Project Capella (Lian Li PC-P50R)

[Kibbler]

Wow

Thats great

Less rivets, more screws = great chassis mods

Thanks Greg.

Wowser. That's killer. So, am I right? You just sent the design to the laser guy yesterday and have a panel cut already (don't even tell me you did a mock-up with a dremel or your nibber)? Or are we not real time here - not that it matters, just trying to sort out how it went so quickly.

That truly came out amazing (I know that sounds lame, but just can't think of what else to say).

Oh yea it's real time alright, I mean not real time like Google Wave like I'm working as I'm posting, but as in all this happened in the last 2 days. No taking photos then compressing events. Also no flux capacitor involved.

Monday:
-Ordered aluminum plate from aluminum plate place.
-Sent my design to waterjet guy and spoke a few times.
-Picked up some knick-knacks + soldering goodies. And a Bulgin switch, sweet! One less thing to have to order from PPCs, I have them local.

Tuesday:
-Picked up aluminum plate from aluminum plate place, but I ordered the wrong thickness, 3mm instead of 2mm.
-Spoke to waterjet guy who recommended laser guy. Spoke to laser guy.
-Went home, fixed autocad file a bit and sent it to laser guy. Pulled the Pinnacle side panel (while he shed dust bunny tears) and went to laser guy.
-Sat down with laser guy and went over where to cut, etc. He said it'll take about an hour.
-I left, wandered about, had coffee, caught up on emails, went back. All done, paid, went home.
-Dinner.
-Pics!

Real quick turnaround for sure, and reasonable quotes. If I need any custom work in the future I've got it down to a 2-day process. Day 1: Order aluminum and send designs. Day 2: Collect aluminum, send aluminum, then collect. I guess 1 more day on top of that for anodizing/surfacing. Sweet deal.

*The laser work is really really good. I may go back with the original design (with the text) and see how it comes out. Oh that reminds me I should PM charles about something...

I can't wait to see the mesh and the CF display up there!

Well done.

Thanks Wezly me too! I think you'll really like what I have in mind for the Aquaero and LCD.

oh
my
god

brilliant

I respect your approach, trying to follow it too. If thing you made looks like stock that means you did everything 100% right, keep that up mate

Hey GK believe it or not that's something I've noticed. Without dropping names you're among some of the modders whose work just...feels...structurally sound to me. Deliberate. A wiser person might use the word "execution" to describe this quality of how well things fit together. A certain Canadian modder might give out gold stars to reflect that I dunno.

In the planning stage the thoughts at the back of my mind are:
In 5 years time is this piece going to keep its shape and integrity? Is this base material durable, or soft, or brittle?
Will I be able to switch things out easily? New motherboard? New CPU? How modular is the structure?
Is it easy to maintain? Clean? Can I keep some of the creature-comforts that were part of the original stock case?
Will I want to look at this every day?

Sure that's not practical. In less than 5 years time, hell much less than that, I'll have moved on to project #3 #4 #5. But those are my design priorities that must be balanced out against aesthetics. I'm not one to build 1-offs for modding contests. For one I'll never win at any of those, my skills are just not up there. But at the same time, most do not gel with my design philosophies.

Disclaimer: This is in no way to say which approach is right or wrong, better or worse. Absolutely not. You have DB on one end of the spectrum with sexy extravagant airbrushed monster acrylic cases and callen on the other hand with hard lines, metal, and nuts and bolts, and I respect both GREATLY, and many others in between for their different approaches and design preferences. It would be downright insulting and incredibly arrogant if I were to suggest modder A is better/worse than modder B, or whatever. That's not my intention at all, I don't care for it. My interest is seeing patterns in people's work, seeing things I can identify with, and just as importantly seeing designs that I do not identify with, but can still appreciate for the skill and artistry involved. To me that is a very fascinating topic.

Sorry about the verbal diarrhea. TLDR: unimportant tangent stuff

EDIT: btw your new avatar is cool!

You are right. The faceplate does look stock when reassembled in the front bezel.
Fantastic design mate and looking forward seeing it with the mesh added too.

Thanks Red-5. I'll have some more updates (and test fits) coming up in the next few days, I hope you'll enjoy them.