Hello scale modellers! In this video I'm building a large display cabinet
or vitrine to display some of my finished models. So make yourself comfortable,
because we need to cover a ton of stuff about woodworking, painting and electronics! So while some of you might have to work in the kitchen, I have been fortunate enough to have
my own space and desk for hobby projects And for a long time I have been thinking of
building a large vitrine, hanging above my workspace to display finished models and things I've collected over the years. Looking at some of my models and future builds, I think spaces of 15 cm high and about
5 shelves would be the best setup for me. I like these long shelves,
but I’m worried they will sag over time so instead I’m adding a vertical wall in the middle for support.
With the shelves cut in half I can also put
some variation in the height of the shelves. The top shelf on the right will be used
to display the largest models. Finally the plan is to lit the models with LED lighting, and keep them free from dust with sliding glass doors. After taking some measurements and sketching
I turned my ideas into actual plans. The project will be made of MDF because it’s easy to work with, and it’s still relatively cheap
compared to some other wood-products.
I did my best to make the whole project
out of 1 sheet of (18mm) MDF, but still a left-over-piece was needed for the last shelf. I went to the local hardware store
and bought a sheet of 18 and 12mm MDF. Which they cut to a transportable size for me,
so it would fit inside the car. At home I started to rough-cut these panels even further.
For this you can use a handsaw, or lay down a sheet of Styrofoam,
and cut the panels onto that with a circular-saw. If you have a table saw,
you can save a lot of time making the parallel cuts for all the shelves and side panels. These things are handy but also dangerous,
so don't rush things and use safety gear.
If you don't own a table saw then perhaps someone
in the family or neighborhood can help you out. My table saw is too small for making 90°
cross-cuts on these long panels, So I made a handy jig which allows me
to create square-cuts with a circular-saw. It uses 2 boards screwed together at a 90° angle, and a piece of aluminium to guide the saw. I align the jig with the cutting line, and then do a pass with the saw-blade to make a clean cross-cut. Next I turn over the panel, Measure the length of the shelve, And mark it down. I then use a square to mark the cutting line, Align my jig, And cut the shelf to length. It's important to regularly check
that things are still accurate. After a bunch of cutting
all the panels are cut down to size. Next I lowered the blade of the table saw
to make fine grooves into the side panels. I made a total of 3 passes to end up with
a groove of about 7mm wide.
These channels will later be used to install
the electric wiring for the lighting. But more about that later… Next I marked out the location of each shelf
onto the vertical walls of the cabinet. I also drew a small centerline to position
the screw holes. Then I started pre-drilling with a small drill bit. Next I turn the panel on the other side, and all the rough 'exit holes' are removed with a countersink-bit. Back on the vertical sides I did the same thing, countersinking holes so the head of the screw
will be underneath the surface. The vertical panel in de middle needs
some extra attention, because this panel supports shelves on both sides,
So only the shelves on one side need countersinking, while the other holes are countersunk on the backside. Ok so after all that countersink-drama it's
time to glue some things together. Let's start off with the corners of the cabinet, I added some wood glue to the joint and then lined up both pieces.
I made sure things were square and, You can skip this step but a small nail gun
can be helpful to hold the pieces in place while you pre drill the screw holes. Predrilling is done with the same diameter
as the 'inner body' of the screw. Because without predrilling the MDF might split. In this case I'm also using a larger drill
equal to the 'outside diameter' of the screw, but only 18mm deep,
the thickness of the first panel. This will make sure that the screws pull both
panels strongly together. Next I added the screws, And last but not least I tap in the nails, because my small nail gun didn't have the power to do so. So I screwed the 4 corners together and started
adding the shelves on the left side.
So again I added wood glue, Put in 2 nails, Pre-drilled the holes with the small drill bit, Pre-drilled the first panel with the larger drill bit, And then added 2 screws. Next I mounted the vertical panel in the middle, And then installed the shelves on the right side. With everything screwed in place
it's time to add a back panel. For this step I moved the whole construction
onto a flat surface, A large sheet of 12mm MDF
was then put against the backside, and held in place with a few clamps. On the right side I roughly marked out
the excess material, Which I've cut off with a handsaw. The left side of the back panel was aligned
with the cabinet and clamped again in position. Next I used a pencil to mark
all the contours of the shelves.
This way I know exactly where
I can add the screw holes. A large nail is used to punch a centermark, And then I drill out all the pilot-holes. The back panel is turned over, And again the rough 'exit holes' are treated with a countersink bit. Once again I add the back-panel to the cabinet, this time to pre-drill each hole into the sides and shelves. And once again I remove the back-panel, And clean out any dust with a vacuum cleaner. The same is done on the back panel as well. Next it's time to add wood-glue to the back, This needs to be done quite fast and precise. The back panel is then carefully positioned
against the cabinet and clamped up again. Screwing things together goes easy now, as the screws find their way into the pre-drilled holes.
And with the back panel installed the cabinet
has turned into a sturdy construction. Each shelf also received about 3 screws. The top- and right side of the back panel
was roughly cut with some excess material, so that excess is now removed
with a 'flush trim router bit'. You can avoid this step by cutting the back
to its final size before screwing it in place. Next it's time to sand everything. Like most people I hate sanding, but it's a necessary step so we just have to deal with it. The front side needs some extra care, For this I glued some sandpaper to a piece of wood so the surface will remain flat.
The sharp edges of MDF are easily damaged, so I decided to round them off with a 'round-over-bit'. It makes the edge less brittle, and has a decorative effect as well. At the corners the router-bit might hit the metal screws, so I temporarily removed them, Added the round-over, sanded the surface, and then put the screws back in place. The edge of each shelf received very light
sanding to remove any sharp corners. If you don't cut your finger it should be fine. I made these grooves on both sides
for the electric wiring, but there is not yet an opening for the wire to enter, so this will be added at the bottom, right here.
I added a few lines with a pencil, And used a fine saw blade to extend the groove. A small tool like a chisel can then be used
to remove the material. The next thing is a bit overkill, I decided to add a metal corner-bracket on both sides, which I needed to carve out with a router-bit, and chisel out. I don't recommend doing this as it will hardly
add any strength to the cabinet, So yeah, you can just ignore it… 😀 Let us now focus on those ugly
screw holes inside the cabinet. I start by cleaning out any dust with a vacuum cleaner. Then I used an MDF filler, but any wood filler will work fine. I put some filler onto a putty knife
and then smear it into the screw-hole.
Take off the excess and let it dry. When dry, use the pallet knife
to scrape off any rough texture. Then use a block of sandpaper to flatten the surface. And clean off any dust and repeat these steps
until you have a perfect finish. Let's talk about the lighting, I will use self-adhesive LED strips to light the shelves. But I don't just want to stick them to a shelf like this, I want them to shine onto the model and also, I don't want to see them in the first place.
So to achieve all that I will add these
wooden corner-profiles. I've cut them down into 8 pieces,
one for each shelf. Then I turned the whole cabinet upside down, so I can easily glue all the profiles in place with wood glue. Aligning the wood with the front of the MDF
will always result in an ugly seam-line over time, so an old trick is to move them slightly back, in this case I'm using a 2mm piece of plastic. I added some light pressure with small plastic clamps. Next I will be adding these triangular profiles, Which I also glued in place with wood glue. So the first profile is decorative and will
hide the LED strip from sight.
The second one has a 45° angle and will point
the light better onto the models. This idea should work fine for the smaller shelves, but not so much for the larger compartment on the right-side. So for that shelf I decided to make a custom
profile from a piece of scrap wood. I changed the angle of the saw blade
and carefully did a few cuts, until I had only a thin strip of wood left with the right angle. Next I glued the strip in place with wood
glue and pressed it down with my fingers. With all the profiles in place it's time to
drill some holes into the side, so we can later connect the power-cables to the LED lighting.
These should arrive in, or close to
the groove we made before. The MDF fibers are a bit fussy, so I used a router-bit to make the holes look a bit cleaner, you can also use the tip of a large drill-bit, or even make a few cuts with a knife. At the top of the cabinet a small piece of wire will run through the middle-wall to power the right side.
I made the mistake of drilling that hole at
the wrong place before construction, so now I had to fill it up with a piece of
dowel, and finish it off with some filler. If you have some experience with 'caulking'
then you can, as an optional step, add some wood glue or a caulking product to improve
the look of the seams. You can also make it look worse with this step, so only go for it if you know what you're doing. And with that the main construction of the
cabinet is done and ready for the next step… Before we start painting, I clean the whole project with a vacuum cleaner.
I start with a white primer,
this one is water based. For the first layer I will be using a simple
brush and paint roller. It's a good idea to start with a brush, because the brush can be used for all the spots
that will be hard to reach with a paint roller, like corners and those profiles I added for the light-setup. For the larger surfaces I switch to a paint roller, I prefer this type, because it can carry a larger amount of paint. I dropped some paint into the tray, And we're ready to roll… A paint roller is usually very easy to use, in this case however, it is quite a pain to work
inside all the small compartments because you have to work more precisely and the progress is very slow.
So after the first coat, the result looks like
something which was painted in kindergarten, but this will be fixed when a second coat is applied. But before we can apply a second coat,
we need to sand everything smooth again because the first layer of primer will pull all the loose
fibers of the MDF to the surface, making the edges feel rough. All that sanding produces a lot of super fine dust, so once again I reached for my vacuum cleaner.
So for the 2nd coat I wanted to try something different… Yes, it's one of those very cheap airbrushes, and by calling it an airbrush, some people are probably already smashing the dislike button 😀 But I must be honest,
I still use it sometimes with lacquer paint to restore tools and small items
like this German ammo box for example. So I hooked it up to an air compressor and
prepared the cabinet for a second coat of primer. I thinned the primer with water in a plastic bottle, and then gave it a good shake… You should wear a respirator with a carbon
filter when spraying paint.
That said I didn't have any more cartridges, so I’ve cut the old ones open and placed pieces of kitchen-hood-filter inside… This will catch the larger particles but not
the microscopic ones, nor any vapors… So don’t be like me and get the right equipment! So masks on and let’s give it a try… Well, it did work to some extent, but this water-based stuff just clogged up
so much more than lacquer paint, it was a real pain to work with so I switched to plan B, a normal paint gun. 😀 So why on earth didn’t I start with this
one in the first place!? Well, the main reason is the enormous overspray
this gun produces, followed by a noisy compressor that,
due to the high airflow – no longer shuts off. I slowly built up the surface with light coats,
to avoid any paint-runners.
When dry I did more sanding on the edges,
to get a better surface finish. The next day I sprayed another coat of primer
with the paint gun, By now the surface was pretty smooth,
and ready for the next step… For the final finish I used a water-based-lacquer
and switched to a more soft, flat brush. It’s a warm, light grey tinge which will match the color of the wall. So once again I painted all the corners and
hard to reach surfaces with a brush, And then switched to a paint roller
to cover the larger, flat areas. This type of paint covers much better than
the white primer so only one coat was needed. There was a small difference in glossiness
between the brush and paint-roller surfaces, so a very light coat was still added with
the spray gun to even that out.
And make sure to clean the top of the paint jar
between coats, so you don't get a build-up which might fall into the paint,
and ruin your work. Ok – so now the paintwork is all done. Next we’ll take a look at how you can add LED lighting. I found this cheap set at the local hardware store, It contains a 5m LED light strip which can be cut to size, A 12V DC power supply, And even a dimmer with remote control, Which I find a bit too fancy so I won’t be using it… Instead I’m adding a small power socket, And some extra wire. The plan is to cut the LED strip, divide it over 8 shelves, and make new connections.
Each LED strip is different, this one has cutting marks after every third LED, and also visible copper connection pins. Looking at these marks I was able to cut my
5m strip into 8 pieces of 60cm (23.6"). The cut is carefully made without damaging
the copper contacts. When all pieces are cut down to length,
I need to gain access to these connection pins. In order to get to them I need to remove some material.
This is tricky because if you cut too deep,
you will damage the circuit board conductors, so take it slow. I cut about 90% and removed the last bit
with a sprue cutter. This is a bit of a pain, but if done right
the copper contacts are now ready to use. The lighting-strips at the top are a bit special,
because these are interconnected in the middle, so let’s start with that first. Turning the cabinet upside-down again
will make the work easier. I lay down both strips in front of the cabinet
and center them. Next I measure how long the wires need to
be to connect the strips. Most LED strips consume only a small current, so you can use all sorts of wire. I would recommend using a cable with a similar
size as used on your 12V power source. For example, perhaps a cable from
an adapter you don’t use anymore.
Next I cut the wire at the right length, I separate the ends a little bit, And remove the insulation
without damaging the copper. I like to twist the small copper wire into one solid piece, but clean your fingers with alcohol, so you don’t add any sweat or grease to the connection. Next I touch some solder to the tip of the iron, and then add more solder to both ends of the copper-wires. This wire will connect both LED strips, so the copper pads receive some solder as well. These copper pads are very fragile, so you need to work fast to prevent heat from building up. The second wire is connected as well, and then I use a small amount of hot glue to seal the connection. So both strips have a wire at the end
which goes through the outer walls, This strip has the wire for the wall in the middle, So that wire is fed through the hole, and then inside the cabinet the final connection is made.
From here on it’s very important to make
the right connections each time, positive to positive (+) and negative to negative (-) ! The connection is sealed with hot-glue again, And when everything looks ok… I peel off the 'backing paper' from the LED strip, and carefully stick it in place onto the angled profile. All the other shelves receive an LED-strip as well. These only have a wire on one side
and are fed through the holes in the sidewall. When all the strips are in place
I need to connect them, for this I use a slightly thicker wire with a black and red color.
I marked every hole onto the cable and then
removed the insulator at those marks. To do this, I used a sharp blade and carefully
removed the outside without damaging the copper. Then I added more solder
to the copper with a soldering iron. I place heat shrink tubes onto the wires, Make the connection with the soldering iron, Fit the shrink tubes over the connection, And carefully heat them up with a paint stripper,
so they shrink and seal the connection. When all the connections are made,
I now need to work the cable inside the slot. The 7mm grove I made,
turned out to be on the small side so make sure it’s wide enough for your needs. An easy way to keep the cable inside the slot
is the use of hot-glue. But to make it removable as well I add a small
piece of tape on top of the cable. With the dull side of the blade I push it all the way back.
And then a small amount of hot-glue is added,
which can be cut loose again if ever needed. But we still have to connect the whole light-setup
with the 12V power source. For this I will be using a small power socket This one is actually designed for circuit-boards. I drew the shape onto the bottom of the cabinet,
And used a dremel tool to remove the MDF material. And so it will be installed like this… To make sure you are using the right connection-pins
of the power-socket, You can use a cheap multimeter, switch it to the 'resistance' scale or something similar, And in a perfect world,
when both test-leads connect with each other you would read something like 'zero' resistance.
You can then use that to check which pin is
connected to the sleeve, and which one with the tip. If the power source doesn’t have any label on it, you can switch the multimeter to the 'DC Voltage' scale. Connect the test-leads to the jack
with the adapter PLUGGED-IN. As an example, I place the black-lead inside
the tip and the red onto the sleeve… I measure a 'negative' 12V which means
I’m holding the test-leads inverted, which is incorrect! So I switch the red-lead inside the tip and
place the black one onto the sleeve, Now the 'minus' (-) sign is gone,
so I’m holding the test-leads correctly.
So now we know that the 'tip' needs to be positive (+)
and the 'sleeve' negative (-). With that info we can add more heat-shrink-tube, and attach the red (+) wire to the pin of the 'tip',
and the black (-) to the pin of the 'sleeve'. Ok – so now would be a great time to find out
if this whole thing actually works… – 3 – – 2 – – 1 – phew… Just imagine the pain if it didn’t work ! After the test I added more hot-glue to the
socket, to keep it firmly in place And with that, all the electric stuff is done! So next the construction needs to be mounted to the wall. I decided to screw this piece of aluminum
to the wall first, this will add support to the underside of the cabinet
and make the installation easier.
You can cut the aluminium with most wood tools,
or use a metal saw or grinding disk. Afterwards I cleaned the edges with a flat file. Next I marked 5 screw holes onto the profile
and drilled them out with a small drill bit. These holes were then countersunk with a countersink drill bit. The profile was then turned 90° on it’s side, and 5 more holes were added with a larger, 8mm drill bit. So the plan is to use these larger 'lag-bolts'
to screw the profile to the wall, Then let the weight of the cabinet rest on top of it, And add some small screws to keep it from sliding off. The cabinet turned out to be too large for the staircase, so it was a struggle to drag it to the first floor, But luckily it arrived in one piece.
Next I quickly cleared my workspace.
I took away some older models, and the spitfire had to go too. Finally I removed my desk lighting
and we can get to work… A few years ago I insulated this wall myself,
so I know exactly how it’s built up. I made a wooden frame
and filled it up with Rockwool panels. The frame was covered with OSB and finished with drywall. Those OSB panels now provide me with a strong
base to screw things in position. If you have a brick wall then I would suggest
using nail plugs or something similar… I first used a magnet to locate the drywall-screws,
as the drywall was also screwed into the OSB. The correct height for the aluminium profile
was determined, and I drilled a pilot-hole for the first lag-screw through the drywall and OSB. The lag-screw in the center is then screwed
to the wall, to hold the aluminium in place. Next, a level is put on top of the profile
so the angle can be corrected.
The 4 remaining bolts are then also pre-drilled
and screwed in place. The aluminium profile keeps the lower shelves clear from ugly bolts, visible in the backside. But for the top I didn’t want to take any risks, so I’m placing 3 bolts in the left-side, which can easily be hidden with some scale-models, and 2 on the right-side, slightly harder to hide though. I carefully marked the holes and drilled them
out with a drill-bit used for the lag-bolt pilot-holes. On the left-side the cabinet is put against the wall,
so I added a small weatherstrip to make up for any imperfections in the wall. Then it’s finally time to hang the cabinet against the wall, the construction was placed onto the aluminum support, And some extra hands then held it in place, while I drilled the pilot-holes into the drywall and OSB. Next a larger, 8mm drill-bit is used to widen
the holes in the MDF, So the lag-bolts can be inserted, And then tightened with a socket wrench.
And just to be safe I added the last small
screws into the bottom. Now that the cabinet hangs to the wall it's
time for the final step, adding the sliding glass doors… To keep things simple I will be using 2 aluminum
profiles that I found at the local hardware store. I start by cutting them down to size, for this you
can also use a metal saw or grinding disk… The edges were cleaned up with a small file
and some fine sandpaper. The top-profile will receive some small screw holes, so I punched a few center-marks with a nail and hammer, so the drill won't be sliding all over the place.
Then a small drill bit was used to add the screw holes. Next I cleaned up the rough exit holes with
the tip of a larger drill bit. The problem with these profiles is that they are so thin, that there's hardly any material left to add
a decent countersink for the screw. As a result I won't be able to make the head
of the screw flush with the surface, so screws can only be used on the 'top' profile
and not the 'bottom' one. The tip of a 5mm drill bit was used to countersink
the holes as far as possible, But as you can see this still wouldn't be
deep enough for the bottom profile.
I also drilled the holes alternate into the
left and right slot. Next I put the top profile in place, And used a pointy object to mark the holes
of the profile onto the cabinet. A dremel tool with a small drillbit was then
used to pre-drill the screw holes. And the top-profile is screwed in place with
a small screwdriver. For the bottom-profile I decided to use an epoxy adhesive, so the glass-doors can slide freely without touching any screws. It's a good idea to roughen up the smooth
aluminum-surface, I added some light cuts with a box-cutter
so the glue has something to grip on to. Next, I put the 2 components onto a piece of plastic
and mixed them together with a toothpick. Then I had about 5 minutes to add the glue
to the profile, And glue it in place onto the bottom-side of the cabinet. With the aluminum profiles mounted in place, we now can determine the final dimensions of the sliding glass panels.
The ideal thickness for the glass (in my case) seems to be 5mm, this will allow some play to easily slide the panels back and forth. For the 'width' I measured between the inside
of the outer-wall (left), and over the full thickness of the middle-wall (right). For the 'height' I measured the inside of the
aluminum profile at the bottom, Added the height between the 'bottom' and 'top' profile, And another 6mm 'inside' the top profile, which
creates a clearance of 3mm above the glass, necessary for smooth sliding and to avoid
touching any screws. I also like to install a small 'handle' onto each panel, so for this, a small screwhole needs to be
added into the glass as well. Next I used the measurements to make a drawing
for the glass doors. You can order many different types of glass
for a project like this… The cheapest solution is 'standard float glass' (Annealed). However, this is also the most fragile option,
and when it breaks it will fall apart into large, sharp pieces which might cause some serious injuries.
As an alternative you can order 'laminated glass', which consists of a thin 'plastic foil',
pressed between 2 layers of glass. On impact the plastic foil will keep all the
shattered pieces together. I couldn't find a panel of laminated glass
as thin as 5mm, so I ordered tempered glass. This type of glass is heated into an oven
at about 600° Celsius (1112F), and then quickly cooled down. Which makes it about 4 times stronger than standard glass, and on impact it will crumble into small pebbles. Important to know about tempered glass is
that all operations like cutting and drilling need to be done before the glass gets heat treated. So I made an order at a local glass company,
picked it up about 2 weeks later and could now finally finish the project. I first unscrewed the aluminum profile at the top, Next I added Vaseline to the bottom-side
of the panel, to reduce friction. And then both panels were carefully put into
the bottom profile. The top profile is then placed on top of the glass, and screwed back in place. Soft plastic was used to create a 'protective spacer' for the handles.
I then installed a small handle on each panel,
which will be held in place with a screw. Well, this project was on my 'Todo-list' for so many years, so I’m really excited to see it finally finished! I placed a few models inside, but of course the contents will change over time as
new models will replace the older ones… I hope this video can help some people out
with their own project, and if not, then I hope it was at least fun to watch. Many thanks for watching, keep it safe
and I hope to see you on the next one! Subtitles : Steven.
