Vesper by Maki Role - 3D printed pc - FINISHED! Final pics on page 3 - U/20th August 2014

[Maki Role]

Right well time for an...

 

UPDATE!

 

So the middle section is back from the 3D print shop!  The idea is that the sides will be held onto the centre using tiny, neodymium magnets.  That way the sides will simply snap on, making maintenance/upgrading a doddle, they'll be more than powerful enough to hold the whole thing together.  As for the whole PCs and magnets myth, no HDDs in this build remember, everything else is safe anyway, consumer electronics are riddled with magnets these days also.

 

 

 

It has a remarkably thin profile, all the mounting points are built in

 

 

 

Propped up together with the sides, shows pretty well how it should look.

 

 

 

Obligatory coke can for scale.

 

 

I love how the light plays with the smooth flowing shapes

 

[Ralphington]

beautiful, absolutely marvellous well done.

[Maki Role]

beautiful, absolutely marvellous well done.

Thanks!

[alby800]

This is so cool

[Maki Role]

Little update for you guys this time.  This shows the mounting system used for the side panels, magnets!  These little things pack a serious punch and hold the build together.

 

 

 

Popped everything inside, was rather relieved to find that I had placed the mounts int he right places

 

 

I know everybody uses these, but damn I love the look of vandal resistant switches.  They also have a very pleasing clunk to them.

 

 

Given I eyeballed the fit for the magnets, I must admit I'm pretty happy with how the sides lines up.  I was worried to hell that there would be one side that's really wonky or something.

 

 

And when this happened:

 

Well...

 

 

[savehc]

@Maki Role thanks for being an awesome human being. Amazing.

[ALXAndy]

Very nice. Not my thing at all but hey, nice to see

 

I looked at your renders with the different coloured sides, then thought about having those side gills painted with House Of Kolor Chrome paint and then simply fitting a wild variety of LEDs into the gills so that you can pretty much make the side panels change to any colour but with LEDs.

 

That would give you all of those colours without the need for changing them

 

Keep us posted, will keep an eye on this one.

 

* also this. Dear Google, it's COLOUR not COLOR. Stop giving me red swirls you SOBs.

[VSG]

This is so amazing. Great job man (Even if you slightly insulted my build earlier in here lol). I love every single thing about this

[CtW]

Holy shit that looks good. Nice job!

[Maki Role]

Very nice. Not my thing at all but hey, nice to see

 

I looked at your renders with the different coloured sides, then thought about having those side gills painted with House Of Kolor Chrome paint and then simply fitting a wild variety of LEDs into the gills so that you can pretty much make the side panels change to any colour but with LEDs.

 

That would give you all of those colours without the need for changing them

 

Keep us posted, will keep an eye on this one.

 

* also this. Dear Google, it's COLOUR not COLOR. Stop giving me red swirls you SOBs.

le, it's COLOUR not COLOR. Stop giving me red swirls you SOBs

 

Aah the only problem with that though is it means the LEDs would have to be on all the time, they would also be drowned out by natural light in the room.  The painted chrome finish would certainly look pretty badass though.  I was originally going to have the sides milled from aluminium, but the cost spiraled out of control thanks to the tricky shapes, would have looked quite similar.  Reminds me of one of the early test renders:

 

 

This is so amazing. Great job man (Even if you slightly insulted my build earlier in here lol). I love every single thing about this

 

Say whaa. where?  Better sort that out then.  Glad you like it though

 

Holy shit that looks good. Nice job!

 

Thanks!

 

Update!

 

Took a couple more shots of the mounting system (don't worry, the switch wires aren't soldered like that, was just for testing), you can see the magnets in the corners.  Also I sprayed on the final primer layer for the sides and the centre section.

 

 

 

 

 

[d33g33]

I wish I had studied ID

 

I didn't even know it was a thing until years after I finished school...

[ALXAndy]

Chrome sides = D.fooking.rool.

 

That's how you do it !!

 

Don't forget you could have the LEDs off.

[Maki Role]

Chrome sides = D.fooking.rool.

 

That's how you do it !!

 

Don't forget you could have the LEDs off.

 

Luckily the beauty of this design is that I can simply print off some more sides and finish them differently.  Costs a bit, but it does provide a lot of flexibility that's for sure.

 

 

UPDATE!

 

So the sides are now painted, aluminium in stock for the back and the wood glued to the centre piece (well, gluing).  I opted for a subtle metallic white paint that I think contrasts really nicely with the dark wood.  The metallic finish also provides a lovely sheen that throws the light around a bit on the curves, it's hard to photo so you'll just have to bear with me on that one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Probably the best use for those bendy rulers.  The rear IO panel there is just a quick mock-up made to hold the thing together, not the final one, don't worry.

[wng_kingsley7]

Maki chan I don't think the other brightly coloured wings/fish fins look like a great combination with the somewhat wooden center piece. I think that some shades are pretty nice

[Me1z]

* also this. Dear Google, it's COLOUR not COLOR. Stop giving me red swirls you SOBs.

 

Welcome to American English. We decided the 'u's in color and favorite were dumb and changed the spelling of the words.

[davidbuss]

I really wish I had a 3D printer...

[CJPowell27]

Welcome to American English. We decided the 'u's in color and favorite were dumb and changed the spelling of the words.

I'm American and I often catch myself spelling words the European way.To me

the spelling just makes more sense.  Americans don't like things making sense.

[Maki Role]

I really wish I had a 3D printer...

Haha you and me both, would be quite convenient to say the least

[Maki Role]

Update!

 

The gluing for the centre section is now complete and the excess wood trimmed from the edges.  I really do love the appearance of the vavona, it's just such an exciting grain.

 

 

 

Interior all painted up

 

 

Starting to look rather similar to the renders now

[GeekySole9354]

Damn that's awesome!

[Maki Role]

Damn that's awesome!

 

Thanks, hopefully you'll like this update:

 

UPDATE!

 

This is actually the final build update of sorts.  The wooden centre has been sanded and polished, the IO plate has also been cut and polished.  With those two parts done, I can comfortably call this completed!  I'll be updating later on with some proper photos, until then, I'll leave you with a teaser of the finished article.

 

Sanded this down through grits 120, 180, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1200 and 2500.  I wanted the polishing to leave a lovely sheen, so it needed to be very smooth indeed.  Cutting the USB and power button holes were pretty nerve wracking to say the least.

 

 

After one coat of French polish, it really brings out the grain and colour of the wood.

 

 

Rough cutting for the rear IO panel

 

Lightly machine sanded

 

 

Took it up to 2500 again and polished by hand.  I didn't want a mirror finish, rather a smooth satin.

 

 

Thought I'd add in a picture of my current "workshop"

 

 

Finished!

 

This picture makes the glow look much more pronounced than it really is.  In reality it's very subtle and certainly doesn't take over the room.

[GeekySole9354]

Oh it looks so much better now when you polished it!

[Maki Role]

Oh it looks so much better now when you polished it!

Yeah I was really quite taken aback by how much the wood changed after the polishing. I think my favourite part is how the grain reflects light in different ways as the piece is rotated, it's only faint but looks really cool in person.

[Grrizz]

Looks really nice! I particularly like that wood, it adds a lot of depth to the case. The unfinished look might tie in nicely with a build I was thinking about doing next year too so I'm stoked to see this, might have to find a sample to check it out IRL before then

If you were planning to do a few of these cases (or just side variants) you could look into silicone moulding the sides, would save a lot on 3D printing

[CJPowell27]

That looks great