Project: Steampunk'd TJ11

[Fuganater]

Time for a good Steampunk mod. And what better case to use than the awesome Silverstone TJ11!






Big shutout to my sponsors!!


Performance-PCs is providing me with the BP mod kits, 240 and 360 rads and the Silverstone slim DVD bay.


EKWB is providing me with a EK-Multioption 250 Res and 90 degree fittings.

Hardware
Mobo: Asus Sabertooth P67
CPU: Intel i5 2500K
GPU: Unknown
RAM: 16GB Corsair Dominator 1333
SSD: Curcial M4 128 GB
PSU: Silverstone Strider 1200W
Fan Controller: Lamptron FC10

Cooling
XSPC EX480
EK-CoolStream 360
Another 360 rad
EK-Multioption 150 or 250
EK-RAM Dominator
EK-MOSFET Sabertooth P67
EK-Supreme LTX
2x XSPC 120mm radiator stand

Misc
Sleeving: MDPC-X
Yellow SMD LED Strips
Yellow LED bulbs
Sophisticated Finishes Rust Effect Kit
Old Vacuum Tubes


Lets start working! The first thing I did was do some testing with LEDs in the Vacuum tubes. Here is what they look like with an Orange LED in them. Orange is not the final color, yellow is but at the time I didn't have the Yellow LEDs in yet.








Next up was to see how the rust effect paint would workout. First lets try some fan grills.

The Paint


The Grills


Primer and Iron paint


Rust Paint













Since that test was successful I thought I should try an actual piece of the case. The dual PSU bracket seemed like a good test subject.


And the result



I am very confident in the results so I started doing more, but that's in the next update. Stay tuned by subscribing so you can see all the updates!

Cheers till then,

Fuga

[Buckeye]

Nice work Fug. I like that case also and what you are doing with it

[El Mano]

Boy this looks promising. True modding

[Fuganater]

Nice work Fug. I like that case also and what you are doing with it

Boy this looks promising. True modding

Cheers!

[Fuganater]

Since testing is over its time to start on the case.



Its actually a good thing I'm modding this case because I got it used for pretty cheap. You would never get a good looking build out of this beatup case unless you paint/modify it. There are several screws missing, HDD bays missing and the front bezel was bent. I was able to fix the front bezel mostly and I ordered lots of new screws.

First thing to do is remove all of the buttons, connectors and cables.


Remove the mobo try and fans. I was going to not use the fans but I decided to make a midplate to hide them and that has cutouts for the fans. There will also be some Bitspower passthrough fittings for the tubing.


5.25" bays gone and mobo tray rails are out.


And here it is in pieces.


The first thing to do before you paint is get a nice coat of primer on the parts.


Next I started painting all the parts with the Iron base coat. This actually has iron particles in it which react with the Rust paint.


All the small bits.


And the large ones.


Next is the Rust paint. Its actually not paint. Its a chemical which looks more like blue water but you get the picture.


Just after 1 coat you can see it starting to work.










2-3 coats




5ish coats




And the first coat on the 5.25" bays


It starts the reaction only after maybe 5 minutes after being applied.



Lastly I'll leave you with some of my grill plans. I have a friend who does my laser cutting and he will do up a sick CAD drawing for me and I'll share it with all of you.

I'm going to install the 50mm fan on the motherboard so I need a grill to make it look nice. Also since I am keeping the internal 180mm fans I have to keep the side panel vents. I want to dress them up some otherwise they just look funny.

His will obviously look better than what I can draw :P


Cheers till next time,

Fuga

[Kessian]

Will be following this build with interest! Keep up the good work mate!

[CrazyNutz]

Super sweet man. What are you going to use to seal that finish? or is it durable enough on its own?

I've used this with really good results:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ec...1#.UDPIuE2PWbQ

[Fuganater]

Will be following this build with interest! Keep up the good work mate!

Thanks!

Super sweet man. What are you going to use to seal that finish? or is it durable enough on its own?

I've used this with really good results:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ec...1#.UDPIuE2PWbQ

I'm probably going to have to put a clear coat on. It rubs off just like real rust dones. Well it is real rust. I'll have to do some testing first though.

[Fuganater]

I'm super siked to announce that Performance-PCs.com is sponsoring me with some gear.





Now for the unexpected results. I needed to put a clear coat on the rust because it would rub off just like real rust. In doing so the color of the rust went from a orange/red/brown to more of a dark brown. I actually like this color because it looks more like leather. Let me know what you guys think.

Mid plate with clear on it and the mobo tray under it.





I liked it so I keep putting clear coat on the rest of the parts. Here is the mobo tray painted and assembled.


Still has a rust look to it.


And compared to the PSU bracket.


So while I was painting the rest of the parts I decided to start modding the "Thermal Armor" of the mobo.



Tape applied


And marked


And here are the final results. Not sure I'm going to keep the skinny piece between the MOS block and the CPU, it isn't perfectly straight and looks in like its in the way of the design. Not sure yet what I will do.









Not sure how I will paint it but here are a few things I figured out recently.

I'm going to paint all the water blocks gold!
I will paint the 2 ribbed parts of the exterior gold.
The front bezel, back side of the case and side panels will have wood grain vinyl applied.
The Thermal Armor will either be rusted, wood grain or covered in leather!
GPU back plates will be the same as the Thermal Armor.


Things I have ordered:
50mm fan for mobo
EX360 rad
EX240 rad
2x BP MCP655 mod kits
Silverstone Slim DVD Drive bay
Acrylic

Things I need to order
BP Dual D5 Pump top
more Turbine Master fans
EK Uni Brackets for RES
250 Res

Questions, Comments and Recommendations are welcome!

Cheers till next time,

Fuga

[Fuganater]

I have been debating on weather or not I would paint the radiators or not for a while now. Here is what the unpainted rad looks like with the fans and painted grills.







I didn't like the look so I decided to give the rad a make over.









I'm glad the letters are still legible.



With the fan grills on. These outside ones are just for looks and to protect the fins.





Fans attached.



Black fan grills on the inside fans. I was debating on painting the fans and inside grills but it would be a waste. By not painting them I can easily replace them and not worry about having to repaint them at a later time.



Got my MDPC-X sleeving in. I have no idea what the combo will be yet but I have lots of time to think about it.



The Yellow LEDs finally came in along with the 47 Ohm resistors for them.



I pulled one out right away and started testing with the vacuum tubes.









I know they still look a little bit orange in the photos but they are a really nice amber yellow in person. They will look great with the other LED strips I have.


Now for a bit of sponsor news. I was talking to Bitspower several months ago and all of a sudden, they stopped replying to me. Well just a few days ago they finally wrote back and we are in talks again for parts. I hope to get all my fittings and the pump top from them.

I also finally got EK to bite. I started talking shop with them. Not sure all what they will be providing but I'm hoping for at least GPU blocks since PPCs took care of my radiators.



What's coming next?

I'm going to finish modding the "thermal armor" on the mobo this weekend. I want to get a nice clean fit.

I ordered a few sheets of aluminium to make a sturdy midplate. (There will probably be acrylic on top of it. I have not decided yet)

I need to do more research into "wood veneer". Someone suggested that instead of using vinyl to give the case a more natural look. After looking at the prices, its not much more than the vinyl so I'm thinking hard about it. Here are 2 that I am looking at.

This one is already finished.
http://www.veneersupplies.com/produc...awn-4-x-8.html

This one requires a finish.
http://wiusa.com/curvwood/Library-Fi...__flat_cut.htm


That's it for today. Hopefully I can get some more done this weekend since its a long weekend but there isn't much left to do on the inside. I need to decide/figure out the veneer situation so I can get the outside done. Oh and I'm waiting for gold paint to arrive. Once I get that I can do the water blocks and some of the case exterior.


Cheers till next time,

Fuga

[bawbaw]

Man this looks cool. Was thinking about a TJ11 before I went full retard on a SMH10, so please make me regret my purchase.

As to the veneer, you ever think about black walnut? You can get some absolutely amazing patterns.

[dreamaxx]

Awesomesauce!!

[Fuganater]

Man this looks cool. Was thinking about a TJ11 before I went full retard on a SMH10, so please make me regret my purchase.

As to the veneer, you ever think about black walnut? You can get some absolutely amazing patterns.

I looked into that but that shop doesn't have any sheets big enough I still don't know 100% what I'm getting. They are expensive and money is a bit tight right now.

Awesomesauce!!

Thanks!

[Fuganater]

Performance-PCs.com will go down as the fastest company to ship sponsor gear ever! I placed my order and got it not even a week later.

Here is the gear!



XSPC EX360 Multi Port and EX240 Multi Port





I like these rads because they have such a high FPI.



6 ports on each rad!



Up next is 2 Bitspower D5/655 mod kits





Installed on the stock pump tops. Temporary setup because I will be using a Bitspower Dual D5/655 pump top in the mod.





Finally the Silverstone Slim ODD and SSD/HDD bay. I really like this because I can fit my Slim ODD and up to 4 SSD/2.5" HDDs in it.








Thats all from them. More modding in the next update.

Cheers till then,

Fuga

[Fuganater]

Now I need your opinion! I got 3 different types of Leather fabric and I'm not sure which one to use. I'm going to post a few pictures of each and I'd like to hear what you have to say!


Option 1:

On the door



Close up



On the mobo






Option 2:

On the door



Close up



On the mobo






Option 3:

On the door



Close up



On the mobo







Please leave your feedback! I really want to know what you guys thing. The leather will cover the door panels, the front bezel and the motherboard's "thermal armor". Hope to hear from you guys!!

Cheers till next time,

Fuga

[CrazyNutz]

This one ^^ for shure

However these things always look different in person so if you having thoughts on it being too busy, or loud then perhaps the lighter brown

[fr0wn3r]

I vote for options 1 or 3, though option 3 has a slight advantage over option 1.

[Fuganater]

This one ^^ for shure

However these things always look different in person so if you having thoughts on it being too busy, or loud then perhaps the lighter brown

I vote for options 1 or 3, though option 3 has a slight advantage over option 1.

Thank for voting guys!! Its pretty much come down to 1 and 3 where where the 2 that I liked to begin with. I'm going to go with option 1 because it is a bit more subtle and it won't take your attention away from the accent parts that I'll be painting. Some people have expressed concern with putting leather on the armor as it would heat up the mobo too much. The Sabertooth P67 is already a hot mobo to begin with and adding another layer of insulation might not be the best idea so I'm painting it to match the interior of the case.

A modding update is coming very soon!

[Fuganater]

I got tons of work done so this update might be a bit big.... sorry but at least it has lots of pictures for you

Up first is the 50mm assist fan for the mobo.



You can see that the cable is quite long. So I need to fix that.



After I got it to the correct length I plugged it in and the wire instantly broke at the connector.



So I did it again thinking I screwed up but it happened again! So the fan is in the trash now and I ordered a new one from Xoxide and hopefully it will be better quality.


I cut and straightened out the part of the thermal armor by the MOS block. Looks good now.





Here is a shot of the RAM. Nice Corsair Dominator!





I wanted to do a test fit so here are all the blocks on the mobo.



Time for some sleeving so I got out my trusty box of MDPC-X sleeving and went to work. This color works best I think to kinda match the rust.







Next I painted the 360 and 240 rad, mounted the grills and fans on them and sleeved the fans. I'm short a few fans and fan grills so the 240 does not have them on it yet.



I also painted the XSPC rad brackets.





I've heard good things about the LutroO sleeving tool so I figured I'd pick one up and try it out. I'll be using it for the PSU sleeving.




Since I decided to paint the thermal armor to match the interior of the case I wanted to remove some of the little indentations on it. So I got out the Bondo and lathered it on.













Next I sanded it down just a little bit because I wanted to keep some of the imperfections.

















I then coated it with primer and the iron paint.



And here it is after a few coats of the rust solution stuff.







Put some clear coat on and put it back on the mobo.















That's all for this update.

Here is what I'm currently waiting for to arrive:
Gold paint
Spray adhesive
50mm Fan
120mm Fan grills
Lamptron FC10

I'm sure there is more but that's all I can think of right now. I'm travelling for the next few days so I probably won't have any work done till next weekend. Hope your enjoying the mod.

Cheers till next time,

Fuga

[Fuganater]

Sorry for the delay in updates. We took a trip to South Africa for some medical appointments last week. Got to do a ton of things down there including visiting a Lion Park!! Was pretty cool to be able to pet some lion cubs.






On with the modding!

I picked up some UN Radiator mounting brackets which are so freaking awesome. They allow you to mount a radiator in your 5.25" bays.



And here it is.





Above it I put the Silverstone Slim DVD drive bay. The rad is touching it because I have to have enough room below the rad to put the pumps.




I decided to install all the rads to see how everything would fit. Here is the 4x120



A surprise will be going in this vacant spot



And the 3x120



Installed the PSU to make sure I had enough clearance for the connectors.



Indeed. There is enough room!




Somehow I forgot to do the rust effect to the back of the mobo tray so that is going on right now. Once its done I can clear coat it and it will be good to go.




I've been doing lots and lots of thinking on how I am going to run the loop. I figured that I need to bring the loop through the midplate twice but I didn't want you to be able to see it the second time. So I measured and drilled a hole above the 4x120 rad and connected it with a Bitspower D-Plug for now. I ordered a 25mm extension to go there.






And here you can see where the pumps will be. I measured and the Bitspower dual D5 pump top should fit under it. If not, I ordered a second EK D5 pump top and ill connect them together using some 90 degree fittings and extensions.





I received my Lamptron FC10 too! I'll be doing a review on it soon.




The last bit for this update are the door panels. I like the 4 small windows in the bottom of the side panels for the rads to get air but I decided to make them into one big window.





Then I added some MNPCTECH Round Modder's Mesh.









That's it for today. I have the spray adhesive coming for gluing the leather fabric to the case and the gold spray paint for the accents and the water blocks. That should all be here Friday so I can do a good bit of work this weekend. I'm also hoping that the pump tops get here by this weekend too so I can do some more testing to figure out exactly what I'm going to do.

Cheers till then,

Fuga

[jimba86]

This looks great!

Keep up the good work!

[fr0wn3r]

Very convincing look of that thermal armor!

[Armstrong57]

Loving the look of this build!

I'm glad that you decided not to cover the motherboard's Thermal Armour in leather, but I'm curious as to whether filling the gaps of it with Bondo is creating the same problem? Won't filling in the holes block airflow throughout the armour and significantly reduce its ability to shed heat?

I'm very interested to see the results!

[Fuganater]

This looks great!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

Very convincing look of that thermal armor!

Thanks!

Loving the look of this build!

I'm glad that you decided not to cover the motherboard's Thermal Armour in leather, but I'm curious as to whether filling the gaps of it with Bondo is creating the same problem? Won't filling in the holes block airflow throughout the armour and significantly reduce its ability to shed heat?

I'm very interested to see the results!

I didn't fill in any holes.


Made myself a little banner.

[Armstrong57]

I didn't fill in any holes.

The thermal armour is completely solid now...
DSC03131.jpg