Greatest mistakes

Thank you...all of the above and a problem shared is a problem halved!!!!

Me too...I don't care how much photo-etch there is for it...

When I was 17 I spent New Year's Eve rigging a Revell Constitution with a bottle of Jameson's Irish Whiskey I "borrowed" from my father.

Woke up the next morning to discover most standing rigging run backwards and shrouds connected to a gooseneck lamp.

No more mixing modeling and alcohol here, folks.

Cookie Sewell

Oh yeah... the time that I was using decal strips for canopy framing.. reached for the Solvaset bottle... did you know it's exactly the same size and shape as the thinner I was using then? Yep... liberal wipe of thinner on my canopy with a soaked Q-tip.....

Round-filed that model.

--- Tontoni

have you been to hobby town in vegas? they have one hanging, near a 1/72....damned amazing kit. they also have the 1/48 zwillig hanging in front of the gigant. that would be a great cool weather ride...go the back way through trona and dv.

did you save it?

Yeah...but I haven't been there in ages. Long enough that I can't recall the last time I have been to Vegas...

Got back to St. Louis for the first time in about 8 years last week...the old shop in St. Charles across the street from where I used to live is still there! Stopped in and looked around a bit.

coolness. my niece is there.

Not one of mine but at a school fair I went to there was a very keen modeller who loved the Englis Electric Lightning, he must of had a kit in markings for every squadron that flew the aircraft. He was devistated when I pointed out that one of his aircraft had the engine exhausts upside down. The end of the fuselage slopes forwards from the top to the bottom and is usualy molded as a seperate part by the kit manufacturers, not a mistake you would expect from such an enthusiast.

My own worst mistake was dropping the canopy of the AMT Ju 88 G1/G6 on the floor and not realising it untill I stood on it and heard the crack!!

Alastair Macfarlane

hey, i've done that...twice. and of course always after a long, hard paint and mask.

Cheaper to scratch it. Waaaaaaay cheaper!

;)

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Oh yeah, I know that well!

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Solvaset bottles are very similar to some liquid glue bottles too. :(

Bill Banaszak, MFE

i'm sure. but i'm also sure my skills aren't quite there yet. maybe next week. har har.

and the big bottle loves to fall over when full. now i put some in a clearly marked testor's paint bottle.

After having built a MiG-23 kitbashing parts from the Hasegawa and Zvezda/Italeri kits (and some scratchbuilt parts), having sprayed a beautiful soft hedge 4 colors camouflage scheme and having used great aftermarket decals (Linden Hill) I found (guess how?) that Gunze paints (and mainly their clear gloss) aren't compatible with the final flat coat I used (Polly Scale): the whole paintjob cracked!!!!

My 0.02

On models, I've seen the frame number for Gibson's Lancaster without the '/G' (as in ED932/G) designation which means that the aircraft needed a guard looking after it due to secrets.

I can't remember the book now but I had read that the guard was designated to secure the aircraft prior to the raid.

Richard.

I really REALLY appreciate threads like this, because it makes us all realize that we are not alone and that mistakes (BAD mistakes) happen to everyone. Sometimes the hobby can be very frustrating, but reading about other people's problems (and being able to share a laugh about them) makes the urge to stop building go away.

I was about 14 years old (a looong time ago) and I was building two Revell 1/72 Me-262's. I had just learned about "washing a model with soap and water" to remove "grease" so I washed them and put each of them on top of an electric lamp to dry. I figured that the gentle heat of the 60 watt bulbs would dry the models more quickly.

I returned to find that the planes had (I still can hardly believe it) actually liquified and the melted plastic ran down over the bulbs to create colorful drippings. Fortunately I arrived BEFORE they burst into flame. It was amazing. Gosh!