I've been looking into vitrines for a little bit now. One of my hobbies is constructing metal models (like the one below) and at this point I have a good twenty or thirty done and sitting around in random places gathering dust.
Other modelers have suggested the Detolf, though I'd prefer a wider one with more shelves for the main model display (I have a lot of battleships...) and then maybe get Detolfs for other places around the house as it runs out of space. I was looking at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IQGGKIU/?coliid=I2BIC0IS2B2H65&colid=1PUBB7J18IP7R, but it's really expensive. Maybe the Ikea Milsbo might be better (certainly cheaper). Anyway, I was also hoping to display the DW figures in there as well. I have two Tens and Nine, in their original packaging, sitting on my shelf, and Jack, Six, and the Delgado Master preordered. What's the point of getting them if you can't see them?
I really like the way yours is more of a diorama than just displaying the figures. I'd love to do that, but I don't have the furniture and accessories. Thanks also for the pics of your storage cases. I wasn't sure if you kept them more segregated or protected (for example, in boxes lined with foam), since you actually do use the figures, rather than store the accessories away and only pull them out occasionally.
Oh God, is that from the Metal Earth company? My mother bought the Mars Rover for my brother, and then I was the one who had to build it. It drove me crazy! Some of the little things you need to twist broke off, I had to use glue a few times in the end. And there were flat things you had to roll to round, which was not easy either. I did the best I could.
I still have some others lying around but am too afraid to tackle them ;) Yours looks great though! But a bit bigger?
There are also small vitrines you can hang on a wall, and that are not as deep, and have many tiny shelves inside. Some also use them to display their model train locomotives.
Displaying is nice for sure, especially for visitors. Although I must admit my display is not always tidy. If I take them out for playing, I just put them back in the way they are, in the last pose they had, so sometimes they do look rather funny with their arms up ;)
Serious collectors would probably faint at me throwing all the accessories into boxes like this, but I am here for the fun and the playing. I am more careful with the extra heads, what you see wrappted in bubble foil are heads where I would not want the paint to be destroyed. But the accessories are sturdy, I cannot report any paint chipping or stuff.
One time I even decorated Sherlock's flat for Easter ;) (You can't see him, he's lying on the sofa)
Yup, most people call those Metal Earth, but that's just one brand (American, based in Seattle). The battleship in the pic (which is about 30 cm long) is the Japanese Yamato from WWII, manufactured by Piececool, which is Chinese. There are two other Chinese companies that make them (MU and Microworld), and one Japanese company (Tenyo). But everyone (at least those not in China) calls these things Metal Earth.
I'm not surprised you had problems making the rover - despite being a small kit (two sheets of metal; the battleship was five or six sheets), it's actually pretty complicated. It came out great despite the difficulties - good job! The kits like to imply that all you need is a pair of tweezers, but having the right tools makes it a lot easier. The full set of "required" tools isn't large (tweezers, needle-nose pliers for jewelry (no teeth), wire snips, a special rod for twisting tabs in tight places, a set of mandrels for making cylinders) but without them, even intermediate kits are difficult. It does take a lot of patience. You also figure out a lot of details as you do more kits, like don't bend a tab more than about 3 times if you don't want it to break.
Actually, if you want a relatively simple kit to try, I'd recommend the TARDIS. It's mostly made up of straight pieces but does have a couple of cylinders - the door hinges, which are hidden from view in the final model so it doesn't matter if you mess them up. I made mine years ago, before I had a lot of experience and only had the wire snips and jewelry pliers, and it came out fine.
I love Sherlock's flat! That dog is adorable!! The settee and the armchair are really gorgeous, too.
I've been looking into vitrines for a little bit now. One of my hobbies is constructing metal models (like the one below) and at this point I have a good twenty or thirty done and sitting around in random places gathering dust.
Other modelers have suggested the Detolf, though I'd prefer a wider one with more shelves for the main model display (I have a lot of battleships...) and then maybe get Detolfs for other places around the house as it runs out of space. I was looking at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IQGGKIU/?coliid=I2BIC0IS2B2H65&colid=1PUBB7J18IP7R, but it's really expensive. Maybe the Ikea Milsbo might be better (certainly cheaper). Anyway, I was also hoping to display the DW figures in there as well. I have two Tens and Nine, in their original packaging, sitting on my shelf, and Jack, Six, and the Delgado Master preordered. What's the point of getting them if you can't see them?
I really like the way yours is more of a diorama than just displaying the figures. I'd love to do that, but I don't have the furniture and accessories. Thanks also for the pics of your storage cases. I wasn't sure if you kept them more segregated or protected (for example, in boxes lined with foam), since you actually do use the figures, rather than store the accessories away and only pull them out occasionally.
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I still have some others lying around but am too afraid to tackle them ;) Yours looks great though! But a bit bigger?
There are also small vitrines you can hang on a wall, and that are not as deep, and have many tiny shelves inside. Some also use them to display their model train locomotives.
Displaying is nice for sure, especially for visitors. Although I must admit my display is not always tidy. If I take them out for playing, I just put them back in the way they are, in the last pose they had, so sometimes they do look rather funny with their arms up ;)
Serious collectors would probably faint at me throwing all the accessories into boxes like this, but I am here for the fun and the playing. I am more careful with the extra heads, what you see wrappted in bubble foil are heads where I would not want the paint to be destroyed. But the accessories are sturdy, I cannot report any paint chipping or stuff.
One time I even decorated Sherlock's flat for Easter ;)
(You can't see him, he's lying on the sofa)
Reply
I'm not surprised you had problems making the rover - despite being a small kit (two sheets of metal; the battleship was five or six sheets), it's actually pretty complicated. It came out great despite the difficulties - good job! The kits like to imply that all you need is a pair of tweezers, but having the right tools makes it a lot easier. The full set of "required" tools isn't large (tweezers, needle-nose pliers for jewelry (no teeth), wire snips, a special rod for twisting tabs in tight places, a set of mandrels for making cylinders) but without them, even intermediate kits are difficult. It does take a lot of patience. You also figure out a lot of details as you do more kits, like don't bend a tab more than about 3 times if you don't want it to break.
Actually, if you want a relatively simple kit to try, I'd recommend the TARDIS. It's mostly made up of straight pieces but does have a couple of cylinders - the door hinges, which are hidden from view in the final model so it doesn't matter if you mess them up. I made mine years ago, before I had a lot of experience and only had the wire snips and jewelry pliers, and it came out fine.
I love Sherlock's flat! That dog is adorable!! The settee and the armchair are really gorgeous, too.
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