Star Wars Room Overhaul — Display Shelves

Displaying Star Wars collections is an art. I have seen numerous collections that are just boxes stacked up against a wall next to poorly hanging figures. Presentation of something valuable to you is as important as the item itself. With this in mind, I designed the Imperial Display Shelf. My Inspiration. The corridors of the Death Star. I took my design from pictures of the corridor's the top and bottom light panels. The shelves 7' 11" tall, so it will fit under and 8' ceiling, and 4' wide. There are five 4' x 1' x 1" shelves for displaying a variety of ships and figures. The Process. I started with an 8' x 4' piece of plywood ("A" pictured below) and trimmed an inch off to fit in my room. I then framed the back by glueing seven 1" x 2" boards to the back for re-enforcement. (See above) I then took two 1" x 8' x 6" ("B" pictured above) boards and cut an inch off and glued them on. I screwed it together being sure to include the reinforcemnts (note: screw went through: back reinforcement -> plywood -> 7' 11" x 6" x 1" supports). This made a very strong free-standing structure. Now to the shelves ("C" pictured above). There are 8 shelves but not all of them will be used to display items. The shelves were cut to slide between the 1"x6" supports ("C" pictured above) and then rounded ("B" pictured above). I found the lid to a large plastic paint bucket to use as a template. The shelves are spaced based on what I want to display on them. Some 12" figures some 3 3/4. They are attached by screwing through the back reinforcement and into the shelves. Next, we will move to the lights. I designed this template in Photoshop. This template fits over a 54 1/2" x 12 1/2" piece of sheet metal. You are welcome to download mine but your exact measurements will depend on the way you cut your shelves. Kinkos can print this template. Lay the template on the sheet metal. I used black spay paint to mark the area I was going to cut out. Sand the metal with a light sandpaper so it will take the paint. Drill a hole in the sheet metal near the edge of where you marked and then use a jigsaw to cut the shapes out. Clean up the edges with a dremel or a grinding bit for your drill. I will warn you that metal will eat your bits quickly. Clean the sheet metal really well and then prime it. Be sure you use a primer made for metal. Rustoleum makes a really good product for this. Sand the primer with a light sandpaper until it is smooth but be sure not to sand the primer off. Bend the metal around the shelves and try to take out all the spring you can. This is and important step to take before gluing. To cover the holes in the sheet metal, I used the acrylic you often find in poster frames. I had some old Episode I posters I was getting rid of so I just took the clear acrylic out of the frame they were in. I then sprayed it with a frosted glass spay paint till it was opaque. Glue this to the back of the metal using liquid nails or a strong epoxy. On the top and bottom shelf, I reinforced it with 1" x 2" boards and mounted floresent lights to the back wall of the shelves. To act as reflectors, I added aluminum foil. Glue the light covers on using a strong epoxy. I used PC-7 which was plenty strong. I primed the shelves and painted it to match my desk. As an added feature, I bought a remote controlled outlet plug to control turning the lights on and off. These can be found at most hardware stores and is a great effect.