dratomic Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 After much delay, I've finished the wall o' space guns. Well... not entirely finished. Some of the guns lying on their sides will eventually get stands, and I'm sure I'll tweak a few things here and there. But I got all the toys and packaging out of the big brown box in which they were living, and that's the important part. I couldn't see my landlord approving my driving about 50 tightly spaced holes into his wall, even if I did try explaining that my having access to rare space guns served a valuable role in not only our national, but also our planetary, defense. So instead, I bought two shelving units from Ikea and mounted the hooks into the laminated backing, and then stuck the whole thing behind my couch (that's what the black blob is). The hooks are turned up on the back side of the board to prevent them from sliding out. I also used hot glue to secure them in place. I'm happy with the way it turned out, even if a few of the guns are a little cockeyed...The books on the lower left shelf, by the way, are my collection of Ace Doubles. I'm running out of room on my vintage book shelves; I realized that the Doubles look particularly neat together -- very uniform and "Fifties" -- and decided to move them en masse to the new case. When I've got them all, they'll probably extend all the way across the two shelves, which I think'll look kind of neat. (Actually, they'll extend beyond the two shelves, but I don't want to think about that right now.)The space behind the couch, under the shelf of books, serves as storage.Here are a couple more pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Brian - this is by far and away the best display that you have put together. It looks wonderful - I love all the bright colors -gives me a real 50's sci-fi feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotnut Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Brian, they look wonderful, BRICK and all...You certainly made a wonderful display and should beproud of it. I'm not sure if it will impress the ladies, butit will make many middle aged men swoon.As a kid, my parents did not allow guns of any kindin our home. I guess it was because, we lived withinsight of the Detroit Riots of 1967. If relatives gave us toyguns as gifts, they would always mysteriously disappear... :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 I'm an idiot. When putting the guns on the wall, I lost my page of notes and accidently reversed the two Pyrotomic Distintegrators. They're supposed to be facing each other, thus avoiding that unsightly hole between the two of them, and also creating more of a space for the prototype Space Patrol Rocket Gun. I know, I know -- it's a small detail. But it's the type of thing that displays of this nature are supposed to AVOID. Heck, that's why I had my notes... Um. Yeah.New pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Quite the collection doc! Nicely displayed. The only thing missing is the collection of alien trophy heads! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phase pistol Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Fantastic array! B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Love that display, Dr. A. Very nice, simple and effective in making it true B) 'art'!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.I. Gosses Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Were I a formless, green blob from beyond Alpha-Centaury, I would shiver,- seeing you so well prepared to prevent me from taking over the Universe. A truely magnificent display. I collected some spaceguns, in the margin, and always wondered what to do with them. This is inspirational.. *(*Regardless of how often you read it, there is no snake in the grass, this is just a compliment) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 Glad you all like it. Guns are particularly tricky to display since they don't stand up like robots. I've used stands in the past, but they always required FunTack -- that putty-like sticky stuff -- to keep the guns from tipping over. This prevented my being able to actually pick up the toys since they were pretty securely affixed to there respective homes. The hook method seems to work best, in the long run. It looks nice, the toys are easilly accessible, and the display maintains a minimal "footprint." Granted, I lose some poster space on the wall, but that seems like a reasonable trade off, since the guns become decoration in and of themselves. The only hard part is making the hooks. It's easy enough to bend the wire (I use old coat hangers, as well as an even thinner guage wire that nonetheless remains darn sturdy). But getting them sized right always proves more difficult than anticipated. I mean, I measure and mark and do everything I'm supposed to do, but somehow everything still manages to get a little... random. Nonetheless, a few adjustments here, a couple extra bends there, and everything tends to work out more or less okay in the end.(And Henk, I never took your comments as anything but complimentary!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robobob Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Brian,Have I mentioned how much pictures like this tick me off ???Why, you may ask ?Because it's pictures like this that make me think : Hmm, maybeI should keep a closer eye out on Ebay...A couple of those gunswould look really cool displayed up with the robots.And we all know where that road leads..... :P Seriously though, that's a really GREAT looking collection you'veamassed, thanks for sharing the pics with us !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I just thought of something...your wall reminds of the scene from MIB where they go into the pawn shop. The guy presses a button to reveal a secret wall behind the wall and it's..Loaded with Space Guns! Say Doc...you wouldn't be from the planet Nebulon, would you?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 That's right, Robert -- I forgot about that scene. It's too bad I can't rig up my display to change from an ordinary book case to an interstellar armory!Robobob -- Sorry 'bout that. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is create more competition for those space guns! I bought my first vintage gun before I'd even bought a vintage robot -- it was the Buck Rogers U235 Atomic Disintegrator. I put it in a cool shadow box and left it at that. I didn't buy any other guns for a year or so, until I stumbled on one of those small, spiny clicker guns. I realized two things at that moment: 1. I loved ray guns.2. For the most part, they're a LOT cheaper than robots!So whenever I found myself without enough money to get a nice walking piece of tin, I'd instead turn my eye towards a nice shooting piece of plastic or pressed steel. Soon, however, I was eyeing the higher-end ray guns, and suddenly it became a choice between robots or the guns. The 'bots didn't always win out... But like we all say, "Buy what makes you happy!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Looks fantastic Doc. I'm really happy to see that you've got the guns out of the box and out on display for everyone to see where they belong. I'm only sorry that the walkie-talkies that I sent aren't there yet and have missed the unveiling. Now you've got me all worked up about my own ray gun display ideas.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 One word - MAGNIFICIENT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 *crosses off Doc's apartment as possible time/space portal to sell to alien invaders*...um....I mean...gee...it looks nice.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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