Maximum PC

Hey guys, my uncle is retiring from the Navy sometime within the next year or so after 24 years of service, and I want to build a computer for him before he moves to South Carolina. What I'm asking you guys is, do you know of any model ships that I'd be able to fit a mATX board into? If its possible I'd prefer a frigate, he served most of his time on them. I wouldn't be opposed to fabbing on myself, but I'd need some guidance/input on how to go about it.

Thanks for any input!

It would have to be a big model.





Ted

Yeah I know. By the time it becomes wide enough, its incredibly long.

The solution? use HALF of a ship. Cut it in half, lengthwise, right down the middle. That's what most people do for mods like this. Leaves you lots of room, and it can still look good.

That's a good idea.

Idea:

mini-ITX mobo.





Ted

Or... You could buy a nuclear submarine, and then that could power rooms full of workstations.

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For Folding

Most..

Smilies..

Ever..

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/index.php

My guess is you will need to try something in the 1/75 to 1/100 scale depending on the ship you choose? Looking at something like the current USS enterprise that 1/100 scale will give you ~1.5' in width but it would be 11' long.

You'll definitely have to only use part of the ship if you want it to work.

Another thing you COULD do is get a kit and put half of it on either side of the case?

Yup.I found a guy that did this with a Mini-ITX.



I'll think about that too.

Something else you may want to think about is a case with a USN theme to it. Get a nice and decent sized case, something simple. Then find someone who can do nice artwork (like the airbrush jobs you see on cars and trucks) and have them airbrush some nice Navy theme images on the case.

Just a thought...
Ron

I thought of that too Ron. I can do all of the airbrushing etc. myself. He's a chief, that's a big thing in the Navy, so I could design the case around that.

I would work that angle. Since he served primarily on Frigates (FF) I would do the front with a focus on CPO using the CPO insignia. Every ship the Navy has also has a ships insignia. I would maybe try to find out which frigates he served on and incorporate their insignias on the sides as well as a few frigate images. Place emphasis on his rate & rank (maybe CPO chevrons) on the front and run from there. There are 3 CPO ranks, E7, E8 & E9 (Chief PO, Senior Chief PO and Master Chief PO).

You can pass along to your uncle that when I spent considerable time working directly with the Navy aboard ship all the young sailors waiting to get out wanted to leave the Navy, get a small Khaki colored dog, name it Chiefie, then kick it around.

Ron

I'll make sure to tell him that He's an E7. Thanks for the ideas. I'm not sure what the actual rating for it is, but he's a diesel mechanic turned admin.

What about mounting something like this on top of the case? (or maybe inside?)

Desktop model of US frigate

And just theme the case with his rank/rating (Navy ranks are so confusing!)

A matching wood case would look awesome under the Enterprise.


Also, ranks:

Enlisted
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=260

Officers
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=266

Mods are artistic views to me, not 1:1 re-creation of the exact example we're using. Here, it doesn't need to be a ship...just a theme of a ship.

A nice case, haze grey with a black belly, hull number, and (damnit if I can't remember their real names but...) the list-lines uner the hull number. A little polished brass here and there should keep him happy during his retirement. I can even go into the NEX here at 32nd street and get a chief's cap for about $25, as they have the largest anchors I know of to rip off and use.

With that, you have the perfect Naval case. With some subtle little touches here and there, it doesn't have to look like a ship to know it's a ship. Ships aren't clean and pretty...there's some teracotta showing through here and there, a little warpage (a lot on an old Fig), and the non-skid on the top may be missing here and there and showing the green primer.

What would be totally kick ass, would be a mechanical device that can move a small hammer to ring a bell off the Speaker header on the Front I/O pins. Starts up, "Ding, Ding". Windows loads with "ship's whistle.wav" even.

But with all that...he may pick you up by the throat and calmly tell you "stop it, I'm out".