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Glass display cabinets for army storage - good AU options?


Ekfud

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Hi folks - 

 

Apologies if dropping into the wrong forum area... 

I've been 'strongly encouraged' to shift a growing collection of minis from a shelf of a billy bookcase in our living room - and looking at some options for (ideally) a glass cabinet to house what will be ~120 infantry and bunch of other stuff. Australia based, which kind of means any global shipping is prohibitive, and also trying to avoid the expensive commercial (ie, store) options. 

 

Having said that, some customisation isn't out of the question; particularly as a lot of standard furniture options have shelves way higher than needed for minis, and sneaking some extra shelves in would make sense.

 

So far thinking that maybe the beloved Ikea Detolf might work if I can get some extra shelves made up (ie, ~7 rather than 4 shelves)- 

https://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/20354043/ 

 

Harvey Norman has some ok options - https://www.harveynorman.com.au/daytona-display-cabinet.html

Although the door is the side (rather than the front) which can be a bit fiddly

 

Apparently some folk in the area have used narrower shelves and bolted glass doors on (eg - https://www.templeandwebster.com.au/i.Life-CD-Shelf-Storage-Unit-CD-SHELF-ILIF1499.html )

 

Keen to see if people have different thoughts on displays - particularly if in Oz. 

 

Cheers. 

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I looked into this a few years ago and struggled with it too. I ended up using an old wooden diplay case with glass doors and I still want to replace it.

 

I would highly recommend having an exhaustive search of gumtree or something along those lines. You may not find something perfect but you might find something you can adapt for a reasonable price. Glass shelving can be surprisingly inexpensive and even if you get it hardened (which I would recommend) then it shouldn’t break the bank.

 

Also check out shopfitters and cabinet makers. I can’t count the number of retail stores that I’ve been in that had great cabinets. Maybe even ask your local GW or FLGS where they got their cabinets.

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That's a DIY store? If it's not in Erinsborough or Summer Bay, I have no idea.

For shame! ;)

 

The equivalent would be Home Depot, I think.

 

I don’t think Bunnings does glass but should be able to get everything else there if you wanna DIY. Can always pick up the glass seperately.

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Thanks folks - that is kind of where my thinking was at too...

 

The Detolf definitely has appeal if I can do half-shelves in it. Seems a few people have found some good ways of installing spare brackets for half-height shelves. 

I'll see if there are some cheap options for glass extras - Bunnings is good for a lot of things but glass isn't one of them... 

['At Bunnings warehouse... we'll make your house grouse']

 

Corswain - turns out there is a northern Sydney shopfitter that does cases for models, etc. They look excellent, but generally custom jobs at $2k+ 

Slightly overkill but if I decide to fitout my Bond villain doom fortress with unlimited funds... there is someone nearby. 

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I have a couple of Detolfs (ironically full of my friends' models rather than my grey plastic nonsense) and am getting a couple more, but one thing to be wary of is the lighting. Some of the Ikea-recommended lighting is garbage, casting a dim yellow light and putting most of the models in shadow. I've seen a few peeps' Detolfs ruined by crappy lighting, mine included. Need to get something better.

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I have a couple of Detolfs (ironically full of my friends' models rather than my grey plastic nonsense) and am getting a couple more, but one thing to be wary of is the lighting. Some of the Ikea-recommended lighting is garbage, casting a dim yellow light and putting most of the models in shadow. I've seen a few peeps' Detolfs ruined by crappy lighting, mine included. Need to get something better.

 

Fair call - I've seen a few where people have installed a light strip per-shelf (stuck to the underside of each shelf to light the one below). 

Not a detolf, but I recall seeing something at Ikea that had a vertical strip down each corner of the cabinet too. 

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Corswain - turns out there is a northern Sydney shopfitter that does cases for models, etc. They look excellent, but generally custom jobs at $2k+ 

 

Eeeekkkk!!! Yeah, I wouldn’t pay that much. Was worth looking into though I guess.

A few years ago I was sourcing extra glass shelves for display cabinets at work and, from memory, they were about $16 ea or $32 for hardened. And they were about twice the length of the Detolfs.

 

Think that’s the way I’ll go, when I finally get round to it.

 

Let us know what you end up going with. And post pics! :)

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unless you get something magical to support the shelves, (thicker glass and nicer joints) as many gunpla enthusiasts in asia will ascribe, detolf cabinets are a slow way to tears

 

It may not be 1 hour, it may not be 1 month, it may not be a year, but they fail

 

13lbs (just under 6kg) is their fail limit, but I wouldn't suggest more than 3-4kg comfortably ruling out any large collection or resin FW models

 

dont use them, somebody somewhere sometime will cry, don't let it be you or your buddies.

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unless you get something magical to support the shelves, (thicker glass and nicer joints) as many gunpla enthusiasts in asia will ascribe, detolf cabinets are a slow way to tears

 

It may not be 1 hour, it may not be 1 month, it may not be a year, but they fail

 

13lbs (just under 6kg) is their fail limit, but I wouldn't suggest more than 3-4kg comfortably ruling out any large collection or resin FW models

 

dont use them, somebody somewhere sometime will cry, don't let it be you or your buddies.

I have had my Detolfs now for over 15 years and have never had any issues with them although I only have plastic on mine (no metal or resin).

 

Of course now I have said this I will come home and find all the shelves have collapsed..... 

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unless you get something magical to support the shelves, (thicker glass and nicer joints) as many gunpla enthusiasts in asia will ascribe, detolf cabinets are a slow way to tears

 

It may not be 1 hour, it may not be 1 month, it may not be a year, but they fail

 

13lbs (just under 6kg) is their fail limit, but I wouldn't suggest more than 3-4kg comfortably ruling out any large collection or resin FW models

 

dont use them, somebody somewhere sometime will cry, don't let it be you or your buddies.

I have had my Detolfs now for over 15 years and have never had any issues with them although I only have plastic on mine (no metal or resin).

 

Of course now I have said this I will come home and find all the shelves have collapsed.....

Expected. Do you have more than 4 kg of plastic on one shelf?

 

I struggle to think of the volume of 4kg of plastic

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As a policy I don't negotiate with children, women or terrorists in general, so I'd have gotten a massive case as gaudy as possible, backlit and everything and put it in the living room.

 

"Happy wife, happy life" is the mantra of a slave.

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If you have a Billy already, why not get the cabinet to match with glass doors?

 

This is actually what I am going with - we have a 5-piece birch coloured Billy bookcase for, you know... books that runs the length of the living room.

I'm allowed to add an extra 40cm unit to the end that will be for minis & related stuff. 

 

I hadn't considered Billy before as the 'default' doors have a wide timber frame on them which limits how much you can see - 

The Morliden clear doors are a much better option, and they are even doing spare shelfs for Billy in glass now, so can get a nice clear front setup. 

Something like this - https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/291889619580652216/

 

Still have a couple of thoughts around lighting (mostly overkill), although there are some excellent examples of hacks in the world. Eg - 

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=15298&forum_id=11

Or if you have a lot of time and (strangely) a lot of vodka...

http://absolutregis.xooit.com/t3148-Ikea-Billy-bookcase-LED-Display-for-Dummies-tutorial.htm

 

Thanks for comments - always useful to get a few different perspectives.  

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I know that there’s a gentleman in the UK on one of the Facebook groups who sells expanded shelving for Detolf cases. There might be someone similar in oz.

 

Thanks - think I might have found him on ebay (or someone with a set of expansion brackets at least). 

 

Going the other way though I think - aiming to get across to our Ikea this week and do a Billy + glass front version that matches the bookcases we already have.

Worst case, if it doesn't look great, the door will come off and I've just got more bookcase space :-)

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As follow up... this is what I ended up going with; 40cm Ikea Billy bookcase, with morliden glass door and spare glass shelves. 

Since the glass door is quite heavy, and the minis are much lighter than books... I've put some woodscrews through the sides into the 2 heavy (80cm) bookcases next to it. 

 

Billy 2

Billy 3

Billy 1

 

This won't have as much natural light as a Detolf set of shelves, but I can get 10 glass shelves in there plus the fixed timber shelves in middle and bottom. 

Couple of example items in there, but will add a pic once I have loaded it up with squads fully. 

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So, ah... apparently the Detolf are not so popular in Oz at the moment. 

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/interiors/sydney-woman-outraged-after-glass-ikea-cabinet-explodes-it-scared-the-living-hell-out-of-us/news-story/13a08aa0d366cc74319a47c2070e212d

 

Apparently the glass back has had some issues, maybe with hot lighting? 

Possible the particular one in the article realised the woman had obsessive Michael Jackson memorabilia and committed suicide as an act of good taste...

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So, ah... apparently the Detolf are not so popular in Oz at the moment.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/interiors/sydney-woman-outraged-after-glass-ikea-cabinet-explodes-it-scared-the-living-hell-out-of-us/news-story/13a08aa0d366cc74319a47c2070e212d

 

Apparently the glass back has had some issues, maybe with hot lighting?

Possible the particular one in the article realised the woman had obsessive Michael Jackson memorabilia and committed suicide as an act of good taste...

As a former employee at an IKEA store, I can state that it was one manufacturer who didn't produce the shelves to the standard they were supposed to. IKEA of Sweden (Head office) gave the manufacturer a chance to get shelves up to standard and they failed. Needless to say, the supplier no longer makes anything for IKEA anymore...

 

Regarding the light fittings, the ones mentioned might have been the older product. I haven't worked at IKEA since last September, but i do know that that particular item was in rotation to be improved. Not sure if it has since been, though.

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