PMM Twelve Minute Modelsphere: August 2025

The excitement is building as we prepare for the IPMS Nationals in Hampton, Virginia! This much-anticipated event represents what we lovingly call "the best four days of the year" in the modeling world. After months without attending a contest (Mike hasn't been to one since Heritage Con in March), we're absolutely thrilled to reconnect with fellow modelers, showcase our work, and soak in the incredible talent on display.

We'll be set up at a vendor table throughout the convention where we hope to meet many of our listeners face-to-face. There's something magical about connecting with the modeling community in person after so many digital interactions. Whether you've been following us for years or just discovered the podcast, please stop by to say hello and share what you've been working on. If you've posted your builds in the Dojo and they'll be at the Nationals, we'd love to see them in person!

Speaking of the Dojo, our Facebook modeling community continues to thrive with over 5,300 members sharing incredible work and engaging in thoughtful discussions. Recent conversations about old-school web forums and storage solutions have taken on lives of their own, demonstrating the vibrant exchange of ideas that makes our community special. We're also excited to bring you Episode 145 featuring the talented Bruce MacRae sharing his recent modeling adventure, followed by Episode 146 where we'll recap our Nationals experience. Join us for what promises to be an unforgettable convention experience and connect with the passionate modeling community that makes this hobby so rewarding!

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Episode Transcript

Janelle, KitMasx (00:00):
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 (00:10):
And now we've got over 400 sets and counting.
We've got old kits, new kits,forgotten kits, you name it.

Kevin, KitMasx (00:15):
Yeah, and if we don't have it, just ask.

Janelle, KitMasx (00:17):
Yeah, people don't realize.
We take customer requests andwe even have a service that gets
you canopy masks for free.

Kevin, KitMasx (00:22):
We do.

Janelle, KitMasx (00:23):
Our masks are precision cut.
They fit well, they're easy toapply.
Kevin cuts and tests every set.

Kevin, KitMasx (00:29):
Several times.

Janelle, KitMasx (00:30):
Yeah, precision is kind of his thing.

Kevin, KitMasx (00:34):
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 (00:42):
And if you don't love your masks, we'll refund
or replace them.
No questions asked.

Janelle, KitMasx (00:46):
Visit kitmaskcom, join the mailing
list and treat yourself toeasier, cleaner masking.

Kevin, KitMasx (00:52):
Kitmask made by a modeler for modelers.
Hey, what about me?

MIke (01:17):
You're not a modeler.
Well, mojovia, welcome to theAugust installment of the
12-Minute Model Sphere.
And don't forget to use Mojo 15at checkout for your 15% off
your first order of kit masks,and give Kevin and Janelle some
business.
They're great folks.

Kentucky Dave (01:26):
They are great folks.

MIke (01:27):
Dave, it is August, it's here, summer's getting long in
the tooth.

Kentucky Dave (01:31):
Really, I always knew when August rolls around.

MIke (01:35):
Or late July.
Well, it's your wife's birthday, that's right.

Kentucky Dave (01:39):
That's right.
August 1st is my wife'sbirthday, so, believe me, I am
well aware when July goes outand August comes in.

MIke (01:48):
Well, we've not been anywhere in the last month,
really.

Kevin, KitMasx (01:52):
Well, we've been prepping.

MIke (01:54):
We've been to a pool party and you just had another one.
We've been prepping because itis time for your favorite thing
of the year, dave.

Kentucky Dave (02:02):
Absolutely the best four days of the year.
So where are we going?
We're going to Hampton,Virginia, to the IPMS Nationals.
We are going to meet a lot oflisteners and a lot of friends
at the show.
We're going to have a table inthe vendor room and I am looking

(02:23):
forward to a great time Again.
I've never had a bad time at anationals Never since I've been
skunked since a heritage con.

MIke (02:34):
I'm really, really looking forward to this trip.

Kentucky Dave (02:37):
Oh my gosh, that's right.
You haven't been to a contestsince heritage.

MIke (02:40):
That's right.
Not since March.
Oh, wow, so you're Jones andyou got the withdrawal symptoms
really looking forward to it andlooking forward to hanging out
with you and all our friends andmeeting, meeting some of the
listeners and just having thebest time we can have.
Because, I'll tell you, on thehome front, 2025 for me has just

(03:02):
been sucktastic.

Kentucky Dave (03:05):
It's been brutal.
You know I got no right tocomplain.
I mean, compared to thetroubles other people face,
everything that's happened in2025 has not been anything that
couldn't be handled, but yeah,it has been one thing.

(03:25):
Just when you turned aroundfrom one thing, you get hit in
the face with something else.

MIke (03:31):
Well, that's where we're going to be folks in Hampton
Virginia in just a few days, solook us up.

Kentucky Dave (03:36):
Yeah, people might be listening to this while
they're traveling to theNationals or traveling
pre-Nationals.
You know some people at the endof July.

MIke (03:54):
Yes, and with the gnats coming up, we've got a little

(04:14):
bit of a log jam.

Kentucky Dave (04:16):
Yes, we do, but you know what that's in again.
In the scheme of things, that'snot a problem.

MIke (04:24):
It's not a problem, but we do have two episodes coming up
in August.
Yes, the first one very soon,just a few short days.
We're going to get that one out, episode one.
One out episode 145.
We had extraordinary,extraordinarily talented modeler
bruce mccray back again to uhtell his tale of woe about his
modeling adventure.
He went on in the spring andthen it was a great story.

Kentucky Dave (04:48):
I'm sure it wasn't fun at the time, but it's
a great story.

MIke (04:51):
Guys, you gotta listen and then we circled back and got a
little bit of info about hisimpressions of the number of
shows he actually took in whilehe was on that trip.
So yeah, if you're a fan ofbruce or not or you don't know
who bruce is, check it out inepisode 145 to hear about his
latest adventure and then youcould claw back about a year and
pick up our first conversationwith him.

(05:11):
You can actually just searchbruce mccrayRae in the search
bar on the website in theepisode area and find that
really quick.
Well, episode 145 is also goingto be a little truncated in the
essence of time.
We're going to cut out some ofthe segments and just really
shorten that up so we can get itout and get it to you, because
we want folks to be able toenjoy that one on the road on

(05:34):
the way to the Nationals.
So hopefully we're going todrop that one tuesday this week.
So, coming up quick, got someediting to do after that dave,
we should be all back and restedfrom the national convention
and if our plan goes well andswell, we should have some
content we generated at the showand hopefully we can roll up a

(05:56):
shop talk kind of episode arounduh, our nats adventure and just
give folks a wrap up and whatthat was like for us.

Kentucky Dave (06:04):
So looking forward to 146 as well yeah,
although I'm not sure two weeksis enough for me to be rested
after a nationals, I'm tellingwhat.
It takes me time to recover.

MIke (06:21):
Well, the dojo just keeps getting busier and busier.
It's been a lot of fun of late.
I try to.
I was a little more regularover the last couple of weeks or
this month.
Anyway, what's going on there,dave?

Kentucky Dave (06:34):
Well, we're at 5,384 members as of this
recording.
We really would like to get to54 and then 55.
So any of you folks listeningwho are Dojo members please
invite other modelers thatyou're friends with on Facebook
to join the Dojo with onFacebook to join the dojo.

(06:57):
And I got to say one of thereasons we want to see more and
more people is that by buildingthe community bigger and bigger,
we're getting more and moreinput, more and more posts, more
and more interaction whenpeople ask a question.
When people ask a question, I'mjust super impressed by the

(07:18):
posts on the dojo.
The modeling that's going on.
It makes me feel a little badslash motivates me when I see
what other people are crankingout.
It makes me want to double downand get to it.

MIke (07:37):
My first point would be if folks have something they've
shown on the dojo that it'sgoing to be at the IPMS National
Convention, let us know.
Either, while we're there,Introduce yourself and show us
what you built.
We'd be glad to take a look andsee what you're up to.
And then the other point I'dlike to make is on that theme of
the interactions.
No-transcript have a littleconversation about the demise of

(08:07):
well, demise or current statusor state of the old school kind
of web forums.

Kentucky Dave (08:13):
Yeah.

MIke (08:14):
And man, that topic got legs on the dojo and I think
even in the DMs.

Kentucky Dave (08:20):
Yes, it did.

MIke (08:21):
And maybe I even have an email or two about that.
It was just real refreshing tosee that and that's what we want
, especially those shop talk.
I think that's a good outcomefor that, because we've got our
opinions and the information wecan give and the time we allot
to it.
But it's been really fun to seethose get some legs and get

(08:45):
some further discussion.
That was one example was theold school web forums.
Another one was the likestorage.

Kentucky Dave (08:54):
Yes.

MIke (08:55):
Yeah, that one, that one got some good legs as well, and
I, you know who knows what thenext one's going to be.
We're going to have to come upsome more shop talk topics to
keep this one going on.

Kentucky Dave (09:02):
Well, we we've got a 10 hour car ride.
Do you think we can do it?
I'll bring a notebook.

MIke (09:07):
Yeah, we probably have a lot of planning to do on the way
up and back.

Kentucky Dave (09:11):
I know.

MIke (09:13):
Anything else on the dojo.

Kentucky Dave (09:15):
No, I just want to reiterate yeah, when we do
these shop talk topics, we'reonly, you know, doing 10 or 15
minutes at most on the topic.
What we really want to hear,you know, mike and I hear each
other's input or answer orwhatever on the topic.
What we really want to hear iswhat the community thinks, what

(09:38):
your input is, because Mike andI, you know we will have an
opinion about almost anything,but they're not the only
opinions that are out there andwe want other dojo members,
other listeners, to come in andrespond and say, hey, I heard
you say this, I think this or Iwant to expound on what you said

(10:03):
, or whatever.
That's what we're hoping tobuild.
That's what we're hoping tobuild.

MIke (10:11):
Well, dave, that's going to be August, and I think we're
also going to have another roundof show spotlights coming in
August or September.
So looking forward to those.
So we'll get that figured outafter the national convention.
We may even see some of thosefolks there.
So, listeners, if you're at thenational convention, stop by.

(10:46):
We've got a table in the vendorroom and say hey, and I look
forward to seeing everybody soon.
Bye.