Alternative title: I'm father of the year.
Set the Scene
4 year old Daughter #1 comes into hobbyroom wanting to know what I was doing. I guess the Peppa Pig cartoon ended.
She puts her foot on the plastic tub that has the Napoleonic ships inside, which I stupidly left on the floor, like she's about to stand up on it to see onto the desk better.
I say, "Oh, don't stand on that, the stuff inside is fragile, just wait a sec.." and then I look away for just a moment...
CRASH and BANG
I look back: She obviously didn't listen, stood on it but just on one side, and the thing went flying end over end and her down to her butt.
SIGH...
In a calm voice, "What did I just say..."
My wife says I'm father of the year for not loosing it.
Daughter #1 did get a time out for not listening. I picked up the tub and heard the tell tale sound of small pieces moving about loose from inside.
The Damage:
 |
| What a mess! |
Wrecked rigging, bent bowsprits, mangled masts, ruined ratlines, and broken sails...(I couldn't think of a good alliteration for sails, maybe slandered? shamed?).
 |
| I think the flags are salvageable, but the ratlines I feel are beyond repair |
Repairs in process
Meh, maybe not as bad as it looked. I think it helped that the ships hulls are glued on wide ocean bases, which are on magnets, and placed on some metal while in the storage tub, so maybe they didn't knock around as much as they could have. I tore off all the rigging as much of it was ruined. Bent the masts back in place, glued back on some broken masts and sails... All in all not too bad.
Instead of trying to figure out which ratlines went where from that huge pile, I've decided that I'm going to bite the bullet and get new ratlines and then redo ALL the rigging for all these ships, plus the two I'm painting now...So the future will be ships for the time being.
The hardest part will be, when I make the order to WaterlooMini's for the ratlines, to resist the temptation to order even MORE stuff. Like even more ships...
Such is the life of the Wargamer. Trails and temptations abound. : )
Morale of the story: pick up your things from off the floor. : )
The hardest part will be, when I make the order to WaterlooMini's for the ratlines, to resist the temptation to order even MORE stuff. Like even more ships...
Such is the life of the Wargamer. Trails and temptations abound. : )
Morale of the story: pick up your things from off the floor. : )
Wow, wonderful ships, incredible details!
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks Phil, though I think the post got lost in translation but no matter. You probably speak better English than I speak French. 😀
DeleteSuch a shame, especially after seeing them in all of their glory the other day. Still, as a wiser person once told me on similar matters 'it's only property and no-one got hurt!' I do think you need some sort of 'Father of the Year' treat though, so yes, more ships!
ReplyDeleteThe French do need an 80 gun ship...
DeleteThough it’s more funny than anything else. Really only a small set back.
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DeleteGive the lubber 20 lashes!
ReplyDeleteAch, wee ones just don't get it. Had to pound (verbally) how important it is to respect other people's stuff from a VERY early age. Point being, me coming home from work when he was two to find both him and our then pup in what felt like waist-deep in my mini's collection, him happily pulling off arms and weapons and the pup chewing on whatever he decided to give her... I sadly was not father-of-the-year that day. And I'll leave it at that.
Good luck with the repairs matey. :/
Well that’s a whole other situation. ☹️
DeleteMaybe one in my future, maybe I’ll come home one day and find the my Viking and Saxon collection being used for a tea party. 😀
Better to be regluing the masts than pulling them out of #1's foot.
ReplyDeleteMuch better. Though the tub had its lid on so there wasn’t much danger in that. 😀.
DeleteOof.
ReplyDeleteI would not have been father of the year, I can tell you that.
Then again, it is for this reason that I have a roll top desk and work mostly when the kids are asleep. Which severely restricts hobby time... so trade off?
I usually do the same. In fact I wasn’t painting anything but just giving the hobby desk a once over to clear off some clutter. And usually my miniatures live in the garage, safely out of the way. I was just lazy and didn’t put the ships away bc I wanted to look at my previous paint schemes before painting the next ships.
DeleteWell done Stew on keeping your cool mate. My favourite old line I always used when people used to ask me if why I would let my children touch my collection - “I have thousands of metal soldiers but only two sons” - your perspective is very much like mine mate...and go on...order more new ships. You deserve it. You know it makes sense 😉
ReplyDeleteA sentiment true to my heart, more than you know...
DeleteThough I don’t quite have thousands of miniatures yet, but getting there! 😀
Good job keeping your head, didn't most of the French ships end up looking like that anyway? :)
ReplyDeleteAt least if I’m their admiral they do! 😀
DeleteIt’s more funny than anything, and the damage was actually pretty light with what I was imagining.
Ouch. I've been lucky, most of the damage to my stuff has been self inflicted. Those beautiful ships though... I would have cried. I hope your daughter is okay and doesn't feel bad for the accident.
ReplyDeleteOh she’s fine, not to worry. I just have to pick up after myself better. 😀
DeleteMan! I had to wait a day before I could even compose a response to this post. You definitely deserve a Father of the Year award. I don't know how I would have reacted in your place, but I DO know there would have been much profanity directed (mostly) at myself and the situation in general. You should order yourself one of these:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ebay.com/itm/NAVAL-GOLD-MEDAL-MINIATURE-BY-WEST-AIR/232661295210?_trkparms=pageci%3A86c0985e-231e-11e8-bd8c-74dbd1807f16%7Cparentrq%3A07b107971620abc2cce9a240fffedb71%7Ciid%3A1&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236
Lol. 😀
DeleteIt will be a long time before I leave anything out like that again.
Silver lining: those were my first ships and as I’ve done more I’ve gotten better at rigging so now it’s a good opportunity to improve upon the old, especially as the damage to the actual model was pretty light. 😀
My wife says the grandchildren would be running away afraid if it happened at our house. Maybe I wouldn't be as calm as I first thought? Anyway, going to send you an email shortly.
DeleteNasty, glad no one is hurt, I once watched a box of mostly lead figures (a 40K army )fall just over 9'0"onto a concrete floor, slightly dispiriting but not as bad as I expected, I think you deserve a reward too!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks C, no one got hurt except the ships.
ReplyDeleteHowever did a box have a chance to fall 9 feet?! We’re you standing on a ladder or sitting on the shoulders of a NBA player? 😀
It fell off the top of a cupboard (it's all about storage! , I was on the other side of the garage and watched it!
DeleteBest Iain
I see, powerless to stop it....
Delete