We’re back from HeritageCon feeling the best kind of tired, the kind you earn after a weekend packed with great people, hobby shop stops, and a contest floor full of inspiration. We share highlights from the trip, what stood out about the quality and sheer volume of models, and why getting to an event in person can put real mojo back in your modeling.
April is upon us, and we’re looking ahead to the AMPS International Convention in South Bend, Indiana, plus teasing upcoming content: an on-site Wheel Of Accidental Wisdom shop talk recording, a listener question on restarting the hobby from scratch, and practical tips we’re gathering on attending overseas model shows and what it takes to travel well as a scale modeler. We also check in on the Dojo’s growth and why sharing contest flyers helps the whole community.
Subscribe so you don’t miss the next drops, and if you enjoy the show, share it with a modeling friend and leave a review. What contest or hobby event are you planning to attend next?
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Episode Transcript
Kev, tell everyone why you started Kit
Mask.
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:02):
Well, manually masking canopies sucks, and
somebody had to step in to savethose countless kits from the
shelf of doom.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:09):
And now we've got over 400 sets and counting.
We've got old kits, new kits,forgotten kits, you name it.
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:14):
Yeah.
And if we don't have it, justask.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:16):
Yeah, people don't realize we take custom
requests and we even have aservice that gets you canopy
masks for free.
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:21):
We do.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:22):
Our masks are precision cut, they fit well,
they're easy to apply.
Kevin cuts and tests every set.
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:29):
Several times.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:29):
Yeah.
Precision is kind of his thing.
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:31):
And Janelle, she does everything else.
She cares about each customerand is the heart of our
business.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:37):
If you ever reach out, you're talking
directly to us.
Real people, real modelers.
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:41):
And if you don't love your masks, we'll
refund or replace them.
No questions asked.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:46):
Visit kitmask.com, join the mailing
list, and treat yourself toeasier, cleaner masking.
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:51):
Kitmask, made by a modeler for modelers.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:54):
Hey, what about me?
Kevin (KITMASX) (00:55):
You're not a modeler.
Kentucky Dave (01:10):
Wow, you tired?
I yeah.
I got tired, but in the happiestkind of tired ways, you know,
when you get done with somethingthat that you had and had fun
doing the whole time, and thenyou finally it ends, and you're
you're just you didn't realizehow much energy you'd spend.
Mike (01:32):
Well, that's the lead in is where we where we're going
and where we've been.
We'll knock out where we'regoing real quick.
It's the month of April.
It is the month for the ArmorModeling and Preservation
Society's InternationalConvention in South Bend,
Indiana, coming up here 16th,17th, 18th, I believe, of the
month.
Kentucky Dave (01:52):
Yes.
Looking forward to it, man.
I put in for my vacation days onmy paid time off today.
Mike (02:00):
Well, I've done the same, and uh we'll be arriving up
there late Thursday afternoon.
And uh unfortunately we gottaleave a little early Saturday,
but uh we'll have plenty of timeto see just about everything we
want to see.
Kentucky Dave (02:11):
Oh, yeah, we're gonna get plenty of time in.
Mike (02:14):
We will.
So I don't think we're goinganywhere else in April, at least
I'm not.
Kentucky Dave (02:18):
No, I think that's it for April, but we got
just tons of stuff coming up, soit's gonna be a full spring,
summer, and fall, man.
Mike (02:28):
It is a folks ought to know where we've been.
We sure plastered it all overour social media anyway.
Kentucky Dave (02:34):
Yes, indeed.
You and I snuck across theborder to manage to go to
HeritageCon.
And I gotta say, I think we hadthe best time yet.
It was wonderful.
We met the Minnesota crew up inDetroit, hit a couple hobby
shops, got managed to get acrossthe border without getting
(02:58):
apprehended, had a beautifulAirbnb courtesy of the hard work
of Chris Wallace, had a lovelydinner at a Chinese buffet,
great time.
The show was fantastic.
Even if Mike didn't win theMoosaroo, which he he richly
deserved to win.
(03:19):
No, I didn't.
Mike (03:19):
I called it though.
I kind of feel he's gonna winthis one.
So that worked out good forBrian Dinklow, but uh yeah.
Kentucky Dave (03:27):
Congratulations to Brian Dinklow who built it
representing the Build Sidewayspodcast.
So it was wonderful.
Man, the number of models waslike 960.
The quality was through theroof.
I managed to spend some moneytoo.
That next What Broke Your Walletsegment's gonna be great.
Mike (03:50):
Oh yeah, it should be, and it'll come up in the next
episode.
Kentucky Dave (03:54):
Yes, it will.
Mike (04:19):
Hopefully they're gonna be some good ones for folks.
Yep.
First up, episode 161.
We're going to do something alittle different.
It's basically shop talk format,but we did an on-site version of
the Wheel of Accidental Wisdomwhile we're at HeritageCon and
we recorded the whole thing.
I'm not sure it's usable in itsentirety, but certainly have
(04:39):
already taken the first pass atediting it.
And I know we've got some goodsegments in there from about
three of our fellow modelers whowere there with us that we hung
out with and get threeperspectives on some of the
questions.
So there's some good ones inthere, and I think that'll make
a couple of good segments orthree for uh a shop talk.
And then we got a really broadquestion from a listener about
(04:59):
getting started in the hobby orrestarting the hobby kind of
from scratch or from a longbreak.
And I think uh uh we can talkabout that one pretty good too.
Kentucky Dave (05:07):
Yes, yep.
I think that that one's got alot of conversation around it.
Mike (05:13):
And then later in the month we got episode 162, and
we're gonna be getting some tipsand pointers from several
different folks on attendingshows overseas, not just outside
the borders of the UnitedStates, like we just did in
Canada, because that's notterribly difficult.
But actually getting on anairplane and flying to some
other continent.
So with your models.
(05:34):
With your models, maybe, butsometimes yes, with your models.
That's gonna be kind of an interinteresting thing.
I know we've we've we've talkedabout foreign shows on the show
before and said some things thatmay or may not have been true,
and we've heard back about that.
Like if we want to talk aboutthem, maybe we should attend
them, but uh that's probablytrue.
But the next best thing isfiguring out if you've never
(05:56):
been how to get there and whatto what to consider and how
that's gonna go down.
So I think two good episodes forApril, Dave.
Kentucky Dave (06:04):
Yes, I'm looking forward to both of those.
Mike (06:11):
Well, we were away, but the dojo never sleeps.
Kentucky Dave (06:14):
No, it does not.
As of this recording, we have5,730 members of the dojo.
We're adding about between twoand four a day, which is kind of
nice.
And the dojo's hopping.
Mike, about a year, god, a year,yeah, maybe a year and a half
ago, you and I were riding in acar to a contest or back from
(06:37):
some contest.
And I'd been looking at the dojostats, and I was like, you know,
if we could consistently get atleast 10 new posts a day, that
would be great.
That would start to buildsynergy and interest, etc.
And now we are up well over 20posts every single day.
(07:00):
And not only posts, but qualityposts.
I mean, really great work,really great finished models,
really great questions.
In fact, just before we sat downto record this, I was DMing with
a member regarding a question hehad posted in the dojo.
(07:20):
And it's it's really a greatplace, A, to kind of hang out,
but also to get your questionsanswered, find out what's going
on in the hobby.
And man, if you're interested incontests, there are tons of
contest flyers being posted inthe dojo.
(07:41):
Now that the spring season is isfully in force.
There are there are contests allover the country.
There's bound to be one nearyou.
And I urge you to go to thembecause Mike and I just got back
from one, and man, was that fun.
Mike (08:00):
We can't cover them all in the model show spotlight, so
post those flyers and keeppeople interested.
Kentucky Dave (08:06):
Yes, yes.
If you have a a show that yourclub is doing, please don't
don't hesitate.
Post the flyer in the show, postthe show information in the
dojo.
We we're thrilled about thatbecause again, we encourage
people to attend shows.
It just there's nothing there'snothing better to put spring in
(08:30):
your step and mojo back in yourmodeling.
Mike (08:38):
Well, I want to encourage folks to reach out to the show,
and you can do that by sendingus listener mail.
You can do that by sending usemail to plasticmodelmojo at
gmail.com or send us a directmessenger through the Facebook
Messenger app, or you can usethe link in the show notes or at
the website atwww.plasticmodelmojo.com.
Dave, I'm looking forward tothis month.
(09:00):
We've already had a great showat HeritageCon and just a few
weeks after we're gonna hitanother one here, and it's gonna
be a fun time, man.
Kentucky Dave (09:07):
Yeah, it is.
Well, we were we were at Amps inSouth Bend two years ago, and I
will tell you we had one of thebest times we've had at a
contest.
So I have high hopes for theAmps National this year.
Mike (09:23):
And let's just thank everybody that helped us have a
great time at HeritageCon.
All the guys from Minnesota.
Uh hey, Kevin and Janellecouldn't make it, our sponsors
for this short episode from KitMass.
Kentucky Dave (09:34):
But we did our best to represent them and get
the information out to people.
They had sent us somepromotional material and we got
to widely distribute that andwas more than happy to do so.
Uh they're they're great peoplewith a great business.
Mike (09:51):
And the folks at Hamilton did a great job.
We enjoyed doing the wheel ofaccidental wisdom, and the show
was just a big blast.
So shout out to that team, andwe'll promote them again next
year because folks, it's a greatshow.
Kentucky Dave (10:04):
It is, and man, can it's it's absolutely true.
Canadians are some of the nicestpeople on the planet.
Mike (10:11):
Well, I'm hoping to get to the bench tonight, Dave.
Kentucky Dave (10:14):
Yep, you and me both.
Mike (10:15):
All right, man.
Well, we'll catch you later.
Kentucky Dave (10:18):
You take it easy.
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