Any other "Should've left well enough alone" stories??

Plenty of 'em, Jeeves!

The most recent was just three weeks ago, as I was prepping my Skif BMP-3 for the Shizuoka Hobby Show. It was about 3 am (that seems to be the usual time these things happen), and I decided there was a bit of unruly shine on the mantlet cover, so I broke out the airbrush and Gunze clear flat...all was going well, the shine on the cover was defeated, but as I went to shift my grip on the turret to attack it from another angle, I stupidly (I repeat: stupidly) clamped the airbrush in my teeth...I suppose had it not been 3 am, I might have known better...anyway, the AB slipped from my teeth. Mad grab for the AB was successful, no clear flat spilled.

The turret suffered for that cat-like reflex, however.

I didn't drop it so much as power-slammed it into the desktop...pieces flying everywhere, skittering across the desk and hardwood floor.
After about 5 minutes of shocked silence, I assessed the damage. Not really that bad: all three smoke dischargers from the right side of the turret, and both antennae and their mounts were the only departed parts.
Two of the smoke dischargers and their mounts and one anntenna and its mount were still on the desk, near the scene of the accident, but one discharger, one antenna, and all their mounts were gone...just gone! I searched the floor on hands and knees for literally hours (3, to be exact) for those pieces...which weren't all that small to have disappeared so completely!
Eventually I found the antenna and its mount on the floor...but the discharger remained elusive. Just as I was resigning myself to converting one from my BMP-1 kit, I checked the keyboard shelf that's built into my desk (that I had already checked about 15 times)...and of course, this time it was there! I can't describe the relief.

Doing the 1-hour repairs was a joy compared to the previous 3 hours of searching...and the model actually looked better when I was done (at 7 am!). But oh, the heartache...the heartache...

Well, that was a long story, with a happy ending.

Not so happy an ending was my Dragon JGSDF 76mm HVSS Sherman...I went back after it had been done for 5 years and removed a bunch of ejector pin marks and parting lines, which went smoothly, but the repaint was horrible. For reasons I still don't understand, it's a kind of flourescent green now...very strange indeed!

I should've left well enough alone...

Misery loves company....so thanks J-Hulk Are we the only ones? LOL

I can't believe we're the only ones, Mike!
I am sure the tales of woe will come...

I'm interested in seeing how many of them took place after 3 am!

I had an Italeri 1/72 F-4S Phantom a number of years ago and decided, well after it had been built, that I wanted to put some flat spots on the bottom of the wheels to simulate it sitting on the ground.

I grabbed a big enough sheet of sandpaper that I could gently move the Phantom back and forth on its wheels until I had the desired flat spots.

The sandpaper was a bit heavier a grit than I should have used but it was what I had at the time. I made a few gentle strokes across it with the plane when, before I could do anything, it grabbed the nose wheels for a split second, snapped the nose gear leg and sent the nose straight down skidding across the grit. :-(

It wasn't the best model I'd ever built, but it was beyond repair after that.

Most of mine have to do with glueing small parts on and then forgeting they are not dry and handleing the model. Nothing like a bunch of laid over grab handles to make your morning bright.

The one that sticks out is when I was working my Late Panther G (below). I had had great success adding mud to the hull. when it came time for the road wheels I got into the mentality of if a little looks good the a lot must look great. Well long story short the road wheels ended up looking like a bunch of baby moon hubcaps...WAY to much mud. good thing the mud mix was water soluable. A ruined toothbrush and a hour later they were all clean and ready for another go around... Bottom line less is more when you think your about there ....STOP!

My other vice is employing a BFH when things don't want to fit just right....

You guys are small time ... when I do it I do it BIIIIIG time

I was puuting the finishing touches on a 1/700 Shinano (Japanese WW2 carrier built on a Yamato hull). I had glued it down onto its water base (painted aluminum foil) and couldn't wait to glue on the anchors. The only way to get at the bow was to turn the model upside down. Yep, you guessed it. The glue wasn't dry and she dropped off the base and fell 4' to the floor. The island popped off I I found it outside the room in the hallway and the radar mast popped off, a few other fiddlt bits went skittering across the floor. It all came off clean, though, and I was able to glue everything back with hardly a trace of the damage. I got lucky, but I did ionize the atmosphere in the model shop for a bit

Another time, I was putting the Tamiya 1/35 PBR hull onto a water base. I had a really neat diorama worked out. I opened the engine hatch and scratch built an engine, scratch built a few other things too. Well, came time to pour the "water". I used the resin pellets from Woodland Scenics. You melt it on the stove and then pour it. What was I thinking!?! You know what boiling hot anything does to plastic? More ionized atmosphere.

Anyway, if you want to know how NOT to do it, drop me a line.

Long Island Ed. (The Terminator)

I had that (semi)perfect paint job on the 1/48 Monogram B-17 (many many years ago).
Did a pretty darned good job (for my age and skill level at that time), the paint was great, I glossed the thing with Future, then applied the decals. It looked great.
Time for a matte coat. (Que the tension creating background music)
I used Tamiya flat base, mixed a bit of isopropyl alcohol to thin it........gave the whole plane a quick squirt............and set it aside to dry.
And holy crap-ola!!! You'd think that language like that could never come out of the mouth of one so young (relatively)!!!!
This was done when Tamiya felt that Japanese was really the only language that was needed for the directions on the bottle..............
Needless to say, the whole bloody plane ended up looking like it was covered in blotchy, poorly applied white paint. I could have cried.
Learned a hard lesson, though..........I've always experimented first before using a new product - I was too eager to get the job done to make sure I was doing the right thing.

hmmm, don't think I have too many of these stories. A few that I can recall:
back when i built car models, there were at least half a dozen occasions when I'd decide to glue in the windshield (the time being late into the night, or early in the morning, i should say) only to have my hand slip and spill the glue on the clear parts. Oh I threw some tantrums them.
Also, I've learned now, but when I first started building armour, I was an impatient person. I just wanted to see the tank!!! I never allowed the wheels to dry fully, only to attempt to put the track on and see the weels fall off WITH the mounts. God, I hated myself.

oh, and I have one example of "should have left well enough alone"
The new Group Build portal!
I HATE portals, I don't like the idea of scrolling through multiple screens to get to what I want.
"if it ain't broken, don't fix it"
but I know many of you will like it just fine, so it's ok, I guess.

I was working a summer job as a lifeguard in a very remote lakefront beach. I had no car, so I was stuck at the guard shack most of the time, so I decided to start modelling.

Near the end of the summer, my modeling skills had improved quite a bit. I was working on an Revell 1/48 F4 Phatom with photo etched parts (can't remember the exact variant), and it was the best model I'd put together that summer. I was essentially done the aircraft, but I hadn't put ordnance on yet. I was about to when the other lifeguard came in from volleyball. I normally put all my modelling gear away when I wasn't alone, just to protect it from the goofs I worked with. Since I just had the bombs and missiles left, I thought "screw it, I'll finish it now".

The plane was on the table, and I was putting the finishing touches of paint on something, while the other lifeguard was playing with the volley ball, smashing it to the floor where it would rebound on the ground, then on the wall, where he'd catch it. I was focused on the bomb/missile. So I only heard the volley ball.

Smack bang-bang
Smack bang-bang
Smack bang...

SMASH!

The volley ball got away from him and land straight on top of the F4. The plane then flew off the table and landed on the ground. The canopy broke, all three struts broke, the pitot tubes and other thin parts all broke off, etc etc. Surprisingly, the fuselage stayed together quite well. Much of the small etched parts (like canopy hooks) broke off, and I was never able to find them again. It took me a few hours to fix everything.

The lifeguard in question paid for my beer for the rest of the summer, so I forgave him.

Nat

Too many to tell, guys. . . but usually a result of rushing or not having gone to bed when it was time.

Last Sunday, I decided to model outside as it was a beautiful morning and it would be a few hours before the typical Phoenix heat kicked in. I was going to install a scratchbuilt CB radio underneath the dashboard of my Jeep Cherokee tornado chase vehicle. One little problem: When I test-fitted the CB in place, I realized that the microphone cord didn't hang down realistically, so I ever-so-gently tried to push it to a more vertical position. SNIK! The cord broke off the connector attaching it to the body of the CB radio! That actually made it easier to bend the cord the way I wanted it, but when I tried to super-glue it back to the connector, the glue decided it didn't want to stick! Half a dozen tries and the glue still wouldn't stick! Then the CB slipped out of my hands and landed on the nice hard concrete walkway connecting the apartments in my building. That broke the mike completely off the CB! Fortunately, I was able to rescue both radio and microphone. I reglued the mike to the radio, then put the model away for the day before anything else happened! (PS: I finally got the mike cord attached to the connector later in the week.)

Ugh. Just this past night:

I'm working on my P-51D, and I remember all the techniques of how to cut out a certain panel on the wing, paint it slightly differently from the rest of the overall model, and then glue it back in. Well, I spent an incredible amount of time cutting through the thick wing plastic, and when I finally got the panel out of the wing, it was jagged and mangled. No bother, I thought--I'll sand it down. And I sanded down the hole. Result? Way to big of a gap, of course.

So I throw out that panel and use a plastic bracelet case to make a new panel instead. It doesn't quite fit right, but I glue it in anyway. Now, the wing is glued to the fuselage, and it looks horrible. I could fill in the gaps with superglue and sand it down, but that would destroy the panel lines and rivets. Argh.

Ouch... that is bad. I am curious-- were you going to leave the panel open?? Or just painting it a different color?? I usually mask off the panel from the rest and spray the different shade on....at present, the P-39 I am doing has some different colored panels as it was supposed to have been pretty beat-up and I figured it would've had parts from other planes switched in all over...

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jeeves Ouch... that is bad. I am curious-- were you going to leave the panel open?? Or just painting it a different color?? I usually mask off the panel from the rest and spray the different shade on....at present, the P-39 I am doing has some different colored panels as it was supposed to have been pretty beat-up and I figured it would've had parts from other planes switched in all over...

I don't know what I was thinking when cutting it out. I realized as soon as I started cutting that just masking it off would look better and be about ten times easier as well. After I cut it out and it didn't look to great, I figured maybe I might as well install an after-market machine gun bay kit, but it wasn't the correct panel anyway. *sigh*

I guess I could call up Tamiya and ask for a replacement wing, but that would look pretty hack after tearing the old wing off. Ugh.

Edit: Oh, and as if it weren't enough that I completely screwed up the wing panel, I also cut straight across my thumb in the process. Both thumbs, actually...

Edit 2: Victory is mine! Through an incredible combination of dremel skills, elbow grease, and team spirit I have peeled off all the remnants of the upper wing! It went pretty well and the only thing I'll have to try fixing is maybe bending the aileron back in place a bit, but it's not too bad. Now I just have to call up Tamiya and get a new upper wing.

My 'wounds' are still healing, but here's my most recent story.

Several months ago I was building a 1/72 F4-U1A Corsair (there's probably an in-progress thread on here somewhere). The build took a long time (there were some early paint problems that I can't clearly remember), but for the most part was complete. However, for some reason, I decided I was going to dull-coat the whole thing. It was fine the way it was.... I should have left well enough alone. Mistake number one - I used Microscale flat coat and had never tested/tried it before. I don't know if it was 'user error' or just a bad batch of the product, but it turned everything frosted white and left a horrible texture all over the plain. Excuse me while I wipe the tears away...

I tried to remove the flat coat as best I could, but in the process, I ruined the decals and in many cases damaged the underlying paint. Determined to overcome the tragedy, I touched up the paint where I could, and a local club member gave me some other decals. It didn't turn out as good as the first paint job, but it definitely was acceptable (at least to me...). But no, I had to somehow make it better. I decided to mask off a few 'panels' on the plane and paint them some slightly different shades. My thoughts were that this would create something to draw the eye away from the other percieved flaws. I should have left well enough alone.... On removing the masks, it pulled up huge pieces of the paint. I had originally painted a silver base coat to do some experimenting with paint chipping. Well, obviously, the top coats of paint didn't stick to the silver very well at all....

I conceded that this kit was not meant to be. It now resides in my parts box, waiting to be used in some 'crash scene' somewhere in the distant future. I actually 'stung' myself three times on this kit: the early paint problems, the dull coat, and the lifte paint from the masking. In my books, three strikes and you're out!

I have to go back to my therapist now...

Murray

I used to build car models, then when I was putting the windshield on, i finally got it in place, what do i see? a glue mark, covering about 1/4 of the windsheild. I said "screw this, I'm gonna eat dinner" so i go eat dinner, come back, forgot the light was on. yep, melted scraps of plastic.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murray Kish My 'wounds' are still healing, but here's my most recent story. Several months ago I was building a 1/72 F4-U1A Corsair (there's probably an in-progress thread on here somewhere). The build took a long time (there were some early paint problems that I can't clearly remember), but for the most part was complete. However, for some reason, I decided I was going to dull-coat the whole thing. It was fine the way it was.... I should have left well enough alone. Mistake number one - I used Microscale flat coat and had never tested/tried it before. I don't know if it was 'user error' or just a bad batch of the product, but it turned everything frosted white and left a horrible texture all over the plain. Excuse me while I wipe the tears away... I tried to remove the flat coat as best I could, but in the process, I ruined the decals and in many cases damaged the underlying paint. Determined to overcome the tragedy, I touched up the paint where I could, and a local club member gave me some other decals. It didn't turn out as good as the first paint job, but it definitely was acceptable (at least to me...). But no, I had to somehow make it better. I decided to mask off a few 'panels' on the plane and paint them some slightly different shades. My thoughts were that this would create something to draw the eye away from the other percieved flaws. I should have left well enough alone.... On removing the masks, it pulled up huge pieces of the paint. I had originally painted a silver base coat to do some experimenting with paint chipping. Well, obviously, the top coats of paint didn't stick to the silver very well at all.... I conceded that this kit was not meant to be. It now resides in my parts box, waiting to be used in some 'crash scene' somewhere in the distant future. I actually 'stung' myself three times on this kit: the early paint problems, the dull coat, and the lifte paint from the masking. In my books, three strikes and you're out! I have to go back to my therapist now... Murray

Therapist? Gee, wouldn't a few firecrackers be cheaper?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jim Barton Therapist? Gee, wouldn't a few firecrackers be cheaper?

Funny!! That's what my therapist suggested!! (And it only cost me $150....)



Murray

1/72 P-47 that I didnt think the anttena was fine enough on so I stretched a finer one then got in a rush and super glued it on got my finger stuck to the black and yellow checker decals and took them off then tryed to touch them up and found out that low tack tape isnt that low tack and made it worse.

Well a about bed time sun light does not exist right...lol
I left some things ie painted subassemblies and parts on the bed Why?....I do not know HONESTLY....l.
I said to myself OK I will pick them up after I come from the cinema and food about midnight. I return, not drunk but having forgot all about it. Switch on the light the bulb goes in smoke....So in the dark quite pissed off with myself I take the blanket out to give it a good air-ing, undusting (which is the verb for it)?
After a good night sleep I search for my parts......Has anyone seen them yet?.....