Display table(s): How much room/square feet advice?

[frank]

I'm looking at buying a new house, well, new to me anyway. It's
about 3 times the space of my current home & will allow me to finally
be able to display the bulk, if not all, of my collections. I've got a
corner picked out for my first toy love, my '60s space stuff, MMM,
Zeroids, Colorforms OSM & Golden Astronaut stuff. My plastic model
airplanes will be in several different areas, including hanging from
certain areas. A small(er) bedroom I'm thinking of making my Joe room.
My first Joe love is the AT, so what I'd like to do is set up a table
& make sort of an AT 'compound', with the HQ, MSV, Training Tower &
the vehicles & AT Joes. The rest of my vintage Joe vehicles & customs
will just be on a big shelf or shelves as well as a lot of my
individual figures will be displayed on a shelf or shelves, & may even
be scattered about the house like my models. I'm already picturing at
least a 4 x 8 plywood sheet table for my MMM & stuff, maybe even 2,
put in a big corner. I may even put the GA space stuff in another
spot, but regardless, they're small. Back to the AT. As long as I
don't want the AT stuff spread out hugely, but somewhat compact, yet
not crowded, would a single 4 x 8 plywood table be enough or should I
plan on at least 2, maybe tucked in a corner? I know some of y'all
have done displays like this & would know. I can't eyeball most of it
as it's in storage & I've always wanted a bigger place to display my
stuff since collecting the stuff in a closet takes out most of the
fun. Thanks.

[Bruce Mueller]

Unless you are quite tall, if the setup is at table or countertop height and
up against the wall, 4' deep makes it difficult to reach all the way to the
back. A way to compensate is set it lower to the floor, elevate the stuff in
back on some sort of platform, or, of course, make it narrower. Trimming the
plywood down to 40" makes a big difference. If you are looking at setting up
some sort of L-shaped setup, using 4'x8' sheets makes it all but impossible
to reach the all the way into the corner.

If you are going to set your display up and leave it, it won't matter much,
but if you plan on rearranging a lot or want to be able to pick up a figure
or accessory and show it to someone, what you lose in space is more than
compensated (at least in my book) by ease of use.

I'd suggest laying out what you want to display on the floor or on sheets of
plywood on saw horses and see how much display space you need as well as how
it fits into the room. As you are planning things out, you may want to
consider adjusting the height of your table/plywood so you can put some
bookcases or shelves tucked underneath the front. If you are planning to use
the space under the table for storage, you may want to think about putting
casters under the bookcases (although figures on stands tend to tip over
when you move them). It's a lot easier to make the table height match the
size of the bookcases than trying to find bookcases that will work with your
table height, especially if you are constructing the table supports from
scratch anyway.

Also, are you planning on putting shelves on the wall above your tables?
Unless you have some sort of mural or something else as a backdrop that you
don't want to interfere with, shelves on the wall above the tables really
adds a lot of space. If you are planning to use shelves, you especially want
to be careful how deep your tables are.

Those are some ideas/considerations that come to mind.

Boy am I envious of having so much space to dedicate to your collections!

Bruce

[frank]

Thanks for the input. I was thinking of using the space under the
table(s) for something, just not sure yet as to what. I'm not tall,
not even 6' & had wondered about the 4' depth, but I remembered model
trains being on 4 x 8 plywood. I can't imagine more than 2 sheets
being required regardless. I doubt I'll do much re-arranging if any
once it's all set up. Probably won't do much picking up either. I
hadn't thought of shelves over the tables, thanks for that. I've
wanted a bigger place for years & living alone, I can use all the
space as I want!



On Dec 14, 6:56 am, "Bruce Mueller" <bruceamuel...@NOSPAM.yahoo.com>
wrote:

[ster...@shout.net]

If you don't plan on handling your collection much after it's all
arranged, then prepare yourself for a dusty collection.
Collections that are constantly being moved around are different. They
get constant attention and regular clean-up. But a collection that's
set up and left becomes "Dust City" after about a month.

The ultimate set-up for you sounds like a glassed-in display area.
Shelves made of glass allow light to penetrate and cut down on a lot
of dark shadows, making everything easier to see.

Since you're still at the planning point, I'd seriously consider
calling in someone who installs such shelving, etc. and getting their
input and cost estimate. In the long run, if you're not handling your
collection much, you'll appreciate the dust-free, easy to view set up
you've created.

But whatever you do...HAVE FUN!!!!!!

Mark

[frank]

Just because I don't handle the stuff doesn't mean I don't keep
it clean. Agreed, they get dusty, but not that bad. I don't completely
ignore my stuff.