Heads up---unfortunate Crusader Ladder (1 Viewer)

whdamon

whdamon

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In removing our displays from the Springfield Museum (closed for renovation---Yes we will be back!!) this week, we happened upon an unfortunate situation in the Crusader display..........Ladder metal fatigue. As you can see in the photo below, the ladder must of just bent from the weight of the 3 figures on it. It has been up for a year in a well lite show case, but must of just happened in the past month or so. I guess the heads up is to give yours some rest if you have it displayed, or lean it with the least amount of angle you can get, and keep it out of prolonged light that may tend to heat up your space.

Anyone else have such experiences with the ladder set??

WHD
 

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sorry mate, i was having quite a chuckle.
its like a scene from one of those spoofs movies like "robin hood, men in tights":)
 
whdamon said:
In removing our displays from the Springfield Museum (closed for renovation---Yes we will be back!!) this week, we happened upon an unfortunate situation in the Crusader display..........Ladder metal fatigue. As you can see in the photo below, the ladder must of just bent from the weight of the 3 figures on it. It has been up for a year in a well lite show case, but must of just happened in the past month or so. I guess the heads up is to give yours some rest if you have it displayed, or lean it with the least amount of angle you can get, and keep it out of prolonged light that may tend to heat up your space.

Anyone else have such experiences with the ladder set??

WHD
Click to expand...

Mine collapsed some time ago with only two figures in it...and worse yet...it now seems permanently structurally weak and very flexible...I had my figures "tacky waxed" to it and they just kind of sank into the sand in the bow of the ladder.

ps...mine was up a very sharp incline...my castle walls are tall and were built to match the height of the ladder with little pitch in the ladder...basically almost standing straight up...sooooooooooo...........:rolleyes:
 
I had a little problem with bending as well ...so every few months I turn it around and flip it ..that seems to help......
 
10TH LA. said:
I had a little problem with bending as well ...so every few months I turn it around and flip it ..that seems to help......
Click to expand...

It will for a while, but metal fatigue is not cureable. It won't heal over time if left unstressed. It's unfortunately a case where the material is not up to the quality needed for the design. The best solution will eventually be a newly designed ladder made from stronger materials.

I would think it would not be too difficult to make a copy of the ladder out of wood from a hobby store and glue which would probably be stronger.

Terry
 
I don't have this ladder but maybe it would be less likely to bend if it was more upright.

Btw, I had a far worse situation with my Plastic AOME (Armies of Middlearth) ladders that were used to take my Helmsdeep diorama. The Urak-Hai bent them way out of shape and Saruman wouldn't accept a refund :eek:
 
Has anybody mentioned this to King & Country. This is obviously an issue they need to (or should) address, particularly if it's intended that figures will be placed on the ladder.
 
This is very unfortunate indeed. A rather large oversight on the part of King & Country. Anything is only as strong as its weakest point...in this case a diorama. I have three scaling ladders on the siege diorama I'm building. I've permanently glued the figures to the ladders, but I don't leave the ladders up longer than a week at a time...so far. I have also noticed a bit of bowing after only a week. Because I like the look of the ladders, I'm going to try to strengthen them by gluing a strong, thin metal bar behind the long upright side pieces. Hopefully I can hide this well enough. I'll report back on how/if this works out for me. It would be a real shame if my entire large diorama is ruined by looking rediculous because the three siege ladders are all bowed to the ground.

George
 
Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Classy act to inform your fellow collectors of this situation so that we can take corrective actions as necc.

Kindest regards
CC
 
That is a pity and I think an obvious structural defect. It would seem that all of you should contact K&C about it as Brad suggested; it is clearly not something they intended and they likely would want to know about it and correct it.
 
mikemiller1955 said:
Mine collapsed some time ago with only two figures in it...and worse yet...it now seems permanently structurally weak and very flexible...I had my figures "tacky waxed" to it and they just kind of sank into the sand in the bow of the ladder.
Click to expand...

I have had the exact same experience with one of my scaling ladders on my "Fall of Acre" diorama :eek:
Mike
 
Guys, I just want to point out, if we ask Andy to build a metal stress test lab, the cost of our minis might go up even more (I mean these aren't automobiles) :)
 
AIXrUS said:
Guys, I just want to point out, if we ask Andy to build a metal stress test lab, the cost of our minis might go up even more (I mean these aren't automobiles) :)
Click to expand...
Well in all fairness, a ladder provided for three figures should simply support those figures. No lab is required or no significant cost increase, just a tad of support.;)
 
I have two ladders against my castle walls each with two figures climbing and the bending has been noticeable.
Maybe it is time for a recall before one of the Crusaders sues for serious neck and back injuries!
 
I guess we can tie the wharped ladders into the story line. A Saracen spy in the Crusader ranks, substituted the real ladders for ones made of rubber. We can all see what happened when the Crusdaers tried to scale the saracen walls and now we know the real reason why King Richard's army was never able to retake Jerusalem.

George
 
Maybe, since KC offerings are historically accurate, the bending ladders are actually based on some ancient Latin text, depicting why the Crusaders really lost the war.:eek:Michael

George beat me to it..what he says......
 
i have had the same issue with my ladders in my dio. maybe k&c will release another ladder set with new figures and include two ladders in the set. that way, when you purchase the new set, you get the extra ladder to replace the bendy ladder.
 
I wonder if there is some sort of liquid substance that can be applied to the ladder that when dry would strengthen it?
 
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