IKONiK (1st To Mod The New Be Quiet Dark Base 900 Pro)

EVGA DDR4 Mods:

I don't have all of the mods figured out for the EVGA Superclocked DDR4 but, I do know that I'll take all the labels and stickers off. They will be replaced with one's that I will design specifically for this build. Small details like this really work to bring the build together. I can't say this enough; the small details that 1 out of 10 people will even notice, makes all the difference.

The design for the new decals is being done right now and I'll update once finished. More than likely I will keep the heat-spreaders with a stock, black base and do some additional.custom paint work. I want to try and mix flat black with a high gloss black for accent or use a black that is a couple shades lighter.




Update: Rear Cable Shroud

Previously I showed the design and templates for the rear cable shrouds. Recently I went to the machine shop so that I could cut out these templates in stainless steel sheets. Stainless is typically pretty expensive and I was able to snag these from another shop at a discount because they had some superficial scratches and staining. I am going to completely refinish these panels anyway so the shape doesn't effect my process.

I will also coat all of the stainless in a heavy duty clear coat once finished. This will help to protect the finish and give it a little more of a shine. I show some of the before and after some simple refinishing. I did this to see how easily the stains and scratches would come out. Almost all of them came out after the Simple refinish; so they'll look perfect once I do the full job.




2 Weeks In The Woods:

Modding is more than a job or hobby for me and I put in 6-7 days a week with no time off unless I'm very, very sick. One time a year I take 2 weeks to go off in the woods and recharge my batteries. I take a few electronic devices so that I can do some design work after being inspired by nature. The majority of the time I don't get cell or Internet coverage; unless I climb a mountain. I might post a few design screenshots while I'm in the forest.

When I get back a lot of progress will be made rather quickly. I've rough cut a lot of the parts for the case so that I can sand and mock them up once I get back. The updates will be epic and I'll also give an update on the scratch built reservoir that some of you have been waiting for.


A Day of Cutting Materials:

I decided to wait until I have a decent amount to cut before I go to the machine shop to do any major cutting. Right now the machine shop and paint booth is about 2 miles away. Once the new Envious Mods HQ is finished it'll be on the same property. I have a bench grinder at my small shop so I could work on cleaning up the rough cuts. This will make it all come together quickly now that most of the tools and machines are setup. Below is added a pic of some of the pieces that were cut but, I'll save the rest until the next update.

 

Back From My Trip To Nowhere:

As many of you know I take two weeks off in the begging of October to recharge my modding batteries. My trip starts by wondering into the forest for a couple days to make sure I'm out of range for cellphones and people. I spend a lot of this time playing with designs and modding related ideas I've had over the past year. Nature tends to inspire me a lot; even though my natural building style is quite mechanical. I look for the hidden mechanics found in nature and adapt those into usable creations for my builds.

I focused a good deal of that time on the IKONiK build and I've come up with some really neat concepts that I'll be exploring throughout the 2nd half of this build.* It's good to be back and I'm excited to get started modding again. I ran across an old skidder when I was in the forest and it was a great opportunity to study aged paint and rust growth for paint jobs on future projects. These are great for painting battle hardend cases.



Below I'll go through some of the updates I've determined while away. The rest of the updates will follow over the next week.


Side Panel Ideas & Design:

During my two weeks off I came up with a few ideas for the side panel that has the dual fan mount on it. I wanted something that is classy and gives you that IKONiK feel while still throwing in a bit of my own personal styling. Originally I had planned on back lighting the area around the pop out for the two fans and I think this will work perfectly with the designs I came up with. I put together a Sketchup design of what it will look like which helps me decide if I should move forward or re-design.

Since the design for the side panel looks great in Sketchup, I will move forward with it. Now I'll take the dimensions and make templates that are full scale. Once the full scale templates are mocked up I can start cutting acrylic.








New Sponsor: OCZ "A Toshiba Company"

OCZ will be joining the IKONiK build. They'll be sending memory storage including their new RD400 NVM Express M.2 SSD. These bad boys are known to out perform SATA SSDs by over 4.5 times in sequential read and over 3 times in sequential write speeds. The adaptor is pretty sweet for those who want to wait to do a motherboard upgrade.

I'm very happy to have OCZ join in on another Envious Mods build. They have been a great company to work with and their gear surprises me everything I use a new piece. I will also be using a larger SATA SSD as a main storage center. More than likely it'll be mounted on the rear SSD mount. The RD400 will be used to run OS, system files and a couple other things.

 

Making a Bevel In Metal: PSU Shroud Pieces

I also want to try making the piece so that the bevel is a different color than the rest of the piece. First off I'll try to paint the entire piece and file off the edges.

Since I don't have a working CNC; I have to make the bevels by hand. This can be very tricky to make sure you have the same angle throughout as well as the same depth. I started this process by using my bench grinding wheel. Doing this first gives me the same angle throughout all of the edges. Then I mark the depth on the outer edges of each piece. The hardest part is the hand filing. I use a very large metal file. Do to the small size of the pieces I run the pieces against the file instead of the other way around. Hand filing is very time consuming and a lot of it comes down to experience. Knowing how to read the metal and applying pressure in specific spots.






Triple Lexan Fan Surround: Final Trimming

I had already rough cut the lexan piece that goes around the front 3 fans. Typically it would be filed and sanded from here but, I want this piece to perfectly match the shape of the Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 fans. They have a very distinctive shape that I really like. To make sure these are perfect I remounted the lexan panel and drew the exact shapes needed. Most of them only needed a small amount taken off but, to get the look I want they have to be exact.





Pro Modder Tip: Sanding Difficult Areas & Shapes

This is one of the earliest tricks I can remember as a child. As far back as i can remember, I loved spending time in both my grandfathers shops. At that age I didn't understand the genious behind all the hand made tools found throughout their shops. The first trick/hand made tool that really made an impression on me was the sanding blocks made from random materials.

Whenever he would need to sand in a place that a typical sanding block couldn't get into he would quickly make a sanding block out of anything the was the correct shape. If he needed a small round one, he would use a large marker and wrap the sandpaper around this. If he ever needed a specific shaped one that he was using for a larger project he would shape one out of a piece of wood. It's a pretty neat and simple trick but, it's come in very handy for sanding the lexan triple fan surround on the IKONiK build.

 

Update: OCZ SSD Cover EM (Envious Mods) Logo

I managed to finish the majority of the work on this EM logo. It was especially challenging because it is pretty small and hand cut out of super thin acrylic. Originally I had planned on waiting until me new bandsaw was setup but, I got too excited and cut it out using my trusty scroll saw. It took a while to file and sand it as well. It's almost completely done and ready for paint but, I might try out some new vinyl I special ordered that should be here any day now.





Update: OCZ RD400 NVM SSD Plate:

I've yet to see a modded RD400 SSD and I jumped at the chance to mod one. I wanted to show off the actual drive while making a custom cover for the rest of the SSD. Looking at the box the RD400 came in; I became inspired by the neat design on the front. I threw the box on my photocopier and made a template based off of it. I added that template to the covers template to see what it look liked and I was excited with the results.

There will be two pieces that will makeup the partial cover. The main piece surrounds the drive and will be what the designed piece is adhered to once painted. I cut the main plate and I made sure to take lots of pictures so you can get an idea of the process I typically take. I managed to rough cut the 1st two layers and I'm prepping to cut the 3rd layer which is even thinner than the other 2 layers.

Process of making the SSD panels:






Back Lighting EVGA Motherboard:

I've wanted to back light a motherboard for a couple years now. The main concerns I have are: It doesn't interfere with the PCB, low temperature, the LEDs are soft instead of bright. I decided the best route to go was with waterproof LEDs because they are coated with polyurethane. This assures that it doesn't mess with the PCB or cause shorts. I've also slightly lowered the input voltage which makes them run cooler and helps insure that they are not to bright.

I haven't decided how many strips to run. I'll have to do some further testing to see if one strip in the middle will work or will I need to run 3 strips; 1 across each edge. The reason for my hesitation on running 3 strips is the wiring involved. It's a lot to tuck behind a motherboard. Reguardless of the amount of work needed I'll always go with the best performance or look reguardless of the work involved.

 

New Shop Equiptment: Band Saw

My birthday is on the 30th and I managed to get a gift a few days early which is great. I got a 10" Craftsman band saw. This saw will save me some time; especially with acrylics. It has the ability to accurately angle edges and perform perfectly straight cuts as well as more detailed work. I'll be using it with some thinner, soft metals like aluminum. Anything heavier than that can be cut using my air cutter.

I recommend getting a good set of blades if you buy this saw. The blades that come with it are not real great and a quality blade makes all the difference in the world. I got two different types of blades to use on different materials. One for softer metals and another for acrylic work. Depending on the thickness of materials you'll probably want a 12-16TPi blades. The more teeth the finer it cuts and the thinner the materials you can cut. I added some custom old school style pinstripes to make the saw an Envious Mods saw.




Update: Scratch Built Reservoir

The long awaited update on the reservoir I've been building. As many of you know I'm still settling into the temporary shop being used until my new shop is built from the ground up in spring. It's taken me a while to find some of the pieces I started before I moved. I finally managed to find the reservoir that I have been building from scratch. I had a couple things left to do to it before it was ready to be chemically welded using Tap Plastics acrylic cement. I've just finished drilling and tapping the holes for the fill port, inlet and outlet. This can be very nerve racking as I don't want to crack it when drilling.

Tap G1/4 & 11.8mm Drill Bit:


I've found that it works best if you drill the holes before spending all the time to cut and shape the materials. I used an 11.8mm drill bit to prep for the G1/4 tap. It is important that you use a bit that is exactly 11.8mm. Otherwise the threads won't be right and you won't get a water tight seal. Also when you tap your hole; make sure that the tap is perfectly straight so that the threads are correct. Typically I'll put the tap in my drill press and turn it by hand. This helps a lot. If I don't have my drill press handy I use a laser to tell me where the exact center mark is. When tapping I just make sure the laser stays in the center of the tap.

 

Painting EM Logo & OCZ NVM PCIE SSD Cover:

I decided to make a mask for the 2nd layer pieces that go on the OCZ NVM PCIE SSD. I'll paint the back of the acrylic a color that contrasts with the color on the front. I decided to go with white which will look good with the grey peeking through. When the mask is removed the color on the back shows through to the front making a really neat effect. It's tricks like these that I like the most and I learned how to do it by accident when I was painting acrylic. So far I've just painted the back pieces a light grey. Now that it's done curing I tape it off and started to paint the 2nd color. To tape it off I use painter's tape and an exacto knife. The knife is used to cut the tape at the edge which gives it a clean and sharp transfer between colors.






Parts Ordered:

I recently made an order for some more parts and materials for the IKONiK build. Some of it is starting to arrive. The first thing I ordered is several different types of vinyl. Most of it is exotic or specialty vinyl so it tends to be expensive. The 3 types that will arrive soon are a matte flat grey, silver mirrored chrome and black chrome. I have some really neat ideas for these. Next up on the list is a large electroluminescent panel. These are fairly expensive when you get into the larger sizes; especially when you get the ones that are trimable. This panel can be cut to fit almost any shape.

Another part I ordered was a RGB splitter. This will be used to make two RGB LED strips go behind the motherboard instead of one. This will give it a more uniform look as well as help to keep the wiring nice and clean. The last part I ordered is an aluminum, flush mount led mount and cover. These can be mounted flush in almost any panel. They also come with a diffuser that makes the LED strips give off an even glow. I've been wanting to try these out for builds but, typically they are hard to find. I got lucky and managed to find one to try out.

 

PSU Shrouds Side Pieces:

A couple weeks ago I did the rough cuts on the pieces that go on the PSUS shroud. These pieces are part of the styling and it is very tricky to get the effect is want. I've been debating on painting these gunmetal but, I have the black paint right now so I wanted to try something with the beveled edge I hand filed into the edges of these pieces. After I had everything painted up I started to sand and file off the paint on the edges. The hard part is making sure it's even throughout all the pieces.

Now that I had this done I was able to roughly mock the pieces up so I could make adjustments. I only mounted some of the pieces because I need 3m tape to really mock them up and I ran out of the good stuff. After making a few adjustments the pieces look great. Once I get the gunmetal paint I will give it a try and mock all of the pieces up at that time.






EVGA's New Power Link:

After seeing EVGA's new Power Link I knew I had to have it for the IKONiK build. It was a perfect fit. After talking with EVGA, they agreed to send one. Being a designer and fabricator I really look at the effort that goes into solving problems like GPU cables going everywhere. EVGA did a great job of coming up with a solution for that problem. The Power Link wraps around the side of your GPU which gives it a very clean look. Your stock PSU cables plug into the Power Link and it seems to work with almost any 8 or 6-pin configurations.

Even the spacing between the two pin sets is adjustable. Since I inverted my motherboard the EVGA Logo is upside down. I made a thin acrylic piece that will go over the logo to correctly orientate the logo. I decided to make a "PowerLink" logo which lets people know what it is. Every time I post any pics I get several emails saying, "what's that thing called?" It looks really sharp once installed.






Motherboard Mods: EVGA Z170 Classified K

I have spent soo much time trying to figure out how I am going to customize the motherboard to fit the build. Originally I was going to use modern patterns to tie all of the pieces together. I tried about 10 different designs and spent days narrowing down potential candidates. I even had a voting poll to help determine the best route to take.

Yesterday I decided to wipe the board clean and design it from the ground up again. I came up with styling that fits the theme and looks great. I wanted to keep it simple while conveying the themes design cues.The early tests of this look killer (pictured below) and I plan on making a few minor adjustments as well as using a different type of vinyl I ordered.

 

Sanding Out Scratches In Aluminum:

Early on in the build process I built the PSU shroud and cut an aluminum plate that goes next to the shroud. I had some hand me down pieces of aluminum that looked like it had been run over. I seen the potential of what it could be with some work. The case is now starting to come together and I felt it was time to do just that. I started off with 180 grit sandpaper because the scratches were very deep. I also knew I wanted to give it a brushed look to match other finished on the build. It came out great and once I get closers to finishing the build I'll start using finer sandpaper to give it an even better look.





Pro Modder Tip: Brushed Aluminum Finishes

Brushed aluminum has started to become pretty popular and it looks great. You can brush your own pieces of metal but, for this tip I focus primarily on aluminum. The real trick behind giving something a brushed look is the precision and technique behind the use of sandpaper. You have to give the piece long even strokes without wandering in any other direction. I usually use a sanding block and a guide that runs the direction of the brushed look I want. A guide can be made up of anything that's straight and can be used to make sure you lines are straight. I use a piece of square metal stock or anything else I have laying around at the time.

You'll also want to make sure you start your sanding stroke before the aluminum piece starts and continue that stroke past the other end of the aluminum. This makes a big difference. I've found that not doing this; gives the edges weird marking that make the entire piece look amateur. Start with around 180 grit if you already have scratches in the aluminum. If it's a new piece you can start with 220 grit or finer. The more fine grit the sandpaper is the finer the brushed look will be. Usually after using a 220 grit I'll work my way up to 1000 grit but it's not required as 500 grit is usually fine enough. The first few times I tried this technique is started by practicing on some old scraps of aluminum before doing the actual piece I was working on.

Here's the before and after sanding out the scratches and giving it a brushed finish:

 

Top Layer: Front Triple Fan Surround

I've spent a good deal of time on the pieces for the front surround. It takes a lot of work to get the lexan to exactly match the fans intake shape. Especially due to the super thick lexan I decided to use. Now that I have the shape of the lexan exact I can move on to making the template for the metal top piece. This piece will cover the majority of the lexan. I left a couple spots open and all of the edges around the fans will be viewable. Once I edge lit the lexan it will look epic. I waited until the lexan piece was finished before working on the metal piece because it allows me to make sure the metal will be an exact match. Below you can see the template for the metal piece laying on top of the acrylic piece.




OCZ 480gb Vector 180 SSD:

I managed to get my background back in shape so that I could take some pics of the 480gb Vector 180 SSD sent for the build. The RD400 NVM PCIE SSD will be used primarily for OS and other installation files while the Vector 180 will serve as a main storage. This is my 5th SSD from OCZ and I love them. They are affordable and give more expensive SSDS a run for their money. Definitely the best bang for your buck when it comes to reliable storage. Below I've added a few pics to show what comes with the SSD.

 

Motherboard Input/Output Shroud:

The EVGA Z170 Classified K motherboard has all of the plugs for the USB and other headers at the bottom of the motherboard. Usually these can be tucked out of the way but, with the motherboard inverted it's more front and center. I decided to make a wrap around shroud that covers these headers. This will help to protect the wiring as well as keep them clean and organized. It will also make the motherboard look much more clean which lends itself to the modern feel I'm going for. I might tie in the motherboards back lighting into this piece as it could be a neat feature if done correctly.

For now I marked out all the holes that will need to be cut in the top of the PSU shroud. This will allow fan cables and the 8-pin motherboard power cable to run cleanly.




PSU Window Cutout:

One of the neat ideas I've had for years was to cut out a portion of the Dark Power 1,200 watt PSU and insert a special type of acrylic. This acrylic is commonly used for security windows. It looks like a mirror normally but, becomes transparent when backlit. Be Quiet does some beautiful work inside their PSUs so I felt this was a good opportunity to show it all off. I buy my acrylics from Tap Plastics; they have a store that's fairly close to the shop and they offer up enthusiastic employees who have a genuine interest in what your building. Tap Plastics also has an online store that you can order all different types of acrylics and other materials from.



2 Way Mirrored acrylic: (with protector cover on)

 

Update: PSU Window

I've been working some long hours the last few weeks but I managed to get the side of the PSU cutout for the window. I've also been working on the wiring for the two internal leds that will back light the PSU. These LEDS are very important for the effect to work correctly. When these LEDS are off; it will look like a mirror instead of a window. Once the LEDS are turned on you'll be able to see inside the PSU. Since I needed this special two-way acrylic quickly it was rather expensive. I later found out that Tap Plastics carries it for a very reasonable price. I still have to finish the piece that will surround the cutout as well as finish filing the hole so it's nice and even.



Below you can see the LEDS I put together for the inside of the PSU. The white ones will be used for this build and the others will be used for another project.

 

Cable Combs: Ordered

I've been thinking about using some cable combs from Mnpctech for a while now. Bill sells some billet aluminum ones that are absolutely stunning. There were several reasons I decided to go this route for the IKONiK build. The main reason was the fact that they match the theme of the build perfectly. I also liked the fact that they wouldn't break eventually and not many people had these yet. I can tell that aluminum cable combs will be seen more often as people start to discover them. I can only hope that anodized aluminum cable combs are in the near future. Below if added a link to the combs I got from Mnpctech.


<br /> I'm using Mnpctech Billet PC cable combs from here, https://mnpctech.com/buy-stealth-cable-combs-for-pcs/ <br /> <br />* <br />* <br />[/quote]

 

Mnpctech Billet Aluminum Cable Combs: Arrival

The billet aluminum cable combs have arrived and they look brilliant. Besides the beauty; these cable combs will last a lifetime. I managed to snag a couple photos of them right after they arrived. The majority of sleeved cables I've worked with are around 3mm and the CableMod ones are a tiny bit under. This makes the cables a little bit smaller than the cutouts in the combs but, they still look great. I'm excited to get some photos of them in the IKONiK build. They will look stunning with the all black sleeves cables I went with for this build.



Updates To the IKONiK Design:

I've decided to make a few minor alterations to the design after doing a 2nd build in the same case. I will keep the major parts of the design but change a couple small parts that pertain to the watercooling. I'm almost ready to glue the scratch built reservoir so that I can do some leak testing on it. The layered method I used is new to me so I hope it works like the small scale tests. I will be using the stainless steel hard drive rack shroud as a passthrough plate for the reservoir, pump and some of the lines coming off of the front 420mm radiator. This will carry on the more minimalistic look that the IKONiK theme focuses on.

*I have a few Alphacool fittings that I can use to mock up some of the passthrough locations. Some of the hardline will also run through the top inner portion of the case. I will also put the fill port here which will keep it hidden until I need to fill the system with coolant. Below I've added an earlier picture of the stainless steel hard drive rack shroud so you can reference what I'll be using as a passthrough plate.

 

Was wondering what you used to make your psu shroud all the tools you used if you could help me out that would be great thanks! I wont be using a water cooling system

 

Passthrough Plate Changes:

As mentioned previously I decided to make a few changes to some of the locations for the watercooling parts. I also decided to change up the hard drive rack shroud and turn it into a complete passthrough plate. I might also make a window on the back side of the case so you can see the other side of the passthroughs but that will depend on exactly where those tubes run in relation to the outer panels parts. I should have plenty of clearance but I won't know until I start mocking up the passthroughs.








Tube Reservoir Mockup:

Originally I was going to install the scratch built reservoir that I spent a long time working on. There's several reasons why I have decided to save it for another build. The main reason comes down to space. I decided I'm going to use a much thicker 420mm radiator since I won't be using a 360mm one up top. The thicker radiator will look killer and offer up the best cooling options. This change also allows me to make the passthrough plate that will become a major feature of the build. If I decided to keep the scratch built reservoir it would have to be rebuilt to make it much smaller which defeats the purpose. Relocating the reservoir makes sense in many ways and there's so many advantages that outweigh the
negative.

 

To make the metal psu shroud I used hand files, air cutter, hard stock to make the templates and a diy bender that's detailed in this build log. Most of the details of it are on this build log.

 

Fill Port Install & Mockup:

After having a few bits leftover from the Apex build I decided to put them to good use and mockup the watercooling for the IKONiK build.* I decided to make a fill port at the top of the case right under the top panel. This is a great spot for a fill port on the Dark Base 900 case. The top panel doesn't require any tools to remove and the clips are easy to access. On the Apex build I put a radiator up top and still had space for a fill port. I ran a 3-way splitter which allowed me to put a 90 degree rotatable fitting which makes it so I can rotate the fill port up when in use and back down when I'm using the computer.






Side Accent Panel:

I decided to move forward with the new accents that will surround the right (main) side of the case. Originally I was going to add the accents to the outside of the glass but, I decided that it might be better to do a similiar design and add it right behind the glass. This will also make it more convenient for shipping and taking it to LAN events. I started by adapting the design from the original side panel pieces into the new mounting locations. Once I had the design sketched out I went ahead and made templates to scale using hard stock. Then I added a pieces behind these panels using white acrylic which gives them more depth and carries on the design cues. I still have a few more additions to make to these panels once I get further along. I'll also custom cut vinyl that is from the original IKONiK design.

 

PSU Shroud Changes:

After building the APEX build for CES 2017 I decided to make a few minor changes to the original concept design done for the IKONiK build. Doing a complete build in this case allowed me to see things I ordinarily wouldn't see until it became an issue. I love the PSU shroud in designed for IKONiK but, I realized that I wanted more access to the front of the power supply and the ability to get under the pump in the future. This will also allow me to make a good drain port and it will make future maintenance a breeze. A new acrylic panel was made to go over a small portion of the shroud. This panel can be un-bolted for upgrades etc. It also adds a unique look to the shroud and offers up some neat features I'll go into later on.

As mentioned earlier in the build log; I wanted to build a removable acrylic plate that allowed access to the PSU while also holding the pump setup. I came up with a neat idea using a few standoffs from a motherboard plate and some clear acrylic. It was rather easy to make a template for this because the PSU shroud had already been built. It was just a matter of measuring the edges so the fit would be exact.






Acrylic Runner:

I decided to make an acrylic runner that fills a gap on the back side of the case. The gap is where the rear plate for the PSU switch and power meet the IO section. This is merely for aesthetic purposes. I made it from white acrylic and I haven't decided if I will paint it or not.

 

OCZ Vector 180 480gb Lexan SSD Mount:

I couldn't decided where I wanted to mount the main 480gb OCZ Vector 180 SSD; so I decided to go back to the concept drawing and use the idea I originally had. This idea involved building a custom bracket out of lexan that will fit on the PSU shroud. The mount/bracket is tilted to give it a better look. I carried over the design that uses a combination of sharp and rounded lines. As with most of my brackets I took a few measurements of the SSD and started free hand sketching ideas to scale. I came up with a neat design that is much more form fitting than the original concept for the SSD. So far I have them rough cut out of 13mm thick lexan and I've started to file and sand them to a perfect finish.






Pro Modder Tip: (Acrylic Multiples)

When making multiples of the same piece of acrylic; I've found a few techniques that work best. It can sometimes be difficult to make a bunch of the same exact pieces using only hand tools and a scroll or jig saw. Usually I'll start out by making a template out of hard stock mentioned throughout the build log. I will use the same template to trace out all the designs in acrylic or lexan. Once I have them cut out and one edge on each piece filled flat.

I will put them side by side and either tape them together or use a vice to keep the aligned. The one edge filed flat on each piece is used to re-align the pieces if they move at all during the sanding/filing stages. To start out use a fairly aggressive file to get each edge to match up with the ones on either side of the piece. Once you've got them close to even its time to start using finer files to remove any scratches made in the previous processes. Doing it like this assures that all the pieces will match each other perfectly.





2nd Version Of The OCZ Vector 180 480gb SSD Mount:

I'm not completely satisfied with the way the acrylic SSD mount looks. I had some bar stock so I decided to try out another idea I've had. It required me to make two extreme bends in order to get the correct angle. This version of the SSD mount also let's me use the OCZ plate that comes with it. I've never seen the plate used in a build which makes it even better. After all the bends were finished it was a matter of drilling holes in the bar stock and using new (longer) bolts to mount the plate and SSD. In order to make room for the SATA cable and power; the SSD has to be slightly offset. I will probably modify the plate so that I can get rid of the slight offset. In order to do this it will require me to notch out part of the plate and re-drill new holes.

 

Gluing Acrylic Side Panels:

I added a strip behind the acrylic pieces that are on the right side of the case. This strip serves several purposes. It helps to perfectly align the side panel and it stops the interior LEDs from shining through the edge of the panel. There's a clip that holds the front panel of the Dark Base 900 Pro and the added acrylic strip takes up the gap between the clip on the inside and the inner wall. Filling this gap helps to hold the side panel in as well as aligning it with the side of the case.






Rear IO Shroud LEDs, Vandal Switch & Panel:

I've been wanting to build a lit IO panel for quite some time now. It really comes in handy when trying to plug in different things in the back of the case. I didn't want the LEDs to be on all the time though. I used a aluminum channel and light diffuser to mount the LEDs under the switch panel. This makes for easy removal and the ability to turn the IO LEDs ON/OFF by hitting the vandal switch on the back of the case. Part of the panel needed to be sanded so that it was slightly thinner on each edge. This made it so that the panel fit exact on the inside where it contacts the case.
I'm really quite impressed with the way this top panel came together. It was really tricky to get just right but, it was well worth it.









Pro Modder Tip: Applying Vinyl To Panels

I get a lot of questions about vinyl. It is a great material to use and doesn't require too many tools to work with. It's kind of like golf; it takes a lot of practice to get really good at. I almost always use an exacto knife, a felt tipped squeegee and a heat gun. The heat gun is used at the end to help set the vinyl. If your outting vinyl over a curved or straight edge; heat will be your friend as it will allow you to stretch the vinyl. You have to be careful to not overheat vinyl as it will melt. Each kind of vinyl is different, so I use a scrap piece to test temps with.

When applying vinyl to panels I like to start at one end and work my way over the panel. To begin I remove only a little of the backing from the vinyl so I can stick one edge to the panel. Using the squeegee I move it towards the opposite side I started from. The trick is to only remove a little bit of backing at a time and then squeegee it down. Repeat this over and over to make sure you don't get any air bubbles under the vinyl. Once the panel is completely covered I will take an exacto knife and hold it at a slight angle and run it along the edge of the panel. This takes some practice to get right. When I've gone all the way around the outer edge I will recheck all the edges to make sure they're even. Trying these techniques out on scrap materials will let you know what will and won't work.