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Operation Freedom - May's Mod of the Month - Thank you Overclock.net

39K views 256 replies 66 participants last post by  ikem 
#1 ·
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* * * MAY 2012 MOD OF THE MONTH * * *
-First thing I want to say is the love and support for this build has been amazing, Wow just wow. I mean people have been messaging me telling me that this build has inspired them so much that they will be painting there build the same green, Then my next message is from a member who said he bought a phantom because he loved mine so much. If that's not enough the messages from some of my idols on this website have really taken me back and have really touched me deeply. If someone would of told me 1 year after joining this site that I would be going all out on a custom computer and that I would win Mod of the Month. I would of told that person that they have lost there mind. Now winning this contest is something I personally take in the highest honor but honestly I consider this a win for all my supporters i mean FRIENDS. Thank you from the bottom of my heart as this is a dream come true.

thank you with love,
evil jerry

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Operation Freedom by evil jerry

This build is a Military themed build so the color is an ultraflat light woodland green, it's a little brighter then olive dab as I wanted it to have a little more pop.

I plan on incorporating some stuff close to my heart into this build. First my father that I lost a year ago, he served in the Army and I also want to pay tribute to all those who have served in the armed forces.

This build is not my first build but it's the first build i've gone to the magnitude of fabricating custom parts.

The Fabrication that has been done on this build so far:
Flipped the internals of the case completely
The case now opens from the right side and no longer left.
120/140mm front fan area cutout and now houses a 200mm NZXT Fan
Floor of case has been cutout to house a 360 radiator
All hard drive bays have been removed, Small HD bay reinstalled to top of motherboard tray
Custom mount for two SSD's
Blockout plate installed on top of motherboard tray and grommets installed
360 radiator bracket installed on top to replace the no longer useable 200mm brackets
Front Door has been cutout; pending mesh panel
Custom window has been cutout; pending c-strip and plexi

Other Features
Watercooled CPU Loop Sleeved Black

Feedback good and bad is always welcome. I have thick skin but I just ask to be respectful!

Some of the build pictures. You will see scratched up paint in some pictures, I ended up repainting the whole case a few times as new ideas would come to my head so I would cut the case up and it would be scraped up so resanding and repaint happened a lot more then I would of liked.
This is what the original interior looked like
PinkPhantomInterior.jpg

This is the whole motheboard flipped and the case opening for the opposite side now. Small HD Bay custom mounted, Blockoff plates and extra grommets added
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The motherboard matches the build pretty well
IMG_20120402_020426.jpg

Just to show you the depth of fabrication for those who are not familiar with phantoms.
Front mesh cutout, custom side panels
pinkphantom.jpg

This was is the case without me clear coating it, I would take this back apart and redo almost eveything including fresh coats of paint from me cutting and sanding on panels of the case.
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Lastly one of the most important parts of the build. Military Tribute Shadowbox also honoring my father. What you don't see is all the grinding I did to the back of the motherboard tray to make this fit along with all the wiring having to be rerouted around the shadowbox. I feel it was well worth the time spent!
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New pictures will be added very shortly, I apologize about the quality.

This video pretty much states the feelings I feel when I built this computer. It's a tribute to all those who have served.
 
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#2 ·
OPERATION FREEDOM INDEX

The Beginning - Unboxing a PINK Phantom!, Custom Green Paint Testing

Fabricated Block off plate for behind Small HD bay and power supply cables,
Also basic panels painted but no clear coat


The Motherboard is here- ASUS Sabertooth P67 with i5 2500k and XSPC Waterblock

Big Update - Flipped ATX, Custom Mounted Small HD Bay, Grommets installed, Chassis Pictures, Also pictures of the Case with No clear coat

Custom Cutout on Bottom for Radiator, Custom cutout for 200mm Fan in front of Case, 360 Bracket (by Kaged) cutout and installed

Finished Pictures of Top Bracket Painted and installed, Finished Pictures of Custom 200mm Front Fan w/ dust grill Installed, XSPC Res/Pump Picture

Top Panel Cleared and Installed, Alternative OEM Window Side Panel, Water loop installed with Sleeving, First Interior Components Pictures

Custom Window Side Panel Mock up, Front Door Custom cutout

Side Panel cutout and in bare metal

AMMO Time - Side Panel on case in bare metal for test fitting, Ammo Concept 1, Front Panel is installed (no mesh yet)

AMMO Pictures, Dummy Ammo made by tdc57 - Still MIA

Side Panel in Black Primer and a small piece of metal I cutout to help mock up for the SSD Mounting

Did someone say Halo? - Took the chance to snap a few pictures with my Nitro Powered HPI Savage XL which has been streched to 1:5 Scale, Mesh is now in the front Door Panel in these pictures

SIDE PANEL DONE, Front is cleared, Side panel has clear coat, U-Molding and Acrylic Glass Installed, Build is starting to look complete

Work on the Unpretty Side of the case Begins, Lettering Stenciled and Shadow Box for my father is revealed

SSD Mount is Fabricated, Fan Grills and Copper Heat Pipes get painted flat black

[/size
]Side Panel about complete, Window is installed with shadow box tribute to my late father, Ram heatsinks color matched to the case

]Build is almost complete, two intel 80gig SSD's installed, Fan grills are color matched to the case

MORE UPDATES ARE COMING VERY SOON,

This build is running in May Mod of the month. If you like my build and you think it's worthy. Please Vote!!!!

Thank you for looking at my build.
-evil jerry
 
#3 ·
Fabrication:

Full flat paintjob in Light woodland Green,
Reverse ATX - flipped motherboard and case opens from the right instead of left
Custom cutout dual window on right side panel
Custom cutout window/shadow box tribute to Armed services and my late father
Front door panel has been cutout with mesh installed
200mm fan custom cut and fitted in front of the case
Back 120mm fan grill has been cutout and a silverstone grill/filter has been installed
Small HD Bay has been relocated on top side of the case behind the 5.25 bays
SSD Custom mounting beside the 5.25 bays
Custom Water cooled CPU
All led's in build will be warm white led's including all fans controls, power switches, and fans(coming soon)

Parts Listing:

Computer Case: NZXT Phantom
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth P67
CPU: Intel i5 2500k Sandybridge
Two Intel 80gb SSD in Raid 0
Seagate 1.5tb Green HD
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 8gb Set
Powersupply: XFX 750 XXX Edition (currently on RMA)
Video Card 1: Gigabyte HD6770 (silent cell passive cooling)
Video Card 2: Gigabyte HD6750 (silent cell passive cooling)

Water Loop:
XSPC RS 360 Radiator
XSPC Rasa 750 Pump and Res
XSPC Rasa CPU Block
Sleeved Green Primo Chill 5/8 hose

I would love to have water cooled video cards in this build but in all honesty I can't afford them. The 6700 Passive series cards should be more then enough for me. The P67 is not the newest motherboard out but I felt it matched the theme of this build. I got a great deal on it as it was a refurbished board.
 
#7 ·
So I decided If I was gonna flip this motherboard I wanted to change it up a little bit and be different.

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I made a plate for cable management. I'm relocating the small HD bay to the top side of the chasis behind the 5.25 bays. So the small hole on the left is where the cables will run with rubber grommets I have.
The hole on the left is for the Powersupply cables, I have a rubber grommet fitted for the hole.
If you have a phantom you look closely and see I've already mocked up and flipped the motherboard in this picture.

All the exterior pieces have been painted. However I will not be clearing many of these pieces yet as I have some things I want to do with the paint job.

This is what the exterior piece look like for now! I will be adding to this paintjob. I have sand colored acrylic paint where I will be putting some lettering and stuff down the side of the case.
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#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by GREG MISO View Post

oh gawd, olive drab that is amazing put a sabertooth board in there and some noctua fans and call it a day and then sell it to me.
Good idea on the Sabertooth, I bought a P67 Sabertooth Board for this build a month ago.
This is different lighting but the green on the sabertooth is very close to the color of the Case

IMG_20120402_020426.jpg


The paint was a special order, It's a flat Woodland Green. It's more vibrant then olive. It is intended to match a Military Ammo Box.
The lettering on one side of the case will be in Sand color and will look like the lettering of an Ammo Box.

I will have a big update late tomorrow night.

Thank you for the compliments.
 
#12 ·
So it took me a little longer then I wanted to get this update.

Now Let me remind you I am not done with the phantoms paintjob. You will notice that the frame of my phantom has a little more sheer to it. The frame has been cleared with a flat clear. While all the other panels do not have a clear on it so they look a little washed out.

The first thing I wanna show you is the motherboard has been flipped and the small hard drive bay has been put on top side of the case behind the 5.25 bays.
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Then the side nobody will ever see.
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And finally some exterior shots. Where you will notice panels are not cleared and the frame has been. I will be clearing the panels as the rest of the paint job is completed.
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#13 ·
So when I decided to flip my motherboard I did not think about how I planned on mounting my 360 Radiator as It will not be able to fit on top of the case anymore with the powersupply in tack and the small HD Tray. So I decided to cutout the bottom of the case for my 360 Radiator.

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I also have purchased an unfinished version of Kaged 360 Radiator Bracket for the top of the case. I can't install the 200mm fans anymore on top with the way everything is. But I can fit two 120mm fans under the top panel of the phantom. For the other 120mm Hole I have a ultra slim 120mm fan. So I will be able to use 3 120mm fans on top of the case.

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Without the hard drive bays in the front of my case anymore I am able to do some creative stuff so I cutout a 200mm Hole for a fan.
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It's not mounted yet but here is an idea
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Please bear in mind I will be stripping down the frame and repainting it completely. The abuse of my powertools are not friends to paint.
 
#14 ·
Currently in the process of stripping the frame back down to bare metal.

I'm pretty much done with the added fabrication.
200mm fan holes are now drilled.

The bottom Radiator holes are drilled. I picked up some Silverstone Mesh Dust filters to help protect the radiator on bottom of the case and to help with dust.

The Kaged 360 Bracket has been cleaned up and all holes are drilled out.

Also picked up more black sleeving and heat shrink. All wires in this case are gonna be sleeved black.

Picked out what color i'm doing with the waterloop. It's not what I expected to do but it's going to be a pleasant surprise when I start putting this build together.

I am shooting to put the frame back in primer tonight if I can finish all my sanding and grinding. So I should be posting some updates.
 
#16 ·
gurrrr photobucket I hit my months bandwidth. I was about to post some pictures of the frame primed up. I gotta find a free Photo Sharing site for my build logs that does not have a bandwidth limit. I don't wanna pay to post photos like what I would have to do if I keep photobucket.

Anyone know any good photo sharing sites.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by evil jerry View Post

gurrrr photobucket I hit my months bandwidth. I was about to post some pictures of the frame primed up. I gotta find a free Photo Sharing site for my build logs that does not have a bandwidth limit. I don't wanna pay to post photos like what I would have to do if I keep photobucket.
Anyone know any good photo sharing sites.
Imgur?
Uploading to OCN?

*cough* Dropbox?
worriedsmiley.gif
 
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#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by evil jerry View Post

Good idea on the Sabertooth, I bought a P67 Sabertooth Board for this build a month ago.
This is different lighting but the green on the sabertooth is very close to the color of the Case
IMG_20120402_020426.jpg

The paint was a special order, It's a flat Woodland Green. It's more vibrant then olive. It is intended to match a Military Ammo Box.
The lettering on one side of the case will be in Sand color and will look like the lettering of an Ammo Box.
I will have a big update late tomorrow night.
Thank you for the compliments.
I've seen a couple people take that plastic cover of the mobo and paint it, saw one with a skeleton. you should paint it the same color as the board or something.
 
#21 ·
Hmm I have not thought about painting the motherboard cover. I had considered painting the Chassis/Frame black but I wanted a little contrast. So I decided to do the motherboard and tray all same as exterior. I don't think I will paint it Light woodland green but I might consider like a sand color.

I looked at that alienskin color you said just now. That color is awesome however i feel it might be too bright for the build. I am sleeving everything in black for now. I have all the tools for sleeving and stuff and some sleeve. I have my XFX 750 powersupply that's going in this build but it will not be back for the first assembly. So I will have an OCZ Fatalty 550 Powersupply going in at first with some presleeved NZXT Extensions. I will eventualy be sleeving my whole XFX powersupply for this build.

Thank you both for the feedback

here is my list I got right now, it will most likely be in this order.

- Wetsand and clear frame
-Wetsand the frame
- Second Assembly, full waterloop, fully operational
- Exterior Paint with Sand Color for lettering
- Screen Printing a NZXT logo onto the case
- Custom Side Window Panel
- Custom Cutout on front door
- Custom LED's for my coolermaster fans (inspired by Soundworks)
- Custom Painted Fans
- Sleeve 750 Powersupply
 
#22 ·
Looking nice! I second the painting the mobo cover idea. Even if its not a full on solid color. Was thinking something along the terms of digital camo would look good, however I know camo can be tricky to get right and looks horrid if done wrong. Dont know what I love more. R-ATX or Desk builds. lol.

Im thinking my dream build will be a desk build though. Just gotta get settled in one place. Being 21 that may take a little while!
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#23 ·
It looks amazing!
sub'd
you better do some awesome sleeving
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by phillyd View Post

It looks amazing!
sub'd
you better do some awesome sleeving
Thanks, sleeving is the only thing that scares me. It's very time consuming and a pain in the butt. I am gonna start with all black presleved extensions but I will be redoing all the sleeve with color when I get my other power supply back. I wanna see the build together and I will decide what colors to incorporate into the sleeving of the build.

I updated the parts list, I will take pictures of parts soon as I plan on starting assembly tonight.
 
#25 ·
Small update.

This is the top panel layout with Kaged Radiator Bracket, which I'm not putting a radiator on.
IMG_20120419_120045.jpg


Got most of the stuff in the computer last night. I still need to install the full water loop.

I will be working on it late tonight but will post pic's as soon as I get it running.

Also picked up a 6770 to crossfire with my 6750. It massive in comparassion and I will have pictures of that installed tonight.

Here is the front plate with fan installed and grill just ignore all the fan wires as i'm gonna be figuring out how to route that tonight.
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#26 ·
looks great! i cant wait to see it finished.
 
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