Mod of the Month - November 2008

HAF932

by ranlai
Worklog

Cooler Master's HAF932 case impressed us when we reviewed it in October, but the one thing that divided opinion was the looks. Let's be fair now, it's a bit of a minger and we've been secretly hoping that someone in the bit-tech community would give what can only be described as the Hummer of the case world a makeover.

That's exactly what ranlai is hoping to do with his HAF932 mod and it's showing a lot of promise in its early stages of construction.

As ranlai's past projects have proven, he's a meticulous planner and this project is no exception to that rule - any complex project needs at least some planning. Obviously though, some modders plan more than others - ranlai is at the extreme end of the scale. And that's definitely not a bad thing because it gives us a great idea where this case is heading even before he starts modding.


There are detailed design drawings and an animated GIF (which weighs in at a hefty 5.42MB - be warned!) showing how all of the pieces will connect together. It's all pretty elaborate so far and each piece will be machine-cut from plexi.


After the incredibly thorough design phase, ranlai set about stripping the HAF932 down and that's probably a bit of an understatement! By the time he'd finished stripping the HAF down, there was almost nothing left of it - only the basic guts including the motherboard tray, drive cage and expansion brackets, along with the bottom and top portions of the case.


Once he'd machined all of the pieces, ranlai then set about assembling the pieces - the first task was to start building the side panels before moving onto the front. The main part of the front had to be moulded into its shape - ranlai executed this perfectly using a strip bending technique I mastered in my Design & Technology class all those years ago and the case is really shaping up well.


He's also started work on a custom DVD drive housing at the bottom of the case and, like many other parts of ranlai's design, this has piqued our interest and we can't wait to see how it's going to turn out. Although ranlai has only been working on this case since the start of October, he's already making good progress and the project is moving fast - he's hoping to finish it before the end of December!

What we've talked about here only really scratches the surface on the attention to detail that ranlai has shown in this project already. If you want to read more about his crazy exploits, you'll have to head over to ranlai's worklog to check them out.

And if you think ranlai's HAF932 project has what it takes to be crowned Mod of the Month for November, make sure you vote for him in the forums!