A Modder's Guide To Acrylic

Some final words

I hope you've enjoyed this little treatise on what is probably my favourite material in all of modding. More to the point, I hope it's inspired some of you to look beyond the simple "Oooh, UV fluorescent with cathode" approach that acrylic mods seem to get.

Acrylic at its worst can be a garish mess of various transparent colours, glued together roughly or fastened poorly with screw-heads hanging out and cold cathodes everywhere. An LED fan here, a fluorescent something or other there, packed with a rat's nest of cabling.

However, at its best it can be the only case that goes from solid black opaque panel to perfectly translucent window with no visible seam. The reservoir can be built directly into the front panel, creating a "waterfall" look through careful bends. Wires can have clear or opaque channels formed that are fused directly into the shell, hiding the unattractive while flaunting the carefully planned.

Acrylic, my friends, is the only material where a case can be made to be genuinely just two pieces – the base, and some form of entry. It can be crafted to something that no metal, no wood, no anything can make.

It is truly, truly unique. And if you haven't taken the time to experiment with it as modders for anything more than a window here or a bay reservoir there (or even many of the pre-made cases, save the C3 brand and its meticulous attention to detail), I would say you're missing out. Hopefully, this article has inspired you to fix that, and I'll be seeing a new flood of original acrylic mods in the forums soon.

Until then, thanks for reading – and mod on!!