Case Mod. Tie Fighter style.

I started with the side panels (wings), which were cut from plywood. The cockpit of the TIE Fighter was most problematic part to build. After several failed attempts to create a ball out of Bondo, I finally found the perfect sphere—a Jolly Ball (a pet store item). A plywood cutout that I installed inside the ball holds all the computer components, and PVC piping connects the cockpit to the wings. Accurate detailing was created using wood filler, wood strips, glues, paints, and caulking. The whole thing was painted, and the desktop surface (Plexiglas) was attached.

The wood cutout allowed me to divide the cockpit into two chambers. The front chamber includes a FlexATX motherboard and an Athlon XP 1800+. All other components, including an 80GB hard drive, the power supply, and a CD ROM drive that pops out the bottom, are fitted into the rear chamber. The green laser canons on the front of the cockpit are the power-on and HDD activity LEDs. Power and reset buttons are built into a side panel. Red LEDs light up the interior of the case. A 12cm fan draws air out of both chambers.