MOD Name: CMC/S3 My entry for your 2006 CM Modding contest. Included in my entry is a link to a thumbnailed page with all of my images for easy viewing, this written text with the information you requested, a link to my work log, and a second .txt file attached that is a compiled list of image links to aid in posting my entry on your forums. Hello Cooler Master and thank you for hosting this contest! Link to my images: http://geno.boxgods.com/entry_cmc_s3 Link to my worklog: http://www.boxgods.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=474 The name of my mod is "CMC/S3" which stands for Cooler Master Contest / Spiderman 3. The mod is based on the upcoming and highly anticipated third installment in the Spiderman series, arriving in theaters May of 2007. I have been a fan of Spiderman since my comic book days as a kid and when I read about your contest I knew it was time to build my tribute to Peter Parker's alter ego, especially as the first trailers for Spiderman 3 were arriving and the "Dark Spiderman" premise looked so amazing. This is my second mod (you can see the first here: http://www.boxgods.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=421 . I began by scouring the net for any images I could find to use as creative resources. When I felt I had enough reference material to get started, I then began looking at Cooler Master's extensive line of cases and finally chose the Cooler Master Praetorian PAC-T01. While I waited for it to arrive from Newegg I began focusing on different thematic elements from the images and clips I had collected to pull the mod together. I looked for unique items that might help create a unique mod. the black and chrome look of Dark Spiderman was very compelling and I knew that was the way to go, but I wanted to avoid the usual 2D "square window with an etch and some paint" trap--to give this mod several layers of interest and "texture". I chose to put his face on the open side of the case, with his suits hexagonal texture painted on the surface like skin, and then apply the chrome web over the top, just as it is on his suit. As he spends most of his time up-side-down I did the same with his face. I wanted "Heroic proportions" as in larger than life size with the center of his face taking center stage. This also aligned his eyes over 2 key area--the CPU and the area I planned on using for the window modded hard drives. The lenses of his suit are mirrored so that would make the cases insides invisible in normal light, and transparent with the case lighted in a darkened room. For the other side I had to go with his chest because it has his famous spider logo on it, also chromed for Dark Spidy. I used the black overcoming the red scene as it gave me a chance to bring a small hint of color to the case. The hex pattern is painted on and the suits web is cut from aluminum sheet that is polished to a mirror finish. The spider logo is cut from another layer of polished aluminum and mounted on stand offs. It is back lighted so that the spiders silhouette is all that shows in a dark room. For the front I wanted to keep it crisp and clean and I felt like black would be "too much", so I cut another face for the case from 3/16 aluminum as a duplicate of the original. I did not cut openings for the extra optical drive bays or the floppy drive bays, nor did I include openings for the trap door covered front ports or the stock switches. I also filed a quarter round radius to the edges in place of the bevel that was on the stock front face. I mounted a single Bulgin lighted Vandal switch. stealth modded the single optical drive, and polished the entire thing on both sides to a mirror finish. For low light fun the fans behind the mesh grill are the Cooler Master 80mm Silent with red LED's. The top softens all the hard edges a bit with a touch of whimsy, (Spiderman IS a boyhood hero after all). The image is all airbrushed like the rest of the mod, and depicts Spidy locked in combat with Venom (what's a super hero without a super villian?). We got hammered with a cold front that has slowed the paint cure so I have not added the web lines on Spidy's suit yet--they will be applied with India Ink by hand so I can get them very sharp and fine. The image blends the top with the sides very well I think. The original idea for the inside of the case was to paint it in the normal red and blue suit texture with the black creeping in around the edges--a sort of "the good within" fight between good and evil. As I was looking at the black and silver of the outside with small hints of the red I felt like a polished interior might be the better choice. Modding is about problem solving and the key there is design flexibility. Polishing meant completely disassembling the case to its base components--I am now intimately familiar with every nook and cranny of Cooler Master's Praetorian PAC-T01 case and I can assure you they didn't take a single shortcut in building this excellent case--I would buy it again in a second. Though the polished interior was a huge labor, it works very well IMHO. I painted the optical drive and PSU, spent a LOT of time on getting exceptionally clean wire and plumbing work, covered the bottom of the case with mirrored plex to hide wire, (and reflect the top of the video card), and used the window modded hard drives as accents. They have the spider etched plex tops with polished aluminum covers and have a single white LED mounted inside that shows HDD activity. Of course sexy drives are only cool if you can easily see them, so they are side mounted on a polished aluminum plate that is fastened to the sides of the stock HDD cage, (this freed up plenty of room to hide the pump and light inverters as well). On this is mounted a 1/8" plex "web" with beveled edges, and on top of the web is another layer of polished aluminum. Embedded in the plex, with wires running through the back, are four white LED's per side that show system power. As I mentioned, Spiderman's left eye is positioned so the spider shows through in little eerie flashes--overall an amazing effect. For the motherboard tray side of the case we have the second window modded HDD as described earlier. Keeping some of the details hidden like that adds layers of interest. The motherboard tray itself is airbrushed in the black with some gossamer like webs, and of course on that web is the little radioactive spider that started it all...another touch of whimsy. Since his little web extends to the other side of the power supply, you never know where he will be hiding. As on the other side, the upper drive cage area is covered with a plate painted with the same hexagonal "skin suit" texture as found on the outside to draw some of that detail inside the case for balance, and to give it a more finished look. The same black texture wraps around to the back of the case and a one off plex "web grill" ads a little interest to the back. The perforated holes of the Cooler Master Real Power 450W PSU match the hex pattern of the paint perfectly and really adds to the look while it helps keep the PSU cooler. Also added was a 120mm Cooler Master Silent red LED fan. As I mentioned above, you can find a very complete worklog with excellent pictures and commentary at: http://www.boxgods.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=474&start=0