Redesigning display space

I have been thinking about redoing my display area to allow for some larger displays of my 12" figure groups, or Diorama set ups for smaller figures. but would like some feed back from anyone who may have done similar before...

below are some pictures of my current set up:





Collection room by Rx-Prime, on Flickr

As you can see I have a sloped celling, and a window at the end of the room. This window I plan to build shelves around, and some storage under.

And some screen shots of my planed lay out

I


window case by Rx-Prime, on Flickr

Now I like the lay out here with a chair and small side table in the middle for reading. The room has really poor lighting from the one over head light, I plan to change this out with a small fan and then run 8' track lighting along each wall with 6-8 light fixtures per side.

Does anyone have any recommendations for track lights? I would love LED to keep heat down but I think the cost would be out of the question. So looking for affordable , but not cheap.

Thanks for any feedback.

Hi local! For one just want to say, nice drawups. Kk I think Harbor Freight sells LEDs for $8. Don't quote me, been a long time since I went there.

Funny this was in another thread.

pixelpiper said:

Don't waste your money on expensive LED modules, even if you're buying them at Costco.

Instead go to Amazon or eBay and search for LED ribbon. I have now installed a lot of product from LEDWHolesalers and can vouch for their warm and pure white strips as well as both their 30w and 48w power bricks. I've also used HitLights brand with success. Both come in waterproof and non-waterproof varieties and are also available in RGB variety (these take more power and are more expensive obviously).

$16 for 16feet of LED, shipped. $15 for a power transformer that can power at least 2 strips. Strips can be cut every 3 LEDs (just over 2" length). You can buy connectors of just simply solder wire to the strips (it's very easy).

This solution is infinitely customizable and so much less expensive than anything else on the market. You can even buy remote control switches and dimmers at $12 or so. The other benefit is you won't have a load of ugly wires all over the place like you do with the packaged small pucks and strips since you can daisy-chain multiple cabinets if you want.

Also, a little goes a long way - you don't have to use two 1 foot sections per shelf. You can light an entire shelf more dramatically with a few 2" sections.

Click to expand...

I agree, I have used this kind of lighting for over a year now and it's perfect and very customizable.

The only problem is that I personally find it hard to change the shelves height after you install them because you will have to take the tape of the wires and re-tape them again.. huge miss or maybe I am just lazy.

Orangepeace said:

Funny this was in another thread.

Click to expand...

Have thought of modifying your closet into a display case?

Woah, it's almost creepy how similar your room looks to my attic!

I will look into the LED ribbon, does anyone have a photo of it in their display?

Also I have plans for the closet to be used as an enclosed (hidden from the wife) photo studio.

Thanks for the info. The room is an add on above my garage, so basically like an attic with sloped sides and stuff.

I am in work right now so all I have is this random photo, hope it helps.

GE 7 said:

The only problem is that I personally find it hard to change the shelves height after you install them because you will have to take the tape of the wires and re-tape them again.. huge miss or maybe I am just lazy.

Click to expand...

That's an easy problem to solve. Don't attach anything to the sides or rails directly. Attach all lighting to each respective shelf so that if you move the shelf you will move the lighting at the same time. To apply power, you can electrify the Detolf frames instead of running wires vertically. You will connect positive to one side and negative to the other, from the transformer directly to the bolts that connect the metal frame to the top and bottom. You can do this at the top or bottom and you can daisy-chain multiple cabinets.

Details: https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5437905&postcount=22

Each shelf as well as having the mounted LEDs will then also have an exposed wire on the left side and another on the right. You will then scrape some of the paint off the metal rails on the detolf so that when you place the shelf down, the exposed wire touches that scraped area.

If you're using custom shelf heights with the u-bolt fittings, then you'd scrape some paint off the rails where the ubolt attaches and the wire would be pressed against the ubolt.

Another LED lighting option is individual 5mm LEDs pre-wired for 12v (with resistor) which you can buy on eBay in lots of 5 to 100 units. On some shelves I'm using only a small number of LEDs. Only 3 for my Superman shelf (plus an internally lit crystal base). And only 5 or so for my Indiana Jones fertility idol scene, 3 of which are pointing straight down on the idol.

These are wired the same way, attached to the shelf or rails.