Has this ever happened to you?

Where were you when this was going on? And yes this sort of thing did happen to me... I was gone at uncle sam's call for 18 months ans several of my builds did not survive or come thru intact... it was not cool...

You would think common courtesy and respect dictates ASK before bringing the cat in the first place. Right now I'm single, but if I ever get hitched I'm putting a knob on the door to my hobby room that locks from the outside and locking it when I'm away/when company is coming for this reason.

Yep. Before I got married, my then-fiancee and I moved to a city about 30  miles away. One of her friends began grabbing my completed models and stacking them in the passenger seat of my truck, damaging four or five of them. Now that we're married, my office/hobby room has a lockable door and the cardinal rule is no one goes near the models. All my completed builds are now sealed in two display cases behind glass to keep prying fingers of both adults and children away.

I had this in my younger days when my mum once decided to go into my room and do some dusting. She told me she was careful with everything and that everything was fine. The CSI team would have been proud when I noticed one of the wiper blades snapped off one of my car models and even found a fibre from the cloth she used to wipe it stuck under the remaining portion of the wiper blade.

Ouch dude. Last person to handle my models and damage them was mother nature.

But i know how it feels, feels like your personal space has been violated. Kinda like when your home gets broken into, but to a lesser degree.

Well, I'm not alone I see.

Stik, I was at work when I got the text. Yes, text. It was too late. No notice, nothing.

Eric-sorry for your misfortune but it brought back a now pleasant memory-came home from grade school one day and my grandmother (I was raised by my grandparents)  told me that I didn't have to change to after school clothes...I could just go in and watch TV....had my favorite dinner prepared...then she told me that she had knocked over the bookcase that my completed models were in....well, I can laugh about it now.....

Just hearing these stories aggravates me to no end.  I feel for ya'll.  I have also been there to with the wife and the kids.  They know never touch my models, unless they miss hearing me rant and b***h at them. No I don't trust anyone to touch them or move them for any reason.  And mine are no where near as nice as those I see on here. At least IMO.   We all understand accidents happen.  Since the wife started doing crafts and has her own space for this, she more so understands the attachment we have towards our models/crafts.  Some people are/can be totally insensitive towards others 'stuff' and that in itself is what gets me no matter what its about.  I agree most of the time the damage done was unintentional, and they didn't mean it.    Also, I mean no disrespect to any of you or your families on this.   A cat we used to have destroyed a USS Constitution I hadn't quite finished once, they are both gone now.   Mike

I really recognise myself in this situation. My wife is usually very understanding and some how tolerant about my hobby. Having said that, because she has a cleaning disorder, she has found the temptation every so ofter of using the hoover to wipe the dust of my models. I manage to stop her every time. There was also another occasion when my wife's friend came to stay with us for couple of days, I had a Italery Tiger tank 1/35 scale which I just completed. After the first night I found the tank covered with her underwear. We got drawers for those things!

I've been there. I had a tiff with my wife one day. Things got out off hand. I ruined two of her precious vases, for that she mangled my Italery 1/35 Tiger tank with her bear hands. I still got all the pieces. I can only blame myself for this. I haven't build any armour since, so I started building boats instead. Hope to have more luck with that. :c)

I just got married recently and one of the things my wife and I disagree on is cleaning the house.  I'd rather do it myself and she'd rather hire a cleaning company.

So the cleaning company come once a month.  After the first time, they broke a couple of my models.  Not very badly, though.  The damage was easy to repair...a fuel tank and some weapons that I was able to reattach easily.  They were just doing their job but I was still pretty pee'd off.  We called the company and told them to not touch the models.  They gave us a free month for our trouble.

Ok, good.  Right?  So they come back one month later and to my surprise they broke a couple more!  Again it was nothing too bad but still.  So they get a phone call.

So the next month when the cleaners came I happened to be home.  I asked the lady to not touch the models because they are fragile, expensive, I enter into contests, etc.  She said "Oh yes we are aware not to touch them and we even have a note here in our paper work."  I said ok then I had to leave.  I came home and guess what?  They broke a couple more.  And they this time they tried to stuff the parts into the bomb bay of one of the models!  I was steamed!  Needless to say they got a phone call.  Except this time it was going to be a "YOU'RE FIRED" kinda call.  My wife sort of calmed me down and she handled phone exchange.

Now we have a big sign that we put up that says "DO NOT TOUCH THE MODELS!"  Its written in english and spanish.   Actually, we told them to not even touch the desk/bookshelf where the models are.

So the next time the cleaners came I walked them into the room with the models and made it really clear that that was the area they were to avoid like the plague.  And guess what?  They didn't break any.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Bissyboat

I've been there. I had a tiff with my wife one day. Things got out off hand. I ruined two of her precious vases, for that she mangled my Italery 1/35 Tiger tank with her bear hands. I still got all the pieces. I can only blame myself for this. I haven't build any armour since, so I started building boats instead. Hope to have more luck with that. :c)

Good for you. Bit of a learning curve that. 20 years down the line and you're an expert modeler. I should have said to my wife I'm glad you smashed my tank, because I planning on building more models then you ca shake a stick at.

She might break them, but she can't get them all. :D

On the bench. Tamiya 1/700 Scharnhorst

That has never happened to me but it happened to a good friend of mine.  There was a death in the extended family on his wife's side.  The Mrs cleared his man cave of all the models and bench to make room for visiting family.  Once all was over and done with he discovered all the damage.  Most of his completed kits were destroyed.  He did not complain to anyone due to the reason and haste to make room.   This was also done while at work.  They split about a year later.  

No word if the broken kits had anything to do with it.

I'm biting my tongue on this one...

tigerman

Well, I'm not alone I see.

Stik, I was at work when I got the text. Yes, text. It was too late. No notice, nothing.

Definately operating under the "it is better to seek forgiveness than ask permission" guideline...

Yeah, I came home from 18 months gone, including a year overseas, and found our bedroom had new carpet and furniture. My old dresser which had held much of my 1/48 WWII air force was gone as was the old bed pier unit which held my Galactic Imperial forces. When I went down to my hobby room, the 1/48 prop job air force was now there, but many were in various states of disrepair. The Imperials were nowhere to be found...  But being thankful to be alive and home, I did not sweat it... much...

And they survived better than 98% of the builds that were boxed and put into storage after I joined the Army when my older sister decided that she could not hack life on her own and moved back into the house and into my old room.  Most of those builds eventually went to my kids to play with years later. I salvaged a few of those builds, and still have those. 

The only people i trust touching mine is the guys at my local model club because i know they feel the same way and know how fragile they can be. Also my wife has her own craft stuff she does, so if she wants to look at mine and see what I'm doing she waits to I'm home and asks if she can look and i give her the same courtesy.

Things are ok these days.  The wife crabs about dust on my models, but knows enough to know not to touch them.  The grandson too, knows he better not mess with them.  I have most of them in plastic or glass cases, and some big ones hanging from the ceiling where they can't be reached.

Eons ago, when I was maybe 10 or less, my mother hired this cleaning woman who would come in once a month or so, and proceed to wreck all of the models on the shelves in my bedroom.  She was totally clueless and my mother could not understand why I was so upset!  

LOL Bissyboat. No, I wouldn't consider my builds as expert, but much improved on my 20 year-old builds.

Hehehe. Keep up the good work any way.

About 10 yrs. ago, we were adopted by a "found" kitty. Dark gray,bushy tail,medium length hair. Spud would find a comfortable place on my workbench & watch intently while I built & narrated to him. After awhile of building,he would nap on my, uh.... our bench.

Came home from work one day,asked the wife if she had been rearranging any parts on said bench-no. Spud had examined a few parts but did NO harm. He was as gentle with the parts as I would be.

He always helped me with my building. At his age of 10, he passed. I'd trade my stash to have him help me build again. Sure miss my little buddy. 

I had that once, whilst i was at work we had a council man come around to do some measuring, and the IDIOT decided to put the end of his tape measure to the back of a shelf where i had eight built kits of different subjects, WHEN suddenly my wife heard a crashing sound from the room where i had this shelf. She give her her due rushed upstairs and into the room to see my built models on the floor complete with the shelf.

Okay he could not stop apologising about what had happened, he should have asked first if he could do this as the shelf was not affixed, as should i need to move the shelf at some point it was not screwed down, but the wife knew that i would hit the ceiling with rage (i did), but he did say in his defence that i should reclaim in money for the damages done, so i at the time i put in a quote for my inconvience, and give the council there due paid up.

But no money can ever replace that build as many of us feel that once built, decalled, painted the jobs done then onto the next project.  

Or ones that have sentimental value attached I/E a show winner, gift from a loved one, or first model from years ago...

Snakecopter

I had that once, whilst i was at work we had a council man come around to do some measuring,

I had a experience that was totally new and unbelievable.  I work at one of our LHS part time, (mainly for the discount) but I had just completed a 1/48 A-4 and I had brought it in to the store to show the guys,  I had it in a plastic bucket with packing material around it when a customer came in and grabbed it around the fuselage and picked it up without even asking and started looking at it like it was a toy,  I was stunned and couldn't even say anything.  He eventually put it down without damaging it,  the gall of some people. And this guy was a regular,  he knew better.

John

Snakecopter

I had that once, whilst i was at work we had a council man come around to do some measuring, and the IDIOT decided to put the end of his tape measure to the back of a shelf where i had eight built kits of different subjects, WHEN suddenly my wife heard a crashing sound from the room where i had this shelf. She give her her due rushed upstairs and into the room to see my built models on the floor complete with the shelf.

Okay he could not stop apologising about what had happened, he should have asked first if he could do this as the shelf was not affixed, as should i need to move the shelf at some point it was not screwed down, but the wife knew that i would hit the ceiling with rage (i did), but he did say in his defence that i should reclaim in money for the damages done, so i at the time i put in a quote for my inconvience, and give the council there due paid up.

But no money can ever replace that build as many of us feel that once built, decalled, painted the jobs done then onto the next project.  

I would have wept like a baby if that happened to me. I can't get the time back to build them. I'd be less upset if it were some older builds, but not the newer ones!

You got to be kidding me! I wonder how they would feel if the shoe was on the other foot?

The worst i've had was some LB messed with one of my planes at a show, and knocked off the canopy.