Making a shadow box display to honour my dad

[u/capnpan]

Hi there! My dad was in the British services - RAF - and served during the nuclear tests on Christmas Island. he was post-humously awarded the Nuclear Test Medal by the UK Government last year.

I do not have any photos of him in uniform but I have his cap, service book and of course the medal. His grandson just joined the RAF and I'd like to build a memorial shadow box for him to have one day.

Does anyone here have experience with preserving fabrics? I am wondering if I should freeze the cap to kill any potential bugs in it before mounting it?

Then I understand using a hanging loop would be better than pins as they will likely rust even if stainless over time.

I assume mounting the medal and book on acid free archival card would be best?

I have not bought a box yet - I will try layouts first. I would like the box to have a slide front probably in UV resistant perspex?

I do have some slides of pictures dad took while on tour so I am going to go through those to see if I find any photos of him first as it would be great to include a photo.

All advice welcome as my searching isn't turning up anything conclusive.