32 replies to this topic

[mnwildpunk]

I was working on AMT 71 Duster and I was sanding the nubs off the dizzy when "fling" it went sailing through the air. I knew I was in trouble when it didn't make a noise. I have already lost the coil to the same model but It's easy enough to make my own. I wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal since I have hard wood floors Boy was I wrong. I just get sick of these lil set backs. If the model companies really want to start making money they should start making packs of extra distribitors, coils & things of that nature . What is the most common thing that sets your builds back? Lost parts is my number one followed closely by paint issues. Let me hear the thing that bugs you the most about model building?

[JMD904]

Loosing parts and gluing windows! I work on model trains a lot, and boy, it's a good think I have a hoard of small parts! I'll go to look for something, and I'll find something from a previous repair or build or project!

Edited by JMD904, 24 February 2013 - 09:01 AM.

[Rob McKee]

I got bitten by the floor monster a couple of weeks ago when it stole the steering wheel from the Camaro I was working on. I searched everywhere, my wife came in and searched everywhere and it was gone. 2 days ago I found it sitting in plain view under the bench.

 

I guess he didn't like it.

 

Go figure.

[cobraman]

If not too uncomfortable you can sand and or cut parts off of trees in a clear storage bag. Works good but it is kind of weird feeling to do it. If you loose control of your part it will be in the bag.

[slusher]

Dave it has happened to me a few times. l have carpet but when it happens l get her to help me and so far we have found the last few. Foiling is tuff for me with one handicaped hand...hang in there...

[Albie D]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who deals with missing parts that seem to grow feet and hide in plain sight. I think prepping for paint is very tedious. I have to break up my sanding sessions or I start to rush and not enjoy myself. Model car building is definitely a hobby of attrition in every sense of the word. The end result is always worth it though.

[mnwildpunk]

Well I cheated I had an old parts by park dizzy laying around because I wasn't happy with it when I bought it but it works in a pinch. Now tomorrow I'll find the other one I bet lol

[Custom Hearse]

But of course Dave! You'll find it sitting right next to the engine with the Parks distributor mounted on it...

 

I have the same problem... I lose parts to the kit I'm working on to the insatiable appetite of the floor. The part could be 1" square, and flat, and when I drop it, it'll roll faster then the best Hot Wheels car ever made...

[disabled modeler]

I have that problem of parts just vanishing into thin air....  What troubles me the most is being a restorer of the older kits/builds is finding those hard to find one or two parts needed to complete one enough to start on the restoration process...many of them have sat for 15 years waiting.

[Rob McKee]

I have even held ceremonies where I have sacrificed spare parts to the beast. The beast is never interested in the sacraficed parts as

no matter how I offer (throw) the parts to the floor they always remain within site.

 

I cannot intentionally loose parts that I don't care about.

 

I think Discovery channel may be interested in doing another reality show based on the monster of the floor.

 

Has anyone ever seen or got a picture?

[Tom Geiger]

Dave, I don't see the model manufacturers coming to our rescue with a tree of distributors and coils. The aftermarket, scratch building and parts kits and bags are your friend.

 

My favorite distributors are the Model Cars and Replicas of MD ones that are cast predrilled. They come several in a bag for around $5 so they're not all that expensive.  As you mentioned, you can also scratch build the parts.  Since I build a lot of cars with 4 and 6 cylinder engines, and most of the aftermarket distributors are for eights, I've been making my own from Evergreen tube and wire. I also seldom pass up cheap parts kits, which are the source of well, parts!  About a year ago I bought a huge bag of plastic junk at a show, and filled my parts drawers with all kinds of things that will come in handy someday.  Like today, I was working on my '28 Citroen truck and noted that the kit had a little bump on the rear door for the tail light.  I have a whole little drawer full of red lenses from years of parts collecting.  I found one that was ideal.

 

 

Here's my Citroen 4 cylinder engine.  I made the distributor from Evergreen tube and the coil came from my parts drawer marked "Engine accessories".

[charlie8575]

My problem is finding someplace to be able to consistently, quietly, happily work.

 

As I'm in a very cramped situation right now, everything is multi-purposed, even stuff that shouldn't be, and it leads to missing/mislaid parts, although usually in a couple of square foot area, lack of ability to work steadily, etc.

 

The big project this spring, I think, will be to get this major hobble taken care of.

 

Tom- nice job on that engine.

 

Charlie Larkin

[Deathgoblin]

Had this happen with the blower motor on my 57 Chevy.  I was clamping the two pieces together, the clamp slipped and it flew off into space.  I heard it click off a wall somewhere.

[W-Machine]

The floor/carpet is not a part-eating "monster". It's actually an interdimensional gateway to another universe that contains missing socks, Federal funds, keys, and anything thought lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

[Joker]

Hahaha..great topic..I was washing the sanding dust off my '56 when I heard a tink sound..

well it turned out to be a tail lite I had dry fitted on the body..one was still there but I lost one

down the drain..ugh!  ...at a recent show I dug thru several boxes and built ups and came  up

empty..the cheapest '56 kit was 18 buck..not justifiable in my book for one tail lite lense..

going for a Lucas tail lite treatment if I can't find a replacement.

[mnwildpunk]

The floor/carpet is not a part-eating "monster". It's actually an interdimensional gateway to another universe that contains missing socks, Federal funds, keys, and anything thought lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

this made me laugh hard!

[Ramfins59]

Yeah I absolutely hate losing those small parts.  My issue mainly involves trying to pick up and place a teeeeeeeny PE piece with a pair of pointed, magnetized tweezers.  The piece goes "phtwing" and flies off to neverland...  way too small a part to even think you'll be able to find it.  I stopped using the tweezers for this process and pick up the part with a moistened toothpick (I lick it) and touch the toothpick to the part, over a white paper plate, and put it in place, using a very small drop of clear enamel as the glue (dried paint makes an excellent glue).  I tried using clear, 2 part epoxy to glue the PE parts, but I wound up wasting too much epoxy as it's tough to squeeze out only toothpick tip sized drops of epoxy and hardener.

The other main thing that bugs me about modeling is sanding mold lines, seams and sink marks.  Sanding mold lines from tiny parts is such a P.I.T.A. and sooooo time consuming.  But it's all part of the prep work of building a good looking model so I just grin and bear it.

[mnwildpunk]

O.k. This may be a different topic but like the band boston says "are you feelin satisifed" I never am satisifed with a single model I build. Every single one I build I have my mistakes/things I don't like glaring me in the face!

[Ramfins59]

Dave, the idea is to learn from those mistakes and not make them again on the next model.  None of us have made "the perfect model" but, hopefully, each one gets a little better than the last.  We can all find our own little mistakes or that one little chip in the paint, or the tiny spot on the chassis that we didn't paint, etc., etc.... but usually not very many, if any, other people are going to see that tiny little defect.  

[mnwildpunk]

one more issue I have is my own forgetfulness (i think it's from things I did back in the day wink wink) like on one model I wasted two straight days looking for a wheel rim. I knew I had two on the tree still and I was looking for the two I thought I had laying around. During the whole time I would look at the two on the tree and then the two I had mounted on the rear axle but it didn't compute. I swore there was still two laying on my bench somewhere not realizing the two I was looking for were already mounted!!! Can you say duh boy's and girls