"Hikeeba!"If that statement means something to you or perhaps you have a sense of déjà vu, you may be a MSTie or perhaps have MSTie-like tendencies. See, I'm a MSTie too. And a hardcore one at that. So hardcore that when my most favorite TV show of all-time was canceled (for good), I actually cried. I'm not joking. Yeah....laugh it up, wise-ass! Anyways, that is how psychotic about the show I was.
*stands up and hangs head in shame*
"My name is Jeremy, and I am a MSTie."
*muttering hello in loose unison*
I've built bots too. Sad, huh? I would be considered an ultimate dork when it comes to that. I've watched every episode of the show repeatedly over the years, and when I'm down or depressed about whatever, I know I can rely on Joel/Mike and the bots to cheer me up. They got me through some very dark years in my life.
I'm tackling a theme I've been wanting to do for years that's never been done properly before in a case-mod that I've ever seen. Perhaps someone's tried, but nothing posted anywhere that I can find that's worth a squirt. So, I present to you for your possible acceptance...a mod project dedicated to the greatest cowtown-puppet show that ever graced the boob-tube: Mystery Science Theater 3000!
I'm building this for my younger brother, who doesn't know about it. Mostly because he's deep in concentration (hopefully) at a university working on his last year there. He doesn't have a computer either. At least, one that's worth a
. I think he's still on a skt. 478 celery. :hehe: That sucks, doesn't it? I'm trying to fix that problem. I don't have any hardware or anything, so I'm just concentrating on the case itself. That's probably going to be it too, so who knows! Maybe a tech-giant who is combing through these logs will see this and will offer something up!
Maybe not. :hehe: I'm not sweatin' a thing, other than my own ass off to get this case modded and sweetened up.
So let's get started, shall we?
Have a seat in the theater! Grab some popping corn. Wrestle with your over-packaged candies so you annoy and irritate all the other movie-goers with the rustling sound of cellophane right at the moment when it's really really quiet. :hehe: Don't you hate that? Me too! It makes me want to lick a gummy-bear and toss it at the culprit. Nah...not anymore. Those days are over in fear of being thrown out. Now, I just slash your tires! Oh, wait-- ...nevermind.
"Join us, won't you?"The chassis that I'm going to be tearing down and rebuilding is a long-extinct AMS CF-1006. I've used this chassis many times before. I had a small cache of them too when I bought a few for closeout prices, along with it's bigger brother, the CF-1009 (which I also have one left). I'm down to my last CF-1006. So I figured I'd do something as a 'swan-song' of sorts with it. Some of you that know my past work know I tend to spend some time on things to make it right. It's not a race, and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon! I'm going for something fun this time. Something that will bring a smile to my brother's face and perhaps some of you as well. Me? Well, I'm never happy with any of my mods, which is why I continue to pursue that 'perfect mod', which ironically doesn't exist.
I'm sort of taking the "Bill Owen" method here and attacking the case impromptu without much planning. Although I do have a plan, sorta. So I guess it's not like Bill. Nevermind.
I have a basic outline of what I'm doing, but I keep changing my mind on stuff. So I guess we'll see where things go, alright! Stop pestering me! :hehe:
Here's an early concept design on where I'm going with it...
Now, here's the actual case.
I've used this particular case as a test-bed in the past; checking measurements on things, etc. It's been used as a test-pig for a couple projects I can recall directly, like my
Biohazard project for instance.
First step, anyways, is to replace that crappy stock acrylic/aluminum front plate. Yuck!
I decided finally that the background piece was going to be aluminum first, because it's nice and sturdy and strong like a good little boy that eats his veggies!
Here's a concept drawing of it...
I decided at the last moment I'd ditch the embedded rheobus and replace it with a couple rocker switches for lighting control instead. I have a bad habit of thinking like the old-school watercooler that I am, so I'm always adding fan control stuff where it's just not needed. This will most-likely be an aircooled rig, and considering the sheer size and capability of the fans being utilized, I just won't need fan control. The mobo's capabilities are just fine for this.
Alright, on to the actual piece!
Just prior to heading up north for a small hiatus/get-together with mod-god Bill Owen, I finished the design work on the plate so I'll have the files ready. While up with Bill, we went by the machinist's place to take care of the plate real quick. We had some other things to talk about with the machinist anyways, but nothing I have the authorization to speak about yet.
Raw material on the bed...
And a few mins. later, there she is!
Man, look at all that 120mm fan punch-out scrap! :hehe: A lot of MNPCTech billet grills resulted from that stuff.
Anyways, here's the finished bezel.
What I wasn't prepared for was how close my measurements were in my design. Sometimes I scare even myself! :hehe:
Now, let's see how a 200mm fan will work there... heh heh heh.
Now for some fun stuff!
The stock case unfortunately came with a window in it. Normally I'd prefer to make my own. Well, I decided I'd try to turn that frown upside down and roll with the punches.
Let's see what kind of clearance on the backside of the panel I have... Wow, that's close! But perfectly fine. Actually, I set the file up to make sure it fit right in the nook inside those rounded-metal guides.
And a little test-install here. Threaded some 8-32 screws with some nuts on the backside to see how the panel looks.
That's what I like to see! Measurements all spot-on.
And finally, let's stick it back on the case and see how it roughly looks... Yes! And it's good!
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Until the next update, I got nuthin'.
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