Mass Effect

[Nightglow]

MASS EFFECT

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I'm in love with Mass Effect. There, I said it.

I've been a fan of the series since it's induction, spent hundreds of hours enjoying Bioware's opus. March 6th, it all ends when EA and Bioware release Mass Effect 3.

So I figured, why not do a case mod in honor of the series and the game itself?

I wanted to incorperate a few different elements and themes from the game, notably Shepard's allegiances throughout the series.

The side window is the Spectres insignia from Mass Effect 1. The right panel will be painted with the Cerberus logo from Mass Effect 2. If I can manage it, the strips of mesh along the front and top bezel will be replaced by white acrylic, which will then be backlit. I'm not entirely sure logistically how I'm going to manage that yet, but I'll figure something out. The front N7 will be backlit as well. Something I did not model but will be present on the front is the inclusion of a large mesh section above and below the N7 insignia. With the removal of the side mesh I did not feel as though there would be enough air flow to the front fans. The top features the signiature red and white "3". Those of you who own or have worked with these cases before know that though the top bezel houses some USB ports and the power button, there's a section about 8-10 cm square with absolutely nothing going on - it's totally blank, nothing under it at all. I intend to make that a lighted power button. Not sure on the logistics yet, but we'll see how it goes.

The downnside is painting. The bezels are coated with a rubberized texture over plastic, which means that in order to paint the case properly (and so the primer coat can actually stick) I will have to sand away that beautiful surface treatment all the way down to the bare plastic. Once done, the case should paint nicely.

Work so far is going slower than I would like, and better than I expected. Alot of work is being done by nothing more than the Dremel I got for Christmas this year. If I could do the side window over again I'd have gotten a proper jigsaw to cut it out with. I'm mostly happy with it, though a couple of the holes need a little more shaping before I quit thinking it looks like rubbish.

More on the front bezel soon, as soon as I have all the proper holes cut.

 

[sheroo]

Lookin' good.

I love watching these projects coming together.

 

[Lollipop]

I'm a HUUUUUGE fan of the ME series, so i look forward to this!

 

[alicarve]

very nice so far

 

[SieB]

I like this idea, i'm also a fan of Mass Effect so it will be good to see how this turns out.

 

[parshnip]

Damn nice mod. I also love Mass Effect but I've never done any case mods. How'd you do it?

 

[Nightglow]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! @Parshnip: The windows were cut with a dremel using a re-enforced cutoff wheel. As the wheel wears down, it can be used for smaller and more intricate cuts. Downside is that the cutoff wheels don't do curves very well. As stated above, I would highly recommend a jigsaw for this kind of work. Barring that, Dremel also makes a tungsten carbide bit designed for hardened steel that should work very well at high speed. The other pictures were modeled and rendered in Lightwave 3d.

Update time!

So Dremel tools and plastic are not friends. It's either too inaccurate or too fast; a wheel just melts the plastic, a cutting burr makes jagged cuts.

I had the idea then to pick up a coping saw. Getting the cut started was a chore because every piece began by threading the blade into a hole, but once things got started it was the perfect tool for the job.

While I was filing down the cuts, however, I had a small setback: the inside of that number seven snapped clean off.

I figure a little plastic modelling epoxy should do the trick. It's going to have a piece of acrylic behind it anyhow, so it will be stable once that's taken care of.

Next step: Top bezel. Since I'll be replacing the power button, I went ahead and removed the PCB and buttons. The PCB is screwed down, but the LEDs and buttons are secured with hot glue. An hobby knife takes care of this pretty quickly. Just be careful not do damage the actual plastic.

I measured out a 3 inch square, and drilled holes at the corners - 1/4" bit inset 1/8". The coping saw took care of the rest.

That's all for today. Next on the list is ordering mesh and acrylic, filling scratches and holes, and sanding down the bezels to plastic. I've armed myself with sandpaper from 80 grit down to 400 in preparation. More on that later.

 

[skullen]

Looking good Nightglow

 

[Solidarity]

This looks like it's going to end well

 

[SieB]

Nice, keep the updates coming

 

[Nightglow]

I finally got some time to do more work on the case!

Modder's mesh arrived today from MNPCTECH. (Props to them for the short delivery time!)

So I got to work prepping the front bezel for the mesh by stripping the softouch off the case parts containing it.

For those wanting to paint their Bitfenix cases with this treatment on it, it can be done, but it will not be a short process. I eventually dug out my dremel with a sanding drum and did it that way. Just remember that it ALL has to come off, or else the primer won't stick the way it's supposed to.

That done, I cut templates for the mesh and did a dry fit. For the four of you that haven't worked with perforated steel sheet before, it helps a TON to make a paper template first before you even touch the steel. That way you can work all the logistics and kinks out of it first before you muck up the steel by guessing.

Once the template looked good, I transferred the template to the mesh. I then bent the corners with a rubber mallet and the side of my work table. Defenately not as difficult or as complicated as I had been led to believe.

I'll be taking the weekend to finish sand the plastic down to 400 grit to prepare it for priming