Do it one more time Benny!
 The DCMM (German Case Modding Championship) winner in 2004 and 2005 may have only achieved fifth place last year, but he’s determined to win back his crown. Armed with both a totally new concept, and a brand new Shuttle XPC Barebone, Benjamin Franz aka Benny, is confident of victory. Hours and hours of work and a mountain of scrap metal later, the result is phenomenal and worthy of the title.
Benny reveals some of his trade secrets to Shuttle.
For this year’s Case Modding Championship, Benny’s C3M came very close to straying into case con territory, but nevertheless stayed within modding contest rules as to what is permissible, and subsequently was entered in the competition.
(Case Mod = a modified computer chassis / Case Con = a self-built computer chassis)
With his latest case mod, Benny wanted to move a bit away from his previous styles, “which are simple high-gloss or semi-matt designs”, to “a kind of military style”. However, it still shouldn’t look dirty or rusty, and this is where colouring can also “be effective”. “As a result, I choose a khaki-grey, which is a lot like NATO’s colours”, said the 25 year old.
The remodelling of the G5’s chassis was itself easy enough: “I simply had to make the back panel area, as well as the supports, a good few centimetres shorter and remove a large part from the front to accommodate the new, rounded covers, and then I also had to custom build a new plate to act as a hard disk mounting,” explained the modding expert. And so not to interfere with its clean lines, Benny later installed the DVD drive under the G5’s frame.
So, from a Shuttle XPC Barebone SD32G5 has emerged a case mod with it’s own unique character: “You wouldn’t recognise this military style as one of my usual projects”, said Benny. In the past Benny’s mods have often taken more of an elegant look: special finishes in blue and purple, hot rod flames across aluminium and high-gloss polished surfaces. With the C3M, Benny has now taken a brave new step.
Benny’s newest masterpiece is not only special on the outside, but it’s also a treat on the inside as well. The Shuttle XPC Barebone SD32G5 based case mod is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, super-quick Sapphire graphics card and a Western Digital RaptorX hard disk with display window. All in all, it’s the latest technology packed into the smallest of spaces.
To ensure its safe travels, the C3M has its own tailored, camouflage case to protect it on trips. For the show, Benny is currently once again back at the workbench – being the perfectionist he is, he wants to make sure of another show-stopper to catch the eyes of the jury and audience alike.
We’re giving Benny the thumbs-up and wishing him success all the way to the DCMM.
Please find further information at: www.plexmod.de, www.dcmm.de |