discussion what's the sillyiest or funnyiest mistake you have made regarding model makeing

[boatman]

HI Guys an Gals while im waiting for the wheather to warm up so I can start my HMS TIGER build as its got to be built in the garge due to size. An I don't feel im ready to build my big plane kits YET
I was thinkin about a bit of humour of an on site thread.An as the title says i'll begin. It was in the late 1960's havin been building small plastic kits for a number of yrs an makin some right bodgers up of them that my older brother said why don't you build a fliyin plane kit.

So he bought me a kiel craft kit of a F 86 SABER in about 1/32 scale with a jetx 50b engine an fuses an fuel pellets so I spent wks building this kit made up of 2mm x 2mm balsa stringers an balsa formers an then covering it with tishue paper an then dopin its to give it strength an then fitted the jetx engine to the plane an I was so excited that I dint bother to paint the plane

I just wanted to see the plane in the air flyin so I took said plane out into an open field an as I was smokin then I took out my ciggrette lighter to light the fuse on the jetx an all I see was a bright flash of light an I was left holdin the engine an I looked down an saw a outline in ash of the plane an I could not believe it . In my haste to fly it I had forgotten that I should have stuck on the plane

tin foil to take the heat from the engine as the glow red hot when running an i also should have bent the fuse outward away from the plane as again I forgot that dope was hilghly inflameable so that was a shock to me not to be repeated END Now come on guys an lets hear your stories of a mistake you wont make again in a hurry as im sure you must have some what with all the espertise on here

chris

 

[Steve Jones]

Opening the box

 

[Wouter]

Adding a decal to my model only to find out when it came out of the water it was a dry transfer :smiling5:

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

Buying mini-art '' Norman Street" @ https://miniart-models.com/products/36045/
I have never bought a model which had no same dimension front and back half's.
It is now been worked on , bit by bit , for over 2 years to get to where i am , and still not finished.

 

[Ian M]

Glued the canopy on an aircraft, masked it, painted the thing, decals, flat coat, the whole cabuse.
Very surprised to peel off the masking and discover that the cock pit was empty. The whole tub was sitting on the bench in front of me!

 

[spanner570]

Thinking my first Zulu diorama was safe enough resting on the arms of a chair in my den.......

 

[Jim R]

A few years ago I needed to mix some Polyfilla to spread on a dio base. Now the missus was out that evening and it was cold in the shed so I set to work in the kitchen. The missus would never know :tongue-out3: Box of Polyfilla, mixing bowl, PVA to add to the mix and a spoon all ready. Reached over for the glass of lager which I was enjoying and knocked the open box of filler onto the floor. To this day I am amazed that one box of the white powder could go so far. As it hit the floor it sort of exploded, large pile on the floor and a thin film of dust over a large part of the kitchen :disappointed:
A few choice words later and the realisation that I was in bother. A glance at the clock and I saw I had about 45 minutes before the missus returned. Now I had enough sense to know that I must not get water anywhere near the mess. Inspiration - get out the Dyson. Sucked up the pile on the floor a treat, went over the work surfaces, cooker, fridge etc. Soon the mess was gone :thumb2: Now empty the Dyson and I would be home free.
You would not believe how Polyfilla could invade a vacuum cleaner. Every pipe, the filters, the brush bar, the waste bin - every part was white!!
The next day I treated the wife to a box of chocolates and a new Dyson :rolling:
Jim

 

[boatman]

Glued the canopy on an aircraft, masked it, painted the thing, decals, flat coat, the whole cabuse.
Very surprised to peel off the masking and discover that the cock pit was empty. The whole tub was sitting on the bench in front of me!

HI Ian oh lor bet you were a bit peed off as I know I would have been :rolling:
chris:rolling:

 

[boatman]

A few years ago I needed to mix some Polyfilla to spread on a dio base. Now the missus was out that evening and it was cold in the shed so I set to work in the kitchen. The missus would never know :tongue-out3: Box of Polyfilla, mixing bowl, PVA to add to the mix and a spoon all ready. Reached over for the glass of lager which I was enjoying and knocked the open box of filler onto the floor. To this day I am amazed that one box of the white powder could go so far. As it hit the floor it sort of exploded, large pile on the floor and a thin film of dust over a large part of the kitchen :disappointed:
A few choice words later and the realisation that I was in bother. A glance at the clock and I saw I had about 45 minutes before the missus returned. Now I had enough sense to know that I must not get water anywhere near the mess. Inspiration - get out the Dyson. Sucked up the pile on the floor a treat, went over the work surfaces, cooker, fridge etc. Soon the mess was gone :thumb2: Now empty the Dyson and I would be home free.
You would not believe how Polyfilla could invade a vacuum cleaner. Every pipe, the filters, the brush bar, the waste bin - every part was white!!
The next day I treated the wife to a box of chocolates and a new Dyson :rolling:
Jim

An jim I think I would have had to flee the country if I did that wow you are brave thinkin you could get a way with that really gave me an the wife a good laugh that's cheered me up
chris

 

[minitnkr]

Back in my model railroading days I thought I would use my new AB to paint my newly laid track & ties in a small but very long (about 18') yard. I'd never used an AB previously so I put on a mask & safety glasses & sprayed away. When done, I pulled off the mask & knew I was in trouble. The track & ties turned out very nice but I had filled the finished basement with PollyS Bronze over spray. We had glass block windows installed recently so all I could open were the little 4" X 8" ones and stack stuff up to put fans on to clear the air. Needless to say when the wife arrived home I had to fess-up. I sold the AB soon after. PaulE

 

[boatman]

HI PaulE aint it a rumon that we all under the thumb of the missus as the sayin goes im boss in my own house till my wife says different :sad: LOL

 

[Tim Marlow]

My most time costly one was in my railway days....spent ages (probably a month of spare time) scratchbuilding a pair of panelled carriage sides directly from scale plans. Full panelling, triple layer stuff, really complex, then I made the ends and cut the floor......
It was only when I went to start assembly I realised I had made two identical sides, and they were supposed to be mirror image bottom to bottom.l..none of the compartments lines up, so I was less than pleased with the whole thing....

 

[Guest]

I had finished painting a wargames model and wanted to spray a coat of gloss varnish over it to protect the paint and before putting on decals. So I pointed the spraying can at the model and pressed the button on it. As I’m sure you’re all aware, varnish might just turn white for no apparent reason at all, and that’s what I saw happening before my eyes. Damn! I immediately stopped spraying, and only then realised I was holding a can of white primer …

That was about twenty years ago. Last month or so, I nearly made the same mistake: I had my F4U-1A Corsair almost finished, only needed to add a coat of matt varnish over it, and put the can of varnish on the table in the living room to get it to room temperature before spraying (which I’d go and do in the shed). Luckily, when I went to check if it had warmed up yet, I noticed I’d put a can of primer (yes, again) on the table and left the varnish up in my hobby room …

 

[PaulTRose]

once tried building a Starfix Me109.........BIG mistake lol

 

[yak face]

As some of you may know I use cellulose thinners as a liquid cement . I decant this from the 5 litre tin into an old marmite jar which i keep on the bench and use a brush to apply . I also decanted some Johnsons Klear into an old bovril jar which i apply with a brush to give an overall gloss defore decalling ,and to dip canopies in because its a nice wide mouth .One day they were both on the bench when i came to putting a coat of klear on my newly painted MiG 9 , it was only after i noticed the paintbrush getting a bit silvery that i realised i had given the whole model a coat of cellulose thinners which was now eating into the paint ,plastic and canopy , DOH!!

 

[Dave Ward]

once tried building a Starfix Me109.........BIG mistake lol

Paul,
the even bigger mistake was buying one!!!!!:smiling3:
Dave

 

[Dave W]

I put some cellulose thinners in an old Microsol bottle to use in my working away from home kit. Forgot about it when I came to put an instrument decal on my Zoukie Mura Phantom.Applied what I thought was microsol to the decal and watched it shrivel up!.

 

[Dave Ward]

Strangely enough, I have never done anything funny, or made a mistake in my modelmaking, but then again, I suffer from pseudologia fantastica. :rolling:
I learnt that modelmaking in bare feet can be extremely painful & messy. I dropped a Swan Morton scalpel with a brand new 10A blade - stuck in my foot - it hurt!, and I left a blood trail..........
I was cleaning my airbrush - still connected to the air hose, I'd slackened the needle clamp off & withdrawn the needle. I then removed the nozzle cap. Due to a momentary lapse, the whole lot slipped & dropped - In reflex I, grabbed - caught the hose. The airbrush swung and hit my bench full on the loose needle - the tiny little nozzle was split open like a tulip! To add insult to injury it bent the needle as well.
I would recommend to any airbrush user quick release couplings!
Dave

 

[Guest]

I managed to Superglue both of my hands to my modelling desk.
Lucky my wife was in to prise me free with some washing liquid and a spoon.

 

[Dave W]

As some of you may know I use cellulose thinners as a liquid cement . I decant this from the 5 litre tin into an old marmite jar which i keep on the bench and use a brush to apply . I also decanted some Johnsons Klear into an old bovril jar which i apply with a brush to give an overall gloss defore decalling ,and to dip canopies in because its a nice wide mouth .One day they were both on the bench when i came to putting a coat of klear on my newly painted MiG 9 , it was only after i noticed the paintbrush getting a bit silvery that i realised i had given the whole model a coat of cellulose thinners which was now eating into the paint ,plastic and canopy , DOH!!

I think the moral of the story for both of us (see my post below yours) is to put labels on the bottles!.