[USA] Nick Blackwell

[Tt Andy]

[Dirty South PC Mods]

Spy vs Spy
 

 
 

The Following was obtained from the History section of the Spy vs Spy Headquarters.
 
http://www.spyvsspyhq.com/history.html
 
Simple yet meaningful is one way to describe the wordless black and white comic strip that makes up Spy vs. Spy. The cartoon created in 1960 by Antonio Prohías, depicts the antics of two distinctly different yet similar spies who try to get the best of each other with clever yet strange schemes of espionage and deception.
 

Published in Mad magazine since 1961, Prohías began working on Spy vs. Spy in Cuban, but fled to the United States in 1960 just days before Fidel Castro took over the last Cuban free press.  When Prohías came to the United States he knew almost no English, but Mad magazine readers and editors quick accepted him and loved his work.
Before he got the job at Mad, he worked in Queens at a clothing factory by day and drew by night in his cramped apartment.  His earlier works “Erizo,†“Oveja Negra,†“El Hombre Siniestro,†and “Tovarich†would not work in his new country where the idea of communism was not as prevalent or well taken by pleasure readers. In Cuba if you were not a supporter of Castro you were considered a spy, and this is where he got the idea.  Prohías considered himself a spy and thus the idea was born.
 
 


Prohías submitted his rough pencil concept and design sketches to MAD’s editors on normal 8.5 x 11 paper and would latter redraw the entire carton twice the size for reproduction  in the magazine.  He would go through the comic strip with pain staking detail and make sure all edges and lines were detailed in his dark bold pen and would almost never ink over his pencil drawings. 
 

Spy vs. Spy is now a national icon, symbolic of the Cold War representing good and evil and the struggle for equilibrium.  Prohías would stealthily sign each of his Spy vs. Spy cartoons under the title panel, in Morse code, which spelled out the words "by prohias."  This is one of the most overlooked details in his work. -••• -•-- •--• •-• --- •••• •• •- •••
 
Antonio Prohías passed away February 24, 1998.  His masterpiece concept of the two spies battling it out lives on in the continuing work done by his successor Peter Kuper.

 
 
 
This project is sponsored by the good folks at.

http://www.thermaltake.com/home.aspx
 
 

http://www.evga.com/
 
Also brought to you by
 

http://www.v1tech.com/
 

http://www.precisioncomputing.net/
 

http://sanctumsleeving.com/
 

https://www.youtube.com/user/bodteklord
https://www.facebook.com/tekbydesign?fref=ts
 
And last but certainly not least. 

 
 
Specs:
Case - Thermaltake Core X9 x 2
Motherboard - EVGA Z97 FTW (Gaming System), EVGA Z97 FTW (Server)
CPU - Intel i5 4670K (Gaming), Intel G3258 (Server)
Ram - 4 x 4Gb G.Skill Ripjaws (8Gb per system)
PSU - 1 x 550w DPS G Modular PSU, 1 x 750w DPS G Modular PSU
GPU - 2 x ASUS Strix GTX 970  
SSD - 2 x 240 Gb Crucial M500 240Gb
HDD - 4 x 500 Gb in Raid 0
CPU Block - Pacific W1 x 2
GPU Block - Pacific Strix Water block x 2
Radiator - Pacific RL 480 x 4
Pump - Pacific P1 D5 Pump /w Silent Kit x 2
Reservoir - Pacific T33 x 3
Cables - Custom Sleeved Cables Sleeving supplies courtesy of Sanctum Sleeving
LEDs - BSMods 5050 RGB LED 16.5ft Strip /w wireless remote.
 
The whole idea is to put two complete systems in here all cooled with one large liquid cooling system.
 

The first shipment of parts has arrived. 2 x Core X9 Cases, 2 x Commander FX 10 port fan hub, 1 x 550w DPS G Modular PSU and 1 x 750w DPS G Modular PSU.
 

To give you an idea of the size of the double stacked X9. On the left of this pic is the chassis from a Thermaltake A-71 Full Tower. Each Core X9 is 1 inch taller and twice as wide.
 

Here we have One intact X9 and one completely disassembled.
 

 

 

The Core X9 has this built in plate that can be removed from the bottom panel so you can install a massive radiator in push/pull. However this is not going to work for what I have planned. For what I want to do the entire floor has to be cut out.
 

Remember kids always use proper safety gear when working with power tools and hazardous chemicals. It doesn't matter how careful you are. Things Happen.
 

The bottom of the top X9 has been cut out. 
 

Now after stacking up two empty X9 cases and lifting them both a couple times I quickly realized that once all the hardware and coolant has been added this thing is going to be extremely heavy. Therefore I am going to add casters. Each caster is rated at 150lbs.
 



Yesss much better.
 

The rest of the gear from Thermaltake has arrived.
 

 




EVGA sent two gorgeous Z97 FTW boards for our project.
 

Time to get these bad boys fired up on the test benches.
 

 
Alright Time to get started on the prep work for our paint.
 

 
This is what your case should look like after your preliminary sanding...Do not take it down to the bare metal.....Just take the shine off of it. it should look dusty like its been sitting there for a while.
 

 
Two of the rads are getting prepped for paint. They are going to be painted white.
 

 
Time to get started on cutting the Motherboard mounting plates ready for the Floating Motherboards.
 

 
Remember kids always wear the proper safety gear when working with power tools or hazardous chemicals. We don;t wear safety gear because we are not careful. We wear it for the things we can't control. (#### Happens!)
 

 
After the plates have been cut this is all that's left of them. Just enough to hold it in place.
 

 

 
And there we have it a Floating Motherboard.

 

Alright time to start shooting some paint.

 

 

I was worried that the additional white would not work well with the light ring...Glad to see I was wrong. It really makes the light pop.

 

While I waited for the paint to dry I got started on the sleeving.

 

I have two PSU's to sleeve. This 750w DPS G and another 550w DPS G.

 

Going to be using some Telios Sleeving from Mainframe Customs(http://mainframecustom.com/) Provided to me by the guys over at Sanctum Sleeving(http://sanctumsleeving.com/)

 

The double wire didn't quite come out as well as I hoped. Still not too bad.

One 24-pin down a hundred more wires to go.

[Tte Martin]

I love the Spy vs Spy cartoons!

[onevoicewild]

Hey Nick, Love this case and your theme. Do what you do and good luck!

[Boddaker]

Kick #### Nick!  Looking forward to seeing this project complete. 

[TekLord]

Go Nick!!!

[mrcapncaveman]

Diggin it so far.

[marcam923]

Looking great bro, can't wait to see the updates!

[skline00]

Great build log!

[Odinson-TBG]

Build is coming together really well!

 

Great to see a modder who doesn't outsource most of the build.

 

Can't wait to see it finished 

[Dan Woods PC Mods]

hey nick with the double wire you do not have to have both go into the connecter, you can cut it and solid it into one at the start so it looks neater at the motherboard end.

 

Build is looking awesome by the way.

[mrcapncaveman]

After doing the 24 pin its all down hill from there

[oddworld]

love this

[Dimentia Rivertrip]

Cheering mightily for Nick!  Go, Nick, go!!

[Dirty South PC Mods]

I am really liking the new Thermaltake GPU water blocks. Love the Modern Minimalist approach.

All but 4 fans have been sleeved.

 

Getting started with the EVGA Z97 FTW Motherboard. The heat sinks are going to be removed and painted White.

 

[mrcapncaveman]

PSU's look nice!

[onevoicewild]

Good luck Nick, This is going to be a killer Build!

[L3p]

Nice work so far! Keep going

[dO_ob]

Good work man

[Dirty South PC Mods]

Thanks Guys .......So the day has finally arrived. Today I get to use a real professional paint booth. A big Thank you to Camco Wheel and Axle for letting Me use their equipment. I really appreciate it.

 

  

Woot weeere heeeeere!!!

 

Ohhhhh Man!!!! That's a BIGGG paint booth. This is going to be EPIC!!!!!!!!!! 

 

This is the paint mixing station located just behind the paint booth.

 

My good friend Memo. He helps me out a lot around the shop. If you see a picture of me in this build log it was most likely him that took it....Thanks a lot for all you help bro.

 

lol Memo said I looked like a mad scientist in this shot.  

 

Alright at this point we have already shot the primer on most of the case was wet sanded it down with 400, 600, 1000 and 1200 grit sand paper. Used compressed air, a Wax and Grease Remover, and a Tack Rag to clean it off. It is now ready for the first application of the final color.

 

This is the paint Camco was kind enough to provide for the project. PPG DelFleet Essential in GM 50 Olympic White. It's a real Glossy Bright White.

 

This is after the second coat. Going to sand it down one more time and shoot the last coat.

[mrcapncaveman]

Looks good, Hopefully one more coat will even it out. That was  awful nice of them to let you use that paint booth. No dust and perfect drying conditions. Paint should look professional. Keep posting. Looking forward to it.

[Dirty South PC Mods]

I am happy to announce I picked up another awesome sponsor Avexir was kind enough to send us out some beautiful DIMM chips.

[mrcapncaveman]

Sweet!

[realneil]

I love those cases and that RAM. The progress on the build is good and it looks great too.

[Dirty South PC Mods]

Ok after 5 days of prep-work, sanding and painting at Camco the now White Core X9 is back at the shop.

 

This is as close to a show-car finish as we could get with the amount of time invested. 

 

Now that both the cases are together you can see the theme start to come together. All that's left is to finish is sleeving the PSU's, pumps and a few of the front panel wires...Then I can get started on the system integration and the detail work.

 

Both of the Pacific P1 Black D5 Variable Pumps kits have been sleeved. I really like the silencer look to them.

 

Sweeet the Button Head fasteners from Tek By Design (https://www.facebook.com/tekbydesign?fref=ts)  have come in. Thank you for supporting the project.....I have used their fasteners in quite a few builds. It is getting to the point where I use them almost exclusively. They have almost every length and thread you would need for your PC.