Mod of the Month - September 2008

CopperHead

by modsquad
Worklog

Most of you who have been around bit-tech for very long at all took one look at the name under the title of this mod and are already waiting for me to shut up and get on with the pics. But for those of you who aren't as familiar with the work of one of our (and the world's) most talented modders, I'll give you a brief run-down.

Modsquad is, for all intents and purposes, a near-legend on our forums. His work, which is almost always housed in a basic, block-like Lian Li chassis, accounts for some of the cleanest, most detail-oriented out-and-out authentic mods here or anywhere. Black Narcissus is hailed repeatedly as one of the best mods ever, often compared with the great Orac itself.

And now, he's at it again with the same copper-based tenth-anniversary PC-A60 that we've seen somewhere before...

The beautiful beast, once loose from its box, went straight under the knife. After all, why wait on these things? Modsquad ripped right in with an oval hole for the 240mm radiator and the Aquacomputer Aquatube reservoir that would sit at the top of the case.

Modsquad's goal with the case included toning down the presence of the copper throughout. This could be done by dulling it down, adding an intentional tarnish, or...chroming the heck out of everything else! The Eheim pump has been given a chromed Full Metal Jacket, and even the 120mm radiator has been given some extra bling. Also of note is the hex mesh used on that radiator - if you're tired of looking at boring old fins, it doesn't really inhibit the airflow. Great thinking!

The reservoir near the front had to be given its own bit of bling - after all, why just leave it sit as boring? A copper plate and some black machine bolts help dress up the look - and the top.

Inside, modsquad is right back to his usual "no detail left behind," taking the time to create proper holes for things like the pump power cord and then making sure they have rubber moulding and giving the pump its own piece of polished copper to sit on. As is so typical with his work, this is only the beginning...

His latest update has been to dress up the drive bays with a covering of black anodised aluminium, which will help to streamline the look.

There is quite a lot of work that still needs to be done, but you can bet that with modsquad doing it, it will be a great final product. So if you haven't already, you should take a spin by his worklog to nose around, and maybe even subscribe to it while you're there.

On your way, though, if copper and chrome has you all excited, make sure you swing by and vote for CopperHead by modsquad as the bit-tech Mod of the Month for September!