My display case restoration for my loose figures finished :)

[threaders20]

Hi.
Not sure if anyone's interested, but for a while now I have been thinking about how to display my entire collection of loose figures.
I found this outside an old church by the bins and thought this would be ideal. It has the two glass doors but it's in rough condition

It's a massive piece but fancied something different than the ikea displays and I haven't seen anything else on eBay. Some interesting display cabinets come up on gumtree, but often the antique stuff has patterns on the glass distracting on what is inside.
Anyway a day of sanding and pissing of the neighbours no doubt, I now have this

And with the doors finished and propped up to give a rough idea.

I am getting glass shelves made to order and I'm keeping the case natural as I've got a feeling paint will react with the figures over time. My challenge is to fill it full of c8 figures all complete with all original weapons with no repro. I have 350 figures so far, so will see if that is enough.
Thanks for looking and I'll keep you updated, sorry there are no starwars pics yet, but there will be soon once the shelves have arrived
Hope it works as it was a killer carrying that Home from where I found it!!

 

[Tarkin's nosehair]

Thats a great find and loving the resto' work mate, love to see this when full of vintage goodness. are you going to light it?

 

[poncho]

Great stuff fella 8) and rewarding at the same time

 

[threaders20]

Thanks for the comments I would like to try and light it, but I've never done it before and would that mean loads of wires coming out of the unit? Also I wondered weather the lights give of any heat as that might be bad for the figures over time :?
I have to find 350 figure stands :shock: so looking at nearly £100 which would buy me something vintage so I might have a think and see if I can come up with another idea or ask in the wanted section for some used thanks for looking.

 

[spoons]

That's a fantastic effort, the before and after photos are amazing I would never have thought it was the same cabinet

 

[Dublinjeff]

Great job, like others I really like seeing these projects...I reckon it will look very well once full of vintage goodness. Looking forward to more updates

 

[threaders20]

I think I'm going to have to light it in order to do the figures justice I'm looking at battery powered small LEDs but can't find any suibtable but there are some battery powered fairy lights :? Maybe if there taped down behind the figures? I'll keep you posted.

 

[Palifan]

Great looking cabinet and it's extra nice as it's vintage :lol:

Now to get it full of figures and give us an update

Ian

 

[kingshearer]

Well done threaders20, nice to see a lovely cabinet (c. 977) like that being rescued and restored to a high standard. ( let's hope the Vicar doesn't get wind of this or he'll be round asking for a donation for the church roof! )
You could have the good guys on the right and bad boys on the left.
Look forward to seeing how many figures you'll manage to fit in there. Not sure if you'll get all 350 in, although it's hard to judge the size of the cabinet from the photo.
As mentioned earlier, you should just buy some stick on LED lights from the pound shops I think they're great and should be ideal for now.

 

[Michael Sith]

That's a fantastic restoration job and will look great full of SW vintage.

 

[SAVORY100]

Great project. I used this kit for lighting:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noza-Tec-Li...TF8&qid=1458971694&sr=8-1&keywords=led+lights

just one wire in, you can change the colours too, but I only set mine on white. Really easy to install too, though the double sided it comes with wasn't strong enough, so a bit of super glue or stronger tape might be required.

Good luck finishing it and keep us all updated 8)

 

[Robstyley]

Nice one, that's going to look cool when finished. I wouldn't worry about paint, as long as you let it dry properly it shouldn't harm the figures. Savoury's got the right idea, you can buy led strip lighting on ebay too with different power kits to use batteries or mains. I need to do mine. You might struggle to get 350 in there, mine's about 2/3 the size of that and you can fit 130 in it. Good luck with it, look forward to seeing it on the wall

 

[threaders20]

Thanks chaps
The shelves will be about 4cm deep so I'm hoping I can fit two rows of figures on each shelf or something. I have had a long look at different lighting options and I think lighting up each shelf is the way to go.
Finding ones that run of battery's is hard but I'm going to try these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262223286853?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
The power unit is only the size of two aa battery's so I should be able to hide it somewhere I'll get 2, one for each side I think
I'll keep you posted, cheers and all the best, Jonathan

 

[Jez]

Great job mate. I'm looking for a new cabinet myself, i might go and check out my local church.
That'll look ace full of figures.

 

[sith-smith]

I think that will make a smart looking display.

Even cooler is that it's something you just found! 8)

 

[Andyclarke]

Fantastic job. A really smart looking cabinet and a labour of love for sure. Looking fwd to seeing it full.

 

[Clarkspie&chips]

It's amazing what gets thrown away but the restoration looks great already.
Glass shelfs is a great idea and a few strips of leds and it'll be the business.

Keep us posted.

 

[mumbo]

Love it 8)

 

[threaders20]

It's been a while, but I have been busy getting all the bits and pieces. I had a day off today so thought I would get stuck in.
Just managed to put it on the wall, fix some brackets in and put the doors back on properly

It weighs a ton, so have also got it propped up on the desk underneath as well as screwed into the wall.
I looked into getting glass shelves but the cheapest I could find were £180 for 16 shelves plus postage and vat . In the end I got some acrylic ones done for £35 as I wanted to keep it as cheap as possible. The shelves look pretty good nice and clear and you can also get them with polished sides as well.
My diy skills arnt great, but I managed to get all the shelves finished today and I have installed the lights too these were just normal fairy lights that run off batteries so we're easy to fix in.

This is now where I'm up to I'm amazed that it's reasonably straight and that both doors open and close properly but it's looking good. I don't think I'll fit 350 figures in it though and I also need to sort out how I display the figures I need lots of stands but was wondering about the display order?
I could have goodies on one side and baddies on the other, or have them in order of films, ie new hope figures then empire, then Jedi? anyone have any thoughts ? I've never had my full collection of figures all on display so I'm really looking forward to completing it.
Just need batteries for the lights and figure stands
I'll keep you updated and thanks for reading. All the best, Jonathan

 

[threaders20]

Here are all my looses ready for display

A life times collection