Project 'EVIE' - Steampunk 1886 Build

Quantum-192

Quantum-192

Quantum-192

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COMPLETED 24/08/16- Project 'EVIE' - Steampunk Build



I have had an interest in the artwork and ethos of Victorian Steampunk for several years and finally got around to doing something about it – thus, Project ‘Evie’ was born.

To me, Steampunk is before the age of electronics. A Victorian age where steam powered boilers and ornate gear powered machinery collide head on to create amazing creations of brass, copper and bronze. From the very early concept stages of this build it was important to me that I stay as true as possible to the Steampunk genre and hide as much of the electronics in the build as possible – not an easy task when you are building a custom PC.

And why is she called ‘Evie’? Well, the French author Jules Verne (often quoted as the grandfather of steampunk) wrote 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea in 1870 where we find the huge steam powered Nautilus submarine….and here comes the link…..like all steam boilers of the Victorian age the power plant of the Nautilus had a name – Evangeline or ‘Evie’ for short.

As a build ‘Evie’ is nearing completion but rather than bombard you all with too many photographs in one go I will post the build over several updates to give you all some breathing space.

Hardware

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mk1
Processor: Intel Skylake i5 6600K (OC to 4.7 GHz)
Graphics: 2 x EVGA GTX980 TI SC+ in SLI (OC to 1475 MHz)
EVGA Pro SLI Bridge
Memory: 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 (2400 MHz)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000X

Loop and Cooling

12/10mm Copper Pipe for the Loop
EKWB Supremacy EVO CPU Waterblock
EKWB FC Nickle GPU Waterblocks
EKWB RES-X3 250mm Reservoir in Custom Brass Cradle
Laing D5 Pump with Bitspower Pump Top
Lamptron CW611 Fan/Pump Controller
1 x 360mm Hardware Labs Black Ice Radiator (Top)
1 x 280mm Hardware Labs Black Ice Radiator (Front)
Coolant Flow and Temperature Sensors by Koolance
1 x Corsair AF140 Fan (Rear)
3 x Corsair SP120 Fans (Top)
2 x Thermaltake Riing 140mm Fans (Front)
2 x Be-Quiet 80mm Fans (Side)

The Concept

The case I chose as the basis for the build was the Corsair 780T. The reason being it was large enough inside for the custom work I had planned and I could easily cut the case to death both inside and out as some serious metal and internal fittings removal was needed.



I don’t have access to CAD for design work and without access to CAM lathes and milling machines all the build work would be carried out by hand crafting using easily available hand tools. However, I managed to knock up some basic concept sketches of how the build would develop.









The first task for the 780T would be some case cutting and fittings removal and then onto paint and airbrushing. Across the top would be 360mm radiator but several bars ran across the width of the case (at the top) – these had to be removed as they looked ugly under the custom MNPCTEC grills that would sit there.

Down the front all the 5.25 inch bays were removed as a custom signature plate would sit there along with a front mounted fill port leading to the reservoir. Also, I relocated the Fan/Pump controller to the bottom of the front panel and moved the twin 140mm fans higher to accommodate it (along with removing some more cross bars which obstructed the front fans. Once completed there was only 2mm of clearance with the new bay added into position – it was tight but it worked!

The floor front was cut away in readiness for a new design floor to be inserted, a basement shroud completed and some internal panels to bring back the case strength integrity and tidy everything up.
Finally, the inner case could be sanded, cleaned and spray coated with bronze.









The custom basement shroud showing the PSU opening and locations for the exposed pump. Of course a little bit of work on the Corsair badge which has been relocated from the front of the case.













One of the new inner strengthening plates – this one running down the right side to hide all the IO panel cables.
 
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cadmunkey said:
Progress looks great. A few naff steampunk builds out there but fingers crossed this one looks awesome already.
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I know what you mean about some of the previous steampunk builds out there. I did a lot of research to see what had been done before and it seems that most missed the whole steampunk aesthetic completely.

Thanks for all the comments guys it means a lot to get some feedback (good or bad) - I'll do another update later in the week when you will get to see my custom reservoir cradle.

ATB

Steve
 
Project 'Evie' Build Log 2

For this update I'm going to start with the motherboard. My remit when starting 'Evie' was to hid as much of the electronics as possible as computer electronics and steampunk (if you really want to stay true to the aesthetic) do not mix. This meant that the choice of motherboard was important.

Thus, I went down the route of a Sabertooth Z170 Mk1 from Asus which has the armour covering most of the electronics on the board. I couldn’t just leave it there though so it ended up having full treatment with my airbrush.





Next up is the IO plate on the Corsair 780T. One look and I said ‘no way is that all staying on show’ plus there was far too many LED’s and glowing bits for my liking – all had to go.

Now, I had chosen to replace the on/off and reset switch with my own buttons but the USB ports needed to be hidden but still be usable if needed. The headphone and mic jacks could go and I certainly wasn’t going to use the inbuilt fan controller so that had to go too.

A full strip down removed the un-needed stuff (along with a ton of wires leading from the fan controller). I made a new custom faceplate, new switches and added a door to cover the USB ports.







Now for the fans (all 9 of them). Definitely had to do some work on those. Brass rings for the Corsair fans finished off some bronze airbrush work and fan grills were added to all fans that would be on show in the case.

To complete the effect I had to change the logo’s on each fan as they were far to modern in design. Thus, I came up with new fan label graphics which I printed off and applied to each fan hub. I went with a Corsair 1886 logo for most of them but had to change the two front Thermaltake fan labels as well to make them all look old and worn.







And now for my custom reservoir mount. I decided right at the start that this was to be one of the signature pieces on my build so only a full custom made brass cradle would do.

The coolant fill port would lead from the front of the case (where the old 5.25 inch bays used to be) into the top of the reservoir but first I had to start with some school boy trigonometry to work out the shapes…..and it’s been quite a while since I’ve had to call on this knowledge!…..knew it had to be good for something!

The full reservoir project took nearly a month to complete on its own as its all hand crafted and polished.

The copper pipe leading from the top of the reservoir cap is just a place holder to show where the fillport tube leads in to the reservoir.













That's it for now - more very soon and happy to answer any questions on the build if you have them.
 
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darwin1859 said:
Looking awesome. Any plans for the coolant colour?
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Good question as I've pondered over this for a while. The build will use polished copper tubing throughout and the only areas you will see coolant is the res and the flow gauge.

Pastels and anything fluorescent or UV will look wrong. I was going dyed yellow at one point but the brass rods on the res were lost against it and when tested looked pants. Red looked too harsh.

So, I'm going to use a translucent amber/orange colour which makes the brass stand out really well. I plan to use AquaComputer DP Ultra which seems spot on colour wise.
 
All hand crafted with usual DIY tools like a Dremmel, Jigsaw etc plus lots of hand files :)

Unfortunately I don't have access to any CNC machines which has made it harder but ultimately more rewarding for me as its all hand done in my Kitchen.....when the wife isn't around of course :D
 
Thanks to eveyone for the positive reception. It's been a long 6 months working on it most evenings getting this build together but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

I was worried it was going to sink faster than the Titanic when you guys saw the build log :D
 
Those oilers are fantastic and would fit great on the front of the case where my steam pressure gauge is going to sit. I was struggling to make it look right and this is just the job!

Really like your suggestions on the oil coloured coolant - so I will make some changes there I think.

Thank you for your support and suggestions - this 'oiler' addition will be spot on along with a coolant colour change.

Just purchased one of these on eBay which I think will do nicely :-)



 
A Little Radiator Time

This update is around the two radiators in the build. There is a 360 in the top and a 280 in the front. Both are Black Ice SR2 radiators from Harware Labs and both had to have a little modding treatment (along with their fans) before they could go in the case.

Before that though, does anyone else have to deal with these issues :D



The 280 SR2 awaiting its fans (blanking plugs will be changed):





The 360 SR2 built and waiting to go into the case this weekend (again blanking plugs will be changed):





Copper screw thread covers for the fans:



The grills that will protect the open fin surfaces of each of the radiators:



The Laing D5 pump is also finished and will ultimately rise up out of the basement shroud:



ATB - Steve.
 
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Project Log - Update 4

Time for an update on Project Evie as its now starting to come together - even though a couple of unforseen problems chucked me a curve ball this week.

First off is the case feet (or rails is probably better). On the Corsair 780T the feet/rails and lower middle panel form one unit and this was ripe for taking what would be the copper loop, outside of the case and then back inside.

12/10mm copper pipe will be used for the entire loop and I had to find a way of connecting to the side rail cooper pipe from the pipes in the basement of the case. In fact, once the alignment was sorted out the rest was reletively easy as G1/4 12/10mm fittings could be connected.

Then it was just down to spraying the side feet/rails and lower panel in the Oil Rubbed Bronze colour; polishing and airbrushing the side pipes; and then assembly onto the case frame.

Only the window side pipe forms part of the loop but it was some out of the box thinking.....or out of the case thinking :D















My first problem this week arose when I was fitting the reservoir and reservoir cradle into the case. With all the brass in the cradle it was quite heavy and was flexing/pulling the motherboard tray forwards by a few degree's. Not much, but you could see the reservoir was leaning forwards.

I solved this issue by creating a copper supporting column that rises out of the basement to take the weight of the reservoir and cradle. It now sits upright as intended.



The second problem arose when starting to fit the fill port pipe which runs from the top front of the case to the top of the reservoir. When in place the back of the fillport could be seen through the window along with areas where I had cut away the 5.25in bays. A quick panel was put together to blank this area off from sight whilst providing a bit of visual interest.



With the removal of the IO Panel LEDs etc I had lost the HDD Activity Indicator. I had always planned to have a steam pressure gauge on the build but this now moved inside next to the pump and an LED was fitted into the back which is driven by the HDD motherboard pin header. The gauge flickers nicely.

The gauge has come from an old antique I found in a junk shop. I stripped it down and redesigned the gauge face with my own custom 'steam' graphics and couldn't give up the opportunity to ramp the steam into the red.....hey, Evie is running with two overclocked EVGA 980ti GPU's :p





To close this update I have now fitted both the top 360 and front 280 radiator/fan assemblies into the case......and finally, my second cat has gotten in on the action now and is seen here making a bed out of some freshly painted/finished case panels....total nightmare!







All the best - Steve
 
kthula666 said:
Yeah the grommets could do with some love...
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I totally agree with you. Trouble is being rubber they don't accept paint very well. I tried but ended up having to strip it all off as it was flaking. Any ideas would be appreciated on what to do here?

Thanks for all the great comments. It means a lot to me and drives me on with Evie. Another big update coming this weekend.
 
Finished a couple of small projects on Evie this week and completed one major one.

I'd always bought sleeved cables in the past but for this build I thought I'd better get round to learning how to do it. First off the production line is the 24-pin. I wanted a neutral sleeving colour in the build but a colour/design that would at least retain a small amount of visual interest.

I'm happy how this arched 24-pin came out.



The last small project for this week was the SLI Bridge. The modern design would not suit this build so a mod was called for to replace the illuminated EVGA sign with EVIE. Trouble was for a simple mod it took quite a bit of cutting and shaping to ensure no light bleed around the illuminated EVIE panel.

This just ain't gonna cut it...



Much more like it...



Onto the major project for this week which was the front panel and front fans inset cover. The center piece and main focus for this was always going to be the 'EVIE' signature plate (and front coolant fill port) but my original signature plate design looked crap when finished so a complete redesign was called for including an engraved brass plate.

The main front panel - only the 'oiler' is missing at the moment.





The original design.....did not get much further than this mock up before I knew a redesign was on the cards



The new design...











Front panel fan cover plate...







 
Thanks guys. I'm really humbled by the positive response to Evie's build. It means so much to get the support of a fantastic and very skilled case modding community.

Big update coming this weekend as Evie nears completion. I'm putting in the copper loop at the moment (for the third time).....I just keep changing my mind on the layout :rolleyes:

Steve.
 
For this update to Evie we're going to start with taking a look at the right side panel detail and HDD cooler that I finished this week.

When I set out on Evie there was considerable cutting to the front of the Corsair 780T case removing all the standard HDD bays - I needed room for the extra front radiator and also the custiom reservoir.

The OS and game library would sit on a motherboard mounted Samsung EVO 500GB M.2 SSD but I still had to get my Western Digital Black 1TB HDD in somewhere for bulk storage. The only place available was behind the MB Tray but it was very tight and would leave the HDD with no airflow. A new mount and a custom cooling option was needed.

I ended up placing two be quiet 80mm fans above the HDD as an exterior mounted cooling option. These would blow cool air directly onto the HDD and as they would be spinning at minimum rpm they are nearly silent in operation. This is the build sequence and final result:















Final side panel image showing the HDD cooler in place and the extra side panel details matching my concept drawing from my initial post.



Next I needed to finish the work on the two EVGA 980TI SC+ cards that would be in the build including the EKWB backplates and waterblocks. Engraved brass plates were added to pull both cards in line with my steampunk aesthetic, and of course, maybe just a little custom airbrush work :D







From an earlier build log it was suggested that I might like to add an 'oiler' on Evie which are often seen on Victorian machinery. Well, it was a fantastic suggestion and now in place just awaiting fluid to be added in a few days time.



And to close this update here are overall shots showing the front and right side panel now complete and the second showing the GPU's in place and the loop work underway with much copper tube bending, polishing and detail work to go.







Finally, a shameless plug in that Evie's doing well in the bit-tec case mod contest but I could still do with your vote if you like what you see :D

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=307786
 
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Well, Evie is finished other than final comissioning and the overclocking to the CPU and two 980ti. That will take a few days to get the best overclocks/stabilities.

I will also be doing a final photoshoot of the finished build and will post this as a seperate update later in the week.

However, for now here are a few images of the loop once complete - awaiting coolant filling and bleeding (now complete).

The loop was pumped full of air before any coolant was added to ensure there were no leaks and she held at 7 psi (0.5 bar).



Some images around the loop once finished:









 
Artery said:
Will there be a final update when the loop has fluid?
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Hi All. Thank you all for your support, suggestions and great comments whilst Evie was under build.

I'm working on the final build log update now and once the final photographs are sorted out I'll post it as quickly as possible.

Can I also say a big thankyou to everyone who whizzed over to the bit-tech forum to offer support and vote for Evie in the case modding competition - she's running in first place with a week to go :)

ATB

Steve
 
Mini update on the cable sleeving...basically I'm just not happy with the current grey/black combination as it just doesn't look right in the build.

I have just ordered some MDPC sleeving in copper brown and will re-sleeve all the cables prior to the final photo's.

The sleeving is on its way so should be able to re-sleeve the cables by end of next week and get the photos done so there may be a week delay in getting the final pictures up on the forum. Sorry for the delay but I need to fix it to ensure my OCD is satisfied :-)

Steve.
 
Gone for the same design as my current cables but the black will be MDPC Anthracite and the grey will be MDPC Copper Brown.

Overall look (hopefully) will be dominated by the copper sleeving with just off black as edge trim to each cable.

Not used MDPC sleeving before so hopefully no issues in use? Current sleeving is Shakmods.
 
Now that the cable colour change has been made to the copper brown and anthracite from MDPC Sleeving (the grey just wasn't working for me), I can move Evie's status to complete.

Here are a few 'complete/finished status' photo's from around the build:

















 
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