Clarkspie&chips
Sith Lord
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2014
- Messages
- 1,202
My collecting room is in a converted loft which presents a certain problem - lack of wall space. Or more specifically, lack of vertical wall space.
It doesnt help that the room itself isn't particularity big so I've built custom units to house some of my boxed vehicles as well as my loose run but I have very little space left to display my MOC's. I've made do with what shelf space I could get but this was never satisfactory as the MOC's needed to be placed behind vehicles etc.
Given the limitations of the space, I decided a carousel might work well as this can fit a large amount of MOC's and be rotated occasionally to mix the display up.
I did a forum search as I remember an older member had found a shop display that worked well but unfortunately couldn't find the thread so I resolved to make my own.
I know a few other members have loft rooms or struggle for space so I thought it might be of interest if I did a guide to allow others to make their own. I'll also explain areas where I made mistakes so hopefully you wont!
Lets begin
I am lucky that my Dad works somewhere with access to a CNC machine and can cut acrylic sheets accurately, so this material was the obvious choice. If you dont have access to this type of equipment it can easily be cut by hand although you will need the right jigsaw blade to avoid chipping it. Alternatively I think it would work well building it from plywood and painting after although I think the fins would need to be wider as wood glue isnt as strong as epoxy.
These are the plans, there may be online companies that will machine acrylic to suit if you wanted to try that and I can provide this drawing in a .dxf file if anyone wants it. Dimensions are in mm.
The hexagonal pieces are the bases and the rectangular pieces the fins that will support each level, the bases were 3mm thick and the fins 5mm. Its important the the shorter edges of the fins are straight as these will be glued to the bases.
This design will allow for a 6 sided display, 4 tiers high for a total of 24 MOC's but you could add more levels if you liked but be warned it may become a bit wobbly if you go too high and have it sat on carpet. I designed the arrangement to be able to accommodate GW Acrylics deep cases with a nice tight tolerance, so if I decide to go mental and do a Gamorrean Guard focus I'm covered.
I also purchased a bearing for a Lazy Susan from eBay to allow the display to rotate. Here's a link to the seller, I chose the 15.5" diameter.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lazy-Susan-Rotating-Aluminium-Turntable-Bearing-Mechanism-Small-Large-Heavy-Duty/141742604866?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=440858677766&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Tools needed
Two part epoxy glue and something to mix it on, I used an oven dish I broke the day before which was perfect
Long straight edge
Pencil - in hindsight this was a poor choice as it was very hard to see the marking on the black acrylic.
Square
Once all the protective film was removed I marked a line from each corner of the hexagons to identify the centre and the location for the fins. I immediately found my straight edge wasn't long enough.
Now it was time to mix the epoxy, this stuff is great and I would recommend it over super glue, the only issue was time as it starts to lose it grip after about 5 minutes
The next stage is to glue each of the fins to a base, I planned to prop the first one with the square to ensure it was vertical and then prop each one off the other, however in practice it was difficult to balance them all as my dining table isn't 100% level and they all fell over a few times. Another issue I had was static in the acrylic attracting the wisps of the resin and making a mess down the sides. I've since learned a quick wipe down with some surface cleaner should do the job.
Once all the fins are in place you can take out the square although on a couple I needed to put a book on top to keep them in position (see below). I didnt glue the fins to each other as this would have been a huge mess and wasn't necessary - the fins provide suitable structural stiffness on their own, they also do not need a central rod :lol:
Now just repeat the process for each tier. The glue states it will reach strength after 30 mins but I left them an hour for good measure.
Almost there, each tier just needs gluing onto the next, I placed the bottom one in the corner of the room and used the walls to make sure they all lined up. Make sure you check the finished height as I needed to use a smaller table to avoid hitting a light fitting.
The final piece is to move it to the collecting room and fill it with MOC's!
The main thing I would do differently is not attempt it on my own, you definitely need another pair of hands - Bossk was a total waste of space!
I hope that was helpful and I'd love to see the results if anyone else has a go.
It doesnt help that the room itself isn't particularity big so I've built custom units to house some of my boxed vehicles as well as my loose run but I have very little space left to display my MOC's. I've made do with what shelf space I could get but this was never satisfactory as the MOC's needed to be placed behind vehicles etc.
Given the limitations of the space, I decided a carousel might work well as this can fit a large amount of MOC's and be rotated occasionally to mix the display up.
I did a forum search as I remember an older member had found a shop display that worked well but unfortunately couldn't find the thread so I resolved to make my own.
I know a few other members have loft rooms or struggle for space so I thought it might be of interest if I did a guide to allow others to make their own. I'll also explain areas where I made mistakes so hopefully you wont!
Lets begin
I am lucky that my Dad works somewhere with access to a CNC machine and can cut acrylic sheets accurately, so this material was the obvious choice. If you dont have access to this type of equipment it can easily be cut by hand although you will need the right jigsaw blade to avoid chipping it. Alternatively I think it would work well building it from plywood and painting after although I think the fins would need to be wider as wood glue isnt as strong as epoxy.
These are the plans, there may be online companies that will machine acrylic to suit if you wanted to try that and I can provide this drawing in a .dxf file if anyone wants it. Dimensions are in mm.
The hexagonal pieces are the bases and the rectangular pieces the fins that will support each level, the bases were 3mm thick and the fins 5mm. Its important the the shorter edges of the fins are straight as these will be glued to the bases.
This design will allow for a 6 sided display, 4 tiers high for a total of 24 MOC's but you could add more levels if you liked but be warned it may become a bit wobbly if you go too high and have it sat on carpet. I designed the arrangement to be able to accommodate GW Acrylics deep cases with a nice tight tolerance, so if I decide to go mental and do a Gamorrean Guard focus I'm covered.
I also purchased a bearing for a Lazy Susan from eBay to allow the display to rotate. Here's a link to the seller, I chose the 15.5" diameter.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lazy-Susan-Rotating-Aluminium-Turntable-Bearing-Mechanism-Small-Large-Heavy-Duty/141742604866?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=440858677766&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Tools needed
Two part epoxy glue and something to mix it on, I used an oven dish I broke the day before which was perfect
Long straight edge
Pencil - in hindsight this was a poor choice as it was very hard to see the marking on the black acrylic.
Square
Once all the protective film was removed I marked a line from each corner of the hexagons to identify the centre and the location for the fins. I immediately found my straight edge wasn't long enough.
Now it was time to mix the epoxy, this stuff is great and I would recommend it over super glue, the only issue was time as it starts to lose it grip after about 5 minutes
The next stage is to glue each of the fins to a base, I planned to prop the first one with the square to ensure it was vertical and then prop each one off the other, however in practice it was difficult to balance them all as my dining table isn't 100% level and they all fell over a few times. Another issue I had was static in the acrylic attracting the wisps of the resin and making a mess down the sides. I've since learned a quick wipe down with some surface cleaner should do the job.
Once all the fins are in place you can take out the square although on a couple I needed to put a book on top to keep them in position (see below). I didnt glue the fins to each other as this would have been a huge mess and wasn't necessary - the fins provide suitable structural stiffness on their own, they also do not need a central rod :lol:
Now just repeat the process for each tier. The glue states it will reach strength after 30 mins but I left them an hour for good measure.
Almost there, each tier just needs gluing onto the next, I placed the bottom one in the corner of the room and used the walls to make sure they all lined up. Make sure you check the finished height as I needed to use a smaller table to avoid hitting a light fitting.
The final piece is to move it to the collecting room and fill it with MOC's!
The main thing I would do differently is not attempt it on my own, you definitely need another pair of hands - Bossk was a total waste of space!
I hope that was helpful and I'd love to see the results if anyone else has a go.
