VOGONS


First post, by valdy762

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Inspired by this project: [Project] 386/486/SBC 3D Printed Retro Case

This is my first attempt at designing and printing something larger than a simple clothes hook, so it’s not perfect and has a few minor design quirks. Still, it’s a straightforward, compact case for a retro PC. Feel free to explore, adapt, or improve it for your own build.
General Information

  • Printed on a BambuLab P1S, so all parts fit within a 256 mm × 256 mm bed.
  • Requires about 300 m of filament — a single 1 kg spool is sufficient.
  • Case is split into elements that each print in roughly 3–4 hours.
  • Filament used: beige Elegoo Rapid PLA+ (50.203.0314).
  • Designed in FreeCAD and sliced with BambuLab Studio.
  • Printed with default “Generic PLA” settings — no changes to quality or strength profiles.

Limitations

  • Designed around the BEK-tronic BEK-P407 motherboard (link), so maximum supported board size is 220 mm × 220 mm. Mounting points are specific to the P407; other boards may require adjustments.
  • Height kept intentionally low, allowing for 5 expansion slots.
  • No 5.25″ bay.
  • Includes one external 3.5″ bay (used for Gotek in my build) and one internal bay for a standard 3.5″ HDD.
  • Case dimensions: approx. 275 (h) × 145 (w) × 278 (d) mm.
  • Currently houses a compact ATX PSU (140 × 86 × 110 mm). Units up to 130 mm depth fit without issue; 140 mm depth is possible but requires reorienting the Gotek’s FDD pin connector upward.
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Reply 1 of 10, by valdy762

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Few more pictures:

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Reply 2 of 10, by valdy762

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For CAD files - I'll probably place them on GitHub and add a link, but this will take some time (in few days).
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. If you decide to print or adapt the case, please share your experiences, photos, or improvements.

Reply 3 of 10, by tomcattech

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That's cool!

Will there ever be a way to make the case bigger for full size ATX with fans or is it a limitation with most 3D printers?

yoda.jpg
I either fix it or break it permanently... there is no try.

Reply 4 of 10, by valdy762

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tomcattech wrote on 2026-04-06, 22:14:

That's cool!

Will there ever be a way to make the case bigger for full size ATX with fans or is it a limitation with most 3D printers?

Thanks 😀
Well, for P1S printer it looks like printing BabyAT tower case will be close to its print area limits without having a need to split side panels into 4 separate parts each and to combine it somehow into one part. There are 3d printers with bigger print bed that will allow to print such big areas in one turn, but I never tried and I don't have one now. Anyway, even with a smaller 3d printer - it is possible, it just adds additional overhead with splitting and combining models.

Reply 5 of 10, by MyJules

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looks nice. great work. pls do share a link to files when you can 😀

Reply 6 of 10, by valdy762

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MyJules wrote on 2026-04-08, 15:22:

looks nice. great work. pls do share a link to files when you can 😀

Thanks 😀
Here is a link to repository: https://github.com/valdy762/3dPrintModels

Note: I did not try to make models "in right way", so there will be no grouping, no proper objects' tree etc., thus editing all this may become tricky.

Reply 7 of 10, by wierd_w

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I'd settle for .stl files in addition to .stp files.

I can modify .stp files in my cad software to lengthen parts for bigger boards, using my chiron.

Freecad is tractible though. .stp is just a good interchange format.

Reply 8 of 10, by tkald

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Really great work, and thank you for that. I was thinking a bit about how to make it more universal, so I’m sharing a PoC description.

1) I extracted a single mounting pillar from the model (for attaching the motherboard).
2) I placed the board on an A4 sheet of paper and marked the centers, then drew some helper lines.
3) The reference point is in the top-right corner and has coordinates (0,0).
4) I measured the remaining centers and recorded them into a file called mb386sx.txt.
5) In Python, I created a script that places the mounting pillar model (AT Case - MB Panel holder.stl) onto those center points.

tool.py "AT Case - MB Panel holder.stl" mb386sx.txt mb308sx.stl

6) The script generates a new STL, which can be printed very quickly to verify whether it fits the motherboard correctly.
7) After that, it would be enough to have an AT Case - MB Panel.3mf file with just a single pillar in the top-right corner, and then attach and merge the STL from step 6.

merge_tool.py mb308sx.stl "AT Case - MB Panel.3mf" -102 -100 -90 mb308sx_panel.stl

This way, I get an AT Case - MB Panel that fits exactly the motherboard I have.

I’d be happy to share the scripts, and we can upload them to your GitHub if you’d like.

Reply 9 of 10, by valdy762

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wierd_w wrote on 2026-04-08, 20:40:

I'd settle for .stl files in addition to .stp files.

I can modify .stp files in my cad software to lengthen parts for bigger boards, using my chiron.

Freecad is tractible though. .stp is just a good interchange format.

yep, makes sence.
here are the extraction of models to stl and stp:

The attachment AT Case - stp.zip is no longer available
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also added them to GitHub repo.

Reply 10 of 10, by valdy762

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tkald wrote on Today, 14:55:

Really great work, and thank you for that. I was thinking a bit about how to make it more universal, so I’m sharing a PoC description.

Thanks)
Interesting PoC. I suggest to share it here for now, I guess it would be beneficial for other users to try and see how it goes.

This 3D printed case is limited to rather small motherboard (220x220mm). I have one more mb on 430vx chipset waiting for a case, but, unfortunately, it is few mm bigger and it does not fit. I'm planning to update this project for it to be more universal in size. Your script should help a lot with making it easier to customize this project to match a rather wide range of motherboards.