The B3arClaw Mod - Overclock.net

b3ar · 09-04-06

[For those of you who just want to skip to the money shots, click here.]

Howdy, and welcome to my mod thread. I'm starting with a vanilla case, very generic-looking:

I have lots of ideas for this case. The central theme for it, like the title of the thread suggests, will be 'The B3arClaw'. Aesthetically, I'm going for a case with claw marks on either side of the case, Dremelled-out, with acryllic backing. I want a look that emphasizes a clash between hi-tech and raw animal; so, lots of blinking LED's, UV, shiny chrome, glossy clean paint, beside the brutal gashes dug out of the case.

I plan to experiment with acrylic, making (hopefully) cool interesting shapes: what I'd like is to modify a small plasma ball to fit in the front or the top of the case. Failing the plasma ball, maybe some sort of lava lamp. Something in motion, something funky and retro futuristic. We'll see.

The most innovative thing about this mod will be the air cooling I'm planning. Seeing as the hottest components in my case right now are my vid cards, I've been thinking about how to blow cool air as closely onto them as possible. So, with this in mind, I plan to bore a hole through the sides of the case, about where the hard drive bays are, and run an acrylic tube through. In the tube will be 2 x 80mm fans blowing directly onto the vid cards. I'll attach a picture in the next post.

b3ar · 09-04-06

Hopefully this pic makes it clear:

So, um, yeah. I'm going out to the workshop to play with acrylic. I'll be using my current components in the case, and relying on my mad skillz to make it work, as money is tight. Thanks.

b3ar · 09-04-06

My fun with acrylic today:

I made a set of boobs! Maybe I'll make this a sexy mod...

The heat gun worked well enough. I should use something other than a golf ball to push out the acrylic, because it started to melt. However, it left some indentations in the acrylic, so that could work to my advantage. The acrylic had most of the properties I assumed it had, but I was able to use the Dremel on it a lot easier than I had been led to believe was possible. A cutting disk and low to medium speeds allowed me to cut with relative ease. I figure if I prop the acrylic over a small cube of wood, I should be able to make a decent hemisphere. The only real worry is the bubbles, but if I go with something liquid-y on the inside, it might work...

Cutting the tube should pose no issues, with the Dremel. Maybe some issues with attaching the fans. We'll see.

b3ar · 09-12-06

So...been busy at work the last week, not much time to mod. But some.

Here's the back panel, with the template for b3ar claw marks and the acrylic tube fan:

...and after a couple of hours with the dremel:

Everything's looking good so far. I like the duct tape to cover it; it's very forgiving of any dremel misses.

I took the front panel off of the case and took out the power switch, reset switch, USB plugs, and sound plugs. I've got some ideas for the front of the case, but nothing totally fleshed out yet:
1) I've seen some flat plasma thingamajigs that look like something from a Borg recharging station; they would look pretty cool; cost, $30, and I would have to play electrician.
2) I could take some thin blue acrylic doweling, cut seven or eight lengths to fit into the front, and light them from behind. Cost: dirt cheap, maybe ten bucks. Already have the lighting. Might not look great.
3) Plasma ball. Cost: between $20-30, the electrician thing again, plus I'd have to play with Bondo or Sculpy to make the fit.
4) Create some sort of flat lava lamp with acrylic. Could screw it up, but acrylic's cheep as chips, and it would really be DIY.

I'd like to put in some sort of LED at the bottom of the front, something like the front of the KITT car from Knight Rider (KEWL!!!) I'm ten years old again!

As you can see, the power and reset switches are connected to a plastic chromed piece. I like it, and am planning on leaving them in there. I'd like to attach the power and reset switches to the top of the case; the only problem is that the DVD can't fit into the top slot; possibly I'll put it in the second slot and use the first slot to house the fan controller (already own it - it has a lovely bluish hue). Unfortunately, the USB and sound plugs are set into molded plastic, and there's no point to the sound plugs anyway, with my sound card. So, because my fan controller came with some USB plugs, I'm going to inset them into the 'chrome' switch holder:

I'm probably going to have to lengthen the power cords to be able to plug them into the mobo, but no big.

Lastly, this week I had the great idea to recreate my mobo base in acrylic. This will allow a glimpse og the mobo from the back of the case, through the claw marks, and if I do some UV pen modding to the underside of the mobo, it should look pretty sweet.

I must say, I'm really pleased with the case I have. It came apart very easily and it seems to have some nice features, like the removable mobo tray. The cooling in this case was already surprisingly good, and I'm excited to see about the addition of fans. I have no idea what the make or model is, and in the end, it's not going to make a difference. It'll be ALL MINE!!!

b3ar · 10-12-06

Wow, has it really been four weeks since I updated?! Whoops. Not that I haven't been modding, but I have been pretty busy in my other life.

So what have I done?

I started doing some work with the Dremel on the fan and rear door. I then printed off the pattern for the etched plexi that I want in the front bezel:

...and then cut out the black bits with an Xacto:

The acryllic tube was relatively easy to cut; y'know, seemingly every forum and info source on the 'net poo-pooed the idea of using a rotary tool to cut acryllic, and I'm sure there are better alternatives - but it worked, and rather well.

A test-fit for the fans; looks good so far.

b3ar · 10-12-06

Where was I...oh yeah. I had this panel on my mind:

After humming and hawing over the 'showpiece' side panel, I finally made up my mind:

I chose to punch my way through the back of the panel to the front to avoid any unneccesary scratching or whatever. The two places on the panel that were giving me a headache (ie., the open holes over where the graphics cards would be, and the round air outlet for the CPU) turned out pretty darn good:

I'm thinking some LED screws for the 80mm fan (who needs to buy a fan grill when you've got a rotary tool?) and some EL wire for the flame; acryllic backing, and I'm thinking of some sort or rubber seal between the acrylic fan tube and the hole in the panel. I still need to pretty up the edges before I paint, of course. My deadline for getting all of my cutting done is Nov. 15th; I want two months leeway for painting.

I changed my plans for the power buttons; I think they look cleaner and more accessable up on the top of the bezel:

...and a slightly-cleaned-up view of the fan tube again, with some coaxial plastic modding:

Remember the claw etching that was going to go in the front of the bezel? I didn't like it, so I made another; this time, I used thicker acrylic (1/4") and smoothed out the edges. It looks like glass! I'm such a proud b3ar:

b3ar · 10-12-06

I've been debating with myself about what to do with the bezel, or at least the empty bay slot covers:

Grey plastic, with a brushed-stainless backing, and a clear plastic cover. What to do, what to do...

I experimented with some iridescent paper that I got from an arts supply store, but it's much more purple than I thought when I bought it. What was amusing is when I attempted to polish the plastic cover after having put the paper underneath - I spritzed on some Windex, and the paper shrivelled! ...but it looked pretty funky after it dried, so this might be a serendipidus thing. I'm still not happy with the colour, tho.

The PCI slot cover is from a slot fan that turned out to be a piece of feces. It's the only thing worth salvaging, and I'm tempted to buy more fans just for the slot protectors.

On the interior of the case, I hacked out the hard drive trays to make way for the fan tube. It was ugly. On the plus side, I can fit two drives vertically in front of the tube, in front of the 80mm fan grill if I have to. It's a relatively roomy case, and if I was in need of those HDD bays, I'm sure I could find room for four drives by spreading them out. As it stands, I have one hard drive, and it's going underneath my floppy drive.

So...what next?

1) Look for rubber weather stripping (or something that will work, anyway) for the fan tube and panels.
2) Polish the rough edges where I cut, and tidy up the fan tube base.
3) Settle on some method of fastening the fans to the tube, without making a permanent bond or anything messy.
4) Pick up LED's and EL wire. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Looking for aN led CIRCUIT BOARD FOR THE FRONT BEZEL (darned caps lock) that's patterned like the KITT-car. Found plans for a few, but electronics I know nothing about. Guess I could learn to solder a board together...

Last thought of the day: fan grills are for the weak!

b3ar · 10-27-06

Howdy again...it's been two weeks.

Well, I broke down and ordered some goodies online from FrozenCPU. Man, I wish I had gobs of money. But I don't. So here's what I bought with my meager funds:

That's two blue lazer 5-LEDs for the front bezel, to highlight the acrylic etching; one 5-foot length of blue EL wire for the side panel; and one bad-ass plasma ball for the top. Oh man, am I stoked!!!

OK, so I'm not the first guy to throw a plasma ball into their rig. In fact, the majority of my mods have been done before, and there are those who say that blue-lit rigs have been done to death, how boring, yawn. Well, blow it out yer wazoo, I like what I'm doing. So there's my little bit of negativity ranted and excised like the puss-filled tumour that it is. Done. Whatever. Back to the mod.

I took a peek inside the plasma ball - partly out of curiosity, partly to see if I could take it apart and just attach the ball without the base:

Unfortunately, it ain't happenin'. There is a rubber o-ring between the glass ball and the blue plastic base that is glued together. If I had the skillz and the funds to replace a potentially busted ball (giggle) I'd fully mod it that way. As it stands, with my wife in school right now and me being the sole breadwinner on a slim cook's salary, money's tighter than...um...something that's really tight. So, I got creative.

I had a fan duct that came with the case, just gathering dust.

What's great is that it's the same diameter as the plasma ball:

My idea was to glue the cuff onto the blue base of the plasma ball, and then screw the cuff to the top of the computer case. Merrily I hacked into the top of the case, and the realized afterward, when I put some stripped coaxial c-channel around the new hole, that the plasma ball sits very nicely on the tubing. Yeah, baby!

b3ar · 10-27-06

I did some more work with the rotary tool. I needed to make space for the LEDs that are going to light the acrylic etching in the bezel, so I hacked 'n slashed:

Man that looks fugly. I've still got a buzz from the plastic fumes, too. Still, it's the front that counts, and the lazers fit pretty nicely in there. It should do the trick.

I also carved out the bottom of the bezel where the sound and USB ports were. I'm tempted to put another 3.5" bay in the bottom, but there isn't room what with the acrylic fan tube running behind it. I'm still looking for some LED's that will work there; I might end up just buying a rear bike light and modding that into the case. A touch of red in the front would be pretty cool.

I also bought this great blue acrylic doweling a few weeks ago, and have been brainstorming what to do with it:

I figure I can cut it into sections, and mount them vertically behind the etching at the front of the case. I can also cut a few lengths to go in under the fan tube, as the ends of the ex-drive bays are pretty grim-looking. It's great-looking stuff; I'm surprised no one's used it much on modding.

I did some research this week on painting the case, and came up with some ideas for the paint job. Currently, I'm thinking of a chrome interior (well, as close to chrome as spray paint will allow); then a black exterior with chrome paint printed circuitry all over. Some examples that got me off:

I'll print out a final product, cut the lines out with a razor, and then either tape the paper on to the case or use sticky backed paper to print on. Probably the latter. I plan to begin painting no later than a month from now, at the absolute latest.

Also this week, I cleaned up the edges of my cuts to the panels, and the cuts to the back of the case where I modded the rear fan exhaust. For the drive bay covers, I picked up some funky 'cerulean blue' coloured foil from an arts store, and some holographic paper that I probably won't end up using. Good-looking stuff, tho.

All in all, good progress so far. I plan to wire up an old mobo and power supply to make sure the lights work well, and that the plasma ball doesn't explode while in the computer. Man, that thing is fun to play with.

b3ar · 11-14-06

Wellity, wellity...if it isn't time for another update!

I did some more hacking and slashing, but on a more limited scale. I also bought some more goodies, and did some more planning. The most important decision I came to was to mod a second PSU into the lower two 5" drive bays. More on that later...

The most significant thing I did in the last few weeks was to begin painting. I'm using three fantastic sprays so far:

Man alive, is the Krylon Fusion the shiz! No primer needed! No sanding! Hooplah!

I first washed the panels in hot soapy water and let them dry completely. Even though I bought the sandpaper, I didn't see the need to use it, thinking that if there are any problems I can sand later. (With no need to prime, and little need for a clear coat - maybe - I'm a few weeks ahead of schedule.)

Ummm, this seemed very surreal to me at the time...

I'm using two versions of the Krylon paint: the 'textured shimmer', which is basically a textured black spray with metallic flakes, and then a 'mystic prism' spray which is frakkin' amazing. The outer side panels I sprayed with the texture, and the front bezel and top panel I hit with the prism spray. I used about eight or nine coats for the prism, and about four for the textured paint, with the possibility that I'll hit the panels with the prism spray after they fully cure.

My elegant spraying area, on my cramped deck (I live in a condo, and while there's a communal workshop, there's nowhere else to paint, dag nabbit):

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The B3arClaw Mod