ToTecHniKa by Alexis Ftoulis

Side panels and artwork

The most time consuming part of this project (along with the top cabinet) was the right side panel. Creating the eagle totem, drawing and using pyrography (pyrography, for those who don't know is decorating by burning), took more that 40 hours. Designing the eagle was extremely difficult, mainly because I wanted to make each side's design identical and I had to make it match by hand, which meant a lot of concentration. After that I had to finish it off using a very low heat pyrograph which seemed it would take me forever! Patience is definitely a virtue in modding.

Here are some details added a bit later with red cadmium paint and by rubbing with brown paint.


Later I cut it to the desired shape, added more pyrography details on the edges and drilled holes for it to be attached to the main panel. I also glued the eagle on a 25mm pine piece of wood to build the rest of the casing which I design so I could house LEDs and some wires inside to create more lighting effects afterwards.



To finish the casing I cut 5mm marine plywood which I attached it behind the eagle totem using 2mm wood screws. I also bought a wooden frame which later I pyrographed and sculpted for the light to pass through. I painted it red with vitraux acrylic and glued on the frame to give a better lighting effect as that way it minimizes the amount of light and creates a more ambient effect.

I used a red 24cm strip of LEDs which I placed on the right and left bottom side of the casing.
Aluminum was placed on the frame corners after I painted them black for aesthetic reasons.




I created four little "LED towers" out of wood so I could illuminate the eagle, using white LEDs.



I attached them using very strong epoxy glue and passed the cables, after I sleeved them, through the holes I drilled on the totem.



The rest of the side panel was enclosed by a steel and aluminum frame and a pair of red acrylic frames. Not only did this give a better look to the panel, it also increased the distance between the panel and and the motherboard tray for more comfortable and convenient cable management.



On the aluminum I added isopon 40 to create a rough surface which I sculpted after it dried with my Dremel and finished it with the usual painting technique and also clear varnish. In the end everything attached easily either with some double sided tape or screws. The left side panel was much easier though.



At the beginning I created two totems to attach on the panel but later on I decided to use only one. The totem was made out of 3mm wood and also red acrylic for background.


At the same time I created a double front intake panel for the fans featuring a lizard which has been cut to improve airflow. Here you can see some mods I did on the XSPC acrylic dual reservoir and also on the Nesteq Fanmax fan controller.