Space Guns

[Andyman]

Well if you do it right, the landlord will never know...right? ;)

[HIGHWHEEL KICKER]

Interesting points have been raised about composition in display. Ray guns etc can be difficult to display in a uniform fashion because unlike eg model cars they are not necessarily symmetrical - a Hubley Disintegrator simply has to be displayed left to right. I seem to remember here something about lines of symmetry. Andymans composition is superb in part due to the small numbers involved. The permutations involved on a large display like yours Doc are simply mine blowing and to my eyes you have succeeded brilliantly.

Individual name plates would solve your empty space concerns and they serve to focus the eye within a large display. Personal point here but I find numbered line drawing display notices irritating because by turning my head constantly away from the display to read what an object is called spoils my fun and concentration.

Best sources of brass name plates are know are from film cell dealers. Here in the UK they cost less than £4.00 for 10 engraved plates.

Revolving book cases are great. I personally fancy sliding screens aka James Bond but then I am a big kid at heart but then again aren't we all?!

[dratomic]

Highwheel -- that's a very good point, re: the name plates vs. a single "by the numbers" chart. I never thought about the head-turning factor, which, I agree, can sometimes get annoying.

Hm. Must give it some more thought...

I've got it! Goggles with a special heads-up display. It'd use GPS tracking to determine which case a person's standing in front of, and infrared scanners to figure out the position of the viewer's head and, therefore, which gun they're looking at. A central computer would then be able to display the name of the gun, maker, date of manufacture, and some cool trivia on the inside of the lenses. Audio information would be piped to the person via vibrations against the skull, allowing him or her to "hear" a tour guide without having to disturb whoever else is in the room. Finally, the goggles would also be able to administer a small electric shock any time anyone tried to remove a gun from the shelf without permission.

Sweet...

[Andyman]

I've got an idea. How about if you just pull down one of them there ray guns there and just blast the next guy that comes up with any more cocky-mammy ideas.

:unsure: NO WAIT!

[TinTanker]

Brian that is truly a cool display. I was wondering if you have a little time if you could briefly describe the guns? The top right rifle is really impressive, I wonder if its Tinplate. Thanks for the pictures!!

Tom

[Sonny Young]

Doc, I must agree with you on the white background-- it makes all those candy colors pop out at you. I'm fascinated with this palette since most robot colors are on the drab side in comparison. I only have one laser gun-- the LIS Roto Jet Gun-- and that, too, is not colorful.

[Joe K.]

Beautiful display, Doc. I love it!

Thank goodness for Ikea's Billy bookcases, huh? (I just wish they'd make clear glass doors for the line. The ones they do have, have a heavy wooden or metal support frame around them.)

So, am I safe in assuming that behind each "formidable looking sidearm" are a couple holes that the custom-formed display hooks fit into? If so, what do you do if the placement/arrangement changes? Surely you'll be adding to the collection, won't you?

[dratomic]

I was wondering if you have a little time if you could briefly describe the guns? The top right rifle is really impressive, I wonder if its Tinplate.

No problem... there are a lot of them, so I'll generalize, and touch on some of the highlights...

All the of the toys are American, most are plastic, including the two rifles. All range from the early Thirties to the late Fifties, with the exception of the Irwin clicker gun, which is from 1960 (left case, right side, third row from top -- silver colored). Only six guns are metal, and none are actually tin: (Left Case) Hubley Atomic Disintegrator (left, second row from bottom), and the Paper Popper (right, bottom row); (Right Case) Buck Rogers U235 Atomic Disintegrator (right, second row from top), Buck Rogers XZ-44 Liquid Helium water pistol (left, third row from top), Flyrite Atom Bubble gun (right, second row from bottom), and the Flash Gordon Signal Gun (middle, resting on shelf). The Hubley and Flyrite are both die-cast.

The rarest of the guns are in the left case (though I didn't intentionally group them together): The two Pyrotomic Disintegrators -- especially the red one (second row under the rifle), the prototype Space Patrol Rocket Dart gun (center, just below the pyros), and the Renwal Planet Jet (just below the Rocket Dart gun). Other scarce ones include the yellow Tomy Gun (left, bottom row), the Planet Police Jet Gun (middle, bottom row), and the Inter-Planetary Mega Scope (right, resting on shelf); and in the right case, the Liquid Helium gun and the Flash Gordon Signal Gun.

The aforementioned Inter-Planetary Mega Scope is one of the stranger ray guns in the collection -- it's six toys in one, including a siren, a light, a megaphone, a ray gun, a telescope, and a secret message transporter. I found it on ebay MIB, with original instruction sheet and ORIGINAL BATTERY (which came in the box, and suffered no corrosion -- I wouldn't use it, but it looks neat, and harkens back to a day when batteries WERE included). I've only seen two on ebay, and BOTH were MIB with battery... strange...

The brick on the shelf in the right case -- and I think this story has been related about a hundred times now -- was part of the now-demolished Daisy Manufacturing plant in Michigan. ROBOTNUT was kind enough to... ahem... "liberate" it for me as the building was being torn down. It was a mighty special gift, as Daisy manufactured the original line of Buck Rogers guns, including the world's first space gun, the XZ-31 (which, oddly, I don't have; they're so common on ebay that I keep putting off the purchase...).

Anything else, please feel free to email me and I'll give you a more complete run down.

[dratomic]

So, am I safe in assuming that behind each "formidable looking sidearm" are a couple holes that the custom-formed display hooks fit into? If so, what do you do if the placement/arrangement changes? Surely you'll be adding to the collection, won't you?

Ah, Joe... asking the one question I'd hoped no one would ask! Once a cop, always a cop... ;)

You're right, there are holes through which I've placed the hooks, which are themselves then hot glued into place to prevent accidental dislodging. This has, in effect, made that part of the display pretty static.

The truth is, while I do plan on getting more guns in the future, there aren't THAT MANY that I want to add to the collection. And thankfully, many of those come with fantastic display boxes, which I'd want to have as well... this means that they'd be displayed on the shelves, most likely, not on the wall part of the case. (Like the Zoomerray, in the right-hand corner of the right case.)

I've also left room for one more gun on the wall -- I could remove the two packets of smoke rings (which are not securely in place) and put a gun there instead. And any further loose toys could be put on stands and placed on the shelves as well.

It's not a perfect solution to the problem, I'll admit, and it bothered me while I was putting this together. I had a couple ideas as to how I could make the wall component a little more flexible -- such as using a peg board, which Fineas suggested to me -- but all got rejected for various reasons.

Worse case scenerio, if I REALLY wanted to change things around -- I've got four more EXTRA backing pieces, and I could create new display configurations using those, and then just pop them into the case. Or, if I had enough extra toys, I suppose I could put up yet ANOTHER billy case -- bringing the grand total in my small, studio apartment, to SIX... yikes!

[Andyman]

The way I cover any possible changes in my display is by making a false back out of pegboard. Once I figured out my arrangement and where the pegs would go I cover the pegboard with material and poke holes where the pegs will be. If I want to change the arrangement, I'll just need to replace the material. Of course you may have to "customize" some pegs to fit particular weapons.

I dipped all the metal pegs in a red rubber tool coating to protect the guns and blend in with the background material. (it wasn't done yet at the time of the picture)

[dratomic]

That's a good idea, Andy. I hadn't thought of using the peg board and then covering it with material. I suppose I could adapt that method and just poke new holes in my current installation, and then cover the whole thing with some nice background... at least until I run out of places to poke the holes...

I'm not sure if coating the hooks in rubber is a great idea -- would the rubber react in any way with the plastic? Especially the older plastic? I'm not sure -- Henk, care to chime in here? Is there a danger?

Andy, as an alternative, I considered a bit of felt on each hook -- not even glued down, just sandwiched between the gun and the hook itself. Or perhaps affixed with something that's (supposedly) inert, like museum wax. I haven't tried it yet -- any thoughts?

Also, this was a sticking point for me, and I'm curious as to your opinion -- I thought about using white wire because it would blend in with the background, but then I discovered that it stood out too much on the guns themselves. I ended up just leaving it sort of brass colored, as, in most cases, it seems to just sort of fade away (I suppose it's just a trick of the eye). But I'm not sure this was the best solution. Do you have any updated photos of your gun display with the red-coated hooks? I'd love to see what it looks like.

EDIT -- I just noticed that your hooks are more like pegs, and don't come around the front of the guns, like mine do. I need to trim the hooks a bit, but in many cases, the shapes of the guns required a bit more stability -- so I can't cut them back as far as you did. I suppose one great advantage to the Star Trek phasers is that they have squared off shapes! But I can see now how making the hooks red would indeed make them nearly invisible. I'd still like to see a pic, though!

[Andyman]

The rubber coating doesn't seem to be reacting to the plastic in anyway. Of course, it is newer plastic. It also keeps the guns from sliding off the pegs.

Yeah, your guns are a little more eclectic in their shapes so I'm not sure the peg idea would work. But the pegs do come in various sizes and shapes so you may find something that will work.

I'll see if I can get you a current pic of the cabinet.

[Morbius]

Dr. A, I never even noticed the hooks holding the guns at all in your photos. You've got a beautiful arrangement there.

Andyman: That's a terrific idea covering the pegboard after deciding where to punch the holes...something I'd never have thought of and sounds like another very effective idea.

All these thoughts on displays are very interesting and thanks to all for the inspiration. Soon I hope to come up with a montage of these great ideas and create something a whole lot more interesting than what I have now. (Well, anything would be an improvement at this robot home)! :P