Show Your Army, Navy, and Collection Display

[hjmediastudios]

I hope TLG will release a battle pack version!

I'm not sure they'd release the ones in the ISD in a battle pack, but I would put money on us seeing a Rebels-themed "Imperial Battle Pack" with two of the new stormtroopers from the Ghost, probably in the upcoming winter wave.

[Jdurg]

So how do you guys display the random mini-figs you have which you don't have sitting within your builds at the moment? For many builds, TLG seems to give us a vast number of mini-figs, some of which you really can't properly "fit" into the set without overcrowding it, or just making it look "off." Currently, I just have these mini-figs on spare plates that I got from my attempt at completing The Simpsons mini-fig collection. Still, even with plenty of those as spare parts, I ran out of room. Especially as I have now been perusing BrickLink for mini-figs that I really want. (I REALLY want to get the chrome gold C-3PO figure, but can't justify the $$$ for it. heh). Now comes the matter of how to display them.

I have a few shelves in my work-from-home-office that I can put them on, but they'd seem kind of random in there. Since I was browsing around BrickLink and also have been making use of Lego Digital Designer, I decided to mock up a display case made out of Lego that I could put figures in, and would also be modular so I could expand it if needed. I ordered the parts needed on BrickLink and will hopefully get them in the mail over the next week or so. In the meantime, I've attached a photo of the display case that I'll be using. It has three shelves and is a total of 20 studs wide from left to right. There are 18 studs worth of empty space on all three levels horizontally. On the first level, it is 8 studs deep, and levels two and three are 3 studs deep. So any really large based figures (Such as Queen Amidala, or the newer revision of Nute Gunray) would be displayed on the bottom level. Other mini-figs will fit just fine on the other levels. In LDD, I was able to comfortably get quite a few figures in there.

The design of the stand also allows it to be modular. The first and second levels have friction pegs in there, so if one wanted to add more to the left and right they could just make another build and not put the pegs in there so it can connect. In addition, for the end pieces one could put in a short connector and put a flat tile on the outside, or replace the Technic brick with a 1x1 brick with one hole in order to hold the torch. The same piece that is used up on the third level. If you wanted to increase the height of the display case, the second "floor" can just be duplicated and inserted on top of that second floor to increase the height to as many levels as one would want.

The color scheme is black with Dark Bley used for the floor. I thought that this color would contrast enough with the various different colors of min-figs in the Star Wars series. Having the flooring be black would simply "hide" many of the darker colored characters like Death Star Troopers, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, etc.

Once I get the parts and have the display case built and populated with my plethora of mini-figs, I'll take an actual picture instead of the screenshot from LDD. If anyone wants my LDD file, just let me know. I only wish LDD would allow you to modify the build instructions since the automatically generated instructions are pretty poor. Heh.

Mini-fig Stand.lxf

Edited July 12, 2014 by Jdurg

[GuyDudeMan27]

Awesome job! It looks very star wars. Personally though, I would remove the torches to keep the star wars look. As for the dark bley floor, something cool could be done with some tiles to make it look more sci-fi, like a hanger floor or something. Also, a back wouldn't hurt. A cool idea would be to make the whole thing at more of an angle, and add a huge hinged window of clear pieces, just for fun. Most of my figs are in bins specifically for figs, so I might need to build one of these. Lastly, you should consider adding the LDD file to the post. If you don't, I would like it if possible.

[Jdurg]

Awesome job! It looks very star wars. Personally though, I would remove the torches to keep the star wars look. As for the dark bley floor, something cool could be done with some tiles to make it look more sci-fi, like a hanger floor or something. Also, a back wouldn't hurt. A cool idea would be to make the whole thing at more of an angle, and add a huge hinged window of clear pieces, just for fun. Most of my figs are in bins specifically for figs, so I might need to build one of these. Lastly, you should consider adding the LDD file to the post. If you don't, I would like it if possible.

Thanks for the feedback! I couldn't attach the .ldd file to the post as it would put me over 100k which is the limit. I'll PM you the file, and then perhaps someone can figure out a way to post this in the thread. (It limits me to just 100k total in a thread for attachments!

Edit: Okay, files can't be attached in a PM. I'll edit the first post, reduce the quality of the photo, and see if it will allow me to add the .lxf file.

Edit 2: Finally got it. Had to reduce the size of the image, then I was able to add in the .lxf file I got out of LDD. Have fun with it!

Edited July 11, 2014 by Jdurg

[will]

This is an old picture of mine. It's since had an extra row inserted and the height of the rows decreased. It fits a specific space in my shelving unit. I'm going to have to create another one and I've got more minifigs to display now.

Edit: found a newer pic.

Edited July 11, 2014 by will

[kr-lik]

this looks very nice!

I'll consider doing something like this myself now as mostly my figures just "stand there" ;o

[GuyDudeMan27]

Last night after I got the LFX for the mini-fig stand, I went to work modifying it how I thought a stand should look. There is the same amount of room, same height, just at a more consistent angle, and with less torches. I've also given it a big clear plated window, just for fun.

Edited July 11, 2014 by GuyDudeMan27

[Fuppylodders]

I actually really like that! And it looks like it could help prevent dust building up so quick, while looking 100% lego. Absolutely love it!

[Venkefedo]

I like the window effect! Very nifty idea… <sigh> more parts to buy…

[Jdurg]

Okay, made some updates to the stand. (Will of course need to buy a whole bunch more parts for it, but hey, has anybody ever complained about having too many Lego parts? Haha).

I went and made the stand much larger, because after laying out some bricks in real life I realized that this would be pretty danged small. So I extended the width to 32 studs, with 30 studs available for the figures. The depth of the upper floors, of which there are now three, has been increased to 4 studs deep. This will allow any of the characters with large bases to fit in there. I decided to add a back wall to the stand as well. This allows me to have more stability and "sturdiness" to the build.

The torches have been replaced with clips to hold light-saber bars in there. I think this fits in more with the Star Wars theme and also looks pretty damned cool. I did not include windows as the larger transparent clear pieces for Lego simply doesn't exist. One could, perhaps, include a wall piece without studs on the first row of the bottom and custom cut some Lexan to lean up against it and keep dust out. There just doesn't seem to be a well made Lego clear transparent piece that can be used.

Finally, I omitted the connector pins on the sides. I think this is bulky enough that one is not needed, and it can also be very easily modified if one wanted to extend it out to the sides. The second and third levels are exact copies of each other, so if one wanted to move vertically they just need to repeat the second and third floors. Easily done. I've linked to a photo of the new mock-up in LDD, and attached the new .lxf file to this post. (Once I clear up the first entry. 100k limit to a thread that you start is incredibly tiny).

Large Mini-Fig Stand.lxf

Edited July 12, 2014 by Jdurg

[Jdurg]

Oh yeah, one more neat little thing that can be done with this build. One can take a 2x4x1 angled bracket piece, put a SNOT tile onto it, then put a custom printed label to add a name plate to the characters you have on there. This can be attached to the underside of each roof piece, and if using a 2x4 or 4x4 SNOT tile, you can label the mini-fig that is up above, and directly down underneath it on the level below. This way you can just change the sticker/decal you've placed on the SNOT tile and you'll have a customizable display case!

Since posting the .lxf file and searching for parts on BrickLink and the Lego Pick-a-Brick site, I did make some changes. I changed the lightsaber tubes into Transparent Red colors instead of Transparent Bright Green. This gives the display case a Sith-Type feel to it which I really like. For the top roof, I also discovered that there are 2x4 45 degree tiles, so I used those to reduce the brick count, and also make it cheaper to purchase the parts for. I also found out that black tile in 8x16 either doesn't exist, or is super hard to find. By changing those tiles to 2 8x8 black tiles in place of each 8x16, I was able to find the bricks readily at the Lego Pick-a-Brick site.

I have just a few parts left to order, and then hopefully I'll get the orders in my hands by the end of next week. (I'm discovering that some folks at BrickLink are incredibly slow to send the invoices, or extremely slow in actually shipping the goods. Been waiting since July 5th for one order of mini-figs from a seller. I placed two other orders on that same date, and got them earlier this week. This guy hasn't even indicated that the pieces have been shipped. I'm not going to black-list the seller here, but rest assured I will never purchase from him/her ever again).

Totaling the parts up, this set has close to 500 bricks in it, and the total cost, including shipping for all the parts, is indeed around $100 so this hasn't exactly been an inexpensive set, but I think those who purchase bricks in bulk or have plenty of spare parts lying around will be able to readily build this if they like. I'm thinking that some day in the distant future I'll buy all the parts again, but change the color scheme to a light bley for the main color, and then perhaps a Brick Yellow or white for the floor tiles. Use some blue or green translucent light saber blades, and just store the "good guys" in there while the "bad guys" go in the design up above. Can't wait to build this and see how sturdy/useful it is. I'll definitely post a bunch of pictures here.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Jdurg

[mrsteve]

Hi All, new to the site I just wanted to show off my collection - mixture od UCS, 2014 summer sets and a few older models. My wife doesnt appreciate them so hopefully you will.

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong area...

Steve

[Sir Brickalot]

Nice- I like Homer and Apu at Mos Eisley!

[grum64]

Hi Steve and welcome to Eurobricks

Nice collection you've got there. Personally, I'm more a Technic man but I have several Star Wars sets I've built for the Grandchildren, namely the 7662 MTT, a couple of Republic Gunships (7676 & 75021) and the 75004 Headhunter. Now saving to get them the new Sandcrawler, I'm looking forward to that (if I ever get time to build it!).

Hope you enjoy your time here & look forward to seeing your collection as it expands.

[mrsteve]

Cheers guys,

yep I couldn't resist putting Homer in the cantina bar, He just seems to fit in amongst the alien freaks!

[Pointblank]

Love your collection!

A UCS falcon would complete that.

I suspect there are more sets you are not showing :). Have you thought about putting them on flickr for faster loading times and also keeping photos of your collection in the cloud?

[TheLegGodt]

Nice collection. What shelving system are you using? Like the lighting with black background, makes it look very spacy!

[mhortar]

Here's the display case I just completed. It's a wood frame and shelves, but the shelves are spaced out by black 1x4 bricks and each shelf has a channel in it that holds 2-wide plates for the minifigs to attach to. To finish it, I want to get an acrylic/plexiglass/whatever window and door frame made to protect from dust. This was the prototype, I need to make 3 more this same size to hold the rest of my minifigs though :/

Josh

[Cammo]

Nice collection. What shelving system are you using? Like the lighting with black background, makes it look very spacy!

The AT-AT an Sandcrawler are in a Detolf Ikea cabinet.

[legoleo12345]

hey dady

thank ou for dead pool minifigure

[Mr Man]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong area...

It should be posted here- http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18914

I'm sure a MOD will move it for you soon .

[mhortar]

The AT-AT an Sandcrawler are in a Detolf Ikea cabinet.

I've been thinking about checking out the Ikea display cabinets. There's one that looks like it might hold the UCS Star Destroyer, but I'm not confident of that.

[mrsteve]

Yes it is an Ikea cabinet i found on ebay, the rest is just spray painted wood on shelves..

[Lobot]

Hi mrsteve, and welcome to Eurobricks!

As MrMan said we have a dedicated thread for collections, I'll merge this into it in a bit.

Nice collection by the way

[mhortar]

Had a request for some pictures of my collection (started with my comparison photo of the AT-ATs). Here's a bunch I just took (I can post more if people are interested).

The set that started the insanity for me. My Super Star Destroyer was the first purchase that brought me out of my dark ages

These were the first UCS Star Wars sets, but virtually the last ones I got (have to find a better place to display them than on the bar...)

AT-TEs through the years (newest to oldest from left to right)

Republic Gunships through the years

My most recent Bricklink project, the Venator

My pride and joy. No introduction needed :) At some point I'm going to print out a sticker for it

Followed closely by my second favorite

The opposite end of the bar from the Falcon has a mix of sets

My custom UCS Snow Speeder (was my 2nd Bricklink project)

X-wings through the years

More Rebellion fighters

Bounty hunter ships

My UCS display bookcase

My first minifig display case I built

And the mess... ran out of space for anything else, so have to finish the rest of the shelving

Josh