How Dumb is this

[whdamon]

Let me start with a photo of a vignette i just finished up this past week. Out of box, 54mm by Soldiers of a Rogers Ranger and an Abanaki during the French and Indian War. My take this was the raid on St Francis by the Rangers and depicted in the movie NorthWest Passage with Spencer Tracey.

Done in a combination of oils and acrylics. I found this to ba an except sculpt with some minor assy line up with the various hand/arm positions on the rifle, but other than that a welcome addition to my FIW collection. Biggest hurdle was getting past the box art....talked to many others who passed on this figure because of first impression of box art when scanning vendor tables loaded with so many other goodies. I thank John of Military Warehouse for letting me peek inside.....this was a very pleasant surprize.

Thats the good news............I'll let you gaze at the photo first and the next entry will explain why its the last photo of this little gem

Walt Damon

 

[whdamon]

After seeing the photo which uploaded kind of fuzzy for some reason, it just adds to my pain of being so stupid earlier this morning when photographing this piece. I like out door light, especially in the shade of a winter day when a lot of snow is around to give some great reflected light.

So I set up and take the first photo you see above.......then came the wind gust, and you can imagine the result when the vignette went head over heals from a 4 foot high perch on to my ice coated deck. With out an explaination of all the followon drama, and letting you fill in the blanks, needless to say I am one very un happy camper and need a big blast of sauce.

Walt Damon

 

[John Long]

I've been there Walt, I feel your pain. The first diorama I ever made met a similar fate while I was making finishing touches.

 

[captnenglish]

Walt, I had a similar experience about a year ago (mine involved a cat though).

 

[Sambaman]

Walt,
if its any consolation the piece looks nice! I'm sure with some determination and some cyano you can re-buil it!

Jay H.
OKC

 

[Vikingz]

Just think, Could have been worse if you were at a show and this happened.
I hate it when that happens.... Dohhh

 

[garyjd]

Walt, What else can onne say. Sorry to hear about it. Man that really sucks. ~Gary

 

[brian]

This little fella fell 30feet out of my paint room window onto a pile of bricks in my backyard when a gust of wind blew the curtains which knocked him off.It was a nice summers day some years ago hence the window being left open.After many hours of work over several weeks i was stunned and was ready to throw him in the bin,but the wife told me to wait until the next day.Needless to say i stuck him back together again re-painted an arm trying to match the rest of the figure and covering up paint chips.
He went on to win an award at Euro-Militaire and is still one of my favourite figures although it was painted some years ago, and not my best .My old mate Adrian Bay reckoned he was the first Fallshimjager in WW1.
Brian

 

[Roc]

Walt, first of all, despite of what happened the vignette looks great , you did a good job and I hope to see you and the vignette at the MFCA show.

Cheers
Roc.

 

[Bluesking]

I think we have all fallen foul of windy days!!

 

[EasyOff]

That's a bummer Walt, sorry to hear it, if anyone can bounce back from a tragedy its you.

 

[AJLaFleche]

Damn, I sorry that happened. Glad I got a chance to see this up close last Wednesday. Unless there are some major bends, you should be able to repair them, n'est ce pas? I have a spare, unpainted axe if that would help and a couple Michael Roberts Brown Bess muskets as well if you need one.

 

[garyjd]

Originally posted by brian@Jan 7 2006, 02:27 PM
This little fella fell 30feet out of my paint room window onto a pile of bricks in my backyard when a gust of wind blew the curtains which knocked him off.It was a nice summers day some years ago hence the window being left open.After many hours of work over several weeks i was stunned and was ready to throw him in the bin,but the wife told me to wait until the next day.

Brian, What a great figure. Good thing the wife suggested waiting a bit. Sometimes taking a breath and removing yourself from such a disaster increases the likelihood it will be salvaged instead of being thrown into garbage.~Gary

 

[yeo_64]

BUMMER,Walt :angry: !!! But look on the bright side,perhaps the results of the re-do will be better than the original ! Cheers !
Kenneth.

 

[Blind Pew]

Sorry to hear about that Walt. These things are sent to try us.

Brian, your story has a lesson for us all. When things are going bad, they are seldom the absolute disaster they first seem to be. Often leaving things overnight really helps...........

 

[Dan Morton]

Walt - Sorry to hear that!

Hang in there guy!

And I like several peoples' advice to step away from the modelling disaster, get some distance and have a re-think. Sound thinking.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Gra30]

I am so sorry for you to hear of the fate of this fantastic piece.

Brians comments especially show how dedicated people are, what a fine piece he finally produced, even with a 30ft fall.

I wish you all the best in rebuilding and painting. It shows how human we all are but we are never defeated.

A fine piece and my best wishes

Graham

 

[whdamon]

I much appreciate all the commentary. I am pleased to say I have now regained my composure (with the help of a few blood presure pills, a bottle of red wine and a soak in the hot tub under a full moon) and have decided since I did recover all the pieces, and after a surface by surface inspection, the repair job is doable. However it will sit on the in process shelf for a while first.

My attention is now focused on the 90mm set of Hurons by Harton (Reference the Robert Griffing book--page 89). I will put up some prior to the wind gust photos of them in thier prime coat in another thread. Impressive figures.

Fully recovered.......... Walt Damon

 

[PJ Deluhery]

Walt, glad you have regained persepective on this. Better living through chemistry.

Fall eight times, get up nine. What matters is the getting up.

I think this was the Lord's way of telling you the piece was not finished. It will be even better after the repairs.