Well, it's been a looooong time since I did a how 2 guide. Been really bz, bz ,bz. However, I personally liked this mod so much I decided to do a guide for it for all the poor TT Shark owners who cant show off their nice hardware inside.

Here's what I did today. Rejoice all u TT Shark owners! U can haf a side window too. Most ppl think the Shark can't haf a window coz of that funny B shaped honeycomb grill. Well, here's a guide on how I did it. Took me about 3 hours of slow n steady meticulous work.


Here's how the standard Shark side panel looks like. Boring isn't it? Most fellas using such an expensive case most likely got uber 1337 hardware inside so they wanna show off the insides too.





1st step is, remove the B shape plastic molding. Then mask it up with tape like this.





Now put the B back on to draw out the outline for the window. Also draw the lines for where u want the border of the window to be.




Now to the cutting. Drill a pilot hole near the edge n insert the jigsaw blade to start the cutting. This is the most difficult part of any mod. Be very, very, very, careful with the cutting n take it slow n easy since this is a very expensive case. The scary thing about this part is that TT doesn't even sell optional side panels for the Shark so if u screw up..................



This post has been edited by ianho: May 11 2006, 09:24 PM

This is how it shud look like after cutting.





Now cut a piece of acrylic to size n tape it temporarily to the back of the cut panel like this.






Topside view of the attached acrylic. This is the time to mark out the shape of the window n then add an extra 1 - 1.5cm extra on all edges to allow for the double sided tape for the mounting.





This is how it looks like after drawing the outline of the actual window dimensions. Notice the extra 1.5cm I haf on the straight edges? The curved bit for the B will also need to add 1cm to the outside of the line. I did this by measuring many 1cm points all along the curved edge. Then it's just using freehand to join the dots n u get a 1cm extra edge all along the curved B.

In this pic u can c the extra 1cm I've addded to the curved edges I was explaining above. I've also started the cutting since everything is nicely measured n marked.






Finished cutting n this is how it looks like.







Both side panel n acrylic r complete now. Line up everything once u get to this stage to make sure u haf the 1 - 1.5cm extra all around for attaching the acrylic to the panel.






This step is optional n depends on whether u feel like doing it or not. I personally don't like raw metal edging. So I painted the edges black to gif it the final touch to make it look cleaner n more professional. Here's how it looks like after painting the edges.

Because of the weird acrylic shape, tak cabut ke?

Here's everything ready for final assembly. The acrylic is cut exactly to size n all edgings r filed smooth. The side panel is also filed nicely to gif it the final touch. Actually I forgot to mention this step in the above posting. U need to file the edges smooth b4 painting the edges.






Now stick the heavy duty double sided tape to the inside edges. There's also a choice in this step. U can just whack on the tape without caring for how it looks like since it's gonna b on the inside n nobody can c it.
My method is to go all the way for a fully clean look so I apply the tape carefully according to the edges n curves. There's a way to make the tape curve round nicely but it's really difficult to explain in words so I'll just show a pic. This is how it looks like on the inside with the tape carefully applied.







Acrylic appplied. Almost there. Just need to assemble the B n it's all done.






Voila! A Thermaltake Shark side window panel mod.

No lar. Won't cabut 1. It's nicely n firmly mounted with heavy duty double sided tape. Don't worry.

Really nice mod there men, but i would prefer not to have so many area being cut out..

cos it would shows some of the part inside the case that is not that aeshetic ...such as optical drive bay that has some wire hidden inside the cage.

or maybe a bit more curve would rock it men ...

anyhow it really inspire modder in getting it done without the need of so many proffessional tools

Well, u can basically cut any size window u like. I went for a big huge window.

Anyway, the main thing is most ppl take a look at the Shark n gif up on having a window coz of the B shaped thingy. As u can c from my guide, there's a way round to getting a window on the Shark. Once u follow my guide to getting round the B u then do any shape or sized window u like. So those who like smaller window just need to cut a smaller window after sorting out the B part.

This post has been edited by ianho: May 11 2006, 09:31 PM

really nice ha........ if ur service near me, sure i make one hehehee !!!!
so x nak bukak cawangan kat melaka ke !!!!

where is the pic for this ?

Bro ianho....another nicely done mod....respect....anyway, can u post a pic of the whole casing when it is in working condition...wanna see how it looks.

sweet mod....

i am thinking of modding my sidepanels too....

now it has a big X in the middle

The pix is right below that. Anyway, I'll take a close up shot of it later n post up.



Oh that ar? U hafta ask mr_summoner for pix of complete rig.

This post has been edited by ianho: May 12 2006, 03:48 AM

oo...bit-tech.net had this guy doin it too right? Hehehe...nice nice.

great fitting..nice job

that is nice touch man, now the shark look more pro! will done

@ianho

The TT Shark panel is exactly just like TT Eureka.
Yes, the weird honeycomb make it quite difficult to think how to mod it, BTW, I'm not sure how is TT Shark interior like, If Eureka panel modded like that, it will shows up the IDE section of the HDD tray, that will make it fugly with 'cecacings' and cable management will be clearly visible.

Mind to share with us, how the final setup on the casing will be. This will be a referrence especially to TT Shark and Eureka owners (like me) to mod their casing and side panels.

sweet mod there, i wonder whether adding some bling bling in between the plastic molding and the side panel would do

CALLING FOR mr_summoner

We hope you will post your rig image here. We want to see it

it much more nicer if u can have the same honey comb instead of the acrylic