Puzzlebox 2.0 The Second Coming

Puzzlebox 2.0 The Second Coming

Love them or loathe them, horror films are hugely popular and a staple of modern Hollywood. If I asked you to name something common to most horror films, you would probably think of blood or zombies or screaming blondes, right?
There is another common element: sequels! There were three Scream movies, we had eight Nightmare on Elm Streets and the Friday the 13th franchise made it to ten (!) in various guises. My chosen favourite, Clive Barker's Hellraiser had four theatrical releases and many more straight-to-video.

My point is this: if Hollywood can remake old classics then why can't I? George Lucas did OK out of it (despite Jar-Jar bloody Binks).

Puzzlebox 1.0 Revisited

It has been two years since I completed my original Hellraiser Puzzlebox case mod. It was my first built-from-scratch custom case and involved a lot of trial and error. Given how well it was received - it won Corsair's Mod of the Mod - it's a funny thing to admit but I didn't really know what I was doing.

I had tons and tons of ideas but most of them had to be thrown out because of my lack of knowledge and money. Back then I didn’t have any sponsors and had to buy everything I needed out of my own pocket, which ultimately limited the scope somewhat.

So why build another case mod on the same theme? Just as Mr Lucas found, creating something on a budget leads to creative compromises and you lie awake at night wondering what it could have been if only more money had been available. This new mod is my way of creating a Puzzlebox the way I had originally hoped; two years ago I didn't even know stuff like a 7-inch retractable LCD touchscreen exists and CNC milling plexi sheets was an impossible dream for me.

Don't get me wrong - I am still very happy with how the old cube turned out. That project was my ticket in to the modding scene and probably the reason im writing this article here on bit-tech today. So sit back and check it out and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Puzzlebox 2.0

This cube follows the basic theme of the first one - it is an all-plexiglass build. The big difference is this time I had the great fortune to have access to a CNC machine. Or actually I had access to a good friend who happens to have a CNC machine. The panels were cut by Max Erlandsson aka Sleepstreamer. If you haven’t seen his work before you definitely should take a look at his Hangar 101 and Cold Fusion cases because they are incredible.

But first, some messages from Pearl & Dean

Before I begin with my worklog I want to thank the companies who kindly supported this project. Without their help it simply would not have been financially viable for me to have built this case.

I know it's tempting to just jump straight to the end to see what the final result is like. Below are a couple of teaser pics to tide you over while you read the construction pages:

Now let me show you how it all began...