Project: Arctic Cat

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15 Dec 2010 09:44 - 15 Dec 2010 09:47 #12861 by SXRguyinMA
Original thread can be found here:
www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?p=311975

Alright I figured since the case showed up it was about time to start this thread!

First off, the sponsors who have donated or will be donating components for this project! A HUGE thanks goes out to each one!
NZXT supplied the white Phantom and white 24p and 8p cable extensions!

Crucial is supplying a 4GB set of Ballistix Tracer (green of course) DDR3-1333 memory!

John from PCBoard.ca is supplying the lighting elements!

Thermaltake is hooking me up with a power supply!


And Rick Maines (SgtM from TBCS ) is teaming up with painting legend Rick Primeau of Primo Customs for the paintwork on this beauty!

Now I've been wanting to build an Arctic Cat themed case for a while. I work at an Arctic Cat dealership and already have approval to display a machine at the store once I'm done. Things slowly started falling together for this build.

I got to thinking, "What would I do with another computer?" I've got plenty to use right now, and frankly don't have anywhere to put another rig. I got to talking with my wife, and the idea hit us.

Her best friend's mom died from Huntington's Disease a while back. This disease is horrible, and very little is still known about it. Why does it happen? Who does it happen to? How can it be treated or possibly cured?

I decided that rather than build a sweet rig to display for a bit then get stuffed in my basement somewhere that I'd do something good with it. I plan to either auction or raffle this rig off. I still haven't settled the details as to when where or how yet, but it will happen. I plan to display this at my shop for a while, and also get the local snowmobile clubs to run a small ad about the auction or raffle. I'm hoping I can raise some money and also awareness of this disease. All the proceeds will go straight to the HDSA .

Now on to the ideas!

These first SketchUp models were from when I first had the idea for this project. The final Photoshops I did after I found out NZXT was hooking me up with the Phantom :D

The inside will remain white, while the outside and other details will be painted Arctic Metallic Green (or a shade close to it).


Arctic Cat MudPro 700 in Arctic Metallic Green


















I plan to cut a window into the side panel. The clear acrylic will be etched and edge-lit with green LEDs. I've got a neat idea for a cool internal lighting accessory as well.

System specs are as follows: Stay tuned for updates!
Last edit: 15 Dec 2010 09:47 by SXRguyinMA.

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15 Dec 2010 09:49 #12862 by garfi3ld
Replied by garfi3ld on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat
looking forward too it, your already starting with a kick ass case

Wes

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15 Dec 2010 09:52 #12863 by SXRguyinMA
Replied by SXRguyinMA on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat
Thanks! I got the case in today, man this thing is huge!

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15 Dec 2010 09:54 #12864 by garfi3ld
Replied by garfi3ld on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat
big and bright green, should catch some attention. Hopefully it raises a lot of money in the end too

Wes

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15 Dec 2010 09:57 #12866 by SXRguyinMA
Replied by SXRguyinMA on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat
I'm hoping so!

Also, is there a way to get hyperlinks to show up? I've got a few embedded in the text but they're not visible

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15 Dec 2010 10:05 #12870 by L0rdG1gabyt3
The green looks pretty wicked on the Phantom! Good luck with the mod!

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15 Dec 2010 10:14 #12871 by garfi3ld
Replied by garfi3ld on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat

SXRguyinMA wrote: I'm hoping so!

Also, is there a way to get hyperlinks to show up? I've got a few embedded in the text but they're not visible


make them bold for now, I will look into fixing the issue

Wes

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20 Dec 2010 19:41 - 20 Dec 2010 19:58 #12959 by SXRguyinMA
Replied by SXRguyinMA on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat
Update time!

Got the motherboard and processor from Trace over @ TBCS! I'm EXTREMELY happy that the RAM placeholders DO NOT have the LEDs in them that they did in the review. :D

just for reference, these are the LED dummy sticks I'm glad don't actually have the LEDs :D


ixbtlabs.com/articles3/mainboard/msi-x48c-platinum-i48x.html

the spots are all there for them, but they're just bare solder pads with no actual LEDs (thankfully lol)

And just for giggles and to show the size of this beast, here it is next to Rockin Case. Keep in mind that Rockin Case is a 1:1 scale of a real acoustic guitar and it's sitting on a real guitar stand.
I started by removing the side panel fans and mesh vents.
Then I removed the mesh vent from the other side panel.
Then I removed this spare HDD rack that isn’t going to be needed. 10 small screws later and it’s off.
I also removed the rear 120mm fan and top 200mm fan and the LED power button for the top fan. The 200mm fan has 8 3mm blue LEDs in it. These will be swapped out with 8 3mm green LEDs :D I plan to wire all the LEDs in the case to that rear power button, so they can all be turned on or off as needed/wanted.
There are 2 of these spring-loaded side panel latches. I was going to remove them, but the rear panel will stay white so I’ll leave them in.
This is a shot of how the cables from the top panel units come routed from NZXT. Everything is very neat and tidy and held with zip ties.
This is the de-meshed side panel back on the case. This will give an idea of the windowed cutout.
Next I disassembled the front door for paint. There were these 4 screws holding the door panels together, 2 more holding the top black trim piece and 6 more holding the bottom trim/vent piece.
I had this 140mm Antec fan laying around that I’m going to mount here in the front opening. It doesn’t have LEDs but it does have holes already to install 4 5mm LEDs. Green will be installed of course.
Here we have the 2 top panel units unscrewed and the wires pulled through.
And the case ready for paint!
And the large box of parts that were removed. Most of these will be reinstalled.
Next I moved onto the cutting. I decided to cut out along the fan mount flange that was already in the side panel, rather than go more like my original Photoshop design. Going lower will only show the PSU, and going farther forward will only show the dive bays. Plus keeping this shape helps preserve the sleek lines of the case.
And 10 minutes and 2 reinforced cutting discs later and it’s cut out.
Now the cuts were fairly rough. So I measured from a few select points and marked lines with a pen. I will grind and file to these lines to ensure nice straight cuts.
I got two of thefour4 sides finalized last night. I should hopefully be able to get the last two done today.
And a final shot with the panel reinstalled on the case. This should look real nice :D
Hopefully today I can get the rest finished, then it will be ready to send off for paint!
Last edit: 20 Dec 2010 19:58 by SXRguyinMA.

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25 Dec 2010 01:26 - 25 Dec 2010 01:27 #13045 by SXRguyinMA
Replied by SXRguyinMA on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat
Update!

I got the last of the sanding and filing done on the side panel!
And I came home from work this afternoon to find a rather large box sitting on my steps with a Thermaltake logo on it. What could be in there? :D

A HUGE thanks goes out to Thermaltake for sending over one of their TR2 RX 1000W PSU's!

Merry Christmas everyone!
Last edit: 25 Dec 2010 01:27 by SXRguyinMA.

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30 Dec 2010 06:10 - 30 Dec 2010 06:12 #13104 by SXRguyinMA
Replied by SXRguyinMA on topic Re: Project: Arctic Cat
Update time :D

I got this candy mold from eBay for $2


I had some of this casting resin leftover from a different project


I mixed 1oz of resin and 1oz of hardener, and it was enough to fill all 8 cavities. I only needed 2, but I did all 8 in case I screwed one or two up during the removal process.






Two days later I removed them from the mold. It's a good thing I made all 8, as they were tough to remove and I only ended up with 4 usable pieces. Yes, even that broken one will do, you'll see why in a sec. These just need another day or two to harden, then I'll do the final trimming and filing and painting.










Next I had a pair of these green NGK spark plug boots. But they'll be of no use to me in the state that they're in. So off to the band saw!






Now this is why that broken one doesn't matter. These will sit at the back of the case (see the SketchUp models in the first post). I'll mill out the center of the plugs, and 3mm blue LEDs will be installed. The wiring will be run up the plug and cap and out the wire end of the caps, and over to my LED blinky kit from John at PCBoard.ca .





Now the LED blinky kit blinks much too slow for these to look like real plugs firing, so I did some swapping of capacitors and resistors until I got the blink rate just right.






Video if the standard configuration:


Updated configuration:


And soldered together:


It's kinda hard to tell because of the frame rate of the camera, but it looks sweet.

Next I disassembled the Cooler Master V6GT that I got from CJ. The LED effects that come with it are red, blue, purple, or off. This won't do now will it?


So I took out the control board and hot-glued in a 5mm green LED


Much better :D


I'm also going to add 4 5mm green LEDs to the front side fan on the cooler. I'm currently waiting on a shipment of 5mm and 3mm green LEDs :D

That's all for now!
Last edit: 30 Dec 2010 06:12 by SXRguyinMA.

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