Well, I'm done.
This was a ton of fun. Cheap and easy.
Whether it's for my Transformers, Star Wars, Playmobil, or Legos, for years I have been using the Ivar shelving system from Ikea. the reason I like this system is because the shelves are deep and wide. They provide enough space to display an ever growing collection in a dynamic diorama-like display. As opposed to shoulder to shoulder stacking.
I am constantly searching for ways to solve two major problems these shelves present, maximizing space, and lighting. I have found that stair stepping structures are the best way to to tackle the space issues.
My goals with this build were:
Create a structure that stair steps, but with open cavities under each level.
A flash of architecture.
A splash of color.
A sense of familiar environment. Like the Ark or Cybertron.
And some mood lighting.
So here it is... The Ark... Shelf... Thingy
28 salvaged VHS cassettes, 3 cans of spray paint, one 50 count string of blue LED Xmas lights. one meter long Blue LED rope light, one sheet of foam core, a trip too FedEx office for prints, duct tape, clear packing tape, 2 tubes of Gorilla gel super glue, and some odds and ends like scrap lumber, screws, and left over pvc louvers from some blinds. All in all came out to just about 60 bucks and 20 hours.
I intend to display my CHUGernauts with this, but MPs look good in here too. Except Prime would have to bend over all the time.
Nothin' screams
1984 like a VHS tape. The tapes offer up a real cool bulkhead panel texture. I used an Xacto knife and a ruler to scribe more panel lines in them once the paint dried. I had to play a bit to get this color. I primed with a gray spray primer. Did a solid coat in the only orange I could find that wasn't safety orange. Than I dusted it with the gray primer, and dusted it again with a metallic copper.
Picking up some decent light pipe action.
The Teletran-1 console came from a link on page 1 of this thread that KnightAero posted.
It is scaled to print really big for MPs. I just went to Kinko's (FedEx) and had them decrease it to 15% to get this size. It came in four files, but they all scaled proportionately. It's just card stock, with some foamcore for rigidity.
In the video KnightAero found (1st page) the guy talks about using caulk or spackle to fill the imprinted text on the cassettes, but I thought it just added another little bit of texture.
For lighting I wanted to custom make an LED chain, but after talking to an engineer buddy, doing some research, and reading KnightAero's previous post, I chickened out. I took the down and dirty approach. I probably saved about $40 and avoided the possibility of getting zapped.
Imbedding the Xmas lights was a real pain in the arse. I used LEDS hoping they will last longer. I figured out it's pretty simple to shorten a strand of lights, I trimmed off about 6 lights from the 1st story. I had too shorten the 2nd story strand as well, but learned the hard way that 6 to 8 lights is the max you want to take off of a 50 count strand. I had them all strung through there and they failed. That's when I found the rope lights sold by the meter and already wired with a plug. Much easier to work with, and much better light.
Mess of lights.
Not so messy.
The back drop is a restored screen grab from the cartoon. (Scroll up to see it from the front) There is a whole bunch of them in a link that leakin' lubricant posted on page 1. They are awesome. I built the scrim out of foamcore. I cut the window in it to play with back lighting it, but to the naked eye it looked better under direct light.
Here it is with a slew of CHUGernauts.
Squadron of Seekers, 2 o'clock!!!!!!
Extra special thanks to,
KnightAero - for talking shop and his continued support
leakin' lubricant - for posting the link to those great back drops
Robogeek1973 - for hipping me to those Gundam chain bases, which lead to the VHS idea, and this thread
Takara - for everything
Mom - for not being very good about throwing things away. VHS cassettes.
and my wife - for putting up with me. All the time.
