Meet the Modder: Tim 'Hukkel' Warning

If you were to name three modders, past or present, that you look up to, who would they be and why?

Oh wow, that is so incredibly hard. I like how you ask me for the ones I look up to and not to choose the best case modders ever - haha! I will have to start with Jesse Palacio. When I started out with modding I used to see case mods from him all over the web and always thought to myself, 'Wow one day I want to make casemods as good as him and have them featured like his are.' . I was lucky enough to meet him at Computex 2017. Such a humble person for such a great talent. I look up to him, for sure. 

Second would be Ronny Hara. I have the same feeling with him as with Jesse. His case mods were always amazing, really high quality, good finish. And in person he is also super humble, friendly, and funny. Big respect to him. 

As for the last one, I will have to name my personal good friend Peter Brands. Not only are we good friends in real life - so I know him from experience to be as real as it gets - but when a camera comes he is the first one to leave the scene and feels very uncomfortable when people come to him and tell him how much they love his work. He is one of the best water-cooling wizards in the community and can make something very complicated look simple but eye-catching. The real modifications he does to things usually are not very visible as the water-cooling setup will have all your attention. It is a talent I look up to for sure. 

I am now kind of bummed about how many case modders I have not been able to talk about here. Maybe it is for the best, as I have met so many over the last few years, and there are so many I respect. I love being in this community and meeting people all over the world with this same madness called case modding.

Great guys all around, and I think you hit the nail on the head there with just how decent most of the modding community is. Don't worry, though, Tim, the others will all get their chances too! But what about you? Can you show me something you can do that's unique to you?

Do you want me to show you a trick? I can burp the national anthem! Seriously, though, I don't know. I think it is something that someone else has to say about me. Something that others think is unique about what I do. What do you think is unique about what I do or have done?

Well, I certainly would be impressed by seeing you burping the national anthem, so I feel a video is in order here my man! What about if you could build a PC using any parts ever made - which do you think you would choose?

I would say the ones that are about to come out next. I truly think the entire industry (hardware plus water-cooling plus case modding) has grown immensely, and most of all has diversified over the last five years. The choice we have is getting bigger by the month, and in all honesty I think hardware is getting better quality and looking better constantly. Motherboards nowadays are not only small electric miracles, but they are designed better in terms of aesthetics each generation. Look what Nvidia and AMD have done with their own aluminium coolers the last generations. Chassis producers are really trying to get into the minds of builders and modders to see what they want: cover panels, modularity, premium materials. Yes, I have my favourites, but I look forward to getting new favourites in the future.

Ahh, the diplomatic approach, I see, but I can thoroughly understand the sentiments. The PC building and modding scene has changed so much over recent years, so who truly knows which direction it will take next? Speaking of which, what do you think the future has in store for you then, over the next 12 months?

I hope to be able to meet friends in the community again at events. Next to this just doing case mods that I enjoy doing and getting a positive response to them at events from visitors. It is not the reason I do case modding (the opinion of others), but it does put a smile on my face when people enjoy looking at what I created. Other than this, I am not sure what I should hope for. I don't live in a country where I could do this full-time and make a living, and doing deadline after deadline just to make ends meet doesn't sound like my kind of fun. I would like to participate with one or multiple brands to design and create new hardware. Just for the experience of doing it and making a little money on the side to pay for this expensive hobby, haha. 

Going to events and meeting the folks behind the monikers certainly has to be one of my favourite parts too; it makes it possible to forge strong friendships and can really change lives. Before you go, though, you must of course show us around your modding space! 

My modding space consists of two small areas. I have occupied the old baby room in the house. This is where I do all the clean work on systems, and here is also where I have my stash of random PC stuff, our family PC, and my vinyl plotter.

I do the dirty case mod work in our shed, where I also have loads of stuff belonging to my two daughters and bicycles. It is basically a very old Black & Decker Workmate and various tools like the jigsaw and files and drill and plexiglass bender (ghetto style).

Haha, that's what we like to see! Chocka-block to the brim with modding goodness. Thank you so much, Tim, for taking the time to show us around!