Stealthlow by Wayne Wilkinson

Finishing off

I wanted the curved window to be flush with the curve bars, but it just wasn't happening; I needed a way to clamp it in place. My first method worked great but looked a bit off, so forum member Voigts suggested using long strips. I tried it first with a 3mm thick copper bar, but it made the case warp. I managed to fix it but it had already put me off doing it.

After some hints from other forum users that it was the way to go, I ended up doing three layers - 1mm thick using aluminium, then copper then aluminium again. It was one of the nicest parts of the project and worth all the head scratching. It was actually a nice and easy solution with them being long, slim pieces - it was very easy as they naturally formed into the curves. I changed my earlier aluminium fan mount bars for a single fixing point copper stub, which works brilliantly. I also bought a really nice scroll saw which will help me make some more elaborate things from now on.

I wasn't keen on all the Enermax logos everywhere so pulled one of them apart and they are modular so it enabled me to make my own pieces to slot in. I cut, brushed, curved and lacquered them and put them back together. They looked so much better and I also took the whole case apart to improve some areas and add a power button.

I then brushed metal lacquer on all the metals so they stay in good condition, then cut some mirror-polished stainless steel sheet for the second level and added a secondary bevelled copper grill so it gives the aluminium grill a copper glow. I also made a range of copper clips for cable clamping.

I then began work on a revised version of the fan holders for the hard disk wind tunnel I made earlier. They function & look far better than the originals and allow for better lighting. I added some additional decorative bits - copper clips of various sizes, various steel/copper/aluminium details, an SSD cover, copper/aluminium optical tray cover and eject button, fan decorations, and a big cover for the SATA data cables, again made from aluminium and copper.


My favourite achievements are the curves, which I achieved after 13 or 14 tries, the bottom front grill and stealthed optical tray. Many of these wouldn't have been completed without the help of forum regulars - your tips/suggestions really helped and the aesthetics undoubtedly look way better as a result. Specifically, Bill Owen, voigts and monkeyPuzzle and also thank you bit-tech for the prizes from featuring my previous project in Custom PC Magazine - this helped boost the project into action months earlier than expected. As always, thanks for everyone who contributed to the project in my project log.