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How do!

Having painted a load of gubbins since New Year’s Day, and intending to do so for the rest of the year, I find myself in need of a decent display cabinet.

Ideally glass for maximum light and that. And I’m wondering if Dakkanauts might be able to make recommendations.

If you just want glass doored ones then Ikea is the best bet and cheapest I found.
Well worth searching local facebook groups for them though, the three local ones to me have them come up pretty regularly. Just watch out for the dimensions of them though, loads are 30*30 which are pretty useless for models.

I second IKEA - I've got the 'classic' DETOLF, and I've just got a smaller BAGGEBO.

DETOLF seems to be discontinued :(

I just went with the oversized Billy with doors, is cheap and cheerful. The shelves are solid wood but can be replaced with acrylic or glass easily enough.

 ingtaer wrote:
If you just want glass doored ones then Ikea is the best bet and cheapest I found.
Well worth searching local facebook groups for them though, the three local ones to me have them come up pretty regularly. Just watch out for the dimensions of them though, loads are 30*30 which are pretty useless for models.

Not sure what the secondary furniture market is across The Pond, but one can get some staggering deals on display cabinets from people who are moving and don't feel like taking it with. I think there's a lot of heirloom-type stuff that the kids don't want (big screen TV will take that spot).

Basically, people aren't that into displaying their dishes/glassware, so it's going for cheap.

Estate sales are good, too.

Commissar von Toussaint wrote:

 ingtaer wrote:
If you just want glass doored ones then Ikea is the best bet and cheapest I found.
Well worth searching local facebook groups for them though, the three local ones to me have them come up pretty regularly. Just watch out for the dimensions of them though, loads are 30*30 which are pretty useless for models.

Not sure what the secondary furniture market is across The Pond, but one can get some staggering deals on display cabinets from people who are moving and don't feel like taking it with. I think there's a lot of heirloom-type stuff that the kids don't want (big screen TV will take that spot).

Basically, people aren't that into displaying their dishes/glassware, so it's going for cheap.

Estate sales are good, too.

Yeah its the same, got three 1800*900*350 glass cabinets for £40 from a local shop that was closing down and put them up on FB to shift them.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
How do!

Having painted a load of gubbins since New Year’s Day, and intending to do so for the rest of the year, I find myself in need of a decent display cabinet.

Ideally glass for maximum light and that. And I’m wondering if Dakkanauts might be able to make recommendations.

I've been happy with Ikea Billy with the Oxberg doors, with Ikea Mittled lights. Very cheap and with a lot of space, but not transparent on the sides, of course. I've also installed anti-UV film on the doors, to avoid having sunlight damage the paint over time.

Hmmm.

Far from a cheap option, but should be a decent construction. Also in black, with built-in lighting.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4646367

Or even better, due to Moar Shelves.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2253130

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
DETOLF seems to be discontinued :(

I have a feeling the Detolfs were rebranded a year or two ago. They might be known as something different now.

I do however recommend them. I have 3 and they're fantastic once you get them together. If you're a bit on the handy side, you could weld up some additional supports for extra selves in them without much trouble. You'd just need to find a glass cutting firm to do you a few extra shelves.


I'm not sure how prevalent they are in the UK, but TV cabinets/units are also an option worth looking at. Might be worth a look on trading groups to see if anyone is getting rid of one as they tend to be one of those things that people don't take when they move house or need to get rid of as soon as they buy a new telly that's too big to fit. Our annual hard rubbish collection always sees a ton of them put out on the street, so you can quite easily snag one for free.
I got this one last year and it's fantastic.
It's got equivalent shelf space on the sides to a Detolf cabinet (admittedly not as viewing friendly, but could be well enhanced by a couple of strips of LEDs.) but with heaps of storage options for boxes/etc underneath and a nice big flat surface on top for whatever. I plan on adding some additional shelves in the TV space to put terrain on, once I get around to building some up.

Detolfs are discontinued now, they have been replaced by the slightly smaller Blaliden.

The new ones are just as good IMO however the 3rd market market in the UK for extra shelves hasn't picked up yet as they use different clips. Detolf clips are widely available. Ikea don't sell extra shelves unfortunately.

I use the Table War cases and then put them on a shelf. I can look at my models and then take them to battle without fuss.

I’m definitely more in the market for a glass one. You can take the Till Monkey out the GW Store, but you can’t take the Store out the Till Monkey

Also, the prettier the display, the greater my drive to fill it with painted models over the course of the year.

I did recently build a besta from ikea with Glass doors.

If you do though get a second pair of hands....

 ingtaer wrote:
I just went with the oversized Billy with doors, is cheap and cheerful. The shelves are solid wood but can be replaced with acrylic or glass easily enough.

Same. The bonus here is that you can adjust height and add more shelves - pure glass cabinets tend to have them fixed and about a foot apart.

Doors also mean less dusting, which is nice.

Think I’m gonna go with one of the Argos ones. The seven shelves seem about right, though my Epic Stuff maybe be well served with Acrylic Risers added in, for a nice two tier effect and a path.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/milsbo-glass-door-cabinet-anthracite-30396448/ I use these.

Don't forget the museum putty. It's for securing the minis so that when the inevitable happens -- you or someone else bumps the cabinet-- the minis do not fall over. It's superior to blutac in every way. better for holding minis to something while painting them too.

It's called quakehold here. No idea what it is in the UK.

Museum putty? Interesting, I'll need to check it out. I am a big blutac user, and am always looking for better tools for my toolset.

Ideally, I'd like a putty which works like blutac but eventually hardens completely solid and fuses, like glue. I have had a need for such a thing for years now, and I've never found a suitable material for it.

I would use it for posing all my models to be honest, as I find I can never quite nail a pose in one go, it takes quite a bit of back and forth moving things around relative to each other until the pose looks holistically "right". You bend the arm 5 degrees further up or down, now you need to adjust the head angle 2 degs to match, the opposite arm now needs to come back just a touch.. Blutac is best for this, since you can tweak the angles forever.. but it never sets permanently :(

Actually, doesn't anyone sell glass doors or sliding doors? You can always get the planks and make one at the precise dimensions you need. Prolly what I'd do as far as I'm concerned.

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Actually, doesn't anyone sell glass doors or sliding doors? You can always get the planks and make one at the precise dimensions you need. Prolly what I'd do as far as I'm concerned.

If I tried to make my own cabinet? I’d end up looking like Pinhead. In hospital.

I am a man of a fair few talents. Woodwork is categorically not one of them!

Aye, in that case of course!

Personnaly I'd probably do it with a metal tube frame and add wooden planks maybe welding half the structure and maintaining the rest with pins so as to be able to dissociate it in case I want to move it, otherwise might be fairly heavy!

Edit: why not only wood? Because I like the aesthetics of metal works and for a display shelf I want it beautiful like that

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
DETOLF seems to be discontinued :(

WHAT?!?!

*Checks Ikea Website

NOooooOOOoOooo!

I'd been meaning to get a second one....

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Aye, in that case of course!

Personnaly I'd probably do it with a metal tube frame and add wooden planks maybe welding half the structure and maintaining the rest with pins so as to be able to dissociate it in case I want to move it, otherwise might be fairly heavy!

Edit: why not only wood? Because I like the aesthetics of metal works and for a display shelf I want it beautiful like that

The vast bulk of us can only try to hammer/screw some wood together. You might be able to cut/weld metal, but the skills and tools for that are not in most of our lives.

Using tin snips to cut up a sheet of thin guage steel to line some magnetic transport boxes pushed the limit of my metalworking skills.

I love my IKEA Fabrikor display unit. It was not cheap though - £150 I think. I added extra shelves.

 Nevelon wrote:

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Aye, in that case of course!

Personnaly I'd probably do it with a metal tube frame and add wooden planks maybe welding half the structure and maintaining the rest with pins so as to be able to dissociate it in case I want to move it, otherwise might be fairly heavy!

Edit: why not only wood? Because I like the aesthetics of metal works and for a display shelf I want it beautiful like that

The vast bulk of us can only try to hammer/screw some wood together. You might be able to cut/weld metal, but the skills and tools for that are not in most of our lives.

Using tin snips to cut up a sheet of thin guage steel to line some magnetic transport boxes pushed the limit of my metalworking skills.

Forgive my blue collar logic, I probably got carried away

I can't remember the brand, but a friend of mine had a full glass one and it was really neat. Lots of light to let you look at his nicely painted models.

I doubt such one would be cheap but that may be an impressive alternative.

I prefer to keep my miniatures locked away in the dark so they can't be tainted by the sun

Incidentally I tend to stay inside the house for largely the same reason

Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Aye, in that case of course!

Personnaly I'd probably do it with a metal tube frame and add wooden planks maybe welding half the structure and maintaining the rest with pins so as to be able to dissociate it in case I want to move it, otherwise might be fairly heavy!

Edit: why not only wood? Because I like the aesthetics of metal works and for a display shelf I want it beautiful like that

The vast bulk of us can only try to hammer/screw some wood together. You might be able to cut/weld metal, but the skills and tools for that are not in most of our lives.

Using tin snips to cut up a sheet of thin guage steel to line some magnetic transport boxes pushed the limit of my metalworking skills.

Forgive my blue collar logic, I probably got carried away

I can't remember the brand, but a friend of mine had a full glass one and it was really neat. Lots of light to let you look at his nicely painted models.

I doubt such one would be cheap but that may be an impressive alternative.

I honestly don’t know how much of an investment it would be in time/money to start up welding. I was under the impression you needed a trade school or an apprenticeship to learn, and a lot of special tools. Not casual in the garage level stuff.

Reasonable glass cases can be found for reasonable prices, but like most things, can also be found at the crazy level.

iplay40k.com wrote:I prefer to keep my miniatures locked away in the dark so they can't be tainted by the sun

Incidentally I tend to stay inside the house for largely the same reason

Storage solutions vs. display options is another topic entirely. I have a set of things I want behind glass so I can admire them, but also a lot of minis I don’t want to get rid of, but need something better then being shoved in a box randomly.

Actually, MMA welding, that is, using self consuming electrods coated in additives, is not too expensive - hence why it is the most widespread for garage tinkering. You'd need a welding station, electrods, and a hammer and steel brush. Plus welding mask and appropriate gloves.

Not to hard to have 2 bits of metal holding together either. Once wired, you just need to quickly hit the piece you weld with the électrode, then draw a line following the contact zone of both pieces, holding the électrod a few millimeter above it, quickly higher to stop the electric arc. Then use the hammer to crackle the protective layer and brush the remains away, voilà.

Resuired intensity is usually written on the package of electrods.

Where it becomes a full time job on its own is in making beautiful/high grade welding or welding in uncomfortable positions or particularly thin/thick/unusual metals.

There you go, sorry for the enthusiasm, that's my job now after all!

For light damage? I’ve a friend who works in window vinyl who can sort me out with cut-to-size UV film if I need it. For free. Which is nice.

It’s mostly translucent, so won’t darken things too much.