[LDLC Modding Trophy 2014] Fractal R4 by Alain-s (English)

[Tesla]

It look so good ! Was it easy to work with ?

[alain-s]

It was, I used a paint brush to add the glue to the MDF panels. Then lay the veneer on it and get some heavy pieces to place on top of it so you can great enough pressure. It all has to happen fast else the glue will dry out.

[Tesla]

The curve on the top piece, and the interior of the fan slot seemed difficult to do. Having some piece of 50cm long without bubbles or blade marks is good !

[alain-s]

the inside of the fan hole was pretty easy the veneer pushes it self against the wood. The part where the hole side was a curve was a bid more tricky.

[JD design]

very nice job

[alain-s]

Thank you JD Design

Small update

Continued the work on the panels. Starting with some clear coat on the veneer.















Also started to make a mold for top and bottom of the case.







The rest will be for the next update.

[Cat121]

Nice job !
But why do you add a fractal watermark instead of an "Alain-s" one ?

[seinron]

Very nice!!

[MacGamerFR]

I like the way your job is taking

[alain-s]

Nice job !
But why do you add a fractal watermark instead of an "Alain-s" one ?

We have to add the watermark of the case manufacture. Haven't really thought about making my own and adding it to. :p

Very nice!!

Thank you Seinron

I like the way your job is taking

Thx MacGamerFR ^^

[Cat121]

Oh, it's that simple, I don't know all the terms of the contest

[alain-s]

Update

Lets continue with the motherboard tray first. Finished all the cable routes and mounting places so time to polish the borders of the plexi tray.

To refresh you mind this was how it looked like.



And here is you can see the finished tray. Left the protective foil around to prevent scratches.









The SSD will be mounted on the back of the tray with these holes.





You just have to slide the SSD on its place easy to remove or install a new one.





With the new shape of the case I had to make some new pieces so I can easily remove the casefeet from the frame.
made a few spacer and glued them on the bottom of the case.



and on that I mount some L pieces.



Next up is the body work of the case.
To get the right shapes I made a mold out of MDF wood. Using 2 heatblower I heated up the plexi so it can fall in to shape.











cutted of the extra material and filed and sanded the border in a straight line using a steel bar as guiding line.



Mounted it on the bottom of the case.











I repeated the bending for the top panel and glued 2 plexi panels to the side panels.





sawed out the new shape of the case.





Just need to file the edges straight and continue the work on the other parts.



Thank you for reading.
And see you in the update.

[Tesla]

Interesting. ..
Interestme. ...
Intesome. ..
Inwesome. ..
AWESOME.

I may take the feet idea. Did you really cut all these curved wood pieces "just" for shapping the bended parts ? New look is becoming awesome

[seinron]

Awesome Work ! Dell XPS Luxe edition ! Love that !

[cucmag]

the last picture show the form of the XPS
some idea to contribute your mod on the real XPS

I was wondering why all this wood pieces , now I know what for
great work alain

[Asche]

WAW !

Nice

[MacGamerFR]

O.O How to say ... I LOVE IT !

[alain-s]

Interesting. ..
Interestme. ...
Intesome. ..
Inwesome. ..
AWESOME.

I may take the feet idea. Did you really cut all these curved wood pieces "just" for shapping the bended parts ? New look is becoming awesome

Lol Tesla and yes I had to cut all the wood pieces to create a mold for the bending. It was pretty time consuming.

Awesome Work ! Dell XPS Luxe edition ! Love that !

Thank you Seinron you should look at them together its like it is a little brother of the case.

the last picture show the form of the XPS
some idea to contribute your mod on the real XPS

I was wondering why all this wood pieces , now I know what for
great work alain

Thx Bertrand, Got a little bit inspired by it.

WAW !

Nice

Thank Asche

O.O How to say ... I LOVE IT !

Thank you MacGamerFR ^^

Small update received a few packages with hardware and watercooling. I wont go to deep in to that because I didnt had to time to take pictures of all the parts and taking them out of the boxes for some extra pictures.











I had a bit of back luck with the package from the watercooling. Lucky noting got damaged.







once I had the parts I could start with giving them a place in the case. Used 2 Micro reservoirs from Swiftech to make a hardline connection between the top and front of the case.









Next up was the pump.





The pump will be placed under the 3th reservoir that will be attached to the radiator. For that I cutted some alu pieces to creat a new attachment for it.







That was it again only a few more thing that need to be made and the case can be painted.

See you next time.

[piment77]

My English is bad thank you google trad ^^ anyway these a mod that promises to be beautiful I sui curious rendering final good luck.

[cucmag]

alu, wood, plexi, steel
nothing stop Alain
good job!

[alain-s]

My English is bad thank you google trad ^^ anyway these a mod that promises to be beautiful I sui curious rendering final good luck.

Thank you piment77, just a few week left before I can show the final pictures.

alu, wood, plexi, steel
nothing stop Alain
good job!

Haha Bertrand

[alain-s]

Update!!!

Making some fast progress on the case.
I continued my work on the wooden panels. Then I can finish them and move on to the rest of the case.
Used a sheet of plexi glass to achieved the desired shape for the front. Placed it on a new mold and heated it up.







mounted it on the front, so I could draw the right shape on it.



And the final shape of the front.







Just have to add the veneer to the plexi.









While everthing was drying I removed the protective foil from the plexi panels and mounted the top reservoir in the case. Also secured the mounting of the stand of case.





Back to the veneer panels.
To remove the extra material I used some sanding paper. Mounted the panel on the front and test fitted it on the case.











Next up is the power supply. I got the Fractal 1000W Newton PSU only 1 minor thing on it the psu. Not all cable modular, so I had to make some adjustments to get the result that I want to achieve.
Cutted out a piece of plexi and glued it on the PSU.





Removed the top of the psu and started to short in the wires.











After the psu I started to make all the other cables that where needed.



So that was it then next week a new update where you can see the assembly of the case.

AAAaaaand I will just place this picture here to teas a bit.



Till next update.

[piment77]

Outch..... I like <3

[MacGamerFR]

Awesome !

[alain-s]

Outch..... I like <3

Awesome !

Thank you guys, got a little more to show of for now.

Started to ad some gold leaf on the inside of the case. This material can be used for all kinds of project most people you it on fall frames to give them a old look.
Sanded the inside of the panels and applied glue on it afterwards. Then you wait a 10min before you can lay the paper on it.









Also added some extra detail on the case using red paint to give the pc some extra color.



And total picture of the pc.



The rest will be for next update.

[cucmag]

goldfinger!!!!

[Asche]

[MacGamerFR]

My god ^^ I like so much the little red stripes

[alain-s]

goldfinger!!!!

How did you know? :p When I was done with the gold my fingers where idd gold

My god ^^ I like so much the little red stripes

Thanks MacgamerFR, Only a few thing to do and I can show you all the final pictures

[alain-s]

Last update before the final pictures will be shown.
Continued with installing all the remaining hardware and cooling parts. Before I start installing the wooden panels I have to install a few cables. This way I can keep a clean look in the case with not to much cables around.



Installed the all the inside panels PSU, radiator, pump and reservoirs.













When all that was done I installed the remaining hardware and started the leak test.



The only thing that needs to be installed are the cables and the front of the case. All this you will see in the final update of this project.