Hey Everyone!  I'm back with another mini ITX scratch build.  If you recall, I did one for my daughter: a Kai Lan themed case.  Well this one is for my son, and will be a monster truck themed case, built much in the same way, with stacked laser-cut acrylic pieces.  Here are some mockups out of Sketchup:









Moddersmart cut me some acrylic according to my vector files I sent:


I got some real rubber R/C monster truck tires from RC Planet online.  These things are 3 1/4" wide x 6" diameter.


For hardware, I'll be using this Jetway mobo sent to me from Bit-Tech (as a prize replacement for a 220v psu)


To show you how big these tires are, I set one next to the mini ITX motherboard lol:


For power I turned to short-circuit.com once again for a picoPSU/power brick combo:


The Crucial DDR2 800 4Gb memory kit and 64Gb SSD combo worked so awesomely in my daughter's case, I saw no reason to choose otherwise for this build.  :)


And of course, one cannot have a true miniITX build without one of these slot-load, slim-line DVD-ROM drives.


Here I'm placing the parts onto the base to see where things will fit:


...with one edge piece layed on:


...more...


...with the top layers on...


...and the tires in place:


Of course, I will have the body and fender pieces on both sides of the case, since it will be sitting on all 4 tires.
I'm going with a Grave Digger theme because a: my son likes that one the best, and b: it's one truck in which  I can fit the components rather easily, thanks to its shape.

More to come this week as I work on adding some mesh to the outer pieces.

wow fancy seeing this, you definatly seem like you know what your doing and it looks great. i am just starting to get into sketch up, and do some cutting and stuff for my first case construction project ever. I posted a new project build log here
 
http://forums.evga.com/tm.aspx?high=&m=596269&mpage=1#596269
 
do you mind taking a look and giving me your opinions and how maybe a referral or two on where i can get my cutting done when im ready? i think i am ready for my base to be cut. jut not sure what format they want it in and stuff. or who to go to

Thanks YerBuddy!  This is definitely a fun one to do.  I'm liking these SFF builds, although I do miss the larger cases, and will be doing a more challenging mod next.
 
@ I_Know_God:  Most places can accept a vector file to cut from.  I used Adobe Illustrator, but you could use Corel Draw too.  Pretty much any program that can output a .DXF format will work as well, as that is the industry standard.  Contact moddersmart.com when you're ready, and they can help you out. :)

Awesome Mode. Keep up the good work.

WOW... Just WOW...

Ok, got an update for ya.  Found some time this weekend to get some things mounted.  After putting the other mesh on, I was able to work on mounting the SSD and DVD drives.

After some thought, I decided to position the drive along the same plane as the center frame layers.  So I cut out an acrylic piece that would slide in between those layers to support the drive.




Here it is slid into place...


And with the drive mounted on.


Moving on to the DVD drive, it will be mounted on to the base, facing up.  So an L-bracket was made up to attach to the drive...


...and mount to the base.  I'll be adding an acrylic piece to the other side for the drive to slide into, for added support.


You can see the slot lines up nicely with the first spacing.


The motherboard will be situated above the DVD drive, with the IO panel facing downward.  First thing was to make a new IO plate out of black acrylic.  Using the original as a template, I marked the holes.


Drilled pilot holes...


Then used the rotary tool for the straight cuts...


..and finally the dremel to finish them off.


Peeling the paper back to see my progress.  A little more and I can advance to the filing stage.


But first a test fit.  Looking good!


Before I could add the IO plate to the center pieces, I needed to glue them all together.  So starting from the middle piece and using Weld-on #4, I worked my way out on both sides until I got one solid piece.




Now I can cut away the parts I don't need.


Here's the IO plate filed, cut-down, and glued in place.  I just hope the motherboard fits the way it's supposed to now :P

Now thats a mod....

very cool, never fails. always something good and never before seen at evga.

I was wondering about the I/O in the beginning . This mod is amazing :).

very cool... this is the first monster truck case mod I have ever seen.. looks great..

Keep us updated!!

LOL  Your concern is valid, as I was wondering the same thing.  But the wheels are 6" dia. so that will give 3" clearance from the axle to the table.  Add the extra inch or so between the axle hole and the IO panel and I should have ample room for cabling. 
 

seth89

this is hands down the coolest case in the world.

I take it back.
The BSG case in your ModRigs is the coolest case ever.

Got the motherboard mounted last night.  It was kinda tricky in that the mounting holes sit over both the acrylic base and the mesh, and since the dvd drive is underneath it, the motherboard sits at an odd height (17mm) so the usual standoffs, or even a combination thereof, wouldn't work.  So I ended up going with some cut-to-length square acrylic rod. 

I tapped into the two on the acrylic  base and glued them down (removing the paper first).


For the other two on the mesh, I opted to drill a hole all the way through them, use longer screws and just tap into the mesh itself.


Mounted!


The other thing I got done last night was the power input plug.  After gluing the IO panel in, I realized there was a perfect place to put the power plug.  I only wish I realized this BEFORE I glued it in lol.


No matter, it was still just as easy to drill a hole there.   :wink:


Gotta make a small adjustment to the dvd bracket, to make room for the now encroaching mobo post (a slight oversight on my part  :oops: ), then I think I can move onto the axles this weekend.

'Til then!

That looks soooo Coool.
Nice job.

rofl this is awesome, Monster Trucks is one of my hobbies.