Project "Full Metal Jacket"

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

I got bored of waiting for the parts for the desk / case, so I started making few things.

1. Painted few cables in UV Green: 3 Sata III and motherboard 24pin cable.

2. Started making a radiator mounting. Cant use any standard thing here so had to connect some random bits. Measured them and they will fit a 240mm rad.

3. Started making a PSU mounting. I drilled 4 x 3 mm holes, they fit the PSU screws from my old case, I am going to use them there. I will attach the PSU in place and then bend rest of the metal to hold PSU hanging under the desk. Mounting is attached to the desk, basically a 1000mm x 500mm x 5 mm acrylic plate.
Should work

Other things in plans for next few days:

1. Cutting 5.25" slots in neoprene foam sheet (most likely 3 slots: 1 for Power/reset + 4 USB panel, 1 for fan controller, 1 for optical drive). Also It's very dense form and will make some parts like PSU or radiator virtually silent.

2. I just got an email that main part of the case, acrylic tube, will arrive on Wednesday, so I will start working on it then: sanding multiple times, painting (green/lime). I will update and post pics of my progress then.

This month it will all be working on the case and table. No computer hardware stuff until November, sorry.
Be patient, I will get to it soon

As usual I appreciate comments and advice, you helped me a lot so far

Cheers
BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Thanks Hukkel.
I found out that using different drill bits matters a lot.
I used wood drilling ones before, now I am using some coated ones for soft metals and they work perfect, plastic melts a bit, but not so much and usually doesn't stay on the surface near the hole. Before, I had to use scalpel to remove those and polish them with sanding paper.

Dj Bucho, I love those as well
I had few projects in mind and actually this one isn't the original 'FMJ' posted here.
I've hit a wall to many times with that one and went for something a bit different
More complicated in one way, more simple in another.
You will see what I mean, soon

 

[Bart_Hunt]

A small update.

1. I bent some metal parts, PSU and radiator mounting to be exact.

PSU will be completely hidden in the case, radiator will be hanging below it.


2. I made this front panel. It will be attached at right side of the desk.
It currently have 3 5.25" slots and 2 x USB 3.0.

Tomorrow I am getting a small delivery from Overclockers - a power/reset button. Going to drill the holes and attach them right away

Other than that, I ordered 3 more acrylic sheets which will make bottom/side panels of 'under-the-table' part of the case. Should arrive sometime next week.


I still can't decide on what hardware should I use for the build but that's a different issue. It will be Mini ITX, but I am torn apart between saving some money and going all out
I currently have an i5-3570K in my PC, which I could use for this new build or I could sell the whole thing and get me a Z87 mobo and i5-4670K.
I have my own favorites, which is MSI Z77IA-E53 if I go for older build or ASUS Z87I-PROif I got for Haswell. That Asus sure have nice colors and fits the theme nicely but that's another 300£ I have to take from somewhere
I will decide sometime soon and let you know right away.

Cheers
BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hello guys

Happy day for me. I was already asleep when some loud banging on the door woke me up.
Yes, at last, the most important part of the case have arrived

It is a 250mm OD x 244mm ID x 350mm long acrylic extruded tube.
1. I made a photo, but tube is made from clear acrylic so, hmm, you wont see much xD

2. I needed to go back to bed, as I am working nights and needed some rest but I just couldn't stop myself from cutting front/rear panels of the case. They are made from 35mm thick, dense neoprene foam. I apologize for the quality but only thing I had ready was my phone, hope it's enough for now

Right, so tomorrow serious work starts.
I am expecting another delivery - aluminum sheets for desk/lower case parts and I will start working on it during weekend. Tomorrow morning going to sand this tube (I am going to leave some of it clear, it will act as a window).

Also, after long thinking, I decided on some hardware parts, which will also dictate colors which I will be using in this case.
Motherboard: Asus Z87I-Pro: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-580-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2071
I am going to use black, yellow and gold.
So starting tomorrow you can expect some small daily updates.

As usual appreciate your comments

Cheers
BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

I got back from work today and done some sanding.
Unfortunately I had a few small accidents while doing that and the results of it are few small scratches where the window should be.
I will have to reduce width of the window by 1.5"

For now this is how it looks like:

1. After 1st sanding session (1 time with 20, 3 with 40, 2 with 60, 1 with 80), washing and drying. You can see the scratches I mentioned in the left side of window.

2. After 2nd sanding session (3 times with 40, 2 with 60, 2 with 80 - especially at the edges of the window), washing and drying. I also attached front and rear panels.

3. Same as above, back of the case. Looks smooth and ready for primer

But that will have to wait until Monday/Tuesday.
And after primer comes painting, 3 layers.
Color choice was difficult but I made up my mind, it will be Humbrol's Brass Metallic. There were colors which fit the motherboard better, but I would have gone blind if I painted it metallic gold

That's it for now, more to come soon

BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

I decided to speed up a little on hardware.
I had some cash and thought, 'what the hell', and I bought the following:
1. Asus Z87I-Pro Mini ITX motherboard.
2. Avexir 2x4 GB DDR3 2133 Mhz Yellow/Gold LED.
3. BitFenix Gold/Black sleeved cables: 24 pin, 8 pin eps, molex to 4 sata.
4. NZXT Black sleeved cables: 4 sata.

I will have everything delivered to me on Monday
CPU, water cooling hardware and some more accessories will have to wait 2-3 weeks, but maybe there will be some promotion and I'll get it cheaper?
Who knows

I will post some pics when I have another update.

Cheers
BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hello

A small update.
I will have parts of the desk arriving on Monday morning.
It will take me most of the week to put it together, as I have 120 holes to drill and those are 4mm thick aluminum plates. I have wireless drill, so will be able to make 12 holes on 1 battery, then recharge etc.
I have another delivery scheduled for Wednesday, primer and paint for the tube.
Acrylic parts of the desk should arrive at the same time, so I am hoping to have it all done by Sunday.
About watercooling: I decided to go for one of new Radeons, probably 290X, so watercooling will have to wait a bit - whole loop will cost me around 400£, without GPU.
Until then, I will use my H60 for the CPU. I don't expect to start working on the loop earlier than mid November. Learning the true meaning of word 'patience'

I hope to see more of your encouraging comments, would be hard to continue without those

Cheers
BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

Time for daily update.
My order from Overclockers got delayed
I should be getting it tomorrow morning, unless DPD messes something up again - why I am not surprised. I would so much prefer TNT or Fedex to make deliveries for OCuk.

What was delivered and made my day, were metal plates for the desk.
I decided to warn my nearest neighbors that it will be a bit loud for a few hours

I already had 2 packs of M5x12 screws with square nuts, set of different drill bits - I lost one here, see one of the pictures below.

So, exactly what I ordered was:
2 x Aluminium Plate: 6082 T651 - 4.0 mm - 700mm x 200mm
1 x Aluminium Angle (6063T6) 11/2 in x 11/2 in x 1/8 in - 2500 mm, custom cut (4 x 500mm, 2 x 235mm)
1 x Aluminium Plate: 6082 T651 - 4.0 mm - 980mm x 235mm

I used first 2 plates as legs, angle as linking material for them and acrylic plate, the said plate as table top and the large aluminum plate as 'backplate' to reinforce the structure.

I also added few pics of other stuff, like my concept of finished case etc, see descriptions of pictures.

1. Everything on my mini workshop table.

2. 'Weapon of choice for gamers', haha.

3. I wouldn't be able to do anything without those 2 G Clamps.

4. 5 minutes break to cool down a little

5. Back to work. Removing some pieces of aluminum left after drilling. Using a scalpel here, great tool.

6. From the top: Table plate, backplate, legs, feet. Last checks before assembling.

7. Some small corrections had to be made, again G Clamps in action <3

8. I had just a few holes left to correct and sudden 'CHING' noise really worried me. Broke my drill bit :/ I had to use 5.5mm one for rest of holes.

9. Ok, time to explain a little bit. I will need to remove the acrylic, I overestimated its strength. I already ordered another aluminum plate for a table top, I will have it next week.
What else can you see on the pic? The unfinished case, sanded multiple times, window protected with tape to avoid scratches and ready for primer/painting (starting on Thursday).
Other than that, I decided to change the original idea of using dense neoprene foam for front panel. It just doesn't look good enough, is very hard to make any precise cuts in it, so I will go for 2 black acrylic discs, one size of OD, other in size of ID, then I will join them together with silicone and make a cutout for 120/140mm airflow fan.
Much better option and going to look cleaner, plus it will leave more space inside the case. Rear panel will probably be changed as well.
Oh, and the desk won't be covered with plush blanket
I'll install a Mega Mega OCUK gaming surface there when I change the table top to aluminum plate Size fits perfectly.

10. View of the case from the side. I am planing to paint it in matte black and brass metallic. Black on the front and rear side, up to the part where window starts, then brass metallic around the case where window is located.
You will see a lot of black and yellow used inside the case as well.

11. A small treat from OCuk, new buttons with red and yellow LEDs from DimasTech, with 600mm cables. Those will be used for power and reset buttons.

And that is it for now.
I will post more updates every time I get the delivery or will do something new.
I am planing a new water cooling loop, I am going to do something really nice there, you will see I will make a drawing and post it soon, probably around weekend. I am to tired today and have a lot of other work to do this week.

I hope you liked what I posted here.
Appreciate the comments. Especially, what do you think of the table design?

Cheers
BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Well, I have some acrylic pieces coming soon but no idea when.
The supplier is a good one but they are under siege by clients and wait time is a bit long at times. Last time I ordered something from them I had to wait over a week before order was processed.
There will be much more to do when those acrylic sheets arrive.
Other than that, I was almost 100% sure that I am getting a 4670K but I hear that you can get a good chip or you can get a crappy cheap. I never won anything good on lottery so maybe I will order a Haswell Xeon from States - just need to talk to Asus and make sure it works with my board.

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hello guys

A small update to show you that I am not building castles in the sand
I received a small parcel from Overclockers.

Few pics below:

1. Ha, priority postage !

2. Motherboard, RAM and few cables:

3. RAM up close:

4. Lets see how this fit together

More updates soon

BH

EDIT: I forgot to add there actually is 1 bigger change. I had to ditch that acrylic table top for a wooden one.
I had a small accident yesterday in the morning and acrylic cracked in one place.
Replaced it instantly with timber, slightly bigger: 1150x600x18mm and replaced some screws for heavy duty ones.
Looks and feels more solid now. I had to cancel that aluminum top order eventually as well.

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

Small update.
I ripped apart my old case to grab some goodies from inside.
I got an i/o pannel, ssd cage, some fan guards, including one around the size of 360mm rad.
Lets see if I can use it.
Then got some bad news. My acrlic supplier had some problems with their laser and wont be able to complete my order until Tuesday :/
I am still getting m 4770K on Saturday so that should fix my mood a little.
And I have received parcel with primer/paint for the case.
Going to start painting it tomorrow.
Will post some new pics then

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Another day, another piece of cake done.
Uhm, I mean case

Today I was doing a paint job.
Not as clean as I'd wish it to be unfortunately.

1. I've put 3 layers of primer, giving it a lot of sanding in between one and another, then gave it a shower at the end and let it to dry.

2. After that I added 3 layers of Humbrols Brass Metalic.

3. Tape covers the 'window'. Took me fair amount of time and effort to remove it and clean the small pieces of the tape stuck to the acrylic.

4. And finally gloss varnish, 3 layers.

Took me over 2 hours in total. And here was my first problem.
I noticed few little pieces of paper stuck to the case, I removed them asap but I was out of paint to cover it. Fortunately its not in visible place.
Another disaster happened when putting on varnish.
It was a fast drying one. I had a phone call and turned around to pick the phone, knock the case of the chair with my hand :/
Picked it up but lots of stuff was stuck to it already, had to run, RUN, to bathroom and give it a gentle warm bath.
I managed to get all the stuff of it, but unfortunately varnish didn't dry equally everywhere.
Eventually I added 2nd layer and went to bed.
It dried nicely, so I cleared some small parts with dense sanding block and gave it another varnish, the last one.
It looks good, but it could look better.
Well, I was doing it first time in my life so probably not a bad job in overall.
I will post pics when I get pc running again, sometime this weekend.
From other news, I sorted out problems with my acrylic supplier and everything will be delivered to me on Wednesday.
Last but not least, hold thumbs for my 'lottery ticket' from Overclockers
My 4770K arrives tomorrow morning

More pics soon...

Cheers
BH

EDIT: I am posting this from my PC already.
I didn't make a pic of how it looks now but you can imagine
My desk looks like 2nd hand pc store from Tottenham Court Road.

Next updates at the end of next week.

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

I am sorry for lack of updates, but my acrylic supplier have some serious delays and front/rear panels for my case still haven't been cut. Been on the phone with them today, so hopefully soon
Anyway, next thing to do will be cable management, mounting PSU and few other components under the table, sorting out top of the table - it is not finishet yet, then I can start working on water cooling for my cpu.
I will have it done by the end if November.
Then GPU and cooling for it as Xmass present for myself

I will post updates whenever I can.

Cheers
BH

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

I am still waiting for that damn acrylic parts.
I am slowly loosing patience.
It is supposed to arrive next week (if It doesn't I may have to cancel order and look somewhere else, so hold thumbs please).

In the meantime I decided to make a shopping cart with everything I purchased or still have to buy. So this is it, quite a long list but I have some of it already:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Asus Z87I PROFESSIONAL Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini-ITX £145.99
1 x Avexir Gold Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21330904G-2CEY) - Yellow/Gold Light £71.99
2 x XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Acrylic) V4 £59.98 (£119.96)
1 x Aqua Computer Cuplex Kryos PRO for 775 / 1155 / 1150 / 1156 / 1366 - G1/4" £44.99
2 x XSPC EX240 120mm Radiator - Black £41.99 (£83.98)
1 x Monsoon 16/10mm (ID 3/8 OD 5/8) Free Center Compression Fitting Six Pack - Gold £27.95
1 x Monsoon 16/10mm (ID 3/8 OD 5/8) Free Center Compression Fitting Six Pack - Matte Black £27.95
1 x Mayhems Pastel - Sunset Yellow Coolant 1L £14.99
1 x Mayhems Pastel - Grape Red Coolant 1L £14.99
4 x Akasa 120mm Piranha high performance PWM air ripper blade fan £13.99 (£55.96)
4 x Koolance Fitting Single, *Black* Swiveling Elbow £9.95 (£39.80)
2 x XSPC 120mm Universal Radiator Stand £9.90 (£19.80)
2 x XSPC HighFlex Hose 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD, 16/10mm, 2m, Clear £6.49 (£12.98)
Total : £933.90 (includes shipping : £10.50).



Still didn't decide on GPU. Waiting for non x 290s. If they cost 300£ or around, I will buy one, otherwise I'll buy a 280X.
I will start buying things of this list next friday (cpu loop).
More updates then

29/10 EDIT: Due to some stuff being unavailable, had to get different. Setting CPU loop around end of this week. Got a message from my acrylic supplier that 'Yes, we will deliver by Friday' so hopefully that's true.
Made an order with OCuk, can't wait to start unpacking that box

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Acrylic) V4 £59.98
1 x Aqua Computer Cuplex Kryos PRO for 775 / 1155 / 1150 / 1156 / 1366 - G1/4" £44.99
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Stealth 240 £35.99
1 x Monsoon 16/10mm (ID 3/8 OD 5/8) Free Center Compression Fitting Six Pack - Gold £27.95
1 x OcUK Mega-Mega Mat 3XL Elite Tactical Gaming Surface £24.95
1 x Mayhems Pastel - Sunset Yellow Coolant 1L £14.99
2 x Akasa AK-FN063 140mm Ultra Quiet Viper Cool Fan - 3/4 Pin £14.99 (£29.98)
2 x Akasa AK-FN058 Apache Black Super Silent 120mm Fan - 4 Pin PWM £9.98 (£19.96)
1 x XSPC 120mm Universal Radiator Stand £9.90
1 x XSPC HighFlex Hose 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD, 16/10mm, 2m, Clear £6.49
1 x Mayhems Ultra Pure H20 Watercooling Fluid 1L £4.99
1 x XSPC PSU Bridging Connector (24 Pin) £1.30
Total : £281.46 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

Another 'small' update
I got word from my acrylic supplier that my parts are going to be delivered via TNT tomorrow morning, at last.
And DPD guy made me laugh, he turned up 2.5 minutes early at my door and asked to wait that 2.5 minutes with him, because he can't deliver until then. Silly
Anyway, I got some nice water cooling gear. Assembled some, but Have to wait for acrylic parts to finish. Today was mostly more drilling, installing etc and so on

Here are a few pics of my work.

1. Motherboard back plate. Silly to call it that, its only 2mm thick. But works. Cutout is in case I need more space for CPU back plate or to install a 100mm fan.

Uploaded with ImageShack.com


2. This is where a 240mm rad will go for CPU cooling. It is attached to top part of my old case (Corsair 200R).

Uploaded with ImageShack.com


3. Here you can see the rad with fans, DvD and in the back PSU. How is it attached there? It is sitting on XSPC rad stand

Uploaded with ImageShack.com


4. All the goodies I received today from OCuk.

Uploaded with ImageShack.com


5. This is how it looks like at the moment. Front and rear panels are arriving tomorrow so it is going to look much better soon.

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

And thats it for now.
More coming soon.

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hi guys

I started building the cpu loop today.
Connected everything, then flushed the loop with distilled water for about an hour, then drained it.
I did first leak test at the same time.
I had only one small at rad -> res section. I managed to sort it out, problem was with tubing. I didn't make a straight cut and there was a drop forming every minute. I made a clear cut this time and so far all seems fine.
I put Mayhems Sunset Yellow inside the loop and let it run for a while. I will probably leave it like this for another few hours and switch it off before going to work, then continue tommorow.
Sorry for no photo's but I am writing from my tablet.
By the way, I am a little suspicious. The first time, when I filled the loop with distilled water, I had a small airlock but managed to get rid of it quickly.
The second time everything seems ok, I cant even see any smaller bubbles.
I tried giving the whole loop a solid shake but didn't notice any air inside.
Weird, I thought I will get the airlock again after draining the loop.
Anyway, I will test it few hours and continue tomorrow.

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Hey guys

Unfortunately I will have to scrap this projevt.
There are multiple reasons.
First of all, I made a lot of mistakes in calculations.
Some walls, like front and rear pannels are to thin and cracked when I tried to drill holes to install fansl
Another thing is the size. I made it way to small.
There isn't enough space for cables and I had a lot of problems with attaching cables to hdd's and other components, even after adding extensions.
Last but not least, I made a horrible mistake with choice of fittings and tubing.
I chose 16/10mm tubing, which is far from flexible and completely wrong for small form rig.
And fittings, I Choose monsoon gold. Maybe I was just unlucky with those or I used them wrong, but they didn't live up to my expectations. After flushing the loop, I tried to remove them to re-arrange tubing and they were stuck to it, like glued. Cuouldn't do a thing.
I guess next time I'll go for some cheaper and less fancy ones.

In overall I am not upset, I treat this as a lesson for the future.
Project was too difficult and ambitious as a first water cooling attempt.


So, what do I do now?
I have a lot of hardware which I can re-use.
I will probably make a second attempt, with different case - not made by me, probably Parvum s1.0.
But first I need some rest and to rethink the whole thing - I don't want to make any more mistakes after all.

Thanks for all the replies from you guys

 

[Bart_Hunt]

Well, thats true.
I just wish it was a FREE experience.
For what I spent on various acrylic parts I could buy a Parvum case.
Next time I will do a better research.
And there will be next time ofcourse, as soon as I gather some courage to try again