Project "Night Wind"

looking very nice man. can you pull the sticker off the side of your PSU without voiding the warranty? I think it'd look really nice just having a plain black PSU showing. just a suggestion though, very nice work

edit: of course, no window. stupid me :p
 
Nice looking case. I'm not sure about sticking vinyl to the case. If the adhesive starts coming loose it'll look like crap. I just like paint a lot better even thou it takes longer. Don't get me wrong I think the case looks great and you did a fantastic job on it. I am considering covering a case in fabric for textural effect.
 
Ski Me said:
Nice looking case. I'm not sure about sticking vinyl to the case. If the adhesive starts coming loose it'll look like crap. I just like paint a lot better even thou it takes longer. Don't get me wrong I think the case looks great and you did a fantastic job on it. I am considering covering a case in fabric for textural effect.
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The vinyl is gaurenteed for 3 years and is high quality, so no worries about it coming off. I don't like painting my entire cases as i've done that in the past and every time I bump or scratch it, I get really pissed off. With vinyl, I don't need to worry about it. ;)
 
I don't know if this has already been said, but meh.

How about putting some feet to raise the case a bit? The "front intake" doesn't look like it has too much room to breath.

That aside, it's very cool. I love the case skin. :)
 
DaMiEn said:
looking very nice man. can you pull the sticker off the side of your PSU without voiding the warranty? I think it'd look really nice just having a plain black PSU showing. just a suggestion though, very nice work
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Why? He doesn't have a window, so there's no point...
 
Stage 9: Project Reconfiguration

After a couple of weeks, it became apparant that something wasn't right with "Night Wind" For starts, the system was showing signs of air being pulled through the drive bay areas with dust patterns to back it up. This was indicating that the system wasn't getting enough airflow even after my extensive front intake area modifications.

I decided to try a simple test, feel and note the pressure of the exhaust of the 120mm fan and PSU with the side panel on and then with it off. Needless to say, the difference was dramatic. I couldn't believe how much the system was sufficating as a result of the front panel.

Knowing that I didn't want to install a second fan unless absolutely necassary, I decided to try if removing the lower front benzel would have any effect. In short, it most certainly did and it concluded my fears, there simply wasn't enough passive airflow through the front to feed 3 exhaust fans.

So my next step? I need to figure out how to cut out a section of the front panel and then cover it with metal mesh of somekind to be visually appealing but more importantly, let that air get through easier! Only problem is, im not sure were to pick up some decent mesh. This obviously will require some town hardware shopping.......

Adding foam insulation to the door will keep air from entering around the drives
foaminsul0fr.jpg


Theirs alot of room for air to move through, but that front benzel just kills it.
intakeredo21fs.jpg


A straight shot inward and thats where the air WANTS to go.
intakeredo9bt.jpg
 
Stage 10: Intake Modification

Ok, its time to get this baby to breath so lets get to work here!


Tools laid out, plan set, lets go to work!

pregrill3gi.jpg



"Modders # 1 TIP" Measure once....measure twice....measure THREE times, then cut!!!

measure2wi.jpg


For some reason, this was a real bitch to dremel without farking it up....

cutout8ap.jpg


The edges looked like crap after dremeling, luckily I had a sanding block handy to smooth it out
sanding8of.jpg


Cutting and measuring the grill size. The side ones where a real bitch.
grilltest0hs.jpg


With all the sanding and what not, I had to repaint over my "boo boo"s on the paint job

repaint9zv.jpg


Painting the grill sections
painting2dp.jpg


Modding requires you to get creative sometimes...

grillstick4qu.jpg


Ahhh, much better
frontdone1gj.jpg


And the final results?

sidedone3ap.jpg


bottomgrill5fp.jpg


completed5rl.jpg


Needless to say, "Night Wind" is breathing MUCH better now. The rear exhaust fans are moving alot more air as a result of this mod and it also gives the front a nice "custom" look to it. Im very pleased how this turned out.
 
thats badass looking nice work. you guys doing all the nice modding are getting me to want to mod a case now :D
 
ah damn thats clean...too bad u had to hack up the front bezel....i liked the clean, smooth front before :( g'job tho man ;)
 
IceWind said:
Recently its becoming more and more apparant that the blinging of cases over the years has started to get a little wain for me. Its sad, the most exciting and thrilling thing hobby i've done in years has started to loose its lust and desire.
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WOW, I'm sorry to hear that. Your work MUST give you enjoyment, or you never would have started doing it. But I understand your plight! It's true there are too many "cookie cutter" mods out there. But there are so many other fully custom cases already built, and the possiblities are limitless. Most people up to this point have stuck to gaming-themed cases but someday soon we'll see things like the Railgun mod that I never finished actually become a reality. I have designs for a suit-charger (HL2) mod and an UT2K4 Keg-O-Health too. Imagine what other people are thinking up! Have you seen the HL2 Strider mod yet? I think I see a trend towards replicas, here.
Don't let the masses ruin your love for modding. Just think, your work will be an inspiration to other less skilled ppl who aspire to do the same thing. Sure, most of them are fools who will never do any quality work, but as long as they are enjoying it- mod on!
Good luck on your new project!
 
that looks great! good job, only thing I myself would have done differently is made the mesh blue to match the front or black....imo the white is too much of a contrast.

nonethless looks good :cool:
 
domoMKIV said:
that looks great! good job, only thing I myself would have done differently is made the mesh blue to match the front or black....imo the white is too much of a contrast.

nonethless looks good :cool:
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I agree. Excellent work on the mod however.
 
I was considering doing something similar to my Sonata, but I always had in mind having a fan in the front, and since I couldn't figure out how to fit a fan in that area, I gave up and left it the way it is. For some reason it didn't even occur to me to just open the front up the way you did and NOT need a fan....*hits himself on the head*

 
ha ha, oh man I for sure thought you would've painted the mesh black too but after seeing your results and thinking it over a bit more I really like what you've done more. if it'd been black it would've been easier to overlook but being white it really draws in people's attention to the grill. Very well done, I also like your opinions on case modding and mirror most of those thoughts myself :p

<n00b> 0mg!!!!111 Ne0n lights in my thermaltakez0r + s3v3n 60mm fans = t3h 1337++ </n00b>
 
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