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Magazine Features:
Accolades:
First Place "Most Original Case" @ Geforce LAN 3
Second Place @ Million Man LAN 5
2006 Extremetech Case Mod Contest Runner-Up
Second Place Extensive Mods Case Mod Contest
THE SPECS:
Asus A8N SLI Premium motherboard
1Gb Centon DDR PC3200 Hi-performance Memory
AMD FX-55
Zalman CNPS7700 cpu cooler
XFX GeForce 7800GT Video card
2x 80Gb Western Digital HDDs (RAID 0)
Thermaltake Pure Power 500W psu
Pioneer Slimline slot-loading DVD/CD drive
Logitech LX700 cordless keyboard
Logitech MX1000 cordless Laser mouse
LG 20" flatscreen monitor
Coolermaster Jet-7 cpu cooler (as case fan)
THE STORY:
I wanted to build my dad a case for a birthday/father’s day gift. He is a retired United Airlines mechanic, with 35 years of service. I figured it would make a great theme if I were to pay tribute to his long and illustrious career. Since he worked primarily on the Boeing 737s, I designed the case to resemble one with the United colors.
In order to keep the size relatively small and still fit all the components inside, I went with a pudgy, cartoon-ish look. I also chose to build only the right half so it could be set up against a wall, or be hung up using a monitor wall-mount system. As such, it had to be reasonably lightweight as well. So I decided to use acrylic instead of wood or aluminum.
Because of its shape, it wasn't an exact replica of a Boeing 737. But still I wanted to add some realistic detail to it, so I added some navigational lights. I put a landing light on the leading edge of the wing, a light at the tip of the tail facing back, I used the red hdd activity light on top to act as the beacon, and the power LED for the green navigation light on the tip of the right wing. Other lighting includes two 12" blue cathodes to illuminate the inside, one white led for the cockpit, red and blue leds to provide backlighting for the logo on the tail, and two 4" blue cathodes in the base.
The center section holds the motherboard, the front nose houses the two hard drives, and the tail section is where the power supply is mounted.
The DVD/CD drive is hidden in the wing, and discs are loaded through a slot in the leading edge.
Also integrated into the wing is the keyboard and mouse receiver, and the Coolermaster Jet-7 cpu cooler is attached underneath and functions as an intake fan.
