The slops jar
When I were a lad, I was heavily into model railways. (Stamp collecting was a bit too exciting, and internet porn was several decades into the future). I particularly liked the modelling part, creating the landscapes, buildings and so on. I always tried to make things look realistic, which meant dirtying things up - rust streaks, soot blackening, and so on. For that purpose, when I'd finished a project I'd tip any spare paint into my Slops Jar - which ended up a nice grungy brown colour, and watered down with thinners made a great "dirty wash".

As my skills improved, I eventually asked for an airbrush as a Christmas present. With great excitement I started to practice using it, first spraying a nice cloudscape as a backdrop, then experimenting with other effects. Eventually I decided to quit for the day, and, as was my habit, dumped the remaining paint into the slops jar.

Now when I say "dumped", I actually mean "picked up the jar, pointed the airbrush into it, and pressed the trigger." Which meant that the entire contents of the jar of brownish, spirit-thinned glop was blasted out, and straight into my face, mouth and eyes. Apparently there was a perfect silhouette, like a Hiroshima victim, on the wall behind me, but I was too busy howling in agony as my eyes and mouth burned to notice.

It took weeks for people to stop asking me if I was Indian.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 29 Nov 2013, 11:41, 4 replies)

Hail, King of Slapstick

( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Fri 29 Nov 2013, 11:43, closed)

Spanner!
:)
(SpangoTheWonderBadger is brewing beer, Fri 29 Nov 2013, 12:11, closed)

Excellent stuff.
Did your parents not take a photo for you to post too?
( Pig Bodine., Fri 29 Nov 2013, 12:40, closed)

This would have been around 1978

... so there was nowhere to "post" it, as such. And people didn't tend to photograph such everyday disasters - cameras were for holidays and weddings.

There are many things I wish there was a photo of. And many others I'm glad there isn't...
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 29 Nov 2013, 13:48, closed)