b.loree said:
How do you attatch the wappen to the back gound, what do you use as a background?
Here is what I did. I went to a home improvement store and bought four pieces of thin wood plank about 85cm wide (3 1/2") and glued and screws them together to make a box shape 67cm X 102CM (30" X 40") . This will be quite flimsy until you secure the back.
I bought a half-sheet of mdf (medium dense fiberboard) which is very thin but strong, and screwed that to the back. This gives you a very strong box, for little cost.
The front door was made by buying strips of wall trim from a home improvement store and cut with a miter saw to make a frame. This is very flimsy. But once you buy a thin piece of Plexiglas from a glass shop cut it to fit inside the frame door, and screw it into place, the front door is very strong. Three hinges on the side to join them and you are ready. This was all done in one evening. The case and the front door where stained the same evening and varnished the next.
This case is reasonably heavy, so it was screwed right to wall studs with four screws. I then used a big piece of corrugated cardboard from a shipping box that our bed mattress came in, and covered that in black foam-backed headliner material from an auto upholstery shop. This gives you a nice thick surface to pin things onto. I then put two-way carpet tape on the back of the cardboard and stuck it inside the frame.
The chickens are held in with sewing pins like butterflies. This works great. I can move chickens around in seconds as I acquire new ones. The black foam-backed headliner gives a great surface to pin into, the chickens contrast very nice against the black, and when you move chickens, the foam takes a flat shape again immediately.
Once I talk R1 out of that little Jäger chicken I need, I will be moving the bottom row again. 8-[
The labels are only on the photo. I do not have labels on mine. You could make labels if you so wished and place them on plastic strips, and glue Velcro on the back. Velcro sticks to this black foam-backed headliner material like glue.
This case works just as well with 4 Wappens as it does with 30. It is a great way to display them in the house as it looks really good and it is a great conversation piece. Guests see the case and think its my entire collection. :-$
