Wraith
Bettyswollocks
Hello gents and gentle ladies of OC3D, I bring to you today my build log for the Fractal Modding Competition Project "CJ"..
Now for those of you who have a keen interest in aeronautics and have given the renders a look over will probably have put 2 and 2 together and figured out why it's called "CJ" but for those that don't here's a tiny insight into why. Sit back and relax because here comes a little history lesson
In the early 1960s a company called Lockheed developed an aircraft as a "Black Project" (inspiration right there) by tasking their Skunk Works division to create a long range strategic reconnaissance aircraft, this was named the Lockheed A-12 which was further developed in 1964 to what many now recognise as the iconic Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird", fast forward 10 years and Lockheed started development of yet another very iconic aircraft the F-117 "Nighthawk" which took its maiden flight the very year I was born 1981. These 2 aircraft adorned my walls and ceiling as a child, so the image of them will forever inspire my creativity, what does this have to do with "CJ"? Well the man behind these avionic masterpieces was Lockheed designer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, so using his sleek styling and uniform colours of both these planes, my build log has direction and form and his initials shall be the project name as a mark of respect.
Right, history lesson over onto business.
The hardware.
As generously provided by Fractal:
Case, Fractal Define S (windowed case).
Cooler, Fractal Kelvin S24 AIO liquid cooler.
Cooling, 2x Venturi 120mm Fans (to replace the stock S24 fans).
Internal Hardware.
Motherboard, Asus Z97 Pro-Gamer (Swapped for the Ex WD40 Server board, huge thanks to TTL).
Processor, Intel i7 4790K.
Memory, 8GB Corsair Dominator Platinum.
Graphics, 2x KFA2 GTX950 EXOC.
Storage, Corsair Force LX 256GB SSD, Western Digital 500GB Black Edition.
Power, Fractal Edison 650W semi modular.
Cables, Silverstone 24 pin, 8 pin & 2x 6 pin PCIe satin Black para cord braided extensions (OCUK).
The plan, the main starting point of this build will be to create an angular stealthy interior and exterior by utilising a light weight timber frame wrapped in a thick black fabric to create easy removable panels consisting of PSU cover, back panel, front fan housing and finally a solid angular under lit roof panel. All these panels will be finished in a satin black to match the case exterior colour, the GPUs chosen for this build are now the KFA2 GTX950 EXOC this is where the fun begins as I shall be dismantling the cards and giving them a stealth satin black finish on the shrouds and PCI brackets to match the case, also to add a little contrast to the interior by breaking up the all black theme created so far I will be painting the back plates a dark gunmetal grey this gunmetal theme will also be carried over to the Corsair Dominator heat spreaders and SLI bridge too, to finish off the interior and continuing the Black, Red & Grey theme I shall be going with a set of braided PSU cables to give the interior of the build its finishing touch.
The Exterior will be given some love too with lighting top and bottom, white led lighting strips will be used to create a subtle under glow effect beneath the new top panel which will also be raised up on six 13mm risers to allow for escaping air to flow and the same lighting will further continue along the bottom of the case too.
Now before I start tearing things apart and get to modding I'd like to take a moment to give extended thanks to TinyTomLogan, Fractal and most of all, all you guys of the OC3D community who without, none of this would be possible and I look forward to reading your comments throughout this thread as the log progresses.
Take a look at some of the other entries in the Define S Modding Series including TTLs own take on the Define S. http://www.fractal-design.com/home/definesmodding
Now for those of you who have a keen interest in aeronautics and have given the renders a look over will probably have put 2 and 2 together and figured out why it's called "CJ" but for those that don't here's a tiny insight into why. Sit back and relax because here comes a little history lesson
In the early 1960s a company called Lockheed developed an aircraft as a "Black Project" (inspiration right there) by tasking their Skunk Works division to create a long range strategic reconnaissance aircraft, this was named the Lockheed A-12 which was further developed in 1964 to what many now recognise as the iconic Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird", fast forward 10 years and Lockheed started development of yet another very iconic aircraft the F-117 "Nighthawk" which took its maiden flight the very year I was born 1981. These 2 aircraft adorned my walls and ceiling as a child, so the image of them will forever inspire my creativity, what does this have to do with "CJ"? Well the man behind these avionic masterpieces was Lockheed designer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, so using his sleek styling and uniform colours of both these planes, my build log has direction and form and his initials shall be the project name as a mark of respect.
Right, history lesson over onto business.
The hardware.
As generously provided by Fractal:
Case, Fractal Define S (windowed case).
Cooler, Fractal Kelvin S24 AIO liquid cooler.
Cooling, 2x Venturi 120mm Fans (to replace the stock S24 fans).
Internal Hardware.
Motherboard, Asus Z97 Pro-Gamer (Swapped for the Ex WD40 Server board, huge thanks to TTL).
Processor, Intel i7 4790K.
Memory, 8GB Corsair Dominator Platinum.
Graphics, 2x KFA2 GTX950 EXOC.
Storage, Corsair Force LX 256GB SSD, Western Digital 500GB Black Edition.
Power, Fractal Edison 650W semi modular.
Cables, Silverstone 24 pin, 8 pin & 2x 6 pin PCIe satin Black para cord braided extensions (OCUK).
The plan, the main starting point of this build will be to create an angular stealthy interior and exterior by utilising a light weight timber frame wrapped in a thick black fabric to create easy removable panels consisting of PSU cover, back panel, front fan housing and finally a solid angular under lit roof panel. All these panels will be finished in a satin black to match the case exterior colour, the GPUs chosen for this build are now the KFA2 GTX950 EXOC this is where the fun begins as I shall be dismantling the cards and giving them a stealth satin black finish on the shrouds and PCI brackets to match the case, also to add a little contrast to the interior by breaking up the all black theme created so far I will be painting the back plates a dark gunmetal grey this gunmetal theme will also be carried over to the Corsair Dominator heat spreaders and SLI bridge too, to finish off the interior and continuing the Black, Red & Grey theme I shall be going with a set of braided PSU cables to give the interior of the build its finishing touch.
The Exterior will be given some love too with lighting top and bottom, white led lighting strips will be used to create a subtle under glow effect beneath the new top panel which will also be raised up on six 13mm risers to allow for escaping air to flow and the same lighting will further continue along the bottom of the case too.
Now before I start tearing things apart and get to modding I'd like to take a moment to give extended thanks to TinyTomLogan, Fractal and most of all, all you guys of the OC3D community who without, none of this would be possible and I look forward to reading your comments throughout this thread as the log progresses.
Take a look at some of the other entries in the Define S Modding Series including TTLs own take on the Define S. http://www.fractal-design.com/home/definesmodding
~Much Love - Wraith~
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Mr Kambo the forum legend, very kindly loaned me a spare set of Dominator Platinum top bars while I paint mine, so huge props to him he's a true legend. Not many know this but my rig is very rarely switched off as it's used for work and play and runs constantly for 5 days of the week, so this build is a tiny juggling act :lol: all fun and games but modding is a must and progress must be made.
