April 21, 2026 • 23 mins
He beat a brutal stretch of chemo, got the all-clear, then asked the question every craftsperson quietly fears: do the hands and the mind still work the same way? Our friend Ed Bareth is back, and he’s turning that question into plastic, paint, and proof with a 1/32 Trumpeter Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless built for awards-level judging.
We dig into what “national quality” really demands in large scale model aircraft building, where every shortcut shows and every improvement has to be clean. Ed walks us through his smart aftermarket picks and why they matter: Kelik 3D instrument panels for the cockpit, Eduard photo-etch dive brakes that live or die by build sequence, resin wheels, and One Man Army paint masks that look incredible but punish sloppy placement. He also shares how he’s documenting the project in clear chapters so you can follow the full process from cockpit painting and washes to canopy masking and final finish.
Then comes the part that spirals in the best and worst way: LED lighting inside an enclosed model airplane. What starts as “let’s illuminate the cockpit” becomes a real engineering problem with battery placement, a hidden on off switch, and even a detour into Bluetooth and phone control before he brings it back to something dependable. We also talk about using ChatGPT for paint mixes, fading recipes, and weathering guidance for a 1944 USS Enterprise three-color scheme, plus why you still have to verify references when AI confidently hands you answers.
If you want practical scale modeling tips, honest talk about returning to the bench, and a front-row seat to an ambitious 1/32 build, press play. Subscribe, share this with a modeling buddy, and leave us a review with your answer: what’s the next project you’re ready to level up?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike (00:10):
All right, Kentucky Dave.
How about a preamps shortfeature to get us jazzed up for?
Kentucky Dave (00:16):
I'm I give it, let's put it this way, it'll
give us something to talk abouton the road.
Mike (00:22):
It will, indeed.
Folks, we've had Ed Bareth onthe show a number of times, and
uh Ed had some health challengeslast year and then has slowly
gotten back into modeling ashe's got that situation
stabilized, and uh we're happyfor him in that.
But he's diving back into alarge-scale model airplane
(00:44):
project that he's been knownfor, and we'll let him explain
what he was trying to do himselfas we get this feature started.
But Dave, really lookingforward to this.
It's the first time we've doneanything like this on the dojo,
and uh, I think folks are gonnaenjoy this project.
Kentucky Dave (00:57):
Yeah, we're experimenting, trying to bring
you all additional content andpresent it in a new and
different way.
So this is a work in progress,and we're gonna we're gonna
learn from this experience, andwe appreciate Ed helping us out.
Mike (01:13):
Well, let's get our conversation with Ed rolling
here, man.
Kentucky Dave (01:17):
You got it.
Mike (01:22):
Well, Dave, we got somebody back tonight we haven't
talked to in uh in a minute ortwo.
Kentucky Dave (01:27):
Yes, I know.
I I I was anxious to get himback on.
Mike (01:32):
And that person is Ed Bareth out in sunny California.
Ed, how you doing, man?
Ed Baroth (01:36):
I'm doing fine in sunny California.
Mike (01:40):
Well is it is it sunny right now?
Ed Baroth (01:43):
Uh uh, yes, it is.
Mike (01:44):
Oh, lucky you.
We know you had somechallenges, I guess, last year.
And uh I'll let you talk aboutwhatever you want to talk about
that, but I know in our offlineconversations, you were how to
say it, you had some concernthat maybe your skills may have
atrophied during your downtime.
Ed Baroth (02:03):
Yeah, it seems like a perfect thing.
Everybody's saying, you know, II had some chemo for six months
for for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,and it was treated, and I'm in
at the doctor says completeremission, but everybody's
saying, you know, are are youback to way the the way you
were?
Mike (02:21):
Yeah, that's how you said it.
I remember.
Ed Baroth (02:24):
You know, let's let's do an experiment.
Let's see if I'm back the way Iwas.
And the most complicated modelthat I do is 30 second aircraft.
Speaker (02:34):
Yep.
Ed Baroth (02:34):
I've done them well before, and I've received, you
know, national awards for them.
So the feel the feeling is canI do one to the same quality
that I used to?
And so that's my littleexperiment.
Mike (02:46):
Won't you tell folks exactly what you're building?
Now, let me back up one morequestion before we do that.
Now, did you do anything priorto starting this project we're
about to talk about a little bitthis evening?
To kind of test the waters thatyou were looking like things
were gonna be okay to proceedwith this big project?
Ed Baroth (03:02):
Well, you know, our club had a contest in December,
but I ended up building a P51DTomia.
Oh, it was a you gotta build a20-year-old Tamiya model.
Okay.
Was the contest.
And so I built a P51D out ofthe box with natural metal
finish.
And I could tell I I wasn'tback yet fully.
Mike (03:24):
Okay.
Ed Baroth (03:24):
I didn't have the concentration, I didn't have the
patience in December.
And and you know, my my lastchemo was at the end of October.
So December was was prettyquick.
Mike (03:35):
Yeah, that would be pretty close, just a few months.
Kentucky Dave (03:37):
So was most of the effect mental?
In other words, was it mostlyconcentration and stamina?
Or, you know, I have thephysical tremor challenge.
Did you have any physical sideeffects?
Ed Baroth (03:52):
No, I didn't, other than I was uh I didn't have the
yeah, the stamina.
I I was tired a lot.
I couldn't put the hours inthat normally uh I have the
benefit of being at the benchjealous time compared to a lot
of people.
Yeah, you're one of thoseretired guys.
Yes.
Mike (04:09):
We know a couple of those, and yes, yeah, it can be a
little envious.
Yes.
Ed Baroth (04:14):
Yes, I I can beat Mike's monthly quota in a day.
Mike (04:18):
Yeah, no.
Don't rub it in, Ed.
Don't rub it in.
Yeah.
We can end this now.
You are back because I've seenpreviews of what you got going
on.
So let's talk about this thisproject and what you're hoping
to do here.
Ed Baroth (04:33):
Okay, well, what I I'm doing is a 32nd trumpeter,
uh Douglas Dauntless SVD 5.
And I've been told this is oneof the good trumpeter kits.
Uh, and it is.
I hope so.
Kentucky Dave (04:47):
That's a relative term there, Ed.
Ed Baroth (04:49):
Uh, I know, that's what I'm saying.
This is get this is consideredone of the good ones.
So I'm doing this in 32nd, and32nd, to me, by definition, is
class A, so to speak.
And I'm doing this for you knowawards consideration.
And my philosophy is in 48,because normally I do 48th as
(05:12):
well.
In 48, everything extra you dois a positive.
In 32nd, everything you coulddo but don't is a negative.
Mike (05:24):
I understand.
Yeah, okay.
Keep going.
Ed Baroth (05:26):
For those people who do armor, 30 second airplanes is
just like 30 second armor,except you can't put a sandbag
over your mistakes.
Mike (05:34):
Oh, come on now.
Kentucky Dave (05:35):
Oh, you can hang a tarp over it.
Ed Baroth (05:37):
Come on.
And so I'm doing this basicallyflat out, and I'm adding some
extra, you know, there's more Icould, but I'm adding some 3D,
3D instrument panels from acompany called Kielik,
K-E-L-I-K, which I believe isfrom Ukraine.
I'm adding some Edward dieflaps.
(05:58):
I'm adding some one-man armystencils.
Kentucky Dave (06:03):
Those are amazing.
Ed Baroth (06:04):
And I'm adding some uh resin wheels.
That's that's what I thought Iwas starting with.
Kentucky Dave (06:10):
And then here comes Scope Creep, our old
friend.
Ed Baroth (06:15):
Yes, well, because I like the instrument panels so
much, those 3D panels, they'rereally nice.
Kentucky Dave (06:21):
Yes, they are.
Ed Baroth (06:22):
I said, you know, I'm gonna put some lights in so you
can see them.
Mike (06:27):
Okay.
Ed Baroth (06:27):
I I've already had the lights, and I already had
the battery from from an earlierproject, and it turns out I can
fit the battery inside, and andlights are just about scale.
So, but the question was, howdo you flip the switch inside
the plane?
And that's what led me to downthis horrible rabbit hole of
(06:50):
trying to use Bluetooth on myphone, and that got me to
modules.
I ended up ordering modules andthis and that, and I I spoke to
Chat GPT and we had some lovelydiscussions, but to make a long
story short, I I it just was abridge too far.
And what I just figured I woulddo instead is I can't reach the
(07:12):
switch on the actual battery,it doesn't it doesn't work where
I can get to it.
If I put in another switch,there's a there's a a part of
the plane where the the the uhmachine gun bullets drop out in
the in the back, and that isopen.
So I just have to find a switchthat would fit, which I thought
(07:35):
would be easy and turned out tobe another rabbit hole to to
find a small on-off switch.
Evidently you can find smallmomentary, but not all on off,
which I finally found and got itin, and I hooked it up to three
lights in, and I said, youknow, why should I stop there?
Since since the model comes,it's very nice, the model comes
(08:00):
with a clear cowling and engine.
So I naturally I I had to trickit out a bit, and then I
figured since I tricked it out abit, why don't I add a light in
the engine?
So you could see that.
And then I figured, well, sinceI did that, now I gotta add
more stuff to the engine.
Kentucky Dave (08:19):
This isn't your first lighted model, but it
sounds like this is the firsttime you've gone this extensive.
Ed Baroth (08:28):
Yes.
And this is the first timeinside the model.
I did a 72nd Ukrainian armoredpersonnel carrier, and I and I
put a couple of lights in, butyou know, that you can put
through the base and what haveyou.
And so and so that was that wasrelatively easy and
straightforward.
This is you know enclosed inthe plane.
(08:48):
So obviously, yes, I cannotchange the battery, but let's
face it, how often am I going toput the light on?
Maybe, you know, a couple hoursevery six months of the show.
I'm really not that worriedabout it.
And I and I honestly think thebattery will last longer than I
will.
So I'm really not that worried.
Kentucky Dave (09:04):
But that raises a question for me.
Now, do you have a lightingmentor modeler that you're
getting help from, or is thisall Ed Bareth and Experiment and
Chat GPT and reading stuffonline?
Mike (09:21):
No, no, I and retired JPL engineer.
Kentucky Dave (09:24):
Yeah, well, that too.
Ed Baroth (09:26):
I I have to confess, I I do have a mentor when I when
I did the other model, I spoketo our friend Bobble.
Mike (09:33):
Oh, yeah.
Ed Baroth (09:33):
Bobble told me what uh LEDs to buy and what battery
holders to get.
I admit I I've checked with hima bit.
Mike (09:41):
You chose wise because he's one of the folks Dave's
referring to that's atWonderfest, usually.
So we've seen his his big bigsci-fi subject with all their
internal lighting.
So pretty cool.
Kentucky Dave (09:52):
And not only not only that, I it's not like I'm
faulting you for that.
I think that's smart.
If you've got resources outthere, why would you possibly
try and learn it yourself whenyou can reach out and tap the
that kind of knowledge?
Ed Baroth (10:11):
So, yeah, so that gave me the leg up.
I I use the same battery holderand the same LEDs.
That's fine.
And even Bobble doesn't dealwith with you know hooking up
through the phone yet.
Mike (10:25):
I suspect he might at some point, though.
Yeah, it's coming.
Ed, it's not just this episodeshort we're doing here that
folks are gonna hear about this.
You've talked talked to us alittle bit about it, but we're
gonna choose a visual path forthis.
And folks over on the PlasticModel Dojo, our Facebook group,
are gonna be able to followalong with your progress.
(10:45):
So won't you tell us how you'rebreaking this thing up and what
folks can expect to see onceonce I figure out how to present
it in the best way?
Ed Baroth (10:54):
Chapter one is is obviously the the cockpit, and I
have all pictures before Iwash, after wash.
I I've got different interiorcolors, and I'm gonna be uh
showing just how to do thecomplete cockpit.
Mike (11:12):
Okay.
Ed Baroth (11:12):
And I've got notes and I upgrade the directions,
and it's a it's a really nicecockpit out of the box, to tell
you the truth.
The only thing I added werewere those 3D instrument panels.
Although they also they theygive you 3D seat belts as well.
Chapter two is the engine,which I obviously wire up and
(11:36):
and put a lot of stuff in therebecause you can see it.
It's because it's it's clearplastic for the engine and the
cowling.
Mike (11:44):
Okay.
Now you're gonna leave it thatway when you paint it?
Okay, yes, I am.
All right, you got a lot ofwork to do then.
Ed Baroth (11:51):
Well, one side's gonna be painted, the other side
you're gonna be able to do it.
Ah, okay.
Mike (11:54):
Oh, that's smart.
That'd be a good presentation.
Ed Baroth (11:57):
Third chapter is the dive brakes from Edward.
And I'm gonna show how how Ihow I do it, because you know,
it to me, if you're gonna dophoto etch sequence is
absolutely the key.
Yes, I agree.
Especially with the smallparts, if you don't do it right,
you're in for heartache.
Kentucky Dave (12:16):
The photo etch manufacturer does not always
give the level of thought to thesequence that they should.
Mike (12:26):
No, they usually just show you where it goes, and that's
pretty much it.
Ed Baroth (12:29):
Right.
This goes here, and it itreally matters because you're
imagining you're doing thesedive breaks, and that there's a
lot of pieces and they fold overand they're really small and
what have you, and it doesmatter.
Chapter four is sort of thelight, just rehashing of how I
do the lights.
And I and I show you all thedetails, you know.
(12:50):
I'm showing you, I'm I'mshowing the people what LEDs I
use, what switch I use, what youknow, the battery holder, all
you know, all that kind ofstuff.
So you can you can immediately,if you want, you can just get
them.
And the LEDs are really nice.
You you don't even need anyresistors as long as you're
using a watch battery.
Okay.
Kentucky Dave (13:08):
Okay, you're gonna light the engine, you're
gonna light the instrument panelcockpit.
Right.
You're gonna uh obviously Iassume you're gonna uh light the
nav lights.
Ed Baroth (13:20):
Oh no, I'm not okay.
Kentucky Dave (13:22):
You're not doing the nav lights, all right.
Ed Baroth (13:24):
You're so I'm not doing any of that stuff.
Kentucky Dave (13:26):
Is there anything else you're lighting?
Ed Baroth (13:28):
Yes, I I'm there's a light in the back, so you can
see the radio compartment.
They really did a nice job inin giving you the 3D decals for
the radios.
They really look nice.
And I said, you know, so I Iput one in the back as well.
Mike (13:43):
Yeah, because it's probably down in a hole, isn't
it, behind the gunner'sposition?
Yeah.
Ed Baroth (13:49):
And uh if part of this experiment is to show what
it takes to make a model fornational, then I cannot go crazy
enough.
I can't go too far.
Mike (14:01):
Provided you do it all well, that I would agree with
that.
Right.
You you throw a bunch of poorpoorly executed stuff on there,
and that's maybe a differentstory.
But I I know you, Ed.
I know when we first met out inLas Vegas, it was a 48-scale
plane and a 38 second-scaleplane that uh had us think to
have you over to the table forour initial conversation.
So I know you're gonna do thiswell, and I think it's really
(14:25):
cool that you you you've uh beenwilling to uh parse this out
into digestible chunks ofinformation, and we can put that
out there and and folks canjust see what a one of these
large-scale projects actuallylooks like if you really want to
trick it out to the to a to theinst degree.
Ed Baroth (14:41):
And then you you know, the like chapter four, you
know, you put the fuselagetogether, and then uh I've put
the wings, but to be honest,that's pretty straightforward.
Sure.
I've got the wings and I've gotthe tail on, and then there's
always the glass, which is itsown chapter.
Kentucky Dave (14:58):
Please tell me there are aftermarket masks for
that canopy.
Ed Baroth (15:03):
Oh, yes, of course.
Good.
Good word has as masks.
Kentucky Dave (15:07):
Good.
Ed Baroth (15:07):
I could not think about it otherwise.
Kentucky Dave (15:10):
Amen, brother.
Mike (15:11):
Well, speaking of masks, I know you said you're gonna use
the one-man army, and I assumethat big set probably has does
it have the internal stuff andthe external stuff?
Ed Baroth (15:19):
No, it's not internal.
It's it's basically justexternal.
Mike (15:22):
Okay.
Please, I know there's folksout there like, yeah, I might
want to try painting my ownmarkings, but I've never done
it.
So hopefully that's gonna be achapter as well.
Ed Baroth (15:31):
Yes, and that's a challenge.
You know, it's not it's not aseasy and straightforward because
the masks are big and sticky.
Speaker (15:40):
Yeah.
Ed Baroth (15:41):
And the pro the problem is it's very hard to get
it right in the exact place thefirst time.
And it's not like decals whereyou can just move it a quarter
of an inch.
Mike (15:51):
Okay, well, looking forward to that because that I
know Dave's been thinking aboutthat a little more.
Kentucky Dave (15:57):
Yeah, that's one of my projects for this year.
Mike (16:00):
We're on a smaller scale most of the time, so we'll see
how it goes for us.
But uh really curious how theone-man army works out for that.
So we're gonna get this thingin in chapters and folks are
gonna be able to see that at theplastic model dojo.
And I'll go run straightstraight to the end now.
Once this is all said and done,do you have a a scheme in mind
(16:20):
for this for the for the for theactual finish of the airplane?
Ed Baroth (16:24):
Yes, it's the three-color uh three-color
Enterprise 1944, and I have agood couple of pictures.
And what I also have to bringup is this business of Chat GPT.
Mike (16:38):
It's probably been lying to you.
Ed Baroth (16:40):
Yeah.
Well, I I have to I have to,and I'll send you the notes.
I went on Chat GPT and I saiduh started off easy.
What colors should I use for myDauntless 1944, what have you?
And it gave me the thenon-specular blue and blue in
intermediate insignia, blah,blah, blah.
Speaker (17:01):
Right.
Ed Baroth (17:02):
And then I asked it, what paint should I use?
And it gave me Vallejo and itgave me AX or something,
whatever.
The other and it mentioned thepros and cons of using each.
Well, these are directly, butyou gotta mix these.
Okay.
And then I said, Well, supposeI want to use Tamiya, and it
said, Okay, the mix for Tamiyais this, and it gave me the
(17:25):
three-color mix for each thing.
And then it said, Would youlike some more details?
In other words, what scale areyou doing?
And I said, I'm doing 30-secondtrumpeter, SBDD5, ZB 10 from
1944 Enterprise, and it said,Okay, for a 30-second trumpeter
kit that this is to me a mix for30-second ratio.
Kentucky Dave (17:50):
No, so it take taking scale lighting into
account.
Yes.
That's interesting.
Ed Baroth (17:56):
It gave me the mix for the blue, which is four
colors, told me how to lacquerthinner.
It it gave me the the colorsfor the for the other ones, and
then it also said, in otherwords, do you want to fade?
And I said, sure.
And it said, okay, here's thefade mix.
This stuff's getting good, man.
So it it tell it gave me, youknow, how to add, you know, to
(18:20):
what I already had to the mainmix.
Mike (18:23):
All right.
Ed Baroth (18:23):
It tells you where, you know, where to spray, what
have you, and that kind of stuffto fade.
It also has a grime mix for thewhite, where to spray.
It has advanced multi-tonefading secrets.
Then it asked me realisticpatterns.
And then I also asked, youknow, what should I use for the
National Insignia, you know, forthe for the C blue around the
(18:47):
white.
And it said, well, for Tamiya,you can use the C blue, but
really to get a slightly richer,deeper insignia tone, it gave
me a three mix.
Mike (18:58):
Well, I'll be curious, I'll be curious when you mix
these up if you're happy withthem.
Ed Baroth (19:01):
Yeah, me too.
Mike (19:03):
We'll see.
Ed Baroth (19:03):
I uh so far, yeah.
I'm certainly happy with thewith the white, you know, with
the light gray is really what itis.
Yeah, right.
And and the blue.
And then it also asked, wouldyou like me to show you a
picture of to explain the theshading panel?
So I said, sure.
So it printed me out a picture.
I'm not quite sure where it gotit.
(19:24):
See, that's the other thing.
It may have made it.
It may have made it out of fullcloth.
What's funny is the pictureshows the exact color mixes for
the tamiya, exactly.
But the picture of the planedoesn't quite look like a
dogless.
Although it says it is, right?
And it sort of is.
Mike (19:44):
But it's sort of not.
Ed Baroth (19:45):
Some of the writing is is backwards in the sense
that the it points to the cut tothe cowling and says slightly
cleaner towards tail.
Mike (19:54):
Well, Ed, uh, I want to thank you for your willingness
to chop up this project anddocument it for us so we can
help feature it.
And we'll get these first fewchapters once you get the final
drafts to me up on the dojo, anduh folks can uh follow you
along and see that Ed Barrett'sback, and we're glad your your
health is managed now, and welook forward to seeing what this
sucker looks like when it'sdone.
(20:14):
Well, don't put pressure onyourself.
Just uh you go at your pace andwe'll uh dole it out at the
same pace.
Nobody's pressuring you, man.
Ed Baroth (20:22):
I'm set myself because I'm trying to get it for
some shows.
I mean, obviously.
Well, that's on you, Ed.
Come summer, there's someshows.
Mike (20:30):
Thanks for joining us tonight.
We appreciate it, and uh, welook forward to seeing these
final chapters and uh andhopefully in the interim, I'll
figure out the best way to getthem posted, and uh we'll start
putting this stuff up stuff upas you feed it to us.
Okay.
Good to talk to you, Ed.
Enjoy sunny California.
Oh well.
Well, he's learning new stuff,lighting a model airplane, a
(20:56):
degree is, but uh that's not theonly thing he does.
Ed is multi-talented, he's alsoa musician.
So uh Ed, thanks for those bassrifts.
When I said I wanted someSeinfeld-ish, Seinfeld-esque
bump riffs to do between oursegments, I think you nailed it.
Kentucky Dave (21:10):
Yep, he did.
He did.
He is a multi-talentedindividual and not one to shy
away from stretching theboundaries.
Mike (21:19):
That's for sure.
Gonna light this sucker up.
Can't wait to see it.
What do you think?
You uh I I think there's gonnabe a lot to learn in watching Ed
do things a step at a time hereand sharing it with us.
Kentucky Dave (21:29):
Because anytime you have somebody of his talent
who who's willing to break downhow they do things step by step,
there's always so much tolearn.
Mike (21:41):
Well, I think the modeling world's changed a lot since I
first uh started going to showsas a late teenager.
I remember one time at a showin North Carolina, Dave, that I
asked a modeler how they didsomething, and they actually
told me that it took them yearsto figure out how to do that
thing, and I was just gonna haveto learn it myself.
Kentucky Dave (22:00):
Thank thank thank God we are well past that.
Mike (22:03):
I I hope so.
I've not run into that much No.
Nah, I haven't.
It's been it's that might havebeen the only time that ever
happened, honestly, but but itdid happen.
Yeah.
And it's nice to know that uhEd is not only willing to share,
but he's gonna have to put insome some work on the back end
of his stuff to give it to us.
There's gonna be And we all andwe all benefit.
(22:24):
We all benefit.
And I uh got a couple of30-second scale aircraft in my
stash, a couple of float planes,one that he's built, the the
Kingfisher.
Between Glenn Hoover's book onbuilding that kit and uh Ed
Barris' Gray Matter, I think Igot a good shot actually getting
that sucker together.
Kentucky Dave (22:42):
Yep.
Mike (22:43):
I can't wait to see you do it.
Well, we are on our way to Ampsas of the end of this week, and
look forward to seeingeverybody who's gonna be there
in South Indiana.
All right, Kentucky Dave.
How about a preamps shortfeature to get us jazzed up for?
Kentucky Dave (00:16):
I'm I give it, let's put it this way, it'll
give us something to talk abouton the road.
Mike (00:22):
It will, indeed.
Folks, we've had Ed Bareth onthe show a number of times, and
uh Ed had some health challengeslast year and then has slowly
gotten back into modeling ashe's got that situation
stabilized, and uh we're happyfor him in that.
But he's diving back into alarge-scale model airplane
(00:44):
project that he's been knownfor, and we'll let him explain
what he was trying to do himselfas we get this feature started.
But Dave, really lookingforward to this.
It's the first time we've doneanything like this on the dojo,
and uh, I think folks are gonnaenjoy this project.
Kentucky Dave (00:57):
Yeah, we're experimenting, trying to bring
you all additional content andpresent it in a new and
different way.
So this is a work in progress,and we're gonna we're gonna
learn from this experience, andwe appreciate Ed helping us out.
Mike (01:13):
Well, let's get our conversation with Ed rolling
here, man.
Kentucky Dave (01:17):
You got it.
Mike (01:22):
Well, Dave, we got somebody back tonight we haven't
talked to in uh in a minute ortwo.
Kentucky Dave (01:27):
Yes, I know.
I I I was anxious to get himback on.
Mike (01:32):
And that person is Ed Bareth out in sunny California.
Ed, how you doing, man?
Ed Baroth (01:36):
I'm doing fine in sunny California.
Mike (01:40):
Well is it is it sunny right now?
Ed Baroth (01:43):
Uh uh, yes, it is.
Mike (01:44):
Oh, lucky you.
We know you had somechallenges, I guess, last year.
And uh I'll let you talk aboutwhatever you want to talk about
that, but I know in our offlineconversations, you were how to
say it, you had some concernthat maybe your skills may have
atrophied during your downtime.
Ed Baroth (02:03):
Yeah, it seems like a perfect thing.
Everybody's saying, you know, II had some chemo for six months
for for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,and it was treated, and I'm in
at the doctor says completeremission, but everybody's
saying, you know, are are youback to way the the way you
were?
Mike (02:21):
Yeah, that's how you said it.
I remember.
Ed Baroth (02:24):
You know, let's let's do an experiment.
Let's see if I'm back the way Iwas.
And the most complicated modelthat I do is 30 second aircraft.
Speaker (02:34):
Yep.
Ed Baroth (02:34):
I've done them well before, and I've received, you
know, national awards for them.
So the feel the feeling is canI do one to the same quality
that I used to?
And so that's my littleexperiment.
Mike (02:46):
Won't you tell folks exactly what you're building?
Now, let me back up one morequestion before we do that.
Now, did you do anything priorto starting this project we're
about to talk about a little bitthis evening?
To kind of test the waters thatyou were looking like things
were gonna be okay to proceedwith this big project?
Ed Baroth (03:02):
Well, you know, our club had a contest in December,
but I ended up building a P51DTomia.
Oh, it was a you gotta build a20-year-old Tamiya model.
Okay.
Was the contest.
And so I built a P51D out ofthe box with natural metal
finish.
And I could tell I I wasn'tback yet fully.
Mike (03:24):
Okay.
Ed Baroth (03:24):
I didn't have the concentration, I didn't have the
patience in December.
And and you know, my my lastchemo was at the end of October.
So December was was prettyquick.
Mike (03:35):
Yeah, that would be pretty close, just a few months.
Kentucky Dave (03:37):
So was most of the effect mental?
In other words, was it mostlyconcentration and stamina?
Or, you know, I have thephysical tremor challenge.
Did you have any physical sideeffects?
Ed Baroth (03:52):
No, I didn't, other than I was uh I didn't have the
yeah, the stamina.
I I was tired a lot.
I couldn't put the hours inthat normally uh I have the
benefit of being at the benchjealous time compared to a lot
of people.
Yeah, you're one of thoseretired guys.
Yes.
Mike (04:09):
We know a couple of those, and yes, yeah, it can be a
little envious.
Yes.
Ed Baroth (04:14):
Yes, I I can beat Mike's monthly quota in a day.
Mike (04:18):
Yeah, no.
Don't rub it in, Ed.
Don't rub it in.
Yeah.
We can end this now.
You are back because I've seenpreviews of what you got going
on.
So let's talk about this thisproject and what you're hoping
to do here.
Ed Baroth (04:33):
Okay, well, what I I'm doing is a 32nd trumpeter,
uh Douglas Dauntless SVD 5.
And I've been told this is oneof the good trumpeter kits.
Uh, and it is.
I hope so.
Kentucky Dave (04:47):
That's a relative term there, Ed.
Ed Baroth (04:49):
Uh, I know, that's what I'm saying.
This is get this is consideredone of the good ones.
So I'm doing this in 32nd, and32nd, to me, by definition, is
class A, so to speak.
And I'm doing this for you knowawards consideration.
And my philosophy is in 48,because normally I do 48th as
(05:12):
well.
In 48, everything extra you dois a positive.
In 32nd, everything you coulddo but don't is a negative.
Mike (05:24):
I understand.
Yeah, okay.
Keep going.
Ed Baroth (05:26):
For those people who do armor, 30 second airplanes is
just like 30 second armor,except you can't put a sandbag
over your mistakes.
Mike (05:34):
Oh, come on now.
Kentucky Dave (05:35):
Oh, you can hang a tarp over it.
Ed Baroth (05:37):
Come on.
And so I'm doing this basicallyflat out, and I'm adding some
extra, you know, there's more Icould, but I'm adding some 3D,
3D instrument panels from acompany called Kielik,
K-E-L-I-K, which I believe isfrom Ukraine.
I'm adding some Edward dieflaps.
(05:58):
I'm adding some one-man armystencils.
Kentucky Dave (06:03):
Those are amazing.
Ed Baroth (06:04):
And I'm adding some uh resin wheels.
That's that's what I thought Iwas starting with.
Kentucky Dave (06:10):
And then here comes Scope Creep, our old
friend.
Ed Baroth (06:15):
Yes, well, because I like the instrument panels so
much, those 3D panels, they'rereally nice.
Kentucky Dave (06:21):
Yes, they are.
Ed Baroth (06:22):
I said, you know, I'm gonna put some lights in so you
can see them.
Mike (06:27):
Okay.
Ed Baroth (06:27):
I I've already had the lights, and I already had
the battery from from an earlierproject, and it turns out I can
fit the battery inside, and andlights are just about scale.
So, but the question was, howdo you flip the switch inside
the plane?
And that's what led me to downthis horrible rabbit hole of
(06:50):
trying to use Bluetooth on myphone, and that got me to
modules.
I ended up ordering modules andthis and that, and I I spoke to
Chat GPT and we had some lovelydiscussions, but to make a long
story short, I I it just was abridge too far.
And what I just figured I woulddo instead is I can't reach the
(07:12):
switch on the actual battery,it doesn't it doesn't work where
I can get to it.
If I put in another switch,there's a there's a a part of
the plane where the the the uhmachine gun bullets drop out in
the in the back, and that isopen.
So I just have to find a switchthat would fit, which I thought
(07:35):
would be easy and turned out tobe another rabbit hole to to
find a small on-off switch.
Evidently you can find smallmomentary, but not all on off,
which I finally found and got itin, and I hooked it up to three
lights in, and I said, youknow, why should I stop there?
Since since the model comes,it's very nice, the model comes
(08:00):
with a clear cowling and engine.
So I naturally I I had to trickit out a bit, and then I
figured since I tricked it out abit, why don't I add a light in
the engine?
So you could see that.
And then I figured, well, sinceI did that, now I gotta add
more stuff to the engine.
Kentucky Dave (08:19):
This isn't your first lighted model, but it
sounds like this is the firsttime you've gone this extensive.
Ed Baroth (08:28):
Yes.
And this is the first timeinside the model.
I did a 72nd Ukrainian armoredpersonnel carrier, and I and I
put a couple of lights in, butyou know, that you can put
through the base and what haveyou.
And so and so that was that wasrelatively easy and
straightforward.
This is you know enclosed inthe plane.
(08:48):
So obviously, yes, I cannotchange the battery, but let's
face it, how often am I going toput the light on?
Maybe, you know, a couple hoursevery six months of the show.
I'm really not that worriedabout it.
And I and I honestly think thebattery will last longer than I
will.
So I'm really not that worried.
Kentucky Dave (09:04):
But that raises a question for me.
Now, do you have a lightingmentor modeler that you're
getting help from, or is thisall Ed Bareth and Experiment and
Chat GPT and reading stuffonline?
Mike (09:21):
No, no, I and retired JPL engineer.
Kentucky Dave (09:24):
Yeah, well, that too.
Ed Baroth (09:26):
I I have to confess, I I do have a mentor when I when
I did the other model, I spoketo our friend Bobble.
Mike (09:33):
Oh, yeah.
Ed Baroth (09:33):
Bobble told me what uh LEDs to buy and what battery
holders to get.
I admit I I've checked with hima bit.
Mike (09:41):
You chose wise because he's one of the folks Dave's
referring to that's atWonderfest, usually.
So we've seen his his big bigsci-fi subject with all their
internal lighting.
So pretty cool.
Kentucky Dave (09:52):
And not only not only that, I it's not like I'm
faulting you for that.
I think that's smart.
If you've got resources outthere, why would you possibly
try and learn it yourself whenyou can reach out and tap the
that kind of knowledge?
Ed Baroth (10:11):
So, yeah, so that gave me the leg up.
I I use the same battery holderand the same LEDs.
That's fine.
And even Bobble doesn't dealwith with you know hooking up
through the phone yet.
Mike (10:25):
I suspect he might at some point, though.
Yeah, it's coming.
Ed, it's not just this episodeshort we're doing here that
folks are gonna hear about this.
You've talked talked to us alittle bit about it, but we're
gonna choose a visual path forthis.
And folks over on the PlasticModel Dojo, our Facebook group,
are gonna be able to followalong with your progress.
(10:45):
So won't you tell us how you'rebreaking this thing up and what
folks can expect to see onceonce I figure out how to present
it in the best way?
Ed Baroth (10:54):
Chapter one is is obviously the the cockpit, and I
have all pictures before Iwash, after wash.
I I've got different interiorcolors, and I'm gonna be uh
showing just how to do thecomplete cockpit.
Mike (11:12):
Okay.
Ed Baroth (11:12):
And I've got notes and I upgrade the directions,
and it's a it's a really nicecockpit out of the box, to tell
you the truth.
The only thing I added werewere those 3D instrument panels.
Although they also they theygive you 3D seat belts as well.
Chapter two is the engine,which I obviously wire up and
(11:36):
and put a lot of stuff in therebecause you can see it.
It's because it's it's clearplastic for the engine and the
cowling.
Mike (11:44):
Okay.
Now you're gonna leave it thatway when you paint it?
Okay, yes, I am.
All right, you got a lot ofwork to do then.
Ed Baroth (11:51):
Well, one side's gonna be painted, the other side
you're gonna be able to do it.
Ah, okay.
Mike (11:54):
Oh, that's smart.
That'd be a good presentation.
Ed Baroth (11:57):
Third chapter is the dive brakes from Edward.
And I'm gonna show how how Ihow I do it, because you know,
it to me, if you're gonna dophoto etch sequence is
absolutely the key.
Yes, I agree.
Especially with the smallparts, if you don't do it right,
you're in for heartache.
Kentucky Dave (12:16):
The photo etch manufacturer does not always
give the level of thought to thesequence that they should.
Mike (12:26):
No, they usually just show you where it goes, and that's
pretty much it.
Ed Baroth (12:29):
Right.
This goes here, and it itreally matters because you're
imagining you're doing thesedive breaks, and that there's a
lot of pieces and they fold overand they're really small and
what have you, and it doesmatter.
Chapter four is sort of thelight, just rehashing of how I
do the lights.
And I and I show you all thedetails, you know.
(12:50):
I'm showing you, I'm I'mshowing the people what LEDs I
use, what switch I use, what youknow, the battery holder, all
you know, all that kind ofstuff.
So you can you can immediately,if you want, you can just get
them.
And the LEDs are really nice.
You you don't even need anyresistors as long as you're
using a watch battery.
Okay.
Kentucky Dave (13:08):
Okay, you're gonna light the engine, you're
gonna light the instrument panelcockpit.
Right.
You're gonna uh obviously Iassume you're gonna uh light the
nav lights.
Ed Baroth (13:20):
Oh no, I'm not okay.
Kentucky Dave (13:22):
You're not doing the nav lights, all right.
Ed Baroth (13:24):
You're so I'm not doing any of that stuff.
Kentucky Dave (13:26):
Is there anything else you're lighting?
Ed Baroth (13:28):
Yes, I I'm there's a light in the back, so you can
see the radio compartment.
They really did a nice job inin giving you the 3D decals for
the radios.
They really look nice.
And I said, you know, so I Iput one in the back as well.
Mike (13:43):
Yeah, because it's probably down in a hole, isn't
it, behind the gunner'sposition?
Yeah.
Ed Baroth (13:49):
And uh if part of this experiment is to show what
it takes to make a model fornational, then I cannot go crazy
enough.
I can't go too far.
Mike (14:01):
Provided you do it all well, that I would agree with
that.
Right.
You you throw a bunch of poorpoorly executed stuff on there,
and that's maybe a differentstory.
But I I know you, Ed.
I know when we first met out inLas Vegas, it was a 48-scale
plane and a 38 second-scaleplane that uh had us think to
have you over to the table forour initial conversation.
So I know you're gonna do thiswell, and I think it's really
(14:25):
cool that you you you've uh beenwilling to uh parse this out
into digestible chunks ofinformation, and we can put that
out there and and folks canjust see what a one of these
large-scale projects actuallylooks like if you really want to
trick it out to the to a to theinst degree.
Ed Baroth (14:41):
And then you you know, the like chapter four, you
know, you put the fuselagetogether, and then uh I've put
the wings, but to be honest,that's pretty straightforward.
Sure.
I've got the wings and I've gotthe tail on, and then there's
always the glass, which is itsown chapter.
Kentucky Dave (14:58):
Please tell me there are aftermarket masks for
that canopy.
Ed Baroth (15:03):
Oh, yes, of course.
Good.
Good word has as masks.
Kentucky Dave (15:07):
Good.
Ed Baroth (15:07):
I could not think about it otherwise.
Kentucky Dave (15:10):
Amen, brother.
Mike (15:11):
Well, speaking of masks, I know you said you're gonna use
the one-man army, and I assumethat big set probably has does
it have the internal stuff andthe external stuff?
Ed Baroth (15:19):
No, it's not internal.
It's it's basically justexternal.
Mike (15:22):
Okay.
Please, I know there's folksout there like, yeah, I might
want to try painting my ownmarkings, but I've never done
it.
So hopefully that's gonna be achapter as well.
Ed Baroth (15:31):
Yes, and that's a challenge.
You know, it's not it's not aseasy and straightforward because
the masks are big and sticky.
Speaker (15:40):
Yeah.
Ed Baroth (15:41):
And the pro the problem is it's very hard to get
it right in the exact place thefirst time.
And it's not like decals whereyou can just move it a quarter
of an inch.
Mike (15:51):
Okay, well, looking forward to that because that I
know Dave's been thinking aboutthat a little more.
Kentucky Dave (15:57):
Yeah, that's one of my projects for this year.
Mike (16:00):
We're on a smaller scale most of the time, so we'll see
how it goes for us.
But uh really curious how theone-man army works out for that.
So we're gonna get this thingin in chapters and folks are
gonna be able to see that at theplastic model dojo.
And I'll go run straightstraight to the end now.
Once this is all said and done,do you have a a scheme in mind
(16:20):
for this for the for the for theactual finish of the airplane?
Ed Baroth (16:24):
Yes, it's the three-color uh three-color
Enterprise 1944, and I have agood couple of pictures.
And what I also have to bringup is this business of Chat GPT.
Mike (16:38):
It's probably been lying to you.
Ed Baroth (16:40):
Yeah.
Well, I I have to I have to,and I'll send you the notes.
I went on Chat GPT and I saiduh started off easy.
What colors should I use for myDauntless 1944, what have you?
And it gave me the thenon-specular blue and blue in
intermediate insignia, blah,blah, blah.
Speaker (17:01):
Right.
Ed Baroth (17:02):
And then I asked it, what paint should I use?
And it gave me Vallejo and itgave me AX or something,
whatever.
The other and it mentioned thepros and cons of using each.
Well, these are directly, butyou gotta mix these.
Okay.
And then I said, Well, supposeI want to use Tamiya, and it
said, Okay, the mix for Tamiyais this, and it gave me the
(17:25):
three-color mix for each thing.
And then it said, Would youlike some more details?
In other words, what scale areyou doing?
And I said, I'm doing 30-secondtrumpeter, SBDD5, ZB 10 from
1944 Enterprise, and it said,Okay, for a 30-second trumpeter
kit that this is to me a mix for30-second ratio.
Kentucky Dave (17:50):
No, so it take taking scale lighting into
account.
Yes.
That's interesting.
Ed Baroth (17:56):
It gave me the mix for the blue, which is four
colors, told me how to lacquerthinner.
It it gave me the the colorsfor the for the other ones, and
then it also said, in otherwords, do you want to fade?
And I said, sure.
And it said, okay, here's thefade mix.
This stuff's getting good, man.
So it it tell it gave me, youknow, how to add, you know, to
(18:20):
what I already had to the mainmix.
Mike (18:23):
All right.
Ed Baroth (18:23):
It tells you where, you know, where to spray, what
have you, and that kind of stuffto fade.
It also has a grime mix for thewhite, where to spray.
It has advanced multi-tonefading secrets.
Then it asked me realisticpatterns.
And then I also asked, youknow, what should I use for the
National Insignia, you know, forthe for the C blue around the
(18:47):
white.
And it said, well, for Tamiya,you can use the C blue, but
really to get a slightly richer,deeper insignia tone, it gave
me a three mix.
Mike (18:58):
Well, I'll be curious, I'll be curious when you mix
these up if you're happy withthem.
Ed Baroth (19:01):
Yeah, me too.
Mike (19:03):
We'll see.
Ed Baroth (19:03):
I uh so far, yeah.
I'm certainly happy with thewith the white, you know, with
the light gray is really what itis.
Yeah, right.
And and the blue.
And then it also asked, wouldyou like me to show you a
picture of to explain the theshading panel?
So I said, sure.
So it printed me out a picture.
I'm not quite sure where it gotit.
(19:24):
See, that's the other thing.
It may have made it.
It may have made it out of fullcloth.
What's funny is the pictureshows the exact color mixes for
the tamiya, exactly.
But the picture of the planedoesn't quite look like a
dogless.
Although it says it is, right?
And it sort of is.
Mike (19:44):
But it's sort of not.
Ed Baroth (19:45):
Some of the writing is is backwards in the sense
that the it points to the cut tothe cowling and says slightly
cleaner towards tail.
Mike (19:54):
Well, Ed, uh, I want to thank you for your willingness
to chop up this project anddocument it for us so we can
help feature it.
And we'll get these first fewchapters once you get the final
drafts to me up on the dojo, anduh folks can uh follow you
along and see that Ed Barrett'sback, and we're glad your your
health is managed now, and welook forward to seeing what this
sucker looks like when it'sdone.
(20:14):
Well, don't put pressure onyourself.
Just uh you go at your pace andwe'll uh dole it out at the
same pace.
Nobody's pressuring you, man.
Ed Baroth (20:22):
I'm set myself because I'm trying to get it for
some shows.
I mean, obviously.
Well, that's on you, Ed.
Come summer, there's someshows.
Mike (20:30):
Thanks for joining us tonight.
We appreciate it, and uh, welook forward to seeing these
final chapters and uh andhopefully in the interim, I'll
figure out the best way to getthem posted, and uh we'll start
putting this stuff up stuff upas you feed it to us.
Okay.
Good to talk to you, Ed.
Enjoy sunny California.
Oh well.
Well, he's learning new stuff,lighting a model airplane, a
(20:56):
degree is, but uh that's not theonly thing he does.
Ed is multi-talented, he's alsoa musician.
So uh Ed, thanks for those bassrifts.
When I said I wanted someSeinfeld-ish, Seinfeld-esque
bump riffs to do between oursegments, I think you nailed it.
Kentucky Dave (21:10):
Yep, he did.
He did.
He is a multi-talentedindividual and not one to shy
away from stretching theboundaries.
Mike (21:19):
That's for sure.
Gonna light this sucker up.
Can't wait to see it.
What do you think?
You uh I I think there's gonnabe a lot to learn in watching Ed
do things a step at a time hereand sharing it with us.
Kentucky Dave (21:29):
Because anytime you have somebody of his talent
who who's willing to break downhow they do things step by step,
there's always so much tolearn.
Mike (21:41):
Well, I think the modeling world's changed a lot since I
first uh started going to showsas a late teenager.
I remember one time at a showin North Carolina, Dave, that I
asked a modeler how they didsomething, and they actually
told me that it took them yearsto figure out how to do that
thing, and I was just gonna haveto learn it myself.
Kentucky Dave (22:00):
Thank thank thank God we are well past that.
Mike (22:03):
I I hope so.
I've not run into that much No.
Nah, I haven't.
It's been it's that might havebeen the only time that ever
happened, honestly, but but itdid happen.
Yeah.
And it's nice to know that uhEd is not only willing to share,
but he's gonna have to put insome some work on the back end
of his stuff to give it to us.
There's gonna be And we all andwe all benefit.
(22:24):
We all benefit.
And I uh got a couple of30-second scale aircraft in my
stash, a couple of float planes,one that he's built, the the
Kingfisher.
Between Glenn Hoover's book onbuilding that kit and uh Ed
Barris' Gray Matter, I think Igot a good shot actually getting
that sucker together.
Kentucky Dave (22:42):
Yep.
Mike (22:43):
I can't wait to see you do it.
Well, we are on our way to Ampsas of the end of this week, and
look forward to seeingeverybody who's gonna be there
in South Indiana.
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