Mod of the Month - June 2009

Project: Pyramid

by Gup
Worklog: Here

Sci-fi addict Gup's Project Pyramid is the second mod this month that's got a film or TV series in mind theme wise. We haven't seen too many Pyramids here on bit-tech but that's not to say they're unpopular although we'd imagine they are tricky to work with compared to the right angles of a cube or tower.

With a clear influence from the film and TV series Stargate, Project Pyramid won't just be a pretty faced HTPC though. The custom case features plenty of innovation with our favourite part being an awesome motorised panel. Be sure to check out a video of the panel in action here. With his wife hating PCs and all the cables associated with them, Project Pyramid will certainly be different


Project Pyramid will take its external design from the space-faring Pyramid in the film 'Stargate'. Being an HTPC though, this won't be a huge mod able to rival a real Egyption pyramid in size, instead its dimensions are limited to 35cm x 35cm which is pretty small when you think about it, even more so because we're talking about a pyramid shape here and not a cube. This calls for some diddy hardware and of course a Commel lV-677 mini-ITX motherboard and a slimline optical drive were first on Gup's shopping list.


The frame of the case was quickly constructed out of aluminium and the core components were installed. However the main feature of the case, the motorised door, took a fair amount of work to get right. Above we can see the frame and the motor mechanism in place with a slot for a small 5in PSOne screen to be added at a later date.


With the components and side panel mechanism installed, next to be fitted were the acrylic side panels, onto which the final design would be secured. Above we can also see some early external design work which included some help from Mrs Gup! A wife helping with modding - whatever next?! Unfortunately the design which was based around foam proved to be trick to work with and didn't have the hard look and clean lines Gup was looking for. It was back to the drawing board.


The final design used different materials including a layer of wooden sections over the acrylic panels onto which a final layer would be secured. The final layer itself comprises of neatly cut sections sprayed with copper coloured paint. We agree with Gup and Mrs Gup that the initial designs didn't do Project Pyramid justice but they appear to have nailed it this time. The final design looks fantastic and we can't wait to see it finished - head on over to the worklog for the latest updates!

If you'd like to vote for Gup's Project Pyramid, head over to our forums.