rjohnson11
So how much is left to do on this mod?

Quite a bit. I still have all of the custom watercooling, PSU cutout window, a ton of materials I've rough cut but, still need to file and sand. I'm also modding all the hardware in one way or another. Custom paint and a long list of other stuff I'll reveal down the road.I would say I'm about 65% of the way done. A good portion hasn't been seen yet.

EVGA DDR4 Mods:

I don't have all of the mods figured out for the EVGA Superclocked DDR4 but, I do know that I'll take all the labels and stickers off. They will be replaced with one's that I will design specifically for this build. Small details like this really work to bring the build together. I can't say this enough; the small details that 1 out of 10 people will even notice, makes all the difference.

The design for the new decals is being done right now and I'll update once finished. More than likely I will keep the heat-spreaders with a stock, black base and do some additional.custom paint work. I want to try and mix flat black with a high gloss black for accent or use a black that is a couple shades lighter.




Update: Rear Cable Shroud

Previously I showed the design and templates for the rear cable shrouds. Recently I went to the machine shop so that I could cut out these templates in stainless steel sheets. Stainless is typically pretty expensive and I was able to snag these from another shop at a discount because they had some superficial scratches and staining. I am going to completely refinish these panels anyway so the shape doesn't effect my process.

I will also coat all of the stainless in a heavy duty clear coat once finished. This will help to protect the finish and give it a little more of a shine. I show some of the before and after some simple refinishing. I did this to see how easily the stains and scratches would come out. Almost all of them came out after the Simple refinish; so they'll look perfect once I do the full job.




2 Weeks In The Woods:

Modding is more than a job or hobby for me and I put in 6-7 days a week with no time off unless I'm very, very sick. One time a year I take 2 weeks to go off in the woods and recharge my batteries. I take a few electronic devices so that I can do some design work after being inspired by nature. The majority of the time I don't get cell or Internet coverage; unless I climb a mountain. I might post a few design screenshots while I'm in the forest.

When I get back a lot of progress will be made rather quickly. I've rough cut a lot of the parts for the case so that I can sand and mock them up once I get back. The updates will be epic and I'll also give an update on the scratch built reservoir that some of you have been waiting for.


A Day of Cutting Materials:

I decided to wait until I have a decent amount to cut before I go to the machine shop to do any major cutting. Right now the machine shop and paint booth is about 2 miles away. Once the new Envious Mods HQ is finished it'll be on the same property. I have a bench grinder at my small shop so I could work on cleaning up the rough cuts. This will make it all come together quickly now that most of the tools and machines are setup. Below is added a pic of some of the pieces that were cut but, I'll save the rest until the next update.

Back From My Trip To Nowhere:

As many of you know I take two weeks off in the begging of October to recharge my modding batteries. My trip starts by wondering into the forest for a couple days to make sure I'm out of range for cellphones and people. I spend a lot of this time playing with designs and modding related ideas I've had over the past year. Nature tends to inspire me a lot; even though my natural building style is quite mechanical. I look for the hidden mechanics found in nature and adapt those into usable creations for my builds.

I focused a good deal of that time on the IKONiK build and I've come up with some really neat concepts that I'll be exploring throughout the 2nd half of this build.  It's good to be back and I'm excited to get started modding again. I ran across an old skidder when I was in the forest and it was a great opportunity to study aged paint and rust growth for paint jobs on future projects. These are great for painting battle hardend cases.



Below I'll go through some of the updates I've determined while away. The rest of the updates will follow over the next week.


Side Panel Ideas & Design:

During my two weeks off I came up with a few ideas for the side panel that has the dual fan mount on it. I wanted something that is classy and gives you that IKONiK feel while still throwing in a bit of my own personal styling. Originally I had planned on back lighting the area around the pop out for the two fans and I think this will work perfectly with the designs I came up with. I put together a Sketchup design of what it will look like which helps me decide if I should move forward or re-design.

Since the design for the side panel looks great in Sketchup, I will move forward with it. Now I'll take the dimensions and make templates that are full scale. Once the full scale templates are mocked up I can start cutting acrylic.








New Sponsor: OCZ "A Toshiba Company"

OCZ will be joining the IKONiK build. They'll be sending memory storage including their new RD400 NVM Express M.2 SSD. These bad boys are known to out perform SATA SSDs by over 4.5 times in sequential read and over 3 times in sequential write speeds. The adaptor is pretty sweet for those who want to wait to do a motherboard upgrade.

I'm very happy to have OCZ join in on another Envious Mods build. They have been a great company to work with and their gear surprises me everything I use a new piece. I will also be using a larger SATA SSD as a main storage center. More than likely it'll be mounted on the rear SSD mount. The RD400 will be used to run OS, system files and a couple other things.

Welcome Back!
 
New side panel ideas look really cool and Congrats on the new sponsor!
 
_Eddie

EVGATech_EddieH
Welcome Back!
 
New side panel ideas look really cool and Congrats on the new sponsor!
_Eddie

Thanks Eddie. It's really good to be back and start up work on the IKONiK build again. I'm excited to see the new RD400 PCIE SSD. Soon I'll start modding the EVGA hardware to give it that IKONiK look.

Envious Mods

EVGATech_EddieH
Welcome Back!
 
New side panel ideas look really cool and Congrats on the new sponsor!
_Eddie

Thanks Eddie. It's really good to be back and start up work on the IKONiK build again. I'm excited to see the new RD400 PCIE SSD. Soon I'll start modding the EVGA hardware to give it that IKONiK look.

Excellent!

Making a Bevel In Metal: PSU Shroud Pieces

I also want to try making the piece so that the bevel is a different color than the rest of the piece. First off I'll try to paint the entire piece and file off the edges.

Since I don't have a working CNC; I have to make the bevels by hand. This can be very tricky to make sure you have the same angle throughout as well as the same depth. I started this process by using my bench grinding wheel. Doing this first gives me the same angle throughout all of the edges. Then I mark the depth on the outer edges of each piece. The hardest part is the hand filing. I use a very large metal file. Do to the small size of the pieces I run the pieces against the file instead of the other way around. Hand filing is very time consuming and a lot of it comes down to experience. Knowing how to read the metal and applying pressure in specific spots.






Triple Lexan Fan Surround: Final Trimming

I had already rough cut the lexan piece that goes around the front 3 fans. Typically it would be filed and sanded from here but, I want this piece to perfectly match the shape of the Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 fans. They have a very distinctive shape that I really like. To make sure these are perfect I remounted the lexan panel and drew the exact shapes needed. Most of them only needed a small amount taken off but, to get the look I want they have to be exact.





Pro Modder Tip: Sanding Difficult Areas & Shapes

This is one of the earliest tricks I can remember as a child. As far back as i can remember, I loved spending time in both my grandfathers shops. At that age I didn't understand the genious behind all the hand made tools found throughout their shops. The first trick/hand made tool that really made an impression on me was the sanding blocks made from random materials.

Whenever he would need to sand in a place that a typical sanding block couldn't get into he would quickly make a sanding block out of anything the was the correct shape. If he needed a small round one, he would use a large marker and wrap the sandpaper around this. If he ever needed a specific shaped one that he was using for a larger project he would shape one out of a piece of wood. It's a pretty neat and simple trick but, it's come in very handy for sanding the lexan triple fan surround on the IKONiK build.

I'm continuing to watch this mod. 

rjohnson11
I'm continuing to watch this mod. 

Thank you. That's great to hear rjohnspn11!

Update: OCZ SSD Cover EM (Envious Mods) Logo

I managed to finish the majority of the work on this EM logo. It was especially challenging because it is pretty small and hand cut out of super thin acrylic. Originally I had planned on waiting until me new bandsaw was setup but, I got too excited and cut it out using my trusty scroll saw. It took a while to file and sand it as well. It's almost completely done and ready for paint but, I might try out some new vinyl I special ordered that should be here any day now.





Update: OCZ RD400 NVM SSD Plate:

I've yet to see a modded RD400 SSD and I jumped at the chance to mod one. I wanted to show off the actual drive while making a custom cover for the rest of the SSD. Looking at the box the RD400 came in; I became inspired by the neat design on the front. I threw the box on my photocopier and made a template based off of it. I added that template to the covers template to see what it look liked and I was excited with the results.

There will be two pieces that will makeup the partial cover. The main piece surrounds the drive and will be what the designed piece is adhered to once painted. I cut the main plate and I made sure to take lots of pictures so you can get an idea of the process I typically take. I managed to rough cut the 1st two layers and I'm prepping to cut the 3rd layer which is even thinner than the other 2 layers.

Process of making the SSD panels:






Back Lighting EVGA Motherboard:

I've wanted to back light a motherboard for a couple years now. The main concerns I have are: It doesn't interfere with the PCB, low temperature, the LEDs are soft instead of bright. I decided the best route to go was with waterproof LEDs because they are coated with polyurethane. This assures that it doesn't mess with the PCB or cause shorts. I've also slightly lowered the input voltage which makes them run cooler and helps insure that they are not to bright.

I haven't decided how many strips to run. I'll have to do some further testing to see if one strip in the middle will work or will I need to run 3 strips; 1 across each edge. The reason for my hesitation on running 3 strips is the wiring involved. It's a lot to tuck behind a motherboard. Reguardless of the amount of work needed I'll always go with the best performance or look reguardless of the work involved.