IntroductionApril showers bring May flowers and all that, right? Well, April's come and gone and our winner Sonnenschein sure put up a top quality mod! So now that everyone's had another month to get to work, what's going to follow it?

The forums have been bustling with activity of course, and once again I've been left with the rather difficult task of finding five lucky contestants to try their hands at earning the next Mod of the Month award.

This month, we're offering a first-ever for this competition. The winner gets....more work! Yep, that's right - once finished with the top-end cases that you'll see in the following pages, one lucky modder will get a brand new NZXT Tempest gaming chassis to tear apart, mod to high heaven or just use as a backup for when the modded one falls apart.

Along with that, our usual awesome supporters of all things modding will be at it with another great AC Ryan prize pack. Goodies will abound, but rumour has it that perhaps one of those new 2TB Aluboxes will find its way in there, ready for all your portable storage needs.

So, I think that's plenty enough rambling from me for the moment. Let's get a look at this month's contestants, shall we?

Mod of the Month - May, 2008

• HEPHÆSTUS by Yemerich
• Tiny HTPC by ichessblumen
• Claudia Unit by Filimon
• GraniteCase by pieterveenstra
• L3 by ModimusPrime

HEPHÆSTUSby Yemerich
Worklog

"If you build it, they will come..." That long over-used saying is about as perfect a description as you'll get for the long, hard project of HEPHÆSTUS by Yemerich.

The project started out as nothing more than an incredibly organised design, which took over 32 pages to detail the potential construction. Why? Apparently, there was a design contest offered by the folks at Windows Vista Magazine, where the maker of the best overall design would win some lovely sponsorship assistance.

One look at the design thread will give you a good example of why Yemerich was indeed the winner...but what about turning design into reality?

The original design plan for HEPHÆSTUS is a great example of planning. Then again, that's probably why it won the contest - every detail is planned out to a tee, leaving no room for guesses. Of course, making such a complex design into a reality is a much trickier ordeal - but Yemerich took the plunge and started cutting away at that black acrylic as soon as he got his hands on it.

Much of the detail work in HEPHÆSTUS is layered acrylic, allowing an elegant and lighting-ready design solution. By sandwiching what was originally planned to be solid red acrylic with an opaque black, Yemerich changes the colour palate to a stronger contrast while also allowing much better lighting control.

There's a lot of detail that's been planned into the mod, which Yemerich didn't want to be skimping on. The "spine" would consist of a couple layers, including red rings near the back and a locking mechanism that would latch onto the doors in the middle.

A chromed and then lightly sanded iron tube was put into place as the spinal column of the mod. With a bit of extra engineering, this could be used to run LEDs and unsightly wires out of the main tube case, providing a built-in cable routing scheme.

Finally, it's onto the doors, which are bent over forms to create their gull-wing shape. Once the mod is assembled for a test fit, it's easy to see how far Yemerich has already come in bringing HEPHÆSTUS together.

Of course, there's a whole lot more to go, so it's definitely going to be worth keeping an eye on his worklog. The mod has already one best in show when it comes to raw design, so is it ready to take on its next award?

Tiny HTPCby ichessblumen
Worklog

HTPCs are a bit of a fantasy love for me. Here in the States, we've got a lot of great things that they could do - hell, TiVo is one nice, well-designed Linux-based HTPC. However, random rules and draconian copy laws make it a lot harder to be willing to have a big old PC in your living room. I guess that's why they made HTPC cases, right?

Of course, there's HTPCs and then there's HTPCs - and ichessblumen's Tiny HTPC is definitely one of the more noteworthy ones. It's been designed and created from scratch with the idea of being mostly passive, and it's really seemed to make it!

We held off on featuring this for a little while because of a couple of the other great mods that were cropping up, but I just couldn't hold off on it any more. With a tentative status of finished at the end of last month, it's now or never - so let's get to showing it off!

Because of just how many great shots there really are for this mod, we're skipping right to the build process. Here you can see ichessblumen has assembled the most basic frame for his Tiny HTPC out of thick aluminium sheeting and some aluminium square rods. The actual ATX backplate is scrounged from a previous case and given a little haircut to fit the project.

Next up were the fins, which you'll note have quite a resemblance to the assembly method used in Dark Blade. A big heatsink is attached to the processor, and uses heat pipes to channel the heat up into these fins for cooling potential. That's right, the case is its own giant heatsink.

Some parts, it just doesn't pay to cut at home. So, ichessblumen sent away plans for Tiny HTPC's top and faceplate. This way, things could be machined to his exact tolerances and specifications. Once they arrived, a little Modder's Mesh on the top panel helped to form the look he was going for.

With the top done, you could really begin to see the case finding its real glory. All that was left was adding the hardware, which was a fairly easy feat due to the tight machining. Of course, there are some things we're not showing you here...

The "final" assembly of Tiny HTPC is really something to behold. Everything looks so tightly fit and polished that you'd honestly start looking for the brand label next - it looks like that professional of a product.

Of course, as I mentioned, there's quite a lot that you're not seeing here - including fantastically hidden hard drives, how the heatsink was assembled and other pivotal and brilliant elements. But, that's what the worklog is for, isn't it?

Claudia Unitby Filimon
Worklog

If you're a regular reader of our forums, you know who this guy is. We all love him. We all love his work. We all wish he spoke more than he does, because we're all a little lost sometimes.

It's no surprise that our great Russian friend Filimon is back up on the Mod of the Month list. What is odd is that for all of the absolute beauty that his latest mod, Claudia Unit, entails, most of us aren't really sure what it is. By one guess, it's going to be the best looking external Power Supply we've ever really seen.

No matter what it comes out to be, it features Filimon's usual tight-lipped worklog and excellent craftsmanship. Isn't that enough?

Filimon's started this project with an old velvet-lined jewellery box. One look at the warm wood tones and lining combined with Filimon's penchant for excellent metal work tells you there has to be some level of steam punk coming up. And in light of last month's mouse, could we be looking at the start of a whole computer, built from the ground up like this?!

It never takes long with Filimon for the metal to come out, and Claudia Unit is no exception. This time, he's chosen some great antique brass cabinet hardware for his main detail work. To keep the theme going, he's picked up a couple old voltmeters and given them a royal treatment, replacing their normal meters with elegant, hand-punched brasswork.

Adding to the mystery is a large fan grille on the bottom, made from the same antique brass as the other accents. This is a particularly nice touch, as it's not going to be seen generally - so the fact that Filimon puts so much effort into these hidden features helps his work gain such a following. Also added is a mains plug, which leads us to believe that we're either looking at a really tiny PC or a PSU.

Once the meters are in place, the mod is already shaping up externally, though we're pretty sure that we haven't seen the last of them being tweaked. Even if this was how he left them, though, we'd be pretty happy...

Yet more details as Filimon adds the top accents and front panel plate - but we've really had no clarification yet as to what they're for!

Of course, you're welcome to try your hand at a guess on what Filimon's building. If you take a good look at all of the pictures in his worklog, you'll find some large toggle switches, LEDs, fans and more! Put 'em together and whaddaya got? Beats the hell out of us, but we'll be keeping an eye out to find the answer!

GraniteCaseby pieterveenstra
Worklog

Ah, granite. It really is a lovely material to work with, particularly if you're building a high end kitchen counter top, or perhaps a beautiful tile floor. One thing is for sure though, it's not exactly the first material that would spring to mind for modding!

Maybe that's why new forum member pieterveenstra felt it had to be done - it is, to our knowledge, the only actual granite computer case in the whole wide world. There may be countless reasons for that - cost, difficulty to machine, weight...the list goes on and on. However, one thing that pieterveenstra has been able to make painstakingly clear - it's not cause it's not pretty!

Like Tiny HTPC, GraniteCase is already complete...but it's just so damn noteworthy that I couldn't help but not include it here. So, let's take a look at the making of a one-of-a-kind, shall we?

Challenge one: Turn a bunch of pieces of gorgeous, polished natural granite into something more reminiscent of a computer case. After cutting the slabs down to size, Pieter started by aiming square at the front panel.

Even the power button on GraniteCase is made of granite - after all, why use anything else? A lot of careful drilling and cutting and shaping was done to create the case, which actually assembled like a dream. Because of the weight, sides are anchored on using very thick threaded rods and caps instead of standard screws.

The bottom part of the case was designed solely to house the motherboard and DVD drive - the hard drives and PSU were going to be kept separate. In order to accomplish this, Pieter built another entire granite box on top of his previous creation, creating a layered effect very similar to one of Ediejo's Lian Li works.

With all the cutting and shaping done, it was time to move on to actually installing the hardware inside the case. How this was mounted would either really bring the case home as an artistic triumph, or as an absolute disaster that was all too pretty outside and just plain ugly inside.

Of course, you don't think it would end up featured here if it stood a chance of being that ugly inside, did you? Pieter actually put a lot of work into his wiring and layout inside, opting for a glowing plexi removable motherboard tray and well-mounted spotlight LEDs inside. The shroud that covers the DVD and fans is a contrasting white that stands out without looking utterly garish. And it's all finished off with a nice "thank you" to his sponsor, Sapphire.

The great job that Pieter did with such a hard material is really shown off in some of the other pictures in his worklog, so I highly recommend stopping by to take a look!

L3by ModimusPrime
Worklog

There sure are a lot of great custom-built cases these days. Many people see it as the next frontier, being as so much of modding is now so mainstream. That's why it's always nice when we get to see a good, old-fashioned, hard-working and proper mod.

It's just that type of thing that Australian modder ModimusPrime is bringing to our table with his chopped up, souped up Lian Li V1000. The case, now dubbed L3 for Liquid Lian Li, features some great old-fashioned modding talent. After all, what fun is a huge, well-ventilated and very expensive case if you don't cut it apart, fill it with watercooling gear and slap some flames on it?!

We're pretty sure you'll agree - it just has to be done. And many of ModimusPrime's little twists are worth every bit of the limelight they get, because there's no such thing as too much of a good technique.

Flaaaames! And where better than the entire top of a Lian Li V1000? ModimusPrime started with a carefully created template and planned his flames to match the attractive curves of the case. The template was created from an AC Ryan triple radiator grille schematic, which he added to liberally. Though it initially had the front curve to it, that got the axe as he went for the more traditional straight design.

What good is a monster-sized case without a spot for a nice, beefy triple radiator? The hole formerly known as 'roof' says "No good at all!" ModimusPrime busted out the Dremel for some spark-flying fun. Of course, it helps if you get the right cutting disks, as he quickly discovered. If you ever wondered what the difference is between reinforced and the normal flimsy Dremel discs, you should probably read the log...

With the radiator holes cut, it was time to turn attention to the flaming fan grille. A piece of aluminium sheeting and a new Dremel routing table later, and ModimusPrime was ready to go with his crowning achievement.

The grille was finally done and a final test fit indicates that airflow is good while fans were still being well concealed. With that, it was time to move on to the inside, including cable management and covering like the PSU divider.

However, before ModimusPrime could really call the top a done deal, he decided to give it a handle that would fit with the case's unique styling. A sturdy piece of curved aluminium would make a perfect tool for the job.

Cases like these may be a dime a dozen on modding forums, but good mods like ModimusPrime's are pretty damn hard to find. There's a lot in his worklog that we didn't even get into...so if you like top-quality modding, you should definitely take a spin over and check it out.

那个GraniteCase……
抱起来一定很爽……