BOSS: FX57 by TechDaddy

Foreword by Wil Harris

Craig Tate, aka TechDaddy, is one of the most talented modders around today. We spotted his latest project over in the bit-tech Project Logs forums. We asked him to write it up so we could share it with you here. Here's a quick preview of what is to come:

Enjoy!

BOSS: FX57 by TechDaddy

Hello and thank you for reading the in-depth log of the creation of my newest mod, the BOSS : FX-57

Like many other bit-tech readers out there, modding has taken a very special spot in my heart. Before computers though, I was an avid lover of muscle cars. Maybe it was all of the Hot Wheels I played with as a kid, maybe it was the 70's hot rods driving around in the street... I don't know. But I learned brands, makes, models - I could be riding my bike and pick out a year of a particular makers car simply by the tail lights! I loved them.

My love for old muscle cars is still there. I've forgotten many of the facts that I had steeled away in my childhood brain, but there are a few very strong points that reverberate with a stunning clarity. One of those is the 1969 Ford Mustang BOSS 302. The fast back lines on these street screamers, as well as the rear spoiler and the ground effects package simply turned this car into a beast. It was (and still is to this day) utterly sexy. If I see a mint BOSS 'Stang driving around my home town, I pull over and admire it. No lie. I have been late to work several times in the past just to get a closer look at these beautiful street beasts.

A few pics to whet your appetite:

The driving force behind BOSS becomming a reality was the CoolerMaster 2005 Case Modding Contest. The contest was a 3 part contest, pitting the winners of the previous around against each other until the final round. Round 1 to Round 3, the pool was whittled down to 5 modders (tips hat to Coolmeister, _ferry_, Mr.Kholl, and SuAsDu) for the final round. All through the previous 2 rounds, CoolerMaster had been awarding winners with CoolerMaster merchandise so that by the time you got to the final round, the contestants would pretty much all have a good base of computer components needed to make (or start to make) a final round mod. All cases had to be original and created/built in that final round window. BOSS came from this final round. While writing out my plans, I had *originally* sketched out a bitchin' armor mod with knights, castles etc, but I scrapped it in favor of the BOSS mod.

Driving concepts from the start were that I wanted it to be a color that not everyone else was using on their cases, but it needed to be accurate to the color line that was released on this particular Mustang. I wanted styling cues to flow so that when people looked at it, they thought:

• BOSS Mustang
  
• Horsepower... and lots of it.
  
• I wanted the inside to remind people of an engine compartment.
  
• It needed a scoop for the blowhole.

Using those primary thoughts, I started sketching out my plans. I am still very much a manual guy, I need to learn Sketch-up in a BAD way![/list]
The case used was won during the CoolerMaster modding contest. I chose it as I was starting to plan out the underpinnings for the BOSS mod. I had it in my head that the lower front of the bezel of that Centurion RC-531 was screaming "front grill" of a car. Smooth lines were evident all over this case... not a really busy case, but a classy and clean case.

The 1969 Boss was a classic body style. Not really ornate, but it exuded power with it's body lines. It was clean and smooth. I felt the 531 was going to be the best fit for a muscle car mod. The Fastback is one of my favorite attributes of the body style. You will see that I tried to incorporate that design decision later on.