Project Stealthlow

[waynio]

keep up the good work sir,

I had a chuckle at your protective shield!

Cheers Baplad ahh the shield probably wasn't needed but thought on just to be safe, I think it would rip straight through me if it came off .

Ordered a new panel to remake the botched one & for the pci/io mounts I'll use button heads instead of countersunk as they are too close to the edge making it look a bit bad, I'm going to complete some other bits on the botched panel though so it can be used as a template to get back up to speed nice & fast, the longest or most concentration demanding part in scratch building for me is usually marking up & prepping the rest is quite straight forward so having a template really speeds things up.

For the new mesh I'll use a 10mm bit for a really good vent mesh & I'll experiment a little before attempting it this time & for the bottom exhaust I think I'll do a straight circle for perfect flow, the front bottom piece will either have diy mesh or a pattern cut out, but filing into sharp corners with 3mm alu is very difficult so a mesh would make the most sense.

 

[waynio]

This is looking great

Cant wait to see the final product

Keep up the work!

Thanks DefiantAsh currently waiting for the new sheet so no new updates until I'm back up to speed & with more progress but if it comes early enough it could be today .

 

[waynio]

Wowzers just got the fresh sheet of alu a couple of hours ago & didn't waste any time it is now back in the shape it was before I added the 2 holes for the expansion card mounting system, all the mounting holes line up correct too thank goodness .

So all thats needed to be done now for the back panel is:
Cut the psu hole out, cut a hole out for the bottom hdd fan, shorten the length of the curve bar blocks so they don't interfere with the top exhaust, cut a hole out for the top exhaust, drill out a mesh then the back panel is near complete . I'll do all this if I can be bothered as that was a concentrated workload I just completed to get back to where I was the other day .

 

[waynio]

If only I could be that productive with my university essay's!

Good job though getting so much done!

kd

I wish I could apply myself to whatever else like this too thanks kd .

Here, I couldn't be bothered doing more than getting back to where I mucked up but I could just about be bothered to get a pic lol.

 

[waynio]

Some seriously impressive skills you have there! Case is looking excellent so far, the shape reminds me a little of a lian li case i came across once.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Thanks Technics , I've always liked Lian-Li cases but it was the cost of the x2000 that got me into scratch building lol, they are so nice they are rather difficult to mod as the mod has to be as nice as the great fabrication they do else it doesn't look so good.

I've had some kind of virus the past few days & now on top of that I've got cold in my lower back so when standing it aches so I'm gonna relax for another day & see how I am tomorrow, this is probably a good thing to be honest as it gives me a chance to try out some designs on paper for the mesh & other exhaust holes so it fits in well with the rest & already having some nice visions of what I could do instead of a mesh falling back to the sprawling grill idea so maybe tomorrow I'll have a plan to follow for completing the back panel .

 

[waynio]

Not checked this thread for a while but looks like you've come on a long way, and it'll be a pretty sick case when it's finished.

Thanks SouthEastBlue got a good update here .

Now that's what I call British Engineering.

Thanks exotic444 & I'm not an engineer, just a custom pc case enthusiast , make britain great rather than run away from it hehe .

Started 6 am Friday, finished 8 pm had a few quick coffee breaks.

Days like today make me remember why I make my own cases, the past few days I've been questioning why am I bothering doing this lol & the answer is in the pictures, the first botch up panel was one of those where I don't know what to make of it & wondered if I could grow to like it but todays effort I knew immediately I'm glad to say wooooooo .

OK so I missed out on taking pictures with the custom circle hex pattern I downloaded, printed from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ but I cut to size & stuck down with cello tape & marked the centre of each circle which tested my patience over a few sessions through the night lol but whenever it got too much I just watched a show to break the monotony & when it was done I covered it in cello tape so it all stays down & left until 6 am.

Not sure how long the spot drilling took but it was quite a while, then drilled a 3.2mm bit & then used a 7mm bit, then got my bigger countersink bit & accidentally went too deep on the first one so did all the rest at the same depth & pretty fast I noticed it was a good accident for 2 reasons: 1 it adds a nice & easier way for the air to get through, 2 I think it looks pretty damn good.

The circle at the bottom I wasn't sure if I should go with a plain hole or do the mesh so I went with the mesh & had to just use a few 3.2mm holes for the ones closest to the edge of the wanted circle, not a bad result I think .

Flipped the piece over & done slight countersinks on the exterior side, then used wd40 to get the tacky cello tape completely off & then used the satinising mop to minimise scratches & then went over it with a fine satinising mop, dusted down & installed back to the case & wow I love it when I impress myself & feels a fair while since I done that, so then enough blah blah & enjoy the pics .

Awesome day .

 

[waynio]

That is incredible craftmanship! I can't get over that fact you did that all by hand! Knowing me, I would have got to the last hole to drill and then botched it...

Looks fantastic! Great effort!

I botched the first countersink by going too deep but it gave it a good look so it was a good botchup lol, thanks ch3333z .

I thought the same when I was looking through Lian-Li's old cases to find out what case my mum has lol (it isn't one of these lol)

Awesome progress there waynio! You're getting so close to the final stages now, must be so frustrating to just wanna get it finished!

That Lian-Li case is based on a hotel in Dubai , my case is based on a Lian-Li x2000 but evolved quite a bit & mostly to learn some new building tricks .
To be honest I could just add some cable pass holes & set it up already but I'll resist & complete it properly .

 

[waynio]

I must confess to being very impressed every time I visit this build log.

Glad I'm not disapointing then thanks Gepetto .

The choice of things to be done is getting a bit thin now but think I should start on cable pass holes so I need to put the spare pc in this to work out where the holes will be needed .

 

[waynio]

Waynio it is looking fantastic. Can not wait to see this finished and buy it off you for £25.80

LOL Thanks Gary .

 

[waynio]

Based on........ but looks **** all like it? lol

Ok loosely based on it lol . But my first scratch build was based on it & Stealthlow is an evolution of that but somewhere in the design is a lian-li x2000 inspired case lol .

 

[waynio]

wow that back panel is amazing, would you ever do mod manufacture for anyone else (hint hint hint)

Thanks Sayso, got anything in mind like 1 piece or so or an entire case even .
I've thought about it & the best solution I think if people want a full custom case could be I make a good frame & panels with the fixings or the basic form so all the details are a blank canvas for modders, this way I could do it quite speedy & would give the owner full creativity to mod it be it cnc for the perfect look or authentic diy, a lot more thought needs to go into it but I don't see why not I do have limits with what I can do at this point in time though .

Subtle as a kick in the teeth there, Sayso lol

Don't ask don't know .

Amazing looking build! I can't stop looking at that back panel, are you sure you didn't use a CNC drill?

LOL Thanks joemo13 .

 

[waynio]

Update

Ok so I mounted the psu & mobo for figuring out where the cable holes will go.

Drilled 10mm holes so I could get a square file in & make the holes, they look square & ugly but I have a plan for making them all very very neat but I'll save that for a later update.

Then took the bottom panel off to add the feet & was going to measure & mark but there was markings left behind from the begining of the project woo hoo so I opted for the points on the corners so the bolts will overlap where the corner support bars are but I chose to use countersunk bolts instead of the ones that came with the feet as I wanted them out of the way, they were way too long so I grinded them down.

Feet on .

So I got the wire pass holes made, shortened the curve bar supports, expanded the optical angle bar so sata data & power cables will go through both now, cut to length a perfect length wire for the cpu power & atx power as a first step of the prep for sleeving, installed the feet Bill sponsored me with.

Doesn't feel like much progress for almost a full day but progress is progress .

Thank you for sponsoring me Bill, the feet are awesome & the Modmen show is too .

Modmen episode 1
Modmen episode 2

 

[waynio]

Looking very very nice!

Is starting to look very professional

kd

Thanks kd I am sooo glad I re-made the back panel .

 

[waynio]

Looks awesome mate! Love those feet too!

Thanks EniGmA1981 yeah they are nicely made good solid feet & the rubber centre will prevent scuffs to table tops .

wow! i love this more and more!

Thanks mast3r .

Awesome build, you certainly have skills and patience!

Subbed!

Thanks CreAtiv3 .

A new episode of Modmen is out .

Modmen episode 1
Modmen episode 2
Modmen episode 3

 

[waynio]

OK time for some MDPC sleeving .

Being new to a full on sleeving job, a quick google her a quick goolgle there & BAM.

How to remove an ATX plug
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=64632

Snipped the heatshrink, cable tie & sleeving off the corsair ax850 atx cable.

Then went & gathered pliers, wire stripper, the crimping tool I got from MDPC in all it's matt black glory & my ridiculasly huge disposable lighter my bro bought me for christmas & isn't even half way used since christmas lol .

Got a paper clip straightened out & tried using it but was too thick soooo, I took it to the garage, snipped it in half & grinded it so it was nice & thin.

Tested it & it does the job of removing pins awesome, instead of pressing it against the ground I held it tight in the pliers to push it the extra needed amount, first attempt & it came out perfectly, so so much for this psu being difficult hehe , still though I'll need to dig out an exacto blade so I can heat it up to cut the sleeving well.

Nils awesome trademark custom cartoon picture .

40 metres of black sleeving for single wires & I think 10 metres of sata sleeving too, 150 pre-cut heatshrink pieces, a nice length of heatshrink, a pile of pins, a load of cable clip pieces of all the available sizes, enough sata power pass through pieces & a few sata power end pieces, that is all I think .

I might only do the CPU cable & the ATX cable tonight but it's on .

 

[waynio]

YES!!!! MDPC ***!

The good stuff .

This lot took me ages to sort out, the place I bought my molex cable & fan cable mixed them together & they were a nightmare to untangle.

My first 2 ok crimps.

My first 2 wires done, but I'll be taking these out to re do them, so I'll use the rest of the atx crimp pins to get my technique perfect, but I had to make a new order for a pile of female crimp pins & a tiny bit more sleeving & some nice black fan headers, so yeah the sleeving is back on hold for the time being, at least I'll be good & ready to go at it like I know what I'm doing when it gets here & yes I now realise the heat shrink should only be showing a little which is why I'll re do these to get it perfect .

 

[waynio]

There is no beating the quality of MDPC braid Am looking forward to the final result (of the cables )

I think the trick to getting excellent pictures of it is under natural light, on the pics I took in my room at night with a daylight bulb it makes it look shiny & unappealing, spring is chugging back into action & so is the finale of this project so I should be in perfect timing for some great outdoor pics in the sun .

Also while I wait for the package from Germany I'll make the cable hole tidier pieces & if I still have time I'll start on the acrylic curve piece & all the side windows, then once the sleeving is done it'll be time for appying the finishing touches .

 

[waynio]

ohhh, your doing a good job for a braiding virgin i must add!
Waynio, where abouts u from pall?

Thanks mast3r & now I finally have it up to MDPC standard , well the crimping & heatshrink part at least lol, yet to see if I can do the rest of it .
I'm from Manchester & always have been I'd love a nice change of scenery though, seriously need a holiday somewhere sweet, I'd absolutely love to go to Hawaii even though I don't like flying I think it'd be worth putting up with the flight & just relax for a month or so .

Well that just killed a few minutes at work reading the whole thread , very impressive can't wait to see the finished product. /subbed

Hehe thanks sypher365, today was the first time since it's early stage that I had it in my room & wow it makes my air cube look like a crapper lol .

Serious skill there mate! I cant wait to see the finished product! Hurry Up! Lol!!

The sleeving & learning how it's done correct is the hold up at the mo but I think I have it figured now, hope I have .

 

[waynio]

OK now I feel the pain on my finger tips but moreso blisters from clenching the pliers lol but thats mostly because of the DIY pin remover I'm using (a grinded flat piece of a paper clip & using pliers to drive it through) lmao , hopefully I never laughed at anyone when they mentioned it is painful because now it's time for them to say haa haaaa if I ever did , think I just did in my mind , anyway I'm glad to say I'm not creating any waste since last night & I have a trick up my sleeve for getting any of the heatshrinks that aren't the same, a razer to finish them off , but they are very close but I'll leave it to you lot to judge .

LOL I keep nodding off to sleep, I better jump on my bed .

 

[waynio]

^That looks soooooooo sick!

Thanks Guitarman0 .

very nice...id leave em as is , looks very nice

Cheers terminator2k2 .

@waynio this is getting better and better mate great job.

And at the moment there is nothing i need making mod wise but always handy to know someone willing to make a one off piece if the price is right and seeing the craftsmanship you have been putting into this build it would be money well spent.

Thanks Sayso , if it's something too complex I'd probably recomend CNC mill or laser but if it looks doable I'll do it .

omg that is some serious crafting, i cant wait to see the end result its going to look brilliant.

Thanks caserman .

I'm not sure if I mentioned this already or not but I have the case in my room & it makes the air cube look like a joke, it really does so I'll be sure to take a group picture showing the evolution since my first case when I'm done with this one .