Pets and Diecast - A disaster waiting to happen?

OscarBravo992

Well-known member
Hi all! This morning I awoke to a bone chilling sound, the sound of die-cast metal falling onto hard wooden floors. Exhausted after a long day yesterday I had left the door to my display cabinet open overnight and my cat was presented with an opportunity to explore a new part of the house. The consequence of this was him knocking one of my favourite models, the NG Qantas 747SP, out of the shelf and onto the floor, destroying the model.

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Considering the angle in which the model landed, I am surprised the tail did not receive more damage. Even despite this, the model is completely destroyed, losing engines no. 1 and 4, and the other two being loose. The left vertical stabiliser is detached and so is the outward left main landing gear. Even if I could glue this model back together, there is a huge amount of paint chips all over the fuselage and wings, and the right wing is loose as well. Oh well, mistakes are made, off to the local model shop I go!

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This is the main perpetrator, looking very cute and innocent in this picture but in reality he is anything but innocent.

If any of you have similar stories surrounding pets damaging or breaking some of your models, please share them!
 

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Oh no!!!! That's harsh mate. Hope you can source a replacement easily - there are quite a few of these still around I think. Lovely picture of your cat though - he is looking quite relaxed after a hard day's yakka! 😆😬 I don't have any pets myself so this is not a risk I'm exposed to, thankfully. That poor model had no chance on that wooden floor especially.
 
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Ouch, that would instantly give me a heart attack!!!

This is one of the reasons why I recommend to keep models inside closed cabinets/shelves. They protect the models from dust and from... feline aggressors 😅 I love cats but they surely can cause a mess! I see you sadly left your door open... I can only imagine how you regret this!

Hope you can get a replacement model very soon. The ill fated SP can even become a spare parts donor. Maybe you could sell some parts like gears, engines or stabs!
 
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Ouch, that would instantly give me a heart attack!!!

This is one of the reasons why I recommend to keep models inside closed cabinets/shelves. They protect the models from dust and from... feline aggressors 😅 I love cats but they surely can cause a mess!

Hope you can get a replacement model very soon. The i'll fated one can even be a spare parts donor. Maybe you could sell some parts like gears, engines or stabs.
Closed cabinets are probably the best practice if you have pets like a cat or dog that can jump up and damage models on a shelf. Although closed shelves like that can be cost prohibitive at times, especially new.
 
Agh, my goodness that sucks. Thankfully my cat hasn’t done that in a long time; only one he’s broken was a Qantas A380.

On an unrelated note, I was moving my cabinet and a timetable fell over, causing a Southwest 737-700S Heart to crash and lose a winglet :( hopefully I’m able to have NG do it or I can find a replacement

EDIT: to clarify on the cabinet move - I was moving it to the other side of a room, and it did not need to be tipped vertically or adjusted in a vertical motion, just needed to be pushed along the floor about 10 feet. Thankfully no other models were harmed, but the falling timetables knocked some models around on the shelf, but the Southwest -700S was the only casualty out of the disaster
 
Ouch, that would instantly give me a heart attack!!!

This is one of the reasons why I recommend to keep models inside closed cabinets/shelves. They protect the models from dust and from... feline aggressors 😅 I love cats but they surely can cause a mess! I see you sadly left your door open... I can only imagine how you regret this!

Hope you can get a replacement model very soon. The ill fated SP can even become a spare parts donor. Maybe you could sell some parts like gears, engines or stabs!
Yeah… I plan on using this one as spare parts… I think I will try and remove the remaining landing gear and engines with minimal damage, they could be extremely useful in future… The funny thing is that I had already thought about the risks of displaying models in the open, and that was why I had decided to invest in a closed cabinet, especially with a young, curious kitten a couple of years ago… In the end, I can really only blame myself, and at least I will be extremely careful about shutting the doors in the future! 😂
 
Oh no!!!! That's harsh mate. Hope you can source a replacement easily - there are quite a few of these still around I think. Lovely picture of your cat though - he is looking quite relaxed after a hard day's yakka! 😆😬 I don't have any pets myself so this is not a risk I'm exposed to, thankfully. That poor model had no chance on that wooden floor especially.
I have already emailed my local store and they have some in stock… Another reason to head into the store and ‘accidentally’ come home with a few more models 😉.
 
Agh, my goodness that sucks. Thankfully my cat hasn’t done that in a long time; only one he’s broken was a Qantas A380.

On an unrelated note, I was moving my cabinet and a timetable fell over, causing a Southwest 737-700S Heart to crash and lose a winglet :( hopefully I’m able to have NG do it or I can find a replacement

EDIT: to clarify on the cabinet move - I was moving it to the other side of a room, and it did not need to be tipped vertically or adjusted in a vertical motion, just needed to be pushed along the floor about 10 feet. Thankfully no other models were harmed, but the falling timetables knocked some models around on the shelf, but the Southwest -700S was the only casualty out of the disaster
That’s heartbreaking about the Southwest 737… It’s the worst when something that could so easily be avoided happens, I feel you. Hopefully we can see a rerelease soon, I’m sure many people need one 🤞.
 
I have already emailed my local store and they have some in stock… Another reason to head into the store and ‘accidentally’ come home with a few more models 😉.
Result! Glad to hear that. Lol always nice to pick up a few extras, got to justify the visit :LOL: Love the classic Qantas cheatline scheme, NG did a great job on the SP's, got that pair myself. My other half's Aussie and we visit family in QLD every year, so having that connection has influenced me to build up a small collection of both Qantas and Ansett models.
 
Result! Glad to hear that. Lol always nice to pick up a few extras, got to justify the visit :LOL: Love the classic Qantas cheatline scheme, NG did a great job on the SP's, got that pair myself. My other half's Aussie and we visit family in QLD every year, so having that connection has influenced me to build up a small collection of both Qantas and Ansett models.
They certainly did. I have the pair, they are lovely together. Although it will never live up to the classic cheatline 70s livery, just to complete the fleet I would love to see NG make a set of the later 90s livery with the gold strike at the tail. Always great to meet another collector with a connection to down under!
 
They certainly did. I have the pair, they are lovely together. Although it will never live up to the classic cheatline 70s livery, just to complete the fleet I would love to see NG make a set of the later 90s livery with the gold strike at the tail. Always great to meet another collector with a connection to down under!
Cheers! Will be back in January and expect it to be pretty hot/humid. I've yet to visit cooler VIC down south, but will do one day ;) Yeah the 90's versions would be great to see as well - I'm quite sure that these will be made too at some point.
 
Cheers! Will be back in January and expect it to be pretty hot/humid. I've yet to visit cooler VIC down south, but will do one day ;) Yeah the 90's versions would be great to see as well - I'm quite sure that these will be made too at some point.
QLD is very humid at the moment. I had a trip up there last week and it was really bad . They have had a lot of rain which just adds to the humidity. Hopefully they will be made, and then I will finally be able to replace my old GJ version🤞.
 
Man that stinks, but hey, at least is not a long-sold-out model. I had a golden retriever years ago that coexisted with my collection; no issues, he was such a smart good boy I think he knew it was better not to approach my models 😆. I am my worst enemy though, I have dropped a handful of models. The worst one was my Avensa DC-9, I managed to put it back together, but it's not the same, and finding a replacement is pretty much out of the question. It always happens when I'm tired but insist on doing a photoshoot or something.
 
QLD is very humid at the moment. I had a trip up there last week and it was really bad . They have had a lot of rain which just adds to the humidity. Hopefully they will be made, and then I will finally be able to replace my old GJ version🤞.
Yes there has been a great deal of rain there of late, all the flooding that has been going on too, we narrowly avoided it in Maryborough at the start of the year. The humidity is very difficult to cope with especially when you’re not used to it. I’m sure they will be made, or at least one will be, in that later scheme. If that mould gets proper use then I’d expect all the main subjects to be covered.
 
Yes there has been a great deal of rain there of late, all the flooding that has been going on too, we narrowly avoided it in Maryborough at the start of the year. The humidity is very difficult to cope with especially when you’re not used to it. I’m sure they will be made, or at least one will be, in that later scheme. If that mould gets proper use then I’d expect all the main subjects to be covered.
Wishing your family well in these current times, hope they can stay safe. :)
 
Man that stinks, but hey, at least is not a long-sold-out model. I had a golden retriever years ago that coexisted with my collection; no issues, he was such a smart good boy I think he knew it was better not to approach my models 😆. I am my worst enemy though, I have dropped a handful of models. The worst one was my Avensa DC-9, I managed to put it back together, but it's not the same, and finding a replacement is pretty much out of the question. It always happens when I'm tired but insist on doing a photoshoot or something.
My shaky hands have also claimed the lives of a few models, though most have been fix-able. Shame to hear about your Avensa DC-9, hopefully a rerelease sometime in the future 🤞.
 
Oh dear, how sad. I recall when Richard Stretton lived in New Zealand, his cat got into the garage where his entire collection was kept and broke several models, which I hope he managed to replace. Subsequently he now has them all in glass cabinets, as I do completely out of the reach of our cat.
 
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Oh dear, our sad. I recall when Richard Stretton lived in New Zealand, his cat got into the garage where his entire collection was kept and broke several models, which I hope he managed to replace. Subsequently he now has them all in glass cabinets, as I do completely out of the reach of our cat.
That's awful, I hope he was able to replace some of them.
 
Yeah I have a young Italian water dog, luckily my models were in a glass case and she was pretty calm, but now all put away in boxes hopefully she doesnt wonder down into the basement and messes with them while I am away
 
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