Review: Project Ice Blue

Project Ice Blue

A while ago I was asked to do a write up on my modded Lian Li case so here it goes…

When I first saw the PC60 USB case IRL I saw my own name written on it :, I just had to buy it. With intentions to do some serious modifications I started my project.

The FanBus

I had a RheoBus on my old chieftech case and I thought I should use it in my new Lian case. The function of the RheoBus is great but IMHO it looks like crap. Something just had to be done. I went in to a local electronic shop here in Sweden and found some really nice looking alu knobs that could match my case rather good. Of course I installed to RheoBus in the Lian Li to see how it looked before I changed my mind (I never learn). That made me loose I 5.25" face plate. The good thing is that you can see for yourself how the RheoBus looks untouched mounted in the PC60.

Un-modded RheoBus

I think the led's should be placed above the knob. And second, the knobs themselves look really bad. I had to use a new faceplate and I started to drill the knob holes and then carefully marked out the new positions for the led holes. In the pic below you can see that I used a tiny drill at first so the position for the led's should be perfect. It didn't turn out that perfect but it looks ok anyway.

Next problem I run into was that the led legs wasn't long enough. I cut them of and soldered a short piece of wire to every leg and the protected it with some shrink tubing. It doesn't look pretty but it's working :. Below you see the short legs.

In the next pic you see how it looks when it was done.

Below all led's have been soldered and the faceplate is done. Just putting everything together and its finished.

This is how it looks. I think it looks a lot better then the standard RheoBus.

One more pic when the unit is mounted and operational.

Nice and bl00ish : That strange looking CD ROM takes us to the next step in my project. Stealthing CD/CDRW players.

Hiding CD/CDRW Players

When you buy your first aluminium case you will pretty quickly notice how ugly your CD/CDRW/DVD players look compared to that shiny alu. I had seen a few guys hiding their players behind 5.25" face plates and I thought try something similar but with an extra touch. I started to cut up my 5.25" face plate as you can see in the pic below.

After this is done I removed the plastic front from the CD player. It is very easy to get it of. See below.

Below you can see that I have started to draw up a position for the plastic front. The idea is to attach the plastic front to the inside of the 5.25" plate with something. I used adhesive tape.

This part is very tricky. You'll have to try and try to find the perfect position for the plastic front. When you have found the perfect place for the front and the plate aligns nicely when closed you have to put something the will be almost in touch with the open/close button. As you can see in the pic below I have used some tape for this matter (the yellow thing). Attach it to your CDROM and your done! or.....?? :)

Enjoy the finished pics below. Here you can see the RheoBus mounted and operational.

Below the visible CDRW is the stealthed CD ROM. I just give the plate a tiny push in the lower right corner and it opens. Remember the tape I used for this? This is almost in contact with the open/close button. This actually works great!

You feel something is missing?, or you wonder what that tiny little clear thing is in the pic above?? Read on... If you just happen to have 1mm fibre optic cable laying around (else, go and buy it at an electronic shop) you can drill a 1mm hole that is EXACTLY aligned with the CD led. Take your time with this because if you fail to align this perfectly you will have no or very little light coming out from the fibre optic cable. See close up pic below...

I used superglue to attach the tiny fibre optic cable to the plate. When the CD ROM is closed this fibre optic cable should be almost in touch with the led for maximum light. See result below... It's the green light. When standing 1 meter away from the computer these 1mm holes are barely visible when there is no light.

1 last pic that shows both my CD and CDRW stealthed in open mode...

Stealthing done! Pah! :)

More modding

I had plans to buy a blue CCD. When using a CCD or any kind of neon you need a window :. I started cutting up the side with a jigsaw and then attached a window in the side. I also attached something called a window etch (atomic energy). When the window was done I attached the CCD and made the inside tidy with spiral wrap, silver round ATA cables etc.. have a looksie below…

The plastic floppy front didn't match the rest of the case so I sprayed it with silver metallic spray. The 80mm DELTA Screamer that cools the CPU have it's RPM cable connected to the motherboard and the power is connected to the RheoBus. This gives me RPM function without burning the mobo fan connector with an 68CFM fan )

I later bought myself a Lian Li portreplicator. More effects had to be added. I went out and bought some white UV fluo paint and started painting the CPU/Northbridge fans. A few days later my 9cm UV CCD's arrived from the UK. See result below..

I will finish this off with some pics of the finished project. Hope you have enjoyed it.

Close up on the window with blue CCD in action. This was before UV was added.

Close up on the Fanbus, front ports, stealthed CD/CDRW drives with fibre optic lightning.

Below a clean looking pic

Below you can see the fibre optics and the yellow pads that is in contact with the open/close button on the CD/CDRW. This result in an tiny push in the lower right corner and the CD/CDRW opens.

That's it!