Project: Phoenix (PC-101 Orange Case Mod)

[gvblake22]

Thanks Joker. It's actually much worse than it looks, the picture seems to hide all the flaws (it's quite wavy).

[Elysium]

Lookin' good Blake! I thought this project had an orange theme though... I was expecting the acrylic to be orange!

[Jokerswild]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Thanks Joker. It's actually much worse than it looks, the picture seems to hide all the flaws (it's quite wavy).

If you have a old HDD or 2 that you could bolt to the inside while trying to straighten it that should hold your size straight at least.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Lookin' good Blake! I thought this project had an orange theme though... I was expecting the acrylic to be orange!

HAHA, yeah, I sat at the workbench contemplating using orange or clear for this part, but decided on clear because it was thicker (and stronger) and because there will be orange LED's inside anyway that will hopefully light it all up anyway. And I didn't want too many individual pieces to stand out too much, I kindof want the inside to be a very clean, uniformly lit layout. I've decided that there actually probably won't be anything orange inside the case except for the orange LEDs. Everything will be silver, black, and clear. The orange acrylic will then be used behind the mesh every place that's appropriate. The only spot where I may put orange acrylic inside the case would be under a mesh cutout along the middle divider thing (between the mobo and PSU/HDD area).

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

If you have a old HDD or 2 that you could bolt to the inside while trying to straighten it that should hold your size straight at least.

Yeah, I've only got the one spare HDD I don't care about. I think I'll just cut some pieces of wood to size and use that. I'll probably rope my dad or brother into holding the heat gun and heating it up while I wait to pounce with a piece of wood and some clamps.

[gvblake22]

HEY THERE! Long time no update, eh?
First off, I am sad to announce that I am a complete idiot and broke that HDD cage I spent so much time meticulously bending. I don't want to get into the nasty details of its destruction, so I will announce my revision 2 HDD mounting system:

Yes, it is as simple as it looks...

Prettymuch the same sortof thing I did with the Secret of the Ooze case. There are two motherboard standoffs screwed into the edge of the drive and then it is screwed directly to the bottom of the case. This method is very sturdy, straight-forward, easy, and allows for maximum air circulation around the drive. Why didn't I just do this before?!
There will eventually be holes drilled enough to fit three drives side by side like this on the bottom of the case.

So after I knocked that out, I set back to work on creating the rest of my black acrylic "frames" that will essentially frame the black mesh and orange acrylic accents on the panels of the case. Here is the last piece I cut out today, it took A LONG TIME!

...and here is the whole family:

As you can see, the edges are not finished...

...but they will be before the project is finished, don't worry!

Here is where they will be placed on the case (imagine the side panels are on).
Top (silver fan filter marks approxiate spot where top 120mm exhaust fan will be):


Right side:


Front-right angle:


And the left side:


Hopefully you can kindof get the idea of the effect I'm going for here. If not, then you'll just have to be patient and wait for more progress!

[Elysium]

Urg, why isn't that ORANGE acrylic? Anyhow, amazing job thus far, I love the simple HDD mount!

EDIT: Or is it? I can't tell from the pics...

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Urg, why isn't that ORANGE acrylic?

HAHAHA, patience young one!
There be fluorescent orange acrylic behind the inside of all those shapes I cut out. There will also be orange LED lighting inside the case.

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

HAHAHA, patience young one!
There be fluorescent orange acrylic behind the inside of all those shapes I cut out. There will also be orange LED lighting inside the case.

Ah, I see, I bet it'll look awesome when it's all done! So what is the timeframe for this project?

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

So what is the timeframe for this project?

HAHAHAHAHA, you should know better than to ask me that question!
I hope to have this thing prettymuch finsihed up by the time there is no snow on the ground...

[Parker]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

HAHAHAHAHA, you should know better than to ask me that question!
I hope to have this thing prettymuch finsihed up by the time there is no snow on the ground...

And from where you are that time is????

BTW, this build is looking awesomer by the minute!
What are the spec's of the system you plan on puting in this thing?