forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Hints and Tips/Questions about modeling => Topic started by: nmroberto on May 12, 2014, 10:51:01 AM

Title: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: nmroberto on May 12, 2014, 10:51:01 AM
Dumb, as being stupid.

I'm building a 1/48 Eduard Pfalz.  Glued on the bottom wing, drilled holes for rigging, put on the turnbuckles, filled and sanded the gaps and primed ready for paint. 

Only then did I discover that for some reason Eduard included two bottom wings with the kit, without mentioning this fact in their instructions, and I had installed the wrong frigging one.  Fortunately I removed the wing this morning with little damage, so here I go again..  sigh.....

Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: AROTH on May 12, 2014, 12:44:29 PM
Yep, got married........
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: coyotemagic on May 12, 2014, 12:58:24 PM
Incessantly!
Cheers,
Bud
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: kornbeef on May 12, 2014, 02:41:53 PM
All the time.  ;)

Glad you got sorted though

Keith
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: justin1980 on May 12, 2014, 04:00:20 PM
What, like not checking the instructions and placing a radiator upside down?  But managing to glue it that well it won't come off!  Yep that would be me!  ::)
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Nigel Jackson on May 12, 2014, 04:11:17 PM
A day hardly seems complete without having done something really stupid.

In modelling terms, a high spot was trying to remove some paint I wasn't happy with from the entire length of a top wing using a solvent which attacked the plastic as well, leaving it a sticky, gooey mess. It rendered the whole thing unusable. At the time I remember thinking how nice the SE5a might have looked as a monoplane!

Best wishes
Nigel
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Ian from Doncaster on May 12, 2014, 05:17:46 PM
Dumb, as being stupid.

I'm building a 1/48 Eduard Pfalz.  Glued on the bottom wing, drilled holes for rigging, put on the turnbuckles, filled and sanded the gaps and primed ready for paint. 

Only then did I discover that for some reason Eduard included two bottom wings with the kit, without mentioning this fact in their instructions, and I had installed the wrong frigging one.  Fortunately I removed the wing this morning with little damage, so here I go again..  sigh.....

With every model, at least once!  The upside down gun on my Nie 17 for starters.  Botched paint or glue marks that mean I have to do more weathering than usual, and of course the dreaded "glue finger"..

Most are repairable, and I haven't had to bin a model since the airfix constellation over 3 years ago, that didn't survive a botched paint job...
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: bobs_buckles on May 12, 2014, 07:31:38 PM
Dumb? I wouldn't be Bob without acting dumb... Keeps me sane!   :o  ;D  :)  ;)

VB
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: vincentm on May 12, 2014, 08:23:54 PM
Now you're well aware that Pfalz D-III and D-IIIa have different lower wings... :)
Mistakes can always be useful to something.

As for me, a few days ago I put the crosses before the rib tapes on the upper wing of my Albatros...As a result, I had to waste hours cutting very small rib tape bits to rebuild them around the crosses... :(
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: IFF1418 on May 12, 2014, 09:33:07 PM
My most stupid thing was that I didn't start modeling 50 years ago! And then the usual dumb, daily things.

Kind regards
Patrick
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Ernie on May 12, 2014, 10:00:25 PM
Roberto, I have been doing dumb for 65 years.  I am quite good at it now. ;) ;D
Yours is nothing! ;D

Cheers,
Ernie :)

Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: radio on May 12, 2014, 11:28:10 PM
There was two different D IIIa an early with lower wing from the D III and the later one  with rundet ends.
Martin
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Ssasho0 on May 13, 2014, 12:46:23 AM
I have done the same with my 1:48 Pfalz but I discovered it late, so I opted for the Karl Dagelow's white stag/black aircraft, that had the early type of lower wing :)

best regards,
Sasho
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: lcarroll on May 13, 2014, 01:05:11 AM
Roberto, I have been doing dumb for 65 years.  I am quite good at it now. ;) ;D
Yours is nothing! ;D

Cheers,
Ernie :)

    Maybe it's an age related talent; like Ernie I've done every dumb move listed here at one time or another, and still going strong! Why, just a few days ago I was thinning some S/G black Enamel for the airbrush, managed to do so with the liquid cement that was in the same type of bottle as my enamel thinner; caught it right away but a little messy.................. ??? or just as good, mix a thinned batch of Acryl Clear Coat for airbrushing, then pour the unmixed original into the colour cup and wonder why it's spraying (thankfully on a test piece) like confetti!?! :(
   Take raw courage into your hearts, Guys, it will only get better with time!
Cheers,
Lance
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: IvotB on May 13, 2014, 01:25:19 AM
Getting married, having 4 kids in stead of the convenient number 2, having kids at all, as it drastically reduces your time for modelling, having a stash of kits for which I have got to reach the age of 200 in order to get them build, losing parts to the carpet monster over and over again: no I have never done anything dumb in my life :)

Regards,
Ivo
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Epeeman on May 13, 2014, 07:06:04 AM
Seems to go hand in hand with model building - I doubt there is one model that I've built that did not one mistake somewhere along the way!

Regards

Dave
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Tony Haycock on May 13, 2014, 08:16:02 AM
Anything really dumb??
Generally it starts when I get out of bed in the morning and continues until I get back into it at night...
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: RAGIII on May 13, 2014, 11:15:30 AM
Just read any of my build threads on this site!
RAGIII
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: dr 1 ace on May 14, 2014, 08:09:07 AM
Too many to count...
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: treadhead1944 on May 14, 2014, 09:29:40 AM
Opened my bottle of CA glue with my mouth. The good news is I was quiet for the rest of the day...
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: justin1980 on May 14, 2014, 07:39:27 PM
Opened my bottle of CA glue with my mouth. The good news is I was quiet for the rest of the day...

That almost made me cover the wife in a mouthful of tea! How did it taste?  :o
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: treadhead1944 on May 15, 2014, 05:16:46 AM
Surprisingly awful, actually...
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: nmroberto on May 20, 2014, 11:24:07 AM
Update on the dumb parade.  Has anyone ever super glued their finger to a model?  Yes....I did that once, also accidentally set my glasses down on a little puddle of super glue on my work bench.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: N.C.S.E on May 20, 2014, 09:50:00 PM
Tried masking with duct tape today... oops... it started pulling up the paint with it...
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: coyotemagic on May 21, 2014, 01:47:53 AM
Tried masking with duct tape today... oops... it started pulling up the paint with it...
Duct tape?!  Really?  I'm surprised I hadn't thought of it.  I'll bet it conforms nicely to compound curves.
Cheers,
Bud
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: IFF1418 on May 21, 2014, 04:13:48 PM
Update on the dumb parade.  Has anyone ever super glued their finger to a model?  Yes....I did that once, also accidentally set my glasses down on a little puddle of super glue on my work bench.

It's quite strange that some days the CA glue only seems to work and harden on my fingers and not on the model!?

Kind regards
Patrick
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Ian from Doncaster on May 22, 2014, 03:27:30 AM
Tried masking with duct tape today... oops... it started pulling up the paint with it...
Duct tape?!  Really?  I'm surprised I hadn't thought of it.  I'll bet it conforms nicely to compound curves.
Cheers,
Bud

Might make a great weathering/chipping aid though, if the surface is first painted with something like mr metal????
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Ernie on May 22, 2014, 05:56:37 PM
My usual is trying so hard not to knock tiny pieces off one wing while
at the same time depositing a walloping big CA fingerprint on the other. ::) ;D

Cheers,
Ernie :)
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Nigel Jackson on May 23, 2014, 12:39:42 AM
Now that would big a great defining clue in some sort of thriller mystery, Ernie - the CA  fingerprint on the wing - preferably on the undersurface of the upper wing where only the sleuth interested in knowing how to set in place the RAF double rigging on his own models would think to look!

Best wishes
Nigel
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: nuvolari on May 23, 2014, 01:19:05 AM
...Maybe it's an age related talent...
The only thing age related on being dumb, is the advantage of forgetting it faster, at least I do.
But I keep on doing it every day at the same expertise level. ;D ;)
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: lone modeller on May 31, 2014, 04:11:52 AM
Sorry gents but I have been away and only just picked up on this. Where to start……… If it is age related then I am certain to do more every day than I do already, and there are hardly enough hours in the day for me to keep up as it is. I do seem to manage the glue-finger problem, but I do not think that I have a single model which has not got more than one error in it. I sometimes wonder if I will ever be able to read a set of plans properly, or cut plastic to the correct size, not file off too much, get the joints and wings/tail units completely square and in line…. the list is positively endless.

And Yes ! Even as I type this I have managed to burn my tea!!!! Beat that!
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Tixenfleaz on August 06, 2014, 04:26:43 AM
My primary accomplishment in life is the fact that I've never choked to death on anything. Competence isn't a personal strongpoint.

That being said, mistaking my can of Testors Flat Black for Dullcote twice in one day was a bit of a low.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Vickers on August 06, 2014, 05:10:55 AM
Yep, got married........

Ha! I've done that twice and now find that I'm single again.

I did something really dumb the other night.  I was about to drop some paint into my airbrush cup and decided I'd better do a spot cleaning on it. So, I cleaned out the brush and the cup... then picked up the cup and started to pour paint into it before reattaching it to the airbrush. Luckily I caught the problem before ending up ankle deep in Olive Drab.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Dekenba on August 06, 2014, 05:42:57 AM
Realised my stash was way, way too big, so decided to thin it down.

I did this by selling most of my WNW kits. Doh!

I'm now selling my WWII stuff to re-purchase the WNW kits that I sold previously.

I find the WWI modelling community far more relaxing, laid back and non judgmental. Build a WWII model and you'll find yourself knee deep in people telling you the colour is not right, or the wheel wells are wrong, or the undercarriage is way out, or the shape is all over the place, or the fuel fillers are in the wrong place, or the cockpit is the wrong mark, etc, etc. It's mildly depressing and that's one of the reasons I'm moving to WWI 1/32 kits exclusively.

I say exclusively, but I also include some Silver Wings inter-war kits in my stash. Not quite WNW quality, but for resin kits they are outstandingly good, if a tad expensive.

Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: petrov27 on August 06, 2014, 07:26:57 AM
Have I ever done something really dumb? Why yes, yes I have....

(http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj150/petrov27/96dafc97-22a9-4287-8ba1-dcaf8e1d9989_zps28e9b9c1.jpg)
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Des on August 06, 2014, 07:36:22 AM
Holy cow, that is some serious damage there, do you think you will be able to salvage it, BTW, what happened????

Des.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: petrov27 on August 06, 2014, 09:25:54 AM
NO! Let me guess - trying to close the fuselage? On the 'plus' side, if there is one, the breaks look recoverable. Will you try to salvage it?

Nope - fuse was closed, though I had not used a ton of glue.... Had the DVII components high on a shelf where my airbrush booth is (it is much too high but only place for it) and managed to knock them onto concrete. The top wing not shown actually took the worst of the damage as when it fell I turned around quick and ended up stomping on it....

I salvaged the interior parts, took a new fuselage and wing from another kit and made this: http://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=2690.0

I still have the slightly damaged fuselage halves and the more seriously damaged wing - I am salvaging those parts as well to build another DVII
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: nmroberto on August 06, 2014, 10:55:36 PM
Have I ever done something really dumb? Why yes, yes I have....

I think I might have cried a little after that. 
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Chris Johnson on August 07, 2014, 12:01:54 AM
Have I ever done something really dumb? Why yes, yes I have....

Man, what a sick feeling that must have given you. In the end though, you persevered and that's what it's all about.

Cheers,

Chris
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Nigel Jackson on August 07, 2014, 01:46:58 AM
Hello All.

My turn now. I'm busy clearing the decks before getting going with my group build D.VII. This means finishing off some things that're half completed. One requires black and white striped horizontal tail surfaces. So, here's how the errors compounded.

1. Sprayed the tail surfaces gloss white using a Tamiya aerosol. Rationale? I was planning to get a nice smooth surface to accept the single piece upper surface black stripe decal and the two equivalent lower surface  decals. Outcome? I seriously underestimated just how clumsy I'd be with a gloss spray - the coat seemed so thick - and the paint's apparent ability to attract a huge number of bits from the atmosphere, despite my attempts to shelter it.

2. Phase two. I carefully removed the offending debris with a very sharp blade. So, it was decal time, and I would use those with the kit. Rationale?  Saving time (laziness?) and I'd used many of this company's decals before. Outcome? Despite my patience and care the edges of the decals simply wanted to flick under themselves and did so quite successfully, breaking in one of two places

3. I managed to effect some repairs and decided to carry on and varnish the decals. Rationale? I wanted to protect them, most particularly, but not only, where upper and lower decals came to the edge of the tail surfaces. This would prevent their fracturing at the edges. Having decided not to spray the varnish, I used one of my best and newest flat brushes and a fresh tin of carefully stirred Humbrol varnish. Outcome? A superb collection of once airborne debris embedded in a coat of varnish so thick that moulded/engraved surface detail seemed to vanish.

Having said things like, "Gosh" and "Oh dear", I spent an hour this morning stripping everything back to the bare plastic. I've just  sprayed a nice thin coat of my favourite matt white and tonight I'll prepare the masking for the stripes. Hopefully soon I'll have something visual to post.

Best wishes
Nigel






Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Epeeman on August 07, 2014, 06:43:36 AM
What is that saying about all the best laid plans, Nigel?!

Good luck on the recovery work, mate.

Regards

Dave
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: petrov27 on August 07, 2014, 07:36:47 AM
Have I ever done something really dumb? Why yes, yes I have....

I think I might have cried a little after that.

I went more to "rage" vs. grief - almost took a hammer to the remains and finished the job :)

That build was horribly jinxed all the way through. I had it 99% complete and the entire port lower wing broke off for no apparent reason - just came off in my hands as I was rotating the model to complete the minimal rigging....
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Ernie on August 07, 2014, 08:08:40 AM
Nigel and Petrov, I feel your pain!  This is almost enough to make me take up stamp
collecting...if it wasn't for that blasted "bug" that is seemingly impossible to dislodge.
Oh well, happily on to the next crisis ;) ;D.  I love this hobby!

Cheers,
Ernie :)
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: ALBATROS1234 on August 07, 2014, 03:13:05 PM
petrov why no make a diorama of a crashed d.vii fokker using the parts from this accident.

like this: http://wwimodeller.co.nz/tag/wwi-aircraft-diorama/
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Edo on August 07, 2014, 10:48:00 PM
Hey that's great!!!
That's one of my builds!!! grat to see it has been liked and shared also on other sites!!!

p.s.
sorry for yor crash Petrov...

Ciao
Edo
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: ALBATROS1234 on August 11, 2014, 02:02:44 AM
yeah edo , i remember you and your fantastic builds from years back.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Wolf on September 10, 2014, 06:46:49 PM
I currently build the Heinkel He 100 V-8. I enhanced the cockpit with a lot of scratchbuild parts. I had the option to glue the cockpit section into one fuelage half and then glue the halfes together or glue the cockpit section at top of the wing section an then glue the whole wing section to fuselage.
I decided to do it in the second way. Glued the fusalge halfes together and then glued the wing section, which fitted perfectly,  to the fuselage and set it aside for drying.
The next day, when I came back to the workbench I looked into the fuselage and thought "that looks very empty"
The next thing I saw was my Cockpit section, still sitting on my cutting plate and waiting to be glued on top of the wing section.

I had to break of the complete wings section again to get the cockpit section into the fuselage.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: nmroberto on September 26, 2014, 06:47:11 AM
One of my better ones was knocking over a bottle of liquid cement on a sheet of decals.  I apparently didn't realize that I hadn't screwed the cap on after using.     Didn't do the decals any good at all.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: ondra on September 26, 2014, 05:21:45 PM
One example from my side - if you drop your modelling knife, just let it hit the floor. It is not a good idea at all trying to catch it in the flight between your knees.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Wolf on September 26, 2014, 11:05:22 PM
outsch..... :'(
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: RAGIII on September 27, 2014, 11:07:39 AM
One example from my side - if you drop your modelling knife, just let it hit the floor. It is not a good idea at all trying to catch it in the flight between your knees.

I have actually done that one too! Not a fun experience!
RAGIII
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: Des on September 27, 2014, 11:18:24 AM
Last time I dropped my scalpel I remembered not to catch it between my knees, but my naked foot took the full force of it falling with not very pleasant results.

Des.
Title: Re: Have you ever done something realllly dumb?
Post by: nmroberto on September 30, 2014, 12:27:10 AM
Last time I dropped my scalpel I remembered not to catch it between my knees, but my naked foot took the full force of it falling with not very pleasant results.

Des.

Do you still have 10 toes?