Obvious silly things we do, or we do stupid things so you don't have to?

[Guest]

Something I did a short while ago tonight made me think of this.

A 'we do stupid things so you don't have to' thread to sticky? what do people think.

Anyhow, allow me to start:

Ahem,

Having sprayed the motorbike bodywork i'm building with Fimo Gloss acrylic clearcoat, (over Humbrol enamel), I noticed one spot next to the tank / sidepanel where i'd gone a bit thick and there was a raised edge, not major but I wanted it to be better as it's to be a gift.

So I got out my cloth and cutting compound to whittle it away then polish.

It occurred to me, right about the time I was starting to wonder why the varnish seemed to be moving under the cloth, that using a compound with an ammonia base to compound an acrylic paint might not be the very best idea.

The very next thought through my mind rhymes with Farce, and has a similar spelling.

Fortunately with patience and encouragement I managed to get the whole tank area to 'peel' away the varnish layer whilst doing very little damage to the underlying enamel so i'm able to recoat it again tomorrow, very glad considering i'd decalled it.

So anyone else had one of those 'farce' moments?

[Guest]

Now your asking for us to bare all and save the blushes!! That's not going to be easy.

I won't bore you with the superglue episodes we've all had so many of them we don't need reminding.

One of my best ones was paint related but not actually a model. I had an old Honda CB 175 and I was tarting it up and giving it a paint job. Everything was rubbed down, primed and repained with a dark metallic green as per the original Honda colour. Then I carefully masked out the white lining before painting the white line back on with a tin of white Humbrol enamel. After it was dry the masking tape came off, everything was rubbed down and polished and, I have to admit it really did look good. Off down the road to fill her up before going for a ride. As I filled up the newly painted tank a small splash went down the side of the tank and it didn't even stop to blister the enamel, it simply washed it away!!

What about clear lexan car body shells that you paint from the inside and so have to do the process backwards. Whose has ever got the order wrong and had to start all over again?

How about cutting a piece of dowel to length for your ships mast then finding you had messed up the measurement and discovered it was too short, then you discover it was the last you had of that diameter, then you discover it isn't a standard size.

Every one knows the pain in the rear the split deck is on the Tamiya Bismarck and how to hide the join. I decided the best way was to put it all together hold it all in perfect place with selotape then touch it with liquid poly. Should be guarranteed to get it spot on. The liquid poly is so good at getting into every gap that, even though I touched it quite a way from the selotape, the capilliary action took the glue along the deck joint, under the selotape and promtly dissolved all the deck detail under it. I've never seen a bigger mess of this joint!!

The to RC models, I bought this small tug from a guy in Liverpool who told me he'd never made a model before but he wanted to move on to something bigger. My first mistake was not testing the model in the bath to see how it sat in the water. I put it on the pond and noticed it was a bit low but I'd sort that out later. I also noticed that the speed was rather excessive so I'd have to bear that in mind and deal with that later as well.

The model was sent to the other side of the pond at which point I became engaged with a young lad about model boats. Always one to encourage youngsters I transferred my attentions to him while I brought the boat back to my side. The next time I looked I thought "It really does look a bit low at the front", a few seconds later and the next glance made me think it really is too low. As I watched the bow went down below the water, the rear end stuck up in the air and down she went!!

Anyway lessons to be learned:

1) If it looks low in the water, you're probably right, remove some ballast!

2) If the motor is too powerfull, it probably is, slow it down!

3) If the deck coamings look low, they probably are, build them up!

4) If you notice all three at the same time, don't put it in the water!

At the end of the day I managed to recover it with a grappling hook with the motor still turning after half an hour under water!! I repaired all the damage the grappling hook did, replaced some missing parts, upgraded the boats and some detail, repainted her as a RN tug and gave her a good weathering job. It's now one of my favourite models and has bags of character. Oh I also removed rather a lot of lead ballast!

A couple of shots of her before the sinking and then during restoration. I'll dig a completed one out later.

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[Guest]

Great idea. I have far too many to list but one that happens with annoying regularity is with the head up gunsight and or display in aircraft. I tend to temporarily mount the masked cockpit while spraying the aircraft. I leave off the gunsight as a precaution in case paint gets through the gaps in the canopy as it is a tad delicate to mask up the cockpit.

When I have finished spraying I get all excited if it has worked out well and re glue the canopy on without first installing the gun sight. Done this four times now....

[stona]

I just Klear coated my latest Bf109 and whilst admiring the result noticed that I have failed to spray the Reichsluftverteidigung (Air Defense of the Reich) band around the fuselage.Doh!

Steve

[PJP]

If you don't properly tension the spring inside the rear sprocket asembly of a Tamiya 1/16 King Tiger, you will not only end up with the wrong track tension, but you'll keep throwing a track and have to dismantle a large part of the running gear, destroy the paintwork on the hull and have to rebuild and repaint afterwards.

Three times.

Peter

[stona]

If you don't properly tension the spring inside the rear sprocket asembly of a Tamiya 1/16 King Tiger, you will not only end up with the wrong track tension, but you'll keep throwing a track and have to dismantle a large part of the running gear, destroy the paintwork on the hull and have to rebuild and repaint afterwards.Three times.

Peter

I won't ask how you know!!!!

Steve

[Ian M]

I have poured a clear resin to form a body of water and then left it for a couple of days, to cure. Upon returning to it, I thought 'wheres the Bl""dy water gone!" The reply to that question was all over the floor of the shed! There was apperantly a tiny little hole in the corner of the base that had escaped the sealer! Oh well!

A long time ago I managed to glue the two halfs of the fuselage together and Left to harden off over night. The next day I was rather shocked to see the cock pit sitting on the desk right next to the fuselage!!!

Along the lines of Richards motor bike, I to have delved into the black art of bike spraying as a youth. Having slid my CBX the fairing and tank where a bit scuffed (mildly put) After days of filler and sanding primer, flower coats more sanding, etc etc, I was ready to get busy with the paint! fairing and tank hanged from the roof joists, Rattlecans at the ready. Every thing painted and time for a fag.

Sitting out in the garden with aforementioned fag and a cupa, I hear a rather load noise comming from the garage. Opened the door and looks inside. Tank and Fairing laying on side on the concreat floor covered in scratches, dents and all kinds of .... junk from the floor. Leason learned? make sure the wire holding every thing up is stronge enough for the job.

Ian M

[Guest]

Fantastic stuff guys, made me feel so much better

Vehicle related, especially my motorbikes, one i do all the time is unscrew the oil drain bolt being extra careful to keep a tight hold at the final threads whilst warm oils pouring into the drain pan, around your fingers etc.

It generally goes like this, fiddle it out, feel quite pleased i've got a hold of it and the oils pouring well then either whilst wiping it of oil I fumble it and drop it into the oil pan,

or having cleaned, removed, set aside, I then kick it across the shed floor and subsequently the yard where it picks up all manner of detritus and the neighbours cats etc

or managing to clean, remove, set aside without the above, I then refit after draining while the oil pans still there to catch drips and while trying to get it on the first few threads, fumble it and drop it into the now full oil pan.

I should save myself the bother and just spin it out and throw it into the oil pan anyway.

Anyway, sorry for going off topic there

[Guest]

Another model / paint related one.

I use a plastic box on it's side with a plastic sheet which lays over the front as a drying box to keep the dust to a minimum.

A few times now i've painted a piece, admired the glossy beauty, sat it in the box, flipped the sheet over and realised it's too close to the painted part which then sticks to the sheet. (also did this with the same model bike part I had the clear disaster with).

[Ian M]

Heres one we have all done. Sitting there with your liquid poly glue and a bottle of Gator grip and a cup of tea........ I think you all know the way that one ends!

Add to that the little jar of water for cleaning up the excess gator and tnings really start to get funny. I s'pose one of the good things with Vallejo is that they are 100% non-toxic so the little bit there is in the jar af water are of no threat what so ever.

Right then I'm off to make a new cup of tea and brush my teeth. They might be non-toxic but theey dont taste to good. :-/

Ian M

[Guest]

from my rc flying days, Having arrived at the flying field with a freshly built model I got destracted answering questions while hooking the aileron servos up .Well after a nice run up and getting the engine at the perfect purr off I went.Sadly there were 2 servos, (1 for each aileron) and I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Once off the runway I banked what I thought was left and rolled right into the ground just off the end of the runway. My flying day was done but it was repairable ,lesson learned check the flight controls before every flight ,take offs are optional landings are mandatory

[Guest]

I love the cockpit left outside the fuselage!! Absolutely brilliant!

[Dustbin]

Whilst sitting working on my latest figure conversion,I decided to use my trusty razor saw to remove an offending leg (1/35 scale) but realized my workbench was a tad full ! So, moved my chair back, crouched slightly and started using my knee as a handy resting place hno: Yep you guessed it ! jeans do not make good cutting mats nor for that matter does human flesh. Bit too much enthusiasm and I now have an inch long scar on my knee.

Paul

[Guest]

Enthusiasm often gets the better of me. This combined with a memory like a sieve often leads to minor disasters.

I am currently building a MiniArt Village diorama base to display an armoured scout car I have just finished.

With there being no instructions, other than basic pictures, with the kit and me having no experience of building vac-formed models I proceeded to cut all of the main components from the waste plastic. And being clever, cutting so that I could use the scrap as reinforcement during the assembly stage.

I trimmed all the faces so that they mated perfectly, cut the scrap into strips to fit each edge and glued to one side of the walls whilst constantly checking to make sure both halves mated together perfectly.

Once the sides with reinforcement were sufficiently set I proceeded to fit the opposite sides, taking care for flush fitting and neat corners.

Feeling proud that all parts had gone together really well I proceeded to cut out the window and door openings.

Now those of you familiar with vac-formed parts are, I bet way in front, but for the rest of us this is where the fun started. First of all I noticed that I had mounted one wall-face upside down to the other. I managed to pry apart two sides, but the third would not separate so I cut it apart, added a new piece of reinforcement and left it to set with the others.

At this point I picked up the diorama base for the first time and trimmed the edges. I tried placing the walls into the foundation channels in the base and found them to be way too thick to fit. Bugger!!!

Ah well, I will trim them later. So I left them all for 24hours to set hard.

Deciding I could shave off a sliver from each face and the base I set to with the "tool" and sanding drum. This is where I learnt that vac-formed plastic is not evenly formed and that vertical faces and corners are usually a lot thinner than the rest.

So now I am in the process of cutting all the walls apart with a razor saw, adjusting overall thickness against base and re-reinforcing the edges to fit back together again, together with having to reinforce everywhere I tried to trim down.

Strange how age and experience changes your perspectives. I was annoyed at myself for not checking things properly, but got on with putting things right, whereas years ago I would have given up and maybe thrown the kit away.

[Guest]

I do remember when i was younger in my haste and excitement glueing the wings of an me 109 on upside down, have to say it looked kinda funny the cockpit and the undercarriage sitting right next to each other.

scott