Unforgiven: A Metallica Tribute Case Mod

The clash of grinding and shaping metal is music to the ears of a seasoned modder, especially so to Michael “OneVoiceWild” Kaiser who has crafted a tribute to one of the greatest heavy metal bands in history: Metallica. Using a Corsair 900D full-tower case, Michael’s “Unforgiven” features hand-cut metal artwork and  hardline tubing complementing the gold-themed ASUS Z87 Deluxe mainboard.

Modder Alias: onevoicewild
Real name: Michael Kaiser
Age: 57
Live: Oklahoma,USA
Occupation: Air conditioning
Years in Computers: 15 years
Length of time Modding:  5 years
Other Modded Cases: Bender Corsair 800D and an – X Box 360
Personal Website:  https://www.facebook.com/michael.kaiser.5458

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The Build: Unforgiven – The Metallica Build

This is the first Corsair 900D to be heavily Modded. Me and Sam, an incredible renderer in London, started work on this two months before the case was available; refining design ideas and working on some of the “bling” for the case.  Most all of the work was done with basic tools,  so it took 8 months to get to final completion. The build is pretty blinged out in an era where clean builds are the order of the day! Forgive me, but with heroes like Bill Owen and Dewayne Carel, these things are bound to happen. ha ha!  We have had great response from the community and so far we won a third place with an unfinished case in the world wide ASUS rush for Gold mod contest, which was heavily loaded with ASUS logo’ed cases. We are proud and humbled to be sponsored by Corsair, EKWB, MNPCTECH and Mayhems.

Specifications:
Corsair Obsidian 900D Super Tower
Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB SSD
WD 1 TB Black HDD
Corsair AX1200i Power supply
16 Corsair SP and AF fans
16 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866 RAM

EKWB water cooling Systems – Supremacy all copper water block
2 x GTX 770 full coverage VGA blocks
2 x 480PE radiators, D5 pump, D5 pump top, EK X3 reservoir

MnpcTech Custom 1 of a kind 480 OverKill Ring Grill
MnpcTech 360 Nautilus OverKill Grill

2 x EVGA GTX 770  GPU’s
EVGA Lighted SLI Bridge

100% hard line Acrylic tubing

2 x Hue RGB lighting units for dual zone Lighting

All Diamond plate is Anodized black Aluminium

Lot’s of hand worked Copper

Everyone has a story of what got them into Modding. What or whom got you into Modding?

I hang around a lot of drag racers and they are continually modding things. I did a little metal artwork in the past. They never seem to make computers with the full wish list, so that’s where builders take over.

Where do you get your inspiration for your mods?

When I see Images that interest me I try to think how It could be incorporated into a theme. For me a theme gives me a basis for further ideas.  I do like to free style too, Just start adding ideas that you think look good.  I’m admittedly poor at planning, I need to hold something in my hand and then I figure out what I want to do with it or how I can make it work! This has worked to my advantage, because I lucked into finishes and effects that weren’t what I had originally planned.

What were the thoughts behind the featured mod?

I was looking for a theme that people could relate to. I think the saw-blade emblem that Metallica has, looks really cool.  What I didn’t anticipate was how polarizing Metallica is!  The Unforgiven casemod started a few Heavy Metal wars on the forums, fortunately most people liked the mod enough that they forgave me for not building a Megadeth mod.  LOL

Why did you do it the way you did?

My strength is working with my hands in the old Artisan way.  There is a great enjoyment in being able to create something  by hand that most people would use a CNC mill to make. I’m not saying one way is better than the other, that argument is bull. If I had a mill and had the skill to use it I would be, because doing things by hand is hard work but it is very satisfying.

What do you think was the hardest part about doing the mod?

Getting the extra money to cover the endless things that my great sponsors didn’t furnish.  Secondly, sanding and polishing and polishing and sanding and filing. I think my arms actually got bigger.

Did it turn out how you thought it would?

This turned out so much better than I could have ever imagined! Honestly when I started this I was in over my head and didn’t expect the kind of exposure that the build received.  My renderer Sam told me one day not to worry, “the whole world is looking”. Great!  With my heroes looking over my shoulder I was forced to do better work than I thought I was capable of.  I’m still humbled by the skill sets of the builders we see in the modding community.     

Is there anything you might have wanted to do different?

I’m finding that the Acrylic Hard line tubing is not a good choice for large heavy cases that have some flex when moved. I’ve had three cracked tubes so far and I’m not doing anything crazy.  Sam had originally designed this for Copper tubing and I may be forced to go to that if I have anymore issues.

How much time did you spend on the mod?

The total time was about 8 months.  We didn’t have a case for the first two months, because the case was delayed in production.  This actually worked in my favor, because hand crafting is time consuming and I’m just a regular working guy.  I was able to work on the front emblem and the MNPCTECH 480 OverKill Ring grill was the first of it’s kind and we had to wait for our turn on the mill.

Do you have another project in the shop or in the planning?

I’m waiting to see the new Corsair Mini -ITX mystery case. I really don’t know what it is yet. Corsair posted a teaser pic of a shadowed outline.  It looks like an Obsidian case and there were rumors that they might build an ITX case.  I want to do something smaller next time so I can complete the build faster. The interest on most builds only lasts so long and I really appreciate the people following the build and my sponsors patience.  I really wanted to build something enduring.  People soon forget who was the first one to Quad SLI GTX 680’s. Hardware will always become outdated but a great Mod can be appreciated for much longer.  

Thank you for agreeing to an interview Michael and we are looking forward to seeing your next creative project.