A modder by the call sign “Jake of all Trades” built this impressive Victorian-era PC case mod and I thought I’d share it with you all. It’s not quite as fancy as some of the others featured in this series but is special just the same.
For the tour click below!The real kicker for me was this label he made for the unit:
Hilarious – the stilted Victorian prose puts the icing on this mod’s cake. But let’s continue, shall we?
Here’s a great feature right off the bat – the memory card slots have a protective sliding boilerplate:
“Quickly! An army of steam-powered robots hast arrived in a dirigible and has opened fire with their piston-driven machine pistols! Close the slots by God… close them ALL!!!!”
The slot labeled “GP” is for an Xbox 360 wired controller (the end dongle part) which is an interesting design choice.
The modder also built custom buttons and switches for this project. This is a very industrious and time-consuming decision, which is why it’s awesome.
Another great thing about the details on this case in general is how he “distressed” them all to look worn from years and years of… steam motion or something. Very cool. Charles Babbage would be proud.
Even the disc trays have little moving gears on them – it’s like a modern-age Antikythera Mechanism! (I promise that’s my last reference to computers in antiquity!)
Here’s an awesome feature. When finished the gauges will show CPU and internal temperatures, plus there’s a simulated fire boiler. Check out this Youtube video to see it in action. Very neat!
A close-up of some of the pipes and other details on the case. The thing on the right lights up as well.
I love the steam chimney on the left, though I’d have to think it kind of makes this PC hard to fit onto some desks. Oh well! Kind of reminds me of the props in the very-well-done [visually] movie “Wild Wild West”. Too bad they didn’t bother with a script.
A good view of the front. This was all modded from a very ordinary off-the-shelf PC, but the results are still very cool. Again, remember to pick a theme, stick with it, and really go for it! Did this mod need a simulated boiler? No. Is it awesome that is has one? Yes!
You can check out more pics of this project at Jake of all Trades’ Flickr page.
-Ben Heckendorn
www.benheck.com
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