2026... New Year, Fresh Bench: Episode 155

A slow start, a full heart, and a clear plan. We kick off 2026 by resetting our modeling habits, sharpening the skills that matter most, and putting dates on the calendar to turn ideas into finished work. HeritageCon is pulling us forward, but it’s the day-to-day that will make the difference: tighter bench time, better canopies, and bases that finish strong instead of phoning it in.

One photo sent us down a rabbit hole—captured Soviet armor at Kummersdorf with mysterious inventory rectangles. We trace similar markings across other vehicles and share why the rectangle’s color might be yellow, then ask armor specialists for hard provenance rather than AI guesses. That curiosity fuels the whole episode. The dojo keeps paying dividends, from canopy wax tips and stencil-cutter know-how to encouragement from modelers solving the same problems. We celebrate KitMask extending mojo30 for 30% off through HeritageCon and spotlight how small breaks in cost and friction can nudge more projects across the line.

We lay out our goals for the year. Aircraft need spotless canopies—polished clear parts, confident masking, and frames that sit sharp and true. Speed is focus: fewer distractions, more finishes without losing joy. Armor projects get a base upgrade with cleaner edges, smarter terrain transitions, and groundwork that complements the model instead of competing with it. On the adjacent front, we commit to mastering a Cameo stencil cutter for crisp markings and layered paint effects, and we push to launch phase two of our website so the community can learn and share even more.

On the bench, the Hellcat weathers the tiny-stencil storm, the Moosaroo rally build earns custom decals and a clever mixed-material interior, and the KV-85 stacks sub-assemblies toward primer. Our 2026 wish list is ambitious but grounded: MiniArt T-34/76 variants, a modern JSU-152, an early D3A1 Val, a 1/72 Privateer, and a 14-meter Daihatsu for Pacific dioramas. If you’ve got insight on Kummersdorf markings or a kit rumor we should track, jump in. Subscribe, share the show with a modeling friend, and leave a quick review—then tell us your top skill goal for 2026.

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Episode Transcript

The Voice of Bob (Bair) (00:11):
Welcome to Plastic Model Mojos, a
podcast dedicated to skillmodeling as well as to news and
events around the hobby.
Join Mike in Kentucky Dave asthey strive to be informative,
entertaining, and help you keepyour modeling module alive.

Mike (00:44):
It's episode 155.
We're letting our casualnesscreep into the new year here,
Dave.

Kentucky Dave (00:50):
Yes, I know, I know.
But we're finally putting out anepisode for the new year.

Mike (00:55):
We are finally after the 12-minute model sphere.
It is 14th when we're doingthis.
So we're two weeks in, man.
That's a new low.

SPEAKER_03 (01:05):
Yeah, well.

Mike (01:06):
We'll get there, folks.
Thanks for bearing with us andnot sending us a bunch of hate
mail.

Kentucky Dave (01:11):
Yes.
Yeah, we are.
We are trying.
We we both have had busy, we'vehit the ground running work-wise
and we have family-wise and allthat stuff.

Mike (01:24):
Well, since we made it here, finally, what is up in
your model sphere for the firstfeature episode of 2026, Dave?

Kentucky Dave (01:33):
Well, as part of the general theme on 2026, I'm
trying to be more intentionalabout modeling and modeling
related stuff.
All right.
Um so one of the things I'vestarted doing is tracking my
time at the bench actuallyworking, not sitting there

(01:54):
watching a YouTube video oranything, but actually actually
tracking working.
And so far, the numbers areshockingly small.

Mike (02:07):
And I'm not surprised, unfortunately, but better luck
as the year rolls out, myfriend.

Kentucky Dave (02:12):
But I'm hoping this will at least give me uh it
will give me someaccountability.
Looking back on it, maybepublishing it on the dojo every
like two weeks or so.

Mike (02:24):
Then some then some of our friends can throw barbs at you.

Kentucky Dave (02:27):
Oh yeah.
Well, they do that already.

Mike (02:30):
Well, they can um amp it up a little bit.

Kentucky Dave (02:32):
Yep.
Also, while we weren't able tomake it down to Tennessee, and
we've got HeritageCon coming up,and man, it is mid-January, and
I am already looking forward tothe end of March.
I mean, it's ridiculous.
How how much I am lookingforward to to seeing our our

(02:56):
Canadian friends, seeing the theMinnesota boys.
I'm just uh whoever else we see.
Exactly.
And it is sustaining me throughthese cold winter months, which
had been kind of pleasant untiltoday when we started recording.
The weather has has turned onus, and uh heck with that.

(03:20):
I want my 50 degrees back.

Mike (03:22):
Well, we're gonna have a couple of Arctic blasts starting
today, and then it's gonna warmback up a little, and then we're
gonna get another one.

Kentucky Dave (03:28):
Yeah, yeah.
It just it's a and it's gonnamake all of us sick.

Mike (03:33):
So well, let's hope not, man.

Kentucky Dave (03:35):
Yep.
So how about you?
What's up in your model sphere?

Mike (03:39):
Uh it's been a it's been a good week so far, or good well,
yeah, I'll just bring it down tothis week because I haven't had
a lot going on in the modelsphere yet.
But uh, you know, I wasfinishing up late the afternoon,
was it yesterday or day before,and I was messaging with Evan
McCallum.
He's working on a a project, uhwhat is it?

(04:02):
T thirty seven Soviet amphibian.
I'm not gonna say a whole lotabout it because he's he's doing
a something on it.

Kentucky Dave (04:09):
And right, but he seems to be doing a speed run
through all the early Sovietarmor all of a sudden because he
did that BT2 not too long ago.

Mike (04:18):
Well, it was interesting because he he was there was a a
turret marking.
He's like he said he wasn't thatfamiliar with Soviet numbering,
and and but I looked at it alittle bit and it's the vehicle
uh in the photo was one from theKummersdorf Proving Grounds.
It was a captured vehicle.
Oh, okay.
I'm like, man, that looks likemaybe it's a an inventory number

(04:38):
because the numbers just didn'tlook like Russian numbers.
I mean, they use the samenumbers, but they have some
stylized well, we call themfonts today, but right.
You know, they had some stylizednumbers that they typically
used.
Um not just on tanks in theirhandwriting and everything.
But anyway, I started pokingaround the net because I had a
little bit of free time and Ifound a couple other captured

(05:00):
vehicles that had the same kindof markings on them.
But in the photo he had, thesevehicles would have like the
armor thicknesses andinclinations stenciled on them
all around.
Right.
Just for reference for the itwas a proving ground, so they're
doing research on capturedequipment.

SPEAKER_02 (05:16):
Right.

Mike (05:16):
Well, the saturation in the image looks like the
background of this rectanglethat the black numbers are on is
yellow, would be my first guess.
And it would it looks that wayon his photo of the T-37, and I
found one of a T-34 model 1940.
It also looked like it waspossibly yellow on that one.
Then I found some British tanksthat were uh, you know, kind of

(05:39):
added to the confusion.
They didn't weren't quite asconvincing, but you know, one
had glare on it and it kind ofwas overexposed, and another one
was kind of underexposed.
And I told him I would ask if ifanybody out there in Mojovia of
the Armor Ilk has anyinformation on those Kumersdorf
inventory numbers, what colorthe rectangle was, and let us

(06:01):
know.
We'd appreciate it.
Evan would like to know beforehe gets too far into the
painting of this thing.
So the sooner the better.
And I'll tell you this too.
If you could go the AI route andI can get two different answers
depending on how I phrase thequestion.
So uh if if you know and youhave some some way to know,
either through a a period colorfrom the proving grounds or or

(06:23):
something like that, we'd loveto see it or hear about the the
provenance.

Kentucky Dave (06:28):
You know what?
I that is one of the things Ilove is you'll be sitting there
at work or whatever, you know,grinding through, and either on
the dojo or again, in this case,Evan texting you or DMing you,
you get a question, you'll be,well, that's interesting.

(06:48):
And you just start doingresearch and you look up and
it's 45 minutes later, yes.
And you are you are three threelayers deep into the rabbit hole
uh on a question that that 45minutes ago you didn't even know
existed, or or had no concernabout it at the moment, yeah.
Right.

(07:09):
You had no no no reason to tolearn anything about it, and
then 45 minutes later you'velearned a whole bunch of stuff
and ended up with like six newquestions.

Mike (07:24):
That is true.
Well, in addition to thatconversation, we got a really
nice email from Janelle atKitMass.
Yes, and I want to thank her andKevin for that, and just has
some nice things to say about usand what we got going on with
them and and uh the show ingeneral, because we had
mentioned KitMass in well,another 12-minute model sphere,

(07:46):
but I think maybe in the episodebefore that, I can't remember
exactly when we did, probablyevery episode a little bit, but
uh he'd made her listen to it orrequested that she listen to it,
and uh I told her I appreciatedthat ending well and not being a
drag for her.

unknown (08:04):
Yeah.

Mike (08:04):
But I gotta hand it to her.
You know, she's engaged withthis business and she's engaged
with the community and she'sengaged with learning about what
all's up.
So they're a they're a dynamicduo for sure.
Yes.
Uh but the net of it is, andwhich I think prompted the email
we had mentioned about thediscount code, the mojo 30.
Right.
They're going to extend that upuntil the HeritageCon date.

Kentucky Dave (08:27):
That's great.

Mike (08:28):
So if you haven't taken advantage of that yet, and they
would really like to see somemore people take advantage of
it.
That's a 30% discount on yourorder if you use the discount or
the yeah, the discount codemojo30 with your order, and
they'll they'll hook you up withsome uh great kit masks or some
stencils, whatever they got thatyou you're interested in, and
please take advantage of it.

(08:49):
I mean, it's just there'sthey're just great.

Kentucky Dave (08:51):
And well, and I'm happy to have them back shipping
into the US again.

Mike (08:56):
Exactly.
So if folks didn't get savvy tothat in the last episode or last
12-minute model sphere, wheneverwe announced that, please give
them some business.
They'd they'd love to interactwith the mojo community.

Kentucky Dave (09:07):
So yeah, and they're they are great people
and they go way out of their wayto make modelers happy.
So you you can't you can't beatthat.

Mike (09:18):
Well, that's been my model sphere.
Okay.

Kentucky Dave (09:21):
Pretty good.
Sounds good.
Yeah, no, we we're off to a goodstart in 2026.
We are well, Mike, since we'rerecording the first episode of
2026, I hope you have anappropriate modeling fluid.
I do.
And what do we have?

Mike (09:39):
I have a nice little pour of the 14-year Balvini Caribbean
cask.

Kentucky Dave (09:47):
Oh God, that stuff is so good.
Oh, oh, that hurt.
Oh man, that's killing me.

Mike (09:56):
Oh, that it's a Scotch night.
This was actually my Christmasgift to my wife, one of them.

Kentucky Dave (10:02):
You you have excellent taste in both wives
and liquor.

Mike (10:06):
And I went up to her, she was lining down for the evening,
preparing for comfort and bedand all that.
And I took I took the shooterglass back there and I said,
Hey, I got a question.
And and Noah's perfectlyreasonable answer.
I said, Can have this much ofyour scotch to feature on the

(10:27):
show tonight.
Yeah, she was quite agreeablebecause I told her I'd stay out
of it.

Kentucky Dave (10:33):
Well, that I don't know how you're gonna stay
out of it.

Mike (10:36):
I'm gonna stay out of it.
That's the one and done.
I'm gonna enjoy this one.

Kentucky Dave (10:40):
Well, you should, because that is truly one of the
best single malt scotches I'veever had in my life.
But I I got introduced to itbecause modeling friend Skippy,
one year for Christmas, I thinkit was Christmas, gave me a
bottle of that.
And God, it's so good.

(11:02):
And it's not cheap.
That stuff is well, it's it'snot.

Mike (11:07):
I mean, for Scotch it is.
Yeah, I know.

Kentucky Dave (11:10):
I mean well, comparatively compared to it.

Mike (11:13):
Comparatively, yeah.
But you know, it's it's a ouchieif you don't like spending that
kind of money.

Kentucky Dave (11:17):
Exactly.
But it's worth every penny.

Mike (11:19):
Hey, and I I don't know if there's any big time Scotch
folks out there in in inMojovia, but this is finished in
a rum cask.

Kentucky Dave (11:28):
Right.

Mike (11:29):
If this was bourbon, it wouldn't be bourbon anymore.

Kentucky Dave (11:32):
That's right.

Mike (11:33):
So is it still Scotch?

Kentucky Dave (11:35):
Yes, I think the the Scotch doesn't have the same
they don't have the samestimulus.
In fact, I I wonder what therules are for scotch.
Well, I don't know.

Mike (11:44):
That's neither here nor there.
What do you got?

Kentucky Dave (11:46):
Well, I have, believe it or not, the last of
the beers that we got in Hamptonin the summer of 2025.
This is another one that BillMoore gave us.
It's called 10 T E N N GoldenLager out of Tailgate Brewing in

(12:09):
Nashville, Tennessee.
Yep.
Yep.
Gonna work.
That one, that one's gonna work.
All right.
We'll talk about it at the endof the episode, but that one's
gonna get us there.
Or get me there.
You're gonna have no problem.

Mike (12:23):
I'll have no problem.
More on it at the end.

Kentucky Dave (12:25):
Yes.
Just drink it slow.

Mike (12:28):
I am, because I'm not gonna get any more of it.
It's not that much to beginwith, so we'll nurse it.

SPEAKER_02 (12:33):
You got it.

Mike (12:34):
Well, let's not nurse the listener mail.

SPEAKER_02 (12:37):
All right.

Mike (12:38):
We got a little bit.
Got some good ones, I think.
Okay.
First up, well, two real quick.
Michael Aluzi and Frank Blantonhave both sent us some right
before the holidays.
And they're both kind of holidaygreetings and then some
suggestions.
Okay.
So emails received, gentlemen,and uh we'll see what can we can

(13:01):
do on those.
Not gonna disclose the topics.

Kentucky Dave (13:05):
But but I will say, and we've said this before,
if you all out are out there andyou have ideas for s for topics,
suggestions for how we canchange the podcast to make it
better, things that you don'tlike, things that you think we
ought to cut out, etc., pleasesend those in.

(13:26):
Mike and I, you know, we can'tpromise that we will take every
suggestion or whatever, butwe'll at least give it
consideration, and we really doappreciate that kind of
feedback.

Mike (13:38):
Well, after that, we've got one from Eric Kenser from
Minlo Park, California.

SPEAKER_02 (13:43):
Yeah.

Mike (13:44):
And he wants to know if I am familiar with AJP Maquettes
and their French Marine CatapultType 3.5T in 70 second scale.
I am intimately familiar withthis.
Well, with this vendor,unfortunately.
Yeah.
Um he's got my money and I don'thave a catapult because that

(14:08):
kind of thing happens in thecottage industry.

SPEAKER_02 (14:10):
Yeah.

Mike (14:11):
But then I noticed a link in his email.

SPEAKER_02 (14:13):
Uh-huh.

Mike (14:14):
And it's to a web store.
Oh, really?
That shows there's one in stock.
So a third party.
So I fired them off an email.

unknown (14:24):
Yeah.

Mike (14:24):
And if this sucker's in stock, I'm gonna pay for this
sucker again, and hopefully I'llget it this time.
Because I want it.

Kentucky Dave (14:31):
I understand.
I I there are a number of thingsI've done just that for.
I I get ya.
I feel ya.

Mike (14:39):
And if this pans out, Mr.
Kincer might have uh backed intoa double O special agent.

Kentucky Dave (14:48):
Oh yes, absolutely.

Mike (14:50):
Dino denotation.
So uh we appreciate the email.
Thank you for putting the linkin.
This at least gives me a glimmerof hope that I might actually be
able to obtain this thing.
Else my Loire flying boat willprobably never get built.

SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
Yep.

Mike (15:08):
Both of them.

SPEAKER_02 (15:09):
Yep.
Well, there are a whole bunch ofthem.

Kentucky Dave (15:12):
There are a whole bunch of great French seaplanes
and flying boats that that wouldwork.

Mike (15:18):
Next is David Mason from the Mid-Michigan Model Makers.
He is reminding us of 4M ModelMayhem.
Yep.
Again coming up.
And sent the flyer in.
But it reminds me to ask again,folks with shows in February if
you would like to get on themodel show Spotlight.

(15:38):
I won't say it's wide openbecause I think I'm gonna have
MidMiskan back again.
Because it sounds like maybethey're doing something
different here or couldelaborate on some things.
So thanks, David, for thereminder.
And in addition to that, though,he he is cranking out the 3D
print stuff.
He's the one that gave us likethe the measuring cups and the

(15:59):
and the the die cut leaf sorterthing.
Yep.
At the Nationals.

Kentucky Dave (16:04):
I remember him.
In fact, I've got that leaf uhleaf sorter thing just over my
shoulder.

Mike (16:11):
So he's he's looking to get more than two done this
year.

Kentucky Dave (16:14):
All right.
Well that's so am I, buddy.
So am I.

Mike (16:18):
And he says with a 3D print, so now instead of buying
a kit, a less than stellar kitand buying a four times the
value of an original kit and peeand cash resin, you can waste
hours and cab and money uhprinting various resin resin
stuff.

Kentucky Dave (16:32):
But you're having fun.

Mike (16:33):
That's right.

Kentucky Dave (16:34):
I mean, that you're you're enjoying this
hobby, is what it's all about.

Mike (16:38):
And he alludes to ending up with nice parts on a crappy
kit, which has always been aproblem with aftermarket for
really bad kits, is you end upyou you have this dichotomy of
detail.
Yep.
Oh, well, hopefully he'll figurethat out.
Uh John Allen from Lint Linton,Indiana.
Now where's Linton?

(16:59):
It's in Indiana, Dave.
I just told you.

Kentucky Dave (17:02):
Well, thank you.
Well, considering one of us cantalk and chew gum at the same
time.

Mike (17:10):
Well, he got into modeling again during the pandemic, like
so many people did, that andevery other hobby you can think
of.
Right.
And he came across uh on thebench and us and he started
listening, getting motivated,building stuff, learning about
stuff.
You know, he's listening duringhis work commutes and at the
bench, and you he decided to goto his first show, which is

(17:30):
Indy, which we happened to be atin 2021.

SPEAKER_02 (17:33):
Yep.

Mike (17:34):
And then he ended up at the Nationals in Vegas.
And just to thank you, but Idon't I don't want to get into
platitudes, but just say, youknow, we really appreciate
knowing that we've had that kindof reach with folks and and
appreciate your email, John.
And let us see some of yourcurrent work, put it on the dojo
if you haven't.
Um please do and I'll keep aneye out for it.

(17:54):
And hopefully you keep onmodeling, man.

Kentucky Dave (17:57):
Oh, and just FYI Linton is south of Terre Haute.
Okay.

Mike (18:02):
My other email was the one from Janelle Kittenmasters
already talked about.
But there are a couple more.
David Pele, and I don't have alocation from him.
He'd sent a follow-up.
This is, you know, I don't liketo do inside information here,
but he sent an email or acomment quite a ways back, as
you and I know.
He made the statement, whichinquired me to dig a little bit

(18:25):
deeper into why he made thatstatement.
And just wanted to tell Davethat I appreciate the
information he gave and it'svery insightful and helps us
make sure we're uh keeping itbetween the rails and doing the
kind of show we want to do.
So thanks for watching.

Kentucky Dave (18:39):
Yeah, we appreciate that feedback.
We do really do.

Mike (18:43):
And then another similar one from uh Joseph Bridges.
Joseph also sends us a fewtopics that we'll we'll we'll
take under consideration.
And uh he's from uh Yannis,southwest of London, so another
listener from the UK, and uh hishis message comes to us through
the web link in the in the shownotes and on the website.
So glad to see folks using theseother avenues.

(19:03):
Uh Patreon, we can get a messagethrough there, and we'll talk
about I'll mention all thatagain in a minute.
But emails, keep them coming,folks.
Dave, what'd you get from the DMside?

Kentucky Dave (19:12):
Well, I got a few DMs.
I mean, we got, and I'm notgonna mention everybody who sent
us DMs for you know, MerryChristmas, Happy New Year, Happy
Holidays, but we got all ofthose and thank you for them.
That'd be too much to too muchto list.
I did get a DM from our friendJeff Adair, who was disappointed

(19:36):
that we weren't in Tennessee inthe first week of January.
Yeah, but wanted to know ifmaybe Amps Atlanta was a
possibility.
And unfortunately, I don't thinkit's going to be because I don't
know about you, but I'm kind ofhusbanding my resources for

(19:57):
Hamilton, for Amps National andSouth Bend, and then for the
Nationals and Heritage Coming.
Yeah, we got a lot of stuffgoing on.

Mike (20:08):
Well, I've got a situation into March, into April that's
back to back to back.
So we're not all modeling, twoof them are, but one of them's
not.
But I'd like to get to all ofthem in some capacity.
So I gotta husband my resourcesas well.
So Chattanooga's just man, it'sjust a little too early for me.

Kentucky Dave (20:25):
Yeah.

Mike (20:25):
That's hard for me to do that.

Kentucky Dave (20:27):
But yeah, now if you want to call up my employer
and talk him into giving me morepaid time off, I'm all for that.
But other than that, yeah, we weMike and I both work, and so we
deal with the realities ofhaving X amount of time.

Mike (20:44):
And well, even if I had the PTO to spare, there's you
know, just how many weekends canI be gone and get away with it.
Exactly.
Exactly.
It's a lot.
It is.
Someday, someday.

Kentucky Dave (20:57):
So thanks, Jeff, for inquiring about Amps
Atlanta, but I don't think we'regonna make it this year.
But I wouldn't mind making itback down.
I love the AMP shows.
Christian Gurney, our friendsfrom Bases by Bill, he sent me
an article on Hornby, which isthe owner of a number of hobby

(21:18):
lines.
The one that's important to usis Airfix, and talking about
some financial difficultiesthey're going through, just
because he knew that I have aninterest in the business side of
the hobby.
And it was very kind of him tothink of me when he saw that
article and send me a copy ofit.

(21:40):
And I'll be interested to seewhat happens to Hornby and by
extension airfix in the comingyear.
Next, George Welch, uh longtime, longtime listener, had
reached out to me because he hadheard me talking about how my
tremors seemed to be getting alittle worse.

(22:02):
And it turns out that George hadthe same problem, and he
actually underwent the medicalprocedure, the deep brain
stimulation procedure, which isnow a kind of a cutting-edge
procedure for people who dealwith these types of essential

(22:22):
tremors.
And he underwent the procedureand wanted me to know that it
eliminated his tremorcompletely.
And I've thought about it.
I tend to stay away fromhospitals and surgery, but just
as a general rule.

(22:42):
But I won't I won't rule out,especially if it tends it
continues to get worse, that Imay go that route.
So I appreciate hearing from himthat he did he did it and that
it was a major success for him.
So thank you, George.
Uh next, I had two really greatDM interactions over the past

(23:09):
couple weeks.
One of them is uh Carl Barrow.
Mr.
Barrow is a Yorkshireman who'snow living in California
modeler, and one of the becauseBlackburn, the uh aircraft

(23:29):
manufacturing company that youmentioned last episode.
That that was mentioned, well,that's what caused him to DM is
that Paul Gloster mentioned thathe had a vacuform of the
Blackburn Blackburn, which isjust the greatest named aircraft
ever.
It's also horrendous looking.

(23:51):
Uh guys, if you don't know thisaircraft, go to go to Google,
Google Blackburn, Blackburn, andyou'll see what we're talking
about.

Mike (24:01):
Blackburn's aesthetics were the antithesis of the
Italian aircraft industry.

Kentucky Dave (24:06):
Exactly.
And there are a lot of theirkits that are resin that have
been made, some of their lesseraircraft, and he sent in some
pictures of some Karia resinkits of different Blackburn
aircraft that he had.
But we just had a really niceconversation back and forth.
And then, you know, I'm like,how does a Yorkshireman end up

(24:29):
in California?
And it turns out, of course,that a woman was involved, and
you know, he found himself agood California girl.
And as the Beach Boy said, wishthey all could be California
girls.
He's happily married and happilymodeling in California.

Mike (24:47):
And what were those rising kids?
I think it's Kariah.
Hang on a second.
I can't pariah would probably bea better name.
K-A Lemon.
Or maybe they're good.

Kentucky Dave (24:58):
I don't know.
Well, actually, I've seen them.
They're not awful.
Let's see.
It's Karai, yeah, K-A-R-A-Y-A,Kariah.

Mike (25:09):
Okay.

Kentucky Dave (25:11):
So, and I just wanted to let uh Carl know that
it was a very pleasantconversation.
And again, I keep talking abouthow, you know, uh some of my
favorite things are theinteractions with listeners that
pop up out of the blue in themiddle of a work day, you know,
and kind of adds a bright spotto the day.

(25:32):
Finally, I've got another one ofthose.
And I apologize, I I'm gonnabutcher this name, Clement
Poundonson.
And he's he he heard me say thatuh one of the things that I
wanted to work on for 2026 wascanopies, and he wrote in to

(25:55):
recommend the Tamiya wax forcanopies, which I was not aware
of and I'm gonna pick up.
But it led into a very niceconversation because he sent a
photograph of the Platz T33 thathe had finished in Colombian or
Peruvian markings, I forgetwhich, just beautiful model.

(26:17):
And that led to conversationsback and forth.
He's in Estonia, he's aFrenchman in Estonia working for
a Dutch company sellingremanufactured computer servers
and switches and such.
And I know you you've known anumber of people in Estonia over

(26:41):
the years.
They weren't French, though.
Huh?
No, they they were yours weren'tFrench.
But just a fascinating littleconversation that started out
with a product recommendationand then went on to talk about
Estonia, what a lovely place itis, that he's almost your
typical EU guy because he's aFrench citizen living in

(27:04):
Estonia, working for a Dutchcompany.
It just, and then we exchangedsome pictures of different
models and stuff.
It just was a lovely, lovelyconversation.
And again, another example ofthese little things that that
pop up from listeners that justbrighten brighten your day.
And Clement, I want to want youto know I really, really enjoyed

(27:28):
that conversation.

Mike (27:30):
And give us some uh info on the modeling scene in
Estonia.

Kentucky Dave (27:34):
Yes, yes, that would be a great thing for the
dojo.
If you if you're a part of aclub there, you know, photos
from a club meeting with long.
Cool shop or yeah, exactly.
Whatever.

Mike (27:46):
Is he in Tel Inn?

Kentucky Dave (27:48):
Huh?
I I did not ask him what cityhe's located.

Mike (27:51):
Okay.

Kentucky Dave (27:52):
Of course, Estonia's not that large.

Mike (27:55):
No, it's not.
But there's Narva and Estoniaand Yeah.

Kentucky Dave (27:59):
But thank you very much, and I really, really
enjoyed that interaction.
And Mike, that's all I've gotfrom the DM side.

Mike (28:07):
Well, folks, I assume you were all busy for the holidays,
and that's why the mailbag was alittle on the light side.
It's good enough to notdisappoint me, but I love this
segment.
I know you like it too, Dave.

SPEAKER_02 (28:21):
Yes, very much.

Mike (28:22):
Please, folks, write into the show.
If you've not written in before,please make it the first time.
We'd like to hear from somenewer folks all the time.
We really like it when you giveus your geography, just your
country and city or your cityand state if you're in the
United States.
You can email the show atplasticmodelmojo at gmail.com,
and I'll usually take those.
You can DM us through theFacebook messenger system, and

(28:43):
Dave will take those unless theywarrant me having a shot at it.
And you can also hit us throughthe feedback link on the
website, which also appears inthe show notes.
And one I've didn't give muchthought to before is you can
actually message us throughPatreon if you're a Patreon
contributor or Patreon member.
So uh looking forward to moreemail in January, folks.
Let's uh let's knock it out ofthe park.

(29:24):
Dave, it's 2026.

Kentucky Dave (29:26):
There is a lot on the horizon.
It is a beautiful unpaintedcanvas for us to model on.

Mike (29:34):
Modelers like instructions, even connect the
dots.
So just generally, what's yourkind of outlook for 2026 without
getting too much into the othertopic lines we've got going
forward in this segment?

Kentucky Dave (29:48):
Generally, uh and I start every year optimistic.
You know, sometimes I end everyyear a little pessimistic
because I didn't get done what Ihad set out to get done, and
then I get hit by the dark time.
So the end of every year tendsto be a little bit down.

(30:08):
But when you come to thebeginning of every year, the
whole year's laid out in frontof you.
You've got all these model showsyou're planning on going on.
In fact, you're probably alreadyconversing with other folks who
are going to be at thoseparticular shows.
Which we are making makingarrangements for lodging and

(30:30):
okay, how how are we gonna meetup?
Who's gonna fly in?
What's the transportation, etc.?
That's energizing, that gets themojo flowing right away because
you're anticipating all of that.
You're looking at, okay, Ididn't meet my goal last year
for the number of kits I wantedto complete, but this year's a

(30:52):
new year, and by gummit, I'mgonna complete more this year.
I'm gonna hit my goal, whatever.
Or maybe you've got uh thatMagnum Opus project that you
finally said, okay, I'm notgonna live forever.
If I don't do this now, I won'tget it done.
It just, I mean, I always likethe the first couple of episodes

(31:16):
after the new year just simplybecause it's so full of hope and
promise and optimism.
And I'm looking forward to theyear.
To reflect back on 2025, we hada great 2025 as far as the
podcast goes.
We did.
Uh we hit the ground running andwe put out a whole lot of

(31:39):
bangers.
We got to interact a ton withthe membership or with the
listenership and the folks onthe dojo, etc.
And if 2025 turned out to bethat good, I've got great hope
for what 2026 will look like.

Mike (31:58):
How about you?
Well, I was ready to call 2025worse than 2020 until the
holidays.
It was pretty bad.
And this is not the podcast.

Kentucky Dave (32:08):
Right.
This is this is all the lifeother than the podcast.

Mike (32:12):
Though, you know, we we went I went back through and
looked at all the guests andstuff we'd had in 2025, and we
had some good stuff, no doubt.

SPEAKER_02 (32:20):
Yep.

Mike (32:21):
There were a few things that were interesting I
discovered that we didn't getdone.
Uh-huh.
One was there was one recurringguest who did not appear at all
in 2025.
And that was Mr.
Hustad.

Kentucky Dave (32:34):
Yes.
We got to get him on.

Mike (32:36):
Maybe we'll rectify that in 2026 after we sit down and
talk to him a little bit.
Maybe at Harry's Con if theweather doesn't keep him away.

SPEAKER_02 (32:44):
Yeah.

Mike (32:44):
Um 2026 is already off to a much better start.
By this time last year, we'dalready totaled a car and I was
nursing the kidney stone.

Kentucky Dave (32:54):
Yeah, oh God, I remember that.
Oh God, that was so long ago, Ihad forgotten about it until you
mentioned that.

Mike (33:02):
So things are looking up.
The holiday season was goodbecause my oldest son got some
clarity on an internship in ournation's capital in DC, and got
a little stipend money for thatthat was gonna make that a
little easier on the family.
And uh we got him moved lastweekend.

(33:24):
That was a slog, but oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (33:26):
We got him there.

Mike (33:27):
He's living lards now, and mama's cried and all that great
stuff, and uh he's doing what hewants to do.

Kentucky Dave (33:35):
So it'll be a great experience.
I DC is a a great place to visitwith all the museums and the
history and everything.
Living there or in thesurrounding areas is very
difficult.
You know, my wife's family'sfrom Southern Maryland, so I've
spent a lot of time in andaround DC, but it's a

(33:59):
once-in-a-lifetime experience,and he's young, and that's the
time to do for him to do stufflike that, you know?
It is.
Well, I'm glad you got him allmoved in.

Mike (34:11):
So all that stuff is making 2026 start look good.
So the first thing I did NewYear's Day was clean off my
bench.
I think that's a good start.
That is a good start.

Kentucky Dave (34:21):
I really do.

Mike (34:22):
And we'll get into where that's going in a little bit.
But yeah, just generally, again,like you, positive, excited for
the podcast, for the for thebuilding of models, for the
seeing of people.
Looking forward to this year,man.

Kentucky Dave (34:36):
You and me both.
You and me both.

Mike (34:43):
Well, we got some bullets on this list.
All right.
And first up, for you.
Mm-hmm.
And this is open-ended, sohopefully you thought about it a
little bit.
Yes, I have.
What do you hope to achieve in2020 what do you hope to achieve
in 2026 in terms of skills,techniques, or accomplishments?

(35:04):
Well, let me ask first, do youhave more than one thing under
this?

Kentucky Dave (35:07):
Yes, I do.

Mike (35:08):
All right, let's go back and forth, and you can go first.

Kentucky Dave (35:11):
Okay.
First is the something Imentioned on the previous
episode that uh Mr.
Poundinson uh picked up oncanopies.
We if you're an aircraftmodeler, you can do everything
else beautifully, but if you donot have a really great clean

(35:33):
canopy, it sticks out like asore thumb.
The canopies are the wind, youknow how the eyes are are the
windows to the soul.
Well, canopies are the windowsto the to the model soul.

Mike (35:47):
And the airplane.

Kentucky Dave (35:48):
Yes.
And you know, you look at SteveHustad, Barry Numerick, any
number of modelers that I canmention, and you go and look at
their models, the first thingthat you notice is that their
canopies are flawless.

Mike (36:07):
And not a jab, but as as a modeler, you probably think it's
everybody but you, right?

Kentucky Dave (36:12):
Oh, it is everybody but me.
There's no question.
I am the golem of of aircraftcanopies.
And so 2026 is the year of thecanopy.
2025 was the year of rescribingand engraving, and I actually

(36:33):
concentrated on that.
I learned stuff, I asked people,I experimented, and I got better
at it.
And I'm gonna give the samededication in 2026 to canopies
that I gave to engraving andrescribing in 2025.

(36:54):
And hopefully, I mean, I yeah,I'm not gonna get to a Barry
Steve level, etc., but I canstep up my game and look make my
canopies look a magnitude orderbetter.
And so that is my number onegoal for 2026.

Mike (37:13):
How about you?
Well, I don't know mine in anyorder, but I'd mentioned it
before, like you did thecanopies.
I would like to finish threethis year.
And I know that's not very many.
I know we talk a lot about it isfor you.
It is.
We talk a lot about maybe thefinish isn't the most important.

unknown (37:31):
Right.

Mike (37:31):
So let me rephrase this.
I'd like to finish three andhave the degree of fun I would
like to get out of it, no matterhow long it took me to finish
it.
But get three done by the end ofthe year.

unknown (37:41):
Yeah.

Mike (37:42):
Now, it's front loaded because the KV85 is getting
close to primer.

SPEAKER_02 (37:46):
Right.

Mike (37:47):
Moose roo build is getting close to primer, parts of it
anyway.
Some of it are already havebeen.
And then there's another one,2BD, to be determined, and then
that's three.
And there may be more startsthan just the one after I get
one of these done.

SPEAKER_02 (38:04):
Yeah.

Mike (38:05):
So I would really like to see myself find a sweet spot
where I can get three done, butnot feel rushed, not feel
obligated, and and just enjoyit.
I'd because, you know, since westarted this podcast, my output
has gone up, folks.
Believe it or not.
Believe it or not, it has.

(38:26):
But I'd like to maybe get a fewmore done because uh kick it up
a notch.
Kick it up a notch.
But I want to enjoy it, I wantto have fun.

Kentucky Dave (38:33):
So well, and we'll talk we'll talk about it
after March and afterHeritageCon.
We'll talk about the Musuru.
Obviously, it's all under wrapsnow.
But one of the things I loveabout that is that you're doing
something that's going to thatyou're gonna learn something
from.

Mike (38:53):
Yes.

Kentucky Dave (38:53):
And it's going to be very valuable in future
modeling.

Mike (38:58):
And that's how I get through that project when it's
when it's my turn, is I turn itinto something that's useful to
me.

Kentucky Dave (39:04):
Yep.
And I'm really excited about it,and we can't talk about it, but
we could, but we're just notgoing to.
We're not going to.

Mike (39:12):
That's how we are.

Kentucky Dave (39:13):
Yeah.
And uh so I am looking forwardto that.
I will tell you.
And that that that will buildinto picking up something new
for 2026.
What you got next?
Well, my next is actuallyrelated to your next.
I defined it as speed.

SPEAKER_02 (39:34):
Yeah.

Kentucky Dave (39:34):
Now it's not just speed, it's not just putting
parts together quicker orairbrushing quicker or decaling
quicker.
God knows.
But it's a combination of whenI'm at the bench not getting
distracted, it's focusing on themodeling, it's not finding

(39:59):
things.
To waste time and it's utilizingavailable time.
When I've got time to model, getdown to the bench.
Don't find something upstairs inregular life that isn't
necessary to do immediately.

(40:20):
Because you'll find it.
Because you'll find it.
Yeah, because the Lord knows,you know, if you go look in your
trouble, you're bound to findit.
That's right.
House, wife, children, pets.
There's always something thatyou can find that needs that
that you can occupy yourselfwith doing.
And avoiding doing that, andthereby, therefore avoiding the

(40:44):
causing yourself to avoid thebench is a killer.
It's already happened some thisyear this year.
There have been one or two timesalready where I should have been
down at the bench and I letmyself get sidetracked,
distracted, et cetera.
So speed, focus, concentration,efficiency for 2026.

(41:08):
And I'm hoping the result ofthat will be more completed
models at the end of the year.

Mike (41:14):
Well, my next one and my last one for this part of the
segment.

Kentucky Dave (41:19):
Well, you got one more than I do, so go ahead.

Mike (41:21):
Okay.
You only have that one?

Kentucky Dave (41:22):
Yeah, those are my two.
Okay.

Mike (41:24):
We'll both have two.
I'm I'm staying focused.

unknown (41:27):
Okay.

Mike (41:28):
And there's two other segments here we got to get
through.
That's okay.
I still want to improve my basesfurther.
There's some stuff I still needto tighten up on.
There's things that are alreadya little sideways on the base
I've already started for theKV-85 that I'm not real happy
about.

Kentucky Dave (41:44):
Are you talking about, say, groundwork
techniques?

Mike (41:48):
Groundwork, edge finishing, just getting it a
little bit tighter.
Clean clean cleaning it upbecause we talked about it, you
know, early on on the podcast,2020 type material about bad,
you know, phoned-in bases at theend of a long project, just
distract from the all the workyou've done for all those months

(42:09):
or years or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 (42:10):
Yep.

Mike (42:11):
It's terrible.
I I want to I want to get betterat it.
Well, I want to get better, butI want to tighten up tighten up
some of that stuff because uhthere's things I'm I'm
dissatisfied with.

SPEAKER_02 (42:21):
Gotcha.

Mike (42:22):
Now there's a lot on that base that I'm already very
satisfied with, like therailroad ties and the rails and
the ballast and all that.

SPEAKER_02 (42:29):
Yeah.

Mike (42:29):
And the it's I think it's one of my better attempts at
varied terrain height that Iactually I'm happy with.

unknown (42:38):
Yeah.

Mike (42:38):
So that's gone in the right direction, but there's
some just some workmanshipissues at the interfaces of the
the diorama and the edge of thebase and just stuff that's just
not as clean as I'd like it tobe.
So on the next one, I'm gonnatry to be a little more
cognitive of that and do abetter job.
Get it where I want it.

Kentucky Dave (42:58):
Sounds great.

Mike (42:59):
That's what I hope to achieve this coming year, man.

Kentucky Dave (43:02):
All right.
We'll hold each other to that.

Mike (43:09):
We're gonna step outside the bench now, Dave.

Kentucky Dave (43:11):
Yeah.

Mike (43:13):
Are there any modeling adjacent topics that might get
your attention in 2026?

Kentucky Dave (43:18):
Yes, there is.
There is one that that I need.
Uh it I I've got to devote myattention to it.
Recent guest Paul Gloster at theNationals brought his little Red
Bull aircraft that was donecompletely with stencils.

Mike (43:38):
Four times.

Kentucky Dave (43:39):
Four times.
That's the downside.
And I talked with him, and hegave me many pointers because
he's got one of these cameostencil cutters.

Mike (43:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're right.

Kentucky Dave (43:52):
And he is a fount of information, and I am going
to tap that fount hard in 2026because I bought this stencil
cutter year and a half ago.
I've used it on one project sofar.

Mike (44:08):
No, you're justified then.
You're good.

Kentucky Dave (44:11):
Well, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Mike (44:13):
So clearly you've not worked in the space industry.

Kentucky Dave (44:16):
Right, exactly.
But I need to, um it's sittinghere.
I need to learn it, I need toget better at it, I need to I
don't want a second hobby, whichis why I didn't pick up a 3D
printer and start having youteach me cat because you don't
have the time to teach me, and Idon't want another hobby.

(44:40):
Yeah, well.
But I've got this stencilcutter.
I think I can avoid making it asecond hobby, but I can
certainly use it and learn andbe able to do a whole bunch of
stuff that I'm not currentlydoing that I think will make my

(45:01):
models look better.
So 2026 is the year of thestencil cutter.
Paul, if you're listening tothis, you and I are gonna have
so many conversations, you'regonna be sick of me if you're
not already.
And I am going to learn thestencil cutter so that by the
end of 2026, I am regularlydesigning and cutting stencils

(45:25):
and using them on my models.

Mike (45:27):
How about you?
I want to get phase two of ourwebsite launched.
I really, really admit you to dothat.
And uh we've already startedlining up some help with the
content side of that, but thatdoesn't happen until we actually
get the infrastructure of phasetwo out there on the on the
server for us to start using.

Kentucky Dave (45:48):
So and folks, I'm gonna be honest, the single
biggest holdback on doing thatis money.
You know, uh Mike and I have tojustify to our wives spending
not only the time to do thepodcast, but the money that we
spend and the Patreon and othersupporters, PayPal, etc., are

(46:13):
really, really helping us out inthat regard.

SPEAKER_02 (46:16):
Yeah.

Kentucky Dave (46:17):
But to get this next phase of the project done,
we got to come up with some notinsignificant money.
And I really want to get it donebecause phase two, I think, is
where it really is going toshine, where where people are

(46:39):
gonna see all of the things youand I have talked about and
imagined down the road.

Mike (46:45):
So it's certainly possible because it's I think once it's
it's implemented, the the what'sgonna be put on there is is a
lot easier to problem to solve.
So yes.
Hopefully we'll get there.
I'd like to get it done beforein the second quarter of this
year.
We'll see.
I don't know.
That's just a big goal for thisyear that didn't get done last

(47:06):
year, but uh hey, it's okay.
We'll get there one way or theother.
We'll get there.
Um that's that's uh my firstone, man.

Kentucky Dave (47:13):
Well, I'm gonna go out and buy a lottery ticket.

Mike (47:15):
There you go.
What's uh you got another one?

Kentucky Dave (47:18):
Nope.
That's what stencils is 2026.
I'm going to take one modelingadjacent project, devote myself
to it.
If I if I took on multiples,none of them would get done.
So I am going just whole hog onthat.

Mike (47:37):
Well, I guess I'll have to drag you along with my other
ones.

Kentucky Dave (47:40):
Okay, give me your other one.

Mike (47:42):
I would really like to get down to Chattanooga and visit
Brandon and the squadron team attheir location before the
national convention.

SPEAKER_02 (47:50):
Yep.

Mike (47:50):
I think uh that would be a very prudent thing for us to do,
and I think it'd be a veryenjoyable little uh overnight
two-day or day and a half tripthat we could do.

Kentucky Dave (48:01):
And I was gonna say we ought because of the
location and our closeness toit.
I mean, we can do that in a day,day and a half.

Mike (48:10):
So sometime this this first half of the year we need
to talk about doing that withBrandon and Road Trip.
Road trip.
And you know, it'll it won't betied to a model show.
So uh No.

Kentucky Dave (48:22):
We can devote our whole time to that.

Mike (48:26):
The other one, which would also involve you, is is just the
stuff around the podcast and thecommunity, other than the phase
two launch of the website.
You know, we did a giveaway in2024.
We talked about another one, butwe didn't do it in 2025.

Kentucky Dave (48:42):
Yeah, but we're gonna do it.
I've got an airbrush.

Mike (48:45):
We got an airbrush to give away and uh we'll we'll kick
that off here, hopefully beforetoo long.
You know, I want to refresh theshow a little, maybe some new
segment formats, maybe changethe music and some new bumps.
Some of our helpers along theway might get some requests from
me about some of those things.
And then I mentioned addinganother double O special agent.

(49:09):
I think I'd like to formalize uhour appreciation to the ones who
we've already given that titleto somehow.
I don't know how.

Kentucky Dave (49:17):
I have ideas.

Mike (49:18):
Okay, we'll need to talk about that.
So for the for the podcast,that's in the community.
I just want to double down onsome of those things and keep
that moving in the rightdirection.

Kentucky Dave (49:29):
2025 was for all of the things that were great
about 2025, to me, the singlegreatest part was the fact that
the dojo really took off.
And we got huge membershipincrease.
We got the fact that now almostevery day there are 20 plus new

(49:56):
posts on the dojo, and not onlyjust sheer volume, but the
interactions the people saying,Hey, I I got stuff from this 3D
print company and their stuff isgreat, or their stuff isn't
great, or hey, you know, ifyou're looking to improve your

(50:17):
canopies, try this to me acanopy wax or to me a wax,
whatever it is, the interactionsare really helping.
And if you are like meconcentrating on something you
want to improve in 2026 in yourmodeling, one of the best things

(50:39):
you can do is go post in thedojo and say, I want to improve
X, or this is how I've beendoing X.
How do other people do it?
Or have you learned anything?
Is there something I shouldknow, etc.?
It is a fount of knowledge outthere.

(51:02):
And we have people posting inthe dojo who are really, really
talented modelers, and thereforethey're there willing to share.
So take advantage of that.

Mike (51:20):
All right, a fun one to wrap this up.

SPEAKER_02 (51:23):
I like this one.

Mike (51:25):
What kit releases or announcements would you most
welcome in 2026?
So this is all this is somethingnew that we haven't heard yet.

Kentucky Dave (51:33):
So yeah, and now these keep in mind these aren't
ones that have already beenannounced.
These are things that I would bethrilled or Mike would be
thrilled to hear announced in2026.
I've got three, Mike.
How many have?

Mike (51:49):
Well, I got two and a I hope it's not released.

unknown (51:53):
Okay.

Kentucky Dave (51:54):
Go first, man.
All right, I'll go first.
And Lord knows I've said thistill I'm blue in the face.
72nd scale needs a new kit ofthe privateer.
Uh still, the still, the thematchbox kit is out there.

(52:16):
It's so old now that it's notfunny.
And what it takes to turn thatinto a really good model, and
I've seen guys do it, it's justtoo much.
And a new modern tool kit wouldreally fill a hole in 70 second
scale.
So I would be thrilled to seethat.

Mike (52:39):
How about you?
I hope you get it, man.
You and me both again this year.

Kentucky Dave (52:43):
Yep.

Mike (52:44):
Well, I'm not going to mention the BT5 or the late
model T26 because nobody'slistening.
At least I'm in plastic and Imaybe if I don't mention it,
it'll actually get it'llactually happen.
This one I may have mentionedbefore, but I would really love
to see MiniArt start rippingthrough the T3476s.

Kentucky Dave (53:06):
Yes.

Mike (53:07):
That would be very painful on my modeling economy.

Kentucky Dave (53:13):
Well, they should do it for that reason, if
nothing else.

Mike (53:16):
You know, if I if I if I could do it, they've already
released a bunch of wheel sets.
Yeah.
And some of those wheel setsthey've released, well, they've
used them on like the the SU 122and 85 and those.

SPEAKER_02 (53:28):
Right.

Mike (53:29):
But some of them aren't applicable to anything they've
kitted.
Which makes you think.
Makes you think they were atleast thinking about it.
Yeah.
Boy, wouldn't it be cool though,if they did they got their wheel
sets and their track sets.
If they did a couple of threedifferent hull kits that lets
you build X, Y, and Z from thiskit, or A, B, and C from this

(53:52):
kit, or an S T Z from this kit.
And then add a bunch of turrets.

SPEAKER_02 (53:58):
Yep.

Mike (53:58):
Man, that'd be cool.
Mix and match or whatever.

Kentucky Dave (54:02):
Well, and and let's face it, the T34 lends
itself to that almost more thanmaybe anything.
The only thing I can think thatwhat might be equivalent to that
would be the Sherman.

Mike (54:14):
Yeah.
I I think they would, you know,no, they're not gonna do it that
way.
They're gonna box full kits, andthat's fine too.
But would like to see them in insome capacity besides their
wheel sets start to start downthat path.

Kentucky Dave (54:28):
Yeah, that would be cool.

Mike (54:30):
What yeah, what else you got?

Kentucky Dave (54:31):
In 2025, Wingsy is a model company, they
released a 72nd scale Val D3A2,which is the later model valve.
It is the post-Pearl HarborValve.

Mike (54:48):
Okay.

Kentucky Dave (54:49):
And I'm hoping that in 2026 we will see them do
the early valve.
I would like that.
We are in need of an earlyvalve.
And if I'm gonna do my PearlHarbor aircraft, I need an uh a
new mold early valve.

(55:11):
So they're they're 90% of theway there with their late model
valve.
It's just gonna take a differentcanopy and you leave off the
spinner and a couple other minorchanges, and you got a D3A1.
So here's hoping that 2026brings us a D3A1 valve.

Mike (55:34):
Well, we saw the release from Ryefield of the uh JSU2 or
the JS2, the tank.
I would really like to see themdo the 152 self-propelled gun,
assault gun on that platform.
One because I don't have one inthe stash from Tamiya, and I
would just give it to Skip.
If they did it, I'd just give itto Skip and go straight to

(55:56):
theirs.
I like their kits, at least inthe box.
I need to build one so I canmake a really informed uh
comment about that.
But uh I I I suspect they'llprobably do it.
It would kind of make sense, butwe'll see.
I would really like to see that.

Kentucky Dave (56:12):
And there are there are a number of famous
pictures.

Mike (56:15):
Oh, yeah, there's tons.

Kentucky Dave (56:17):
In late 44 and early 45 of those things.
And they were just beasts on theside.

Mike (56:23):
Yeah, huge, huge things.
So would love to see that.
So hopefully from Ryefield we'llmaybe go that route.
What what you got next?

Kentucky Dave (56:31):
My final one is a long shot.
In 72nd scale, I would like tosee a kit manufacturer do a
14-meter Dihotsu.
And what that is, is that's aJapanese landing craft.
And these things were ubiquitousall over the South Pacific.

Mike (56:57):
Is that the one in 35th skill that was scratch billed at
the Nationals?

Kentucky Dave (57:00):
Yeah.
Okay.
Exactly.
That's that with the person thatscratch billed.
You're right, one with the fieldgun like in a river type canal
or whatever.
I would like to see an actualkit in uh heck, I will take a 3D
printed kit of that thing in 70second scale.

(57:22):
And I'm here to tell you ifsomebody does one, I will buy
more than one because I haveideas.
I've had ideas for 15 years, andI I've even thought about
scratch building one thatdesperate, but there are too

(57:45):
many other kits to go ahead andbuild, and while I build those,
I can wait for somebody tofinally get around to it.
But I want them to get around toit in 2026.

Mike (57:56):
All right.
How about you?
Well, I don't have anotherwelcome 2026 kit, but in 2025,
Dragon put out the line penciledsketch of their of a uh
Panzerware for 42 on the MallTier as a future release.
Man, I hate to say this, but Ihope I hope that's a pipe dream.

(58:17):
How come?
Because it's gonna cut into mykind of Magnum Opus wanna build.

SPEAKER_02 (58:24):
Yeah.

Mike (58:25):
Really, it was on the short list we made of three for
the coming year, a coupleepisodes back.

SPEAKER_02 (58:31):
Yep.

Mike (58:32):
And I don't know.
It'd be real tempting to to justchuck all the stuff I've got and
buy the new one and go fromthere.

Kentucky Dave (58:40):
But uh Oh, but I know you you would still you'd
buy the new kit and then you'dstill go through all the stuff
you have and end up promising.

Mike (58:49):
I'm being a little facetious, you know.
A lot of people would welcomethat kit, but uh I've never
really gotten stung too bad onthe on kit announced after I
started something.

SPEAKER_02 (59:01):
Yeah.

Mike (59:02):
But this this one could be wading right into it, willfully.

Kentucky Dave (59:07):
Well, this is your year.

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Mike (01:00:10):
Well, those guys always got something on their bench.
Yes, they do, man.
And hopefully we got somethingon ours.

Kentucky Dave (01:00:18):
Well, yeah, I got stuff on my bench, and I've
actually I've actually beenmodeling.
I got a good running start.
The first week of January waspretty darn good for me.
All right.
Concentrating on getting thisHellcat done.
I'm in this phase where I'mputting these fiddly little

(01:00:40):
stencil decals on, and they area pain in the butt.
And given my limitations, I canonly get about five or six of
them on the model before I haveto walk away, just simply
because they are so fiddly andwith my tremors and all, it's a
lot of work to get one down andwhere I want it, etc.

(01:01:03):
So I did a lot the first week ofJanuary and got a fair amount of
those done.
I'm over halfway done on those,I think.
But the second week of January,which we're in currently, I
haven't gotten diddly squat.
I haven't gotten to the bench.
Now, this is almost allwork-related, and this happens

(01:01:28):
to all lawyers.
January is when everybody who'sbeen putting off every legal
issue that they have suddenlydecides it's the new year and
they not need to get this, getthis stuff resolved.
And I come home from workexhausted because I've been

(01:01:50):
working non-stop the entiretime.
So so far, the second weekhasn't been good, but I have
hope.
And I'm gonna get to it, and I'mgoing to focus, I'm gonna get
faster, and I'm not gonna getdistracted.
It's 2026 and and things arelooking up.

(01:02:12):
So how about you?

Mike (01:02:14):
Well, I mentioned last episode that I didn't really
have a dark time, I had a dimtime.

Kentucky Dave (01:02:18):
Yeah, yeah, you made some progress.

Mike (01:02:20):
So at at at this point on the KV-85, all the fuel retainer
straps are done.
I may have mentioned thatbefore, but I'll mention it
again.
Those are all done and waitingin the Chesterfield tin to be
put on the model.
Mm-hmm.
The rear hull grab irons are alldone.
And I'm just still popping thepopcorn, man.
I'm trying to get all theselittle pesky things done that

(01:02:42):
can be added at the end.
So like there's you know, I'vegot it all in my little
Chesterfield cigarette tin.
There's a bunch of the the toeclevises for the front and back
that are three, three more ofthose need to be cleaned up.
There's some parts that need tobe cleaned up for the turret.
Uh the latch on the loader'shatch.

(01:03:03):
Those detail and the hinge forthat needs to be finished up and
added to the turret so I canprime the turret.
Just chipping away at it.
But it's been kinda on pausebecause the the Musuru cup
build, the little rally racerthing.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:19):
Right.

Mike (01:03:19):
Needs to get done.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:21):
Yes, it does.

Mike (01:03:22):
And I've got the body assembled, I got all the the
gaps from all the trim piecesand body trim that went on it.
It's really not that great akit, honestly.
But I got all that assembled,got it all filled, got it all
smoothed out.
It's looking good, so I'm gonnaprime it and see what I missed,
and then it'll be ready forpaint.

(01:03:42):
Hopefully soon.
The bad thing that happened wasuh the span across the top of
the windshield had two uh twomold fill points kinda on the
first and third third of thelength, right?
So it had a knit line in themiddle of it, which is a weak
point.
When I cracked it, it brokeright there.

(01:04:03):
So I've got it glued up.
I gotta get it primed and see ifI've got that filled enough, or
I need to go back and fix it orif it's even fixable.
But you know, oh well.
Can't can't do much about it nowexcept fix it the best way I
can.
Again, the body's ready forprimer, so that'll get taken
care of then.
I've started the interiorpainting.
I've got some base colors downon all the interior parts.

(01:04:24):
I'm getting ready to do a littlebit of I'm kind of making the
seats look like a mixedmaterial.
So Right.
The cloth and leather.
Cloth and leather, so the thecenter sections are gonna get a
color.
Well, all the base, all theinterior's been paid in painted
one color.
I'm gonna get a clear coat onsome of those parts, and they're
gonna get masked, then a darkercolor is gonna get sprayed on

(01:04:47):
them for a little bit of uhmaterial look contrast.
So that's I guess that'ssomething I'm trying on this.
That's not the main thing.

Kentucky Dave (01:04:53):
It's learning.
It's learning.
No, the what what I'm lookingforward to is that one thing
that you're that you're going tothat you're doing on this
project that really will havebenefit not only on this
project, but will definitelyprovide us with useful

(01:05:14):
information information, whichwe will then share widely with
the with the dojo.

Mike (01:05:21):
We will.
So that's where I'm at.
So things are moving.
I didn't have a lot.
I've not touched it this weekbecause you know, we drove to
Washington, DC and back in aweekend and a day.
So that was rough.
Did you go up and down theShenandoah?
No, we went that way going, butwe came back through Western

(01:05:42):
Maryland and down through WestVirginia, so which is the
quicker route, actually.

Kentucky Dave (01:05:46):
It is it is about 30 minutes quicker.

Mike (01:05:49):
But anyway, it's you know, it cut into my modeling time
because it cut into my my restedsituation.
So hopefully this weekend I'llget some stuff done.

The Voice of Bob (Bair) (01:06:03):
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Kentucky Dave (01:06:20):
Well, Mike, have you been spending any mo any
Christmas money on modelingstuff?

Mike (01:06:27):
I spent my Christmas money, but not on modeling
stuff.
But I have spent some modelingmoney.
Okay.
The thing you keep alluding towith the Moose Root Cup is a
custom decal sheet.
Yeah.
That I've designed and I'mhaving printed.
And we'll get into that a littlebit later once those arrive and
once the moose root cup isdisclosed.

unknown (01:06:47):
Yeah.

Mike (01:06:48):
But for now, I've finalized the artwork, approved
the artwork, and made thepayment.
And they are free to print thoseand get them back to me.
So looking forward to that.
What's the ETA on that?
I don't know yet.
I need a touch base with them.
It shouldn't be long.

Kentucky Dave (01:07:04):
No, I wouldn't think so either.

Mike (01:07:06):
Other than that, man, I bought some gloss black paint to
undercoat some metallic partsfor the Miss Roo Cup.

Kentucky Dave (01:07:11):
Well, that's okay.
Yeah.
That's okay.
Well, for me, I haven't spent aton for a number of reasons, but
I did go out and buy a pair ofthese are called weighted
gloves.
And basically they're fingerlessgloves with a weight on them on

(01:07:36):
the back.
And what it's supposed to do isfor people with tremors, it's
supposed to deaden the tremor.
And they're not very expensive.
I don't know if they'll work ornot.
I don't know, but it was a verysmall amount of money, and it's

(01:07:58):
worth the experiment to see ifthey work.
So I went ahead and boughtthose, and I'm gonna try them
out probably in the next day ortwo, and I will report on the
dojo to everybody what, if any,I anything I think about them.
Additionally, our friend ScottKing, Skippy, is having a

(01:08:21):
birthday in a day or two,probably about the time this
episode drops.
And so there was a book that hasjust come out that is right up
his alley.
And so I bought it, and it'sgoing to be his God, I don't
know how old Skippy is now.

(01:08:42):
68, 69, something like that.
It's going to be his birthdaypresent.
All right.

Mike (01:08:47):
So you like that.

Kentucky Dave (01:08:49):
That's what I spent my modeling related money
on.

Mike (01:08:54):
Oh, you're very generous, Dave.

Kentucky Dave (01:08:56):
Yeah, no, I'm not that generous.
It was it was at a deepdiscount.
I caught it on sale.
You don't tell that part.
Folks, when you're done withthis episode, you would go to
the app that you use to listento the podcast and rate the the

(01:09:18):
podcast.
Give us five stars.
Make sure you're subscribed.
We appreciate it.
It helps raise the visibility ofthe podcast.
Additionally, the best way forus to grow is for current
listeners to recommend us topeople who aren't currently
listening.
You've all got model friends outthere.

(01:09:40):
I know you do.
Please recommend to them ifthey're not listening to Plastic
Model Mojo.
Please recommend that they do.
Help them out if they need help.
We continue to grow and we wantto continue to grow.
We don't know where the limitis, but there are a lot of
modelers out there.
And I can tell you all of themare not currently listening to

(01:10:04):
our podcast.
And we'd like to get them all.
So if you'd please help byrecommending us, we'd appreciate
it.

Mike (01:10:12):
In addition to that, please check out the other
podcasts out in the modelsphere.
You can do that by going towww.modelpodcasts.com.
That's model podcastplural.com.
It's a consortium website set upby our friend Stuart Clark from
the Skill Model Podcast.
I sure hope things are goingwell for him in his situation.
So uh Stu, we're thinking aboutyou.
Hopefully we get to hear youcome back here soon.

(01:10:34):
Check it out.
He's aggregated all the bannerlinks to the podcast in the
model sphere there for one-stopshop.
So you can go there and diveinto all those podcasts and
listen to them all, find theones you like best, whatever you
want to do.
But uh they're all there and youcan take them all in.
In addition, we got a lot ofblog and YouTube friends out in
the model sphere.
We got Mr.
Chris Wallace at Model AirplaneMaker.

(01:10:55):
Great blog, great YouTubechannel.
We mentioned Evan McCallumearlier, Panzermeister36 on
YouTube.
Looking forward to seeing wherehe goes with this T37 he's
building.
And he's had a pretty recentdrop as well, so you're gonna
want to check that out if you'reif you're into armor modeling
and armor weathering.
He just does a great job withhis videos.
Stephen Lee, Sprue Pie withFretz.

(01:11:16):
He's been kicking out somerailroad stuff of late and
looking forward look forward togetting into that article he
wrote for a real modelcraftsman.
But anyway, he's got a greatlong short form blog, 72nd scale
centric and HO scale, which isclose.
But uh that's what you're gonnafind there.
Good content, some great readson there all the time.
The N Chai guy, Jeff Groves, ourfriend up in Indiana, another 76

(01:11:40):
second scale centric blog.
He he man, he built a lot ofmodels last year.

Kentucky Dave (01:11:45):
God, he did.
And he just cranked out a seriesof Italian aircraft and tanks.
Right.
And he's now working on WorldWar II Russian aircraft, and
he's just doing some great stuffwith not so great kits.
So it's definitely worth goingover and taking a look.

Mike (01:12:06):
And finally, Dr.
Paul Budzik at the Scale ModelWorkshop.
You can find him on YouTube andyou can subscribe to a little
bit more content throughPatreon.
He doesn't ask for much and it'sworth every penny.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:19):
So it is.

Mike (01:12:20):
Please support Dr.
Paul.
He's retired now, and uhhopefully we're gonna see more
from him.

Kentucky Dave (01:12:25):
I was gonna say, hopefully, we're gonna get him
on the podcast more now than nowthat he has time.
Looking forward to what he's gotgoing on.
Yes.
If you're not a member of IPMSUSA, IPMS Canada, IPMS Mexico,
your national IPMS organization,please join.

(01:12:45):
As I've said before, I'm therecrent retention and
recruitment secretary for IPMSUSA.
And this is my last term.
I'll be retiring at the end ofthe term.
And I'd like to see, we've hadphenomenal growth over my tenure
in this position.
And I would like to go out witha bang.

(01:13:07):
So I would consider it apersonal favor if you would join
or rejoin IPMS USA and help mehelp the organization achieve a
level that it has not previouslyachieved.
Additionally, if you are anarmor or post-1900 figures

(01:13:27):
modeler, AMPS, the ArmorModeling Preservation Society,
is the group for you.
They are a bunch of dedicatedguys who really, really care
about not just armor modeling,but the art of armor modeling.
And the stuff is fantastic.
Mike and I are lucky that theAMS National is this year back

(01:13:51):
in South Bend, and it's onlywhat, two and a half, three
hours from us, Mike.
Something like that.
And so we are going to be there.
We had a blast the last timethat we went, and I have zero
doubt we're going to have ablast again.

The Voice of Bob (Bair) (01:14:11):
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Kentucky Dave (01:14:36):
We're almost at the end of the episode.
I'm at the end of my beer.
Hopefully, you still have alittle bit of that single malt
scotch left.

Mike (01:14:44):
Oh no, no.
I finished it up during uh thespecial segment.

Kentucky Dave (01:14:48):
Yeah.
That that that stuff is good.
I'm not I could ask you, heyMike, how was it?
So I'll go ahead and ask, but Iknow the answer.

Mike (01:14:59):
Well, it's the Balvini Caribbean cask.
It's a 14-year scotch that'sfinished in a rum cast, so it's
got a little different flavorprofile than a standard scotch.

Kentucky Dave (01:15:08):
It's got really, really great flavor profile
profile.

Mike (01:15:12):
If a lot of people love scotch, a lot of people don't
like scotch.
If you're one of those who thinkyou don't like it and don't mind
spending a little bit, it'sprobably gonna be about$80,$85 a
bottle.
Yeah.
Um give it a shot.
It's just sublime.
It's just really good.
I I really like it.

Kentucky Dave (01:15:29):
I would recommend that particular scotch as a
great introduction to scotch forpeople who've never done it
before.
Because it doesn't, it doesn'thave a lot of the peat.
Exactly.
Um, exactly.
And it's got some of the thesweet notes from the rum case.

Mike (01:15:46):
It does, so it's a good one.
Well, how's the beer, man?

Kentucky Dave (01:15:48):
The beer is good.
I mean, it it's your classiclager, light, refreshing, not
heavy, low in alcohol.
I think this is 4.5%.
So it's uh it's about what youget from your your classic mass
market commercial beers,Budweiser or or Coors or

(01:16:10):
something like that.
An excellent beer.
I I can see particularly asummertime beer.
So we thank Bill Moore for it.
It's a great way to end up allthe beers that we got from folks
at the Nationals.

(01:16:30):
Now we truly are at the end ofthe episode.
Do you have any shout-outs?

Mike (01:16:35):
As customary, Dave, I want to shout out all the folks
who've contributed to PlasticModel Mojo through their
generosity.
It's all been a great help.
And you mentioned earlier in theepisode about uh phase two of
the website and how a lot ofthat depends on how things go
with uh contributions this year.
Just a fact of our lives and uhthe way this thing's being run
right now.
But if you'd like to contributeto the show and be like folks

(01:16:57):
like Mr.
Dave Brown or Mr.
Steve Trazewitz, both thesegentlemen have joined the
growing list of contributors toPlastic Model Mojo.
We've made that as easy aspossible.
You can contribute through anumber of avenues, and those
avenues are all spelled out onthe show notes of this in each
and every episode, or there's asupport to show tab on the

(01:17:19):
website atwww.plasticmodelmojo.com.
If you would like to do that,we'd greatly appreciate it.
And you can find the avenuesthere.
So thank you to these gentlemenand thank you to everyone who's
helped us along the way for allthese years.

Kentucky Dave (01:17:34):
Yes, very much so.
My first shout out is a sympathyand extended condolences to our
friend Warren Dickinson, amodeler in southern Kentucky.
His wife passed very quickly,right around Christmas New

(01:17:54):
Year's time, and they've beenmarried forever, and this was
kind of a sudden occurrence, andWarren was up at our show, and I
got to have dinner with him inSeptember, along with Inch and
Skippy.
And I just want him to know thatwe are thinking about him, and

(01:18:19):
uh he he's in our thoughts andprayers.
Two more, real quick.
One, I mentioned it already, buthappy birthday, Skippy.
I don't know what year whatnumber it is, but you're a great
modeling friend, and uh I amhappy to see you complete
another circuit around the sun.
And then our good friend, thePodfather, is in Europe right

(01:18:45):
now, traveling with his lovelywife, posting to Facebook.
He's bouncing all around Europeand leading the good life, and
he's gonna be in the US later inthe year because he's going to
the nationals with us.

Mike (01:19:02):
So I want some of that Australian State Emergency
Services uh PTO, man.

Kentucky Dave (01:19:08):
Yeah, I know.
He he's got some good PTO.
We got to talk to him about howwe can get some of that.
I think it probably will involvemoving to Australia.
But I just want to give him ashout-out and let him know that
I've been enjoying following hisadventures across Europe with
his lovely bride and lookforward to seeing him in the

(01:19:28):
summer of 2026.

Mike (01:19:30):
Is that all your shout-outs, Dave?
That's that's it, brother.
Well, man, let's get this 2026down the road.
Let's get some models finished,let's start some new ones and
let's meet meet some new peopleand uh hang out with the ones we
know.

Kentucky Dave (01:19:44):
That all sounds great.
You know what they say, Mike.
So many kits, Dave.

Mike (01:19:49):
So little time.
All right, man.
I'll see you soon.
I'm gonna be in town a week orso.

Kentucky Dave (01:19:53):
Yes, I know.
We're gonna get together forlunch.