Making dida displays (How to)

[samsallspark]

I'd love to hear from some masters on here how it's done in a step by step guide. Has this been done before, a how to guide? I've built dios and have covered them in vinyl to protect the images, but I still have much to learn.

Teach us great masters of vinyl!!!!

[megoscott]

Dida Displays are factory made panels that you slide artwork into, then snaps or rivets are added to hold the boxes together. Not much more to it than that. Hand sealing vinyl is pretty much hopeless. I did it for my first prototypes, but the only way to get a solid clean edge is to make them in a factory.

[samsallspark]

I've had good results with the few templates I've used, but the dida display system is amazing and I'd love to do something for 4 inch figures, and you MegoScott are a legend in your field.

[Sandman9580]

I've brainstormed ideas for vinyl playsets, back-of-the-napkin type stuff. I'd like to find a way to do irregular shapes -- I figure it would entail bending and shaping strips of metal, and fixing it to a wood piece that could be pressed down. But how do you safely get the metal hot enough? (Key word being "safely".) It all sounds like such a headache.

I've built dios and have covered them in vinyl to protect the images.

Would love to see these if you have pics!!! I started a thread here.

[megoscott]

You can see some of my experimentation in this thread: The Mego Museum - Mego Talk

Here's a blog post about the factory that makes my displays...
Mego Museum and Dida Displays Projects: September 2007

A little bit more about early hand-made vinyl sets...
Mego Museum and Dida Displays Projects: Posts of Firsts: First Prototypes

[samsallspark]

very informative, I've only worked with palitoy templates, (the palitoy Death Star, and Palitoy Action Force Headquarters) and with those came a lot of trial and error,and I remastered the plans and went thru about a dozen versions before I was satisfied on the final renders, and they had to be resized slightly, and then we sealed the new ones in viynl. The pics below are from some of my earlier renders before we came to a final print, I want to make action figure playsets mainly for 4 inch figures, But I still wish to learn more about making display type playsets, Because from what I see in your pics your work is very clean.

here's an example of my Adventure Team H.Q using the Palitoy Template (not final version)



And an Example of the Terror Drome using the Palitoy Template. (not final version)

[megoscott]

Well, I sell blank Dida Displays, so anytime you want to make one let me know.

[samsallspark]

Is there a way your displays can be made for 4 inch figures?

[megoscott]

In a way, yes. You could cut the 10 inch panel down to whatever size you want and leave enough vinyl to fold over the cut edge and then rivet it together to hide the seam. You can do stuff like that, but you're still limited to straight edges and the triangle and wedge floor parts I use.

[samsallspark]

I want to get a little more use out of the templates I have, but I may look into ordering some of your products, (I love the large Wayne tower set you have for $300.00) I just wish you could offer it in a 4 inch scale for the smaller figures, I understand that mego is the thing here, and I love mego, but even mego had small sets to be fair. (I really respect all of the work I've seen here).

[Tothiro]

Dida Displays are factory made panels that you slide artwork into, then snaps or rivets are added to hold the boxes together. Not much more to it than that. Hand sealing vinyl is pretty much hopeless. I did it for my first prototypes, but the only way to get a solid clean edge is to make them in a factory.

Scott, have you ever tried a T-shirt press? They come in models which are digital controlled (both heat and pressure) and either clam-shell or center press pressure plate styles...

What exactly was the breakdown when hand sealing?

[samsallspark]

Very interesting ideas, I'd love to see some new dios come out for 4 inch on your website, or would you have a problem with a newbie like myself taking a swing at the 4 inch scene?