Project: Secret of the Ooze

[gvblake22]

Ok, I promised an update this weekend, so here it is... your Sunday night update. Unfortunately my Acrylic has not arrived yet, so nothing too exciting, but I did at least get one of my packages:

These are the screws that will be used to secure the side panels to the corner cubes. I chose them because they are very low profile, and the natural black color should blend in nicely without a bunch of painting work. Although if I find that they still need to be painted to look better, I will just have to suck it up and do it, lol
Here is a closer shot of the screw heads... Notice that they are nice and round and should be pretty low profile and inconspicuous:


The screws were ordered from www.mcmaster.com in case anyone is interested. The selection is great, prices are fair, and shipping is reasonable but quick. I would highly recommend them if you are looking for hard to find screws or need raw materials for anything your heart desires!
Hopefully my acrylic arrives tomorrow and I can start providing some better updates as to what this project is actually going to start looking like! :D

[micmac]

Ahh so cool, so cool, gotta love the name, and I'm so glad you ended up with the right parts! Can't wait to see how it turns out. I'll check into the yellow light gels for you :)

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by micmac

Ahh so cool, so cool, gotta love the name, and I'm so glad you ended up with the right parts! Can't wait to see how it turns out. I'll check into the yellow light gels for you :)

Woo Hoo! Thanks a bunch, I really appreciate it :D

For those of you who don't know, micmac is a very good, close friend of mine and has given me some good ideas regarding this project. You'll just have to wait and see what suprises she has in store for you all!

[killswitch83]

welcome to the forums micmac :D

[gvblake22]

WOO HOO!!! I got's me some ACRYLIC!!!! :mrgreen:


I got all the sheets I asked for and the total was even less than I thought too! $74 instead of $78 :)
The smoke acrylic (color #2074 from http://www.delviesplastics.com/) is exactly what I pictured. It is indeed very dark, and depending on the lighting, it can look like a dark mirror (100% opaque). Really cool stuff! I ordered all this stuff in 3/16" thickness and it will be used for the side panels:



The flourescent green (color #2154) is also pretty good looking. The edges look like they glow with just some sunlight shining through from the background. It should look great as an accent to the dark smoke!



More to come :twisted:

[micmac]

Wow! The acrylic looks fantastic! That sure is a very lime, or should I say "slime" green. Looking good :)

[JCLW]

Nice!

PDT_Armataz_07

[Tyreal]

Awesome. That smoke acrylic is pimp to the max.

[gvblake22]

Here is a preliminary look at the layout of components. These are not going to be the actual components that will be going into the case, just some spare parts from an old machine:



There will actually be two optical drives in the final plan, but only the bottom one will have standoffs on the bottom. This drive will be secured to the bottom panel of the case and then the second drive will mount on top of it and secure directly to the bottom drive via a custom plate (that will be made out of the 1/8" flourescent green plastic. I'm still not sure though if I will have the drives at the edge of the case like seen here or centered in the middle. It will all really depend on how much room the HDD's take up and how tight I want to squeeze everything in together. I would like to keep the drives centered because I think it will help keep the case looking more symmetrical...


The HDD(s) may or may not have standoffs, I haven't decided yet. It is very possible though (in order to keep sizes to a minimum) that it will not. The HDD's will also be secured directly to the bottom panel of the case with screws. Rubber washers will be used to insulate and reduce vibration. There will also most likely be two HDD's used in the final system that goes into this case. Both will be mounted on their side right next to each other. The bottom edge will be screwed to the bottom panel of the case and the top edges will be secured together, again, with a custom bracket made from 1/8" flourescent green acrylic. you'll just to wait and see what it's all going to look like :P


Finally, the PSU will be behind the optical drives. In order to save space, the rear of the PSU is actually going to stick out the back of the case a little bit. Again, there will be a custom bracket fabricated (by me) to secure the PSU in this way. It's hard to explain now, so I'll just wait 'till later when I start on that part of the project...

And the mATX motherboard will be mounted to a motherboard tray (made from 3/16" thick flourescent green acrylic) right on top of the PSU, HDD's, and optical drives.


Sorry for the crappy looks. I just wanted to get something up for you guys (and gals) to start being able to visualize this project because right now, most all of it is just in my head!

[Jokerswild]

Here's a tip for drilling the plastic. Dubb the drill, take a stone and dull the edge of the drill. This will help prevent it from grabbing when it breaks thru and lessen the chance of cracks.