Battlestar Galactica Case Mod by Boddaker

Front I/O Panel Remodeling

The IO panel and power/reset button area was re-integrated back into the landing deck, above the LCD cluster. A sheet of 1/8” acrylic was cut to size and the IO panel grafted into the front end of it, Bondoed into place, then sanded smooth before being primed ready for further painting. Additional styrene was then used as panelling around the I/O section to match it to the front panel.

Landing LEDs

I made up an authentic landing deck graphic in Adobe Illustrator (special thanks go to Lee Stringer for the reference pics!), had it printed onto an adhesive vinyl sheet, and laid it down onto the acrylic. I wanted to add running lights to the landing deck to give it some life, as well as illuminate the inside of the bay so I purchased a sequential blinking light kit for $8 that had 15 LEDs.

The kit contained all the electronic components needed for it to work, and all I had to do was solder them to the circuit board. I mounted everything to the PCB except the LEDs, which needed to be relocated to the landing deck. To do this, I snagged an old floppy drive cable so it would be much easier than having to run 30 individual wires; this kept it all organised and flat. I also replaced the red 5mm LEDs that came in the kit with my own blue-white 3mm LEDs. The kit allows me to adjust the speed and duration of the light pulses via two trim pots, so after testing, I was able to dial it in perfectly to suit my needs.

Test Fitting

An important part of any built is to see if it all actually goes together! Even though I spent time matching up the sides to the roof, it was worth seeing whether the Engine Pods had any effect, or if the front panel was too large or the case was under stress from the extra equipment I had added, even if styrene plastic is pretty light. The good news is, that all my measurements and checks before had paid off and it all sat together perfectly.