Dispicable hobby accidents

Jon, pain is  the universe telling you that you are not dead…yet.

Superglue was developed as a surgical adhesive.

Try cuticle scissors for the coars work, and a scalpel blade for the fine work on the vac-forms.

I cut my finger last night with an xacto while I was working with my first AND PROBABLY LAST EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD vacform canopy.

Just shortly after that I discovered super glue closes xacto wounds rather quickly.

Another painful lesson learned while stretching sprue: A candle flame will burn your finger.

 

my worst accident was about 40 yrs ago

i cut myself at the base of my thumb, the blade went in all the way to the handle

just then my mother walked into the living room ( i was more afraid of what my mother would do than the cut itself) so i stuffed my hand with the knife still in it under the seat cushion on the couch ,i could feel the bllod running out ,she was only there for about 5-6 sec, it felt like a 1/2 hr though.when she left i took my hand out,pulled the knife out of it ,it came out with a hunk of meat attached to it about 1/2 the size of a corn kernel so i stuffed it back in an taped up the hole tightly after  a bit it sealed up enough so i put a bandaid over it  told her a pc of sharp sprue scratched me  she left it at that. still have the scar  boy was i

My one and only serious accident took place years ago while stationed at MCAS Cherry Point. One evening while watching TV, I was also attempting to cut out a door panel on a German track vehicle when the xacto knife slipped burying the blade to the hilt just above my right knee cap. It was like the scene out of 'Young Frankenstein'. 3 stitches at the base clinic.

Scott

 nearly every one of my tanks or planes have my "signature"  somewhere on them,the good thing is unless your a forensic specialist ya won't know they're mine,the worst "acccident" was the loss of my 1/32 f-14 did a double half ganer and a flat spin when my mothers cat decided it wanted the perch my bird was on (i'm 39 and cryed like a baby   however mom and cat are fine)never move in with inlaws while trying to buy a house.

After spilling MM acryl grey on my modeling room carpet, i was getting out a brand new can of carpet cleaner....about 1 pound...dropped it, hit my toe at a perfect angle and the dull edge of the can sliced my toe open. Then a while ago, my first model....the Revell SR-71...it had a really sharp nose....the landing gear broke (that was when i used tube glue) so i threw it against the wall...it shattered violently and i got a piece of the tail in my eye

I haven't hurt myself modeling yet, other than utterly destroying my faith in my own abilities and multiple hits on the wallet.

I work in printing and used to to pasteup and layout using a #11 Exacto, and you learn very quickly not to try to catch falling knives and to tape a "flag" or a piece of sprue on the handle end with masking tape to prevent it from rolling. Also teach yourself to put the knife down at right angles to you. That way if it does roll off the table, it's not towards you. Level tables help, too!

I've also learned to keep my work area free from paint pots and bottles of glue, unless I'm actively working on them. I use a piece of 1/2" plywood with holes cut through to hold the ones I am working with. 

So far the worst mistake I've made is when I used a color cup on my AB for the first time and tilted it enough to dump most of the contents out on my newly finished and freshly painted spray booth. The booth is bright white, and the spilled paint was (of course!) black. A constant reminder of why you should be aware of the color cup! 

Like I said, we idiots are just too darned clever for our own good!

Laugh! It keeps you from hyperventilating while screaming.

Having built models for 50+ year, I could go on and on about the stupid (and often painful and dangerous) things I've done (and 95% are from not thinking about what or how I'm doing something).  Knocking a full, open bottle of liquid glue over into the box of a just opened kit, holding fuselage pieces together w/left hand, applying liquid glue to inside of bottom (or top) seam.  Glue runs out bottom of seam and puddles around thumb.  Knock over open bottle of paint on work table which has all the unassembled parts of a kit laying on it. Ripping and slashing at my body with assorted hobby knives/blades and assorted other tools.,  And a couple that my wife likes to remind me of - putting several large ball bearings in a large bottle of Pactra paint and shaking - bottom of bottle seperated, resulting in paint all over the desk, the floor, the walls and me.  And the spray can of Pactra OD that I left under a stream of Hot water in the second bath room - was on the phone when I (and my wife) heard a rather loud pop - you guess the scene (and the language) that followed.

Last February, on my birthday, I severed the tendons at the last joint of my left index finger with a rotary blade in a Foredom rotary. Really stupid mistake that I have avoided countless time in the past.

I was in a hurry. How many times have I said: "If you're in a hurry, you're in the wrong hobby. 

I've got 4 nice little scares on my left hand, only one from modeling...3 others from wood carving. Once a wood chisle went through my palm...not all the way through, but pretty deep that was 6 stiches right there, i also skimmed some skin off the pad of my thumb with a #11 blade, 4 stiches, carving knife across a nuckle, 2 stiches, and 3 stiches on the upper part near the pinkie finger...also 4 stiches in my right hand from sheet metal doing some autobody work. On my last visit to the hospital i asked the nurse if, since i'd sen it soo many times, she'd let me do a stich...she looked at me like a freak and said "No!"

I had a CA tube whose cap glued onto the tip, so I couldnt unscrew it anymore. I couldnt wait to use some CA right then so I had the brilliant idea to make a hole in a side part of the tube with a needle, to extract some. Needless to say, there was some pressure inside due to pressing the tube while attempting to unscrew the cap. I pulled off the needle and the CA gushed covering three of my fingers. Fortunatelly I didn't glue them together, but for the rest of the day I peeled the white crust that covered my fingertips and nails.

i've rolled a #11 off the table and had it stick point first into the hardwood floor an inch or two away from a friend's foot.  classic!  didn't think an exacto could stick straight up out of the floor...

 i don't think i've ever had any major accidents but i regularly do things some might consider mildly hazardous without much care.  i'll wittle away a bit at my fingers with a #11 while working on small bit.  superglued my fingers together (pretty much whole hand) while waiting for some thick application to dry and holding it together.  i've not done much styrene work lately so the finger tips have healed but they'll periodically look like i put them through the garbage disposal.

 

 

Thats funny Shellback, well, you know what I mean.

I just pictured it as I was reading it.

I can just imagine.

Mike

I dropped a pin-vise, bit first mind you, while not wearing shoes or socks. I count myself lucky that I only had a 2 inch gash on my ankle and calf. Then there was the time I was sawing through some rubber pluming tube with an x-acto with the blade going towards the area of my hand between my thumb and pointer finger. Then there's the paint accidents, like a jar of flat red on the green carpet in my old room. A couple months ago there was the pot of Citadel Brown Ink that I backed over with my wheelchair on a light tan carpet. I wasn't worried about the spills, thats what they make Resolve Carpet Cleaner for, but the brand new wasted jars of paint.

MontanaCowboy wrote:

Shellback wrote:  MontanaCowboy wrote: I've stepped on several canopies. Oh, and lucky for me I always seem to be wearing shoes when I drop blades. One problem I have is spilling Tenax, usually down my leg.   Oh,  here's another happy time picture. Day before the contest.     What the heck is that stuff Montana ? SHL   PollyScale Flat from hell. Still won't come off.   I tried Pollyscale flat again, and it worked wonderfully.   So basically a SNAFU

MontanaCowboy you should try try to replicate that at every joint, and call it salt crusting.

 

Shellback wrote:

MontanaCowboy wrote: I've stepped on several canopies. Oh, and lucky for me I always seem to be wearing shoes when I drop blades. One problem I have is spilling Tenax, usually down my leg.   Oh,  here's another happy time picture. Day before the contest.     What the heck is that stuff Montana ? SHL

 

PollyScale Flat from hell. Still won't come off.

 

I tried Pollyscale flat again, and it worked wonderfully.

 

So basically a SNAFU 

 

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Triarius wrote:

There's another source of stability for bottles of solvent cement, etc. Save the plastic caps from aerosol cans. Many hav an inner cup that holds the cap on the aerosol can. This inner ring of plastic is almost exactly the diameter of many solvent cement bottles, including Tenax and Plastruct products. Press the bottle into this inner ring and double its stability.

I like your idea Triarius I've used 1 inch thick styrofoam for holding my bottles also . I have a slab of it that is 10x12 and is cut out to hold several different sizes of bottles , glue , thinner , paint etc ........SHL

MontanaCowboy wrote:

I've stepped on several canopies. Oh, and lucky for me I always seem to be wearing shoes when I drop blades. One problem I have is spilling Tenax, usually down my leg.   Oh,  here's another happy time picture. Day before the contest.

What the heck is that stuff Montana ?

SHL

There's another source of stability for bottles of solvent cement, etc. Save the plastic caps from aerosol cans. Many hav an inner cup that holds the cap on the aerosol can. This inner ring of plastic is almost exactly the diameter of many solvent cement bottles, including Tenax and Plastruct products. Press the bottle into this inner ring and double its stability.

Yeah, spilling a fresh bottle of Tenax, ruining a brand new optical mouse. Since that fateful moment I store all of my "killers" in tape rolls like this:

Accident is the step-mother of invention.

Finger slices are a part of the hobby- ever try modeling in thimbles?

SteveM 

I've stepped on several canopies.

Oh, and lucky for me I always seem to be wearing shoes when I drop blades.

One problem I have is spilling Tenax, usually down my leg.

 

Oh,  here's another happy time picture. Day before the contest.

 

 

How about a completely rigged model of the ship Thermopylae falling from the table and landing upside down . All of the mast and rigging busted and twisted... I just starred at it in disbeliefe and shock for a couple of minutes , then i got up and walked out of the room, i said a few choice words and when i was settled down returned to the scene of the disaster .Its amazing how a few ounces of plastic can change your outlook on life ! I eventually got it all put back together and its sitting on a display shelf now . (screwed down actually !)

SHL

ooh lol I can imagine. I've been playing defence for like 3 years, and I'm starting righty (right wing) now. I can be wayyy more aggressive playing offence.

jinithith2 wrote:

ow, an 11 to your stomach?!? A crazy round of Battlefield 2 does seem to help. Ice Hockey practices are a good way of relieving stress, except they only happen on weekends. Must...not...destroy...objects...

What position?? I ask because goalies and modeling DO NOT mix!! I played goal for 8 years, in hockey and soccer. My X-Acto knife rolled off the table and instinct set in and.....

I hate the sight of my own blood. I should of went in for stiches but didn't

Fortunately, my reflexes are still good. Sepuku with a No. 11 is not my bag…

ow, an 11 to your stomach?!?

A crazy round of Battlefield 2 does seem to help. Ice Hockey practices are a good way of relieving stress, except they only happen on weekends. Must...not...destroy...objects...

Yah, you're stressed…

…maybe you should watch a movie, or something? Yeeesh! That sent cold shivers up my spine!

Good topic. Mine are too numerous to count: Stabbed myself in the stomach with a No. 11 blade… trimmed my fingers with a circular saw blade… glued a finger to my nose…

and he's me…