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So I'm trying to figure out a way to store/display all of my models. Carrying cases are a possibility although I wouldn't mind the idea of an actual display. So here are my thoughts;

Curio Cabinets---Expensive and not really meant for our type/size of models
Acrylic/Plexiglass Display cabinets----Again, somewhat expensive and tough to find
DIY display wall shelves-----If anyone has experience making this, PLEASE share. I'm considering trying this, which would essentially be wood shelves running down my rec room wall with plexiglass tops/bottom/swinging doors. Strong consideration here.


Any tips on how you store your miniatures (Difficulty Level: No Ikea as I don't have one close....even though their 59 buck display case is bloody perfect).

I was about to reply with Ikea, but then I read the whole post

I would recommend a book shelf, plain and simple. If it is a high traffic area or near where you sleep you might want a glass door to keep the dust out, but if you take them out and play with them(the use they are generally intended for) then the door becomes more of an inconvience.

Shame their is no Ikea near by, but they do that a webstore

But in all honesty, a book case is all you need, anything else is just preference and it comes down to location in the house, pets, grabby hands(I love kids and their creepy little hands and how they crawl fast like a rat monster, but really Calgar does not go in your mouth) and how frequently you take the models out.

Theres a store near me called Unclaimed Freight liquidators. My wife went there and bought a very nice curio cabinet for me for Christmas several years ago. Then she did it again two more times over the next few years. The prices there are way below retail, and it was a simple matter to get some extra glass shelves cut to fit into them.

Titanbravo wrote:I love kids and their creepy little hands and how they crawl fast like a rat monster, but really Calgar does not go in your mouth)

LMAO!

As for the actual topic at hand, if you're looking to build your own shelves...well, I can't find a link to it because I can't think of what it would be called, but have you ever bought a bookcase or similar shelving unit with adjustable shelves? You can buy the drilled wood like on the sides of them at most Home Depot-like stores and make your own. Granted, I haven't done it myself, but the simple fact that you can make as many shelves as you want, of any height, makes it seem like a pretty good idea.

Well, here's an update. I spoke to my Uncle (Who has more carpenter skills in his left hand than my entire body) about building shelving units.

I was thinking of building multiple shelves of stained wood with a glass surface background (the name of that tape escapes me) and plexiglass sliding doors.

I KNOW I've seen people on Dakka post pics of their rec room/units/armies in a similar setup...but cannot find any. Any links/tips would be greatly appreciated it, as plexiglass isn't cheap!

AgeOfEgos wrote:No Ikea as I don't have one close....even though their 59 buck display case is bloody perfect).

I quoted shipping on 2 of those...they wanted $100. I drove an hour today to get them in person. In hindsight I should have payed the shipping...

Ikea is a terrible, terrible place. The worst shopping experience the wife and I have ever had. You enter, then go up an escalator...no carts. We had to carry our 1 year old through the whole store. Its arranged in a maze that makes you walk past every product. The products arent on the sales floor, you have to write down the item name, number, bin and shelf...then walk back down stairs. Then wander the warehouse until you find it. It took us 45 minutes navigating the store and warehouse to get 2 shelf units. You might save some time by finding the item info online and going straight to the warehouse...if you can do it without entering the rest of the store.

Oh...another bad thing...the carts have 4 casters instead of 2 casters and 2 fixed wheels...so they wander like a drunk man. Simply a terrible place...avoid it if possible.

Mad4Minis wrote:

AgeOfEgos wrote:No Ikea as I don't have one close....even though their 59 buck display case is bloody perfect).

I quoted shipping on 2 of those...they wanted $100. I drove an hour today to get them in person. In hindsight I should have payed the shipping...

Ikea is a terrible, terrible place. The worst shopping experience the wife and I have ever had. You enter, then go up an escalator...no carts. We had to carry our 1 year old through the whole store. Its arranged in a maze that makes you walk past every product. The products arent on the sales floor, you have to write down the item name, number, bin and shelf...then walk back down stairs. Then wander the warehouse until you find it. It took us 45 minutes navigating the store and warehouse to get 2 shelf units. You might save some time by finding the item info online and going straight to the warehouse...if you can do it without entering the rest of the store.

Oh...another bad thing...the carts have 4 casters instead of 2 casters and 2 fixed wheels...so they wander like a drunk man. Simply a terrible place...avoid it if possible.

Yeah the shipping showed 350 dollars for...lol. Do you mind doing me a huge favor though? Would you photograph one of those Ikea stands after you throw some models in it? I would love to see the dimensions with a point of reference...as there is an Ikea close to Adepticon..and I'm going there in a month. Thanks if you have the time!

Here is a really good article on how to modify the ikea cabinet to double the number of shelves and add lighting

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/349068.page

I have one in my garage right now, waiting to be built.

Ifurita wrote:Here is a really good article on how to modify the ikea cabinet to double the number of shelves and add lighting

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/349068.page

I have one in my garage right now, waiting to be built.

That. Is. Awesome. And looks doable too....but no damn Ikea close! They quoted 350 for shipping ONE of those shelving units...that's freaking nuts.

I'm going to try to get mine assembled this week. I need to stop by the hardware store for the spiral tubing and cable nuts and then I need to find out where I can get acrylic sheets cut.

Ifurita wrote:I'm going to try to get mine assembled this week. I need to stop by the hardware store for the spiral tubing and cable nuts and then I need to find out where I can get acrylic sheets cut.

When you get it assembled, do you mind taking some pictures of models on it? I can read the measurements but I think seeing how many models can fit on a shelf will get it in my 'gut' better.

Reason being, is I just used Ikea's store locater and there is one 15 minutes away from the Adepticon Hotel. I could certainly make that little side trip while I'm in Chicago to pick those up. If you don't mind me asking, how big of a box was it in before assembly? Thanks!

Width: 16 1/8"
Height: 3 3/8"
Length: 64 5/8"
Weight: 89lb

Max load per shelf is 13 lbs

Ifurita, pics of your models in the display would be most excellent for the article.

Aes Sedai told me he didn't have them with him :(

I went through this exact same predicament about 6 months ago, grumbling over Ikea shipping prices and all.

I ended up just getting white wooden shelves. The white paint reflects enough light that you can see what is going on with the lights in the room. You could certainly add lighting though.

And I didnt go to the trouble of making plexi doors, I keep air duster around at all times anyway for work, and even with all the dust from being in the basement and airbrushing a lot, I only do it once every few months.

It occured to me that since quite a few people have expressed a desire to see models in the display unit and unfortunately, I do not have the means to accomodate you at present...well, here is a good picture of an unmodified detolf with 40k figure


This one from dakkaite shadow chaplain (looks like he could use some extra shelves, I should PM a link to my tutorial)



Also, you can see Eggroll's splendid blood angels blog for more images.

Hope that helps!

AgeOfEgos wrote:


Yeah the shipping showed 350 dollars for...

Good god, thats crazy. I thought $100 for 2 was bad. Luckily other have posted pics, both of mine are still sitting in the box, didnt have time to assemble them yesterday.

I managed to defer some of the shipping costs because I was funishing a whole apartment at the time. I think you should hit Ikea on the way back from Adepticon--be warned you will need a second person with you, the box is both heavy and long.

Heres my ( VERY MESSY ) Detolfs... Side by side they look like just one display... Now I need to add some shelves like AesSedai.

Many thanks to you guys for posting pics!! That really helps me get the dimensions in my gut for a purchasing decision. I think I'm going to go with these if I can talk one of the guys I'm going with to take a 15 minute side trip with me from the hotel.

RE: the box---you mentioned it's heavy/long. Any guess on how long it is (4 foot, 5 foot) and thickness? We will have somewhat limited space on the return trip and I plan on buying 2-3 of these. Thanks again!

These are the package dimensions:

Width: 16 1/8"
Height: 3 3/8"
Length: 64 5/8"
Weight: 89lb

So a little over 5 feet long. The thing is, you'll probably want to lay the boxes flat. I bought 3 and the ikea delivery man hated me for it.

Wow, am I reading that right? It's only 3 3/8 inches thick? If so, lying flat they'll take little to no space then. You're not kidding it's heavy, I wouldn't have guessed 90 lbs from the pic....I guess glass adds up!

Here's a pic of just the glass shelf with some figures on it

Ifurita wrote:Here's a pic of just the glass shelf with some figures on it

Very nice shot, thanks. I think 3 should do me then.

LOL, 3 shelves or 3 display cabinets?

3 cabinets...my wife only wishes 3 shelves would handle my hobby.

Small update----I contacted the Ikea near Adepticon and they have 23 of them. So looks like I'll be trying to talk my buddy into taking a 15 minute field trip with me...

Thanks to everyone for the pics/information, that's why Dakka rocks.

AgeOfEgos wrote:Small update----I contacted the Ikea near Adepticon and they have 23 of them. So looks like I'll be trying to talk my buddy into taking a 15 minute field trip with me...

If you're not familiar with Ikea, take heed: Ikea stores are generally designed to funnel all visitors through a large 'display' area (usually an upper story), then through a selection of smaller stuff (housewares), then finally to the self-service area where you actually find the boxes of furniture. You can usually use the online store to find where in the self-service area the stuff you want is and short-circuit through everything else if you want to keep your time-on-target low.

Balance wrote:

AgeOfEgos wrote:Small update----I contacted the Ikea near Adepticon and they have 23 of them. So looks like I'll be trying to talk my buddy into taking a 15 minute field trip with me...

If you're not familiar with Ikea, take heed: Ikea stores are generally designed to funnel all visitors through a large 'display' area (usually an upper story), then through a selection of smaller stuff (housewares), then finally to the self-service area where you actually find the boxes of furniture. You can usually use the online store to find where in the self-service area the stuff you want is and short-circuit through everything else if you want to keep your time-on-target low.

+1

When I did my "Man Cave", I went online and picked out all of the parts I would need. With the part numbers in-hand, I went to the downstairs area and bought exactly what I needed. Wandering through their upstairs area takes forever. You might find some neat stuff, but I guy-shop. Stay on target! That said, Ikea is fine. A little high priced in my opinion, but I'm very happy with the results.



Good luck!

Balance wrote:

AgeOfEgos wrote:Small update----I contacted the Ikea near Adepticon and they have 23 of them. So looks like I'll be trying to talk my buddy into taking a 15 minute field trip with me...

If you're not familiar with Ikea, take heed: Ikea stores are generally designed to funnel all visitors through a large 'display' area (usually an upper story), then through a selection of smaller stuff (housewares), then finally to the self-service area where you actually find the boxes of furniture. You can usually use the online store to find where in the self-service area the stuff you want is and short-circuit through everything else if you want to keep your time-on-target low.

Good tip, when I phoned she said something similar...something about calling and finding the aisle/location. I get the impression Ikea is 'large'.

I know you could (last I tried) go through their website and basically get the coordinates for your stuff directly from them. For example, you want the grensn0t bookcase, you look up the store you're visiting, and set it as your location, and then find the grensn0t. It'll tell you it's in A-4 so you know where to go. Very easy. Just make sure the box is what you expect, in case they've moved stuff around and forgot to update (rare, as Ikea seems very tightly controlled) or there's multiple color options in the same rack. Also make sure you have all the parts you need.

The self service area is a large 'warehouse' section in what is generally a large store. Ikeas are, indeed, quite large.