Laiva: an easy hobby solution

Sometimes a nerd among us will ask a strange question like:

"what if my Warhammer minis were a decoration?" 

"They're always in boxes for storage... what if they weren't?" 

"Are they game pieces or a collection?" 

"Should I openly display my nerdiness to friends and family?"

...and thus many of us have embarked on the short quest of finding a way to put our beloved miniatures on a shelf or in a display case for all the world to see - or at least those who would venture into our hobby rooms. 

I'd like to briefly share my quest.

My girlfriend is an avid academic reader with a sizeable collection of books. We recently moved to a new town and decided to get new bookcases for her books as her old ones were holdovers from college and precariously wobbly after more than a decade. So we went to Ikea.

That's when I saw the Laiva. It's a relatively cheap bookcase. The idea of displaying my minis had lurked in my mind for a few months and now the idea seized its opportunity when cheap shelving presented itself. 

This is a Laiva

I took home two Laiva (laivas?). A few days later I opened up the boxes and saw all the components. And I had this idea; when people get fancy with their warhammer photography they will often place a landscape painting behind the army to really give them an immersive feel. Folks who already have a Laiva or are astute observers will note that the top and bottom shelves have a type of cardboard backing. This backing is meant to stabilized the bookshelf. So I put two and two together. What if I painted the backing? That way, when my army was on the shelf being displayed it'd have a background behind it. 

So that's what I did! 

First things first. Priming. The backing has a paint-resistance coating on it. I sanded it and still the gesso layer refused to adhere to little bits of the surface. I would recommend a more vigrous sanding with particularly coarse sand paper. 

Next, I got out my tub of cheap craft paints that I use for terrain projects. I loaded up a Bob Ross video on youtube and I got to work. I'd recommend borrowing a few colors from your army to use in the painting to make it feel a bit more thematic. 

The top has a swamp for a skaven army

The bottom has a blasted and mountainous landscape for my dark elves.
I think I got the foreground color wrong. 

Next, I nailed the backing in place and stood it up. 

Here is what it looks like with a modest Skaven army on display. Next up, I'll need to do backgrounds for my gnomish army and Gusseldorfers.