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Display case for 1/72 four-engined heavy


J T Gray

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OK, so it's not  really diorama, but I'm blowed if I can see anywhere more fitting. Perhaps if I'm in the wrong place a kind admin could move it for me?

I'm getting near to finishing the 1/72 Revell Dambusters Lancaster - I see from my last visit here that it's taken me over 8 years, I blame a housemove! I'd like to put it in a case with its box - not really case quality, but it's the best I can do, and the box (please note - opened before it was signed) is signed by Les Munro, Marie Stopes-Wallis, Maud Stevens and Johnny Johnson.

So... Where do I find a case without breaking the bank, or where do I find hints on how to make one (oh no, another rabbit hole!), please?

Adrian

P.S. Revell paints... bloomin' thick for brush application, aren't they?  Or is it just that they are eight years old?

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I don't know what the models dimensions are, but I have  used fish tanks ( glass aquariums) for display cases.

A glass 10 gallon tank placed upside down over a 1/25 scale Mack truck is just about right. 

And , you can get tanks in sizes ranging from 1 ,2,3,5,10,20,40,50,100 gallons and even bigger. But anything bigger than 100 gallons tend to be heavy.

New tanks can cost a bit, but you can almost always find used tanks "dirt cheep" .

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On 3/8/2022 at 7:25 PM, J T Gray said:

OK, so it's not  really diorama, but I'm blowed if I can see anywhere more fitting. Perhaps if I'm in the wrong place a kind admin could move it for me?

I'm getting near to finishing the 1/72 Revell Dambusters Lancaster - I see from my last visit here that it's taken me over 8 years, I blame a housemove! I'd like to put it in a case with its box - not really case quality, but it's the best I can do, and the box (please note - opened before it was signed) is signed by Les Munro, Marie Stopes-Wallis, Maud Stevens and Johnny Johnson.

So... Where do I find a case without breaking the bank, or where do I find hints on how to make one (oh no, another rabbit hole!), please?

Adrian
 

Adrian

 

Not sure if you just want a single model on display, but I use a glass cabinet from Ikea (other brands are available 😇) to display some of my finished kits.  I think its called a "Detolf" and the last one I bought was quite reasonably priced.  Might be more than you are looking for, I'll try and post a picture when I get home tonight, so you can get an idea.  Can't help with making your own though -as you say, another rabbit hole!!

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I don't know if this is of any use to you, but I occasionally do dioramas for friends and present them in an acrylic display case. For these, I use a company called Puffin Plastics. They market themselves as producers of high quality sports trophy and memerobilia display cases for such items as Rugby Balls, Football Boots and Boxing Gloves etc and are of excellent quality.

If you can't find a case of the dimensions you require, they also offer a bespoke service to cater for your specific needs. The prices can vary as they offer varying styles of bases and thickness of the acrylic. I've used their bespoke service a couple of times recently and found them not to expensive and the packaging is first rate.

I hope this helps.

Edited by cngaero
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Thank you gentlemen, plenty to investigate there. I will try to sort in under 8 years and let you know how I get on! Going off-radar for a few days, so I'm not ignoring you, just low on connectivity...

 

Adrian

 

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Sorry, everyone, for one reason and another I've not given this the attention that it deserves!

Roland's case looks perfect but, as Nigel says, I've just measured the box and it's half a centipede too wide to fit! There is a wider option, but it's exactly the size I make the box, and "last chance to buy" - if I buy, and it won't fit... *much cursing*

Any chance you could confirm the internal width, please? If it is 38cm as advertised, sadly, I am out as otherwise it would have been perfect for other stuff as well. If that's the case I'll investigate the other suggestions.

 

Adrian





 

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If you have a router and some woodworking skills, it's not too difficult to take two of the Ikea Detolf display cases and make one that's twice as wide. You have to make a new top and bottom for them from wood.

Use the router to make a channel for the glass sides to fit into and drill the appropriate holes for the wire shelf supports. 

 

IMG_20200610_135540-600x450.jpg

 

IMG_20200610_140900-600x450.jpg

 

IMG_20200610_174858-338x450.jpg

 

The bonus is I can now fit three 1/32 Spitfires across instead of just one per shelf.  

 

PXL_20210927_203935828-338x450.jpg

 

If you need more info, feel free to ask. 

 

Carl

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Nice work Carl. On a similar IKEA theme, I found a way to easily create diplay cases in their Billy bookcases by mounting glass shelves vertically. There's absolutely no modification required, and works with either glass or normal shelves above. You have to slide or lift out the shelf above to gain access, but that's easy enough and it's not something you need to do very often. Definitely a case of lateral, or maybe vertical, thinking.

 

IMG-20220327-103632.jpg
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IMG-20220327-103536.jpg

IMG-20220327-105931.jpgIMG-20220327-103610.jpg

Edited by Camwader
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Sadly I have neither a router nor woodworking skills - that is very impressive, though. Interesting to see what other people  put in their cases - I like the Allis Chalmers models, and I think Camwader might get excited if I said that last summer I had just popped out for some cow juice and a car went by bearing a numberplate that read "1 JYS", with the BRDC logo. It wasn't the man himself driving, mind.

I think I'm going to use Pythagoras, and go for fitting the box in stood up, and diagonally across - that should do the job.

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J T Gray - I am indeed a JYS fan. The first 1/12 Tamiya kit I built was his Tyrrell 003 when it first came out 1972. When we used to watch grandprix on the telly my brother and I used to nominate who we wanted to win - he was always for Graham, I was for Jackie. After Jackie retired my allegiance went to Tyrrell and whoever drove for them.

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