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How do you display your models?


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I know this topic has been discussed on here before, just wanted to revisit this subject. After a few attempts at making my own cases, I finally made a trip to IKEA and found some displays I liked way better than anything I could come up with. I know there are guys on here way more creative than I am so, show us what you've got! I use to like the single display cases you can stack but, you can only go so high with them and they keep getting more and more expensive to purchase. And you really can't see the models that great. The only thing I wish I had better is lighting and not the kind that get hot. I have mine lined up on one wall in my garage in what they call "Billy" book cases at IKEA. They also make the glass doors and extra shelving. So here they are. hope you like.DSC04369_zps610c10a9.jpgDSC04368_zps16df0aeb.jpgDSC04356_zps4cd5ba83.jpgDSC04354_zpsd4cefdbf.jpgDSC04345_zps8bbb7b3c.jpgNow let's see yours. Thanks for looking.

Edited by rmvw guy
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I'll have to snap off a few pictures . But my case is about 5' tall, 4' wide with 2 sliding glass doors. It's not 100% dust free but it keeps them reasonably clean. My pop made for me about 5 - 6 years ago . And its full,,,,I need more room and might have to look into these Ikea cases when I get the downstairs family room finished

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I always wanted these http://commerce.idmi...&CI=405&PI=7814.......Thanks for all the comments and contributions. Seems like one of the bigger concerns is a dust free display and that's where the little single cases are nice. I haven't had too much problem with dust in the "Billys" but, it is a concern. I've been thinking of using the sticky back weather strips around the doors, as you can see in the picture there is a space. Part of this can be adjusted better but, I left it this way so I could put the locks on easier. This is just to keep little hands out. My goal was to get 100 models in each case. I do have that many models if I ever get them all built. Here's another picture showing the space between the doors. DSC04357_zps1155740e.jpgThanks for looking.

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never shopped at IKEA. my model/toy room theme is re-purpose.

as in re-purpose an item to be part of my display.

I keep my Ford stuff in an old cigar display cabinet that is clear acrylic

with nice sliding doors, picked it up at a liquor store that no longer wanted it:

100_1568.jpg

My General Motors builds are displayed in an old Dentist cabinet

I snagged when a medical center did a re-model and decided to

give it away. it's old. and it has a nice storage area for boxed items

beneath the glass area:

100_1562.jpg

my mopar display is an old china cabinet, complete with silverware drawers.

I did have to get some glass doors cut for this one. that cost a little,

but it was still reasonable.

100_1570.jpg

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never shopped at IKEA. my model/toy room theme is re-purpose.

as in re-purpose an item to be part of my display.

I really appreciate this Chuck, I use to do the same thing when I had a hobby room in the house. I had some real nice store displays and several acrylic cases that once held golf equipment. At one time I had over 1,000 cars displayed mostly die cast, my Daughter helped me keep count of them when she still lived at home. I wouldn't have anywhere to keep a bunch of different kinds of units now in my garage. wish I did. Also this is probably why I quit collecting die cast cars. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

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I have to agree, the Billy bookcases are probably the single best item Ikea has.

I had a couple of those before I moved home, and they are very nice. I didn't have doors on them or anything, but they're well-made and look nice when they're together.

I would use those in conjunction with some display cases to make them more dust-proof, and it will also provide better protection for the models from other damage.

Charlie Larkin

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ikea also has a really good selection of low voltage, low heat lamps for installation in display cases like this. they are in the lighting section, in the one locally they are against the wall, probably 30 different styles for different applications. i have bought a couple and installed them in my Ikea cases and they work great though if you have solid shelves the light wont go through them to the lower shelves (obviously) but you can mount one per shelf or every other shelf. its all money though.

i actually bloody hate Ikea: everytime i go there for one thing i see 10 things i cannot live without.

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true on the maze but once you figure it out you can shortcut to exactly where you want to go, easier than at the average wally world kinda place. their point, of course, is that while youre wandering through the maze, you will see all the stuff you didnt know you needed and that gets back to my post. but there is a map right at the entrance to my local one so you can cut the browsing and get right to what you need if you so desire.

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I have a corver curio cabinet that sit in the corner of my t.v. room. It was purchased on sale from a major furniture chain here in Hampton Roads years ago. Being the fact it is a corner unti it doesn't impeded too much on floor space. It has a oak finish and is nicely lighted from the top with glass shelves and a mirrored back that makes it look like I have way more models built that I actually do. It keeps the models pretty dust free. The biggest downside is the lamp at the top does generate a little heat as it did warp a hood on a old MPC Tran Am I built. So the hard lesson learned there was to keep models out of the direct radiated light on the top shelf, and also as an extra precautionary measure the few die casts that I do have (they were gifts) reside on that top shelf.

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I think we could furnish our entire house from IKEA. (Sometimes I think we have :lol: ). My favorite area is where they have the 300 or 500 square foot living spaces set up,I could live in one of those. If you are looking for family heirlooms this is not the place. It's what I would call throw-away furniture, use it once, throw it away. We do have our entire kitchen furnished from IKEA and my Daughter's kitchen. I talked her into assembling her own cabinets and she is really proud of them, I think. See, that's where teaching them to build models when they are young pays off!

My biggest problem with Ikea, at least the one we have here, is that it's set up like a maze designed by deranged scientists intending to torture rats!

Charlie Larkin

jbwelda, on 14 Feb 2013 - 01:00, said:snapback.png

i actually bloody hate Ikea: everytime i go there for one thing i see 10 things i cannot live without.

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Ed you have been holding back on us! :lol: Very cool!!! Dioramas would be the way to go if you have unlimited space. Here's a couple I have been adding to little by little. DSC04375_zpsfddf32db.jpgDSC04377_zps477b86b2.jpgDSC04376_zps56d63bf1.jpgLet.s see some more dioramas! This could be a whole different thread. It seems like I have been working on that VW forever.

Edited by rmvw guy
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I just scored a great old display case at a local thrift shop. I've been looking for one for a while and was just about to give up and build one (which would have been pretty pricey) when I came across this one. My house is pure mid-century modern and I've restored most of the pieces in it myself, but the perfect display case (mirrored back, 12"deep,glass shelves, just the right size) eluded me for years until last week when I saw this one for $75. It was dusty, the finish was faded and the whole thing leaned backward at a fairly precarious angle, but I knew that it was a pretty good 'un underneath. I talked them down from $75 to $65 and brought it home. The lean was due to the case missing a set of self-leveling feet on the rear, and the wood responded beautifully to an application of teak oil. The only real carpentry that needed to be done was to replace the base piece of the display area- I cut a new piece of 1/4" ply and covered it with green felt. I added an LED light bar to really showcase everything. My future plans are to incorporate some acrylic risers for additional display space and to showcase models I'm particularly proud of!

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Jason, That is a beautiful case and something to be proud of on it's own. This could very well become a family heirloom some day. My wife would never allow me to bring something like that into the house to be honest. I use to restore old furniture thinking I would keep it forever, now everything is throw-away pretty much, I finally gave up. The Wife always seems to want something new. Is that the Big Deuce I see ? Always wanted one of those, I have the Big T waiting for me still in the box. We need some really big display cases if we are going that scale, I love them though.

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I have three old jewellry store glass case that I display some of my models in. I put a set of casters under two of them so that they can be rolled about easier. I sometimes set p displays at historical machinery events.

DSCN7473.jpg

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I also have a a 100gal aquarium that I use as a display case. Dioramas suck up a lot of real estate.

Most of my non diorama models are displayed on a large roadway diorama table ore on wall shelves

DSCN0485_zps26478e81.jpg

DSCN0486_zps7633dcb1.jpg

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Thanks

Carl

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Wow Carl, You have some neat stuff there! What a big traffic jam on the bridge and the truck coming out of the tunnel is neat. There is just too much to mention here but, you've got me wanting to build a helicopter now. They do take up a lot of real-estate like you said but, your dioramas are nice. Thanks for sharing them here.

Edited by rmvw guy
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