What do you do when you lose bits ?

[zak illingworth]

Just a wee query, Like myself I take it most of us have fingers like white puddings, and trying to fit certain bits is a nightmare. What do you do when you drop bits though ? I made a 1/35 willys jeep recently, christ was that small. Spent more time on my hands and knees looking for minute pieces. going to try and find a 1/2 scale next lol

 

[Benhur]

Don't have a grey or black carpet. My dogs are good at finding things but tend to chew them or swallow them. I hate making aircraft engines cos keep losing bits as they ping out of the tweezers.

 

[papa 695]

I scream and cry a little

 

[shaun platts]

Recently built a 1/35 willys myself. I lost a lot of PE parts, broke my mirror and lost my steering wheel. I generally do a lot of sulking and swearing. Try this forums bits bin or ebay or companies replacement parts service.

 

[chris2681]

I usually yell and swear for a few minutes after a half hearted attempt to find it. If its something that's not too noticeable I move on. Just part of the game I guess. If its something kinda important , I myself have three options. One is to rifle through my parts box and cobb something together or the second option is to then rifle through Grumpa's junk boxes and see where that gets me. And last but not least , hope Grumpa has the same kit , and proceed to rob him:D Hopefully he doesn't respond to this thread.:eek:

 

[Deleted member 3568]

If the CM has managed to steal it away I've generaly found there's always a way to scratch build the part, or if it's not seen and makes something work (like a hinge or latch) with some ingenuity you can make something which works ( may not look much like the original part but if it's not seen it don't mater)

 

[Neil]

I'm training one of the dogs to become a retriever. It may take longer than originally planned...

 

[Alan 45]

I Knick similar parts out of other kits or look in my spares box

 

[Robert1968]

Well it's always good to look in the spares drawer if you have one and you can always ask here on the forum as well as evilbay/ amozon/ and the odd craft shop ( John at Scale Model Shop is pretty good at ordering stuff.


Scratch building is a good way to go or scavenging from old kits.


Regards


Robert

 

[monica]

I scream and cry a little

I,m with Ian on this one,plus a few four letter words,and that carpet monster gets the brunt of it,lol :D

 

[PaulTRose]

i have a laminate floor.............and a torch......often on hands and knees going all CSI looking for something lol

 

[Germanjim]

I get really grumpy for a while move on if it's not too important sometimes go looking for it usually find it days sometimes weeks later when you have made a replacement have been known to bounce the model off the wall(not recommended).


Jim

 

[aaron]

I find myself in this exact predicament having snapped an opel blitz windshield. I just packed it up back into the box and started scanning my stash for a new project.

 

[monica]

oh lol,


I do spent so time looking but never ,never to be found at all,


some time bits get stuck on the cats fur and here real gone for good then,

 

[tommy1drop]

Curse a lot, then hope the wife can find them:D

 

[dubster72]

Curse, sob, blame the cat for hiding it :P


But what's even worse is losing half of a part, in my case the supercharger intake for a 1/32 109. Then whilst looking in a box wholly unconnected with modelling I found the missing piece.... can I find the original bit? Can I heck!


But I know the moment I buy a resin replacement, both bits will magically reappear

 

[stona]

Get the Dyson out, stretch the remnants of a pair of SWMBO's tights over the nozzle, and vacuum the entire floor. This will pick up all the shavings and other trimmings littering your floor, but usually you will eventually find the missing part stuck to the fabric of the tights as well. I now do this immediately as I've found scrabbling around on my hands and knees looking for small parts with a head torch on is more often than not a waste of time. Effing and blinding makes me feel better but does not aid in the quest for the missing part. I still do it though!


What is incredible is how far very small and light pieces of plastic or brass can move themselves from where they were dropped. They seem to defy the laws of physics!


Cheers


Steve

 

[takeslousyphotos]

oh lol,
I do spent so time looking but never ,never to be found at all,


some time bits get stuck on the cats fur and here real gone for good then,

I just blame Eric....... He also steals things from my toolbox. He likes the emery boards ........... I found three under a rug the other day.

 

[BBdave]

I have a hard wood floor and find switching the lights off and using a torch flat across the floor makes it easier to find as it casts a bigger shadow.


Dave

 

[Triumph]

At a model show this year, a guy was giving building demonstrations. Spread under and around his work top was a white sheet, which meant any piece he knocked or dropped from the work top, landed in the sheet and was an easy find. Note this does not work with the bits that go "Ping" from out yer tweezers