I learned real quick about kittys and models, so thats why i keep my model room door locked. oh yah, did you open the door or window first?[;)] LOL
I feel you pain here , but mine is ten fold of yours , I own 2 ferrets ! Everything has to be put away or watched every second , or it gets broken , knocked on the floor, or just plain dissappears altogether ![B)][:D]
lol, that’s an annoyance. I had a model of a space shuttle once, and people kept picking it up while I wasn’t at home. After rebuilding the cargo doors, and various other parts on it three times, I just quit. Also, for the past 5 years, since I’ve built a 1:48 Hind D helicopter, those main rotor blades have neever seemed to be able to stay on it
I would no doubt be using dyed cat hair for grass in my next diorama… But then i am not a big cat person…
Peace
Yeah, I feel your pain too. It was one VERY bad day when I was airbrushing my f-105g and all of a sudden a heard this huge crash over the compressor! I had to leave the paint in the AB, I turned the psi to 0, fliped it to the off switch and ran to my room. I looked out and my cat was running 100mph out of the room and down the stairs. “This couldn’t be good” I thought. I open the door and AHHHHHHHHH! THE SHELVING THAT HELD MY MODELS WAS RIPPED OUT OF THE WALL! My cat had jumped on the shelving, with doesn’t support a cat (couldn’t find a stud, had to put it in drywall) of course when he jumped on there it imediatly ripped out of the wall and catapulted models all over the far edges of the room (7ft!) I was picking up the pieces from the blast radius for that whole day! the models were actually fine, just small things broke off, like mg’s and antenaes and whatnot. got it fixed it’s ok now, but my cats not going in the room anymore!
Feeling guilty, just drove over a cat few minutes ago, definitly dead. hope he wasn’t someones pet, looked a bit rough. Have a cat myself, insists on jumping on modelling desk and computer. …a few puffs from a blower brush and he runs off, safe and effective!
Regards John.
…an effective method…keep the door closed…[:D]
You know you could use some ACC glue on the floor, I’ll bet it would be a hoot to see the cat try to move.
Jake
I have noticed that cats are a lot slower learners than dogs. Spray a cat with mace, or cyan pepper, or throw it out… they JUST DON’T GET IT. One hit of mace, and I would imagine that a dog would stay away for good.
I agree… cats and models don’t mix. How many times have you sprayed/AB’ed something, let it dry, only to come back and find animal ((cough cat cough)) hair permanently glued to it. ARGGGGGGGGGG
P.S.> I don’t really spray animals with mace… however, depending on if I was defending a model or not from animal, or a person… mace would definitely be something I would consider.
I have to do the same with German Shepherds. Best method to date is to keep the door closed and no unsupervised dog help.
Cats by their nature are always going to get involved with things and will take an interest in whats going on. Not to mention the desire to always find a vantage point. Usually meaning the model shelf. Some good operant conditioning will work to a point but the best way is to keep them separated from the area.
Its sort of like walking away from your sandwich on the coffee table to get something to drink, only to return and find your dog has eaten said sandwich. Do you blame the dog? He figured it was time to eat and you left the sandwich on the table where he coud get it.
If all else fails…the vacume cleaner. Keep it near your bench and when puss comes a calling just tap the on switch. Guaranteed to clear the room for at least the rest of the build session.
Mike
I do feel your pain, but, you were warned.
Mine loves to watch me model also… He knows better about my model area. I’ve taken him to the local China Buffett and introduced him to Whone Hunga Loo and he has been a good Kitty ever since.
Serious though our Cat will ignore me all day. Let me open a paint jar and bingo there he is on my lap watching the master at work He He…
Early last year, somebody posted a thread in, I believe it was the General Modeling forum, titled “Can Cats and Models Get Along?” I recounted how when I was a kid, the cats we had while I was growing up would get into my bedroom and knock the models to the floor. It almost became a routine–I would build a model and a feline would knock it off the shelf!
Nowadays, the cat that I have is starting to get up there in years, so mostly she sleeps and doesn’t bother my workbench. The only time it’s a problem is when she wants to sit in my lap while I’m trying to model. The tools and chemicals we use in our hobby are not good for cats, so when I’m fooling with knives, glue or paint, the last thing I need is a cat in my lap. As for completed models, I keep them in clear acrylic containers like you used to be able to find at Kmart and place a few glass telephone pole insulators on top so the cat can’t use the box as a perch.
Even more than my models, my insulator collection is the one place in my house that is strictly forbidden to my cat. I remember years before I rediscovered modeling when I had two cats, one of them jumped onto the light box where I keep my insulators and knocked a small telephone-line insulator on top of a much larger high-voltage power insulator. It was the middle of the night and I was only half-aware that the cats were chasing each other around the house until I heard the CRASH! That certainly woke me up! Even as I was sitting up in bed, the younger cat dashed into the bedroom and DIVED under the dresser–I didn’t think she could even fit, but she went under it with no problem. Much to my dismay, both insulators were broken; one of them so badly I had to replace it–fortunately it was a common one that was easily obtainable the next time I saw a fellow insulator collector.
The cat leaves me alone when I do models but using the table saw in the shop is a scary experience as she loves to jump up there even when it is running! Arggggggggggg! Doesn’t mind power tools at all! Strange cat indeed!
Oh yes,
I have been there!
I was working on a build, a few months back and the cat got onto the workbench (late at night)
Well, to make a long story short, when I went to contunue the build, I was missing several pieces that were painted and drying on cardboard. I later found them, in the cats bed, yes all chewed up.
Well my Wife is the cat person and she said I should have stored them better. I agree.
This was until the cat got into one of my wifes knitting projects. Needless to say, the cat is now living in the garage [:)]
My cats about 16 and stays outdoors. Poor thing has just never been a house cat. She’s still pretty healty for such an old cat! Our pomeranian is too little to jump on my modeling table and ever since I moved my chair onto his foot, he doesn’t come in my modeling room much anyway!
My model room is off limits to our 3 cats and they know it !
You can condition them to remember but I won’t get into that technique.
LOLOLOL
any chinese restaurants in your area? permanent solution to the problem
Okay, Guys and Girls…Check out this poor, helpless feline! I found this on the internet. It’s not a pic of my cat or my pc. Although, my cat looks an awful lot like this one!
I’m pretty much in the same boat as the rest of you with one exception, my cat has yet to destroy any models. He does lay on anything that I’m tring to read, sit up in front of my computer screen, lay on my mouse, and he never hops onto my lap he has to climb, claws and all.