Your biggest blunder

[LL3 Model Worx]

What is the funniest/worst mistake you have made on a model? You know the kind I'm talking about... the ones where you either laugh or you are compelled to immediately destroy the model!

I'll give you mine and then one more that's slightly different.

1: I had spent months building a Burton era AMT batmobile kit I mean I painstakingly ran fiberoptics with color changing/pulsing lights and went as far as delving deeper in the internet than I ever wanted to go, in order to find the perfect way to replicate the paint job of the original car. (It's not just black) then spent even longer testing and getting the process down to lay the paint on the body... I got it all done and got down to putting the 2 porthole windows in the upper bulkhead and I blobbed a huge spot of superglue right on the bulkhead... I came so close to jumping up and down on that model... but I stuffed it back in its box never to be seen again! Ever!

:2 being a silly kid and trying to lie to myself and build up the confidence that the little testors spray can enamel is going to work this time on the kit that I've worked so hard on... the ruin of many a good kit. And damn near turned me off the hobby. Until I learned a better way...

Tell me your biggest blunder/s

 

 

[Mike C.]

Trying to get an AMT Chevy van grill to fit in a Revell Chevy van. I didn't like the "custom" grill that came with the Revell kit, so I tried to fit the AMT, stock looking grill in the Revell van. After Dremeling the thing down to just a frame around the AMT grill. I decided to scrap the entire Revell van and go with an AMT Foxy Box Van. This kit comes with the choice of a stock grill. Somebody did tell me on this board, that even though the Revell kit is advertised as 1/25, it is really 1/24. So just a heads up for anybody else that gets this Revell Chevy custom van kit. It is in fact 1/24 and not 1/25 like it says on the box. 

Right now, the whole project is on hold because of some other projects that seemed to have jumped to the front of the line.

[LL3 Model Worx]

Good to know! I have ran into scaling issues before but not after hacking on the kit thank goodness.

[mchook]

My biggest blunder was buying my 1st model.  It's been over 40 years & I can't stop!

[iamsuperdan]

None really. I don't get too fired up over mistakes. 

Monogram Ferrari 512TR comes to mind, somehow spilled a drop or two of glue on the hood...when it was pretty much done. I had the kit completely assembled, and was attaching the door mirrors. So literally last step, and I goofed up the hood. Ahh well. Touched it up, meh.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Just flat stupidest model-related thing I ever did was leave the first car I ever got a good spray-paint job on in the convertible top well of my parents' Oldsmobile, in the sun, for hours.

Somehow, light coming through the rear plastic window concentrated on the model, just as though it had been a magnifying glass.

I vividly remember my horror at seeing my beautiful Pontiac Grand Prix, painted with AMT's metallic green lacquer, warped all out of any semblance of repairable.

It was a good kick in the butt, and made me start thinking about things before I'd done something really idiotic.

I still have the real '63 Olds, too.  

 

[Snake45]

6 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Just flat stupidest model-related thing I ever did was leave the first car I ever got a good spray-paint job on in the convertible top well of my parents' Oldsmobile, in the sun, for hours.

Somehow, light coming through the rear plastic window concentrated on the model, just as though it had been a magnifying glass.

I vividly remember my horror at seeing my beautiful Pontiac Grand Prix, painted with AMT's metallic green lacquer, warped all out of any semblance of repairable.

 

I did the same thing with a Monogram T-28 in the back window of my parents' '59 Bel Air. 

[stavanzer]

Getting into this hobby in the first place...

LOL.

I really like it, but sometimes it has caused me problems.

[Dpate]

I think one of my biggest so far would be when i used a molotow chrome marker for the first time on a script....lets just say i no longer use molotow chrome markers. 

[Bills72sj]

The one that sticks out in my mind is more of an unfortunate incident than a blunder. I built a beautiful 69 Camaro RS ZL-1 with fuel injection. Nice gloss black, gold Pro-Touring wheels and tires topped of with a custom set of metallic gold SS stripes from Keith Marks. Got it all done then sprayed some Testors glosscoat clear. Crinkled my cool looking decals. Never took it to any models shows because of it.

[Doug 1061]

Sometimes it seems like this hobby is one big blunder.....     I've learned over the years to think things through a bit better.  Like when I spent 30 or so hours filling/sanding on this Vandal body before I realized the body was warped😣   

And this A100 I built years ago.   I found a couple pieces of brass rod that fit perfect through the bumper holes.  Worked perfect to paint it but then I couldn't get the rods out after I got paint all over them.    

I have become better at fixing my screw ups, not to mention some of the blunders from the kit makers.   But  this is what keeps it entertaining.

[Plowboy]

I made a big one on my last project when I smeared what I thought was Tamiya Finish Compound, but was actually Tamiya White Putty on the roof. I managed to fix it luckily. 

My biggest was when I was a kid. My mother was stripping paint from the windows of our house and repainting them. She was using paint stripper and making it look easy to me. I had a '66 Skylark that my brother gave to me that was a color I didn't like. I asked her if I could use it on my model. She replied, "OH NO, don't you even touch this stuff, it'll burn your skin!" My thought was as soon as she goes inside, I'm going to put some of that stuff on my model. I got a piece of wood to set it on so that I could just grab the brush, slather some on and be gone. She went inside to make lunch and I had my chance! I grabbed the model from behind the house, grabbed the brush, slathered some on, hid it behind the house and went inside like nothing happened. After lunch, I went to check on it and there was nothing but a big blob of ugly colored styrene left! I guess I should have listened to her!   

[Oldcarfan27]

12 hours ago, Mike C. said:

So just a heads up for anybody else that gets this Revell Chevy custom van kit. It is in fact 1/24 and not 1/25 like it says on the box.

I just recently found out that the grill from the Revell/Monogram 1/24 Chevy van is too small for that kit too, so it may be even bigger than 1/24.

15 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

She was using paint stripper and making it look easy to me....  I grabbed the model from behind the house, grabbed the brush, slathered some on...  After lunch, I went to check on it and there was nothing but a big blob of ugly colored styrene left! I guess I should have listened to her!   

I learned my lesson a long time ago too. Luckily, I only used it on an AMT Camaro hood and stopped it before it damaged the part too badly - I was able to save it. 

Note to self: Real paint strippers are NOT for plastic models!!!!

[Oldcarfan27]

Never use pliers and/or a hammer to try to remove/install wire axles from the wheels.

And never use said pliers like a nutcracker to try to separate the outer wheels from the wheel backs! Unless lopsided rims are in your plans. 

I still have the flattened hubcaps from a 68 Chevy CST pickup to show for it. 😲 

[LL3 Model Worx]

Man there's some real tragedy and some good laughs here for sure! 

I forgot about the time I was laying down the paint on this nova when i made the discovery thay a tamiya paint stand will just completely fly apart without warning! Thing went straight  on the garage floor on its roof... luckily I managed to wet sand and respray. But man was I not happy with Tamiya and have since epoxied my stands together!

[stitchdup]

My deodrant and tamiya rattle tins are the same size. I used to do all my spraying in the bathroom as it has a good extractor. I got out of the shower and sprayed my armpits suburu blue

[magicmustang]

One of my first blunder's was when I was just starting the hobby as a kid. I had won a new '62 Impala kit at our school model car contest. Being that the kit was free I decided to buy my first can of spray paint. I put the body on newspaper on the floor of our carport an sprayed. Being enamel paint I went inside and left it to dry.  I did not notice that my mother was taking our parakeet's cage outside to be cleaned in the carport. 

When I returned to check on the body I saw it was covered in birdseed hulls and parakeet poop! My fault, I should have never left it outside. 

Wish I had had purple pond cleaner in those days.

[Tom Geiger]

When I was 13 I was building a 72 Cougar on my grandfathers basement floor. I put the body directly on the floor and sprayed!  My grandfather didn’t realize I was working there, opened the back door and threw a huge extension cord in, smashing the roof of the Cougar!

I was upset, and when he saw I painted the basement floor, he was upset and threw away my model. I believe he felt guilty because he came home from work the next night with a Porsche 914 kit.  I never built, but still have it!

Years later, as an adult,  after my grandfather’s death, I had to clear out the house to sell. I was cleaning out the basement, looked down and saw the blue body shape of the Cougar still painted on the floor.

[Joe Nunes]

My blunder was not packing my models up when I left home after graduating high school for further education. When I came home all the models were cleared out of my bedroom walk-in closet. Model cars, planes, aircraft carriers, ships and kits!  I wasn't happy...but my mom was!

Joe

[Scott Colmer]

This is always a fun topic.

I would say the biggest blunder was one that I could not fix. When I was 10ish. I decided to turn a flying wedge dragster into a side-by-side canted twin engine racer. I managed to increase the engine opening with reasonable skill. Then it got the hand painted back paint. I was in a hurry to dry it so I set it by a light bulb and went outside. When I returned the rear of the body had gone completely Salvador Dahli. Unsaveable.

Some I managed to fix:

Crushing a body between my legs when I dropped it while sanding.

Spraying a an original (before the reissue) painted Flame Out water tank with white paint instead of clear. Then trying to use thinner to wipe it off and erasing the detail. Then knocking the same finished model across the bench, basically disassembling it it.

Trying to modify a pedal assembly with a razor saw only to have it flung against the back wall of the bench

Again,  dropping a model that was almost finished because I could not resist one more mock up

There are a lot more, but those are the first to come to mind. 

 

[James2]

Not buying a bunch of the old ASA Stock Car kits when they were $20!

[Daddyfink]

Going out of sequence on the Tamiya Instructions! LOL! 

[espo]

I have had a few builds that turned into parts doners. I think it just goes with what we are doing. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Joe Nunes said:

My blunder was not packing my models up when I left home after graduating high school for further education. When I came home all the models were cleared out of my bedroom walk-in closet. Model cars, planes, aircraft carriers, ships and kits!  I wasn't happy...but my mom was!

Joe

I had basically the same thing happen to me.

When I initially moved out of my parents house, I left behind all of my models that were in my parents basement.

Most of the stuff was packed into it's boxes, but I had a few models and parts sitting out on a table in various stages of construction.

 

When I came home one weekend to retrieve all of my stuff, my mother informed me that dad had had enough, and went on a basement cleaning tirade.

All of my boxed kits were thankfully still there, but he had thrown away all of the loose stuff, which included such things as a Johan '69 Road Runner, an X-EL '58 Oldsmobile, and the interior from a Johan '63 Olds.

He threw away a whole box of models and parts from more common kits, and that never bothered me, but I still think about the Johan stuff that he tossed out occasionally.

Never did replace the '58 Olds.

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

Here's one that just happened to me recently that about sent me through the roof!!

A few weeks ago, I was moving a few things around in one of my model cases, and had taken a couple of models and a trophy out, and they were sitting out in front of the case when I reached in to move something else.

My sleeve caught the trophy, knocking it over onto the back end of my beloved Johan 1965 Plymouth Fury, crushing the rear suspension!

It was one of those OMG moments because initially, I didn't know whether it had cracked the body, damaged the paint, etc.

 

Luckily, the only damage appears to be the suspension parts, which I can easily repair.....some time.

 

This just goes to show you that it's nice to bring home some hardware, but it sure can turn around to bite you in the backside!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve