THE DARK KNIGHT

[Ali Abbas]

hi guys, here is another entry of mine for the scratch build category. It is the riegning German Champion at the DCMM/Gamescom 2014 in Casemodding. eeehaaaa!!!!

 

it was a long way to this result.    

 

 

 

The challenge her for me was, building something and making it look machine made, but made by hand.

 

this baby is all about THE DARK KNIGHT film series, even though please note that I am not copying anything, thats too easy.

its my personal interpratation of what bruce waynes server would look like if he had one.

You will recognise certain elements from the films as well as the Batman films too seeing as they are basically about the same guy.

nevertheless, i will matt black the whole color scheme for giving it that dark sinister DARK KNIGHTish look.

 

Its based upon an AIXIT /Dell Poweredge R300 1HU Server which allowed me to really make it slim and sleek like i wanted.

it has batwings, pistons witha secret on off switch, side caskets for the speakers and the side guns like on the bat pod.

i will explain all the details as we go along. here is the first batch of pix.

you will be surprised when this one is painted just how much junk i have used and given a new cause. why buy, if you can modify..  

[Ali Abbas]

as you can see here, i have used jiucer pulp holders as the bat fan covers which look just like the front of one of the ninetees batcars.

the side boxes will hold the juicer fans and cool from both sides.

used a board game cone for the middle of the fan.

 

 

[Ali Abbas]

i made a clasp system so that i could slide off the back and front when needed, seeing as its a full fledge server. i wanted that i cann access the hardware at anytime so i will make a wire plug n socket system at the front and back.

thus i can slide the server out of need be.

 

click the albums for all the pics from here onwards.

 

[Ali Abbas]

just like the Dark Knight Pod, i wanted all sorts of little details which give it that overall dark knight look, like pistons hydraulic cylinders and supports and pipes etc.. i made the cylinders out of bike pumps with metal shiny chrome foil and wooden spoons for supporting them. they are enhanced with bata wing elements and garden sprinkler system pipes and fittings. when painted they looked swell.

they ven move and his when i trun the pc on later, engaging the secret switch.

 

 

here you cann see the little suspender support rods like the bat armor plates on the POD have. all made in hours of handiwork. plastic pipes on screwrods and melting , schaving carving and cutting.

 

the gun mount will be a special feature, its rotating on a salvaged tracking head magnet bearing i found in an old VCR adn even the motor is from the same machine. it will eventually make 3x 360° turns per minute when finished and runs independantly with an own 1,5 volt battery making at least 5 to 6 hours of HD video. it resembles a bat style space age gun scope. cutting edge cool stuff, i love it.

the axle is hidden by a jamjar lid which just sticks on the magnet.

 

 

 

 

[Ali Abbas]

if one closely looks at the new Batmobile Batpod in the DARK KNIGHT films, you will see little halogen type bat eye headlights at the top left and right. i made mine for the HDD and DVD activity leds out of water tap and filters, worked out really super. they have the blue inlay which is lit up eventually and blink red when active. a great effect.

i cased them in the batwing style headlight holder i made for the front top.

maybe you noticed the cd drive is not in the front anymore, its in the back top, thats why the whole build has a hump. the switch will be concealed in the front though.

 

i did some more work on the turret gun mount, scrapped some clamps for the deco too and bent some plexi for the protector guards.

 

dont forget this will all be matt black later on, thta will make the world of a difference.

[Ali Abbas]

then i started making some of the set off little details, covers bat style details just like the DK suit has. lots of piping for spreading wires all over the case.

DONT FORGET, ICANT JUST STICK WIRES THROUGH THE SIDES, BECAUSE THEN I WOULDNT BE ABLE TO SLIDE THE CASE OUT THE FRONT,  SO ALL WILL BE FROM THE FRONT OR REAR.

 

I DARKKNGHTERISED the pumps here, :-) they didnt lokk battish enough, now they do.

 

usually, a server does not have or need sound, my DARK KNIGHT will need and have both. this is the start of the side speaker caskets which will hold the speakers while resembling the bat pod side weapons.

 

i used the paper infeed of a salvaged shredder for the front air intake between the caskets and server case.

[Ali Abbas]

THE SIDE GUNS

 

are basically made of the left overs of a show shelf made of iron, i actually found this too at the junk yard and made table for my drill out of it. the top sawed off parts became the guns shafts and muzles here. worked great.

 

for some reason there is the picture of some girl slid in here , my pic hoster seems to have a sense of humor. i dont know her, would like to though. :-)

i also worked on all sorts of details like the front being more bat type, front usb`s bat elements and bat led cobers for the guns galore.

 

 

here the guns are mor or less mounted.

 

 

i started toi fix the first parts to the base upon all will rest and stand. also started the sound control panel in the front here.

i made multi gun muzzles for the red blue and white gun muzzles. i can eventually switch between the red and blue color scheme and the guns flash white with a strobo IC.

 

 

the first supports have found thier final destination.

[Ali Abbas]

so it was then  time for breakdown. getting putty paint and polish on it and then buuild up again with wiring, thats when the

coolermaster parts come into the game.

 

i used regular dispersion paint as abasis which can be well sanded too and fills in all nooks and crannies in the MDF wood.

after that i looked for the mattest of matt black i could find which turned out to be balck board paint. cobalt concentrated.

 

wiring is fun but for me a cumbersome chore, dont really like it, but i like the results on painted parts. thats when you always realise whehter the idea you had was really good or not.

i nevér really work according to a play so i am just as surprised as you are when it all actually fits into place. love working on the fly.

 

the main chassi cover was then covered in carbon look film. that gives me the decent looking humble background contrast against all the matt black.

 

her i am testing fans, lights wirings and color schemes.

 

front and back finishing

 

here you get a glimpse of what i meant with wiring it so that i can still slide the server out wthout severing the wires which would have otherwise coke out of the sides. that was really a pain in the neck work.

 

eehaaw, the bat eyey came out superb. love em..

 

so, next post will show final pics and ready and finished product. also the peripherie i made for it.

[Ali Abbas]

oh and before i forget, i also made matching keyboard which is being finished now too.

all the same style called STALAGMITE for w contest at we-mod-it.com and will show it here too.

its not just a keyboard, but a HDD docker and usb hub and card reader all in one.

some other cloud features are coming too.

[Ali Abbas]

yes