Nuka Cola Computer Mod

Nuka Cola Computer Mod - Mitch3D.com

March 31, 2017

If you have ever played any of the games from the popular Fallout video game franchise, you are very familiar with the Nuka Cola vending machines that appear in the games. Because the design is so popular, many people have created different models and replicas of this iconic soda machine, but only a few have actually dared to turn the design into an actual computer case. One such person is Mitch of Mitch3D.com.

The case is entirely 3D printed, and took Mitch about a month to build. He downloaded the original model from Thingiverse and then used a program called TinkerCAD to design 9 different sections that were constructed and glued together.

For the special effects of this computer case, a 3D printed resin cast lens was created to make the video monitor at the top of the case look like a CRT lens. Mitch constructed a silicon mold for both the monitor and drink bottles, and then resin cast the lens. As a final touch, acetone was used to give the lens a smoother glass-like finish.

Behind the video lens is a Raspberry Pi 2 with a 3.5” Adafruit Pi TFT LCD which is playing a video loop featuring a bottle of Nuka Cola, and the Nuka Cola logo. The silicon mold cast bottles of Nuka Cola inside the front of the computer case, contain a UV reactive dye and UV LEDs that give the bottles a distinctive glowing effect. Another great feature of the computer case is the rusted looking fan grill right behind the Nuka Cola bottles which was designed by Mitch.

The whole computer case was painted, and primed with acrylic paints and some parts of the computer case were accentuated using an acrylic wash. The iron paint was used on certain areas on the outside of the case to help give it an overall weathered look.

This Nuka Cola computer mod is a fully functional Mini-ITX computer that contains a 4690k processor 8 Gigs of RAM and Samsung SSD (Solid State Drive) running on the Windows 10 operating system. Mitch's computer system also contains a GTX 960 4 Gigabit graphics card that performs great with games like Overwatch and Fallout 4 running at the highest framerate setting. For power, the whole system runs off of an SFX power supply located inside the case.

In regards to keeping the Nuka Cola computer from overheating, the cooling system consists of two 120 mm Noctua fans in the back with 2 - 80 mm Noctua fans in the front, creating full active cooling throughout the case. To hold the fans in place, Mitch decided to use panel mount connectors since the motherboard sits upright inside the case. The modded case also contains manually created passive vent holes to create a negative pressure cooling system.

On the back of the computer there are connection ports for the monitor and power supply. Little stand offs with threaded inserts were used on the back panel, and M3 screws which hold the whole back panel section together. Fortunately, Mitch's hard work did not go unnoticed. Mitch submitted his computer mod case design to one of the QuakeCon Gaming Convention case moding contest and won 2nd place in the Bethesda category.