Let's take a trip back to early 2012. With Project OSIDIAS stalled, I was finding myself in need of a creative outlet. All the hardware I'd originally bought for OSIDIAS was being used in a Phantom case I'd received from NZXT, but was starting to show it's age a bit. New hardware was in order, but I wasn't willing to just stuff it in another *gasp* ATX size case. Although they had also given me a Vulcan due a continuing partnership at the time, I still had to go a little smaller. You see, the SFF landscape was a little different back then. There are quite a few awesome SFF case options from independent manufacturers available now and smaller than ever, however, cases from Lian LI and Silverstone represented the bulk of what was available at the time. This really only left me with one choice. I had to do a scratch build. It had to be small enough that I could cut every component needed on my little Romaxx CNC. I also wanted a relatively quick build. I figured I'd spend most of my time up front in the design work, and after parts were cut, it should be a quick assembly. So, how did that turn out?
Well, anyone that has followed my design work from the beginning, should see that I lean towards a symmetrical, but slightly industrial feel. I'm fine with angles and layers to create depth, but try to avoid ancillary bits that appear weak or completely without purpose. While I didn't have any real idea what the finished mod would look like, I did have some idea of what I wanted to do with the internals. In fact, most of my scratch designs start from the inside out. I determine hardware placement, and then figure out how or what I want to 'wrap' around them. Hardware placement determines things like airflow, and ultimately the end design. I am also a fan of the 'core' concept. All of my internal hardware must be mounted to a core that can be removed in full from the 'case'. After Project: Rogue and it's very tightly packed internals, I wanted something easy to work on should troubleshooting be necessary. All the preceding actually led me to publish a couple of articles on my old website, which then were reposted here at smallformfactor.net. Those 2 articles cover the design evolution and thought process in more detail, and the below was intended to basically pick up at part 3. Well, 7 years late is better than never right?
Well, anyone that has followed my design work from the beginning, should see that I lean towards a symmetrical, but slightly industrial feel. I'm fine with angles and layers to create depth, but try to avoid ancillary bits that appear weak or completely without purpose. While I didn't have any real idea what the finished mod would look like, I did have some idea of what I wanted to do with the internals. In fact, most of my scratch designs start from the inside out. I determine hardware placement, and then figure out how or what I want to 'wrap' around them. Hardware placement determines things like airflow, and ultimately the end design. I am also a fan of the 'core' concept. All of my internal hardware must be mounted to a core that can be removed in full from the 'case'. After Project: Rogue and it's very tightly packed internals, I wanted something easy to work on should troubleshooting be necessary. All the preceding actually led me to publish a couple of articles on my old website, which then were reposted here at smallformfactor.net. Those 2 articles cover the design evolution and thought process in more detail, and the below was intended to basically pick up at part 3. Well, 7 years late is better than never right?