[Editor's Note: This is part of an ongoing series of articles originally written by the talented Hyun for his late, lamented Wee Toy Soldiers site. Since he's had to step away from the hobby for the foreseeable future, he's kindly given permission for his work to be reprinted in the interest of keeping it available to the community. The series will continue each Tuesday as long as the supply holds out.]

If you’ve followed the link from the homepage, you by now have some idea as to what I’m going to use to devise a couple of admittedly kitschy display cases: CD-ROM spindle towers and clear acrylic box frames! It’s not that I have anything against dedicated display cabinets; indeed, I look forward to the day when I can have my own, floor-to-ceiling, all-glass, lit and dust-proof, oooh-aaah display cabinet that will take up an entire wall of the hobby room. But, such endeavor invariably costs big bucks, and the lack of space probably means that I will have to wait until the kids move out to get something like that. And, then there’s a sense of satisfaction from making a good hobby use out of something so mundane and commonly-available as empty CD towers and acrylic box frames to keep your painted miniatures safe from dust.

So let’s start with the acrylic box picture frames. I’m going to use 5×7″ frames in this example; the local craft store carries frames ranging in size from 4×6″ to 16×20″. These 5×7″ frames cost me 99 cents each.

The “assembly,” if it can be called that, is so stunningly simple and easy. Simply empty the frame of the cardboard backings, and lay them down flat next to each other, with the sides touching:

Then using clear packaging tape, tape the two sides together in two spots. Flip the case shut, and again tape the same spot as the two interior tapes, this time from outside:

And that’s it! If you want, you can affix some sort of “legs” in the four corners to prevent the clear bottom from getting scratches. Here is the finished “display case,” complete with a reinforced squad of Space Marines inside — not bad for $1.98!

A top-down view:

Remember this is a 5×7″ frame; you can make larger display cases by using larger frames, but of course they will cost more.

If you have a collection of Micro Armour or Micronauts or game with smaller scale figures, you can use the frames singly to create a suitable (and stackable) display and storage unit. Simply cut a clear acrylic sheet to fit the top of the frame, and again use clear packaging tape to attach it as a lid:

Now, the CD/DVD-ROM spindles.

Here are the components: Empty disc spindles, no-longer-needed CD or DVD discs, and a length of 1/2″ PVC tubing from the local hardware store. This particular piece cost me 23 cents (1/2″ x 18″):

Figure out the spacing you want between the levels, and cut the PVC pipe accordingly (a miter box works well for this, unless you have a table saw). With a 100-disc spindles, you can usually fit two disc levels, giving you three levels total, unless the figures (I’m thinking 28-35mm) are taller or are holding banners or flags or are posed in such ways that their weapons extend significantly upwards. Then simply insert the cut tubing down the spindle, dab a bit of superglue to the top of the tubing, then position a disc on top. Repeat the process as many times as needed.

Here are three such display cases:

Usually there is a clear disc on the bottom of any CD/DVD spindles to protect the discs from scratching; these make excellent upper levels:

When using a regular disc, try to pick one that is especially light and reflective (some DVDs are dark purplish and not very reflective); here you can see the reflection of the discs above on these. This makes it like you have a mirror under the miniatures.

[A visitor to the site, RickyDomingo, left a comment with a great idea: With the upper disc levels, using two discs per level and having them face-to-face with the printed sides would give both top and bottom sides of the disc levels a mirrored look. Thanks Ricky! — Ed.]

On my first try, I used green stuff to act as stoppers for the upper levels. Obviously, PVC tubing is much stronger and won’t accidentally give away as the green stuff might (the cyanoacrylate glue doesn’t adhere well to the spindle plastic).

If you use canoacrylate on the clear plastic disc, it will invariably fog during the curing process:

After the glue has completely cured, lightly brush a thin coat of Future over the fogged area to restore the transparence:

And here are finished display cases:

You could also magnetize the disc levels using cut-to-shape flexible steel sheets or painting them with magnetic paint, but that will get rid of the shiny, reflective surface. If your miniature bases are strongly enough magnetic (for example, using rare earth magnets), then you could probably magnetize the underside of the level discs and still have it work OK.

Have fun devising your own unique display solutions!

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