WAR WOUNDS, or your worst modeling accident

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

WAR WOUNDS, or your worst modeling accident

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 6, 2003 3:16 PM

Hey Guys,
I was having a discussion with some fellas at my local hobby hole. And we got into talking about our incidents with the famed #11 X-acto blade. And I thought that maybe here we can cringe our faces and say, "Ooh, That's gotta hurt!"

My worst incident happened in July, 1993. I was working on a Monogram '78 Camaro. And I glued the worng manifold on the engine. It didn't look as if it had too much glue on it and I decided to try to pry it off, with a #11 X-acto blade off course. The piece flew about six feet straight up and the blade sliced from my fingertip to the first knuckle of my index finger, and it also got me from the second knuckle against the bone, through the top of the same finger. I went to the ER and got 7 stitches on the tip, 3 stitches lower down, and 1 stitch on top. Worst of all, my girlfriend wouldn't let me in my den for a few days. I think it was either the shock of seeing me with a hobby knife through my finger, or the fact that I got blood all over the house. It will remain a mystery. Plus, she made ME clean it up!

Now let's hear about your War Wounds?
Bernie the K.

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shermanfreak

Member since
January 2003

Posted by shermanfreak on Thursday, March 6, 2003 9:10 PM

I can honestly say that my war wounds are nowhere near as serious as yours Bernie. Never had to visit the hospital for them anyways. I've had my fair share of knicks and cuts but nothing that a little dab of Zap-A-Gap wouldn't cure. Speaking of Zap though....a modeller in a club I used to belong to had a most interesting experience with his glue of all glues. While working on some rather small parts he managed to get a little Zap on his fingertips, about the same time as he had to go to the washroom (nature calls at the most inopportune times). The end result was as painful and embarassing to him as it was humorous to the "friends" that he entrusted his most guarded secret to.

Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 7, 2003 6:54 AM

Bernie, you had a few more stitches that I had to get, but I had a similar 'incident'. Nov. 30, 2001 I was working on a balsa wood biplane. I was trying to trim one of the braces between the upper and lower wings by taking off small amounts of wood from the top of the brace. About the time I thought "I'm not being real careful here", the blade jumped through the wood and into my thumb, down to the bone. It was just like turning on a faucet in my thumb.

Since my wife was still at work, had to get my dad to come by and drive me to the hospital. While the doctor was placing the five stitches in my thumb, I realized that my wife didn't even know what was happening. She came home to find me gone, all the lights on in the house, my truck still in the driveway, and blood all over the den and bathroom. Almost had a killing at my house when I got home.

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djmodels1999

Member since
December 2002
From: United Kingdom / Belgium

Posted by djmodels1999 on Friday, March 7, 2003 9:49 AM

Nothing ever that exciting happened to me (touch wood!), but I've had a number of close calls, mostly involving the circular saw attachment of my minidrill (dangerous stuff!) and x-acto knives rolling off the table and landing close to bare feet... I've since replaced my x-actos with scalpels.

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upnorth

Member since
December 2002
From: Canada / Czech Republic

Posted by upnorth on Saturday, March 8, 2003 11:56 AM

I've had my fair share of bites from the x-acto knife, nothing that ever needed stitches.

The most painful moment for me was a small cut I had on a finger tip, I put a bandage on it and proceeded to put decals onto one of my planes. I'm not sure what goes into decal setting solutions but my bandage soaked up a bit of my Micro-sol right over the cut.

For as much as it stung, I may as well have stuck my finger into a bottle of vinegar. OUCH!

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 8, 2003 5:05 PM

Decal setting solution is vinegar based, so you did. [: )]

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 8, 2003 10:42 PM

I can relate to Upnorth's experience. The x-acto slips, you get a cut, then it's time to decal. Yow, that decal setting solution stings!!

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Keyworth

Member since
January 2003
From: NE Georgia

Posted by Keyworth on Sunday, March 9, 2003 1:05 AM

I had an xacto knife to roll from my workbench and spear the top of my foot before I could arrest it's downward flight. Made more embarassing because the ER I went to was the one I worked in-caught a lot of flak from my coworkers over that one :)

"There's no problem that can't be solved with a suitable application of high explosives"

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midnightprowler

Member since
February 2003
From: East Bethel, MN

Posted by midnightprowler on Sunday, March 9, 2003 6:41 AM

My worst accident also involved the infamous exacto, I was foiling one of my cars, my 62 Belair to be exact, thinking how ggod it was going, all of a sudden the knife slipped, and stuck straight into the center of my thumb, about 1/3 the blade stuck in, no stitches, but bled like a stuck pig. Nothing like the feeling you get pulling that blade out!!
Lee

Hi, I am Lee, I am a plastiholic.

Co. A, 682 Engineers, Ltchfield, MN, 1980-1986

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 1 Corinthians 15:51-54

Ask me about Speedway Decals

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, March 9, 2003 9:13 AM

My worst involves the cat and my "trusty" #11 blade...I was shaving excess sprue off of a piece I had just snipped off with my cutters. The cat jumped up on the table, startling me, and the blade made a 1/2" long gash to the bone on my index finger. Still have the scar and the memories of the stitches (4 of them in this case).

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, March 9, 2003 2:37 PM

I once scratched my eye ball with the nose cone of an F-15. While putting on decals I was sighting down the left side of the model. As I rotated it to view the right side, the nose cone dragged across my eye. Boy, what a indescribable expierence that was. I wore a patch for days after. The folks at the ER had a good laugh at my expense Blush [:I]

.

Darren

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upnorth

Member since
December 2002
From: Canada / Czech Republic

Posted by upnorth on Sunday, March 9, 2003 2:45 PM

I've always heard that the F-15 was very precise with its targeting and attacks, but thats just a bit too precise!

I think we'll have a difficult time topping that war wound story :-)

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berny13

Member since
February 2003
From: Panama City, Florida, Hurricane Alley

Posted by berny13 on Sunday, March 9, 2003 6:28 PM

I was using my Dremil tool with the flex shaft attached doing some cutting. I had the saw blade attached. I went to put it in the shaft holder I have attached to my work bench. It did not fully engage the holder and fell out onto my lap. As it did, I pressed harder on the foot speed control. Here it was in my lap, whipping around like a snake and me not able to grab it. I finally was able to get hold of the flex shaft and get it away from me. I had to go to the emergency room to get my leg stitched up. When the medic told me to remove my pants I couldn't because the zipper was all chewed up from the blade. It could have been a lot worse. THANK YOU LEVI JEANS.

Berny

Phormer Phantom Phixer

On the bench

TF-102A Delta Dagger, 32nd FIS, 54-1370, 1/48 scale. Monogram Pro Modeler with C&H conversion.

Revell F-4E Phantom II 33rd TFW, 58th TFS, 69-260, 1/32 scale.

Tamiya F-4D Phantom II, 13th TFS, 66-8711, 1/32 scale. F-4 Phantom Group Build.

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paulnchamp

Member since
January 2003
From: Warwick, RI

Posted by paulnchamp on Sunday, March 9, 2003 7:58 PM

My (then) four-year old daughter once picked up my Dremel, turned it on and pretended it was a hair curler. I was concentrating on something else and her scream shocked the daylights out of me. I had to cut off a big lock of her hair to get it disentangled. The wife wasn't too pleased. . . .

Paul "A man's GOT to know his limitations."

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djmodels1999

Member since
December 2002
From: United Kingdom / Belgium

Posted by djmodels1999 on Monday, March 10, 2003 2:36 AM

This is getting scary, guys... I'm almost afraid of checking this topic again, let alone build models...

I'm off to get my copy of Fine Teddy Bears...

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Wolfp

Member since
March 2003
From: Jacksonville, NC

Posted by Wolfp on Wednesday, March 12, 2003 5:10 PM

Hehe...while looking at my filling job, I was holding my model up to the sunlight. Have you ever noticed that when you look at a bright light or the sun you have a tendancy to sneeze. Anyway, I also have the habit of twirling my blade in my hand when I am thinking or inspecting. Well all the planets must have been aligned at that point and mama taught me too well. Looked at the model, bright sun right in the face, had twirled the blad so that it was resting between my thumb and forefinger, sneezed, covered my face (just as mama had taught me) and stabbed myself in the ear. Not too deep and not too long, but it hurt and could have been much worse. Ask me sometime how I stabbed my wife with my putty knife while wrestling over the remote control. Thats a good story also

J.B. http://photobucket.com/albums/a303/jbrunyon/

On the Bench: !/350 TOS Enterprise; 1/72 Tie Interceptor

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coldwar68

Member since
February 2003
From: Zanesville, OH USA

Posted by coldwar68 on Wednesday, March 12, 2003 6:09 PM

Geez...I can't top any of the last ones, but I did get a nice curved cut, like a smile, across the top of my left index finger between the second and third joint. It went clear to the bone and left a nice flap of skin that peeled up because of the angle of the cut. Seeing bone is not a welcome sight...just before all of that blood starts running! It only required four stitches though...I still have a nice scar from it and that was when I was 17...I am 34 now Big Smile [:D]

.

Jerry

I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it. -Jack Handy

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 14, 2003 6:29 PM

too much to list... the most memorable was when i stepped on a model piece and it was sharp... then my knife sharpener fell on me, it was the dull kind. the end. another one was when i tried to "glide" my model and it hit the wall and a piece hit me in the face... another time was when i pressed down on a piece with a knife and it hit me in the face, almost on my eye! thank god i wear glasses

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 14, 2003 10:59 PM

I'm just getting to read all of these stories now and I am almost peeing my pants laughing at them. My wife things I'm looney 'cuz I'm laughing at 'modelling humour'...

M.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 15, 2003 1:00 AM

Who says this isn't bloodsport? I was working on a vacuformed something-or-other and the blade slipped and sliced through my left index finger near the tip and came out under the finger nail. It probably needed stiches, but being a male of the species, I did not seek medical attention. I have at least 15 x-acto scars on my left hand and that is the most prominent...

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 15, 2003 7:51 AM

The Worst Vac-u-form incident I had was when I was sanding a rudder down. After about 5 minutes of wet sanding something didn't feel right. Not only had I sanded the rudder correctly I also sanded my fingertips down to about 1, maybe 2 layers of skin. I couldn't touch anything for 4 days and had to wear band-aids on my fingers until I got some new growth. Not as bad as my original injury that I started this with, but a war wound as well.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 15, 2003 6:35 PM

I can see that none of us took our mothers advise, don't play with knives!
My "war wound" occurred while trying to open a paint jar; you know the kind. I pried, I set it in thinner, I even heated it. I took a pair of pliers to it. You guessed it! The mouth of the jar broke open with a sharp shard cutting into my right thumb on the side ,infrount to behind the first knuckle. I've got a scare that people marvel at. I taped myself up and continued, just like the other fellow. Oh, yes, I did use the paint! I wasn't about to waste it.

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Buddho

Member since
March 2003
From: Newport News VA

Posted by Buddho on Saturday, March 15, 2003 9:37 PM

I was scraping some excess flash off a resin part with a #22 scalpel blade, holding the part down on the table with my left hand. As I was watching the blade flex a bit, I thought of what might happen if it broke. Well, when you think of things like that...the scalpel blade slipped off the part, ran into the table and snapped. Unfortunately, the rest of the blade still attached to the handle dug into the palm of my left hand and all I could think was how stupid and careless I had been while I drove to the emergency room to get 6 stitches to sew up the wound.

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cmtaylor

Member since
February 2003
From: United Kingdom

Posted by cmtaylor on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 2:22 PM

Many years ago, when I still lived with my parents, I stored all my tins of enamel in a couple of gallon ice-cream containers in my room. Now, being short of space, my 'workshop' consisted of a tabletop on the bed, with me kneeling on the floor beside it.
Now, one day, I was rummaging through the tins, looking for a particular colour. in doing so, I dislodged the lid of Airfix G1 - pillar box red.
Just as I fished the tin out of the tub, it's contents, by now liberally covering my hand, my mother walked in.
I've never seen anyone turn white before.
"What have you DONE????"" Big Smile [:D]

Gentlemen! You can't fight in here; this is the WAR ROOM!

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 29, 2003 12:52 AM

I think one of my worst injurys happened about 25 years ago.It was one of the last kits I built as a child .I think it was a 1/48 scale p-51,well I know it was a p-51. However my injury was not physical .You see years ago paints were a bit more toxic then they are today and I was painting in a small bed room. I painted the poor thing three different layers of gloss paint .My guess is a record number of brain cells were lost that night.I was rescued by my brother .( who was the one who got me in to modeling in the first place)Any way life go's on .no harm done and I am teaching my childern to paint properly when they model........Have fun.....

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 29, 2003 12:53 AM

I think one of my worst injurys happened about 25 years ago.It was one of the last kits I built as a child .I think it was a 1/48 scale p-51,well I know it was a p-51. However my injury was not physical .You see years ago paints were a bit more toxic then they are today and I was painting in a small bed room. I painted the poor thing three different layers of gloss paint .My guess is a record number of brain cells were lost that night.I was rescued by my brother .( who was the one who got me in to modeling in the first place)Any way life go's on .no harm done and I am teaching my childern to paint properly when they model........Have fun.....

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wibhi2

Member since
March 2003
From: Brooklyn

Posted by wibhi2 on Sunday, March 30, 2003 7:13 PM

here's 2. Once while measuring a piece of bass wood, I let the tape slide back into the holder while controlling it's speed with my thumb......well duuuhhhh....metal tape edges are sharp. Had a nice gash across my thumb tip.

the other was when I was cutting a piece of fiberglass for a 1/12 remote controlled phantom (scratch) and the mat knife slipped and cut my left index finger from the end knuckle back to the middle knuckle - and no, I did not go to the hospital. gronk uses fiberglass and masking tape bandage, after throwing up and dealing with mass quantity of blood.

3d modelling is an option a true mental excercise in frusrtation

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 31, 2003 10:22 AM

pneumatic nailer:

My worst modeling wound is on modelling's periphery but a modelling wound none the less. On easter day three years ago I was nailing together a stand for my water seperator and pressure regulator to go onto my work bench in the house. I was holding two pieces of wood together with my left hand with a pneumatic nailer loaded with 2 1/2 inch finish nails very close to my fingers. As I pulled the trigger the tip of the nailer slipped but the saftey catch stayed pushed down by the corner of the wood I was attempting to nail. A nail shot through the flesh of my left index and middle finger, but luckily missed the bone. Easter is a pretty slow day at the emergency room, so I got more than enough ammused attention. Black Eye [B)]

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fussionboy

Member since
February 2003
From: USA

Posted by fussionboy on Monday, March 31, 2003 11:57 AM

worst accident came from a disc in my dremel tool, i was cutting a sheet of plastic to form a fender flair and buried the disc to the center of the arbour in my palm. no blood as it burned it's way in. hurt like you know what after realizing what i had done.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 1, 2003 7:04 AM

My worst wound is my Dads. After college when I was living at home for a few years. I had an old jar of paint that I just could NOT get open. I asked my Dad if he had any ideas. He said "I'll do it!" and proceeded to hold it and pry it with a wrench. It ended up shattering in his hand. He ended up having to get stiches.

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