Holiday chaos is closing in, but we’re not letting the “dark time” steal the bench. We ride the high of the Cincinnati show: open hangar doors, perfect weather, strong models, and vendors who priced to move. That momentum rolls into plans for Murfreesboro, with friends heading in and schedules to wrangle. Live shows do more than fill a weekend—they sharpen your build list, set deadlines, and remind you why the hobby’s community matters. We also pull back the curtain on production: episode 151 is juggling a guest schedule, so we’re prepping a plan B, while episode 152 locks in a shop talk with Seattle-area multi-genre standout Tim Nelson. Tim’s approach to ships, cars, and aircraft is a masterclass in transferable craft—paint discipline, sub-assembly planning, surface prep—that levels up any subject.
The dojo is surging past 5,500 members, and the feed is buzzing with show reports, flyers, and WIP updates from across genres. We share a practical tip to keep your posts visible: avoid cross-posting from other groups to dodge Facebook’s spam filter—rewrite natively and your updates won’t get stalled. As days get shorter, we lean into small sessions, visible progress, and accountability through community. We’re also looking ahead: HeritageCon, Fort Wayne Nationals, and AMP South Bend are already penciled for 2026, giving everyone milestones to build toward.
Thanks to everyone who reached out about episode 150; the conversation around retirement and modeling clearly resonated. Keep the messages coming, keep inviting friends to the dojo, and keep the bench warm. If you enjoy the show, tap follow, share it with a modeling friend, and drop us a quick review—it helps more builders find their way to the community.
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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) (00:10):
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, justask.
Janelle (KitMasx) (00:17):
Yeah, people don't realize we take custom
requests and we even have aservice 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 to apply.
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) (00:32):
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 kitmask.com, join the mailing
list, and treat yourself toeasier, cleaner masking.
Kevin (KitMasx) (00:52):
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 (01:17):
Where did 2025 go, man?
Mike (01:20):
I don't know, but the dark time is knocking on your door.
Kentucky Dave (01:23):
It is, it is.
And I'm I'm gonna have to fightit off because I got a lot of
things to get done.
I'm gonna make a real effort,although, man, stuff is starting
to pile up.
Holiday obligations and allthat stuff's already starting to
pile up.
Yeah, I know.
That's all right.
Mike (01:41):
That was a topic of conversation tonight after
dinner, what we're gonna do forThanksgiving.
Kentucky Dave (01:45):
Yeah.
Well, luckily we got ourThanksgiving plans already
nailed down.
So it's just looking ahead andthinking, uh, okay, I gotta get
all the stuff for Christmas outof the out of the attic and all
that stuff.
Mike (02:00):
Well, you know, we mentioned in the uh last uh
model show spotlight that we'rekind of also entering the dark
area model shows.
That really doesn't happenuntil December.
Kentucky Dave (02:09):
No, there are several in November.
Mike (02:11):
Well, there were several in October too, and you managed
to make it to one.
So let's talk about where we'vebeen.
Kentucky Dave (02:16):
Well, I got to go to the Cincinnati show.
You unfortunately were not ableto make it.
I hate I missed that.
That is just such a great showand such a great venue.
The weather was perfect, sothey had the hangar doors open
and the couple of aircraftrolled out so that there was
(02:39):
plenty of room in the museum.
Got to hang out with Inch Highall day and Skippy, you know,
had a table, promoted IPMS,promoted the upcoming Fort Wayne
Nationals, promoted our littlepodcast, and sold a few things.
So it was it was great.
(02:59):
The show was fantastic, themodels were good.
I didn't hear any complaints.
In fact, I heard nothing butpraise for the show.
And boy, the vendors had theirstuff priced right, man.
Mike (03:14):
Well, get to the episodes a little later, but uh next
one's gonna be a what broke yourwallet affair.
So uh I got a list, buddy.
I do too, I do too.
But uh we'll save that for now.
Well, that's where you've been,and I know you're going
somewhere.
I'm still trying to figure outwhether I can go or not.
Tell us tell us tell us what'scoming up for the Mojo.
Kentucky Dave (03:32):
Murphy's borough in two weeks, the 15th of
November.
Murfreesboro's having theirmodel show.
We've got a table, thanks toBill Moore going.
I think Skippy's going.
I'm hoping you're gonna be ableto fit it into your schedule.
Mike (03:51):
Yeah.
Kentucky Dave (03:52):
And uh, I mean, I'm looking forward to that.
And Dr.
Geldmacher's coming up fromBirmingham, so it's gonna be a a
real good day.
Mike (04:01):
Well, I'll keep working on plans on my end, and uh
hopefully I'll get to make itbecause I'm itching to get to
something else.
So well, and four years over.
Kentucky Dave (04:11):
Well, and Murphy's borough's a great
place, man.
Mike (04:34):
Well, Dave, we got two episodes coming up in November.
Kentucky Dave (04:37):
Yep.
Mike (04:38):
151 and 152.
And as the book says, Dave, thebest laid plans of mice and
men.
Kentucky Dave (04:45):
Well, we'll see.
We'll see.
Mike (04:47):
We'll see what happens.
And what I'm referring to,folks, is uh episode 151 is kind
of having some schedulingnuance to put it lightly.
We've got an interview we'retrying to line up, but uh we
haven't had a hard commit yet,and it's looking like we may
have to revert to plan B, whichmeans we're gonna have to come
up with a plan B, which won't betoo won't be too tough, but uh
we'll figure it out.
Kentucky Dave (05:08):
You and I have done 150 episodes.
I'm sure we can we can come upwith something.
Mike (05:12):
We can run our mouths off off.
Exactly.
We'll come up with something.
Well, so we're just gonna tellyou what's gonna be in store for
episode 152, which is gonna beuh Seattle area modeler Tim
Nelson joining us for uh I guesswe'll kind of couch that one as
a shop talk episode.
Now, Tim's a uh a multi-genremodeler.
(05:35):
Yes, he is, and he does well ineverything he touches, right?
Kentucky Dave (05:42):
You see, he is the true renaissance modeler who
it doesn't really matter whatthe subject is, he builds a
beautiful model, whether it's aship, a car, a plane, whatever.
Mike (05:55):
And on top of that, he's just a super cool dude.
Kentucky Dave (05:58):
He is, he is a is a very nice guy.
We get to see him usually atthe nationals and get to hang
out a little and always enjoythat.
Mike (06:08):
We're gonna hang out with him a little bit over the
airwaves.
That sounds good.
Dave, I keep adding folks tothe dojo in multiple almost
every day these days.
Yeah I think a few of our callsfor folks to add their friends
has been answered because I knowI got a bunch from a couple of
(06:30):
people in the last week.
Where are we standing now?
Kentucky Dave (06:33):
We are currently at 5,530 members.
And it's like you noted, we'readding a bunch.
So I imagine we're gonna hit5,600 fairly soon.
And I appreciate everybody outthere inviting their friends.
(06:54):
Please keep that up.
If you have modelers you'refriends with on Facebook, invite
them to join the dojo.
The dojo's been hopping.
Now it's fall show season, sowe're getting a lot of folks who
are posting either show reportswith photos from shows.
We're also getting a lot offolks who are taking up your and
(07:18):
my invitation to post flyersfor their upcoming shows in the
dojo.
So if your club has a showcoming up in the future, almost
every show has a flyer, post acopy of that flyer in the dojo.
We're happy to spread the wordand let people know.
(07:40):
In addition, there's a lot ofbuilding going on, including
some by people who recordpodcasts.
You you've you've actually beenbuilding, I've actually been
building, and we both actuallyposted fairly recently.
So we're not the only ones.
(08:02):
Lots of guys out therebuilding.
I I think the fall stimulates alot of building as the weather
gets cooler and the the nightsget longer.
I think people people get tothe bench more and it's showing
up.
I mean, there's a lot ofeverything from cars to to armor
(08:23):
to figures.
There's just every day I openup the dojo and go through the
posts, and I'm I'm blown away bywhat people are doing.
So keep posting.
We're continuing to have theproblem with spam or the
Facebook flagging posts as spamthat appears to be triggered by
(08:48):
folks who cross-posts posts fromother Facebook groups.
So if if you're gonna post inthe dojo and you want to avoid
getting flagged as spam, ifyou've posted something
somewhere else, instead ofcross-posting it on the dojo, do
(09:08):
a new post just in the dojo.
Recreate your post elsewhere inthe dojo, and that'll at least
go some ways toward avoidinggetting your post delayed
because it gets flagged as spam.
We're still working on it, andthat we haven't got it figured
(09:31):
out completely, but that's onepiece of advice I can give
folks.
Mike (09:35):
We gotta post more, Dave.
Kentucky Dave (09:37):
I know.
Well, we gotta build more,okay?
I'm working, I'm working, man.
You and I are both gettinglectured by certain individuals
who shall remain nameless aboutthe fact that uh we need to get
more building done, and they'reright.
And so hopefully the dark timedoesn't overtake you both of us,
(09:59):
and hopefully you and I aregonna get a lot of building done
in November and December.
Mike (10:04):
Well, I hope so.
I'm gonna post everything I canand hopefully keep chipping
away at my projects.
That's the big thing.
This is this is all built formotivation, and uh I tell you,
when I do do something and getto post it, it does help me feel
like it was time well spent.
So, you know, I'm at my pace,I'm having fun.
So hopefully we'll see more outof me.
Kentucky Dave (10:25):
Yes, and me too, I hope.
Uh now, one thing I will say,as we've noted, 2025's coming to
an end.
I've already started planningfor 2026, started putting stuff
on the calendar, HeritageCon,the Fort Wayne Nationals, the
AMP show in South Bend.
(10:46):
So 2026 is going to be herebefore we know it.
So make sure that you got allyour ducks in a row and get
those things on the calendar sothat hopefully you'll be able to
make all of them.
Mike (10:59):
Well, I hope we can make all of them, Dave.
I do too.
Well, in closing, thisinstallment of the 12-minute
model sphere, I just want tothank one more time Dr.
Paul Buzzick for uh hisappearance in episode 150.
This is that episode has hasexceeded all our expectations,
though we had a hunch it mightbe a popular topic.
Um, it really was something alot of folks were interested in
(11:22):
hearing about.
I don't know if it was hisretirement in particular or just
how he's dealing with it, whichis what I suspect it is,
because the demographic in ourhobby does skew that way, and
there's probably more folks thanwe realize were kind of at that
point in their life.
Kentucky Dave (11:37):
I can't tell you the number of people who've
reached out to me to comment onhow much they enjoyed that
particular episode and his histakes not only on the transition
to retirement, but on modelingin general.
Absolutely.
Yep.
Mike (11:55):
And and those folks have done that either through DMs or
uh emails.
So uh keep the listener mailcoming, folks.
Kentucky Dave (12:01):
Yep, that's our favorite part of each episode.
Mike (12:04):
All right, Dave.
Well, we'll see you inNovember.
Kentucky Dave (12:06):
Yep.
Get back to the bench man.
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