# The Red Dragon by JJ_Sky5000



## JJ_Sky5000 (Jan 8, 2015)

The Beginning:

On a cold rainy day ( never happens  in the summer) in Dallas Texas  during Quakecon ,   I met Mark  From MSI   who really like my Quakelive  Case Mod( Pc that actually lifts out of the case)   and gave me his contact information about possibly working on a project.  Not too long after Quakecon  we started to talk about building a case for CES,  I gave him 4 hand drawn designs and he pick one  and I ended up not using the one he pick and sketchup of the one that I liked instead. I show him the design  and we where all set.








For me to mod I have to get in the right mindset and focus. I get a lot of my inspiration  by look at Darthbeavis, Bill Owen and Boddaker projects. 3 of the best in the business and all original modders,   Nowadays so much is being out sourced it takes away from the originally of a MOD,  Ship off to be lasered here ( Darth your good you laser cut your own)  and paid to have it  shipped here painted there and sleeved cables order here.  If I don't create the case in my own garage I wouldnt feel like I made it and take credit when somebody else does the work.

After waiting  to find this modding motivation  &  changing the design of the base to give it a angle edge and having most of hardware in  i was to begin after building over and over in my head.


A big Thank you to all the Sponsors Involved,  They are a huge factor  in helping me keep making these unique mods.

























*Specs:*
CPU Intel® i7-5960X Haswell-E 8 Core
MB MSI X99S GAMING 9 ACK
VGA 2x MSI GTX 980 GAMING 4G
Memory Kingston HyperX Predator DDR4 32GB Memory
HD Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD
PSU Lepa 1000watts (Enermax Vegas Fans)
CPU Cooler Bitspower Rez/Pump combo and radiator


*Material used :* 
Wood, wooded dowel rods,  Acrylic and rods,  metal Mesh

*Tools:*
Dremal, Table saw, Scroll Saw, Belt and palm Sander, Drill press,   router

Creating the Base


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## JJ_Sky5000 (Jan 8, 2015)

Update Number 2  

The one drive i had was to make a solid base,   I went from have original 2 pieces  of wood  to 6 just to give it a solid base and to have a place for the power supply,  I also used dowel rods  to spread teh weight  of the build and make for a more solid structure











Next up  was the backlit logo.    To make sure the item was uniform  i used carpet tape to hold a clear piece and white plexi  together.  while using my very very old craftmans scroll saw 
















My newest tool i got  for modding was a belt sander for $45   wow  it was way better than palm  sander and definalty speed up  the process of getting and piece sanded down to be uniform. 











pretty close to the effects of i was looking for

i decided to go with a mesh  front to help with airflow from the fans,   my first designed was enclosed  and i was worried about airflow  and the designed that i had in my head was way more open.






next up was cutting out a border for the mesh  using a thin plexi piece











Stayed tuned for more!!!!


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## stinger608 (Jan 8, 2015)

Subbed for sure!!! This is going to be absolutely amazing!


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## jellyrole (Jan 8, 2015)

This looks amazing! Can't wait to see the final project!


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## HammerON (Jan 8, 2015)

Sub'd as well. Look forward to more updates


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## puma99dk| (Jan 8, 2015)

subbed, bcs i love the MSI Dragon (Lucky) and i want to see how this mod turns out 

i really laughed when i saw Lucky wanted to go to DreamHack Last year:


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## adulaamin (Jan 8, 2015)

Subbed!


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## mATrIxLord (Jan 8, 2015)

subed to see more awsomeness.... i always love to see a wooden case build...


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## rtwjunkie (Jan 8, 2015)

subbing!


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## micropage7 (Jan 8, 2015)

mATrIxLord said:


> subed to see more awsomeness.... i always love to see a wooden case build...



yeah made from wood its like classy and different
its interesting to see how it works since it has multiple layers


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## JJ_Sky5000 (Jan 10, 2015)

Update 3#  

Now  onto one of the hardest challenge I faced during this 30 day process,   The making the dragon outline and how to get this awesome MSI Gaming 9 GTX 980 into the build, slightly taller than your average GPU.  So i had to make a few modification to the MSI logo in order for the gpu and MB to fit in the build.well.











After cutting 6 piece of of 18 * 24 red transparent acrylic   & 2 18 * 24 acrylic  and attaching together  using my magic tape so they wouldn't  shift i began the long 8 hour process of cutting the dragon out using my ageing scroll saw. 


























the  next challenge was  to outline the exterior white dragon to be proportionate  to the red  back pieces.











After cleaning up the the red acrylic and test fitting it to the base 






more to come !!!


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## JJ_Sky5000 (Jan 17, 2015)

Update 4 December 24 ,  well after battle with bronchitis for 9 days, my deadline  for CES was fast approaching.   I came to the realization  that the project just my not make it I need to ship it in a few days.   When building a scratch build   you always come to a cross road  , should i take a break   or press on,  I could see it built in my mind  and it was going to look amazing , but getting there is going to be tough.






Off to painting and pressing forward









I added a little fade mesh look to the outside pieces and finished securing the front






secured the lettering 






My original Red rad was too thick with the fittings and fans so i had to incorporate and skinnier blue one. 






Measure up and cut the motherboard tray  for back lighting and pump assembly 





Fits nice and snug ,  I am also using the Bitspower X station for the lighting  pump and fans 






tap   the MB standoffs  and ready for assembly 





And a Big Thank you to the amazing staff  at Bitspower    I was having trouble getting on the watercooling to finish teh project  and this arrived on Christmas eve  






Just keep pressing on !!!

Next up  final assemble


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