Battlefield 2 by Butterkneter

Romeo Charlie Mike 415

The first system will be used by EA to promote the game. The brief was for a full, top-spec system with monitor and matching keyboard & mouse. For added completeness, themed speakers and joystick were included too.

The full specification is:

• Casetek 1018 chassis
  
• ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard
  
• AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Winchester) processor
  
• 1 GB Kingston HyperX PC 3200 DDR 400 memory
  
• BFG Tech GeForce 6800 Ultra OC graphics
  
• Two Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM hard drives in SATA RAID
  
• NEC 16x Dual Layer DVD Burner
  
• Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS soundcard
  
• Belinea 101901 19" TFT monitor

A good camouflage paint job was essential to the success of this project - luckily there was enough time and budget to go one step further than a camo CaseSkin. Aerosol paint tins would not give the fine control necessary, so Oliver bought an airbrush kit, compressor and spray pistol. Believe it or not, but these cases represent his first experience with airbrushing.

The paint used was water-based, allowing Oliver to mix it down for use with the spray gun. The process was fourfold:
<ol><li> Base coat</li><li> Desert paint</li><li> Camouflage spots, and finally<li> Dirty highlights, for that well-worn look</li></ol>


The bullet holes were first drilled, and the surrounding finished using a Dremel. It sometimes spoils the mystique, but thse grab handles are common kitchen cabinet handles from a hardware store.



The front panel, formerly the drivebay door, is removable, revealing the customised power switch and activity LEDs - bought from a local electronics store. The CB radio microphones were sourced from eBay, and despite much excitement from the community suggesting they be used for team-radio, they are currently wired to the PSU to show a channel number and make some noise, but nothing more.



The underside of the motherboard tray is used to full effect with a perspex window and LED-illuminated Battlefield 2 logo. The radio antenna is a spare part for a car, and is for show only - it is not for WiFi networking as some suggested.