Bleu Jour: The French Touch

There are several different degrees to casemodding that range from a simple fan installation to an exotic mod like using an old radio or VCR to hold your computer parts. Many of the mods done here at Ninjalane fall somewhere in the middle but almost always contain a few "signature" modifications that I have called my own over the years. One of the things that make modding so fun is how the popularity has sparked so many companies to create their own unique casemodding supplies with no indication of it slowing down.

Bleu Jour was nice enough to send over some product samples for review. Below we have a couple sets of Gothic thumbscrews, two laser-cut fan grills (Gothic and Pow-Wow designs), and a rather unique lighted LED fan.

The screws look to be created with a two part casting process with the threads being part of the mold. As you can see the two joining edges were flattened off, most likely to conceal the joint. The threads are also slightly misaligned due to the two part casting process but seem to shape well when used on something hard. I wouldn't recommend using these screws on anything aluminum until after they have been shaped since the misaligned threads tend to strip away the metal.

The Gothic symbol used on the head of these screws is replicated on quite a few products including their laser-cut fan grills, and window applique. The design is very interesting and almost resembles an angry lobster on the charge.

All of the laser-cut grills come in two flavors, brushed aluminum and chrome plated steel. They are both the same thickness with the weight and finish being the only difference.

The last item from Bleu Jour was this fancy and very cool LED fan. The center hub contains a small logic board that controls how all of the LEDs operate. There are 4 blue LEDs along the outer edge of the fan with 5 more being located in the center section. The center LEDs light up as the fan reaches normal operating RPM and flash on and off to create different spinning patterns. The blue LEDs have their own pattern that includes a cool fade. The show is quite mesmerizing to watch, and rather difficult to describe. The animated gif should help give you an idea as to what this fan can do unfortunately the center patterns didn't turn out very well.

The thing to remember when modding your case is that the process is supposed to be fun and picking out the modding supplies is only half of the project. So, pick out some cool supplies and get to work. Just remember that the key to the whole process isn't just the cool accessories and flashing lights but to plan out your mod carefully, and take your time. Nothing is worse than making a super sweet cut only to find out you made the hole to big.

Happy Modding!!

Cool modding supplies
Creative use of LEDs

For use in the United States, France is pretty far away

I would like to thank Bleu Jour for helping to make this review possible.