Share your &*@%$!!! Hobby Moments

[Diablo Jon]

So the last few nights I've been painting up an old Chronopia snake-man that I found in the lead pile. I have no use for the miniature right now I just felt like a break from all the darkest Africa miniatures I've been painting up.

I built the multi-part miniature and filled all the gaps last weekend. I finished the painting on Tuesday, yesterday I varnished him without mis-hap. The miniature looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, and I was happy with how he turned out.

Tonight I just had to finish the basing. I did my mix of flock and pva glue and then prepared to add the final touch of some static grass tufts.

As I picked up the miniature my hand, brain and eyes had a brief failure or coordination and I watched, in slow motion horror, as my miniature fell out of my hand and tumbled end over end before hitting the ground and breaking into three pieces.

I picked up my broken miniature, stuck him on my painting desk,
stood up switched of the gaming room light and closed the door. Maybe I'll repair him tomorrow… if I can face it.

So guys cheer me up and share some of your crappy hobby moments

[TripleBackflip]

When I drop my stuff, it's ok because I'm usually lead on a sofa, one really annoying thing was this 40k Tau vehicle I have, when I first finished it, I had it in my room and my family members couldn't seem to stop themselves from knocking it off, the base part kept breaking and getting stuck in the bottom, so we'd drill it out and ram the base further in.

Eventually I gave up and now, many years later, I managed to give it some kind of base.

[Elbows]

"The Flying Dutchman"
Painted up a cowboy miniature.  While shaking off some dip in the middle of the night he went flying into the driveway and flew off into the grass...Found him, carefully sanded/shaved damage to his hat, etc...stripped him down and repainted him.  Dipped, placed on a table to rest..bumped table, fell onto the floor in the garage literally into cobwebs and dirt.  Stripped...AGAIN.  Actually stripped/repainted again a few years later where he's finally done/nice.

"Jump Marines don't jump..."
Flat coated a squad of marines with jump packs.  Opened screen door to come inside, snagged the edge of the box they were in, flipped them into the garden and stairs.  Shattered numerous arms/jump packs, etc.  Didn't touch them for a while out of sheer anger...eventually re-did them.

[Cubs]

A few years back I was painting a huge LOTR collection for a customer and was putting in a lot of evening hours to try to get them done. I had finished finished painting the 9 Fellowship models and put them in my spray box for varnishing. Shook the tin thoroughly, then smoothly sprayed over the models ... with black undercoat. I'd picked up the wrong spray can. I actually wept. Only 2 models escaped, the rest had to have one side completely repainted.


There have been a few shameful episodes where I've broken or lost bits of a customer's model and had to pay them compensation for my stupidity. But there was one which wasn't my fault, where I was painting up some plastic Airfix models for an article. They took me ages and I was about 3/4 through when I foolishly left the studio door open one day and then discovered the new kitten had go in, jumped on my desk and chewed the hell out of them. She was damn lucky she survived to be a cat, I can tell you.

[Harry Faversham]

*@%$!!! pretty much defines everything I ever touch! 

The magic of this lunacy we all indulge in, is when in spite of the prawn on the business end of the paintbrush...
somehow, our toys turns out half respectable.

[jon_1066]

If you want more stories like this then you can peruse the master thread for all the trips to the floor and trips to hospital:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=87581.0

Be warned some true horror stories reside there - its not for the fainthearted.

[Sardoo]

"Shook the tin thoroughly, then smoothly sprayed over the models ... with black undercoat. I'd picked up the wrong spray can."

Been there, done that - with white undercoat! 

[Diablo Jon]

Thanks guys your tales of woe put a ....err...smile on my face

[Sinewgrab]

When a shelf arm breaks on the shelf holding your entire carefully converted Pirate Empire army snaps, and all you can do is watch the shelf bend in the middle, and the entire army slides off the plexiglas shelf and tumbles to the hardwood floor 6 feet below.

Took me almost 4 years before I could bring myself to look at them again, and finally repair and repaint.

[Diablo Jon]

When a shelf arm breaks on the shelf holding your entire carefully converted Pirate Empire army snaps, and all you can do is watch the shelf bend in the middle, and the entire army slides off the plexiglas shelf and tumbles to the hardwood floor 6 feet below.

Took me almost 4 years before I could bring myself to look at them again, and finally repair and repaint.

ouch that sounds brutal.

[Mindenbrush]

No figure disasters as yet - touch wood and fingers crossed - but I did manage to squirt hot glue down my leg ..... whilst wearing shorts ........ and it stuck to my fingers as I pulled it off 

[FierceKitty]

Spilled superglue onto my thigh yesterday (wouldn't come out, then all at once). I don't wear clothes at home, so this could have been a gold-medal disaster!

[AKULA]

Walked into my games room the other day to a scene of destruction....the glass door of a detolf cabinet had decided to shatter into a million pieces. 

Bit of a mystery...was a cabinet I’d had for years, nothing had fallen against it, no big temperature changes etc

More of an inconvenience than anything...the upper shelves each had 100 figures on them, all of which had been dusted with tiny flakes of glass, and needed careful cleaning...still finding small pieces a good 6’ from the cabinet.



No miniatures were harmed in the taking of this photo.

[Hammers]

Mine include:
-thinking I  am using a clear varnish rattle can, which belatedly proves to be a unused can of gold paint...
-the sons of Hammers, at a young age, getting hold of a new batch of minis and bring them to the sand box for an afternoon if revel
- forgetting a completed piece of game board outside. Over night. In the rain.
- and my trade mark: cutting myself with a craft knife, bleeding all over the place

[dadlamassu]

Not a modelling or construction moment but...

A few years ago I was a wargame show and while walking around saw a game set in Iraq.  As I had recently returned from an operational tour there I chatted with the organiser and was told the scenario.  It was an action in which I had been involved. 

As I watched the player owning "20mm mini me" carry out a (tactically inept) advance his opponent rolled his dice and "20mm mini me" fell dead.

A very odd "&*@%$!!!" moment.