We should all share those moments when our madula oblongata seperates itself from the rest of our brains. We can all learn from our mistakes! I humbly submit my “Idiot of the month” anecdote.
I tried my brand new airbrush yesterday, first time ever using an airbrush. All was going well. (I did get confused over clockwise and counter clockwise for a few seconds)I was having a great time expermenting and practicing. I was finishing up for dinner, but still had quite a bit of paint left in the cup. I thought…hmmm, why don’t I just spray the paint back in the jar…So I stick the tip in the jar and press the trigger…I end up with half the jar on my shorts and the other half splattered around a 20 sq. ft. area in my yard. I sat there…stunned that I could be so stupid… I run in the house and tell my fiance that I “made a mistake”. It was acrylic so I immidiately ran to the washer and pretreated my shirt and shorts and tossed it all in. It’s supposed to rain tonight so I hope the paint comes off our concrete patio…moral of the story, don’t be lazy, do things right the first time. I should have either used the rest in practice, or poured the rest back in the jar (duh). Oh well, live and learn. [:D] P.S. the paint came out pretty good
My dumbest moment, there are a quite a few to choose from, was first time I fired up my Badger 200. This was also the first time that I had used a proper air brush.
I hooked everything up, put a jar of paint on the syphon feed and let rip, or rather didn’t.
No paint, just a hissing sound.
Like an idiot I’d forgotten to remove the cap from the front of the A/B[D)]
I did something similar, I was just getting air and then I realized I needed to open up the nozzle(it’s a single action) so the whole session was a learning experience!
i have also done the old “spray the paint back into the bottle” trick, with similiar results. not to mention the several bottles of paint and decal solution I have accidently tipped over …
I like to do the “cheap rattlecan paint through the straw into the airbrush paintcup” trick. Thing is you have to very gently press the rattlecan. Works most of the time. I had a can of white that went everywhere once though. Very similar to your “spray paint back in the bottle” trick.
I did the spray it back in the bottle stunt… I am starting to think thats a rite of passage for us modelers LOL.
My best one I can think of at the moment, I am sure Ill have more soon, is I was building hase’s quater scale P-38. I had all the sinkers I needed to stuff in the nose so it would sit right… had everything laid out. the model went togtehr beautifully, put a great coat of paint (was the first model after I got my omni 4000 back then) and sat back feeling real proud of myself. Took stock of what I had on the table and saw this little baggy and picked it up. “what the heck is this?” I sked myself and realized I was holding my sinkers. I forgot them!!!
So I thought heck I can handle this I’ll drill out some holes in the front of the necelles because the props will cover that up and ran outside to get some fine sand form the kids play area. Mixed it with with glue and made a little cake decorator pouch with a small styrene tip and started squeezing in my sand /white glue weight mixture to feel something plopping on my legs. I looked at saw my mixture running out… I forgot to install the main gear bays…
I bought a second kit heheh and forgot the wieght in that one too… but remembered the gear bays this time…
Jeff
mine was when I had open the testors flat black bottle(the ittle kind) and forgot it was open.
I went to grab something and bam! with my elbow, I clocked it and knocked it over.
there was this huge splatter on the wall and a blck smudge on my tan carpet.
lacquer thinner and some white paint took care of it though, but it was a waste of a dollar and a half
Well I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s done that, I felt like such an idiot. I didn’t even tell my fiance, I just said I made a mistake and ran to the basement. I still start laughing when I think about it
I once had a some what similiar problem with a bottle of Pactra paint (the big bottle). Was sitting there, idlely shaking the bottle to mix it and thinking about something else. Stopped and took the lid off at which point my wife hollered that I had a phone call. Set the bottle down, SET the lid on top of it (but didn’t screw it on) and went to take the phone call. 1/2 hr later came back and says to my self “Now where was I?” followed by “Oh, yea” at which point I grabbed the bottle of paint and tried to shake it vigoursly (sp). Yep, paint and BBs everywhere. And it was a brand new bottle of paint!
I use plastic droppers to mix my paint thinner ratios. I had an old one and I though it was empty, and BAM!!! Paint everywhere. Luckily not on my model though.
i’ve had many experience with knocking over paint bottles with my elbows…i remember one time i was painting something black…i had one of those plastic painting cloths underneath…well, being an idiot, i knocked the black over and it ran all over the plastic sheet…it didnt hit any parts or anything, just covered my working space…so, i just continued using the black paint that fell out and finished the pieces i was doing…the black paint settled into a puddle, so i left it there…when it fully dried, i just peeled it right off…still had some residue but it was easily washed with thinner…idiot stories are great, as long as a model or the builder doesnt get harmed.LOL
Actually I think this is part of a conspiracy between the paint and hardware manufacturers, where they figure after we fumble around and get the “hang of it”, suddenly we realize we are nearly out and need to buy more! [:-^]
yep, BBs. For years I would add a dozen or so BBs to my paint bottles to help with mixing. (i always shake the paint). Since I ended up somehow with a 25lbs of #12 birdshot, that’s what I use now (besides, the birdshot doesn’t rust in acrylics when I use that paint). Works for me.