Zeuligan

For me it is always extra fun to reach the backside of a project. It is fun, it gives me the opportunity to sleeve and it is a milestone that state that a project is close to the end. I started in Fusion 360 to get a feel for what I wanted to make. Went fairly fast to reach something I felt could work. I guess the upside of doing my third consecutive project in the amazing be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900. Color scheme was set a long time ago. Took the loose motherboard tray and went to work. A few anoying rivets that always adds extra work. Took some measurements and masked for sawing. No problem with this baby. Fast, straight, hazzle free. Love my Ryobi saw (thank you again Ryobi for the support). Started with a quick prototype that I 3D printed. Extended the height for dual layers (ofc) and did some modifications to holes and fastening after testing with a custom 24 I had laying around. This will look good sanded down and printed on high quality settings. All pieces done. Will make the backside look clean. I got some happy comments on my manually created cable "plate" on project Zeuligan. Was extra fun to be able to 3D print a perfect one. Still just a test print (lesser quality), but needed a prototype for measurements. So easy. Did I mention I just love my saw? That will work just as intended, I like this idea for cable management very much. Should prob make more of this... Not that much thinking needed as I had my concept from Fusion 360. Just had to check that I could bend the cables and that I ended up at the right place at the bottom. The MB-plate has 2 holes wide enough for 30ish cables. Not good to miss that opening. After finding the right placement, distance it wasn't much more to it. Just drill all the holes and thread them. Could finally use some of that expensive black matte car vinyl I bought as a test for the exterior before I decided to paint it instead. Will make for a nice contrast in finish and color. Pretty happy with that end result tbh. The matte finish works well for both the texture of the 3D printed custom cable combs and the half shiny metal frame. Will make for a nice backdrop for the custom sleeved MDPC-X cables. Speaking of that. First layer of the 24 pin ready. Will leave that as a teaser for next updated that will be all the cables sleeved (ran out of ATX pins (sigh)) and mounted on the backside. Hope it will look good.

It's always equal part joy and frustration when you reach the painting part of a project. It's the mark of getting close to assembly, but it's also a very time consuming and sometimes frustrating part. This time more then usual with two disasters. With a new living situation I had to be creative to be able to paint. Not recommended to spray paint inside your appartement Designed a 3-way corner for regular electrical PVC pipes - 20mm and printed out 8 of them. Makes it simple to put together a spray tent of varible size, for close to nothing. Just to wrap in painters plastic and spray away Placed my tent on my balcony and it worked over expectations. Just had to stay away from rainy or windy days. We have a lot of thoose in Gothenburg, so spent close to 2 weeks painting all the parts. I started by adding a first coat of primer. This to make it easier to visually spot all the weak areas, where I had to fill in and where I had to take away to keep angles in my polygons. Adds an extra day or two as the primer has to be really dry before I can add Putty to it (or the paint and putty melts together and it's a real mess) but well worth it IMHO. With a combination of a small printed calibration cube (20x20x20mm) and the bottom of a bic lighter wrapped in straps of 280 and 400 grain paper I spent the next 6 days doing nothing but sanding and reapplying Putty. Better, but far from satisfied. Then disaster struck... When carrying one piece from my spray tent I accidently droped it onto the other piece and they both broke in several pieces. Not easy to Acrifix on paint, so had to sand down and start all over on some edges. Very sad and frustrated, but still happy that I was neither on a deadline or that it was actually mendable. Lost a few days, but got both pieces together again and reached the exciting part where I could add the first layer for finishing coating - matte black. Wasn't happy with the finish, so sanded down part of it, switched out the spray can nozzle and had a 2nd go. Look at that! Black and with much better surface. Still not home, so went over it with 600 and 800 grit and added 2 more layers. That matte varnish is sexy! Very matte even after just 1 layer and close to that car vinyl feeling I wanted from start. Super happy. The extra matte black paint on the front piece suddenly looks super shiny in comparison. At first I was scared that I had ruined it. The varnish was so white, even at super thin layers, but after 45-60min it just started to turn black and after just 30 min it turned from white to matte black. Tripple matte awesomeness. Looking forward to when I can start to put this together. After the exterior it was time to paint the shroud and 3D-printed parts. Smaller, but way more time consuming due to 10 times more edges. Same procedure, primer, putty, sanding, putty, sanding, putty, primer, spray putty, sanding, primer, spray putty, primer, sanding, coating, sanding, coating, coating, varnish, varnish and last a varnish. Disaster 2, apparently butter fingers. Droped my shroud on the way in from the balcony, 5 pieces (cry). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask anything. If you hate it or love it, share your thoughts. Silence worries me...

Thank you so much

After a vacation in the Caribbean I'm back with a short update and more to come... I often opt for clean design and practical solutions. This was also my intention when I started to sketch on the solution for the bottom RGB led strips from Corsair. Did a design in Fusion 360 for a led holder for the Corsair Lighting Node Pro strips I won in Swedclockers gallery of the month competion. Combined that with a holder that snaps in place ontop of the end of the holder with a screw hole. The strip with the holders are exactly the same length as the fan dust holders. It's on the bottom, so no one will ever notice, but I will know. Marked out the fastening holes and with my Ryobi machine set to slow it is easy to drill out acrylic without it cracking. Can't have any visible cables and I still want to be able to replace strips (or I could just unpin a connector) so decided to make a pass through hole. Drilling large holes in acrylic on slow speed isn't really smart, without special drills, as that will crack the acrylic. So a quick and easy solution, drill many small holes. It will just squeeze into that hole. Some cleaning with a small hand file and I'm good to go. All done and the RGB led strip is firmly fastned in the strip with it's edges ensuring it stays in place.

The case will be so packed with water cooling, with it's dual pumps and dual reservoirs I felt I needed to position the GPU in a different way. Was also important to create balance. Many polygons in this project. Very easy to go overboard. Cranked out the MB backplate and my 1080Ti covered in beautiful EKWB acrylic. Took some measurements, cut and bent some aluminum and drilled holes for mounting. Not very elegant looking, but sturdy. Drilled some holes to the top of the case and taped a fan in place to ensure proper measurements. I like it. Quick, yet very functional. Don't worry, I don't plan to leave that GPU haning in just an aluminium bracket. One wrong move and we have an expensive water accident on our hands. Took two iterations to get what I wanted. The GPU is very beautiful by it's own and due to previously mentioned balance, I wanted to leave polygons out of the ekvation. This is my idea of a 3D printed vertical GPU bracket. The 3D printed bracket combined with the aluminum reinforcement will be very sturdy and the bracket will also hide the aluminum angles. Didn't really think I would leave it like that right? Almost, the aluminum is sticking out a little. Need to make the bracket longer. Last iteration. Yum. The GPU slides into a track in the aluminum and into an equal track in the bracket. Then a fastening bolt goes on the other end, secure the card to the aluminum and 3D printed bracket. The card also slides 2 mm into the bracket, looking it in place in all directions. Not a bad solution if I may say so my self. I printed hex-nut shaped holes on the inside of the brackets, 90% of the size. Then I heated the nut with my soldering iron and pressed the nut into the plastic together with some superglue. That will hold Went through a few more prorotypes and iterations for the GPU cover. Left the polygon design behind. Became to much and I will need something cleaner. Biggest problem is the size required to hide the PCI riser cable. Happy, at last. At this last angle, the GPU metal is visible for the slide in. Got an equal track inte aluminum bracket on the inside. Just need to sand down, prime and paint the bracket and cover.

It is getting closer and closer for each day now before I can start the assembly. One major milestone is to finish the acrylic exterior polygon Angl3d surface and paint them. I had deliberatly left the middle circles a little to small. Wanted to ensure I had some wiggle room to make them perfect. Much of the overall finish will depend on the fan holes of the front. Took quite some time to do this by hand, but the acrylic is just to thin for me to risk using a machine. After a few hours I was happy. Gorgeous view and anything as amazing as I hoped for when planning the design. All those hard edges and polygons joining the powerful and round shape of the fans. Will look super with the destinctive front RGB circle of the Enermax fans. Last prototype print of the air intake cover for the rear top. Hexagon pattern looks ace and the shape and size are dailed down perfect. After a quick tour in Fusion 360 and 20min print I had the forward facing air intakes covered. Yum. Mirrored and printed the 2nd air intake prototype. I had to spend some time filing down one of the left edges. The hole wasn't exactly equal to the other at first, but nothing a file and some patience couldn't cure. After a really poor experience with the plastic wood I finally found what I wanted. Finishing Putty. What an amazing product. This will help me make the finish just perfect. A lot of extra work and time, but still decided to do a test layer of primer, just to spot all the problems directly. Ouch, that will be A LOT of Putty and sanding needed to make just perfect. Can't even feel some of thoose gaps with my fingers, but spray paint is ruthless. No room for nothing but perfect. Decided to mark out every single edge I wasn't perfectly happy with on all 3 pieces with a marker. Yup, that is a lot of Putty and hours needed to sand, but I can't leave this paint finish nothing but perfectly smoth. The polygon design will require a spotless surface. This is how much sanding paper and dust I accumulated about every 40min. I spent almost 6h in total sanding that day counted 34 full large sheets of sanding paper. This turned out to be such a powerful allied. Getting all that dust out from the acrylic pieces was so simple with this powerful tool from my sponsor Ryobi. First layer and test, -5h. After about 3h spent it was starting to look ok, but far fram happy. Spent almost 40% of the Putty, but no return now. Hopefully that will do it. One concern I had was that to much sanding or the wrong angle combined with Putty in the wrong place and I would lose the sharpness of the polygons and the entire mod would be ruined. I ended up printing my self a few sanding blocks, just 20-40mm big. Just to ensure I could get into each corner and follow each surface. Hopefully this will turn out be be enough when I paint. Very excited to start adding primer and finally a few layers of black matte paint before a finishing layer of matte varnish.

It has been a time consuming and fairly tough period to dail in my 3D printer to the level I require, but once done the parts started to roll out the plate. Printed almost 24/7 for the last 3 weeks. After a few adjustments and attempts I got the design I wanted. Opted for a frame that I then will design and clip-in air intake cover. No, it's not a window but almost. It's the prototype design for the clip-in design for the air intake. Just added some structural elements to keep it sturdy while testing. Fit's perfectly (dimensions are a little of due to prototype printing profile (read speed printing). Will be much better with finished print. Happy with the solution. Spent some time testing out different designs and patterns, but decided for hexagons. Classic as well as fitting the design theme. Just harder to print... That printer is just pooring out hexagons at a rapid speed. So happy Creality CR-10S dialed in... Not a bad view, not bad at all. Designed to print the fan intakes with the legs down. This forces the need for a fairly large support structure printed below. Extra filament and almost double the print time. Well worth it as the finished print will almost be flawless. Nothing to complain about that... Printed the frame in as well, but in end print profile and with Swedish high quality bio friendly plastic from add:north. Beautiful! Perfect fit. Will add an air filter on the inside of the hexagon lid. It's printed 3mm thinner than the frame to make room for this. Reprinted my dual pump cover in add:north black as well. Just some light sanding and some paint and it should looks perfect. With the end print profile, the fit is just perfect. Very happy with the result and well worth the design time in Fusion and prints.

Very excited about starting the inside of the case. It has been a long time since I did the PSU Shroud for project Angl3d and feels extra special to start to build around it. It's a beautiful case, the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900, even without it's amazing exterior. Love the removeable backside, MB tray solution. Started by cutting a backdrop mounting plate in 3mm plexi for the dual EKWB RGB reservoirs. Installed the previously created custom EKWB D5 dual pump bracket. The lower part of the custom PSU shroud still fits perfectly and was snug against the reservoir backplate. But I wasn't happy with the holes for the pump brackets. One side was off with almost 2mm. Nothing my new Ryobi can't fix. Took a 3mm drill and expanded the holes that was off. That's what I'm talking about. A much better fit. Looks really good and scary tight. It will fit, I know that, but still can't help worring a little... The combination of hard edges of the PSU Shroud polygons with the soft and beautiful roundness of the EKWB D5 plexi tops is just stunning. Can't imagin how ace this will look when the shroud is coated in matte black. Redesigned the pump-bracket base into a single dual unit. Clearing the PSU shroud with 1,5mm... It's not a very bid differance, but still believe the little heavier base this 3D printed detail will add to the mod. Slightly angled outwards and angled corners. For thoose of you that just turned into this log, it's still just printed with a prototype profile, hence the poor quality. The dual bracket is less than 1 hour print and with final profile almost 4h, so will look better Also printing with high quality Swedish black matte filament from add:north for final prints. Still very proud of the PSU shroud. It will make the beautiful and round water cooling products from EKWB to pop. Nope, not very clean, but still very ace using for measurements. Spent a little time adjusting and measuring between the dual pumps, placement of the reservoirs and the GPU. Decided to make a very unconventional mounting of the GPU that will make the placement of the dual reservoirs better. Centered placement over the pumps. Drilled out 4 holes for the reservoirs and another 6 holes for mounting the backplate to the HDD ladder. With a full box of a few thousand of countersunk M3, M4, M5 and M6 bolts I couldn't resist making the mounting holes countersunk with a plan for exposing the bolt heads. Color coordinated Leaving room on the right side for hard tubing, fittings and other fun stuff.

It's not an easy task to visualize lighting effects either in your mind or in a CAD program. Best is to try it IRL. As I'm using the Enermax RGB fans I need to use their fan/led controllerbox, so started out with testing LED strips both custom and common without a result I was happy with. 8 fans and 2 LEd strips, a nice box, but requires their type of connection. Last out of the common strips was a Phanteks led strip. Nice light, but not what I need. After a placement in Sweclockers mod of the month I got a Lighting Node Pro from Corsair (thank you so much) and though I might as well give that a go (was saving it for a future mod). Very compact, yet so powerful. Starting to go from liking to loving the more I played with it. After som fiddeling and moving the magnetic LED strips around from Corsair I decided that I definatly with mount 2 LEDs under the case for some nice floor- and indirect lighting effect. I don't want to interfear to much with the mattblack interior that will come, but need light inside the case to make it shine. Will prob mount a rail around and to the side of the MB to give that a nice shine. I do HATE LED spots, so they will be hidden or I will coat them in a sillicon tube to ensure they shine smooth and clean.

It is one of the best and most time consuming decisions I ever made for my modding - buy a 3D printer. After brutal failures and fun learnings I could start to design and put out prototypes. I knew from start of this mod I wanted to do something special with the GPU. After all, it is the main inspiration for this entire mod. I went through endless of concepts and iterations in Fusion 360 and spent more time infront of a computer than inside one, but patience payed of. The printer, after my mods, turned out to be very good and I put it to a test - a lot! Lets just say that I went through some iterations and prototypes trying to find something that both looked good, but not to much, to keep the balance between good design and keep the components in focus. Don't mind the poor quality of the prints. They are printed with a prototype profile to keep print times as high as possible. Finished prints will take 20x times as long to print and should look sharp and nice when done. This is my idea for the top, front part. Plan to devide the cover for my 1080Ti in two halves, so I can hide the screws from behind and squeeze the front and back piece ontop of the GPU. Should look clean, be sturdy enough and prevent scratches or invasive alterations to the GPU. It is a little heavy and to much Batman over this design. I redesigned all the individual components and it should look smoother and more in balance now. I love these pump tops from EKWB. I also feel that the round shape will be needed and make a nice contrast to all the polygon edges in this build. That doesn't mean we should leave them unmodded After some Fusion 360 iterations and some print iterations this turned out pretty neat. I need to fasten two pumps to the base before anything else, as they will also fasten the bottom floor of the custom angled PSU cover / dual floor. I'm also trying to avoid screws, as it will be very tight to have to add afterwards. A slide in clip was designed to the two pieces to snap them into one when fastened. Think this will look very good and make the pump tops stand out even more. I'm currently playing with the idea of hiding a RGB led strip inside the base of this cover pointing upwards, not sure if that will look good. Speaking of RGB leds. I got 15m of adressable LED strips in various density and countless of connectors and wires. Next step will be to start experimenting with the lightning of the build and components as well as starting on the interior. Stay tuned for more and please let me know what you feel about this update and mod in the comments below.

After a new modding room and a full stack of amazing tools thx to Ryobi I could get back to modding and project Angl3d Ti. Some parts left to do on the complicated front as well as closing up the bottom and front. It was suddenly a dream. The last 3 angles to finish the front took 20min to finish instead of 200min. The saw and sander from Ryobi are monsters. Surprisingly quiet, but so powerful. This is the last problem area left to do. Joining the bottom piece with the front piece. Fast work at the new saw and some sanding And we had a match. Left the piece a little big by choice, need to file it into perfect size to ensure an unvisible joint with the front. Two larger pieces was all that was left to close up the bottom. One final test fit before I added the pieces to the bottom. Then I will have to spend a few days sanding... I spend almost the next week finishing up the 3 pieces. Just not sanding, but filling in all small gaps and uneven surfaces. The large beige section is plastic wood. Had to make up for a less perfect piece, but now it's even and smooth. Will be so much fun turning this into black matt finish. Exterior is close to finish. Probably got 2 weeks left, sanding down the 3 front holes to perfect shape and size and then desining and 3D-print all the mesh pieces. Need to learn how to print and design... Merry Christmas everyone

After finishing my modding room and after some back and forth I pulled the trigger on a 3D printer on Black Friday. 2 days later it arrived with, what would become a 2 week headake. I took a decision to buy the Creality CR-10S. Just couldn't justify paying almost 250% more for a Prusa 3. Wouldn't be a computer modder and leave the printer untouched Ordered some v-slots and went to work on my brand new printer... After a few days later I was happy. I built a 2nd "floor" to the printer and will replace the controllerbox with my own printed design and hide inside the printer. That way I will have a footprint just as small as the printer and can also build an encloser (good for ABS printing etc). I also replaced fans, added stepper dampeners, printed my own support brackets etc. Fun week. After an additional week of tweaks and calibration and cursing I had finally dialed in my printer the way I wanted it. Fairly accurate That first layer is shiny First prototype of many for project Angl3d. Testing different fastening brackets and shapes. The finished object will of course be a mesh, as it's an air vent.

It's not that common for me to do an update not directly related to a computer mod, but after the amazing news that Ryobi decided to sponsor me, I had to rebuild my modding room. I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. Turned my 2,2x3,1m modding room from a dull and quite ugly place into a modern and functional modding area. Reason for building as I did, is that I live in a subletting appartment and are not not allowed to do any none-reversable changes to the appartement. This was my modding solution to a modding area without a permanent change to the walls.

I'll add this small update as well. This is the top, after I sanded it down. Almost ready for paint or vinyl

Last piece before the exterior frame is complete is the front. It is also the hardest due to my design choice to expose the 3 front fans. As I have a challenge with the precision with my hand tools, I decided that the only way to get a prefect fit, is to make the holes for the fans to small and then I have to gradually grind them into shape and size, but first things first... It doesn't look like it's that much left to do, but with the cut outs I knew I had my work layed out for me Started with cutting and filing 4 pieces to start the cut outs. The challenge is that the holes needs to be flat, but I want an angled front. Lot's of tape to keep the small edges together and in place while setting. Perfect fit, even if the tape adds to the future sanding job. I had an idea for a slight indent in the front, to make it less flat. Looks good, but adds another dimension to the complexity of this piece. Better angle for how the design will look. Fun feeling to start to see the design take shape. Almost done with the first cut out, but as I don't have anything to connect the last piece, I needed to start working with the next cut out. Six small pieces later and the middle cut out is starting to form. This is a good angle to show the complexity and how many extra pieces is needed to keep the angled design and still ensure flat cut outs. Many hours later and the front is slowly taking shape Two larger triangles to start working on the bottom of the front and the last cut out. So small and fragile. Took forever to handfile them into shape, but managed without breaking them. Added two corresponding angles to the bottom Intentionally I didn't close the gap yet. Want to ensure I have a good connection and shape towards the midddle cut out. One last piece to make the first and top fan cut out ready. This is how it looks before I go to work with my hand file Takes A LOT of filing, but eventually it will be the right shape. Look at that. First connection and first cut out ready. Long update this one. Next update will hopefully be the full front, but first I'm taking a small break, redesigning my modroom, due to a new very exciting sponsorship with Ryobi.

Final stretch of the top exterior acrylic case part. Wanted to bring back more angles and tigh the entire design together with the previously created PSU Shroud. First task was to file down the front edge to make sure it was a perfect fit against the front. I made the front and top 3mm to large just to be sure I could file it into a perfect fit. Like a glove. With most of the upper part of the top still unfinished, not much to pray for. Need more triangles. Looks so messy with all the Acrifix, tape marks and finger prints, but it will not matter as it will be sanded and I will add plastic "wood" att all joints not perfect. That front is starting to look good... I can't add two large triangles into that obvious triangular space as that is in the same angle as the joining pieces. Would just create one large flat surface with joints. Instead I created 4 triangles and angled the joining edge slightly upwards. Perfect, as I have to have a piece in the middle that isn't joined in the middle. That would create a long line in the center that the eyes will have a problem with. Two angled larger and more flat pieces got to finish the top of the top. Two small holes at the back to close before the first of the 3 exterior pieces are done. Testfit towards the front, just to makes sure nothing has warped and still fit perfectly. The top was the last one I started but the first to be finished. Now I will spend the next 2 days adding Acrifix to the backside of each joint to ensure it's strong and tight. Then I can move on adding plastic wood and sand down a perfect finish before I can add vinyl or paint.

Work progressing with building the main structure and most part of the top case part. This is an important part of the mod as it will either make it or brake it. I need to tie it together with the front and base part. I hope I will end up with a feeling of one cohesive exterior case rather than 3 separate parts. First big part of the top case exterior. The first part makes a larger impact of the whole than one can think. It influence each of the following angles and they the next and in the end the entire case part. Takes a lot of trial and error before deciding on the pattern and the first part. This was mine... Added a second, but lower and angled side panel on both sides. Testing different shapes and angles is much easier with tape. Fastened for real. Starts to wrap around the top like a warm hug. Added a fairly flat piece to the back. After different tests I thought this will look best in profile (as that is how you mostly view the case). Lot's of parts. The top front is starting to come together. Added more angles to the side of the top. I know it wont matter when it's done, but the tape fastening method looks so messy, bothers me a little. That will reflect the light really nice when it's finished in it's matt black finish. Two symetrical sides. Not entirely sure how to wrap up the top, so need to start working from the back. Still need to figure out airflow. Centered point on this back piece. Two larger flatter pieces. Need some pieces to keep the overall design and feeling a little calmer. Took some re-positioning and sanding to get the joining part exactly in the middle. Added longer triangles to the back. Reminds me about the back of a sportscar. The two large triangular holes are not forgoten, but left for a reason. More of that later. Left two small "intakes" on the side.

It was time to start working on the 3rd and final external case part, the top. With the front IO panel as the major component to work around and into this case part as the biggest challenge. I also need to figure out a good way to bridge the top part with the front part so there is one fluid design as well as no cap between the pieces. Same dimensions on this piece as the bottom part. 230x540mm. Need airflow as well as room for alternative radiator and fan mounting. With the base shape cut I can move on with securing it to the case. Modularity is still a key Worked for the front, so why not for the top. 8 small 12x5x4mm acrylic brackets. Fliped the case upside down and positioned the frame in the right location. Fixed the brackets with Acrifix and waited for it to set. Marked a center line and took some measurements for the IO panel custom bracket. Decided that I wanted to use the original screw holes. No need to reinvent the wheel. First I did a cut out in the main top frame. This is where I will create the front panel bracket. Created a piece equal to the one I cut out from the frame. Drilled 2 holes and viola. My take on a bracket for the IO panel. Don't like the original solution with screws clamping it in place. As @Zando Bob mentioned earlier that Batman would approve of my angles. That actually gave me inspiration for this bracket Thx for that Acrifix is messy but amazing for this type of job. Not bad for a small batman-holder. Two larger parts for the top front frame. After some testfitting with the side glass panel I decided to go with a more straight side for the top. Makes for a better transition from the glass. Added the sides to the base plate and created a small clip-on type of counter-bracket for the IO panel. Snaps on tighter than a batman suit. A real milestone right here. Connection to the frame and the front IO panel cover. This also marks the front end edge of the top piece. This will make it possible, once I connect the front to the top, to start working on both the top and front simultaniously. Will increase the speed as I can work on one piece while the other dry when fixing stuff with the Acrifix. But first I need to create the top part, which will be the next update of this mod.

I mentioned in last update that I realized that I ran into a problem. That problem is the front IO panel. Reason is of course that it needs to be fixed before I can fasten the front and top cover. That also means that I need to figure out how to manufacture a panel and a cutout for the top (or front). I'm just glad I figured it out prior to finishing the front and or the top. Here is the problem. I decided that I want to try to keep the original IO panel with the power buttons etc. 150x40mm will cover all the ports but be just as small as possible to minimize any straight parts on my angled mod. Gently removed the power button from the original top. I figured that this should be the easiest hole to make and if I can't solve that, no need to spend time on the smaller holes. Marked middle and the size, 22mm As I don't have a CNC or a laser cutter, I just put a 3mm drill in my Dremel drillpress and started drilling. I couldn't fit my hand-file into the small hole so actually took a small nail file and made the hole. YES, it took freaking forever. Marked out the holes for the usb connectors and swiched to a 0,8mm drill. Decided to try to manually use the drill as a router. Not the easiest of tasks to push the plate straight. It worked surprisingly good. After almost 2h with my nail file (GF will not be happy when she gets home) and a cramp in my hand for clutching the piece I was done. Really happy with that result. Now I just need to figure out how to fit this to the case and make a cut out / hole in the top case part, but that will be in next update.

Hehehe

With the base structure done from the previous part it was not much to wait for. The hard part about this part of the mod of creating an angled front structure is that each piece will influence all the others. The size, the angle, the shape all influence eachother. Almost like laying a puzzle without the picture, the size and the pieces them self. The best solution to solve the puzzle turned out to be tape. Made it possible to fix each piece while take measurements for the next. First piece of the puzzle fixed for real. Moved on to fix the next part. Both of these pieces was the last pieces created in the previous part of the mod. With tape tightly attached on the outside I could use tape on the inside to stretch and bend it into the right angle. Secured. Only down real downside of the tape solution is that the tape will suck upp Acrifix and make the surface look like ****, but with the need to sand it down, the upside it much larger the the downside. Starting to fold it self over the fans. Starting to feel a good tingling feeling. This might work! Two wings for finishing up the front and bind the sides together. Not bad, not bad at all. After A LOT of hand filing I managed to create part of a circle to match the diameter of the fans. This also reviels my plan for the front. I want to leave the front with 3 open "holes" for the fans to be both visible, but also for a air intake. Only thing I lack with the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 is a windowed front door. This is my take on that. With Enermax front RGB ring, this will also bring light to the front. Will fit a dustfilter between the fans and radiator. Needed to start on the top part of the bottom after realizing I have a problem... Same procedure... More parts. The cirle cut outs are a pain to create with just a saw and a hand file, but do add a nice finish. Had to remake and refit several times. One mm or even less both in elevation or size and I'm not centred and the fan cut out will be off or the look will look crocked. But eventually... Several hours later I'm happy with the end result... This is how far I managed...

Was with extra excitment that I was ready to start working with the front case part of this mod. I have had an idea about the front since I started this project. In fact, it was the idea of the front that even started this whole project. First I need to ensure it's located in the right location. Had an idea how to fasten this part. Still thinking modularity... 10mm wide, small stuff... My idea of a fastening "tool" to get these clamps in the right location. Added Acryfix to create a ridge that I then filed down into a rectangular edge... All eight fastening brackets in place. Decided to go with a little different solution for the front. I need a frame to anchor the other parts. More stability and I can also create parts in different levels. Look at that. It snapped even harder than the original. Amazing what you can do with a little acrylic and a file. Next step is to start to build the shape and design of the front. After a few paper templates, tape and four mugs of coffee I decided for a design. Symetrical design requires two of each. Two turns four. Enough parts to start to do the real first building. This is actually the front. The case is flipped. Just makes it easier to work with. Here this beautiful radiator from EK will be mounted on the outside of the case frame. I starts to look like a real computer. Love when you reach the part where you can start to unpack components for the first time. Next update will contain the real design of the front. Stay tuned and as always, please share your thoughts or questions...

Big progress on the base structure and bottom part of the custom pc casemod. With the last part of this mod finished with a fairly solid structure, this part will be all about filling the gaps in the exterior acrylic and make one solid structure. With the front part of the bottom almost done, I continued on the back side. First angle in place and I got my pattern and most of the parts already prepared. I just can't stop creating angles and triangles in this mod It will look amazing once it's done...I hope... Hard to see on the pictures, but each triangle creates an angled to the next. Two longer parts for the front, want the edge to move forward and create a bridge to the front exterior part. Forgot to replicate one piece, so had to measure and create a template. A litte bigger piece to stay with a balanced look of the exterior. Like an arm workout this mod. Spent hours with this little saw already. Not a bad tool for hand-cutting acrylic tbh. Final piece of the side. Long skarp edge. Both symetrical and a little kickass. Just the backside to close before the entire back Snug fit... Small triangles with even smaller angled edges. Not sure how many times I cut my self on the hand file making these two... Almost done... Looks a little messy, but as this will not be a transparent piece, I opted for speed and durability. Fully assembled and without any protective plastic for the first time. Feet still fits perfectly and completes the angled look really nice... If you wonder, no, it will not stay this way, but will be either wrapped in a matt black car vinyl or painted black, depending on what result works the best. I would love to hear what you think...

Thank you! I love seeing your friendly comments Thx, much appreciated!

It was with equal excitement and anxiety I moved on to starting with the bottom base structure of my custom exterior. The concept in my mind has always been about the beautiful Nvidia 1080Ti design combined with a stelth fighter. With that in mind I also have one major problem to solve, each side needs to be equal to create a symetrical and balanced overall look and design. With that in mind, without blueprints, my only solution will be to create, than recreate. I want a cleaner and calmer exterior than my PSU Shroud. Also I felt that to ensure symetry I need a few larger base pieces and rather accent them with more angles / triangles. After literally staring for the case for 60min, cutting templates in carbord, holding up acrylic pieces I decided for a base shape and marked it down on a 3mm sheet. Table clamp and hand saw felt easy but each time the saw gets stuck (and it does VERY easily) I broke the sheet. It's only 30mm wide at the base and 15mm at the tip and still 540mm long. Very fragile! After 2! extra round trips to the store and another 200€ in plexi I managed to create the first piece. I wish for a laser cuter! Reason I need to get more sheets every time I brake it, is that I wanted to keep the store (machine) cut edge against the glass. Only gives me 2 cuts / sheet to work with. But glad I took that decision. Looks really good. From above. Looks a little crooked, but this is before my 20min hand filing it edged and straight. Another 2h spent with cardboard and cursing, I decided on next step in the exterior design. Many angles to factor into each piece. This is a shot all to familiar after the PSU shroud. Hand filed angles to ensure maximum contact with a good end result. Before I could move on, I created and added 4 more cross-brackets to my feet/stand solution. Last chance before I mount the top layer permanently. Before I could do that, I need to create more airflow aswell as an access panel for future mounting needs. Nervous to cut, as I don't want to crack the entire plate forcing me to start over. Not a bad end result if I can say so my self. Still don't work with anything but small hand tools and hands. Nothing left to do but to use Acrifix ontop of my custom leg brackets and fixate the top layer. One last thing to do before mounting the first real pieces of the custom exterior. REPLICATE! This is how I think and will work with this mod. First create a part, ensure it work, mark it down not to loose the shape and size and after a successful mounting of one side. Replicate and repeat. First 2 shapes saved for the future... Very exciting to start to fixate the first parts of the custom exterior case. 540mm in length and angled outwards. While waiting for the first side to set I moved on to create the parts for the other side. Managed to saw the long part at first try, yeay... Just to show just how much hand filing I do for each piece. First to file it into the right shape and with straight edges. Then to angle the sides it eats away even more... All done. Acrylic is such a beautiful material. More clamps and Acrifix on the other side. Only time will tell at this point... Look at that. Already starting to look like a computer case Don't you think? Will give a good structure to work with and add more angled shapes. Will be able to finish both sides and the backside, but think I will need to leave the front. Not sure how the front will look like and still need to make the bottom part, front part and top part fit together. Will be a challenge, but a challenge for the future. First I need to finish the entire bottom part.