Painting - epic fails

[Trevor]

So I've managed to pick up a brush again recently, but managed an epic fail.
I had a half painted mini I wanted to add some gold base coat to. Open up the Vallejo model air gold, go to squeeze some out on the pallet, blocked. So do I stick a pin in it to clear it? No. I squeeze harder and harder... until POW! the lid flies off, gold paint sprays all over my painting table, all over the wall, blind, and settee and all over my forehead, leaving me with gold paint running into my eyes. Now I have a problem, if I open my eyes they get full of paint, so I'm stumbling around with my eyes closed trying to get to the sink to wash my face. Fortunately my girlfriend was on hand to assist and didn't laugh too much.
Amazingly, not one of the half painted minis on my desk was splashed, and with lots of water it washed out of everything except the blind (which now has a nice gold splash effect).
You would think after 27 years of painting I would know not to do this...

So anyone else have any epic painting fails?

[StillLifeMiniatures]

I've had many accidents with blood and paint spilled but this was the most memorable fail: I had just finished a 54mm historical model for a collector friend. I spent a few months picking at it and was quite proud. I proceeded to seal it. The labels had fallen off of the cans and I had picked up the primer instead. Yup.... I sprayed half of it with a lovely coat of white primer. I cried a little. I now make sure my spray cans are labeled clearly on the cap and I spray a test behind the model to make sure I that they're not labeled wrong.

[ipaintminis]

I've had many accidents with blood and paint spilled but this was the most memorable fail: I had just finished a 54mm historical model for a collector friend. I spent a few months picking at it and was quite proud. I proceeded to seal it. The labels had fallen off of the cans and I had picked up the primer instead. Yup.... I sprayed half of it with a lovely coat of white primer. I cried a little. I now make sure my spray cans are labeled clearly on the cap and I spray a test behind the model to make sure I that they're not labeled wrong.

OH MY GOSH! that's horrible. I would have cried a lot. a lot a lot.

I'm trying to think of any accidents I've had...I can't think of anything major - just the typical super gluing the mini to everything BUT where it's supposed to go and accidental pin vice piercings

[No Such Agency]

Wait... a post from IPM? It's like the old days!

As for fails, I can't say I've ever ruined a model, but I have spilled blue acrylic paint on my carpet, which is pretty bad. Water cleanup does not equal "spills clean up with water", alas. I've also ruined a few articles of clothing, but I consider that even because I "repaired" a few pairs of jeans in my poor student days by painting over stains with Space Wolf Grey

[gohkm]

Actually, I haven't had painting fails. Had lots of prep fails, though, largely involving planting drill bits in my fingers, gluing weird bitz to parts of my anatomy, and the occasional blade mishap. Worst one was probably trying to assemble a Forgeworld Contemptor half drunk, late at night - tried unsuccesfuly to pin things together and put the drill bit three times into three different fingers. I remember going to bed with plastered fingers and a broken drill bit somehow glued to my thumb.

My wife had some well deserved words for me the next day.

[funnymouth]

nothing as horrible as spray painting a completed model, but i do have a nasty habit of dropping minis that Ive just finished. you know that moment when you add that last dab of paint and think "ah, its done" then hold it up to the light? seems like every time, i drop it; bust pins and break bases and have to repair what I've just finished. its almost a tradition at this point, as though if i don't drop and break it it's not truly ready.

[lizcam]

I've had my share of epic fails but turning this



Into this



has got to be my worst. Never trust the guy at the model shop about water effects if you've never tried them before.

[moonmin82]

Lizcam: do you man to say that you WEREN'T going for the "swimming in orange soda" effect?!

[montka]

@lizcam ROFL! Thanks for showing

[Milosh]

That is brutal Lizcam. I must apologize to you though, becuase that fail really made me laugh. Resin water can be a nightmare.

[lizcam]

Yah, after I cried I had to laugh. My son still has it on his dresser (the bastard). I must say water effects and I are NOT very good friends. And it would have been such a cool little thing had it come out as looking like something other than wee. Oh well. That's the way we learn.

I still won the comp with the wip picture tho. The theme was water and it did look like she was swimming. That was back before Wamp became Wamp and was just a little group on Ebay.

[cannon_fodder]

painting fails-not yet (won;t say no, 'cause I know me and it WILL happen )

..but I have spent 3 hrs in an ER to get ten stitches and an inch and a half scar from using an exacto on a sprue of templates...while watching the Happy Days Reunion Special....after downing a full cup of Nyquil....


...Raise your hand if you have ingested rinse water on a regular basis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<Raises Hand

[lizcam]

...Raise your hand if you have ingested rinse water on a regular basis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<Raises Hand

Yah. I've learned to keep the rinse water to the left and the drink to the right. And use cups that look different.

I regularly stab myself in the belly with xacto knives. I just figure it's letting out the hot air.

[Wyrmypops]

I had a minor Aigh! that wasn't really mine to have. Painted a lovely old GW elf (Skarloc) while living with the then girlfriend and her toddler. We woke the next day to find he'd tried to emulate us. Blue paint all over the mini. Amazingly, it wasn't applied too thick, even after managing to open the paint with his tiny hands. I've still not the heart to strip the paint off it.

[Dragonsreach]

Superglue>Jeans> hairy leg.
You can do the math.

[airhead]

Airbrushing one night. The paint is getting thick, needs to be shook up again. Old shortcut / trick is to hold your finger over the end of the gun and shoot some air. This will send air back down into the jar and mix the paint up. But the jar was pretty full so 40 psi of air sent paint out the air bleed hole of the jar. Pretty blue paint all over one corner of the ceiling, down the walls and a spatter line across the carpet.

The carpet was old and came with the house so it was no loss. But it was years before we redid that room and I had a reminder for the whole time.

Now if you had asked about just fails I'd have a lot more stories.

[Alowan]

This is a truly great post

I have not had any real fails yet. But have ruined a pair of shorts after I forgot that the stick I just stirred the paint with was on the table and then somehow flicked it trough the air and onto my paints leaving a really nice yellow (suddenly it covers really well) stain on my shorts.

Also drilled trough my painting underlay and into my table as well as into my nail.

But the real fails has yet to come.

[di_n_o]

spilled a whole bottle of paint on the carpet, managed to clean it up good and so ended my story, or so i thought. then years later when the carpet was being removed the questions began about what the hell is this massive stain under the carpet.

not an epic fail but a fail in itself

[Eggmarine]

Was sat in the living room trimming the mould lines off some GW cadians with a brand new blade mounted on my ancient and venerable swann morton scalpel. The girlfriends parents come round to pick us up for a pub lunch, I promptly slip the blade under my cuticle and out the other side, opened up my finger to the knuckle. Much much blood and a trip to casualty for stitches, no pub lunch.

Have lost count of the times I've cleaned my brush in coffee, and then drank the coffee.

Not a painting fail but I made a cardboard baneblade over about 6 months, hoarding bits and adding detail. I looked great and I was very proud, until I stood on it. The bedroom floor makes a poor place to keep your minis.

[10 ball]

Mistaking the clear coat spray for the black primer tin, oh yes fun, fun, FUN!!!!!!

Liz - water effects were sent from hell to kill us all.