Building our Hot Toys display, FINISHED on pg 5

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Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

You'll need that dimmer, as those strips are double density, at 120 LEDs per meter. ;)

Keep us updated.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

WIP photo. Looking good so far, still working out the details of the lighting and a few other minor things, but this shows the rough layout.

Shelves 1, 3 and 4 are roughly 15" and #2 is about 20" to accommodate Hulk and Monger.

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This is a very cool project, looks like its going to be a stunning set-up when competed. I will be creating a collection room in the near future, I want a high end clean look like yours. Keep posting updates:clap
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

You'll need that dimmer, as those strips are double density, at 120 LEDs per meter. ;)

Keep us updated.

Yep, more lights = more even light with fewer shadows on the walls. I had bought a test set at Lowes just to see how it looked. Not sure how many LEDs/meter they were, but I'm sure quite a bit less. I could see a bunch of shadows of my figures on the wall that I didn't care for.

And I wanted lights that were plenty more bright than ideal. I can dim them down, but I can't turn them up if they don't go bright enough.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

This is a very cool project, looks like its going to be a stunning set-up when competed. I will be creating a collection room in the near future, I want a high end clean look like yours. Keep posting updates:clap

Most definitely will, thanks for looking. :)
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Make sure to carefully plan out how much ribbon you'll be using per power supply. With double density strips it's also very easy to overdrive a PS, which will generate excessive heat and eventually lead to failure of that PS (or fire if it's not well built).

I haven't had any issues with unwanted shadows that I haven't been able to overcome with selective light placement. Where are you planning to mount the lights on those shelves?
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

The lights will be under each shelf, lighting the figures from the top down. Light falls off over distance so I'd prefer the heads/faces to be properly lit (with the dimmer) and if the bottoms are a little darker, that's ok. I'd rather not have the faces well lit and the legs too bright because the light strips are at the feet of each figure.

I can always install a little shim piece to try to anfle the strips a little, that's something I will play with once I have the ones I'm using.

I talked to one manufacturer about my setup and he said a 96 watt PS would be ideal. But after I get I all set up, I will keep an eye on the temp of the PS just to make sure its not too hot.

It would be nice to use some kind of puck / spotlighting, but I'm feeling like that would start making the whole thing too cluttered.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

I talked to one manufacturer about my setup and he said a 96 watt PS would be ideal.

That's good and sounds about right (off the top of my head). Most of the supplies you see with lighting kits are very low wattage (and therefor amperage capacity), and even the nice waterproof ones I've bought on Amazon are 30 and 48 watts - 2.5A and 4A respectively.

Let me know if you find good products and especially good prices on higher capacity supplies.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

LED lights and plugs are here....still waiting for the power supply and dimmer. Will give them a test run and post photos when I can.

I didn't notice on Ebay, but these particular lights did not come with the adhesive backing on them. So I'll have to figure out a way to stick them up. Not a big deal. They're built really well, I was expecting them to be cheaper. I think these are the waterproof kind, the whole thing is sealed in a rubbery, clear substance.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

use wire staples...

how are you running the four sets to one switch/power supply? can you post a pic of the wiring setup?
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Ok I have all of the LED stuff, now all we have to do is get everything installed and finished.

Here is a photo of all of the shelves with one roll of LED lights just loosely set in place. The lights on the top shelf will be along the bottom as shown, and the lights for all of the other shelves will be at the top, as shown on the 2nd shelf down. I prefer them to be up top so as to light the faces more, but don't want to give up space to build some sort of header along the ceiling. So the top figures will be lit from below. This photo is with the lights at full brightness.

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This is a closer shot of the same thing, showing only the shelves that are lit, again at full brightness. I tried to make the photos show about what I am actually seeing. I don't think that I'll really need to dim the lights much, but wanted to have the option to dim them.


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So the 12VDC, 96 watt power supply that I bought basically looks like a laptop power supply.....cord, power converter, cord. The plug that comes out of the supply is a 5.5mm male plug. It goes into a 10mm female plug and the other end (white connector) connects to the first end of the first LED light strip.

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Since there is a 45 degree angle in the corner of each shelf, and you cant bend the LED strips laterally, I'm going to cut the strips so that there are three individual strips per shelf (one along each side and a short one in the corner). You can connect strips using this connector. These are pre-made, you can also just buy the plugs and make your own. They are "solderless connectors" so very easy to use.

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This is the remote dimmer that I bought. There are different ones, but this was does the job and was less than $10. The receiver in the back plugs in with the lights, and the remote is obviously in front. I haven't wired this in and played with it just yet.

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Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

COF, looks like its going to be an epic setup. Can't wait t o see the finished product. Good luck.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Thank you! Coming along nicely, picked out some trim today. Nothing new worth showing photos however....but soon, very soon. :)
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Updated photo. Drywall texture applied, everything painted white, LED light strips installed. Still have to put up trim pieces, touch up paint and then we're going to add little curtains on each side to dress it up a little.

Will take a bunch of better photos when it's totally done.

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Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Well done cof!

I plan on doing something eerily similar in a spare bedroom I'll be converting into an office, so this is bookmarked for inspiration and tips. :D

Keep up the awesome work!
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Ok project nearly complete. Trim is up, paint on the shelves is done. Put 38 of my figures up late last night. Still have 5 more to unbox.

Had no idea i was over 40 figures. Thought i had about 34-35. :thud:


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I will post some better quality pics once its all finished.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

It does look great sir! Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Looks awesome. I'd have clear acrylic sheets on the front that were easily removable. I know you said you didn't want that and that's cool, it's your display. it's the only thing I'd change.

The shelf heights are perfect. It looks fantastic, well done.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Very impressive, nice work.
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

Looking like the hot toys secret location set up....good looking man!
 
Re: Building our Hot Toys display, drywall buildout

the white background makes everything just POP!

looks great man, can't wait for closer pics, especially of the Marvel NOW Thunderbolts
 
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