2019: Hobby Room Renovation, Part 2 - New display cases

...so the hobby room has now been renovated. Now, I want to replace my hodge-podge collection of old book cases and mobile display shelves, with new ones. Specifically, some of them need to be 16" deep, 48" wide and 72" tall to maximize the display space, and accommodate my larger models (the 1:128 Seaview (39" long), the 1:144 Discovery (33" long etc.) 

Additionally, I want to re-use the glass I have, as much as possible. The shelves here are approx. 24" wide, 11" deep and 72" tall. 

I also want to deep-6 this cabinet. It's already claimed 3 or 4 models when the shelf supports slipped out and they all came crashing down of the models inside. 

I have other plans for re-using/re-purposing the old bookshelves, that will require some assistance from Gord (he's got the tabelsaw and all those other neat carpenters tools). 

Here's where prior planning comes in. I specifically designed the hobby room so that the power plugs were 40" off the floor. Now I want to have display cases 48" wide x 72" tall, with an opening in the back between 40" and 48" so that the power can be accessed from inside the display case. Additionally, I want a shelf 40" off the floor and 4" deep to hide the power cables and adapters, (the power shelf) and a door to hide it all (the power door. This will compromised the depth of one of the 14 shelves in the display case, but tidy up all of the power cables. 

Side project: I need to be able to swivel the TV to face from one end to the other, so rather than keep moving it by hand, I'm building a small set of shelves (for home entertainment equipment) with a lazy susan on top. That will also bring the bottom of the TV above the level of our tables. 

 

In order to get display cases with these specific requirements, I had 2 options: A) pay someone to build them, or B) build them myself. I could not find a beast like this in a furniture store, and I couldn't afford to pay someone to build them, so I opted for Plan B. I found 16" pre-drilled white melamine board, and 4'x8' white pressboard for the backing. I created a spreadsheet to design and keep track of the supplies I required 

Gord brought over his tools and trusty chop-saw, and we went to work, cutting the required parts. 

Close-up of power shelf, showing one door open and one closed 

 

The display cases had to be assembled in situ, due to their size. I'd never get them inside the house, much less into the hobby room! I had to shuffle all of the furniture to one side of the room while I assembled them. Three of the cases were identical (48" x 16" x 72") and I had all of the melamine shelving cut to size and hardware purchased. At this point it was the same as putting together flat-pack, except they were BIG shelves. 

Test shot. I managed to find a 5' piano hinge which I could cut into 1' lengths, to attach the power doors to the power shelf 

 

Power shelf with power doors attached. Note the grooves at the back, required to bring the plug & cord from the power shelf to the model 

48" display case partially assembled the three fixed shelves are screwed into the risers. I pre-drilled all of the holes to facilitate the screws and (hopefully) prevent the melamine particle board from disintegrating. It did (mostly) 

the two centre posts provide additional support, but mostly, are required as supports for the glass shelving. I decided on 24" wide shelves (actually about 22 7/8") so that I could have more support for the weight of the glass, but it also allowed me to set the height on each half independently (which I've done in quite a few places. 

And here's the beauty of the design. With the power shelf installed and the power door open, you can see the quad outlets. 

Two of the 48" display cases installed and in place on the external wall 

Front view 

The third 48" case installed, on the interior wall, sandwiched in between the old 24X11 book cases. 

Two of the old book cases were temporarily moved to either side of the driveway window. 

Starting to populate the display cases with the few shelves I had from existing shelves. More glass shelving and glass doors have been ordered. 

 

My hobby area (for now) A bit of a dog's breakfast in the corner (at right) from all the network cabling. But that's (literally) for another day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, for the lighting. I want each shelf to be lit. For that I needed 12 LED strip kits (four for each 48" cabinet), wire, and various supplies. I designed and made my own wiring harnesses 

 

wiring harness installed, waiting for glass 

 

Received my glass and completed installation. Total cost: wood ~$275 CAD; hardware: ~$50; electrical ~$275; glass & hardware ~$1800 total ~$2400, or ~$800 per display case. Not bad!