Display Case

I have heard of people finding useful cases at  IKEA,maybe check out their catalog.

How big does it need to be? Model Expo sells a range of oak cases (minus glass) that you can assemble yourself ( http://www.modelexpo-online.com/page.asp?lp=1013 ), but they're intended for individual models.

Ikea is a good idea. It may also be worth your trouble to visit the local furniture stores, and see what they have to offer in the way of "curio cabinets." We've got one made of nicely finished wood, with glass shelves and a light inside, that cost us about $200. Worth it!

IKEA has a bookcase called the "Billy" (yes, that's the real name). It comes in white, black, or brown, although the whte is best because it refracts light. You can get glass doors on the front and even get extra shelves. I have two of them so far. They cost around $170 each in this configuration; I think I have three extra selves in each? You can fit a lot of models, as you can see.

Those are awesome, Karl.

How deep are the shelves? And does $170/ea included the glass doors? Are they anchored to the wall or are they deep and sturdy enough to be self-standing?

Greg

Those are awesome, Karl.

How deep are the shelves? And does $170/ea included the glass doors? Are they anchored to the wall or are they deep and sturdy enough to be self-standing?

 

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/28102/?cid=us|ps|nonbranded|EST_Storage_PDT|go|billy_bookcase

The shelves are 30x10 deep. The shelves come without the doors for convenience sake--some people wouldn't want them. The door kits are not expensive, and the extra shelves were like, 10 bucks when I got them about a month or so ago. They DO recommend bolting them to the wall WITH the door kits.

The basic model like I got is listed at $69.99 here:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00263850/

Good luck!

Those look great! If they'd been available at the time, I would have bought them instead of that curio cabinet.

Glass shelves are definitely a good idea - for reasons that may or may not be obvious. Of course they let the observer see the underside of the model. But the big thing is that if they weren't glass, most of your models would be in shadow. Glass is definitely the way to go.

That said, I have to confess there are three reasons why I'd hesitate to put one of these in my living room. Their ages are three, four, and five, and they travel at incredible rates of speed and tend to bump into things.

40k

You have to do some searching in your area. sometimes businesses go belly up and you can grab some great buys. You just have to be patient till one pops up.

I have two black metal frame slim curios w/glass doors from Ikea. They are great for the smaller models. As previously mentioned, Ikea is a good source to investigate.

Not long ago an antique store in my area was going out of business and I grabbed this 6 ft tall by 5ft wide lighted display case for $200. As you can see it has 5 shelves and I can squeeze in a sixth one that needs to be custom cut at a glass shop. I calculate that it will hold about 30+ built airplanes.

Karl, thanks for the additional info and the great links!

Ernie, that's a great-looking cabinet and a good buy. Good advice about keeping eyes open for sell-outs.

If you are looking for a single case for a single model, I recently bought a case from http://www.grandpascabinets.com.

Ron is very accomodating, the service is excellent and the case for a 350th scale aircraft carrier is very well done.

I have 3 Ikea Billy cabinets all in white. I too have added additional glass shelves. The glass doors are great! My only word of advice is that Ikea changes the door styles a little  every couple of years.  If you add an additional cabinet down the road, there is no guarantee that it will match the others. If you plan to do so, you may want to get an extra set of doors when you buy your original  cabinet(s). Currently, the doors sell for $55.00 each US.

I noticed that our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore had several cabinets with glass doors for sale, although some of them were pretty rough-looking. I haunted the place until a 3-foot-wide one came in that looked pretty good, and snagged it. The doors need repainting and there are no shelves, but I'll have some glass ones made and put a light in the top. You never know what you'll find in those places.