I have just accomplished the equivalent of losing the centre piece of a 2500 piece jigsaw puzzle. I have never lost anything before during a build and, several hours of cleanup and searching later, I have to FINALLY admit that I have.
While airbrushing interior parts for the Fujimi Enthusiast Lamborghini Countach I am currently working on, I noticed that the part for the console that contains all of the switches was MIA. I knew I scrubbed it along with the other parts using Comet and the bathroom sink. I knew I washed and rinsed it after. From that point, I have no concrete recollection of the exact part--so the search involved every square inch between the bathroom and my office (My whole house!)
Being an integral part of the interior and its detail, I'm quite disappointed at its loss. I can build a new one--it will take a while to do accurately--but a setback like this will likely result in re-boxing and storage until I "Feel" the build again. Too Bad...I was on a roll.
Just sharing my pain...no one else in the house understands why a small piece of injection-molded plastic is so important to a 43 year old, grown, tax-paying property owner...