I have my planes displayed in a cabinet with glass doors. I prefer to make dioramas instead of putting a plane on a shelf. Here is my Vietnam collection.
I built an F-4 based on Robin Olds’ plane. In the background is a presentation about his plane and himself. The F-105 Thunderchief Wild Weasel is based on the WW as flown by Capt. Jim Boyd and Capt. Kim Pepperel. They flew this 105 during the Linebacker I/II era. And, they flew the last WW mission of the war in 1972. The F-100 Super Sabre Wild Weasel didn’t give me much information as to who flew the plane other than that it was stationed at, I believe, Udon. The photograph behind the F-100 is a photo of the F-105 landing after the last WW mission of the war (in 1972).
Now this is my kind of display. I really like the idea of not just displaying the aircraft, but including the history and the people behind them as part of the presentation.
The Wild Weasels especially caught my attention. I’ve got an F-100F planned as a Wild Weasel build, so I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading about those early missions.
I’m curious about the cabinet itself, though. You mentioned that these are displayed in a cabinet with glass doors. Is the cabinet essentially filled with individual little dioramas like these, each with its own aircraft, base and historical presentation?
I’d love to see a photo pulled back far enough to show the entire cabinet and how you’ve arranged everything. The individual displays are really interesting, but now I want to see how the whole collection looks together.
You built that yourself? That’s a gorgeous cabinet!
I used to do quite a bit of woodworking myself and built cabinets, so I can really appreciate the work that went into it. Unfortunately, I don’t have my table saw or most of the tools anymore, so when it came time to add a display cabinet to my hobby room, I finally had to give up and buy one.
Yours looks like it was designed specifically for what you wanted to display, which is one of the great advantages of building it yourself.
And from what I can see in the photo, it looks like you’ve got a pretty great hobby space there too. Lots of room to work, plenty of storage, and a beautiful cabinet full of models right there where you can enjoy them.
Here is my display I bought at a thrift store a few years ago for $50. I expanded the middle section such that the width is about 28". Then, I added a panel from Home Depot. I had to buy glass panels cut to fit since I expanded the width. Ten of the displays have some sort of dioramas. I plan on cleaning the clutter sometime so that I will be able to use all shelving.
I initially started building models when I retired and built 1/48 scale. Then, I slowly realized that many 1/48 scale models were too big to fit (B-17, B-24, etc). Half of the shelves now display 1/72 scale models (I can build and display more models). I am thinking of redoing the larger 1/48 scale models into 1/72 scale.
By the way, this cabinet sits in my mancave - an 8’ x 20’ “office” that was built onto the side of my garage when the neighborhood was built. My desk is to the left of the cabinet. My Vietnam display featured in this thread is down on the lower left.
That’s exactly what I wanted to see! Thanks for posting the wider shot.
Now I understand how you’re displaying everything. I really like the idea of having individual dioramas mixed throughout the cabinet rather than every model simply sitting on a shelf. It gives you something different to discover as you look through the collection, and now I can see where that Vietnam display fits into the larger picture.
And $50 for the original cabinet was quite a find, but I’m even more impressed with what you did to modify it. Widening a cabinet and adding glass doors is no small project. Having done some cabinet work myself in the past, I can appreciate how much work went into turning what you bought into the display case you actually wanted.
I can certainly understand your move from 1/48 to 1/72 when I look at how much you’ve managed to fit in there. I’m afraid I’m too committed to 1/48 at this point to make the switch. When I eventually get to some of the really big projects, I may have to start hanging airplanes from the ceiling. I’m also considering building some custom tarmac-style display shelves in the closet for the models that simply aren’t going to fit in the cabinets.
That’s a great hobby space! And is that a drill press I see over there? Now that’s a well-equipped modeling room.
I love the paint rack too. What a great thing to have in a hobby room, and it’s nice that you were able to give it a second life. It’s just a shame that it became available because another local hobby shop closed. There’s something about being able to walk into a real hobby shop and wander the aisles that shopping online will never replace.
I really like the idea of not just displaying the aircraft, but including the history and the people behind them as part of the presentation.
When I eventually get to some of the really big projects, I may have to start hanging airplanes from the ceiling. I’m also considering building some custom tarmac-style display shelves in the closet for the models that simply aren’t going to fit in the cabinets.
