Project Candy Cube - Water and Air !!

Colossous · #1 09-11-2007, 03:53

I'm finally starting work on my Mountain Mods Opti 1203, i've had the case for 6 months but i was finishing other things and i've spent hours staring at this damn box planning and visualising what i could do to it ! The final plan is quite minimal compared to some ideas i've had, i want it to look neat and tidy inside as well as showing off the simplicity of the cube shaped exterior. I'm going to attempt to hide as much as possible cabling wise with stealth covers and the use of Aluminium mesh and acrylic whilst having one watercooled loop cooling the Q6600 and 8800 Ultra (on a Thermalright PA120.3) and the chipset on the Asus P5k deluxe air cooled with heatsinks and Thermalright HR05 ifx North and South bridge heatsinks. There will be a total of eight 120mm fans (including two Scythe Kama Bays in the 5.25" bays of the OPti) so i'm hoping for good temps whilst not overloading with tubes and wires !
I'd like to say a big thanks to Tom at Chlled PC who supplied most of the parts and went to the extent of sourcing parts he does'nt normally stock, and to Bry at Hangar 17 for his support !

Fistly, theres a few things i did'nt like about the MM. The side panels are 1mm aluminium with a large acrylic window (i bought the case 2nd hand so these panels were allready with it) i found them a little flimsy so i'm going to make new ones out of acrylic. The powdercoat whilst looking good and is well finished for the cause is not really what i wanted for this project. I thought there was quite a bit of orange Peel effect on the finish so i thought i'd try flatting on one of the spare side panels to see how it would look !

You can see the orange Peel below :-

1000 grit wet and dry :-

Then 2500 grit, you can see the paint is flatting (not yet polished) :-

And with a little elbow grease !

It was at this point that i knew i wanted the case painted. This little piece had taken an hour to do (at my 1st time trying ) and you know how big these cases are so weighing up my total lack of skill in the fine finish painting arena and the ideas i had for the case i went to see the professionals which is where the case has been for two weeks and i'm about to leave to pick it up, i'll be back later with a totally different case and i cant wait to show you guys as i saw it pre laquer and its a bit mad lol !!
I'll leave you with a shot of some of the components to squeeze into the box !

Colossous · #2 09-11-2007, 03:55

Ok, the case is back in my grubby hands and WOW did these guys do a good job !
The case was flatted 1st and the guys applied a thin layer of this crazy rainbow finish sparkly flake (best seen in sunlight !) before applying candy red paint and rolling clingfilm on it whilst the red was wet to give a marbled texture then lots of laquer and flatting !!
I saw an American custom car with candy red paint way back in the day (over gold instead of black as here) and it had to be this finish for me !! The weird thing is it seems to change colour and texture from every angle and with different types of light and it made it hard to photograugh along with that mirror shine !! I'll let the pics speak.........

And with flash (see how it changes !) allthough you'd swear it was without the flash !

And mobo tray out !

And again, a different look in different light !

And so the work begins, more updates soon. Any suggestions then fire away folks !

Colossous · #3 09-11-2007, 03:56

Thats as far as i got on another couple of forums ! Hope you like it so far folks !!

death · #4 09-11-2007, 20:41

loveing the work m8 looking forward to see how it turns out keep up the good work and keep us posted

supershanks · #5 09-11-2007, 20:54

That's brilliant m8.

Looking forward to next instalment

Clunk · #6 09-11-2007, 21:02

I'm liking the colour, smart that mate

Colossous · #7 10-11-2007, 00:10

Cheers folks, i'm working over the weekend but i'll try and get a few things sorted - got a load of sleeving to do ! Hopefully my P5k Deluxe and the last few W/cooling bits will arrive soon so i can get some serious progress underway !

Colossous · #8 14-11-2007, 01:43

Ok folks, have done lots of little jobs while i'm waiting for the last parts to arrive. I've decided to go with the P5k (was a toss up between that or a DFI Blood Iron) and it should be here soon ! Had a mountain of sleeving to do and i've got through about half of it before running out of heatshrink, i've still got eight 120mm fans to sleeve - and some fan extensions !! Here's a few led's for the cause ! :-

Decided to go for a bay res in the cube, the double bay XPSC jobbie should suit the case and the black Feser that will occupy it !! :-

And i went for the Swiftech GTX cpu block but decided that the "aluminium" word was out so this is the solution ! :-

You'll see the finished item in situ soon ! I could mount the EK gpu block too but i want to make sure all these parts work together when the mobo arrives so that will be later (hopefully tomorrow).

Nick L · #9 14-11-2007, 08:46

Colossous, you probably know this if you have read the paper work included but just in case. Be mindful to note the ports orientation to the diamond pins on the base.

Nice choice on the colors.

Colossous · #10 14-11-2007, 13:32

Cheers Nick L, i did read it and was carefull to get it in the right orientation thanks, that was the nerve wracking bit !