Digital

Heya folks.

Im not exactly sure where this post belongs, but ill put it in general chat since its not really pertenant to just one scale, and its not about a model.

Ive always found it hard to display smaller models in a way that really shows off thier detail. Of course i could put them on a shelf in a tall cabinet, but i feel if thats the case they seem to get lost in the multitude.

I wanted a type of cabinet that is around eye level and deep enough for just one row, specificaly something wall mounted.

There used to be these old napa vally brand wooden Audio Cassette racks that where fashonable back in the day when Audio Cassettes where the standard media. (Back in the 80s for those of you who have never seen an Audio cassette, theres so many youngens on this board now, i doubt some of you have even seen one, friggen gen-Yers).

Anyway, since no ones ever going to use an audio cassette again, i butchered the rack to make cabinet that is perfect for smaller models in the 1/500th and 1/400th scale.

I bought custom cut glass shelves, an acrylic sheet to act as a front panal with glued on hinges. Add Illumination and boom, perfect case.

Here are step by step instructions.

Materials.
1x Audio Casette rack
8x 1/8th inch thick glass panels.
32x 1 inch pin nails
1x 1/6th inch 19 x 25 acrylic sheet
2x acrylic hinges
1x tube of acrylic glue
6x 1 inch screws
1x power drill
1x screw driver
1x leiter can of paint or varnish
1x brush
1x Mounted spot light.

1, Pry of the back panel with a screw driver, careful as not to damage the panal, since it will be used in the complete cabinate.

2, Remove the rows of slats, save two of the horizontel slats.

3, tape two of the horizontal slats togeather back to back, this will act as a template for the glass sheets.

3, Take mesurements of the template and aquire 8 or more 1/8th inch (4mm) tempered glass shelves. These can be aquired at any hardware store (Baumarkt).

4.(optional) Paint or varnish the cabinate to match the decore of your home, dont forget to coat the front of the back panal, it will show.

5. Slide in the glass shelves in the existing slat grooves, as many as you like, though i think 8 works best.

6, Nail on the back, use 1 inch pin nails at about 2 inches apart, dont be shy with the nails, since they carry the weight, the cabinat hangs upon two holes in the back panal.

7, Now go and aquire a panal to act as a front for the case. This step is semi optional. The front helps models from falling out during an earthquake or other shake up, and protects from dust and UV light.
I used transparent Acrylic, glass is also an option but is heavier and harder to work with.

8. Aquire the Acrylic at a local building supply store or hobby shop. The sheet should be aproxamatly 18 1/2 inches by 25 inches. and 1/6th inch thick. Double check your messurments if you wish to make your own.

9, Also buy acrylic glue and some acrylic hinges, glue the hinges on the sheet carefully taking mesurements as you progress.

10, Use a drill and screwdriver to attach the front panals hinges to the top of the cabinate. This way the front panal opens upwards, be carefull to leave enough space so that it can freely swing.

11. Aquire some adhesive velcro strips. and attach them at the bottom. This helps during an earthquake so that the panal wont swing and let planes fall out. (I live in an earthquake prone area)

12. Aquire top lighting. Ikea has a great lap that can screw on top, other lamps might be found at art stores used for picture frames.

And then your done! the effect can be impressive, and it dosent take floor space so you can add it practicaly anywhere.

Heres a picture of the finnished product hanging in my room

thrifty

Excellent Idea, I was wondering how much it would be for the local glass factory to produce something like the free standing ones you have but the wall mounted are excellent - when do you go into full production?

Digital

Ill build one for ya for ya as soon as ya send me an audio cassette rack=)

I might try my hand at building my own. The rack was just a nice thing to have lying around to reuse. But really its just 4 pieces of wood and a back panal, I could easily craft my own with a tablesaw.

Id like to have ones that are alittle wider for larger aircraft. I got to get my act togeather and try my hand at that, since im on vacation now it would be a good project. Will see how to work that out and if its succesfull, ill take orders=)

Eherran

Great job Digital! That's a real good example of what some creativity and elbow grease can create without spending a lot of money. This is a fine example for the young collectors in here - if you use your head, instead of your wallet, almost anything can be used to display your fleet.

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CO777

Great idea! You are a very talented guy.
This must be the cheapest solution to display your models.

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Julian



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MD11Freighter

This is impressive! I am jealous

Digital

Yea. Using the racks that i had around the house it didnt cost too much. Under 50$ for both. Im buying afew more napa cases off ebay, and those are alittle more expensive, since they are the highest quality audio cassette cases you could get. If you can part with your "Culture Club" and "Modern English" cassetes you can probably part with the rack too.

Today i went to my friends dads house and we worked on building a complete custom case for larger models. (24x36x5 inches). So far so good. Will be even cheeper and will look great. Photos are incoming soon.

Chrisvalla

What's the weight on one of those (give or take)? I ask becasue I have a floor to ceiling rack system for my planes and there are some places I'm looking to expand to that I'd rather go for the display boxes look rather than industrial/office looking lightweight aluminum shelving.