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How To Make your Own Display Case

step 5 : the glass
Before installing the glass , varnish the finished frame and the base with wood lacquer. You can tint the lacquer slightly with appropriate paint. I used ready-cut glass from a shop that makes frames for pictures. You can do the same. Just place the glass in their places, either use silicone glue, build the additional rabbets described above, or do both. If you plan to use glass with different thickness, beware that the dimensions of the main frame will be affected (you will have to use thinner or thicker main frame elements, not 5x5 mm section), thus the dimensions of the outer frame on the base will change, resulting in the change of the dimensions of the bottom frame. Make calculations accordingly, and calculate every dimension of every element carefully, and together. One change in a simple dimension affects every dimension. After installing the glass, except for the top glass, place the framed glass into the cavity on the base, and glue it.
step 6 : the gaskets
You will see that there are empty spaces around the glass between the rabbets on the base, because there is 2 mm difference in thikness between the glass and the main frame. You will use 2 mm strips as gaskets this time. Take two 50 cm and two 9 cm square cut strips and glue them inside the cavity. You can just align a single strip with the top of the outer frame or fill the whole cavity with strips on top of each other and trim the excess wood. (you will need six 50 cm and six 9 cm pieces then).

I advise you to varnish the gaskets before installing, or else it will be more difficult to do after installing.(Photo 12).

step 7 : Watch your product and respect yourself
You need a finished model for that. Place the model inside the casing and seal it by putting the top glass in its place. Enjoy your work (Photo 13,14).

So now the cost ;

  • - 5 mm. balsa sheet: 4.45 ytl, 3.16 usd, 2.40 euros
  • - 5 mm. balsa strips 1 ytl each, total: 5 ytl, 3.55 usd, 2.70 euros
  • - 2 mm. balsa sheet (for 2 mm. strips): 3.50 ytl, 2.49 usd ,1.89 euros
  • - Glass total: 15 ytl, 10.65 usd, 8.10 euros
  • - Glue, silicone based glue, pins, thinner, lacquer...: Negligible...

Total cost : 27.95 ytl, 19,85 usd, 15.09 euros... Cheap. This would most possibly cost less in many countries, especially in the US, as material is quite expensive here in Turkey.

Time consumed: 1 evening for the design, 1 evening for the whole construction. Total 6-7 hours... No time consumed for buying items because I had other things to do in the city. Short...

conclusion
I hope this helps all members who do not want to spend more money on casings than they paid for their models. I want to repeat that be careful while handling glass, it cuts... really cuts worse than knife.

You can use the schematic drawings on Photo 15 as templates by printing them. You can calculate the dimensions easily with the help of these schemes.

Happy Modelling

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About the Author

About Çağın Başaran (caanbash)
FROM: ANKARA, TURKEY / TüRKçE

Born in 1977, made my first model when I was 7. As an architect, model making is a part of my profession. But it also made me stop making plastic models for ten years, but architectural models. In 2006, I decided to return to my hobby. All the old models I had are ruined and gone now, during house c...