The New Robot Room

[dratomic]

My girlfriend and I had recently purchased a new apartment together. We decided that I needed an office for myself, since I do a lot of my work from home. And, of course, the office makes a perfect robot room!

I decided to spread the toys out over three Ikea Detolf cases. I also replaced some of the ray gun shelves with glass. I also installed a bunch of new Ikea LED lights, which burn quite cool to the touch, and give off pretty decent light. I'm happy with the end result -- I finally feel like I've got the toys displayed the way I've always wanted them displayed. For now, anyway...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[laserman]

Truly Awesome!!! :P You can't go wrong with Ikea. I eyed those same cabinets when I was in the Chicago store earlier this year. For $60, a great buy. I never thought of grouping them together like that. The guns displayed on both sides give kind of a bookend look to the whole collection. One neat display!

[robothut]

That looks Great Brian! Two questions.First did you check out the plumbing of the apartment above you? and how about more infor on the LED lights. How much do they cost, how many do you get?

[RotoBadger]

Very nice! I love my Ikea cases too. Right now I'm up to six of them and they're pretty full. Your display is just beautiful Brian. If I were into the rayguns too I'd probably copy your setup exactly. The robots are displayed very cleanly and clearly. Really, really nice!

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

Man that really looks awesome Brian!! Being able to see all the toys from the same angle really adds to the overall impact of the entire collection. It somehow seems bigger when displayed all on the same wall. Really nice job on the grouping and balancing too. There are a few guns that you've picked up lately that I forgot you had (not the Rotoflash, how could I forget that one!) but the Merritt Space Pilot Missile gun and the set of Propello Sky guns. With the recent robot additions the collection just keeps getting bigger and better.... I guess that's the idea, huh? ;)

With that wall of cool toys I don't know how you're going to get any work done in that room.

[dratomic]

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

John -- The photos show the lights in use, but there's also an overhead incandescent shining down on the cases.

Anyway, the Ikea lights are called LACK, and they come two to a pack. Offhand, I couldn't give you any exact specs, but they're pretty bright and they don't get too hot. The lights themselves are designed as small cones that attach to a piece of metal; they swivel back and forth in an arc of roughly 90 degrees... However, clever mounting would allow a greater range of movement.

They come with very long cords, which is nice. Both lights are attached to one cord, so they can't be used separately. However, there's a good two feet worth of spread between them, allowing for flexible positioning.

My only complaint is that some of the lights are very white (well, with that very faint bluish hue commonly found with "white" LEDs), while some of the lights have a very faint amber tint (to sort of match incandescent lighting). They're not labeled one way or the other, and so far, I've had a pack of two whites, two slightly ambers, and one that had one of each... It's a little odd, and I think it reflects slightly wonky quality control on the part of Ikea.

I forget how much I paid, but the lights aren't super cheap. They were something like $20-$30 a set. Not terrible, but certainly not a super bargain.

Ikea also makes a goose neck-with-clamp version called JANSJO that I like a lot. One to a package, and with a nice, bright LED. Slightly less expensive, if I remember correctly.

Hope this helps.

[Phil R]

Brian, excellent job in setting up your display. Clean , precise and you obviously spent a lot of time deciding which robots were arranged together. Enjoy the view every day! is that a restored warehouse or just a loft with bricks exposed? Nice contrast. :)

[Randetron]

Brian,

Excellent, excellent display. I always love the clean, "uncluttered" look.

Borrowing from another thread, how do you prevent the "flat rubber wheel syndrome"??

Thanks.

[Kilroy]

Awesome collection and a really great display.

[Eagle]

A long time coming Doc ! Worth the wait. Swell ! :)

[dratomic]

Phil -- It's just an old tenement apartment with some exposed brick. Nothing weird, just a lucky bit of architectural detail.

Randetron -- I try to rotate my wheels every couple weeks or so. Also, some of the toys are supported on acrylic stands -- the round ones happen to fit under the toys' feet, but just outside the wheels, meaning that the bots rest on the edges of their feet (if that makes any sense). When it's really hot, I'll set some coins under the robots' feet. I'll admit, I've had some fattening from the past, when I didn't really pay enough attention to the problem. Lately, I've tried to be better about it.

[The Toyman]

Phil -- It's just an old tenement apartment with some exposed brick. Nothing weird, just a lucky bit of architectural detail.

Randetron -- I try to rotate my wheels every couple weeks or so. Also, some of the toys are supported on acrylic stands -- the round ones happen to fit under the toys' feet, but just outside the wheels, meaning that the bots rest on the edges of their feet (if that makes any sense). When it's really hot, I'll set some coins under the robots' feet. I'll admit, I've had some fattening from the past, when I didn't really pay enough attention to the problem. Lately, I've tried to be better about it.

DOUBLE WOW!! DR ATOMIC B) That's what I call a display, love all the plastic ray guns against the white background, I bet you wont confess to how many times you tweaked the robot diplays and stood back in admiration ;) I picture myself setting this lot up and I'd be there all night just messing about with them!

I imagine it's a pretty cool apartment too B)

Noel.

[Sparkrobot]

Doc,,That display is Awesome,and it's not often a Brit uses that word,,infact it's only used when something blows you away,now I can feel myself getting carried away :blink: :D Truthfully though it really is a brilliant piece of display I can see by the grouping that you have given it a lot of thought now I think you will get my disease where you cant stop tweeking it and leveling things up :unsure: ...The L.E.D lights seem a really good idea ,I definately need an upgrade in the lighting [i cant really leave my low voltage halogene lamps on for long,,too much heat :( ]so those Ikea lights could be the solution. Doc It looks like you are settling in fine.......

[dratomic]

Toyman -- It's more like, I'd set them up, step back, and then immediately run to the shelves to move stuff around again. I decided to build the third case and completely rearrange my collection at about midnight one evening... I didn't finish until 4 a.m.! I was struck by mania -- robot mania! -- and I didn't stop until the job was done. I'm just amazed I didn't wake my GF, who was asleep one room over. :)

(Oh, and Noel -- did ya catch the Marx Friction Dalek? It's the small black one on the right side of the case.)

Spark -- Now I'm worried about you... If too many of us set up our displays in ways that you admire, you'll soon be exclaiming American-isms like "Righteous, dude!" and "Totally tubular!" (At which point, you'll be forced to give up your British passport, and you'll be exiled to California! [i'm KIDDING, Rocket!]) But seriously, thanks for the compliments. And yes, please, stop using those halogens... Every time you mention it, I shudder. I once saw a halogen lamp actually melt a friend's fax machine. On one had -- cool! On the other hand -- dead fax machine! I'd hate to see that happen to a Robby dome... :blink:

[The Toyman]

Toyman -- It's more like, I'd set them up, step back, and then immediately run to the shelves to move stuff around again. I decided to build the third case and completely rearrange my collection at about midnight one evening... I didn't finish until 4 a.m.! I was struck by mania -- robot mania! -- and I didn't stop until the job was done. I'm just amazed I didn't wake my GF, who was asleep one room over. :)

(Oh, and Noel -- did ya catch the Marx Friction Dalek? It's the small black one on the right side of the case.)

Spark -- Now I'm worried about you... If too many of us set up our displays in ways that you admire, you'll soon be exclaiming American-isms like "Righteous, dude!" and "Totally tubular!" (At which point, you'll be forced to give up your British passport, and you'll be exiled to California! [i'm KIDDING, Rocket!]) But seriously, thanks for the compliments. And yes, please, stop using those halogens... Every time you mention it, I shudder. I once saw a halogen lamp actually melt a friend's fax machine. On one had -- cool! On the other hand -- dead fax machine! I'd hate to see that happen to a Robby dome... :blink:

...see I knew you would spend hours messing about...just like me, and yes I did spot the Dalek,but look what arrived today :) ! it needs some work on the box and the Dalek isn't working at the moment, and it's very dirty ( but Mr Sheen and cotton buds will sort that one out).

Looking forward to minting this one up!

Noel.