"Ikea hack lighted display case w tutorial" Topic

First big game/miniatures accomplishment of 2013--finished this Ikea hack lighted display case made from a Billy bookcase with Morebo doors. Seemed like it would be fairly easy and straightforward, but it proved a challenge. I'm pretty happy with the result, though.

And some closeups of what's gone in so far:

More details and bigger pics on this blog post:
belchedfromthedepths.blogspot.com/2013/01/miniatures-display-case.html

Full tutorial:
belchedfromthedepths.blogspot.com/2013/02/tutorial-how-to-make-lighted-mirror.html

Nice work, but have you checked how much weight those shelves are rated to take? I ask as I know of someone who had an Ikea display cabinet that had all the shelves collapse as a result of putting too much on each shelf.

Not that it looks like you've gone overboard, but just asking…

Thanks. Honestly I have full faith in the shelves and am not concerned. These are rated for 31 pounds each and feel very sturdy with the few pounds/shelf you see here. The only way I could fit that many figures on the shelf would be to stack boxes of them, each box full of lead. All the same I'll be conscientious of that. Sorry to hear of the collapse.

Not as sorry as he was!
Top notch job you've done there. How hot do the lights get?

Really like the mirror in the back as well

That looks really good!

Glass scares me as well but love the lighting you get from them. Can you add more shelves with less space or are they preset?

VR
James Mattes

James I use Billys for my books there are plenty of holes in the sides to do the shelves closer together. If you are handy enough you could customize the holes if you wanted different locations. This one is some excellent work.

I find it very telling that all your minatures are on the top shelves… and your awards are shoved in on the bottom shelf. Yea, you are pround enough of your awards to put them in the case… but your minatures are FAR more important.

Thanks guys!

@McWong: thinking again about your friend's disaster :( … hope some things could be salvaged. I live on the west coast and I've also considered an earthquake. Even though it's bolted to the wall there are some things I wouldn't be able to full guard against… I guess that's the chance I take.

Light temp was definitely something I thought about. Fluorescent lights are cool. Another option is led but I find give a dramatic spotlight effect that just washes out the figs that are close and then falls off too quickly. Xenon, halogen and incandescent would not be suitable. This fixture also has a plastic lens and plastic is essential for blocking UV that causes fading.

vojvoda: Yeah, what Stosstruppen says although there are no holes close to the middle. Note in the pic that there is a wider space around the middle shelf. Well, that's as close as you can get unless you want to drill some more holes. Come to think of it, that wouldn't have been a bad idea while I had it apart. Now that it's together I'll probably just leave it be. If you do drill holes I recommend a brad point bit for a clean cut.

I bought 9 shelves and you see 7 in the case here. Really the top shelf is too close to the light, though, and I wouldn't recommend putting figs that close. Also keep in mind as you add more shelf that each shelf of figs blocks light to the shelves beneath, like layers of canopy in a forest.

@e. wave: Hehe, thanks, I'll take that compliment. :) Beats being called a showboat, which is what happened on my blog. ;)

I've got a commercial display cabinet I bought from a shop that was moving, solid glass but halogen lights, the damn things will melt a figure if you left it on for more than a couple of hours. Looking to move later this year and will have to pay for the damn thing to be pulled apart and moved.

My friend's disaster involved ceramic statues and art, so fortunately nothing wargaming was lost in the incident!

Never put halogen lights inside a cabinet!
LED are much better as they stay cool