Reader's Drives - Blade Runner Showcase

Posted at: Wednesday 2nd July 2008 by John Nulty

John Nulty builds his own replicant case in tribute to the iconic film.

It's been more than 25 years since the cult classic 'Blade Runner' graced the silver screen. The film was released at a time when I was becoming interested in science fiction, and it was a travesty that its rightful place in popular culture was initially occupied by 'ET: The Extra-Terrestrial', featuring an alien with a long index finger and a penchant for phone boxes. I couldn't let the film's anniversary pass without making a gesture towards the classic movie. My old Supermicro Tower (originally from Panrix) had previously received attention from my Dremel with the addition of a blowhole for a blue LED fan, but articles in CPC spurred me on to undertake something more challenging. Little did I know at the time that it would take 12 months to turn my thoughts into something tangible that would be ready to face the critical eyes of the Custom PC modding fraternity.

I was torn between wanting to create something dramatic and in keeping with the film, and the need to be realistic, given the space available in our small study. The case also had to be robust, due to my nomadic lifestyle, but the innards had to remain accessible in order to be easily upgraded. While a 'Spinner' mod would be fabulous, I'd probably have needed to resort to new, miniaturised components, and I wanted to make use of the kit in my current rig. I decided that a mod based on the Tyrell Corporation building was the most sensible way forward, and it would still allow me to extrapolate a few ideas I had, particularly with lighting effects.

In my line of work I can get by without a formal plan if urgency demands it, but my former woodwork teacher's words rang in my head about 'measuring twice and cutting once', so I started with Google SketchUp. I soon realised that I was undertaking a challenging project when I found that I couldn't make my concepts fit exactly on-screen. However, Deckard would never be phased by such nuances, so I pushed on with the build.

A trip to the local hardware store and an online session with my credit card at Maplin, enabled me to obtain the base material (18mm jointed softwood timberboard and 6mm plywood) and the cool switches, LEDs, fans and cold cathodes.

I started by cutting the basic box shape sections and making sure they fitted together, but without a proper jig (not a quick dance, but a frame to clamp the wood together), it was always going to look different from the initial SketchUp plans. Undeterred, I forged ahead and produced the horizontal base on which to secure the motherboard tray from an old HP case salvaged from the local tip. I modded this by cutting the tray and attached back panel away from the rest of the case, and then riveted the joints to keep it robust. I cut a 120mm hole for the inlet blowhole, and then drilled a row of 10mm holes at an angle to allow air to be pulled into the case by convection. These would also add to the moody lighting effect. I then started on the sidepieces. I cut the holes for the drive bays using a hacksaw, and finished off with a router (not a data communications node, but a wood-cutting tool with precise depth and contour control). Then the economies of using timberboard instead of solid pine hit me hard. One of the side panels split in two along a block join, eliciting a few choice words and a short pause in my progress.