I think Andy showed a painted version on white vinyl in one of his awesome reports on Kaiju Korner and I was obsessed with it for a while but never even got close to it. I just knew the maker but not the actual name back then so that did not help either, hahaha. Maybe you guys just rekindled that urge . . .
Yeah, i think he initially did a post of an unpainted test pull they were showing off at a festival. It was flesh vinyl. Blew me away. I think they did a GID version. Big slab of glow ...
thanks dude!!! And they are double reinforced with 50lb anchors. I had one come crashing down In my last studio and I learned my lesson then haha
After some extensive scrolling through several super and wonder festival reports on Kaiju Korner (I think I am color blind now) I found the pic I was referring to. Not sure whether this is GID or White. I am just sure I want it. Everybody else: sorry for derailing this thread
^^^ @MonstaIslandCzar Absolutely gorgeous colors, just like staring into a great colorful aquarium, filled with exotic fish. Great grouping and interesting toys! If possible, can we please see what the whole case looks like? Is it one of those lawyer cases, where the panels slide up? Thanks for sharing!
“What does your display case look like?” Currently a bloody mess! Ever started to rearrange and regret it? Perhaps going from a mix of items in one display case, to all sofubi, was a bad idea. I think leaving the vinyl in large cardboard box would have been a hell of a lot easier. And to think I thought wiring up the new lights would be the challenging part
As above... this is very much a work in progress but this is where I'm at and I still have quite a bit to fit in and decide if it works or not: So, started with an old in-built display case in my home office. There was no lighting in it and heavy wood shelves made it feel even darker: So, I dumped the shelves and had some glass ones cut and then fitted LED strips to the bottom of each shelf (and the top). Chasing the wires up the inside of the case and pulling them through the top, to the power, was the fiddly bit: Then came the task of moving pieces from various current locations and attempting to make a cohesive display. I still have a fair amount to fit in and I'm not sure the tin-toy wind-ups and robots on the top will survive the shuffle; my first thought was having the robots beside their sofubi counterparts but now I'm not sure and feel the case probably works best as 'all vinyl'... It is a work in progress but this is where I am at the movement:
Thanks Kevin. At times it feels like playing a game of chess with yourself... moving pieces in and out of the display and from one shelf to another, only to move them back again
^ Thats such a great setup. I dig the crowded look. With that lighting they almost look like weird aquariums.
Thank you @MonstaIslandCzar ! I'm with @XVivaHateX , I'm also in favor of the crowded monster shelves (but trying to make each figure somewhat distinguishable), not only for the toy store look, but because of space limitations! The lawyer's bookcase is perfect! The slide-up doors keep the dust out much better than most cases. Real lawyers bookcases made of soild wood are quite expensive these days ($500 - +$800!). That last toy shelf of bluish gids, makes me think of scuba diving through a coral reef! Really nice! And, thanks for the whole-case shot! @Mr Fox great beginning! I agree, I have a similar issue with a group of my cases. The solid shelves blocked the lighting and make everything look closed in and dark. And, bless Chris's / Lixx's soul! He posted the glass shelf-load limits for the IKEA cases I bought, which really woke me up! They were on the low end of the limit, so I replaced all of the shelves with thick-cut acrylic shelves, which are much stronger than glass (as well as safer too!) https://www.pmma.dk/Acryl_kontra_glas.aspx?Lang=en-GB The only thing you have to be very careful about is, acrylic is easy to scratch, unless you get panels with a specially coated surface. I opted out of this, it's very expensive I have the same issue with the shelf back board being too dark. I used a plotter to print out some nice background paper, and affixed it with velcro, so it can be changed if needed. Sadly we don't have a plotter anymore, but fancy gift wrap or art stores carrying nice paper on rolls, would also suffice as "back board wall paper". I'll take a photo of the case with paper. Made a huge difference!
Finally started sorting toys in preparation for arranging shelves. A bit overwhelming! Anywhooo, here is a photo of a set of cases, that I lined the backboard with paper. The original case backing was a very dark gray. Toys look drab and dissolve into the gray. IMHO, the cases look a lot more inviting with a lighter back drop. Sorry for the crappy photos! Closeup of the paper pattern The middle case had a glass door that fell out of its hinges! I love the design (ikea), but it had tiny corner hinge holders that supported the large glass pane. See the left case, at the bottom left side is a black metallic rectangle--basically the glass sits in a slot, and is "floating" on that piece of metal. With only a metallic slot holder at the top and bottom of one side, this is all that holds a heavy glass pane in place! The door fell out 3 times! First time, it came out of the corner slots when I opened the door, and crashed on the floor! Pretty lucky it didn't shatter or crack, but put a serious dent on the floor. Second and third time, the same, except I caught the door. We had an acrylic pane cut, added bigger hinges that screws directly into the acrylic pane, and down the side of the case, so that it's very securely held in place (see right side of middle case), and added a small knob. The raw wood was glazed with spar varnish (same stuff you use on boat decks), super shiny! p.s. the acrylic pane in the middle case is shinier than the glass panes on the left and right cases. Acrylic is easily scratched, so use a soft fiber dusting cloth. Coated acrylic is scratch resistant, but very expensive. A pane this large and thick (don't get a thin pane, they will warp) and uncoated, was still pricey.
Nice! Also I'd advise investing like $20 on some Novus plastic cleaner for the acrylic. There is a shine spray, a shallow scratch repair liquid, and a deep scratch repair liquid. I knew somebody who cleaned an acrylic pane and it cracked due to a chemical reaction. Using the specific cleaner will keep it looking great for years. Edit: also, sorry to bother but which Ikea cases are those? The new finish you gave them looks great!
Either water or specialist cleaning product, will also ensure you don't discolour the acrylic over time by using chemicals that aren't designed to clean plastics.
@TattooDougHardy and @Mr Fox Thank you for the suggestion! I didn't think of a special cleaner. Just put in an order for Novus 1 cleaner. Hopefully there won't be any scratches, but nice to know that Novus 2 & 3 are available. Got side-tracked this weekend, but managed to sort some butas into their species groups. Got gifted an old solid wood bookshelf (very heavy) -- 6 shelves. It was pretty old, so the varnish finish was very weathered. Sanded it down and applied a nice buttery paint color. Added acrylic panes, which opens bottom to top. Managed to stuff all the Racers into two shelves with risers! Risers were cheap and free (2 in x 2 in wood scraps) Pics to follow. p.s. @TattooDougHardy those are Nornas cases. We were discussing them waaaaay back on page two of this topic (see the original catalog pics) http://skullbrain.org/bb/index.php?threads/what-does-your-display-case-look-like.42463/page-2 They have been discontinued. I think they only lasted 2 years, and I'm sure it was because of the awful design flaw, of little tiny pane slots trying to hold on to the oversize pane doors! It wouldn't surprise me if they were recalled at some point. We used spar varnish https://www.amazon.com/Man-Spar-Varnish-Gloss-Quart/dp/B000HEHESU waaaaay overkill for an indoor cabinet, but spar gives an ultra shiny shiny shiny surface. It's hard to apply with a brush (drip marks easily form, so you have to apply a LOT of very thin coats), and so thick that it clogs a paint sprayer. True to it's description, it gives a nice honey amber color to raw pine wood (no stain was added), and the viscosity seals those pine knots well.
The whole Nornäs series are discontinued. I think it didn’t was that popular My favourite from Ikea is the Järna wall cabinet, unfortunately it was discontinued years ago