Mod of the Month - May 2008

Claudia Unit

by Filimon
Worklog

If you're a regular reader of our forums, you know who this guy is. We all love him. We all love his work. We all wish he spoke more than he does, because we're all a little lost sometimes.

It's no surprise that our great Russian friend Filimon is back up on the Mod of the Month list. What is odd is that for all of the absolute beauty that his latest mod, Claudia Unit, entails, most of us aren't really sure what it is. By one guess, it's going to be the best looking external Power Supply we've ever really seen.

No matter what it comes out to be, it features Filimon's usual tight-lipped worklog and excellent craftsmanship. Isn't that enough?

Filimon's started this project with an old velvet-lined jewellery box. One look at the warm wood tones and lining combined with Filimon's penchant for excellent metal work tells you there has to be some level of steam punk coming up. And in light of last month's mouse, could we be looking at the start of a whole computer, built from the ground up like this?!

It never takes long with Filimon for the metal to come out, and Claudia Unit is no exception. This time, he's chosen some great antique brass cabinet hardware for his main detail work. To keep the theme going, he's picked up a couple old voltmeters and given them a royal treatment, replacing their normal meters with elegant, hand-punched brasswork.

Adding to the mystery is a large fan grille on the bottom, made from the same antique brass as the other accents. This is a particularly nice touch, as it's not going to be seen generally - so the fact that Filimon puts so much effort into these hidden features helps his work gain such a following. Also added is a mains plug, which leads us to believe that we're either looking at a really tiny PC or a PSU.

Once the meters are in place, the mod is already shaping up externally, though we're pretty sure that we haven't seen the last of them being tweaked. Even if this was how he left them, though, we'd be pretty happy...

Yet more details as Filimon adds the top accents and front panel plate - but we've really had no clarification yet as to what they're for!

Of course, you're welcome to try your hand at a guess on what Filimon's building. If you take a good look at all of the pictures in his worklog, you'll find some large toggle switches, LEDs, fans and more! Put 'em together and whaddaya got? Beats the hell out of us, but we'll be keeping an eye out to find the answer!

In the meantime, if yet another amazing steampunk creation gets your attention, make sure to vote for Filimon and Claudia Unit as the Mod of the Month for May!