Project :: Silver Shadow

Trust me it's worth it, even if you can buy the new revision GPU block with a chrome top :p
 
It's worklogs like this one that make me even more confident that my next build will not only be watercooled, but custom to an extent such as this. Good job man.
 
You’ll be gald to know that work now commences on the case :D

Shortly after my first PC build I stumbled across ShinyMod’s Solaris and Jordanis3r Tribal I and II projects. I was amazed at the tribal designs they incorporated into their cases, so much so I contacted the one and only Jordanis3r. After hour long conversations on MSN, he had a rough idea of what I wanted on the panels; he then began work sketching his ideas to scale in order for me to transfer over once he sent them through the post. The guy truly is an inspiration, his ideas are amazing! They arrived the other day and I started work, enough banter, the panels are ready to cut. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

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We decided to take a different approach to mounting the Aquatube, instead of a square it has been rotated into a diamond shape.

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The template was used as a guide to draw it onto the top panel.

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His tasteful tribal products were then transfered either side to balance it out.

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Here’s the side panel, I just love the way it branches into two designs.
 
i was wondering if it would be possible on making the water UV reactive and u can only see the uv when it passes the water block..
 
Thanks alot guys :D I'm going to be using UV Cathodes, adding a little of below to the water and we should have quite a show of bl00 UV goodness ;)

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While work on the top and side panels of the case continues I thought I’d keep myself busy with a few updates over these holidays, so here’s a small update :D The next task on the list was to mount the pump in the case. The Hydor L30 is supplied with suction cups but I wanted a more permanent solution to allow the case to be moved without having to question the pump going anywhere. The first step was to run a 5mm drill bit through the pump holder to allow M5 bolts to go through.

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Before I did, I masked up the newly painted stand and marked on where the drill bit needed to primarily be. The only problem was to be revealed later on, the masking tape decided to take off most of the vinyl dye; this prompted the re-painting and clear coating of it and the pump.

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These are the bolts I will be using to mount it, a set of M5 countersunk stainless steel bolts with locking nuts, these are so nice I’ve decided to use them to mount the Perspex to the top and side panels aswell ;) I used countersunk bolts as there is little clearance between the holder and the pump to allow for button head bolts.

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Here’s a test fit of the stand, I lined it up with the two small marks the case came with so it was dead centre. Also notice the scratches the bottom of the case has acquired throught steel shavings in the project, once the components are in those won’t be seen :)
 
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Here are the holes marked and drilled.

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I slung in the newly painted pump holder and test fit the bolts, to my surprise they went in without any persuasion at all :D I haven't cut the bolts to size yet as I need to put a few layers of neoprane under there to absorb any vibrations.

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A shot from the back with the pump installed.

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From the other side.
 
If you are lookin for anymore blue anodized hardware or rivits or anything like that, check this out. Dragonmodz.net Twixted, Loki, and Wordbiker are really kool guys and will help you with anything you ask. ;)
 
hey,
for a start, you = wankbag, wish i had your money :mad: who's financing (no way i believe this is funded by you at the age of 15, otherwise tell me where you work :D)?
Anyway, loathe to say this to someone who can clearly afford it anyway, but did you think of submitting this to CPC under the custom rigs thing? Get some cool stuff from it, free PSUs, graphics , RAM etc. You could always give it ta me, ofc... :p
 
lol :p I've been saving for a while and quite a bit of the water cooling gear is second hand. I ploughed all of my christmas and birthday money in and somehow afforded it :D
I'll give CPC a try once the project is completed, thanks for the heads up ;)
 
Here’s my attempt of an update.

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I put the pump and radiator into the case for a test setup, I only put one fan on the radiator to make sure the tubing cleared it without any problems. The placement of the pump has worked out quite well; any heat generated will be cooled by the two fans behind it. Also see the small strip of neoprene under the pump; this should take care of any vibrations.

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I then cut a length of Tygon between the pump outlet and radiator.

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Since then my sponsorship goods arrived from Paul @ WaterCoolingShop.com, a big shout to him! :D The items he sponsored me are 2x 120mm fan grills, an LCD display, some tubing (I seem to be accumulating a lot of the stuff :)) and a dual UV CCFL kit.

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Here’s a closer look at the LCD screen. It’s the 20x4 Blue backlight and white text model :)
 
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It’s been happily sitting on my desk while I’ve reviewing it. Here it is running LCDSmartie.

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As far as mounting it goes, while planning the project I always had it planned that I’d mount it in the two floppy bays; as I love them due to the radiator it seems the best option. Here’s a picture of the unit placed above for a size comparison.

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Better picture, should fit nicely in there :D

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Here it is behind the floppy bays when they’re removed. The plan is to cut the floppy bay covers to accommodate the screen, I will then cut a polished aluminium bezel to be placed over the top which will hide the cut in the bays and will hold the LCD in place using 4 bolts. The same applies to the fan controller; I hope to start this over the weekend.

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I also attached the 120mm fan grills to the radiator fans; personally I think they look much better.

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From another angle :) I have work experience in roughly a months time so all systems go on making as much progress as possible.
 
I honestly love where you are taking this mod so far. I think it would look really cool if you placed a border around the LCD panel though =), other then that, keep up the excellent work.
 
Where did you learn about that pump relay trick? I have to get my Hydor fixed, and I'd love find a way to run it off the PSU.
 
@ KrakenGuy: Cheers mate :D I'm planning on making an aluminium covering for it when it's in the case :)

@Hinokagutsuchi: The shroud came with the radiator. When it's removed you see the radiator is basically a heater core with drilled holes in and plated shrouds attached. As for buying one, i'm sure Danger Den do one on their site for their heatercore products.

@Master Ninja: I originally saw the relay article on ProCooling. Hope it helps :)
 
Finally, a small update to show I’m still here :) Apologies with the slow progress, I’ve been busy with my band and other stuff lately.

The next task on my list was to sort out some the rear fans. When I cut the front of the case I mentioned that I also cut out the pre-stamped grills out and filed them down. Due to the shape of the blowholes they looked quite strange as the metal gaps were showing.

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This is the only picture I have of my first workings with the rear grills. I since decided to improve on them as I was unhappy with the result. It was off to the garage again for some filing and drilling of holes so the fans can be mounted without the Chieftec fan cradles.

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Here’s the case from the garage. As you might be able to see, drilling the holes proved a pain as an 80mm fan lines up with the fan cradle holders punched into the metal. Despite centre punching many times I was unable to stop the drill skipping completely, I eventually got them done. There are a few scratches where the drill slipped and one hole had to be widened but I’m not too fussed as it won’t be seen :)
The fans I decided to use were Panaflo 4H L1A’s kindly sponsored by www.dorothybradbury.co.uk”]Dorothy Bradbury[/url], a big shout to her for her support.

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The fans as they arrived.

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The fans after some sleeving treatment.
 
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The bolts that will be used to mount the fans, M3 x 30 bolts ordered from Inox Fasteners.
It was then a case of putting it all together.

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Result :D Notice the bolts don’t go all the way through the fans, this was the longest size Inox Fasteners did in M3.

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A shot from inside the case.

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A shot from the back.

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Close up.
 
Lookin' fancy my friend, lol. So far I am liking what I am seeing.

Keep up the good work. Also, good job on using the rubber string on the back fans, that will really cut down on vibration and such.
 
Why not just paint the cradles that come with the case and use those? I don't think they'd cause that much extra noise.
 
I see great potential ahead for this mod!! Keep up the good work.

Great details and planning so far. I can't wait to see the finished product.
 
Leeum said:
@Hinokagutsuchi: The shroud came with the radiator. When it's removed you see the radiator is basically a heater core with drilled holes in and plated shrouds attached. As for buying one, i'm sure Danger Den do one on their site for their heatercore products.
Click to expand...

You know, now I feel like an idiot. I bought the Black Ice II radiator from there, and the fan mounts and such are about a 1/4" from the fins and such on the radiator... which would be the shroud. >_<!

Oh well, thanks for the reply. The case is coming along nicely.
 
@Hinokagutsuchi: Np mate :D Thanks for your comments :)
@Master Ninja: I painted the fan holders silver; the only problem is, due to the thickness of the blowhole trim, i was unable to clip them back in :/ Not to worry, I like how they have turned out.

I've got no internet for the next week or so (changing ISP went wrong, thanks again BT :mad: ) and i'm on work experience for 2 weeks at an IT college. Any updates will be posted from there so no worries :) Thanks for the comments all, they're greatly appreciated.
 
Leeum said:
@Hinokagutsuchi: Np mate :D Thanks for your comments :)
@Master Ninja: I painted the fan holders silver; the only problem is, due to the thickness of the blowhole trim, i was unable to clip them back in :/ Not to worry, I like how they have turned out.
Click to expand...

Woah, thanks for the notice. Glad I didn't find that out the hard way for myself. :eek:
 
Sorry for the lack of updates, progress has been much slower than expected due to a head injury and loss of hosting. However, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything ;)

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A Maze4 Chipset block, the newest addition to the loop in Silver Shadow. You may notice I drilled a 5mm hole for an LED ;)

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Here’s a lighting test with white LED's in both blocks.

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The block was a present from an old friend, unfortunately the base wasn’t in good shape when it arrived from him.

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After some lapping treatment It was as good as new. The other blocks were also lapped as they got slightly scratched and dirty from lying around the house.

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Couldn’t resist this picture :p

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It was then time for some major overdue progress on the panels. I marked the centre of the Aquatube hole in order to line up a 76mm holesaw. Next task was to work on the bolt structure that will hold in the Perspex, I marked up some 5mm holes 2cm from the side of the panels. Once I was happy it was then off to the school workshops to use the drill press.

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Here are the holes drilled on the side panel. What I’m using to secure the Perspex is a combination of countersunk panel washers in anodised blue and M5 countersunk bolts. My application is as follows:

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Washer..

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and bolt :D

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Here’s a close up, sorry for the poor focus.
 
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All the bolts installed.

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Here’s the Aquatube and the countersunk bolts installed on the top panel. The designs I drew have started to fade off due to on-going work, I’ll have to go over these before I begin cutting.

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A (crap) close up of the Aquatube bolts, the 4 corners are fitted with countersunk M4 bolts. I began trying to countersink them by tapping the holes to 5mm, but as the mounting plate is stainless steel I went through quite a few of the schools drill bits :D I got the holes done eventually but found they still weren’t big enough; I’ll finish off with a proper countersinking tool.
 
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