Project Mercy // Initial Contact – Part 1

The people decided, they were better off without us, they even called us criminals! They tore our family apart… BUT LOOK AROUND! SOMEONE HAS TO DO SOMETHING! WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! We can make a difference again. The world needs us now, more than ever. /sexy glasses removal pose….Are you with me? -Winston

//Athena global positioning system has targeted overwatch agent

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//LOCATION CONFIRMED: MIDDLE EAST

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//AGENT IDENTITY CONFIRMED: ANGELA ZIEGLER
—AGE:37
—NATIONALITY: SWISS—
—OCCUPATION: FIELD MEDIC—
—LOCATION:ZURICH, SWITZERLAND—
—ALIAS:MERCY—

//CONTACT ENGAGED…

Overwatch the critically acclaimed game from Blizzard has won the hearts of millions since its launch in May of 2016, including myself. After many LANs of lugging around my fully water-cooled tower, I have decided to downsize to a much more manageable form factor. I knew from that first marathon session of Overwatch that I wanted to have a mod based after the game. The game features such a variety of characters from a cybernetic ninja, to pig masked juggernauts with a severe outtie button, to a bouncing techno healing DJ. Out of all the categories of heroes, there is one group massively ignored…support.

So in tribute to the support class, this project will be themed after the poster child of the support class, Angela Ziegler aka Mercy. Mercy is one of Overwatch’s founding members and was the head of Overwatch’s medical research program. After Overwatch dissolved, Angela continued her work and dedicated her life to helping those affected by the war.

When looking for an ITX case, I wanted something sleek, compact but I still wanted the option to show off hardware. I had a few choices in mind but in the end I decided on going with the reasonably priced Caselabs BH2. That’s right. A Caselabs case under 400 bucks! The BH2 comes in at 169.99 and is an all aluminum construction. I love working with aluminum cases, as they are much easier to work with over steel panels that tend to resist tooling.

Imaged used from: http://www.caselabs-store.com/bullet-bh2-mitx-case/

The first step to create Project Mercy was getting some basic ideas down for a GPU window. I decided to go with Mercy’s guardian angel symbol and will follow up with some effect to balance up the panel. Using my silhouette vinyl cutter, I pulled the image of the symbol and had it cut out, rather than attempting to freehand the symbol and risk distorting the aspect ratio.

After I had the vinyl cut out in place I followed it up with a blue sharpie. Sharpie is a much more permanent solution over using tape or keeping the vinyl on the panel.

I slipped a little with the sharpie but since the vinyl kept me from going outside the cutting zone this wont be noticed, had I decided not to repaint the panel.

Once the outline was complete, I took a drill punch and marked several locations for pilot holes. These pilot holes were first drilled with a 1/8th” bit and followed up with a 3/8th” bit.

Using the pilot holes I pre-drilled, this allowed me to use my RotoZip; named by my good friend Charles, the RotoZip of Destruction or RZOD for short. Using a bi-metal cutting bit, this made quick work of the aluminum. I do recommend testing a RZOD on a spare piece of material as the tool can be aggressive and may mare your panel/materials.

After about 10-15 mins I am left with the rough cut out of the guardian angel symbol for the Project Mercy side panel. I will need to invest a lot of time with my files, Dremel sanding drums and a final pass with various sand papers.

Highly recommend anyone wanting to get into modding invest in a set of micro files, this set from Amazon is around 8 bucks USD, comes with a gripped end and the manufacturer oils the files. This small attention to detail keeps the files from rusting during transport.

That’s it for now for Part 1 of the Project Mercy Build. Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks as more hardware comes in to get the mod completed.