4 Sep 2014 at 23:14

The fluorescent paint looks rather bleak in natural light.
I wonder if it looks more vibrant in uv?
Will have to see.

Edit: Had a change of heart and second thoughts about EVGA x99 Micro.
I decided to buy MSI X99S SLI Plus, based on very good reviews and much better price.
I will have to find a way to fix lower motherboard standoffs to chasis, but I already have an idea how to do it.

Bart_Hunt · 5 Sep 2014 at 09:12

Most of the Tech station will be hidden under motherboard and only back will be exposed 24/7.
I will be painting heatsinks on motherboard with same MTN's Fluorescent Yellow, ddr heatsinks and I will be making i/o cover with some acrylic, SLI bridge and GPU backplates.
i/o cover and GPU backplates will only have some motive painted in MTN fluorescent yellow, but ddr's will be painted as whole.

I am most likely going to get 4 x 4gb 2666mhz Kingston Predator's.
With cheaper motherboard, there is a chance that I will be getting a 5930k instead of 5820k too.
All depends on the new GPUs. Not sure which ones I will be getting yet.

Motherboard ordered, 1st part of hardware, yay

Bart_Hunt · 10 Sep 2014 at 05:11

Hello guys

A small update.
I received a suspicious looking tube parcel - yup, acrylic rods and blocks.
I found a problem with blocks though, not all of them are exactly same size.
It will be a bit tricky, will have to be very careful with drilling.

I ordered some extra drill bits and acrylic glue, it should arrive next week.
I will start building the skeleton then.
Due to the cost of cutting the acrylic, I will most likely split the project into 2 more phases.
Phase 1: After finishing the skeleton, I will order middle plate, bottom and rear and connect it with the skeleton, making a sort of bench.
Phase 2: I will then add the rest, after about 2 weeks.

Acrylic plates this size and thickness, plus cutting it, costs a lot.
So there will be fewer updates this and next month.

I will post pictures when I get the supplies next week and start making the skeleton.

Bart_Hunt · 10 Sep 2014 at 16:55

You mean the MSI X99S?
It was shipped free, by DPD, but that's because of the forum posts etc.

All cubes have rounded edges, maybe that's why they look different thickness, but it looks like between 0.5 and 1 mm.
The exact size advertised was 25.4mm each edge so I guess it's because of the manufacturing process (cast).
I will have to polish the wall which are going to be attached permanently with the walls anyway, so it won't matter. I will be have to be very careful and precise with the drilling and triple check everything.

Edit: Here is a photo of few cubes. I used one to test the drills I had and it was nice and easy. But it's also the one which is different size.

Edit2: I checked rest of the cubes and apparently more than one is slightly different size.
This pose a problem, so I had to modify the project a little. Cubes and round rods will still be used for minor skeleton parts, like to strengthen some construction i.e. PSU cover, however main skeleton will be made with square rod. I ordered 6 meters of 10x10 mm square rod and should receive it next week, at same time as acrylic glue and drill bits, so you can expect an update soon :-)

Bart_Hunt · 21 Sep 2014 at 02:24

Thanks for the comment.
I had second thoughts about some parts of construction and joining components, but your post gave me an idea.
I was afraid that acrylic glue alone wouldn't be strong enough to make construction solid enough.
I will be buying some M3 threaded inserts and M3 short screws (12mm).

Next update will come sometime in October.
I've made some design changes and I am re-drawing some parts to make them more clear.
I will need to give that to my acrylic supplier when I order all case panels, around first week of October.

Dimensions changed a bit, I decided to move rads to different places to balance the weight around the case.
In old design, majority of the weight would be in right part and it would put to much stress on the construction. I was also worried about the airflow.
With new design, this no longer will be a problem.
I will post the updated drawings soon - I have them on paper at the moment, so it will take me a day or two to draw them in 'Sketchup Layout'.

After I have all the components for the case in place, this project will move forward at last :-)