After my two previous rather serious and clean looking mods, i decided to try something different.
I wanted to build something that would look old and used....
After a lot of searching and sketching, i came up with a rather common modding idea.
A miltary themed case mod.
i will not try to do something that hasn't been done before,
I'll just try to put some interesting ideas together in a well built, fully functional and interesting looking case.

(i'd like to apologize in advance as my English are not that good,
So if in any point you think i'm not making any sense please just correct me )

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I started the project with my girlfriends old Codegen Server case
It wasn't being used at the time,
it was really cheap so i had nothing to lose,
It also has that Stacker-like 5.25 rack which i think is very convenient for this kind of mods...

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From past experience i knew i wanted to use 120mm fans for the case cooling
so the first thing to do was to cover up the old 80mm holes and open some new and bigger ones!
The only problem was that the front panel did not leave any room for 120mm fans
so i had to assign to 92mm silent fans to the hard cooling task...
The basic airflow idea is represented in the sketch below

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I covered the old fan holes with a piece of metal scrap from the custom side panel of the case
(nothing is wasted!)
And then drilled the new 120mm holes.
A little polyester putty was used to fill up the old grills.
At this point i also drilled the holes for the decorative case screws

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The top panel of the case needed some extra parts to look like a military general purpose case.
so heavy duty handles and industrial grills and accesories were fitted .
Each part was sanded independently and bolted on the panel,
an aluminium stand-off frame for the fan grill was also constructed and fitted
as the the small distance between the fan and that type of grill causes an annoying noise.
Everything is now coated in grey primer and waits patiently its turn for the paint box!

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After all that attention to the top i just couldn't leave the bottom stock...
So a similar type of aluminium fan frame was fitted to the blowhole as well as an aluminium framed filter grill
( it's unbelievable how much dust can a 120mm bottom fan, suck from the the floor!!)

The stock castors were ripped off and replaced by a pair of customized door handles!
I just had to round the edges a little bit and add 20mm of plexiglass to the mounting block to raise the height so that the bottom fun could have some room

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Next in line for my torture bench was the psu (Antec True Control 550 - currently residing in my Big fat greek case mod)
The idea was to lighten up the cover a little bit and to make it more interesting to look than the usual Antec
so two pieces of round hole mesh were fitted in the sides and a 90mm square grill covered the fan hole...
(i know many of you would rather see some leds in there but i'm trying to keep the use of lights as minimal as i can)

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At this point i just have to mention that all the sketches presented here helped a lot to deal with matters such as dimensions and positioning of parts .
It's much easier to try different combinations in your screen with your mouse
than on your case with nuts and bolts!
Besides, in the hours between 14.00 - 17.30 you can't drill, cut or paint so sketching is a good way to keep working on your projects!
(the software is sketchup 3d v4.0)

Hey, looking pretty darn good! Keep up the good work and definately keep us posted.

Rob

One of the most important issues i had to deal with was that i had to fit 6 hard disks, two dvd roms, a floppy, a card reader and a musketeer panel in only 7 5,25 bays...
the good news is that i finally found here in Greece the 3,5'' floppy-card reader combo i was searching
The drives and the musketeer could not shrink or move to another position so the only thing i could really do was to squeeze the 6 hard disks in a ,20cm high, part of the 5,25 bays....
again, sketchup has proven to be a valuable partner as i was able to make detailed plans of what i was about to build without the need of having the actual hard disks to work with....
I used three types of aluminium lengths (about 1 meter of each)
joined together with screws and "Bison metal epoxy glue"
to build two independent sliding brackets on which i would later mount the disks.....
In the front of the structure i placed a piece of 3mm plexiglass with two 92mm fans
to keep those " 'cudas & raptors' as cool as possible...

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The importance of agood side window is well known to you all.
The thing is that i'm starting to get a little bored with the usual square windows i've seen and used so far
so i tried to to make something that would look a little bit functional rather than just decorative...
Inspired by a classic tank hatchet , i came down with this rounded rectangle shaped window.
I first cut a piece of 16mm MDF rectangle, drew the inside line i wanted, cut the curves with the hole-drill and finished it off with a Skill saw and a lot of sanding....
Two coats of sealer and some primer later, i placed the screws and fitted it to the side panel...
I also added two safety hooks to balance the weight of the windowin the surface of the panel

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I have to tell you man, the design, the concept, the sketches, the craftsmenship, and the results are top notch. I am keeping my eye on this one no doubt. Can't wait for more updates. Love it!

As most of the hard mods are almost ready, i've began to think about the painting of the case.
From the begining i had a classic olive drab in mind, with white stencils.
In the meantime i've been getting some ideas about weathering the paintjob to make it like it was really used in WWII !!! (chipped paint, rust, dust and stuff)
-indeed, old plastic modeller's habits die hard.....-

what do you say about it? (really need your comments on that please)
i ve made a photoshoped version of the top panel as it would look in worn, rusty olive drab paint
so that you can have an image impression of what i mean....

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Another thing that needs to be discussed is the positioning of the swithes, leds and rheobus in the front control panel.
I want to use both a rheostat and an on/off switch for every fan
So i bought once more, the all time classic Akasa junior fan controller,
removed the metal housing and replaced the knobs with some aluminium ones from an old amplifier.
i also have about then switches in stock as well as some really nice chrome ring leds
and of course two heavy duty rst & pwr buttons...
The thing is that i'm a little confused as to where to place them in the front panel...
There are a lot of options, i can always add something more or maybe remove something else...
So for those of you want to give me an image of your thoughts, i've made a template with the front panel and the basic set of switches and leds to be placed.( please cut-paste freely...
Needless to say that every other idea concerning the control panel is well accepted and will be taken under serious consideration.... (yes, i've kinda stuck here...)

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I think you should go for the weathered look as that would really set the mood and effect for that mod. As for the placing of the stuff on the front, I would either do it the way you have it, switch the switches and the gauges, or mod the guages to be vertical and place them on the right side and put the nobs over the switches. The only thing about the last one is that it might look crowded, but those are just my ideas. Looking great man.

Amazing, looking great. One idea though, if you were to fill in the haeds of the screws with a dab of glue, bondo, or something it might look like the rivets they used on aircraft of that time and some ammo cases. Just a thought though, hell I cannot even come up with a good idea for my 1st real modded case.

Wow. This project is uber 1337. Did you draw up those diagrams? If so, they're flippin' sweet!

I've given you some reputation points for this project, as I'm really impressed with the details you've given us and how awesome the project looks to be coming along.

I'm very impressed! I'll be keeping up with this thread (or trying to, with my somewhat busy schedule), so keep us all informed with updates and more pictures!

MOD ON!

Quote: Originally Posted by firefox90 I think you should go for the weathered look as that would really set the mood and effect for that mod. As for the placing of the stuff on the front, I would either do it the way you have it, switch the switches and the gauges, or mod the guages to be vertical and place them on the right side and put the nobs over the switches. The only thing about the last one is that it might look crowded, but those are just my ideas. Looking great man.

1 vote for the weathered look so far...
Thanks Firefox

As for the gauges, i already had to open the musketeer and change the gauges backround....
so i've checked to see if i could orientate them vertically and the answer is probably no...
(at least with my knowledge of electronics , as something like that would require disattaching them from the pcb and making a new one...)

Quote: Originally Posted by CuriousGeorge Amazing, looking great. One idea though, if you were to fill in the haeds of the screws with a dab of glue, bondo, or something it might look like the rivets they used on aircraft of that time and some ammo cases. Just a thought though, hell I cannot even come up with a good idea for my 1st real modded case.

That's a nice idea m8....
i think ill try that one...soon ( a little polyester putty will do i guess)
thanks man!

Another idea is to use a thick bead of silicone or Krazy Glue along the edges (corners, whatever) before you paint, for a welded seam look...

One thing about the Mil-Box look (just my $.02)... "Handle With Care???" Somehow I don't think that fits... If you were to beat it into the movers' brains next time you move, that's one thing... But, again, just my $.02...

Looking good, and you should be able to post all that intro info in one post (the EDIT button can be a powerful ally )