Aluminum Side Piece:

There is piece that is used to mount the power supply inside the case. I wanted to cut a piece of aluminum that it is thick enough to make it even with the PSU shroud. It will also help to give it a much more polished look once its cleaned up. I used a scrap piece of aluminum because you wont notice a difference after I clean the piece up.

I also inset the bolt heads a little bit which helps to locate the bolts almost exactly where they would be before the plate addition. I will update once I have time to do the finish work on the aluminum. Below I've added pictures of what it looked like before the installation and after so you can easily reference the differences.






Update: PSU Shroud (Test Painting)

I got tired of looking at the un-painted PSU shroud and I really wanted to get an idea of what it would look like painted black. I have some left over from the Dark Matter build so I thought, “why not?” I quickly prepped it with a sanding sponge and then I used Rustoleum 2X. The nice part about this paint is the primer and paint being in one can. It really makes test painting rather painless to do.

After remounting the PSU shroud and the PSU access panel I was really happy with how it looks. Theres a lot more pieces that go together to make up the full PSU shroud but, these are the main ones.

Making Side Panel Templates To Scale:
I translated the CAD design to hard stock for the side panel pieces that will go on the tempered glass panels. Its pretty easy to do as its literally transferring each measurement over. I've decided to use thin steel stock to make all of these pieces. It'll take longer than making it out of acrylic but, I think it'll fit the design better in metal.
To adhere them I will more than likely use heavy duty transfer tape thats used typically for adding acrylic side panels. That way if I ever have to remove them; I can without messing up the tempered glass. I also remembered that there are two holes in the tempered glass which are used to mount it to the case. I will take advantage of these to help hold the back pieces in place. The picture below are of the templates after I used them to cut the pieces. I will update the logos once I make more progress on them.


Update: Side Panel Pieces
I decided to use my air cutter to cut the metal pieces for the side panel. Im trying out a new design technique for these pieces so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. The panels are made up of two solid back pieces and layered top pieces that have 1–4mm spaces between each piece. The varied 1–4mm gaps will look really neat once everything is painted and mounted. Here's the rough cut pieces before filing and sanding.


Update: Rear IO/PCIe Cover (Bottom Pieces)
The bottom two pieces for the rear IO/PCIe cover were made using templates made out of hard stock. I then transferred the templates to metal sheet stock and cut them out using my air cutter. After the general shape was cut out, it was time to use my bench grinder to fine tune the cuts. Once I had that finished I run them through a process of filing and then sanding the edges to make them exact. Then, onward to test painting and mock-ups. As you can see I was able to mockup the 4 pieces I have finished. There will be a few more pieces that I still need to build and mount.




Modder Tip: Bending Metal
They need a 45° angle at a specific point which is pretty easy to do without a bending brake. I run a line along the edge I want to bend and then use a counter top to bend it along. The bend edge will match the edge your bending it against. If your countertop edge is a gradual bend; your metal piece will have a gradual bend. I needed a tight bend so I used the edge on my workbench.
You'll want to clamp the top edge so that it stays flat against the top of the work bench. I usually use a piece of steel with a clamp on each side and then use another flat piece of steel to push against the other edge. This helps assure that you have even pressure along the entire piece you are bending. There are lots of tutorials online that show step by step on how to do this.

 
Status Update: Envious Mods HQ
I just wanted to update you all as I will have more updates on the build log in the next couple days. I have just finished moving into a rental while I build the new Envious Mods HQ. It will have a machine shop, final assembly room, walk in paint booth and a rather large apartment adjacent to it. I have been planning this over the last year or two and it is the next big step for Envious Mods. The machine shop and paint booth building was already on the land purchased. It just needs some TLC, new electrical and some shelves/stands for my heavy equipment. I am currently setting up my daily workspace and reconnecting Internet service.
 
This is a huge commitment for Envious Mods but, with all the growth of Envious Mods over the last yr; I would be stupid to not invest in its future. As many of you know I do almost daily updates and I felt it was only fair to let you know what's going on. In the next couple days I will resume the detailed build log as well as share a few surprises I have in store. Thanks again to all my faithful fellow modders and forum followers.
 

Looks great and looking forward to final pics

rjohnson11
Looks great and looking forward to final pics

Thanks you very much. I should be getting the hardware from EVGA soon and I'll have some updates in the next day or so. Tomorrow I get my new Internet connected so I can get back to updating build logs.

 
Back Side of The Motherboard Tray Design: (Rear Shroud)
 
I wanted to come up with something neat for the back side of the motherboard tray. It really won't be seen much and a good portion of it has a bolt on cover. I still want to include it in the log and I'll more than likely include it in the final pics. My favorite idea is to make a partial grill that is diagonal along the lower right hand corner. I will probably use some aluminum strips I have left over from a previous build. They will need to be cut in half, sanded, filed before the finish work can be done. With the last grill I made from scratch; I found that it looked best if I designed a 3D printable mount for the grill slats. More than likely I will integrate them into the cover like the Sketchup design shows.

Rear Shroud: CAD Design & Template
 
I finalized the design for the back side of the motherboard tray and cable shroud. I moved forward and made a quick Sketchup design of these new pieces in order to better visualize it. Once I had it all laid out in decided to make a template to scale. I made a couple minor changes to the design. The main change was to break the back panel into 2 pieces. This will make installation much easier and it'll also make working on the computer easier. I added a small piece that overlaps where the two panels meet up which is primarily aesthetic. Adding the overlap will give it a more polished look.
 
CAD Design Ideas:

 

 

 
CAD Design Translated Into A Template:

 

 
 

 
Pro Modder Tip: Polishing Stainless Steel
(Periodically I will post, “Pro Modder Tips” throughout the build log. The purpose of these is to share tips & tricks that I have learned along the way.)
 
Polishing stainless steel can be tricky but, if you know the right process it's not so bad. All stainless steel has striations or grain. Usually it's either vertical or horizontal. Make sure you only go with the grain when polishing as it'll make it look a lot better. Start by using a soft paper towel or 100% cotton towel and put dawn dish soap on it. Then put just enough water on the towel to make it damp. Wipe down the stainless, making sure to go with the grain.
 
Once you done the entire surface, take a dry towel and wipe of any water or soap. Use a new towel a put a very small amount of mineral oil or baby oil on it. Wipe down the stainless again and you're in business. The picture shows the reflection after I polished my stainless steel sheet. It's so good that I could see my case from across the shop.

This build continues to amaze.

rjohnson11
This build continues to amaze.

Thanks you lots! I'll have lots of good updates coming soon!

 
PSU Shroud Side Pieces:
 
I started putting together ideas for the side of the PSU shroud. I want to carry over the design cues from the tempered glass side panel. This will help it look like a cohesive design. These pieces will be cut out of sheet metal and layered to give the piece more depth. So far I've put together the basic design and transferred it into a template. I still need to break up the template into multiple pieces so that they can be cut. As you can see in the picture below I used the Sketchup design but, built off of it to give it a better look.
 

 

Front Fan Surround Design:
 
After playing around with different ideas for the front piece that will go around the 3 X 140mm fans I decided to integrate the design of the fan inlets. These are custom designed for Be Quiet's Silent Wings 3 fans that just came out. They have a distinctive shape that helps with airflow and the pattern the air creates on its way into the radiator. I am using the high speed PWM versions of these fans. The high speed version is specifically designed with a higher static pressure rating for top of the line radiators. The main surround will be made out of 15mm thick lexan and I will add a top piece made out of sheet metal. Once the lexan is backlit it will make the fan and edges of the lexan glow. I have the basic surround template finished for the lexan and I will update the logos once the template for the sheet metal is finished.
 

 

Vinyl & Paint Technique Testing: Texture & Embossing
 
I've been wanting to test out some ideas I've been tossing around when it comes to adding texture to paint and vinyl. I started out using spray paint to try and add a texture to a painted surface. I used a sanded piece of thin metal rod and taped it to the front of the spray paint can. I filed the tip of the rod so it would taper to a point and then positioned its just below nozzle height. Once sprayed it changes the natural flow of paint causing a textured effect.
 
The embossed vinyl was made by first designing and cutting a vinyl pattern. Once that pattern was laid down on an acrylic surface I grabbed another sheet of vinyl and laid it over the placed pattern. Using a hair dryer I slowly heated the top layer of vinyl to help it sink into all the nooks and crannies. Using my finger I helped coax some of it into the more detailed sections of the pattern. I've never seen this technique done and it really gives a new aspect to uses for vinyl. Ideas like this is what I thrive to discover and I enjoy being the first to implement it into case modding. That way more people can try these ideas and take them to the next level.
 
Embossed Vinyl Technique:

 
Textured Paint Technique: (With Embossed Vinyl Under)

This continues to look better and better