rjohnson11

Envious Mods

rjohnson11
This build is looking great. Looking forward to the final build pics.

Thank you. Me too. I just got back from CES where I had another build. I will be posting more updates on the IKONiK build soon.

Hope you had a good time at CES. I have to say that there are a lot of great new products being announced this year. 

I had a great time at CES and my APEX build was a huge success there. There's a ton of neat stuff coming out and I can't wait to mod some of it.

Excellent, is this the final pics?

New Sponsors: ModMyMods & Alphacool

I am happy to announce that ModMyMods and Alphacool will be sponsoring all of the water cooling parts needed for the IKONiK build. I've been saving some really neat ideas for this portion of the build and now those ideas will start to become reality. I will update the main page with all of the water cooling parts being used for the build very soon. I know the water cooling portion of the build is something that a lot of you have been waiting patiently for. I will make sure to detail as much as possible along with answering any questions you may have about it.


Cable Tunnel:

I've played around with a lot of different ideas for organizing the wiring behind the motherboard tray but none of them have worked as well as this one. The cable tunnel is something I've done before but on a much smaller scale. I wanted something that looked really clean, was easy to install and allowed for quick access to all the wiring. This hits all those points perfectly. I decided to use sheet metal and I'm glad that I did. I could have used acrylic but, I would have had to sacrifice atleast a few millimeters of space. Most of you know how important a few millimeters can be when your talking about wiring space behind the motherboard tray. Now that I have a way to clean up this side of the case I can move forward with ideas to display it instead of covering it all up.

Recently Be Quiet started offering up the tempered glass side panel as an accessory purchase. This means you can buy the gear needed to give your Dark Base 900 Pro dual tempered glass panels or you can get the tempered glass side panel on a non profit version. I love it when companies offer accessories like this because it gives options to the end user. I haven't decided if I wether I'll use another tempered glass panel or stick with the concept I originally designed. The nice part is that I could switch between the two panels in a matter of minutes if I wanted too.

Building & Installing The Cable Tunnel:








SSD Mount Cover Update:

As many of you know; if I'm not completely satisfied with something I will change it as many times as it takes to get it just right. The SSD cover that goes behind the motherboard tray fell into that group. It didn't fit the design as much as I would like it to so I spent more time developing a better design. I'm extremely happy with the new design. I still have to do the finish work to the metal and paint the Envious Mods logo.

Left Side Mods:

I didn't want to add to much to this side of the case because I want to keep the outside looking sleek and modern. I designed some acrylic pieces that work with the dual vent mounted on the panel. The design uses long straight lines that keep the modern feel intact. I have to order more 1/8" acrylic so that I can cut the templates I made. The templates were made using cars stock. I translated the design onto the card stock so I could estimate how much acrylic is needed and how well everything will fit. The main piece that still need to be finished is the base plate. This will be the piece that will hold all of the slats together. I tool a couple pics of the current progress on this panel as it will take a while to finish.






Headset Stand:

I've been wanting to build a headset stand for a long time now. I decided that doing one for the IKONiK build would be a great opportunity. Due to my fascination with them I have a lot of different sketches of possible designs. I found one that would fit in with the IKONiK build after a few changes were made. The main panels are made from acrylic and I will make my own custom spacers to connect the two main pieced of acrylic together.

Starting out I used hardstock to make a template to scale which allows me to check the scale and angles of everything. Now that both pieces are filed to be an exact copy of each other I can start designing the aesthetic additions. I will be using white acrylic and a sheet of black ABS plastic for most of the add on pieces I will make. I'll update the build log once those pieces are together.

CptSpig
Very Nice!

Thank you very much!!

Very nice. How much more is left to do on this mod?

Update: OCZ Vector 180 (480gb) SSD Mods

I've changed this around quite a bit and I couldn't be happier with the results. I decided to mod a stock looking label on the side of the SSD to match the overall color scheme. I love working with these OCZ SSDS as they are super reliable and come with a classic look. It's one of those things you just know it's built well by holding it. This is the 2nd build I've used them in and they never disappoint. I managed to get it all mocked up and on the back side of the motherboard tray to see what it looks like.






Update: Left Side Panel Mockup

I decided to completely mock up the left side panel with its grill. It's now painted and has its edges almost done. I decided to make all the edges of the acrylic grey to match the build and it also brings together all of the pieces. It also helps to define each slat. The modern design is promoted via the long straight slats the curve back into the side panel. I decided to somewhat stagger where each piece goes back into the panel which gives it that extra added touch I was looking for. I redesigned the shape of these slats a few times but, this came out exactly as I had always imagined it. I am happy I was able to do something neat with this side of the case. A lot of times its forgot about as its not usually even seen. This makes IKONiK interesting from every perspective.

A build that continues to impress

Cutout For Cable Passthrough:

The ATX PSU cable needed a cutout and I wasn't able to get to my machine shop so I did with a drill and hand files. Usually I like to use my air cutter but this has the same end result. I had to make sure that it let the cables in flat so it would look very clean from the back. Finishing this will allow me to put on the left side panel also which will be a good milestone for the build. Once I get the side panel on there will only be a few small details left until the watercooling. The 24-pin will have a slight bend to it once I have it connected to the psu. This will give it a more stylized look.









Pro Modder Tip:

Using an angle gauge for bending specific angles. This method works great for those who prefer freestyle bending or don't have a bending tool. There's a little groove through the middle that work perfectly to align the tubing. It also works great for really complex bends or angles that have to be spot on. It uses a wing nut to loosen the tension and pre-set to the proper angle your looking for.




Alphacool Special Edition White Radiator Mod Design:

I will be doing a few mods to the 420mm UT60 White Alphacool radiator. On the side I will add some custom acrylic and vinyl work that will match the rest of the build. I will also add a custom OCOOL badge. On the inside of the radiator the plan is to build a custom shroud that will give it an original look. More than likely I will make the shroud a two layers design using a combination of white and black acrylic. Below I've posted a picture of what the radiator mods will look like. The colors will be a bit different but the design will stay the same.

Update: Alphacool Water-cooling Enroute

I just got word that the watercooling from Alphacool is enroute to my shop and will be here in the next few days. I am very excited as I will be able to push forward with the rest of the IKONiK build. I am going to be trying out a few new things along with some new designs in order to implement the water cooling. Once the new water-cooling arrives I will snag some pictures and get right to work. I can tell you that IKONiK will be getting dual pumps and an oh so beautiful special edition white radiator that will be customized. I can't wait to get moving on it and a lot of really neat updates will be here very soon.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the watercooling goodness heading this way.

Cool GTX
Cool build - looking forward to seeing your finishing touches and loop details

Thanks and me too. The water cooling will be a lot of fun on this one and I have some neat surprises in store.

rjohnson11
Hopefully soon we'll see pictures of the final finished mod. This mod has been evolving very nicely.

I still have a bit more work to go. I'm stuck waiting for watercooling as it was delayed. It'll all be here on Wednesday so I'll have updates then. Thanks

Dual Alphacool VPP755 Pump Mount:

I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to mount the pumps until I knew their arrangements. Now that I've determined how they will sit I started on making my dual pump mount. There are a few things to consider when making a mount for a pump and even more when making one for two. Vibration is going to happen one way or another. That's one of the reasons I decided to go with an acrylic mount. Aluminum could have also been used in conjunction with rubber dampers. I will use rubber grommets between the mount and the frame.

The mount will have two 90 degree bends on each side so that it wraps up the sides of the pumps. This gives me more mounting locations as well as gives it an added aesthetic appeal. I used a white/milky cast acrylic because I've been very curious on how it will look. If it's not the look I'm going for it can always paint it white. I used my quick and dirty mini bend table I made for when I'm at my small temporary shop. This allows me to make bends in smaller acrylics and metal without having to drive a mile away to the machine shop. It works really well and only tool about 10 minutes to make. The spacing and bends came out perfectly. All I have left to do is drill a few more holes to give it some added rigidity.






Removing a Lower Fan Grill:

When I build in this case I always remove one of the lower fan grills. Doing so gives me a lot of room to run wiring as well as put extra bits of wiring. This helps organize the PSU area and gives it a much cleaner look. You can either cut it out or use a pair of dikes. I used a pair of dikes and then a metal file to smooth the edges. Now that it's out I will add an edge cover and clean all the metal out of the bottom of the case before putting the PSU back in.

rjohnson11
This build continues to evolve in a very good way

Thank you!! 😆

Thank you. Me too. I'm going to be making an awesome acrylic mono block that connects them also.