# [CIP] Bel Air



## alain-s (Apr 26, 2012)

Hello all,
This will be my first build log on TechPowerUp.

So let me introduce my new project Bel Air. 

Sponsored By:















For this project i will be modding the Cooler Master Cosmos II. 

I won't go to much in to details of the things that will be changing of the case. That are things that u will have to find out your self, by following this project. 

The hardware for this project is still undiceited. It will all depend of the budget that is left after I'm done with the case self. I might use the hardware from my previous case mod Project White. 

To cool all the hardware i will go for water cooling. This time I will do a dual loop and for this i will use copper pipes again. I know it is not something new but i just like to work with it. Plus it will fit perfect with the rest of the case and all the other details.

So lets start we have all seen the Cosmos II in one piece. For this i disassembled the case and placed all the parts on my floor witch was to small because the iron body couldn't fit on the picture 
















Removed the all the HDD cages + Midplate and PSU stand.






And the I/O backplate had to be removed.
















Also cutted out a part out of the back of the case.











That is it for the case self. The rest u will all see later if u keep following 

The next thing i have done is drawing the shape for the new air vents in the side panel. I have gotten the idea from a corvette anniversary 1978 with my own touch to it ofc 






With the sketch ready i just had to get the materials to make the design. Got my self some foam to start the modeling of the air vents.






I had several attempts with different kind of tools. First one was with a knife that didn't go well.






Then i thought of making a some kind of heath wire to cut in the foam. 






That plan has failed to  my 12volt adapter wasn't strong enough to heat up the wire. Then i just purchased a tool to cut with. 






With the new tool in the hand a started to make the venting hole in the foam.






This gives a better idea of how it will look like but still is not good enough. After some time i decided to make every piece apart if the vent.































One side is done now i only need to make a copy of it in mirror image.






And a picture of the garbage that was left behind.






That was it for this start post hope u all like.  And stay tuned for the next update. 

Alain


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## alain-s (May 3, 2012)

Small update about the new front grill of the case. The original design of the grill wont fit with the rest of the theme. 






Removed the mesh and started to cut in the plastic housing of the grill. 











After that i just had to file and sand the piece before it was ready for make over. 











The 4 small pieces where placed on the rest part of the grill






This will fit perfect on the place of the old grill. And it can also be removed like the original grill by just pulling on it. The only thing that i still need to so is reenforce the frame of it.






When i recieved my parts of the grill i saw that i had made a little mistake. The curves of the grill all had angles in it. Not a big problem because i can file it round and sand it afterwards 






When they where done i could start shortening and number the parts.











After all the small works i couldn't help my self to sand 2 pieces with a 240, 600, 1000grid paper. After that was done i polished it to get the maximum shininess.






Placed all the parts on it. 





















I am 6 pieces short of the grill because i miss typed the number :wallbash: but will be taking care of when the rest of the parts arrive


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## Athlon2K15 (May 3, 2012)

wow..your doing some really good work.


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## copenhagen69 (May 3, 2012)

very nice ... subbed!


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## alain-s (May 3, 2012)

AthlonX2 said:


> wow..your doing some really good work.


Thx Athlon 


copenhagen69 said:


> very nice ... subbed!


Thank u Copenhagen69 ^^


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## johnnyfiive (May 8, 2012)

I don't even know whats going on, so that equals AWESOME.


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## alain-s (May 8, 2012)

Haha lovely Johnnufiive just keep following and u will all see it.


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## AhokZYashA (May 8, 2012)

subbed!!
very nice vents there


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## alain-s (May 23, 2012)

Thank u AhokZyasha

Update!

I am happy to inform u that the first sponsored packages are arrived. The Packages are from Ek WaterBlocks and Highflow.





Thank u Gregor for sponsoring this beautiful cooling hardware.




Thank Freddy for the discount in the web-shop.






Started with the biggest package from EK WaterBlocks first. 






EK-Supreme HF - Full EN (Nickel) 











EK-CoolStream RAD XTC (140) and EK-CoolStream RAD XTC (420)











2x EK-DDC X-TOP V2 - Acetal G1/4 






2x EK-Ekoolant CLEAR (premix 1000mL)






10x EK-PSC Adapter 90° G1/4 Nickel and 12x EK-PSC Adapter 45° G1/4 Nickel 






The next package was from Highflow.






1x MagiCool COPPER Radiator 280
















2x Laing DDC-1Plus MCP355 12V






To give u a idea, I have placed the hardware in the case and taken some pictures. In the bottom of the case I will place 1 140mm rad, 1 420mm rad, 2 Pumps and the PSU





















In the top of the case I place the 280mm rad. That wont be visible when the case is finished.






I haven't had much time to continue with the side panels of the case. I haven taken them to my work so when I have some free time I could continue to work on it but the last weeks there was a lot of work. 

But I have enforced the grill in the front of the case with 2 pieces of 5mm plexi. I glued the parts together and then filled up where it was needed. 









































That was it. I hope that the next update will come sooner then this one. But it all depends how much work there is at my work


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## alain-s (Jun 7, 2012)

Update,

Last days/weeks I have bin working with SU to design a radiator mount that can be easily be installed in the bottom of the case. It needs to hold 2 radiators, 4 140mm fans, 2 Pumps and 2 drains for the system. All of this needs to be mounted on one piece so I just have to slide it in the case and connect the power for the fans and the pump and attach the rest of the tubes for the water loop. For this I have used the same idea as they did with MKII this way I don't have to attach everything in small tight places that are hard to reach. I Made a few print screens of the design so U can all have look at it until the real parts arrive. 

New Midplate.





Radiator stand.





Radiator foot + drain and pump stand.





When the parts are lazered and bended it should look like this.










The DXG files are sended now I only can wait when the parts are ready.
Till next Update.


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## alain-s (Jun 25, 2012)

Small teaser of the front grill of the Cosmos II. It is almost ready I just need the last 6 pieces of the grill. These parts will arrive this week. Then I can complete the grill.





















The left piece still need to be attached to the rest of the grill.


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## PopcornMachine (Jun 25, 2012)

Good work.  Thanks for the cool pictures.


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## alain-s (Jun 26, 2012)

Your welcome With a bid of luck the custom radiator stand will arrive this week so I can make a big Update at once.


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## alain-s (Jun 27, 2012)

Update 

Sponsored By:










The sanding work for the front grill is almost over. I only need to complete 6 more pieces and the grill is finished.
The past 2 weeks I have bin sanding the aluminium parts alsmost everyday. 
















My Gf was not really happy with it I was more interested in sanding all the parts then here. And the dirt that came with it was not helping. :worried:
I did all the pieces with grid 240,400,600,1000,1500,2000 with result as this.






Time to polish it with the drill. Using polish paste and cotton disk on my drill. This progress  wasted my hole Sunday. to get maximum bling out of it.:naughty:





















Then I just have to place all the parts on its place.


























6 More pieces and the grill is finished. Lucky they arrived by mail today with the radiator stand. That I had made in SU































Mounted the rads and pumps on the stand to check if everything fits proper.































Just enough room for the pipes and drains. Also the new midplate was ready for the case.






Fits perfect. 











Also received a nice package from Cyberspace with 2 Aqua-Computer Poweradjust 2 USB - Ultra Version in it. Had the change to buy them over from. This way I got 1 controller for each loop. 
















If I got time this weekend I can tap some wire in the parts and modify the pumps housing.

Alain


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## alain-s (Jul 8, 2012)

Update!

Sponsored By:









Started with the pumps housing. The 2 extensions on the side needed to be removed so the pump can fin on its stand. 











On the bottom of the housing are 2 extra holes that can be use to hold the pump on its place. I just have to tap some wire in it. After that I started to sand the housing and prep it for painting.






While the paint was drying I made 10 aluminium rings that will help guiding the radiator stand on the mounting plate.






These will be attached on the bottom of the radiator stand. The mounting plate of the radiator stand will come in the bottom of the case. So I just have to push the stand in the case.











Midplate on its place not much room left.











Here is a short video of how it works.





I have finished the front grill now this piece is completed.  






Because I was a little bored and didnt know what to do. I started to sand and polish the feet of the the CosmosII. 
Original colour black.






After a few hours of sanding and polishing. It started to look like this. 






Got lucky with the weather this weekend. So I made some pictures of the case outside on the balcony.












































































And a other short video of the radiator stand but with radiators and pumps installed.





That was it again. The next steps are. Polishing the top bars from the case. Make a HDD bay with a hotswap. And start with the top grill of the case that need to look like the front grill of the case.


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## alain-s (Aug 5, 2012)

Update !
Havent really done very much because lak of time for this project. I am hoping to get back at it when the holiday is over.
But there are some little thing that I already have completed. The copper pipes are done between the radiators and pump. And installed 2 drains as well.






My first idea failed the curves in the pipe where to close on each other. So the pipe didn't line up with the fitting.











Next attempt I used a bend of 135° instate of 90°
















After that was done I sanded and polished the pipes.
















The 2 drainvalves.






Next step up is fixing the PSU mount. As U can see there is only a few mm space between the drains and the PSU.











Made a test plate out of carton to check if its fits.











Time for the real work.


























Glued the piece with Bison metal metal glue.






Now it needs 24hours before the glue is ready. Then its time to sand the the rest of the glue away.

Till next Update.

Sponsored By:


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## PopcornMachine (Aug 5, 2012)

Continues to be a fascinating project.  It will be beautiful.


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## Aquinus (Aug 5, 2012)

Love the copper piping and radiator layout. Are you going to use copper going to the blocks too?


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## de.das.dude (Aug 5, 2012)

looks EPIC!
sub


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## t_ski (Aug 6, 2012)

I like the polish on the tubes, but did you coat them with anything to keep them from tarnishing afterwards?


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## alain-s (Sep 30, 2012)

PopcornMachine said:


> Continues to be a fascinating project.  It will be beautiful.


Thx PopcornMachine will do my best. 


Aquinus said:


> Love the copper piping and radiator layout. Are you going to use copper going to the blocks too?


Yes that is the plan.


de.das.dude said:


> looks EPIC!
> sub





t_ski said:


> I like the polish on the tubes, but did you coat them with anything to keep them from tarnishing afterwards?


The copper pipes will be nickel plated when the loop is completed.

Small Update

This Friday I received a package from my new sponsor Noctua. They sended me 10 Noctua 140MM NF-P14 FLX 1200RPM.




Thank you Michaela for this very nice discount on your products.











Mounted all the fans in the case. 





















A little bit of news about the build it self. The last 2 months I didn't do anything on the project but last week I have started back.
I am currently working on the air vents on the side panel. These will be made out of 6mm plexiglas that will be glued together to a solid piece of 12mm.


























There is still some work before all 4 pieces are Finished. 

Sponsored By:


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## alain-s (Oct 21, 2012)

Small update I almost finished all pieces for the side panels. I only need to make 2 pieces before I can start filling up the small holes in the panel. The last 2 pieces will be very time consuming and a lot of pratice to get it right. But I will tell U more about it later this update.

I have taken the 2 side panels to work so I can start making some holes in it for the fins.











Removed the Aluminium from the plastic panel. 






Cutted out 5 mm of the border of the panel this will give a better end result later in the progress.






Fitting the 2 fins in the panel.































As U can see there are some open spot between the pieces but U wont see this in the end result of the panel.






Next step is drilling some holes and tap some wire in it.






Placing the parts in the side panel.


























Now I only need to make 1 more part for the panel before I can finish it. The idea is to implant a old school grill in the side that was used to ventilate the hot air under the hood.  Here is a sample picture I have linked from the web to give U a idea.






The result will be beautiful but will take a lot of time and practice to get it right. I will try to make it out of 1mm thick iron plate that I had lying around from a other mod.






That was is it cya next time.

Sponsored By:


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## alain-s (Nov 1, 2012)

Yesterday I received a very nice package from Gigabyte Benelux which I am very grateful for.




With special tanks to Bernice from Gigabyte Benelux.

Gigabyte has sended me one of there best motherboards they have the GA Z77X UP4 TH










In the box we have a manual driver disk 2 sate cables SLI bridge and I/O Backplate.
























































All picture where taken very carefully under supervision of Boris.






Sponsored By:


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## brandonwh64 (Nov 1, 2012)

Good looking board! I have been fond of gigabyte SB/IB boards, I have a Z68X and a P67A board


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## 3870x2 (Nov 1, 2012)

This build is taking a minute.  If motivation is a problem, you have plenty of people watching and waiting from TPU.

Great build, can't wait for more.


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Nov 2, 2012)

Very high quality work!


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## adulaamin (Nov 2, 2012)

Can't wait to see it finished... I hope you finish it soon! Excellent work man...


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## alain-s (Nov 7, 2012)

brandonwh64 said:


> Good looking board! I have been fond of gigabyte SB/IB boards, I have a Z68X and a P67A board


Its indeed a very good looking bord. I got a P67 UD5 in my pc and I am very happy with it.



3870x2 said:


> This build is taking a minute.  If motivation is a problem, you have plenty of people watching and waiting from TPU.
> 
> Great build, can't wait for more.


Idd but there is no need to rush it. I mostly work on the pc when I am in the mood for it. 
In the summer I was a lot out so with the winter incomming U can be sure that there will be more updates comming.


[H]@RD5TUFF said:


> Very high quality work!


Thank U 


adulaamin said:


> Can't wait to see it finished... I hope you finish it soon! Excellent work man...


Thanks ^^

Small sneak peak 

Have bin working on the last part for the side panel. The piece U will see is just a try out. But I need to admit that it is looking great already.

















Will make a short Video of how a made it.

Sponsored By:


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## alain-s (Nov 8, 2012)

Update!!

Last weekend I went to Pascal (Paslis) to get some freshly made parts for my project.






As U can see there are already cuts in the sheet of Aluminium. This was done with a cuttinglazer and will help me to create the air vents in the panel.











Started with making a negative mold for the vent. These pieces where made my lazercutting machine. But they still needed some work before it would be ready to use.
Had to file the shape of the Vent in to the piece. After that it needed some sanding to smooth the edges out.











Finished product. 











The rest U will need to follow in these 2 video's I have made. This is the best way for me to show/explain how I made it.

Bel Air Side Louvres Creation Part 01 - YouTube
Bel Air Side Louvres Creation Part 02 - YouTube

After a hour of work U get this as end result.





















I have also started to work on the top grill of the case. This part will need to get the same look as the front grill of the case.





















To give U a Idea of how it will look like.











Just need to find a good way to attach it all.











That is it again, thank U for reading. 

Sponsored By:


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## alain-s (Nov 16, 2012)

Continued the work on the side panel this week. All the pieces are finished for 1 panel I just need to put it together and finish it of.











Had a small issue with using different materials together. The place where the Aluminium and the plexi joins always cracked.






Got my Dremmel and started to cut the shape out. Filled it afterword with 2K Epoxy glue.






Again filling and sanding the panel till it all feels smooth.






Had to repeat the process several times over and over before I could spray some primer on it. With the panel in white I can easily spot the last errors in the panel and fix them.


























As U can see there are still some spots that need some attention before the front of the panel is finished. After that I can continue to work on the other side of the panel. This side still need a lot of preparation before it is ready.






Sponsored By:


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## alain-s (Apr 11, 2013)

UPDATE !!!! 

After a few months it was time to pick up this project and finish it!

I continued with the top grill of the case.











Cutting a Aluminum L profile in to pieces.






These pieces will hold the support for the aluminum bars of the grill






All in place. 















Next step was to cut every single piece to the exact size. That it all nicely lines up together.






























All pieces in place next up is sanding and polishing the pieces. But that is for next week. 






Got some extra sanding paper its better to have some spare then to come short while u are busy. ^^


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## N3trox (Apr 18, 2013)

going really good subbed. ^^


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## de.das.dude (Apr 18, 2013)

didnt u polish them already once??


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## adulaamin (Apr 18, 2013)

Looking very very good... 



de.das.dude said:


> didnt u polish them already once??



I think those was for the top grills...


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## bludragon (Apr 18, 2013)

great job, I have to compliment you just got to learn.
fantastic


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## alain-s (Apr 19, 2013)

N3trox said:


> going really good subbed. ^^


Thanks N3trox


de.das.dude said:


> didnt u polish them already once??


Its not the same grill. The one I already polished was the front grill of the case this is the top grill.


adulaamin said:


> Looking very very good...
> 
> 
> 
> I think those was for the top grills...


Thanks adulaamin 


bludragon said:


> great job, I have to compliment you just got to learn.
> fantastic


Thank U Bludragon


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## alain-s (May 22, 2013)

Update !!

Last week I received a lovely package from a new sponsor for this project!






Cooler Master support this project with one of there new PSU series V850 with thanks to Marco from Cooler Master!





















Back to the mod. Started with removing all the extra mounting points from the Noctua fans that I wont need any more.



























































Added some new material to the build. The original idea was to use walnut wood but do the high price I used regular pinewood. Glued all the pieces together to create one part. 
























The idea is to do the same things in the case also and color it darker. To finish it I am going to use High gloss clear coat.

1 side panel is finished already.


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## d1nky (May 22, 2013)

wow! im nearly completing my first mod, and what I see now is where I would like to go!

build looks incredible! someone sponsooorrrrrrrrrrrrrr meee I want MOAR!!


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## SaiZo (May 22, 2013)

Damn, wish I was that good!
Beautiful case!!


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## alain-s (May 25, 2013)

d1nky said:


> wow! im nearly completing my first mod, and what I see now is where I would like to go!
> 
> build looks incredible! someone sponsooorrrrrrrrrrrrrr meee I want MOAR!!


Thanks D1nky, 


SaiZo said:


> Damn, wish I was that good!
> Beautiful case!!


Thanks SaiZo, Just practice and be patient 

Got some new suplies for this weekend.


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## d1nky (May 25, 2013)

whats it with cats??? 

or is this part of the mod, because people would love that ha!


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