brass!
brass is soft and expensive, not much of structural material.
everything is expensive :\
The cost is a valid concern. But people have built lots of stuff out of brass, and for a long time. The fact that you can easily nick it or dent it could give it a bit of character as well... I'm just picturing the case after a few years of use... looking sort of old and you know, antiqued. Would look very cool with some zinc / pewter caps.
If this can't happen here, then someone with some 3D design skills should definitely make a brass QFR / Filco case IC.
I can only imagine the shipping rates though... it would cost me somewhere around 60 bucks to ship a brass thing of this size to NY via USPS.