Fear Targets and Finding Fun Shop Talk: Episode 157

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
The Voice of Bob (Bair) (00:11):
Welcome to Plastic Model Mojo, a podcast
dedicated to scale modeling aswell as the news and events
around the hobby.
Let's join Mike and KentuckyDave as they strive to be
informative and entertaining andhelp you keep your modeling mojo
alive.

Mike (00:48):
The thaw has commenced.

Kentucky Dave (00:50):
It has indeed, although I still have a six-foot
pile of snow out in mycul-de-sac, even though it's
been in the 50s and 60s for thelast four or five days, man.

Mike (01:03):
Well, my front house facing is north, so uh we're
getting there, but slowly.

unknown (01:09):
Gotcha.

Mike (01:12):
Well, other than the rather balmy temperatures by
comparison, what is up in yourmodel sphere, Dave?

You know what?
I am full of mojo.
I haven't been modeling quite asmuch as I'd like to, but the
mojo is high.
There have been somemodeling-related stuff,
purchases, et cetera, we'll talkabout later.
And I am looking forward to thethe contest season, show season

(01:39):
is swinging into full swing.
Uh next weekend is Columbus, andSkippy and I are going to try
and get there.
And we're only like a month anda half from Hamilton, from
Heritage Gone.
God, I can't tell you how muchI'm looking forward to that.

Mike (01:54):
How about you?
Well, me too, on that.
Uh well, interesting.
We're not there yet, but we areclose enough to phase two
initiation on the website thatI've emailed our design team for
the the website changes and toldthem I want a meeting next week.
And that's great.

(02:14):
Get this on ice and we can getcrap together here in another
month or so.
Uh we're going to pull thetrigger on that.
And uh it's gonna be good.
So that's my model sphere is ismaking sure going back through
everything I've talked to themabout and getting ready for this
uh conference call to uh getthat going, man.
Uh excited.

We'll have to talk about that.
I am excited too, because Imean, phase one was just getting
the website out there.
Phase two is where it reallyturns into something.

Mike (02:45):
Yeah, so it's gonna be fun.

I I am looking forward to it.

Mike (02:49):
That's that's been my model sphere, other than I don't
know, trying to get our our shippointed the right direction.
Got a lot of forward planninggoing on now.
We've already getting the modelshow spotlights lined up pretty
deep in the air at this point,so uh that's all been good.
So yeah, appreciate folksreaching out on their own.
Apparently they see the value inthat, that there's value in it

(03:10):
for them.
And uh just makes me happy thatit's it's it's it's uh helping
people out.

Yeah, we love promoting shows because again,
Mike and I are huge fans ofshows and contests, getting
modelers together, becauseagain, I enjoy sitting at the
workbench, quiet time alone atnight working, but the social,
the socialization and theenjoyment that you get, meeting

(03:38):
modelers face to face at a showis just you can't beat it.
So I'm more than happy topromote upcoming shows.

Mike (03:46):
And that might come up in the listener mail, too.
So we'll get to that in a littlebit.

Well, Mike, we're recording a show, buddy.
I'm I'm hoping that finally,yeah.
Yeah, finally.
Yeah, well, one of these dayswe're gonna have to do a behind
the scenes and let people knowsome of the struggles we go
through.
But struggles can be made betterwith modeling fluid.
Do you have modeling fluid?

Mike (04:10):
Probably not a good recommendation, but uh I I do,
Dave.
I do have a modeling fluid.

So what do you have?

Mike (04:18):
I have the flagship original series from Bardstown
Bourbon Company.

Oh, yes, I have seen that.

Mike (04:25):
Yeah, so uh more on this at the end, but that's what I
got going on.
And it's yeah, I'm enjoying it,but again, we'll get to the
details later.
What about what about you, man?

I walked by their storefront last night on my way
with my wife to a show.
Barge Town Bourbon has astorefront in downtown
Louisville.

Mike (04:45):
Cool.
We'll talk we'll talk about moreabout Bargetown Bourbon at the
end, but what do you got goingon?

Well, I have not a beer, I have my ice ball, all
right, and I have Elijah Craig'ssmall batch 1789.

Mike (05:02):
All right.
What uh what gave you that wildhair, Dave?

Well, David has an ability to get some bourbons
for a significant discount offof what they would cost
normally, and I was able to pickthis up for a price that would
shock you.

Mike (05:21):
It's a barrister barter deal.

It's well, no, it's uh I'm lucky my wife works
at Trader Joe's.

Mike (05:28):
Okay.
I mean, if you just traded someprobate information for Bottle
of Bourbon, that'd be all righttoo, right?

No, it it that that has happened in the past.
Hopefully the IRS isn'tlistening to this.
But yeah, I have no doubt I'mgoing to enjoy this, Elijah
Craig.
I think this is the first timeI've ever had it, so we'll get
to it at the end.
But I'm pretty sure it'll get methrough the episode.

Mike (05:53):
Predict good things, folks.

I predict good things too.

Mike (05:57):
Well, I predicted good things after we recorded the
last episode about our call toactions and stuff for listener
mail, and uh, I was correct.
This might take a little while,folks, but that's okay.

Yeah, we want that.

Mike (06:10):
I mean, obviously, so we got a lot of listener mail, man.
That's good.
I don't know how many DMs yougot, but I got a stack here.
I actually printed them thistime because I've like pre-read
them a couple times.

Well, actually, we've got a number of DMs too,
so it'll it'll be good.
We we like this part of theshow.

Mike (06:29):
Well, we've got if listener mail from folks like
Spencer Talmage again fromMatthew in Massachusetts.

Okay.

Mike (06:37):
And he just wanted to send an email to respond to Jim
Bates' appearance on the lastepisode, man.

All right.
We we've gotten a lot offeedback on Jim coming on.

Mike (06:47):
So if you're listening, Jim, pony up and just listen for
a little while.
At least through we get throughlistener, man.

SPEAKER_03 (06:53):
That's right.

Mike (06:54):
He wants to say that Jim's stories about his struggles and
his the mental side of modelingand motivation really resonated
with him.
He he's felt a lot about a lotthe same way about modeling,
especially during especiallyduring the last year.
Fear targets, negative,negativity, perfection being the
enemy of the good, all that feltlike listening to a mirror

(07:15):
version of himself talking abouthis own problems.
Interesting, Dave.

Well, that's listen, I I we all think that we
struggle alone and nobody elsehas the struggles we do.
You get people talking, andagain, this is one of the
reasons I like getting modelerstogether at shows that you're
talking and interacting.
Is you find out we all deal withthe same stuff or much of the

(07:42):
same stuff, you know?

Mike (07:44):
I guess I know because this must be kind of cosmic.
It's funny you said that becausehe closes with it's a relief to
know that I'm not alone.

SPEAKER_02 (07:50):
Yep.

Mike (07:51):
Yep.
Thank you for doing the episode.
It was motivating and mojopositive.
P.S.
closing.
He's arranged his lodging forhis first ever trip to Nats.
So if we all make it, Spencer,come by the plastic model mojo
table and say hello.

Yes, please.

Mike (08:08):
Glad that episode worked out for you.

I really like meeting guys who go to their
first nationals.
So, Spencer, please come by thetable and make a point of coming
by and mentioning that it's yourfirst one.

Mike (08:22):
Well, this one actually came in ahead of that one, and
I've already sent it to Jim.
But this is from Paul Budzik,frequent guest on our show.

Modeler extraordinaire.

Mike (08:33):
He liked what Jim had to say about never spending time
looking at old builds in thedisplay case.

SPEAKER_03 (08:39):
Yeah.

Mike (08:40):
Paul says if he didn't have models sitting on his
shelves in his office or hishobby room, he'd never look at
them again.
And he says, even when he does,they're three to eight feet
away.
So what's the point aboutagonizing over every small
detail unless it's what youreally enjoy?

I I I speculate that it's a majority of modelers
who the building and finishingis the fun part.
That the having it and lookingat it, I suspect most modelers,
I mean, you may get somesatisfaction because it it

(09:19):
brings memories back at thebuild, but I suspect that most
modelers the once the model'sfinished and in the display
case.

Mike (09:28):
Yeah, you're on to something else.

Yeah, exactly.

Mike (09:31):
Well, it's interesting.
He says a good question to askthe group how many people spend
time scoping out and admiringtheir old bills?
You know, and to your point, I Ithink you know, if I'm digging,
I I I keep my projects underwaywhen I'm taking a break and
working on a different one in mydisplay case.

SPEAKER_03 (09:49):
Yeah.

Mike (09:49):
So I I go to mine probably more often than a lot of people
do.
And I pull one out every whileand look at it, but not very
often.

SPEAKER_03 (09:58):
Yeah.

Mike (09:59):
And it that's a really interesting point.

Yeah.
And it's a good thing listenersout there.
I'd love to have some email frompeople letting me know, do you
look at your finished buildsoften or do you give them away
when they're done?
Or what's your interaction with,if any, with your finished,
completed builds once the finishis done and you're going to put

(10:23):
it away because you're on to thenext thing?

Mike (10:26):
And are you like uh Dr.
Paul asks, how many of you guysjust put them in a box, never be
seen again?

Seen again.
Yeah.

Mike (10:34):
He says he gets that's fine if you have the space, but
even if he did, he's like,What's the point?

SPEAKER_03 (10:40):
Yep.

Mike (10:40):
That's why he hangs them from the ceiling and mixes them
in with his books and stuff onhis shelves, because he'd rather
have his shop lined with builtmodels than a bunch of unbuilt
kits that will that outlive him,essentially.

Yep.

Mike (10:51):
Says a little dust never hurts a model.

True enough.

Mike (10:54):
There you go, folks.
What's next?
I see these work so much betterwhen I print these out, man.
Next up from Medina, Ohio, Dave,Michael Garapik.
Or Garapik, I'm not sure.
I probably got that wrong.
We often drop the names of Dr.
Dave Gelmacher, Jim Bates, andJohn Vickus.

(11:15):
Well, Michael resides inNortheast Ohio and knows these
guys because he was part of theIPMS John Glenn and IPMS Fame
Cities.

SPEAKER_02 (11:25):
Yep.

Mike (11:26):
And uh he knows these guys, so he just was enjoying
hearing their names again andglad they're get they're coming
up in conversation.

Well, it's amazing.
That tight group of modelersstarted up in the Cleveland
area, and today they are stillin contact on the regular, as
just as if they still all belongto the same club in the same
location, yet they're scatteredfrom the Pacific Northwest to

(11:56):
the Deep South to the RockyMountains.
It's a it's an amazing thing.
And it again, it goes to showyou not only are we fans of
shows, we're fans of clubs,because getting together with
like-minded modelers on theregular, you form friendships,
and those friendships last evenwhen the club, members of the

(12:20):
club, go their separate waysbecause of families, because of
jobs, because of whatever,especially in this day and age
with, you know, DMs and textsand video chats and all.
You can maintain thatfriendship.
That wasn't possible back whenMike and I were coming up in the

(12:41):
80s.
I mean, a guy left your club.

Mike (12:43):
And they were gone.

Yeah, and they were gone.
You know, you might get a letteror a postcard.

Mike (12:49):
Or they'll drop in when club meeting is they're back in
town visiting their in-laws orsomething.

Exactly.
Exactly.

Mike (12:55):
Oh, yeah, that's true.

Of course, back then people don't realize how
much a long distance call cost.
Or the concept of long distance.

Mike (13:05):
That's right.
Jim had to pay for it extra.

Exactly.

Mike (13:10):
We're not done with Jim Bates.

All right.

Mike (13:12):
Lee Edmonds, just a note to say how pleased he was to
hear that Jim Bates is back.
He wondered where he'd gone andnow he knows.

Yes.
And it was our bad for taking solong to get Jim back on.

Mike (13:25):
Well, I think he might mean, not in the context of our
podcast, but a scale Canadian TVand all the other stuff.

SPEAKER_02 (13:32):
So uh Yeah, that too.

Mike (13:35):
Lee says in their club or his modeling community, they
call what happened to Jim astate of gaffia.
Getting away from it all.

SPEAKER_03 (13:43):
Oh.
Okay.

Mike (13:46):
Periods of loss of interest is considered a natural
but perhaps sad part of thehobby.
Some come back from gaffe andothers do not.

unknown (13:52):
Yeah.

Mike (13:53):
He's pleased that Jim has.

So am I.

Mike (13:56):
And he's also thinks it's great that uh Jim has taken time
to think about why heparticipates in the hobby to
begin with.

Yep.
I do think that re-examinationfrom time to time is not a bad
idea, especially if you're at apoint where you're struggling.

Mike (14:10):
Uh, another point he brings up is the topic of what
am I doing to get better?
Uh-huh.
He says at his age is more of amatter of what am I doing to
prevent getting under?

Yeah.
Hey, I feel you, man.
That that's a great way todescribe my struggles.

Mike (14:29):
Says it's not a matter for him of uh learning a new skill
or technique, but keeping hishands in the ones he's already
got because it seems to lessenif he doesn't.
And that's true.
It is don't give up, Lee.
There's always room, man.
If you can hold the line, youcan you can learn something new.

Yep.
Yep.
And it's absolutely true.
I'm particularly like withairbrushing.
That is something that if youdon't do regularly, you you lose
the touch.
And it then you have to spendsome time getting it back.
So it's one reason to have onemodel constantly in the paint

(15:08):
process.

Mike (15:09):
Well, he also is interested in Jim's comments
about writing and keepingjournals, etc.
Writing notes and that sort ofthing.
He he spends most of his daywriting, so it's one of the
reasons that getting to themodeling bench in the evening uh
gets him away from the keyboard.
He says he's tried to keep ajournal, you know, written types
of things up before, but youknow, just so you can remember

(15:29):
what color of paint he used onthe last step he built or last
model he built.
I I run into that all the timewhere I just flip and forget and
then got to go reinvent thewheel again.

Well, and I I feel for him because I'm in the
exact same boat.
I'm an attorney by trade.
So I spend a ton of timewriting.
And one of the things that themodel bench for me is is an
escape from the keyboard where Ican't, and I'm doing things that

(16:02):
they're not manual labor, butthey're manual labor for the
soft-handed professional.
So so that I can come down andwork on a model, and it's
engaging things different fromwhat I do in my work.

Mike (16:20):
Yeah, I think that's the the kind of the the thread he's
on here.
He he he's tried it by hand andon computer, you know, in a
formal notes kind of taking kindof thing, and just fails every
time.
For him, his solution was he setup a Facebook page, which is
Park Street Scale Modeling,which he posts updates of his

(16:40):
builds, puts his paint andfinish notes in the captions of
photos or in those in his posts.
And he thinks he he's he saysthat's work for him.
So interesting take.
Yeah, and absolutely keepkeeping some kind of journal or
notes is even if it's just a cupa quick dash on some post-it
notes, but you know, I'm I feelhis pain because uh handwriting

(17:02):
is not my forte either.
So if you can do it in a way youdon't have to decipher your own
crappy handwriting a monthlater, that's a big advantage.

Yeah, well, many years ago, that's one of the
reasons I started the blog, wassimply to act kind of as a
memory bank where you know Icould write something, post
photos or something, or researchor whatever, so that I knew that
it was there in that blogsomewhere, and I could go back

(17:32):
and find it.

Mike (17:33):
Good idea, man.

Yep.

Mike (17:35):
Up next, Brandon Probert from Carson City, Nevada.
Now that's a cool place.

Yes, it is.

Mike (17:42):
Used to be a mint there.

Yep.
CC.

Mike (17:46):
That's right.
So they moved it out westfurther than that.
Ah, he wants to thank us forpulling him back in the hobby
after 20 years.
He stopped at about age 13.
Now he's 35 and he's beenlistening to the show.
For our namesake, he's he's gotsome mojo now.

You know what?
Those are the stories that warmmy heart.
Somebody says, I got I startedlistening to you and I it pulled
me back in the hobby, or I gotback in the hobby and I started
listening to you, and itencouraged me.
That is one of the big goals ofwhat Mike and I are doing here.

Mike (18:20):
And it's not just our podcast.
I think it's it's it's all thepodcasts, and it's the hobby in
general, which gets to his kindof closing remark in this
paragraph.
This gives him a bit of escapewhen life gets a little bit too
loud.

And that's what a hobby should be
Do not let your hobby become ajob.
It is an escape from life.

Mike (18:43):
All right, Dave.
Next is uh Will Woods from Yorkto Saskatchewan, home of the
snowbirds from the RoyalCanadian Air Force.

Indeed.

Mike (18:54):
You got a kit suggestion.
Okay.
Gee, wonder what it's gonna be.
Go go ahead.
In 70 seconds scale, a CT 114Tudor.
Yes, there was one.

I have the Hobbycraft kit.

Mike (19:10):
Does it like really, really suck?

It doesn't suck as bad as some other hobbycraft
kits, but in no way would youconsider it a a modern kit.
It has more in common with kitsin the 70s and 80s than it does.
Heck, I think it probably cameout in the 80s or 90s.

(19:32):
The Canadian Air Force managesto keep those things alive.
And at this point, I'm not surehow they're doing it.
But uh a brand new kit in 72ndscale of a 114 would be a great,
great choice.

Mike (19:50):
Well, he says he's on the waiting list for kinetics 148
snowbridge.

Yeah, as is every Canadian modeler, period.

Mike (20:00):
Yeah, and hoping for March 2026 as promised.
Is this the one we talked about?

Yes, two years ago at HeritageCon.

Mike (20:10):
No, no, no, it wasn't.
No, but we talked to Kinetic atSan Marcos.

I think we did, yeah.

Mike (20:16):
And this this was was this the one?
I have to go back and listen.

I don't know, but uh, I'm pretty sure it was.

Mike (20:22):
Hopefully they get it out the door because got a bunch of
our Canadian friends gonna wantthat.

Oh, yeah.

Mike (20:28):
Up next, Dave is Louis Toledo.

That's a great name.

Mike (20:32):
He wanted to share his thoughts about a couple of
things.
After listening to a few of ourfellow podcasters talk about uh
quote unquote uniqueness of amodel, he realized some of us
take the hobby more seriouslythan others.

Yes.
Yep, yeah.
I don't I I I don't want toventure into that pool, but yes,
absolutely.

Mike (20:53):
And like he says, there's nothing wrong with that.
But sometimes we make uhcomparisons that aren't
realistic.

SPEAKER_02 (20:59):
Yep.

Mike (20:59):
Typically we're we look at something and then you know it
maybe it's by a professional ormodeler.
And uh we look at their work andthe wow factor of that model and
forget that that's what they dofor a living.
So when a professional modelerkicks out a build in two weeks,
we say, Oh wow, it only took twoweeks.
We don't realize that that's 80hours of work because that's all
they do.

SPEAKER_03 (21:19):
Exactly.

Mike (21:21):
So he says to ask ourselves specifically if you're
just a hobbyist, when was thelast time you put 80 hours into
your model in a two-week period?
Well, that would be never.
Never.
I probably haven't put 80 hoursinto modeling.
What would be the shortest spanof time I've put 80 hours into a
model?
Oh I I was I would have had tohave been single.

(21:43):
Yeah and and in between datingopportunities.
And it was probably uh 80 hours,maybe over three months, yeah.
At my high tide of productivity.

I meant to mention this back in the model
sphere up at the top.
But I had mentioned in aprevious episode that one of the
things I was doing to keepmyself accountable was tracking
the time I'm actually at thebench and building, not fiddling
around, not cleaning up, notanything else, but actually at

(22:19):
the bench building to figure outhow much time I was spending in
a week or a month.
In this case, I was tracking fora full month.
Do you know how many how muchtime I spent at the bench
actually building in the monthof January?
What would be your guess?

Mike (22:38):
Four hours.

Actually, a little more than that, but not
much.
But you're in you're in theballpark.
Six hours 19 minutes.

Mike (22:50):
Single digit.

Single digits in a month.
That's right.
Six hours in a month.
And when you keep track of that,it does make you realize, okay,
yeah, I'm not finishing a modelevery two weeks, and there's a
reason for that.
I don't have that time to build.
But it also is motivating to meto find ways to get more time to

(23:17):
the get more time at the bench.

Mike (23:20):
Well, some of my projects, I'm not even finished in in two
years.
So talk about that another time.

SPEAKER_03 (23:26):
Yes.

Mike (23:27):
So in the end, he advises hobby is not to do that.
You have a choice of how muchtime you're willing to put into
this wonderful hobby.

SPEAKER_03 (23:34):
Yep.

Mike (23:34):
And just treat it as just a hobby.
And we've all heard this before.
He says if you're not havingfun, you're doing you're doing
it wrong.

Exactly.
Well, we've more than heardthat.
We've said that.
In many, on many, manyoccasions.

Mike (23:49):
So learn to appreciate a modeler's effort instead of his
or her results because that'swhat matters.
Well, it it matters.
It it results matter to somepeople, like the people you're
talking about who areprofessional modelers, but uh,
you know, uh I agree.
For for a lot of us, it's moreabout the journey than the
finish.
Yep.
And we all have to figure thatout them for them for ourselves.

Yep.
And it for me it boils down.
Are you having fun?

Mike (24:14):
Yeah, you're having fun or not.

Exactly.
And if you're having fun, you'redoing the hobby right.

Mike (24:20):
I'm all for having fun.

Yep.

Mike (24:23):
Well, we hear from the voice of Bob fairly regularly.

Yes, we do.

Mike (24:28):
We probably four times in this episode we'll hear from
Voice of Bob.
That's true, too.
Maybe five.
I need to take stock.
But he's written in as a averageJoe modeler this time.
And again, it's about Jim'sepisode.
Mm-hmm.
This has to be the mostrelatable episode ever to him.
Oh, wow.

(24:49):
Listening and nodding his head.
Yes, exactly, exactly.
Again, he says it's great tohear from Jim.
He liked how Jim talks aboutwhat building what he likes
instead of you know how that'scontradictory to what he
actually builds, what he likesversus what he builds.
He likes this finish and learnapproach.
He thinks that this being afraidof screwing it up so you don't

(25:09):
do anything.
For him, it's airbrushavoidance, and it was one of his
hang-ups.
And he he says Dr.
Miller, Dr.
Strange Brush has uh alleviatedsome of that for him.
But you know, why aren't youbuilding your favorite aircraft
yet?
Right.
That's the problem he's had.
And he's he's he loves the P-38and he's building one, but it's
taken over a year to get wherehe's at, and he's not quite done

(25:31):
yet.
So there's a paralysis creepingin.

SPEAKER_03 (25:34):
And that happens.

Mike (25:35):
He feels like he should buy another kit of the P-38 and
build it out of box.
Because that's not what he'sdoing with this one, if you're
just build it, paint it done.
I think it's not a bad idea,Bob.

I do too.
And in fact, I think if you'vegot a favorite aircraft or a
favorite piece of armor orfavorite whatever, don't keep
putting it off because you wantto get better before you do it,
because you love that item andyou want to build that item.
Grab the kit, build it out ofthe box, just straight out of

(26:07):
the box, as a learningexperience.
Then once you've built one andcompleted it and found where the
maybe the catches are, thethings that you need to pay more
attention to or whatever.
Once you finish the first one,then you can go and get all the

(26:28):
aftermarket and open up panelsor do whatever you're gonna do.
And then you'll have two modelsof your favorite aircraft or
piece of armor or whatever.

Mike (26:40):
Well, he wants to quit suffering over the add-ons he's
foolishly purchased because it'shis favorite World War II
aircraft.

Yep.
And that though those add-onscan can take away from your
enjoyment.
Sometimes they can add to it,but they can also take away from
it.

Mike (26:56):
And he says this is why he added a second build table just
to work on something else.

Yep.
I am a huge advocate of havingtwo items going at once.

Mike (27:08):
Yeah, but two benches.

Who am I?
I've got a 13-foot bench and I'mbuilding on the on a bench space
the size of a piece of eight anda half by 11-inch paper.
Who am I to judge?

Mike (27:23):
You could have four or five things going on if you
clean up.

I absolutely could if I cleaned up.

Mike (27:28):
Well, Bob wants to warm up the finishing his SR71, which I
think he has this weekendbecause he posted on a dojo.

Yes, it's beautiful.

Mike (27:36):
But it's too big for his paint booth, so yeah.

Well, that that's okay.
You can paint it, you know,stick one end in, stick the
other end in.
It'll work it out.

Mike (27:46):
Modeling fluid and paint fumes might be an interesting
conversation.

Well, that's two of our modeling friends have
built SR 71s in the last year ortwo.
That's a very, very popularmodel.

Mike (27:59):
Up next is Bruce McCrae.

Oh, how's he doing?

Mike (28:03):
He's good.
He says in 1983 he got a tour ofIndustrial Light and Magic.
They had just finished Return ofthe Jedi, and the movie had just
opened that week, and he spentmost of his time in their
modeling shop.

I'm sure that would be that would that would
have been an experience.

Mike (28:19):
He says Bill George was the only modeler there, and they
talked a lot about the modelsmade for the movies.
And he asked him what color theyuse for the TIE Fighters.
And he reached behind him andpulled out a spray can from the
rack.
Number two 008 Patra PatraAuthentic International Colors,
Stormy Sea.

(28:40):
Which is a dark blue-gray color.

SPEAKER_03 (28:42):
Yes.

Mike (28:43):
Which gets washed out in the movie.
Yeah, they look like light grayon the screen, right?

Yes, they do.

Mike (28:50):
He's still got the can, which he sent a photograph of.
You know what this makes me wantto do?

SPEAKER_03 (28:54):
What?

Mike (28:55):
Yeah, way back we interviewed the gentleman here
in Lexington that runs the andthe uh old model kit business.

SPEAKER_03 (29:01):
Right.

Mike (29:02):
And I remember I went over to his house.

SPEAKER_03 (29:04):
Yep.

Mike (29:04):
And he had like a crap ton of decals and paints and
supplies that came with a lot ofthese collections.

SPEAKER_03 (29:10):
Yep.

Mike (29:11):
And there were a bunch of burgundy top paint bottles in
there, man, of that old pactorstuff.
I wonder if he's got any of thatcolor.
I'd like to have one.

If nothing else, you ought to be able to paint
match it.

Mike (29:21):
It'd be really easy to paint match if you've actually
had it.

Yeah.

Mike (29:28):
Up next is Leo Posner from the City of Brotherly Love,
Dave, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia.

Mike (29:34):
He hadn't written in in a while.
He always wants to touch basewith a quick status of his
current projects.
And you know, he's written inseveral times before, and he's a
a one-to-one forty-fourthairline guy.

Yeah.
Which I I I one of my ambitionsis to to build an airliner or
two.

Mike (29:54):
Which have a people can object to this and write in and
tell me I'm wrong, but uh I th Ithink airliners have maybe more
in common with automotivesubjects than like combat
aircraft.

Yep, I agree with you.

Mike (30:11):
It's really all about the finish and the livery.

Yep.

Mike (30:14):
And not so much the detail.
I mean, come on, you put decalson for the windows.

Yes.
Well, sometimes.

Mike (30:22):
I'd say most of the time.

Most of the time.

Mike (30:24):
But Leo's wanted to get better or expand his horizons
anyway, experience some newthings.
So Photoetch was one of those.

SPEAKER_03 (30:33):
Yeah.

Mike (30:33):
And he's added some photoets to some of his
airliners.
And he's again, it's about thethe the airframe and the scheme,
delivery.

SPEAKER_03 (30:42):
Yep.

Mike (30:43):
So little minuscule photoets on an airliner get kind
of lost in the noise.
So you're not really you're notgaining a lot when you add it.
He he says that pretty much inthe email.

SPEAKER_03 (30:54):
Yeah.

Mike (30:55):
So he's gone on and he he's built like Ravel's bucket
wheel excavator.

SPEAKER_03 (31:00):
Yep.

Mike (31:01):
Saturn V rocket.

SPEAKER_03 (31:03):
Yep.

Mike (31:03):
And the North Cormont offshore rig.
Another big kit.
These are his winter builds eachyear.
He picked a larger kit to passthe long cold uh Philly winters
and dark nights.

And it is, it does get cold and wintery up
there.

Mike (31:19):
Wanting to get better at PE for, I guess not so much for
his airliners, but for theseother things he's in trying, you
know, just trying to get hisskill set up, right?
Sure.
Learn something.
He's building Ravel's uh one 400scale Queen Mary 2 Platinum
Edition.

I I have seen the posts on the on the dojo on
that, and it's it's prettyamazing.

Mike (31:42):
So between the laser cut wood deck and the heap and
helping a photo etch, whichwould probably make Jim Bates
run to a Mariner's game.
See, Jim, everybody loves you,man.

SPEAKER_03 (31:54):
That's right.

Mike (31:55):
Well, always gets his his goal of uh getting better at
photo etch parts.
So it's working out because he'sdoing something different.

You want to know my hot take?

Mike (32:06):
What's your hot take, Dave?

Airliners have a lot in common with model
railroads.

Mike (32:12):
More than automotive?

More, well, no, maybe not more than automotive,
but in the same way asautomotive.
Where you're building for thelivery.
Yeah, sometimes.
Mo most many model railroaders,they're they're building
particular lines and particularmarkings on particular cars, and

(32:38):
that's the focus of of whatthey're doing, and that is very
much like airliners.
So that's my hot take.

Mike (32:49):
There you go, folks.

There you go.

Mike (32:51):
All right, this next one comes from a long way away.

Where?

Mike (32:55):
Follows Greece.
From Panangiotas Mavriotis.
Hope I got that right.

It's probably better than I could do.

Mike (33:03):
Hey, at least he he wrote it in Roman alphabet instead of
uh in the Greek Alpha alphabet,which is looks like Cyrillic to
me.

Yep, but it's not.

Mike (33:16):
It's not, you're right.
He's been listening for the lastyear, and it's been a turning
point in his scale model life,so we appreciate that.

Well, that's fantastic.
I hope his modeling fluid isuzo.

Mike (33:32):
He likes our approach to scale modeling, Dave.

Well, I appreciate that, and I love
hearing from people who listento us in other countries.
I really do.

Mike (33:44):
Mostly models at 70 second scale.
Yay! He's sent a bunch ofphotos.
It's a a lot of jets, includinguh Helenet Corsair 2.

The Greek Greek modern Greek aircraft are some
of the coolest because they havea lot of interesting schemes and
a lot of weathering.
Greek F4s, A7s are just some ofthe most awesome models.

Mike (34:13):
Well, he's expanding his modeling subject into real space
to sci-fi.
Well, he's always wanted to, soyeah, the time's now.
Go do it, man.
Your aircraft look you're great.
You're you're ready to go dosomething different, too.

Yeah.
Mike Guy Dekavage approves.

Mike (34:28):
Yes, he turned 53 months ago and he's turned by still
trying to sort out and organizehis most valuable resource.
You know what it is?

Modeling fluid?

Mike (34:36):
Time.

Oh, okay.
Yes, I sympathize with that.

Mike (34:40):
Well, he's got a suggestion for a future topic,
and we'll take that intoconsideration.
But uh thank you for writing infrom Greece, and your models
look great.

Um and thank you for the suggestions.
We love it when listeners reachout and and tell us what they
like, what they don't like, andgive us suggestions for things
to do.

Mike (35:03):
Well, he's been at this a long time, so glad you enjoy the
podcast.
I'm glad you're enjoying thehobby because uh that's that is
paramount.

Absolutely.

Mike (35:12):
Steve Anderson from Motto Mead I Minnesota up in the
Minnesota Twins country.

Yep.

Mike (35:19):
You know, getting back to shows and stuff, he went to the
Hope It Doesn't Snow show againin Rochester.

Yep.
Steve did as well.
So did Mark Copeland.

Mike (35:29):
This was the second year he went and had a vendor table.
He says Rick, the vendor guyfrom the show was awesome.
And he says that you, Dave, areright about the great people you
meet at shows, and Rick is oneof them.

Yep, it's true, man.

Mike (35:43):
So here's the hook.
Coming back for the second timewas better than the first.

SPEAKER_02 (35:48):
Yep.

Mike (35:49):
He got to talk to new people, and some of the modelers
he talked to the year beforecame back and he got to talk
some more.
And he realized he met a lotmore people when he had a vendor
table.

Yes.

Mike (35:59):
And then when he didn't.

Yep.
I had that experience inMurfreesboro last fall because
you weren't able to make it.
I had the table down there and Ihad it just me.
And it really was a way tointeract with the entire crowd.
And I really enjoyed that.

Mike (36:18):
He says the highlight was getting to meet and talk to some
fellow uh Macross and Robotechbuilders.
So that's interesting.

Oh wow.

Mike (36:24):
That's unusual genre.

Yep.

Mike (36:27):
Well, I guess it's not unusual.

It's just No, it's becoming more and more
popular.

Mike (36:32):
Well, but it's it's always been, I guess, lesser well
populated at the shows than youknow the traditional stuff.
But uh glad somebody's buildingit.
Any you know, I bought a bunchof Robotech kits from I bought a
bunch of Robotech kits of theNationals and uh just I finally
got those in my buddy John'shands uh a couple weeks ago.

So I remember that.

Mike (36:52):
That that was good.
But all this leads to hisquestion, Dave.

Okay.

Mike (36:56):
What is a favorite memory we have either running our own
table or talking to a vendor ata table at a show?

Keep in mind I've been to twenty nine nationals.

Mike (37:10):
But you set up tables that are way more than just
nationals.

Yeah, I do I God, there's so many of them.
Okay, I'll tell you one.
And this has happened severaltimes, so it's not just one,
it's several.
This is happening less and lessoften simply because time
marches on.
But particularly back in the 90sand early 2000s, at model shows,

(37:38):
you would encounter veterans,World War II veterans, yeah, and
they'd stop by your table, andyou know, they'd see a
particular aircraft or piece ofarmor or whatever, and they
would, I recognize that becauseI did this or that.

(37:59):
Looking back, I wish I'd had arecorder and taped those
conversations because those werejust some of the most
interesting conversations.
A lot of these guys didn't talkabout this stuff on the regular,

(38:20):
but once something triggered thememories, particularly in an
environment like a model showwhere it was kind of the the
focus of the of the event, theywere much more comfortable
talking and just had some of thegreatest conversations with guys

(38:40):
who were ground servicemen,ground servicing aircraft in the
Pacific, or guys who served inthe mud infantry in Italy.
They were fantastic, and Ireally wish I could go back and
recapture those.

Mike (38:56):
Oh, for me, man, I don't know.
It's I think it's gotten kind ofpolluted by since we started
doing the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 (39:03):
Yeah.

Mike (39:04):
Because now we sit by a table at the at a show, be it a
invitational level, local showor a regional or the national
convention or amps or whatever.
We've just met some amazingpeople who've become some good
friends and some of them becomeregular personalities on the
show.

Yeah.

Mike (39:22):
Uh it's just you just don't know what you're gonna
get.

I I'll tell you one.
Do you remember where we firstmet the Quaka?

Mike (39:31):
At HeritageCon.

No, at Indy.

Mike (39:34):
Really?

Yes.
He was at Indy.
And that's where we first methim.
And that's a guy who wecommunicate with on the regular,
who is one of not only thefinest modelers, but the finest
people I know.

Mike (39:54):
Paul Gloster for those.

Yeah, Paul Gloster from Australia.
And last year you and I spentfive days in an Airbnb with
Gloster and some other folks,and just the time of my life.

Mike (40:08):
We're about to do it again.

I could not, I could not be this lucky again.

Mike (40:14):
We only get one chance, so that's a good thing.

That's right, baby.

Mike (40:18):
Well, next is Tim Nelson.
Just right, Tim.
Just right, Tim.
Just listening to episode 156,and he feels compelled to
comment on getting better versushaving fun.
Okay.
He says he sure hopes thosethings aren't mutually
exclusive.

They shouldn't be.

Mike (40:36):
And I don't think they are.

I don't think they are.

Mike (40:39):
I think one's a priority over the other.
Uh and he says my inclinationwas correct that the what's your
plan for getting better didoriginate as a snarky response
to the excessive hand-wringing,pearl clutching we all see that
keeps folks building belovedsubjects.

SPEAKER_03 (40:54):
Yep.

Mike (40:55):
And he says facing those fears and peeling back the
mystery, his hope is thatthere's a pathway opens up for
us that leads us to more fun andjoy in the hobby.

SPEAKER_03 (41:04):
I agree.

Mike (41:05):
The goal can be whatever motivates you.
Improvement improvements in ourbuilds, improvements in personal
growth, satisfaction at the atbuilding a meaningful subject,
success in competition, even, orwhatever.
He says if you want to spend afew hours of Zen just assembling
out, assembling a quick buildjust to get it out and get it

(41:25):
junk done for the enjoyment ofhands-on activity, it's all
good.
Paramount is just to seek bliss.

I completely agree.
Are you having fun?

Mike (41:35):
He's turning into a skill model Buddha, man.

Yeah.

Mike (41:39):
Regarding being our own worst critics, which is
absolutely true in modeling orany other quote unquote art, he
believes our negativity comesfrom uh the mismatch between
what we visual visualize for ourproject completion compared to
the actual results.

SPEAKER_03 (41:54):
Yep.
I'd say that's true.

Mike (41:56):
He says other viewers never had that
pre-visualization, so they seethe model as it is.
Yep.
And the passage of time causesthe visualization visualization
to fade, and we start to see ourown models as is, generally
pretty darn decent.
Good point.
So uh Tim's uh hitting it again,man.
Good points.

(42:17):
And that is it for the emailside of things, Dave.
Other than, before I hand it offto you, we've got a couple,
three more, three more.

SPEAKER_03 (42:25):
Okay.

Mike (42:25):
One of them will be covered in our special topic,
and the other two from TerryWilkinson and Scott Hubert were
from the call to action in the12-minute model sphere, and
they're gonna go and beaddressed in episode 158.
So let me say real quick,episode 158, the topic is what
do you get from this hobby?
Why do you model?

(42:46):
What do you get from it?
I'd like to see some more emailson that.
We're gonna cover those otherpoints and opinions in the in
episode 158 in our feature upfeature uh segment.
Thanks for those guys forgetting on the stick and uh
getting those to me.
But uh a few more would begreat.
So keep them coming in, andwe'll tackle this other one in
our uh special episode tonight,Dave, from uh Jeff Adanitz.

(43:10):
So there you go.
All right.
So, what is happening on thedirect message side of the
world?

Well, we uh the direct messages have been active
too.
Our friend Michael Grisbin DM'dme, heard me talking about one
of the things I wanted to do wasto use the the cameo cutter that
I got that I've only used on oneproject and I want to get better
at it.

(43:36):
And he reached out because therewas a post on Facebook about
using the cutter to cut plasticup to 20 thal plastic.
And so he was kind enough tosay, hey, I don't know if you
saw this and sent it to me, andwhich was great because I would

(43:58):
have never seen it.
Otherwise.
And I it just redoubles mydesire to make that a focus in
2026 of getting better.

Mike (44:12):
Well, I can tell you on that topic, you mentioned Paul
Gloster.

SPEAKER_02 (44:16):
Yes.

Mike (44:17):
And I talked about phase two of the website.
He's he's mentioned maybetalking about the the uh
silhouette and cricket cutters alittle bit more and in a written
format.
So maybe we get to put thistogether ourselves.

Yep, I'm looking forward to it.
Kevin Hedrick of Kiss Kit Maskscontacted me to let me let me
know that unfortunately they'renot going to be able to make it
to HeritageCon after all.
They've had some developmentsthat require them to devote

(44:50):
time, energy, and money wherethey are, and they have to
sacrifice the trip to Hamilton,which they were really looking
forward to.
I've already reached out to himand said, listen, if you've got
material you want us todistribute, send it to us.
We will, because again, Mike andI are huge fans of Kevin and

(45:14):
Janelle, and they do a greatjob, and we get nothing but
positive feedback from ourlisteners who've interacted with
them.
Now, I'm of course disappointedthat we're not going to see
Janelle at the net at Hamilton.
Kevin, too, I guess.

(45:36):
But I am encouraged that uh allis well and they're focusing on
what they need to focus on rightnow.
Looking forward to seeing them.
Maybe they'll get to thenationals.
Who knows?

Mike (45:50):
On a personal level, that is disappointing, but they can't
help it.
So we understand.

We completely do.
William Christman reached out tocomment and just tell us that he
enjoys our podcast and theoutlook and attitude that we
have toward modeling, and thatlike us, he wants it to be a
drama-free experience.

(46:16):
And he really appreciates thatthat that we keep it that way in
the podcast.
And I appreciate hearing thatbecause you and I really do make
an effort to do that.
Martin Piada to send me apicture of a bourbon bottle.

Mike (46:33):
Yeah, I saw that one.

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Chicken Cock is
the name of the bourbon.
I have I've seen this, I thinkit like total line.
I've never had it.
I don't know what distiller isdistilling it, if it's an
independent or one of the bigones.

Mike (46:55):
No, I don't remember.
Remind me, did he send a pictureof it on a store shelf or is it
like in his hand in his house?

Is it in his hand in his house?
So he said a friend got it forhim for his birthday.
And he says they still freeze?
He thinks the friend got itmostly for the name, but it
turns out to actually tastepretty good.
So maybe I'll have to look outfor that one.

Mike (47:21):
Maybe that will be a featured on a future episode of
Blessing Mala Mojo.
Chicken cock.

Chicken cock.

Mike (47:27):
All right.

And finally, on the DM side, one of our
listeners who who had interactedpreviously, Clement Pudenson,
and God, I know I'm butcheringthat, and I apologize.
He and I have had some reallywonderful interactions.
And like I said, he had firstcontacted me regarding using

(47:51):
Tamiyawax on his canopies.
But we've had plenty of lovelyinteractions since then.
And he and I had an interactionthat will come up later in the
What Broke Your Wallet segment.
So I just wanted to mention tohim that he broke my wallet and

(48:13):
he'll hear about it in a littlebit.
That's all I've got from the DMside.

Mike (48:18):
Folks, again, we got a few more we're going to save till
till next episode.
So if you'd like to reach out tous, you can do so through a
couple of ways.
You can email us atplasticmodelmojo at gmail.com,
or you can send us a directmessage through the Facebook
Messenger system, or you can usethe feedback web link on the
website, or which uh you can getto at the website or through the

(48:40):
show notes of each and everyepisode.
So man, we had a lot this time,but it was a lot of fun, Dave.

It was.
This is my favorite segmentwithout question.

Mike (49:09):
Dave, our main segment tonight is gonna pick back up
Fear Targets topic that we kindof glossed over it with Jim.
We kind of got off the rails andbut it was all fine.
It all ended up okay.
But I just thought maybe thiswas worth talking a little bit
about more.

All right.

Mike (49:26):
A little bit more about, maybe.

Define your terms.

Mike (49:30):
Fear targets would be anything that gets us off the
rails as modelers or even keepsus from starting as modelers.
Things that basically that thatscare us, that keep us uh maybe
that's a hard thing to admitsometimes, but right.
It can c cause procrastinationat the base level, I guess.

And I can think of some.

Mike (49:49):
Well, I've got one I'm gonna lead off with this list
from Ellie cut off from JeffAdanich.
And it gets into that kind ofvein that Tim Nelson was talking
about, the uh the our ourpre-project visualization versus
what it actually ends up.
And sometimes thatpre-visualization might be in

(50:09):
our minds beyond our currentskills.
So we don't start it.
And for him, he had a familymember that was a a B-17 ground
crewman during during the warwith the Eighth Air Force.
So he's got a familysignificance around this
particular subject.
Uh he's heard stories about theplanes, the crews, the work at

(50:30):
the airbase, you know, on and onand on.
And his dad would take him toair shows to see one of the you
know the few flying B-17s thatare out there.
And other things, he'd go to theDayton Air Force Museum and see
the one there.
So he's gonna decide that uh hewould never leave the gift shop
without a model kit.
But he's had an Academy B-17F inhis stash for years.

(50:52):
He didn't want to start itbecause, as he quotes, I can't
screw up the family airplane.
And he took a long look at thekit he's built over the years,
and all the great builds peopleare doing on the dojo, and he
finally got to the point he'slike, let's do this and see what
happens.
So that would be one fear targetis basically the fear of failure

(51:17):
from the start.

And I think this is a very common one, and I know
it is for me.
In fact, we talked about alittle bit earlier in this
episode.
Your favorite item, in his case,a B17 because of the family
connection, but from whatever itis, this is this is the airplane

(51:38):
that I really love, or the tankthat I really love, or the car
that I really, really love.

Mike (51:44):
Yeah, like Jim not building hurricanes.

Like Jim not building Jim knows more about
hurricanes.
Jim has forgotten more abouthurricanes than I'll ever know.
And it's clearly something thathe is invested in.
And I think he actually suffersfrom that in that he he runs
into this challenge of, oh, II'm not good enough yet.

(52:11):
And I do think one of thesolutions to that is what I
suggested earlier.
Go buy two or three of the kitsand build one out of the box,
and and say to yourself, thisisn't gonna be the masterpiece.

(52:32):
All I'm doing here is putting ittogether out of the box,
learning the kit assemblysequence, learning where there
might be things that I need todo different from what the
instructions say, and finish it.
And when you get it done,because you've said to yourself,

(52:53):
this isn't the masterpiece, thisisn't my my absolute opus build.
The fact that you built a kit ofyour favorite item, got it
completed, I think will helpkill that fear, or at least
diminish it.

Mike (53:12):
Well, he's got a kind of interesting take here.

Okay.

Mike (53:15):
You know, we all say just, you know, get going on it,
right?
Right.
You know, and maybe honestly,probably is easier said than
done for a lot of folks.

SPEAKER_03 (53:23):
Yeah.

Mike (53:24):
But that's okay.
Finally got to the point, again,let's do this and see what
happens.
Over the last several months,he's had the most fun he's ever
had working on a kit.
This B-17 has been the largestkit he's ever built.
It's the most scratch buildinghe's ever done.
It's the longest build durationhe's ever endured.
And he's used every skill he hasin the process and adding to it

(53:48):
to get to the end.
Which uh he says that the modelpaint solutions needle point
scriber has been a greataddition to the tool kit.
So shout out to John Miller.
So there you go, John.
This this one's this point is,and we've talked about this
before, Dave.
He says this kit was or is ahundred little builds from

(54:09):
getting the paint to look rightto problem solving about fit and
shape issues, getting all ten ofthe flight crew figures into the
plane in the right pose, how tobuild the radio room, because it
now has to have a figure in itand you can't leave him out, and
all these little stinking brassbaching barrels.

(54:30):
And sometimes you just gottajump, man.

No, I think that's absolutely true.
Sometimes you just have to jump.

Mike (54:40):
So his fear target was screwing up the family build.
And he's embraced it.
And then you know, you're right.
If it doesn't work out, he cantake all that he learned and
build another one and get pastfast forward past all those
hurdles.

Yep.

Mike (54:56):
Because he knows.

And and having built one, I think that takes a
lot of fear away because one ofthe big fears is, oh, I'm gonna
screw this up.
Well, if you built the kit once,that fear is screwing up, is now
you you know what you're facingrather rather than when you

(55:17):
initially open the box, cut openthe plastic, the cellophane or
whatever, sprue covers orwhatever, you don't know what
you're facing.
And when you don't know, fearcreeps in.

Mike (55:31):
Well, two things.

I forgot one of them.
That's okay, it'll come to you.

Mike (55:37):
Well, your third Plieste B-24 ought to be really damn
good, man.

That's exactly right.
That is absolutely exactlycorrect.

Mike (55:47):
The other point was he may get through this one and it may
be fine.
Yep.
He may, you know, man, I learneda lot.
I think it looks good enough.
That's the family airplane.
I'm gonna go do something else.

SPEAKER_02 (55:58):
Yep.

Mike (55:59):
So, you know, you don't have to use it as a test bed.
No, but the point is, just doit.
It is a test bed by default.
When you get to the end, youeither like it or you don't.
If you don't, you can do itagain.
If you do, you're done.
Yep.

Absolutely.

Mike (56:15):
Well, you got any fear targets?

No, well, though that's one.
There is a nut there are anumber of aircraft that I want
to do, and I want to do theperfect job on them, and I've
built none of them.

Mike (56:28):
Is there is there a technique or something besides a
subject?

Well, there I was going to say, in addition to all
of those subjects, and that'sone fear, the fear of screwing
up an airplane I really like, Ihave shied away from bare metal
aircraft because of the factthat bare metal is very
difficult to do.

(56:52):
And I don't think it's asdifficult as I think it is.
Our friend Chris Wallace did areally excellent video, not uh
gosh, awful long ago, on baremetal finish on his 104.
I do think that because I fearthe bare metal finish, that has
me shying away from certainsubjects or certain subjects in

(57:16):
certain markings.
And that is one of the thingsthat is a fear for me, and I
need to conquer it.
And I I've got an upcoming buildwhere it's I can finish it needs
to be finished in bare metal,and I'm gonna confront that
fear.
Worst thing that happens is Iscrew the model up, it goes in

(57:38):
the trash, and I go out and getanother one.

Mike (57:40):
That's always true, but it's the hardest hard to hard to
swallow.
Once you swallow it, it's good.

But uh Yeah, I was gonna say, once you accept
it, uh, you know, it's thescene, the scene in Dune with uh
fear is the mind killer.

Mike (57:56):
Well, another one that comes to mind was uh Jim brought
it up about even the littlepiece of photo etch is like a
can stomp the brakes for him.

SPEAKER_03 (58:05):
Yes.

Mike (58:06):
And for me, I I've I was kind of there too.

SPEAKER_02 (58:10):
Yeah.

Mike (58:11):
But I think really getting into a technique that you don't
understand and learn as muchabout it as you can before you
try it, it's not gonna guaranteesuccess, but I think it's gonna
get you to success faster thanif you just started throwing
bricks at the wall.

Well, and that is one of the things that Steve
Fustad has emphasized to bothyou and I, which is
experimenting.
You know, if you're going to dosomething like photo etch, go
ahead and get yourself a pieceof photo etch and practice with
it and get comfortable with it.

(58:52):
And the fact that you have doneit and maybe even screwed it up
and learned why you screwed itup and then did it again and and
learned better this time, thatjust confronting doing something
does in and of itself take awaya lot of the fear because the

(59:14):
fear is just in the mind.

Mike (59:16):
It's in the mind, but it's also there are also some aspects
that are in the technique thatare this thing's not behaving
like I want it to, or or if itwould do this instead of what
it's doing, it'd be a lot easierto work with.
Right.
And I think for this for me,because I had this photoetrophia

(59:38):
for a long time as well, partlybecause of CA adhesives.
You know, we talked to aboutPaul Budzik in the in the
listener mail segment.
It was a conversation I I washaving with him, and I was
joking, but for me, CA CAadhesives are both uh sentient
and clairvoyant.

SPEAKER_03 (59:58):
Yes.

Mike (59:59):
They know when you want it to dry or cure instantly, right?
And they don't.

Kentucky Dave (01:00:06):
And then they know when you need a little
time.

Mike (01:00:09):
And they don't.

And they don't and they do.

Mike (01:00:13):
Or they do cure.
Yeah.
So that struggling with thatpart of CA made me think, okay,
how do I want this to work?
Well, I'd like to work like Iwas just gluing a piece of
plastic onto a piece of plastic.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:30):
Right.

Mike (01:00:30):
So what did I do?
I took Evergreen 5000th styrene,and now you can even go to Aldi
and get this two and a halfthousandth styrene, or you can
get the Tamiya uh plastic paperin the same kind of thicknesses.
Right.

And enjoy and enjoy some some very nice
prosciutto.

Mike (01:00:50):
You can take your piece of photo etch that you're worried
about getting the placementright on.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:55):
Yep.

Mike (01:00:56):
Glue it to this scrap of this really thin styrene, which
is easy because you don't haveto place it precisely.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:03):
Right.

Mike (01:01:04):
Trim all the extra off, which is really easy because you
have this the photo etch part isthe the trim line.

Right.

Mike (01:01:11):
And then glue it to your model with liquid cement.

Yep.
And it's so thin that it don'tmatter.
That that it either doesn'tmatter or it disappears.

Mike (01:01:21):
Or it disappears, yeah.

It melts the the plastic.

Mike (01:01:25):
Now that won't work for everything, but for some of them
it will.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:30):
Yep.

Mike (01:01:31):
And if you can if you can find solutions that suit your
skill set then you can you canyou can use this new thing.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:40):
Yeah.

Mike (01:01:40):
Even doing that, you're still having to glue the PE to
the styrene with with CAadhesive.

Right.

Mike (01:01:47):
So you're learning you're learning something there.

But you have a wider margin for error.

Mike (01:01:53):
Right.
But because you're doing it nowwith that, you're learning how
the CA behaves, you're learninghow the PE behaves, and at some
point you may get past the thethe that intermediate step.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:04):
Yeah.

Mike (01:02:05):
Or you may never, because it may be the you think that's
the greatest way to do it, whichkind of is where I'm at for some
parts.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:10):
Yeah.

Mike (01:02:11):
Still after probably 18 years of doing it that way.
But uh yeah, you can find aworker.
That's that's another approachto some of this, these problems.
So what else, man?
What else is another feartarget?

Airbrushing when I've been away from it for a
while.
And my solution to this has beento try and keep something
constantly in the paint booth.
Because, and you wouldn't thinkit's like this.
You would think that airbrushingis like riding a bicycle.
Once you've done it and onceyou've mastered it, you can walk

(01:02:47):
away from it for six months.
Come back, get on that bicycle,and start.
You haven't forgotten how topedal, you know how to ride a
bike.
You would think it's like that,but it's not.
It is a specific skill set andit is more akin to shooting free

(01:03:11):
throws, where if you shoot freethrows and get good shooting
free throws, and then you don'tdo it for six months and you
come back, you have to you haveto get good again.
Whereas if you're like aprofessional basketball player
and every day of your life sinceyou were 13 years old, you went

(01:03:36):
out on the court every day andshot, you know, 200 free throws,
because you do it every day, dayin, day out, without exception,
you get to that high skill leveland you maintain that high skill
level.
And I think airbrushing is likethat.

(01:03:57):
I think that if you are awayfrom it for some significant
period of time, and I suspect itvaries person to person, but if
you're away from it and comeback to it after not having done
it, I do think it is somethingthat you end up having to
relearn.

(01:04:17):
You end up having to practiceand regain your touch before you
move forward.

Mike (01:04:25):
Yeah, I think all these things probably fall into two
buckets, the misappropriatedexpectations, and then the the
skill barrier.
Yeah.
And for for me, I I guess thisthe skill barrier uh well, let
me back up.
The expectation one somehow I'velearned to manage that one.

(01:04:50):
And I I think it gets into beingable to shed the dare to compare
kind of thing.

Yeah.

Mike (01:04:58):
You know, comparison is what did they say?
Something like that.

Yeah, well, the perfect is the enemy of the
good.

Mike (01:05:04):
Well, there's that, and it but uh compare equals despair.

Right.

Mike (01:05:08):
I think once I got out of that mode of trying to achieve
it, contests and stuff, that uhthat one kind of got muted.
And once that happens, you can Ithink you get a better
assessment of your own skills.
And and you you can know youhave a better ability to predict

(01:05:29):
what your finished model isgonna look like than what you
want it to look like.

I was gonna say, technology may provide you a
solution to many of your some ofyour skills based fear targets.

Mike (01:05:42):
Might.

Let me tell you what happened.
One of the biggest fear targetsfor me was canopy masking.
Having to, this is all beforepre cut mask came along.
And you would have to.
Use little pieces of tape orbare metal foil or whatever, and

(01:06:04):
you try.
There were 20 or 30 differenttechniques, and none of them
seemed to work really well.

Mike (01:06:10):
And all of them had the uh potential to scratch your canopy
with an air in exactave knifeswipe.

Exactly.
And so you shy away from complexcanopy masks, greenhouses,
things like that.
You know, World War II bombersthat had these just incredibly
glazed canopies.
And I never conquered that fear,but technology conquered it for

(01:06:40):
me.
And now, canopies, while stilltough, because again, I think
that in aircraft modeling, oneof the things that separates
really good models from averagemodel is canopies, but it's much
easier now to get a good canopybecause of canopy masks.

(01:07:02):
And I think 3D printing is goingto at least to some extent do
that to resin and photoatch.

The Voice of Bob (Bair) (01:07:12):
Yeah.

So technology may come along and solve your
problem for you, which is great.
I love that.
We're living in the golden ageof modeling.
It's only gonna get better fromhere.

Mike (01:07:27):
It does, you know, but I I've always got that craftsman
kind of mindset.

So I know you're an engineer.
You want you like buildingthings.

Mike (01:07:37):
But I I won't say I shy away from all that stuff.
No, but in your case, anengineer knows when the when a
better solution is at hand thanthe one you have.

Well, but in your case, you may end up creating
the 3D print yourself.
Whereas I'm ne I'm never goingto do that.
But you may end up, and thatmay, again, it provides you a
technological solution whereinstead of trying to represent

(01:08:11):
something with photo etch thatwhere photo etch really isn't
suited to it, you can go intoCAD, create it yourself, print
it yourself, etc.
And use that different set ofskills to overcome the photo
etch problem and not onlyovercome it, but replace it with

(01:08:34):
something that's better.

Mike (01:08:35):
It's pretty good take, man.

Hey, I come up with them once in a while.
And you know what?
Elijah Craig may have somethingto do with that.

Mike (01:08:45):
He may.
Well, I I think we've distilledthe fear targets down to two
buckets.

Yep, I think we have, and I think we've found
solutions for them.

Mike (01:08:56):
In the past, how's this affected your modeling, either
good or bad?
What do you think?

Oh, it's prevented me from building kits
that I want to build.
I mean, it it absolutely haslessened my enjoyment of
modeling.
And so conquering those throughthe techno techniques we've
discussed, I think provides youa solution that will increase

(01:09:23):
your enjoyment of modeling.
And again, it kind of has becomea through line on this episode,
but enjoying your hobby is whatthis is all about.
And anything that makes youenjoy your hobby more is great.
Anything that makes you enjoyyour hobby less is something

(01:09:44):
that you need to look at andsay, okay, how do I fix this?

Mike (01:09:50):
Yeah, I agree.
I just wonder where I fall onthis spectrum.
I earlier in my in my modelinglife that this was a bigger
deal.
But I think uh for mepersonally, and this, you know,
everybody's gonna be different,so this may not apply to anybody
else.
But I think I have a little bitdifferent mindset on a lot of

(01:10:10):
the problem solving than maybe alot of modelers do.
And it doesn't I've gotten overhow long it takes me to get a
project done.
Yeah, I've gotten oh, you know,the the ribbon doesn't bother
me.
I you know, I'm just I'm doingit the way I want to do it.
So there's joy in that, but Iyou know, I can lay in bed three

(01:10:32):
nights in a row and ruminateover the same modeling problem
I've got and eventually come outof it with a solution.
Those stinking uh fuel retainer,fuel drum straps on the KV805
project were one of them.
Yeah, and I finally piecedtogether a solution that would
work.
And you know, I I didn't I dothat at the bench a little bit.

(01:10:53):
Did I do it laying in bed atnight?
Yeah, a little bit.
It's uh it's it's it's justinteresting.
I think uh we all approach thisthing a little bit differently,
but uh thinking things throughin kind of concert with just it
in some instances thinkingthings through and taking your
time to figure out a solution oror maybe more appropriate for

(01:11:15):
some problems.
And the other ones is just justflat starting the de the model
and doing it and pushingthrough.
Because uh a a basic aircraft ora basic armor project that you
just don't want to mess up,maybe completely removed from
some minuscule detail you'retrying to get right, right?

(01:11:35):
Right.
So there's kind of two differentthings there.
You know, we we've had it in thelist or mail tonight.
Just open the box and getstarted and see what happens.

And in most cases, if you screw something
up, you can go out and getanother one.

Mike (01:11:49):
All right, man.
You got anything else on thisone?

No, I think we've touched on it.

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Mike (01:12:21):
All right, folks, it's the bench top halftime report.

Have we been modeling?

Mike (01:12:26):
We have, Dave.

Yes, we have.

Mike (01:12:28):
Well, lay it on me, brother.
What do you got going on?

The Hellcat has all of her decals on her.

Mike (01:12:35):
All right.

I got them all on, and man, there were a lot of
them, but uh, I'll again saythat Furball's decals are
beautiful and they go downreally well, and their stencil
decals are well printed.
And don't look at the model tooclosely because you can
actually, with a magnifyingglass, read the stencils, and I

(01:12:57):
know I put at least three ofthem on upside down, but nobody
else is going to know them.
I have cleaned the model, andthis is something that I do that
Steve Hustad had said he does aswell.
After I've got the model done,all the decals on, I'll go back

(01:13:19):
with a damp, lightly damp brushand brush over the whole model
to remove any excess decalsetting film, microsol or micro
set or whatever, just so thatI've got a really clean surface.
Now it's at the point where it'sready for the gloss coat over

(01:13:42):
top of the decals.
And from there it's then simplyweathering, adding the detail
parts, wheels, landing gear,etc., and removing the canopy
masks.
So it is 99% sure that thisthing is going to make a trip to
Canada with us.

Mike (01:14:03):
Ah, see, there you went.
You ruined it.

No, no.
I I'm not I'm not jinxing it.
Very well, who knows?
I could break a leg or somethinglike that, break an arm.

Mike (01:14:14):
But it's certain the Japanese plane is at that point
and has been there for a longtime.

About five months, yes.
I know.
And and believe me, the SAM isfollowing this one up very
quickly.

Mike (01:14:29):
But we gotta they're they're gonna be at the same
place, and you're gonna not haveone in the paint sticker in the
build stage.

Yeah, well, I do have I reactivated a build that
I know is at least six and morelikely eight or nine years old,
the Platz T33.

Mike (01:14:49):
Oh, yeah, we talked about that last time.

Yeah, I'm building it for the Indiana Air
National Guard build that uh theSeptembers are doing, but it is
still in the build stage.
It's in the late build stage,but it's in the build stage.

Mike (01:15:03):
All right, all right.

And so I have been working on it.
And when you walk away from amodel for six or eight years,
coming back to it and figuringout, okay, where am I?
What needs to be done?
It's a little hard.
It was a challenge.
I was gonna say, it was verymuch a challenge.

(01:15:25):
And I did spend one whole benchevening at the bench removing
some masking I had put over thethe cockpit and the uh landing
gear wells, and looking at theinstructions and looking at the
sprues and figuring out okay,where am I?

(01:15:48):
Where exactly am I, and what doI need to do to go forward?
And I got that.
In fact, uh I did a lot a lot ofthat when Skippy was over on
Super Bowl Sunday.

Mike (01:16:00):
A lot, a lot of why did I do the last thing I did to this
thing?

Exactly, exactly.
And what was the last thing Idid to this thing?
And having Skippy over where Icould interact with him while I
was sitting here and looking atthis thing and and figuring all
this out really did help.
But so Hellcat, it's tonightafter we record, getting the the

(01:16:27):
top gloss coat.
The T33 is back in production,it's in the build stage, the
late build stage, and things aremoving along.
So I feel good.
I wish I had more bench time.
I again, six hours, 19 minutesin all of January is you can do

(01:16:52):
better than that.
I can do better than that.
I know I can do better thanthat.
And now keep in mind, Januaryhad some challenges weather,
weather family, otherwise.
I'm hoping February is better,but we'll see.

Mike (01:17:08):
It's almost the middle of the month.

I understand, but I've got some time in at the
bench already in front of theyear.
We're getting there.
Now, how about you?

Mike (01:17:18):
Oh man, it's been moosuru all the time.

Yes, sir.
You've been sending me pictures.
I can't wait.

Mike (01:17:24):
I've turned up the heat on that about three weeks ago.

SPEAKER_03 (01:17:28):
Mm-hmm.

Mike (01:17:29):
And gotten a lot done.
The subassemblies are nearlydone.
Of the subassemblies, the one Idon't have done yet is the the
perimeter tending on thewindshield.

SPEAKER_03 (01:17:40):
Yep.

Mike (01:17:41):
Which I gotta get that masked off and spray that with a
tummy of smoke.
Right.
That'll be the kind of the lastof the subassemblies to get
done.
I'm building a little vignettewith this, so the car is the
primary element of the vignette.
The secondary vignette elementis done and weathered and looks
beautiful.

(01:18:01):
Which we will not divulge whatis.
No.

But it was 3D printed.

Mike (01:18:06):
It was.
The color selection for the carinvolved me purchasing, which
we'll get into later, severalreal color aka real color blue
paints.

SPEAKER_02 (01:18:16):
Yep.

Mike (01:18:17):
That was interesting.
Because they're the new ones inthe dropper bottles.

SPEAKER_03 (01:18:22):
Right.

Mike (01:18:23):
I tell you, for a paint that I've used recently, meaning
since we started the podcast, sosix years.
Right.
Those paints have the biggestdifference between wet and dry
color of any paints I've everused.

SPEAKER_02 (01:18:39):
Yep.

Mike (01:18:40):
So you better let them dry before you just determine if
that's the color you want ornot.
The color you want to do.
The wet ain't it.

That's right.
The wet color is not the color.
It is a dry.
And some of them don't shifthardly at all.
Some of them shift a lot.
Others shift a lot.
What I'm most thrilled about andcan't wait for you to be able to
talk about is custom decals.

Mike (01:19:06):
Well, we're gonna talk about it.
Well, talk about it.
These decals are in hand.
I've got them, Dave.

And they were made by a custom decal company.
Where?

Mike (01:19:17):
This custom decal company is called Hobbyist Decals, and
they're out of India.
I think they are in Mumbai.
And these were a reference to usfrom Adam Coleman, longtime
listener.

SPEAKER_03 (01:19:30):
Yes.

Mike (01:19:31):
Who's been on the show a few times, who's the Liang
Models North Americandistributor, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 (01:19:36):
Yep.

Mike (01:19:37):
And Adam had used these on a few of his builds.
They're a custom decal producer,and they're small, small volume.
So I used to do custom decals inmy model railroading life, and
you you had to have like 50 to100 sets printed.
So you better have a marketidentified to get the decals you
want for your own stuff becauseuh you have to buy a bunch of

(01:19:59):
them.
Not so much with hobbyistdecals.
I designed these up myself forthis project and had them
printed, and pricing was reallyreasonable.
And I I got them in hand.

And well, let me stop you there.
How was the interaction back andforth with the artwork?

Mike (01:20:19):
Uh I mean was really good, actually.
Uh okay.
They I sent them the artwork,they saw they identified some
things that might be a challengefor them and asked me for some
improvement if I could.

SPEAKER_03 (01:20:32):
Right.

Mike (01:20:33):
And I did.
I sent them back theimprovement.
I said, This is probably thebest I can do, but this is
probably as good as I need.
And they said, Okay, this thislooks this looks fine for us.
So that part was good.
And then when they got to thefinal part, they're like, Here
it is.
Is there anything else thatneeds to be adjusted here, or do

(01:20:53):
you want to approve this forprint?
I asked them a couple questionsto make sure we weren't assuming
some things.

Right.
And that's particularly truewhen you're dealing now.
With anybody right, withanybody.
But now English is of coursetheir their their national
language due to being a colonyof the United Kingdom.
But again, even if you'reinteracting in English, you

(01:21:22):
still need to make sure thatyou're all speaking the same
English.
And that that you're you'reclear on what they're saying and
they're clear on what you'resaying.

Mike (01:21:33):
And it was basic things, like I'd used a really washed
out light blue to represent thedecal paper.
And I, you know, I wanted tomake sure that they knew that,
hey, this this color is thegeneric decal paper.
This is not to be printed on theon the on the decal film.
And you know, it was maybe I wasa little overconcerned, but

(01:21:55):
better safe to be.
Don't ask, you don't get, yeah.

Right.

Mike (01:21:59):
So we want to make sure that that worked out.
So the communication was really,really good.

Now, how okay, they were then produced.
How long did it take to get backto to the US?

Mike (01:22:11):
I think uh when I approved them when I received it in the
mail was about 14 days.

SPEAKER_03 (01:22:17):
Dang, that's amazing.

Mike (01:22:19):
They're using a a um an inkjet plotter, so it's print on
demand.
Right.
So most of it was shipping andcustoms and all that.

Right.
So that's that's pretty good,darn good service.

Mike (01:22:33):
Pretty good service.
And then when I get them, I onlyonly got one sheet in a specific
metric size.
So I, you know, I'd replicated alot of the markings that I want
for the Moose Root project onthere.
So I could probably actuallyletter about two or three models
with what I got, but I wanted tomake sure I had enough in case
some bad stuff happened or theywere difficult to work with.

(01:22:55):
Right.
I've not put them on the modelyet, but I've done a little,
given I've got a lot of extras,some cursory work with trying to
see if they're how they're gonnabehave.
Right.
Testing.
Testing, yeah.
So in a nutshell, like thewhites, they could be a little
more opaque.
They're not they're not opaqueenough, so I'm probably gonna

(01:23:16):
back those up with some whitetrim film, put down first, and
put the decals over that to getthat saturation good so the so
the underlying color of the cardoesn't show through the decal
film.
Uh the decals seem to react finewith like the micro scale
solutions.
So that's good.

Now, is the decal carrier film it's not a
continuous sheet, it's actuallyaround each decal?

Mike (01:23:43):
Uh no, but okay.
It's a really interestingquestion.
The decals are printed on aedge-to-edge clear film.

Gotcha.

Mike (01:23:54):
But because these are done on a plotter type device, they
have a blade on the plotterhead.

SPEAKER_03 (01:24:01):
Uh-huh.

Mike (01:24:02):
So it is scribing just through the clear film a little
bit outside of each decal colorboundary.

SPEAKER_03 (01:24:09):
Oh, wow.

Mike (01:24:10):
So I got this sheet, and it's got like this rough feel to
it.
I'm like, oh crap, what's thatall about?
Then I put on my optivizor tolook at it.
Well, yeah, they've scribedaround every shape with a blade.
So when you soak these in film,it separates where the scribe
line was.

Nice.

Mike (01:24:28):
So we'll see.
I I think that's a plus, unlesswhen they cut it, it put a lip,
you know, a put a burr on theedge of the film, which can
happen if you use like use anexacto knife sometimes on a
continuous film decal.
You can raise a burr on the onthe film and makes it a little
hard to hide.
We'll see.
But I I tested these decals on aa plastic placard we got from

(01:24:54):
somebody, I can't remember whoit was.
It was our first indie show,gave me a stack of these things.
They were injection molded testplaques for uh finished texture
on a surface out of an injectionmold.

SPEAKER_03 (01:25:07):
Yeah.

Mike (01:25:07):
So it's got a this it's got like a two-inch square patch
of uh of a texture.
So it's it's not smooth.
So the decals with themicroscale solution seems to be
performing pretty well againstthat.
So I I'm I'm pretty pleased withwhat I got so far.
You know, I gotta cut some whitetrim film to go under some of

(01:25:29):
the decals, but that shouldn'tbe too bad.
And given I'm pretty accustomedto stacking trim film to get a
you know multicolor thing withlike you did like you did on the
paw.
Yeah, like I did on the safetystriping on the paw.
So, you know, it's not gonna bethat big a deal.
But it they could have been alittle more opaque, but that's
probably a limit limitation oftheir printing process.

(01:25:52):
Sure.
Uh other than that, man, theKV85 is on hold until I get a
little further on this.
Um I did a little work on theturret.
I've I've put a few more partson the turret.
I've I've got the the rearturret MG installed.
So uh a little work there, butnot much.
It's it's back.

Well, that turret that turret ought to be almost
done.

Mike (01:26:13):
It's almost done.
I I think uh I took anassessment last week and it's
like, wow, there's a lot oflittle popcorn things I've I
need to do on this thing beforeI can prime it.
So I've been knocking those out,but not a lot worth mentioning.
I'll I'll I'll get into the KV85in the next episode, probably.
Good.
So that's where I'm at, man.
You got anything else?

(01:26:34):
That's it.

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Mike, have you been spending some money lately?

Mike (01:26:57):
Uh yeah, I did, Dave.

I did too.
So let's get into what brokeyour wallet.

Mike (01:27:04):
Well, the first thing that broke my wallet was I bought the
four different blue paints fromAK Interactive, and I bought
those through Burbank HouseHobby.

They are they are really good.
They, man, I'll tell you, you goon their website, they they have
what's in stock, what's out ofstock.
Shipping, when you do it not oneBay, but directly through their
website, is very reasonable.
And boy, are they quick.

Mike (01:27:33):
They are fast.
And uh, you know, again, I guessback to the the dry color versus
the wet color.
So uh those for the Moosuru car.
Luckily, I don't I'm not gonnahave to mix.
I'm gonna use one of these rightout of the bottle.

So uh I can't wait to see it.

Mike (01:27:50):
That's good.
So I I did that.
What else I get for them?
I got uh the brass machine gunbarrel for that I put on the
back of the KV 85, which looksfantastic.
They look pretty good.
Those are from Aver, and theyturned out pretty good.
That's what I got from Burbank.
In addition to that, and Imentioned maybe this a little
bit in passing in one of theother episodes, but I got a new

(01:28:14):
catapult, Dave.

Yes, I know.
You only paid for it twice.

Mike (01:28:19):
I only paid for it twice.

What what catapult did we get?

Mike (01:28:23):
Well, it's a French marine catapult, Dave.

Yes.

Mike (01:28:26):
If I can find my glasses.

Have you been have you been watching Inch
High's blog on the Loire 130?

Mike (01:28:33):
Well, the only reason he posted that is because I asked
him for information.

I know, I know that.
But I mean, it's amazing thephotographs that he came up
with, many of which include thecatapult and details of the
catapult.

Mike (01:28:49):
Well, this is from a defunct company, AJP Maquettes
out of France.

Although they still may take your money.

Mike (01:28:58):
They may take your money.
Well, I think their website'sfinally down.
Oh, okay.
They made this thing at one timein both 48th scale and 72nd
scale.

SPEAKER_03 (01:29:07):
Yep.

Mike (01:29:08):
And I had ordered one.
I'd more than ordered one.
I had a conversation with theproprietor of the business.
And uh I ordered one.
And about you know, with acottage industry like this,
you're gonna be a little bitlenient, right?
Right.
So about three or four monthslater, I was like, okay, what's

(01:29:28):
going on?
He's like, it's all cool.
I just need to get the photo Ssheets made again.
And that was it.
Yeah, there was nothing afterthat.
Then his website went down.
So he got my money.
I did not get my model.
And then a listener sent us alistener mail about a month ago.

(01:29:49):
Said, hey, I was looking foranother model kit, but I found
this.
This looks like right up youralley.
I thought you might beinterested in it.
And it was this catapult.

On the website of a third-party retailer.

Mike (01:30:00):
Yeah, it was not the website for this company.
It was a it was a it was a god,what's the name of the place?
It's uh they all they sell isaviation models out of and
they're out of Europe.
Aviation Megastore.

Okay, yes, I know who they are.

Mike (01:30:14):
I think they're out of Holland.

They they're out of Holland or Belgium, but yes.
Right.

Mike (01:30:20):
It was listed on their website.
So I emailed them and said, Hey,do you really have this?
Like, yeah, we've got one instock.
Like, I want it, hold it, I'msending the money as soon as I
can get it to you.
So I sent them the payment forit.
It was a little bit upliftedversus the price I had paid for
the one I never got, so I paidfor it twice plus.

(01:30:42):
Then it was shipped uh from atariffed country.
So I got that little joy.
So I probably paid for thisthing probably close to 3x at
this point.

SPEAKER_03 (01:30:54):
Yep.

Mike (01:30:56):
But I have it.

And how does it look?

Mike (01:30:59):
The photo looks very reasonable, very buildable.
It comes with the the tower andthe turntable.

SPEAKER_03 (01:31:07):
Uh-huh.

Mike (01:31:08):
And the tower is like three inches in diameter, and
you can hold it at arm's lengthuntil it's not round.
So that's gonna be a 3D printjob, but that's really, really
easy because it's just acylinder.
Right.
You know, there's some of thefiner details like the control
panel and the some of theplumbing and stuff that's in
photoets, and I'm like, eh.

(01:31:28):
I might try to redo that in 3Dprint and improve it a little
bit.
But the the actual gantry, thethe the catapult is really
pretty nice and it looks reallybuildable.
So looking forward to startingthis one.
I think this one moves, maybemoves to the front of my
airplane list, Dave.

I don't blame you, and I would encourage that,
because that's been that's beensomething that's been something
of a white whale for you.

Mike (01:31:54):
And well, just getting it's been the white whale.
I hope building it's not thewhite whale.

But I I mean, I'm happy to see you have it after
all this time.

Mike (01:32:06):
I just wonder that Azure Loire 130 is gonna be how good a
build that's gonna be.

It's gonna be a challenge, I can tell you.

Mike (01:32:14):
But you know what?

What?

Mike (01:32:15):
It's not a rigged plane.

No, it is not.

Mike (01:32:18):
So that's that that that's a plus.

Although the strut configuration is pretty
interesting.

Mike (01:32:27):
Uh, it's gonna be fun.

So yes, it is, and I've got a little present
for you that's in regard tothat.

Mike (01:32:36):
So, all that said, the email was sent by Mr.
Eric Kenser of Menlo Park,California.
And because he thought of me,because he helped me connect
with something I've been lookingfor that had a lot of bad mojo
because I didn't get it thefirst time.
Eric, you are now special agent006.

There you go.
Well deserved.

Mike (01:33:01):
Well deserved.
So, man, I hope this builds upat all, really.

Well, and I I will tell you, I love the fact
that our listeners not onlylisten to this episode, but they
hear things that we talk aboutand keep us in mind.
Yeah, you know, say, oh, wait aminute, Mike or Dave talked
about this.
Let me shoot them a DM or anemail or whatever.

(01:33:30):
And man, that has that workedout.
That worked out.
I mean, that's it.

Mike (01:33:40):
It did.
But Eric, thank you for theemail.
The key was the link to awebsite other than the
manufacturer, and it just allworked out from there.
So I got it in hand.
I'm happy with it.
I appreciate you thinking of us.
And man, I don't know what elseto say, but you're uh 006.

Congratulations, well deserved.

Mike (01:34:02):
Well, that's me, Dave.
What broke your wallet?

Similarly, I mentioned Mr.
Pluton's son.
Again, I apologize.
I know I'm butchering your lastname.
It's but we we've he we've hadwonderful back and forth
exchanges, and I reallyappreciate it.
I I really have enjoyed them.
Well, he sent me a photo uh of avery beautiful MiG-21 in bare

(01:34:29):
metal that he's doing, and inthe photo, the MiG-21, which is
not yet finished, is being heldby a really interesting vice.
And it caused me to ask him,hey, what is that?
And it turns out it's a displayvice.

(01:34:52):
And I really, from from thepictures he sent and from his
descriptions, it sounded very,very interesting.
And so I popped on to uh uhAmazon and found one for a very
reasonable price, and I now havethat particular vice in hand.

(01:35:17):
And in fact, I've got a it'sgonna be I'm gonna post on the
dojo tonight after we're donerecording a photograph that will
include that item in it.
And I appreciate him helping mespend my money in what I think
is actually a productive way.

Mike (01:35:36):
Well, we joked earlier.
I gotta ask you here.
Is it gonna make you faster ormore organized?

We're we're gonna find out.
I will report back.
It has potential for both.
We'll see.

Mike (01:35:49):
All right.

But that's not all, that's not all I've bought.
And I'm gonna need a I'm gonnaneed a ruling here.
Can I count the fact that Ispent sixty-four dollars and 95
cents plus tip on getting thefact that I had getting Popalock

(01:36:10):
to open my car door because Ihad locked the keys inside
because I'd been thinking aboutmodeling projects, and I got out
of my darn car with the keysstill in the ignition and locked
the door.
Does that count as mod uh uh amodeling expense?

(01:36:32):
I'm gonna need a ruling.

Mike (01:36:34):
I I've gotta think, because my wife has the same
car.

I I it's possible to lock the keys in that car.
Let me tell you.

Mike (01:36:41):
I'm I don't know if it is or not.

I did it today.
Did it this morning?

Mike (01:36:48):
Uh I don't know.
Uh at a high level, yes, but I Igotta I gotta go back and think
about that one.

All right.
Well, you think about that.
In the meantime, I also bought apair of tweezers.
I have managed in probably thelast three weeks to drop two
pairs of very fine tweezers.

Mike (01:37:13):
Yeah.

And you and I, you and I have had this
discussion before.

Mike (01:37:16):
And now they're not very fine pairs of tweezers anymore.

The fact that don't buy cheap tweezers where
the the the the they don't closecorrectly or they're from the
get-go.

Mike (01:37:27):
I mean, if you drop a good pair, you're well that's the
problem.

I so you and I are the same philosophy, so I
buy really nice tweezers.
And in the last three weeks, Ihave managed to drop two very
fine pairs of tweezers and haveboth of them just get utterly
wrecked at the tips.

(01:37:52):
Yeah.

Mike (01:37:53):
And so I'm sorry, man.

It happens, you know.
Again, but don't try and bendthem back into shape, don't limp
along, throw them away and goget them because new tweezers,
really good new tweezers, arenot that expensive.

Mike (01:38:09):
Not anymore, they're not.

Not anymore.

Mike (01:38:12):
Yeah, they they used to be.

While I was on Amazon buying the display uh
device, I went ahead and boughta couple of tweezers to replace
the ones I'd racked up.
And while I was there, I alsobought some AK Gen 3 acrylic
paints.

Mike (01:38:30):
Because you're trying to collect the whole set.

Yeah, I eventually am.
In fact, I've been on AK'swebsite pricing the big box.
And you can buy the big box forlike$269, and I am still not
sure I'm not gonna pull thetrigger on that at some point.

Mike (01:38:48):
I think you should, Dave.

I thank you.
I appreciate that.

Mike (01:38:52):
Simeon, everybody until they have to pull the trigger.

Yeah, thank you guys.
But so I I bought a four set ofAK Gen 3 that I should have in a
few days, and I may use on theHellcat in some detail stuff.

SPEAKER_05 (01:39:12):
All right.

So I think that's all the money that I've spent
since our last broke your walletsegment.
But uh pretty good.
I've been on a I've been on aroll.

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This is the point in the podcast where we ask you
to rate the podcast.
It helps us grow the podcast,and that's what we're doing.
We're continuing to grow, and weappreciate your doing that.
In addition, the best way for apodcast to grow is a
recommendation from a currentlistener to somebody who isn't

(01:40:51):
currently listening.
So every one of our listenersout there knows one modeler who
isn't listening to the podcast,may not even be aware of what a
podcast is.
Please do us a favor.
Find that one modeler in yourmodeling friend group and

(01:41:13):
recommend us.
You help them find how to listento the podcast, encourage them
to listen, let them know whatyou enjoy about it, and help us
continue to grow the podcast.

Mike (01:41:28):
In addition to that, you can also check out all the other
podcasts and blogs in the modelsphere by going to
www.modelpodcasts.com.
That's model podcastplural.
It's a consortium website setwith our help with our friend
Stuart Clark of the Scale ModelPodcast.
He's aggregated all the bannerlinks to all the other shows out
there in the model sphere.
It's a one-stop shop.

(01:41:49):
You can go there and find allthe other podcasts.
So please do that.
In addition, please check outour other content creator
friends.
We got a lot of podcast friends,blog friends, YouTube friends,
folks like Stephen Lee at Spruewith Fretz.
He's got a 72nd scale and H OMile Railroading centric blog.
He's got a lot of short form andlong form content there.

He dropped some really nice long-form content
recently.

Mike (01:42:15):
He does.
So check that out.
In addition, check out my LairPlaymaker, our friend Chris
Wallace.
He's got a great blog and agreat YouTube channel.
If you like aircraft 48 scale,he's got you covered.
Got a lot of great contentthere.
Evan McCallum, Panzermeister 36.
If you like uh armor and modelrailroading, you can check out
his YouTube channel.

(01:42:36):
He's got a lot of great stuffgoing on.
You can learn some greattechniques and uh see what he's
up to at his uh his YouTubechannel there.
If you like 70 seconds scale,you're gonna want to check out
the Inch I guide, Mr.
Jeff Groves, a good friend ofthe show, has always got
something going on there.
A lot of uh bats builds alongwith some historical information

(01:42:56):
on different things like uh theLittle R130.

And Jim Bates has reactivated a scale Canadian.
It is his blog where he postsinteresting, usually historical
articles regarding aviationsubjects, although armor as
well, many with a Canadianfocus, but he doesn't limit

(01:43:20):
himself.
And we are very happy that hehas reactivated this plot.

Mike (01:43:26):
Is that historical or hysterical?
Both.
And finally, Paul Bedzik SkillModel Workshop.
He's put out a few here recentlythat are really good.
So we always like seeing whatPaul's up to and check them all
out.

If you are not a member of IPMS USA, please
consider joining the nationalorganization, even if you're
outside the United States.
IPMS USA is a greatorganization, and they have not
only national memberships butinternational memberships.
In addition, if you are an armormodeler or post-1900 figures

(01:44:03):
modeler, take a look at joiningthe Armor Modeling and
Preservation Society.
They are a group of modelers whois focused laser-like on the
advancement of the armormodeling hobby.
Mike, we are almost at the endof the episode.

(01:44:25):
So how was the Bargetownbourbon?

Mike (01:44:28):
Uh the Bargetown bourbon was really, really good.
Now, this is their kind offoundational distill.
Their flagship distilledflagship, the original series.
It's the least ex leastexpensive.
It's about it's less than$40.
It's less than$40.

Okay.
What's the ABV?
Is it a classic 80 or$85?

Mike (01:44:52):
96 proof they.

Oh wow.
Okay.

Mike (01:44:55):
It's a little hot on the front end.

Yeah, you would expect that with something.

Mike (01:45:00):
Uh I tell you, this is good.
And what I like about it, theoak is really forward in this.

Interesting.

Mike (01:45:07):
So you don't get that a lot.
Yeah.
Not to the degree that this oneis.
Right.
It's it's good.
I really like it.
And I tell you what, it's asquare cross-section bottle.

SPEAKER_02 (01:45:19):
Yep.

Mike (01:45:20):
Really robust.
If I was in a bar fight, I wouldI would grab this one.

Oh, yeah.
See, ladies and gentlemen,that's why you listen to plastic
model mojo to know what bottleto grab off the bar in a bar
fight.

Mike (01:45:36):
Just enough neck on it to get your pinky might have coffee
in, but you can you can get yourhand around the neck.
And this thing, I think if y'alldrop this from about two feet,
three feet, it would not break.
Yeah.
So uh yeah.
There you go.
Good stuff.
Good stuff.

That's my that's my kind of review.

Mike (01:45:54):
Good oaky, good oaky bourbon.

Well, I have finished my Elijah Craig.
It is 94-proof, so 47% alcoholby volume.

Mike (01:46:05):
It's it's the same as mine.

Well, yours is 96, I think.

Mike (01:46:11):
Yeah, a little bit more, not much.

Mine's not mine's 94.
The Elijah Craig, very good, andvery good for the price point,
because this bottle, now I got alittle bit of a deal, but this
bottle, even at full boatretail, was like$28.
It was not that expensive.

(01:46:34):
And it is good.
Now I drank it with an ice ball,and boy, that was the way to
drink it.
Because again, being somethingat the 47% alcohol, if you drink
it straight without the iceball, neat, it's a little hot.

(01:46:58):
If you drink it with the iceball or over rocks or whatever,
the hot goes away.
And the the most forward of thetastes is kind of a vanilla.
I don't want to say cinnamonnote because that makes people
think it's fireball, and it'snot.

(01:47:18):
There's a vanilla note with justthe yeah, just the ever so mild
spice that reminds me ofcinnamon, but it is it's not
like fireball or anything likethat.
It's just a note at the endafter the vanilla has passed by

(01:47:41):
where you go, oh, there's aspice.
And it was it's really good.
I mean, I we we've done a longepisode and it was absolutely
enjoyable every minute of theepisode.
Mike, this is the true end ofthe episode.

(01:48:04):
So do you have any shout-outs?

Mike (01:48:07):
I do, Dave.
I want to shout out all thefolks who've chosen to
contribute to Plastic Model Mojothrough their generosity.
We've talked about our website,and we want to keep that going.
And we've had a lot of activityfrom folks on that vein, and we
really, really appreciate it.
Hopefully that's gonna help usget this done sooner, not later.

SPEAKER_02 (01:48:27):
Yep.

Mike (01:48:28):
And folks, we're not quite there yet, but if that's
something you think you mightwant to do, we'd appreciate it.
You do that through several uhavenues, and those are all
spelled out on the website andin the show notes of each and
every episode.
So if it's something you want todo, we appreciate it.
We don't expect it, we don'tdemand it, and we certainly
don't charge people foranything, but uh we appreciate

(01:48:50):
the contributions that folkshave been willing to support the
show with.
So thank you very much.

Yes, I want to echo that and thank everybody.
It really means a lot to Mikeand I.
And Mike and I are reallyexcited about this phase two,
which which will take thewebsite to a whole nother level.
And if you want to support that,we appreciate anything you do to
help us get plastic model mojoexpanded.

(01:49:19):
I'm I'm super appreciative.
I'd like to shout out our friendJim Bates.
Jim is a great guy, he's a goodmodeler, and I don't think he
sometimes realizes that he hasreally important things to say

(01:49:41):
in regard to the hobby that manyother people appreciate hearing.
And I think that the reactionwe've gotten since the previous
episode has proved that.
And so I want to shout out toJim and give him some
encouragement and Encourage himto take from this a positive and

(01:50:07):
use it to further further hisown modeling mojo.
You got another shout out?

Mike (01:50:14):
I do not.

Okay, well then we are definitely at the end of
the episode, and I am definitelyat the end of my uh glass of
Elijah Craig.

Mike (01:50:24):
Well, Dave, then as we always say, so many kids.
So little time, Dave, and I willsee you soon.
I need to come to Louis and uhYes, you do.

We need to sit down and talk, man, face to
face.

Mike (01:50:37):
We do.
We'll do it soon, bro.

You got it.

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