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 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
So yeah I just finished mine today. Sadly my only complete army is my Necron force, but the rest will fill the shelf as they become display-worthy. I refuse to put anything in there that isn't fully painted. I'll gradually fill it:

[removed image for reply]

I bought two additional Detolfs for their three shelves, and then sold the rest of the unit locally to offset the cost of the shelves. FAR cheaper than getting them custom cut. My Ikea didn't have Dioder strips (claim they won't be getting them again) so I went ahead and just grabbed the round LEDs, which have a neutral soft tone to it, instead of a super bright white blast so I can actually use it as a light for the room rather than purely a display solution.

I went with the 3/16" rope chain clips, they fit perfectly. I decided to make the middle area the wider open spot, to put the bigger items in the center. On the left side where my little lone Slann is, I plan to have a large conversion there, so lots of space was needed. AesSedai you really did a great job pioneering this for us, it worked flawlessly and could be done pretty cheaply if you play your cards right. Great work!

This is real nice, like the central open area.

What lights did you use for this?

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/00119424/

These here. Thanks for the reply.

Prehistoric UFO - tidy those cables soldier!

But excellent work, looks great. This really is a great thread, you'd have though GW would make their own by now and charge oodles of dosh for it

I did zip tie them to the supports on the inside but on the outside I have nowhere to anchor them to rawwwrrrr. Normally my cable management inside a PC is flawless, but I have no options with the location of these shelves. :(

Hi Guys,

Great to see people using the tutorial and helping each other out

@ scipio: I built my cabinets exactly one day before the major earthquaje hit Japan...! One of the first things I did after the panic passed was to check for damage--no problems. Since then we have had a thousand aftershocks, tremors, and minor quakes and still not even one mini has fallen!

It is cheaper to buy a second detolf for shelves, however some things to consider: detolf shelves are thin, maybe 3mm or 4mm...I can't recall exactly. The place that cut my glass didn't even offer glass that thin for shelving. thickness of the glass affects how much weight it can support--not an issue in most cases, just an FYI. The quality of the detolf glass is adequate for the task, but inferior to glass used for most custom jobs. I think mine are made of "safety glass" whereas detolf glass seems quite different. Also, if you get shelves cut, you can make them bigger than the stock shelves. Realistically you could probably squeeze in a couple dozen extra figures or more. Lastly, if you live in a country where garbage disposal for bigger items is paid for by the person, a shelf less detolf will cost you money to dispose of it. You could have a go at it with a brick and bag up the shattered glass! In the end, I paid a price equivalent to two detolfs for eight shelves--but Japanese prices are weird, and so YMMV.

In the end, I think buying a second case for parts is a valid idea and perhaps the preferable option for many people.

Also, someone mentioned rigging up a positve airflow system to manage dust--I think the circular hole at the top could be a good place to install a fan.

 NiallCampbell wrote:
Prehistoric UFO - tidy those cables soldier!

But excellent work, looks great. This really is a great thread, you'd have though GW would make their own by now and charge oodles of dosh for it

They would sell a frikkin' ton of these shelves if they could just get a production contract with someone. People wouldn't need to mod them or buy dupes like us, although I know they'd charge a ridiculous premium, this is GW after all.

Hey, saw that this thread had some activity..
I have a few questions before I start to build my case.

1) Can the door be installed on either side (right versus left)?
2) How difficult is the built case to move?

And a comment about the Dioder lights, it looks like there are two types of lights available.
A) LED with ROYGBV color selection (greater cost)
B) LED with WHITE only (~ 1/2 the cost)

Thanks for the tutorial, this is most excellent.

Also, if price wasn't an issue for the glass, how many shelves would be ideal in your opinion ? And of which thickness ?

@Pause Game

1) Yes, you can choose which way you want the door to swing open. It's quite convenient, very considerate of Ikea.

2) If you buy furniture sliders - those little plastic thingies to put under heavy furniture - they won't be an issue to move at all. This is how I do it. The feet are made of nylon, so they are tough indeed and fastened VERY tightly to the unit.

@SkyFury

Probably 7 shelves + the bottom wooden shelf. Anything more and you risk not being able to fit the larger units. Tyranid monstrous creatures, Baneblades (because of their antennae) and Monoliths just fit with evenly spaced shelving. If you do purely infantry, you can probably have an embarrassing amount of shelves - as many as you can fit really.

And there's already 3 shelves in the kit right ?
4 mm ? 5 mm ?
I guess it doesn't need to be tempered as miniatures doesn't weigh that much.

There are already 3 shelves in the kit, yes. Plus the bottom shelf which is the wooden base gives you 4 platforms to mount models.

As far as thickness goes, I believe in the OP the dimensions of the stock shelves are listed.

Minis, even lots of them, don't weigh much. I suppose lots of old heavy Forge World tanks may be an issue but modern stuff is negligible.

I would stick with tempered. Un-tempered glass is much more brittle and dropping a metal model onto it could shatter a shelf.

I have both of mine set up but no models in them yet. I'm waiting to make another trip to Atlanta to get some more Ikea furniture for my office and I will get the lights then. Pics then!

I love this idea. May have to borrow it :-)

Crap sorry for Thread Necromancy :-(

I think that as a tutorial thread for an item that is quite sought after, it can easily be overlooked. Especially since this thread actually pops up in Google Search when you look up terms like Warhammer + glass + display + case. That's why the VIEW COUNT for this thread is unusually high.

The rules for necro'ing tutorial threads are quite different.

As long as the thread still serves it's educational purpose, and any photos or videos in it are still live, then there is no amount of time to consider it dead. Le's home wash is a good example. as that thread is from about 2009 iirc.

On topic: Detolf shelves are on sale right now for $65 USD!!!

Hey Guys,

Just a heads up to everyone interested in displaying models. This week I took a trip with my wife to Ikea for some baby stuff (i'm going to be a dad!). I had to take a look at their display cases given my interests, and I was surprised to see that there is a new case on offer.

This is the Fabrikor:



This is a new case as far as I can tell (2014). Also, I thought I would list some of the advantages and disadvantages that struck me after checking it out.

First, the fabrikor seems dust-proof. Though I made an effort to dust-proof my detolfs and it was a simple and cheap solution, nevertheless they aren't DUST-PROOF. The fabrikor door is flush and there is no gap as far as I could tell. See below:



Next, it come with a lock and key system. This is doubtless a major advantage for people in certain situations.



On the flip side, I hate the legs.



And the price is double that of the detolf...

What do you guys think?

I don't like it--seems like wasted space below with the legs. The dust is a positive, as I've noticed my Ikea cabinets seems to attract it--but not worth the space lost.

Has an interesting retro look to it, especially with the green. Can you provide some more pics, of the full unit?

Do you have a Detolf nearby for comparison?

Also, how is the shelf space, have you seen if there is any ability to add more shelving like Detolf?

Thanks for sharing.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've just noticed that the shelves are adjustable via metal pegs.

I wonder if they sell additional shelves...?

Hey guys,

I didn't actually buy any fabrikor units, so I'm unable to do a side by side comparison.

@ AofE: Fabrikor legs do seem wasteful, but they do have more surface area per shelf.

@ Plonka: The metal clips system is an interesting feature. See diagram 16 in the link below.

http://www.ikea.com/au/en/assembly_instructions/fabrikor-glass-door-cabinet__AA-758751-3_pub.pdf

Thanks for the tip with that new case, but the design isn't all that modern/attractive and it appears to lack moddability.

Also I think the price is what made that first one so attractive.

The legs look like they'd be trivial to remove - likely a single bolt in every leg into the bottom of the shelving unit. So you could remove them and put the shelves on top of an entertainment-center-like piece of furniture or something like that.

I like the frabrikor, double the price is a bit steep but not overly so, I think some people can do very good with it

It has come to my attention that "Aldi" sells display cabinets. Anyone want to chime in on how they stack up to the detolf?