Shinai - Antec P380 casemod [Done, done, done Jan 29, 2016]

[InsolentGnome]

Thanks vXhanz!

 

Just a quick update before I go spend the weekend at a music festival in St Louis.  I had to get a few things accomplished before we went, otherwise I'd have spent the whole weekend thinking about a case.  

 

Built the new fan/rad mount for the front of the case out of some .025" aluminum.  Once I clean up a few bits of the existing panel and get it mounted, I'll figure out my opening for the radiator .

 

 

The materials that I was waiting on to really move forward with the case finally arrived, YAY!

 

 

2 pieces of 3/8" acrylic.  One of these is destined to be a motherboard tray, the other, well, don't worry about that one for now.  Let's get to the mb tray.

 

I got the acrylic cut to the right size and now it's time to get it into the case.  This requires a bit of disassembly.

 

 

At this point, the build started feeling a lot like my first build, F3, no back panel, and all wobbly.  Bad flashbacks.

 

Got the tray fitted and all the mounting holes drilled.  I know I'll be putting this together and taking it apart a lot, and I wanted to make sure my screw threads lasted.  I used a little trick picked up from another modder(Waynio) and put in some brass inserts for the screws. 

 

 

Then I slipped the back panel back on and screwed everything together.  Well, most everything.  I did wind up with a few holes being a bit off and rather than forcing things, I'll just open them up a bit next time I take it apart.  I'm also going to have to make some notches for my top panel to slide in, but all in all, it's great.

 

 

And the tray mounted.

 

 

It's a lot thicker than the steel panel and cuts into my room for cables and the back mounted SSD's.  I'll have to be a little creative on some mounting, but the thick panel allows me to mount components to it without having to worry about anything showing on the other side.  This is important to me because I'm going to be covering the panel in the same bamboo veneer I used on the outside of the case and I want a very clean look on both sides.

 

And that's all I've got today.  Time to get ready to go enjoy some music and have a good time! 

[Necrodead]

Those grills and that pump cover are very nice. Where did you get the aluminum grill?

 

The bamboo is pretty neat but not my colour choice. Keep on modding!

 

Woah, new post at the same time. That is some thick acrylic.

[InsolentGnome]

Those grills and that pump cover are very nice. Where did you get the aluminum grill?

 

The bamboo is pretty neat but not my colour choice. Keep on modding!

 

Woah, new post at the same time. That is some thick acrylic.

 

Thanks.  I just ordered it off Amazon after deliberating for bout an hour over what hole pattern would look best, LOL.  I think the bamboo will darken a bit with some lacquer, not much but some.  I'm gonna experiment a little cause I'd like it just a bit darker.  

[Necrodead]

Thanks.  I just ordered it off Amazon after deliberating for bout an hour over what hole pattern would look best, LOL.  I think the bamboo will darken a bit with some lacquer, not much but some.  I'm gonna experiment a little cause I'd like it just a bit darker.  

Haha, yeah same, I like dark wood. Should look awesome if you stain it!

 

+thanks about the mesh. Looks like amazon.com has everything and amazon.ca is severly lacking, haha.

[InsolentGnome]

Slowly plodding along...this part always seems to drag out. 

 

Cut the opening for the fans in my aluminum front panel and got it mounted.  I'm using 2 rivets on one side of the panel to hold it in place and letting the fans/rad snug it down.

 

 

The next project was the MB tray and getting it sorted out

 

 

Still have some work to do on it, like getting a pass-through for the cables and the reservoir and SSD mounts, but I need it in place to figure all that out.  Put it together, take it apart.  Put it together, take it apart. Glad I used the inserts for the mounting screws.  I might go back and switch to M3 standoffs and use the inserts for those too.  As for the clear plexi, it's just what I found in 3/8".  Although it would be interesting to use it for a MB tray, this one is getting covered in bamboo veneer to match the outside of the case.

 

And now to put in some hardware to start lining out the rest of the fab work, PSU cover, SSD mounts, etc.

 

I spent about an hour watching reviews of fans before finally going with the EK Vardar F3.  

 

 

It seemed that they had performance close to Typhoons and Noctuas, but a bit cheaper, and with the overkill on the rads, I could probably put some $5 fans in and keep the system plenty cool.

 

All mounted up with the MB and PSU thrown in so I can work out some measurements.

 

 

Thanks for following along! 

[InsolentGnome]

Moving right along now, tackling the PSU shroud.

 

 

2mm thick aluminum.  I was doubting that my cheap little brake could handle it and figured I'd have to heat it up some to get a bend.

 

 

Luckily, the brake handled it.  It wasn't pretty and the clamping bar slid because of the material, but it worked, so I'm not arguing.  

 

At this point, I had a couple of different thoughts in my head of what to do with the side of the shroud.  One was a solid piece of the aluminum.  Another was the solid aluminum with a window cut in it for a piece of perforated aluminum, showing the logo of the PSU.  And the third was a solid piece of perforated aluminum for the side.

 

I originally tried for the solid Al with a window, but my ideas on how to improve my soldering of aluminum failed miserably, and I put that idea aside.  So on to the perforated.

 

 

It worked out pretty well and I like it.  To attach the two pieces together, I'm gonna be epoxying either mod blocks or acrylic brackets to the solid panel to eliminate screws and mounting the perforated to those.  This will allow me to take it apart since the solid panel will be painted to match the frame and the perforated will get a brushed finish.

 

Thanks for checking it out and up next, SSD's???

[Andrew420]

Will the aluminum be painted later on?

[InsolentGnome]

Yeah. All the solid aluminum panels will get paint and the perforated will get a brushed finish. At least that's the plan now. I'm trying to keep the aluminum as an accent and not let it take over the build.

[iHardware Shelden]

Following now

[rarifiedbovine]

Wow, I love all that aluminum work.  As mentioned above, super unique.

[InsolentGnome]

Following now

 

 

Wow, I love all that aluminum work.  As mentioned above, super unique.

 

Thanks guys!

[InsolentGnome]

Little update.  In my battle with soldering aluminum, I've been losing horribly.  So I've escalated the war to brazing. 

 

Same general idea, just a lot more heat.  And...it works!

 

 

The tabs are to mount the perforated aluminum on the PSU shroud.  Little rough, but considering it's the first try...not bad.  A little clean up and it should be just fine.

 

I did find a small problem with brazing though...

 

 

The temp to braze aluminum is kind of close to the temp to melt aluminum.  And there really isn't a warning.  That tab got trashed.  And my PSU cover wilted a bit.

 

 

Note to self, support things you are almost melting, lol.  But a little bending and everything will be right as rain.  Then I can drill and tap the tabs to mount the mesh.  YAY!

[ELSknutson]

Looking good so far 

[InsolentGnome]

Wow, where am I?  I was waiting to get a few things finished before posting some progress, and then my hosting site went down.  Now I've got a bunch of little updates and changes that overlap and will probably seem a bit out of order.  I'll try to group it all up the best I can.

 

First, not really a big deal, but I did clean up the brazing on my PSU shroud's tabs and got everything straightened out

 

 

The second update is kind of a big deal.  Graphics horsepower, check!

 

 

I went with the Gigabyte Gaming G1 980Ti.  It trades blows with the rest of the top 980Ti models and unlike the Strix Ti, was available and not ginormous, giving me a little more room for a reservoir down the line.  Some of my goals with this machine are to game at 4K(at some point) and to be able to drag it to play on and show at LANs.  I wanted to keep the power draw reasonable, 600w or less, but still have quite a bit of GPU.  I considered a dual 980 SLI to do 4K and stay in the power budget at first but couldn't really justify the extra cost since the Ti will also push 4k and stay in the power budget for less.  Plus I have a more powerful upgrade path to dual Ti's, even though it will kill the power budget.

 

And although the cooler and backplate look nice, I just had to add a water block to match my acrylic pump and CPU block.  I kept with EK and got their full cover block and nickle backplate for the G1.  Shiny!

 

 

The third part of the update is the loop, or rather, the ever evolving loop. 

 

So after making my little pump cover, I decided to mount the pump top up, so you could get a good view of the fluid running through it.  The first idea for a mount involved some little risers I found at a local hardware shop.

 

 

And that was a negative.  Just didn't look right.  So I decided to make some legs similar to this with some angle aluminum.  And that turned out horrible.  

 

I burned the pictures.

 

And the camera.

 

And melted the legs to pools of aluminum.

 

Ok so I didn't do that.  But it was bad and no one ever needs to see that.

 

Third try?  How about a nice simple bracket out of 2mm aluminum?  Simple...easy...let's go!

 

 

Perfect!  Simple!  I love it!

 

Then I mount the reservoir...for this I went with a dual Primochill CTR setup.

 

 

I was looking for something a little different and not just a straight tube res so I picked up an 80mm and a 120mm and rolled my own.

 

 

Add in the pump.

 

 

It's not bad, but I'm just not feeling it.  Plus, there's no good way to get the pump outlet to line up with the GPU block terminal, which would add a weird kink in the line to the GPU.

 

So I ditched the perfect bracket that I had made. 

 

 

Good view of the pump top...check.  GPU and pump terminals line up...check.  And as bonuses, there will be nice little flourish of tubing over the pump and the perforated pump cover is more in the background.  I was a little too much when combined with the PSU shroud right up front.  

 

 

Poor bracket...don't be sad...I'll save you for later.

 

Fourth part of the update...SSD's.

 

 

I started the project with one 480GB OCZ Vector 180 and added another 480GB and a 240GB to the mix.  The 240GB and one 480GB would have been enough, but to paraphrase one of my old landscape design professors, even numbers look weird, and pairs look even more weird.  So three it is!

 

The idea here is to mount them on the back side of the motherboard panel, but I don't want the mounting screws showing on the other side.  And if they look like they're floating, well, that'd be cool too.  And, oh yeah, don't forget that you wasted a bunch of space on the back side of the MB panel using that 3/8 acrylic.   Good luck!

 

Well, to start, they have to mount to something, so lets make some aluminum mounting plates.

 

 

I could have gone with thinner material, but for what I was planning, thicker definitely works better.  Next up, something to mount the mounting plates too.

 

 

Ah, a nice piece of 1.5" aluminum.  And next, it's about to get hot in here.

 

 

I'm getting better at this brazing thing. 

 

 

Yo dawg, I heard you like mounts, so we put some mounts on your mounts so you can mount while you mount. 

 

I've got a bit more to finish up the bracket but that's where I'm at.  Thanks for following along y'all!

[baldee]

Quality stuff...very nice

[Tearass]

 

 

I can't be the only one really loving the look of the perforated aluminium.. right? 

 

This mod is looking fantastic, but I'm still waiting to see where all the red will fit in. So far you've only got a motherboard and you've mentioned something about coolant, so my next guess is the Vardars?

 

Subbed!

[spwath]

I can't be the only one really loving the look of the perforated aluminium.. right?

This mod is looking fantastic, but I'm still waiting to see where all the red will fit in. So far you've only got a motherboard and you've mentioned something about coolant, so my next guess is the Vardars?

Subbed!

Reminds me of mac g5/pro

[InsolentGnome]

I can't be the only one really loving the look of the perforated aluminium.. right? 

 

This mod is looking fantastic, but I'm still waiting to see where all the red will fit in. So far you've only got a motherboard and you've mentioned something about coolant, so my next guess is the Vardars?

 

Subbed!

 

Thanks!  About to spring the red on things, getting very close to having the fab done.  Maybe the Vardars, I haven't decided on them yet since they aren't super visible when everything is put together.

 

Reminds me of mac g5/pro

 

That's exactly what I thought when I got the shroud put in.  Thought about changing it up a bit to get rid of that feel, but the shroud is going to match the exterior pretty well, so I'm going to keep it like it is.

[InsolentGnome]

Aaaaaaaannnnd, moving right along with the storage side of the project, I've cleaned up the SSD mount.

 

 

I even did a little wire brushing on it to give it something of a finished product look.  I'll be doing a little better job of it during the finishing process.

 

Now, let's put the drives on it.

 

 

The spacing is a bit wonky since I didn't get everything to the 1000th of a mm when I brazed the mounting plates on, but it's an easy fix.

 

And now putting them on the MB panel.  I used some aluminum spacers to raise the mount up off the panel and give everything a bit more depth.

 

 

This is all fine and dandy and I love how it came out, but I'm not done yet.  That's a lot of work for something you'll have to take a panel off to see, so let's add some visibility by cutting in a window.

 

First I had to figure out how big and how much to show.  Smaller window just giving a peek on the SSDs?

 

 

Or a bigger window showcasing them?

 

 

I'm going with the latter.  I think it looks better and the smaller window makes the graphics on the drives look weird to me.  Though, I'm debating on covering them with vinyl or decals, because ALL three have paint defects from the packaging.  Really OCZ??? :angry:

 

Marking up the panel for cuts.  Mr. Pump Bracket is happy because he got to help.  He provided the radius for the corners. 

 

 

And next is cutting, but I have to save that for my next update.  Just a little teaser of what's in store after fabrication...Inferno Red! 

 

[Tearass]

Mr. Pump Bracket seems quite useful. 

(Red paint hype)

[Necrodead]

Damn fine. Damn fine.

[Snooli]

-no photos for you-

Since you have an acrylic mobo tray, I'd turn the SSDs around and let them show of. You will need some real cable managment tho.

[InsolentGnome]

Mr. Pump Bracket seems quite useful. 

(Red paint hype)

 

He's been very helpful!

 

Damn fine. Damn fine.

 

Thanks!

 

Since you have an acrylic mobo tray, I'd turn the SSDs around and let them show of. You will need some real cable managment tho.

 

Won't be able to do that since I'm covering the acrylic with the same bamboo veneer I used on the outside of the case.  I only used the acrylic because I knew it could do what I wanted as far as strenght and being threaded, and I've gotten used to working with it(my last case was a scratch acrylic build).  I need to find a replacement material that is cheaper and less brittle, but I wasn't looking to experiment this time.  Cable management will be a top priority since there isn't a lot of space to hide things and I want to be able to show everything off, with or without the panels on.   

[Snooli]

-404-text not foubd- I need to find a replacement material that is cheaper and less brittle, but I wasn't looking to experiment this time. Cable management will be a top priority since there isn't a lot of space to hide things and I want to be able to show everything off, with or without the panels on.

I guess POM (Acetal) is a good option. Baybe not as strong but surely less brittle. Largest downside is, it can't be transparent.

I just like the idea of seeing EVERYthing. (I am not NSA)

[InsolentGnome]

I guess POM (Acetal) is a good option. Baybe not as strong but surely less brittle. Largest downside is, it can't be transparent.

I just like the idea of seeing EVERYthing. (I am not NSA)

 

Acetal is an idea.  I need to look into it.  

 

I like clear panels, but in the right spots.  I almost made my last case transparent.  I ordered the wrong acrylic by mistake and got opaque instead of smoked and decided to push on with it.  It turned out better than if I had used the smoked and I think part of the reason is that it allows you to drive the viewer's focus.  3 LED fans on a solid black background really stand out, but if you can see everything behind it too, the effect can get lost in the noise.