10 Things I've learned.

143) The glue won't come out of the tube until you squeeze it just the least bit too hard, at which point a gallon of the stuff will erupt all over the workbench.

142) Instructions are a guideline, you don't have to follow the steps on order ( except for those few times you should have and didn't ).

141. Never build a model of something you know nothing about without a reference. You can build the model backwards and the Starship Voyager really looks strange with the engines on backwards

140: never reload ammo by candlelight.

Here's one I forgot.

139) In a a pinch, rubbing alcohol makes a decent thinner for Tamiya acrylics, but NEVER even THINK about trying this with Testors acrylics!

Really????? People actually pay good money to buy finished models???

Amen to 137!

A few tips and trip-ups.

122) Nail clippers will work if you don't have that special tool for removing parts from sprue. ( We have 2 sets of clippers here, 1 for nails, the other exclusively for models )

123) The model you display to help the local hobby shop will get countless offers from would-be buyers, even though you'd never think of selling it.

124) The model you want to get rid of and display for sale at the local hobby store will get absolutely no offers.

125) The only time a gloss finish attracts more dust than a flat finish is before it's dry.

126) Never leave a spray can within 6 feet of a door, even if you think it's safe on a shelf 6 feet up. ( I had a Black Omega Starfury from B5 that was done except for attatching the canopy. The wife went to the store and didn't notice that a can of spray primer had fallen near the door. Not bothering to see what the obstruction was, she slammed the door on the can repeatedly until the can bounced away, but it had sprung a leak on the side. I entered the room about 30 minutes later to find a fine mist of primer in the air and gray specks of the stuff all over the Starfury. )

127) Another "kitty treat": Vinyl figure models. ( Any tips on sculpting a replacement foot for a vinyl model? )

128) At least one of the enamel paints you use on a kit will come off with the excess acrylic wash you're removing.

129) Never leave a kit in the car if the outside temperature is over 40 degrees Farenheit. You might think it's safe at 50, but Someone Up There has a sense of humor.

130) Never try to use a scribing tool on resin.

131) If you must wash out the inside of an RTV mold, don't try casting anything in it for at least 48 hours. You may think you've dried it, but any immediate attempts to cast parts will show just how wrong you are.

132) If a friend agrees to a little friendly competition with identical kits, he'll wait until you're done superdetailing yours to tell you that he just slapped his together in one night and didn't even bother with paint.

133) If you spend 3 hours mixing paints to get a custom color to look just right, there's a good chance some new line of paints will be released when you're done with the project that includes that color.

135) Any kit you put aside "just for a little while" to work on another project will take at least 6 months to get back to ( though I'm currently averaging 5 years ).

136) Never try getting your non-modelling signifigant other into the hobby with "if you can't beat 'em, try joining 'em" logic. They'll get hyped over the most expensive kit in the store, have you get it and all the paints needed ( of course none of the colors for that kit will be in your paint rack! ), put two pieces together, then leave it untouched for 6 years ( and counting ).

137) You can never have too many kits in storage.

138) Among the secret tools of a modeler should be clothespins, rubber bands, Legos, at least 2 heavy books, a lighter, Pine Car Derby weights, and sewing needles.

Apologies to my wife for mentioning things that might embarass her.


I couldn't even find "normal" with the Hubble!

121) Never ever...um...umm..um...feed your newly bought kits to your dog. Ha.....ha....ha....um...yeah.

I'll be quiet.

118) Relax and rely on your skills.
• 119) If things are going badly, take a break from the kit your working on.
• 120) Only build for your self ! ! !

Jim,

Agreed. Except that "children" come in all shapes and sizes.

Allan, you hit the nail right on the head with #115. I've been to model contests where little children especially insisted on putting their grimy mitts on the entries ("Oooh, look at the pretty AIR-plaayyynnne!" while breaking off the cockpit canopy!). They almost make cats look like angels!

Wow great thread!

112. Contest judges are always right.
113. If the contest judges are wrong, refer to Rule No. 112.
114. Cheap crappy kits when finished OOB look like cheap crappy kits.
115. "Please do not touch" means "touch me please" to non-modellers.
116. Decals cling to everthying but your model.
117. You know that sprue cutter is gonna ruin the kit part but youre gonna use it anyway.

108. My cat can get to a part that is dropped on the ground faster than anyone..especially me!
109. Yes, decals DO stick to kittys paw!
110. Always cut AWAY from you.
111. X-Acto knives take fingernails off like nobodys business! (see #110)

Things that are useless in aviation.
1. Runway behind you
2. Altitude above you
3. Fuel in the pumps
4. A parachute in the hanger
5.A GPS with flat batteries

1. New release doesn`t mean new kit it`s probably twenty years old.
2.Ther are old modellers and there are bold modellers but there are very few who ever build their entire collection.
3. Death is natures way of telling oyu to slow down.
4. There is no such thing as an expert, just a lot of people who think they know more than you.
5. The judges decision is only final if he can`t be bribed.
6. Never allow the wife or Mother to "dust" your efforts as this means death to any creation.
7. Decal solvent doesn`t solve everything especially decals.
8. Decals stick better to anything other than the kit.

1.To get new kits past the wife take the biggest kit box you can find with you and put all the new kits in it so that she thinks you have only buoght one, even better use and old box and pretend you have traded. My collection grew from twenty or so to three hundred an fifty mostly 1/32 by this method.

2.When you are nearly finished with your latest project someone always brings out a better kit.
3. The best way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your pocket.

oops!

93.don,t reach the end of page one on a thread, compose a witty reply,number it 92,post it ,discover page 2, feel silly . 94 most modellers have problems counting past 92

92. the faint stickiness of your fingertip far out weighs the awesome bonding power of any known adhesive(especially superglue...no really!!!)

107: Stretched sprue antenaes are fasinating to everyone. After you've spent hours rigging your EC-121, someone always has to push on them to make sure they will spring back. Of course, the ones that they break will never spring back.

92: After superdetail painting a tough piece it will fall for no reason upside down on the carpet .
93:when squeezing an opened tube of glue and it doesnt come out using a toothpick will leave you with a puddle of glue that cant be cleaned off the dinner table or your hands
94:When you go downstairs to your hobby room to get some quality time alone,your kids will re-enact the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Baily circus in the room directly above your head.
95:If you press flocking on to a car seats wet paint ,you will have flocking painted to your finger BUT,none on the seat.

As unnamedplayer has also discovered

???) Modelers can not count, no matter how good their modeling skills and experience (That's why they REALLY skip steps, it's not to do "sub-assemblies" or make painting easier )

Eric

superglue glues you better than the model

that fingerprint on the canopy will not go away, unless you sand it. then it will crack

the piece you forget to install always turns up right after you put the model in the case

orange juice strips acrylic paint

the instructions calls for a color of paint thats out of production for 20 years

the more expensive kit is worse

the cheap kit is the best kit

no matter how much you have sanded the surface, there will always be many glue fingerprints on that bare metal finish

decals silver

92) The optimum hieght for hanging aircraft from ceiling is not just over your head.....it is above the unforseen object you have in your hand while walking into room while looking anywhere but up!

93) Cats love to chew on propeller blades,especially if they can rotate

94)The harder you try to pull off an totally realistic and accurate paint job....the more unlikely you are to find the paint locally in the first place

95)Remember to accept the fact that a gift of a model is no longer in your hands and under your reponsibility or care.

96)The most important part that makes up a sub assembly of an assembly is always the one that will be lost,missing or easiest to screw up

97)Testors spray paint cans have a sloped indentation on the nozzle so you can feel without looking which direction paint will fly.Tamiya nozzles don't.........

98)women who need something insignificant IMMEDIATLY can hear the sound of a dry paint brush hitting paint in a bottle from 50ft away.....and stop you in your tracks

99)Testors flat black square bottle paint has such an acute tip over angle ,glancing at it wrong will dump it.

100)When paint tips over,glue squirts out too heavy,or something drops.....Hollywood is correct...everything goes into slow motion. O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-H-H-H-H-H N-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Uh, I seem to have missed the boat on this one.

But then so have others...

And as far as having long-haired cats... four of the six remaining in the house are longhairs. Actually, they're not true longhairs, but that's for another forum...


Fade to Black...

96. The load bearing joints are always the ones where the glue bonds weakest.

97. If you're going to forget a cockpit part, nine times out of ten it will be with a model that has a large bubble canopy that will NEVER let you forget what you forgot.

98. A husky sheds heavily twice a year and can land a shed hair on wet model paint from two rooms away and floor up or down from your modeling bench with better accuracy than an F-15E can plant a laser bomb.

99. If you overdo or underdo the nose weight, it will ALWAYS be in a plane that will be nearly impossible to make adjustments to after its finished.

100. If you buy a plane kit with photoetch in it, make sure you've got a good selection of oleos and other hydraulic struts in your spares box. It amazing how many of them will include these cylindrical objects as flat representations on a PE fret. A flat oleo strut, yeah, that's convincing! }:-(

92. You discover that the aerosol can was really GLOSS black and not flat black.
93. That "pinging" noise you heard was the set of PE you THOUGT was secured launching itself somewhere into the nether regions under your bench.
94. Never trust a dog around the bowl of water you use for your decals-learned THAT one the hard way. :)
95. The paintbrush you had counted on for the superfine detail is nowhere to be found, and the one you substitute with has all its brushes chemically welded together. - Ed

99: The better the paint, glue, and filler, the higher the toxicity.

100: If parts aren't broken or come up missing during a build, the kit is worthless.

101: Model gremlins do exist. The seams and ejector pin marks that weren't present the day before the show are suddenly in plain sight as the kit is placed on the table.

102: The overwhelming need to fart comes at the most inopportune moments (There are thousands of examples and personal stories; you all know exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't, you're not human!) :-)

103: The level of detail and length of build time (as well as show time proximity) is directly proportional to the extent of breakage when your kit hits the floor.

104: Getting into arguments about the use of depleted linoleum on Iraqi tanks is a waste of time, but does generate some interesting looks.

105: Prayer works.

Gip Winecoff