(Sponsored) The Thing 3D Printed Case

[AV Case Mods]

Hello everyone,


This is my second 3D printed case.
I wanted to make small openair case that will have watercooling for cpu and air cooling for gpu.

I stole 3x80mm alphacool radiator from my old build and started to design new small case for it.
Now the case size is:
height = 315mm
width = 226mm
length = 315mm

I only have the watercooling parts for this build so i update the log when i know what i am going to put in it

Watercooling
Alphacool 3 X 80mm XT45 Radiator
Alphacool DC-LT Pump
Alphacool Eisblock XPX Cpu Block
Alphacool Cape Corp Res

Here is early pictures of the design:














Front panel is made from two pieces



 

[AV Case Mods]

Then i added little color for the case so here is colors that i will use

[AV Case Mods]

I have to take little more from the height because i wanted to print this case as a whole. I am using miniFactory Innovator so my limit is 310mm
So new height is 305mm

I added cut out for the MB so i can route all of the cables there





And cut out / grill on the gpu side for psu intake and rad exhaust

[AV Case Mods]

Here is more pictures of the case.

I was testing how i can run the watercooling loop.

[AV Case Mods]

i made holes for the front and back panel.
Radiator will be mounted on the inner front panel and inner front panel is be mounted on the case with 6 screws
Outer front panel is mounted on the case with 4 screw and this will sandwich the panels so i think this will be enough to hold it together.
Back panel is mounted to the case by 6 screws.





Also i made holes for the passthrough fittings and pump bracket

[AV Case Mods]

These are the new version of the front panel with spacer and magnet holes and it did clean the look.

[AV Case Mods]

I made changes to the back panel.

Psu goes to bottom of the case and grill pattern is bigger. Also i made one 80mm fan mount.

There is room for two 80mm fans but i fear it would cause an issue with cable management

[AV Case Mods]

I decided to print this first prototype in two parts so i added some lining tabs to help with the assembly.
Also i am going to use bolts and 3d printed sleeves as standoffs so i made holes for the MB



Two pieces ready.



And starting 36 hours print for the front part of the case

[AV Case Mods]

Front piece of the case is "ready". Filament broke and i did not finish so this piece is 12mm too short. I can test fit the watercooling and make some changes to the design.

[AV Case Mods]

Watercooling fits but its tight. i Have to do modifications to the pump mount but everything else looks nice.

[AV Case Mods]

Now i have all of the pieces to do proper test fit and little video about it.



New pump mount and test feet.



Front grill

[AV Case Mods]

Here is part 1 video:

 

 

 

[AV Case Mods]

After test fitting parts i made some adjustments to the model.

I added six magnet holes because four isn't enough to hold front panel.



Also added nut inserts for the mid panel and a hole for the pump cable that i forgot

[AV Case Mods]

Back part of the case is ready. I did little spacer between the parts because front part did not finish. But this way it looks good so i may have to keep it that way 










 

[AV Case Mods]

First prototype is now ready.

[AV Case Mods]

The Thing Part 2

 

 

 

[AV Case Mods]

Here is pictures of the prototype almost ready. I dont have the components yet so i use old broken ones to test fit.

[Aereldor]

Amazing. Would have looked even better with glass tubes

[AV Case Mods]

Final watercooling will be hardline

[flashiling]

damnn  this looks super sick.

maybe it's just me who likes the glass panels but that with a glass panel slapped on both sides would be insane.

keep working hard!

[Aereldor]

8 minutes ago, AV Case Mods said:

Final watercooling will be hardline

Already one of the best looking custom cases I've ever seen, hardline would seal it

[AV Case Mods]

I have almost all of the design changes done.

For the top and bottom i did make plates for holding the two parts together.





I did forget to do power button so its next on my list and i think then i am ready for printing the final case.

 

[Army_of_One]

This is one of the coolest things I have seen.  Great work on it!  

[AV Case Mods]

Thanks

 

My workplace is closed for two weeks because of covid so i cant print the final case.

Package from Alphacool arrived now i can start to practice hardline bending.

 

 

 

Huge thanks to Alphacool for sponsoring this build

[AV Case Mods]

Here is pictures of the parts from Alphacool