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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
The BMW scale models thread.
- Thread starter Gizmo
- Start date
TBP88
Well-known member
I've built up a pretty sizeable collection and really just want some perspex/glass displays for my speed champions and other sets. Anyone have any experience buying? The stuff from the US, once landed, is gonna cost me about what the sets it would hold cost, which seems very dumb. Anyone gotten displays off of aliexpress?
TBP88
Well-known member
My partner and I have such a massive lego collection between speed champions, the creator series, some technics and then the floral collection that having stuff sit "open" is not a doable solution, the level of dust some of her flowers collects and the impossibility of relying on a cleaner to dust it properly (without breaking it while also ensuring the dust is cleared) means we really need to get smart about displays. Right now I just have a whole bunch of cars sitting in a cupboard - sad scenes.
Dust and Legos are one of my biggest bug bears. We also have some of the botanical range. So between my wife, son and I we have quite a few sets.
What I find works well is a good quality make up brush to get rid of the dust. Only downside is that it’s pretty much an entire mornings worth of work as I don’t let my helper near my “toys”
And it’s a regular occurrence. Once to twice a month.
Now like my wife, I also have a set of make up brushes 😅
Last edited:
Dust and Legos are one of my biggest bug bears. We also have some of the botanical range. So between my wife, son and I we have quite a few sets.
What I find works well is a good quality make up brush to get rid of the dust. Only downside is that it’s pretty much an entire mornings worth of work as I don’t let my helper near my “toys”
And it’s a regular occurrence. Once to twice a month.
Now like my wife, I also have a set of make up brushes
Makeup brushes work very well for car interior detailing as well
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
TurboLlew
Honorary ///Member
Firstly EPIC setup: Nish had shared with me prior! I am likely going to do a similar setup for the big legos on one of the walls. I would have a dust issue in the garage though.
On this, your mileage will vary with plexi/perspex. I got a company to make some up for me as well as some older guys in the hobbyist community (sadly late now - lost during the COVID years).
The first type interlocks and comes flat packed. These work well for die cast models. It WAS cost effective to do it this way since the import costs are prohibitive and local hobby shop costs don't make sense most of the time
Pros
1. It definitely keeps the dust out.
2. You can have them made up to any size which is great for Legos
3. Costs were approx a third of what an Autoart perspex display would cost
4. If you think it through, it can be stackable and lets more light through the layers than the black-base boxes that are around R500-600 each (eg: my 1:18s)
Cons
1. Because they interlock, you have to assemble them 'as a box' and then its only really sturdy when the top is in place. 1:18 scale? No problem. Try that with the Sian or GT3!
2. If you accidentally apply a bit too much force at a strange angle aligning these pieces, it will crack. If you use thicker acrylic it stops making sense from a pricing perspective
3. Mounting your cars inside with screws is just not feasible. You can try to drill holes but it may crack the material. Get them pre-drilled by manufacturer but screw it in too tight and the holes crack. Too loose and the model moves and the hole cracks through the panel. Don't use the holes? Model accelerates towards a panel and cracks it!
I also have my GT3 RS and UCS Millennium Falcon in a custom made wood-base enclosure and a glued-together perspex hood. These were NOT cheap. Don't know what they'd cost now... These are great when new but as time goes on the silicone/glue begins to give way and becomes unsightly when you repair it. The acrylic/perspex is now 6/7 years old and has yellowed a little bit (not terribly but of course the whole idea is for it to showcase the thing inside so it detracts from this). Bear in mind that dust not landing on your model is not landing on this cover and is also not very scratch resistant (you can wipe it down with diluted sta-soft or use whatever tricks are available to you but it is what it is and it will get scratches/spiderwebs over time). You have to attend to this regularly because I have had the Falcon one spectacularly fail. It took one nudge from my helper (Miraculously it didn't destroy the model!!). I did re-silicone everything together but I am terrified to touch anything at this point (with the size of that model, it is a two-person operation to remove and replace the hood)
What I really wish is for manufacturers to just sell Burago, Maisto, AutoArt, Solido etc spec 'hoods' to go over the bases already on some of these things. One would think this wouldn't be a huge ask! My guess is that these would be cracking in transport or storage and too great of a risk?
My feeling is 'real' cabinetry with doors or displays like below that are hinged are the way to go for all of these things. It is also WAY easier to just pick a model you want to pull out and admire for a bit as opposed to figuring out how best to avoid a house of cards/domino effect fishing out your model from a stack. This for my garage is an approx 60-70K exercise based on quotes I'd received excluding lighting (granted with other cabinetry and worktops too, but bulk of it would be displays) hence it is on the back burner for now.
SO after all that writing: the make-up brushes once in a while may not be such a bad idea after all
On this, your mileage will vary with plexi/perspex. I got a company to make some up for me as well as some older guys in the hobbyist community (sadly late now - lost during the COVID years).
The first type interlocks and comes flat packed. These work well for die cast models. It WAS cost effective to do it this way since the import costs are prohibitive and local hobby shop costs don't make sense most of the time
Pros
1. It definitely keeps the dust out.
2. You can have them made up to any size which is great for Legos
3. Costs were approx a third of what an Autoart perspex display would cost
4. If you think it through, it can be stackable and lets more light through the layers than the black-base boxes that are around R500-600 each (eg: my 1:18s)
Cons
1. Because they interlock, you have to assemble them 'as a box' and then its only really sturdy when the top is in place. 1:18 scale? No problem. Try that with the Sian or GT3!
2. If you accidentally apply a bit too much force at a strange angle aligning these pieces, it will crack. If you use thicker acrylic it stops making sense from a pricing perspective
3. Mounting your cars inside with screws is just not feasible. You can try to drill holes but it may crack the material. Get them pre-drilled by manufacturer but screw it in too tight and the holes crack. Too loose and the model moves and the hole cracks through the panel
. Don't use the holes? Model accelerates towards a panel and cracks it! I also have my GT3 RS and UCS Millennium Falcon in a custom made wood-base enclosure and a glued-together perspex hood. These were NOT cheap. Don't know what they'd cost now... These are great when new but as time goes on the silicone/glue begins to give way and becomes unsightly when you repair it. The acrylic/perspex is now 6/7 years old and has yellowed a little bit (not terribly but of course the whole idea is for it to showcase the thing inside so it detracts from this). Bear in mind that dust not landing on your model is not landing on this cover and is also not very scratch resistant (you can wipe it down with diluted sta-soft or use whatever tricks are available to you but it is what it is and it will get scratches/spiderwebs over time). You have to attend to this regularly because I have had the Falcon one spectacularly fail. It took one nudge from my helper (Miraculously it didn't destroy the model!!). I did re-silicone everything together but I am terrified to touch anything at this point (with the size of that model, it is a two-person operation to remove and replace the hood)
What I really wish is for manufacturers to just sell Burago, Maisto, AutoArt, Solido etc spec 'hoods' to go over the bases already on some of these things. One would think this wouldn't be a huge ask!
My guess is that these would be cracking in transport or storage and too great of a risk?My feeling is 'real' cabinetry with doors or displays like below that are hinged are the way to go for all of these things. It is also WAY easier to just pick a model you want to pull out and admire for a bit as opposed to figuring out how best to avoid a house of cards/domino effect fishing out your model from a stack. This for my garage is an approx 60-70K exercise based on quotes I'd received excluding lighting (granted with other cabinetry and worktops too, but bulk of it would be displays) hence it is on the back burner for now.
SO after all that writing: the make-up brushes once in a while may not be such a bad idea after all
