Plastic Model Mojo
Plastic Model Mojo, a podcast dedicated to scale modeling, as well as the news and events around the hobby
Plastic Model Mojo
Talking Shop with Mike and Kentucky Dave: Episode 125
What happens when two model enthusiasts, Mike and Kentucky Dave, stumble into mishaps like power outages and stinging caterpillars? You get a lively start to our October feature episode, exploring how seasonal changes and unexpected adventures affect their modeling projects. From Dave’s yard work with "On the Bench", and Mike's missing out, we share the humor and resilience that accompany our modeling journey—fueled by Bulleit Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and ZirkusFest Oktoberfest Lager.
Curious about the latest buzz in the scale modeling community? We bring heartwarming updates and stories that highlight the camaraderie and resourcefulness of fellow hobbyists. Celebrate impressive achievements like Mr. Adair's 1:144 scale Taube build, explore the possibility of yoga for modelers, and delve into compelling listener tales, including a captivating Pearl Harbor account. Whether you’re contemplating the merits of model bases or planning your next model show visit, our discussion reflects the joy and interaction at the heart of this hobby.
Imagine leafing through a new Tankograd KV book or discussing the finer points of a Ginter book on the Curtiss SOC Seagull. The tactile pleasure of books for modelers is just one topic we cover, along with the thrill of new model kit announcements like Mikro Mir's 1:72 scale M2-F3 or the Arma Model's 1:48 scale MI-28N helicopter. With shout-outs to friends like Jeff Groves and John Vitkus, this episode is a testament to the friendships and shared passions that make our modeling adventures so rewarding.
Links provided by listener Jason Campbell .
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Mike and Kentucky Dave thank each and everyone of you for participating on this journey with us. We are grateful for having you as listeners, and the community that has grown around Plastic Model Mojo makes it all worth while.
Welcome to Plastic Model Mojo, a podcast dedicated to scale modeling, as well as the news and events around the hobby. Let's join Mike and Kentucky Dave as they strive to be informative, entertaining and help you keep your modeling mojo alive.
Mike:Well, listeners, welcome to the first feature episode of October.
Kentucky Dave:Yes.
Mike:Episode 125. It's going to be another Shop Talk with Mike and Kentucky Dave. Kentucky, Dave, how are you man?
Kentucky Dave:Doing good, doing good. We are solidly into fall. In fact, I was listening to On the Bench and Cutting my Yard. Possibly for the last time of the season, I'll switch over to picking up leaves, I think, depending on how much rain we get from here on out. But the temperatures are dropping.
Mike:I got to say, though, man, you were like the proxy guest on that episode. I was listening to it during my morning walk, and you came up more than once, maybe more than twice.
Kentucky Dave:Yep, it's always nice. Digger Dave is a great guy and loved having him, and we're already planning for him to come back in 2026 and go to Huntsville because I think that would blow his mind, and so, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It was a good episode. I enjoyed listening to it and real space is coming on.
Mike:Well, what's coming on in your model sphere?
Kentucky Dave:Unlike some people on this podcast, I recently got to attend a model contest and that really jazzed up my model sphere. Anytime I go to a model contest I am always I always come home jazzed. I bought a bunch of books, I bought one kit, I got to visit with friends, got to have lunch with Jeff Groves, the Inch High guy, and that can't help but get your model juices flowing. Now, I haven't been actually at the bench the last four or five days as much as I wanted to, but that's life stuff intervening. But I'm all fired up and got a lot of projects at different tipping points. So how's your model sphere?
Mike:Man, I'm coming off a rough couple of weeks.
Kentucky Dave:Well, I mean, when you lose power for five days, that kind of takes the wind out of your seat.
Mike:It wasn't five, it was most of four.
Kentucky Dave:Most of four.
Mike:Most of four.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, modeling by candlelight really isn't the way to go.
Mike:Unless you're stretching sprue, I don't know what else you're going to get accomplished under candlelight.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, you could have gotten a lot of sprue stretched in the last four.
Mike:If I could have found it.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, well, that's true too.
Mike:Yeah, but man, it's just bad luck. I Well, that's true too. Yeah, but man, it's just bad luck. I mean, just in the week prior we were up in Cincinnati, my wife and I visiting one of her college roommates and her husband, and they were moving their daughter they're house hunting because she's employed in Cincinnati area now and man, we were sitting there at this taco place eating lunch and Steve the husband says man, I think you got some kind of caterpillar on your shirt there, and, like I always dress, I've got a t-shirt on, I've got like an unbuttoned polo shirt over it, right? And this caterpillar is like right on the inside of the button panel of the shirt. So no big deal, right? Yeah Well, I flick it off with my fingernail and then my whole left torso, upper abdomen just starts burning and itching.
Kentucky Dave:Oh really.
Mike:Yeah. So I got online real quick and the caterpillar's still laying on the ground down below the table. Crawling around, I found the exact same one. It's not venomous, but it's got these irritating, stinging nettle hairs on it. Oh, wow and man, I still have the residual of a like a pinhead rash on my lower abdomen. Holy mother, I got taken out by a caterpillar man.
Kentucky Dave:Well, you know that's not as cool as having fought off a lion or a bear or anything like that, but man.
Mike:Not Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom worthy.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah well, I've been taken out by yellow Jackets a couple of times, so it happened.
Mike:That's a little cooler than a Caterpillar.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, but not a ton cooler.
Mike:And then we've alluded to yeah, I was down no power due to the residuals from the hurricane that came through Lexington. We must have been on the far western edge of all that, because you didn't get very much.
Kentucky Dave:Right. No, lexington took the far western edge of it and Louisville just got some wind and rain and a bunch of sticks down in my yard.
Mike:Speaking of that, you've got lots of family in East Tennessee, everybody okay, everyone's okay, but there's a little bit of listener mail to that effect and I guess that's a good segue to get into the listener mail, dave.
Kentucky Dave:Okay, well, wait a minute. You got to have a modeling fluid before you get into listener mail.
Mike:I guess it's not a segue, folks. I skipped over a segment.
Kentucky Dave:Well, okay, as you're preparing to dive into listener mail. Mike, do you have a modeling fluid?
Mike:I do, Dave. It is Bullet Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Good choice. I've circled back to the Bullet old favorite. I tell you, after some of the sweeter stuff I've had over the last few episodes, this one's biting a little hard, I do think that there is a trend in bourbon towards sweet.
Kentucky Dave:There is a trend in bourbon towards sweet, and so it's good to know the bullet's still out there for the folks that don't like it quite as sweet.
Mike:Well, that's what I've got, so what do you got?
Kentucky Dave:I have Zerkus Fest, oktoberfest Lager, beer, malty and Crisp by High Wire Brewing, asheville, north Carolina.
Mike:I hope they're still brewing beer.
Kentucky Dave:Me too. That takes us back to listener mail.
Mike:All right, well, I guess we ought to get into it then. Okay, because yeah, that's going to come up at least once.
The Voice of Bob:All right.
Mike:Actually twice and we'll get into it, but it's not the first one, dave. Okay, go right. Actually twice and we'll get into it, but it's not the first one, dave. Okay, go ahead. The first one is first listener mail. We got a few. It's not quite as heavy as when we were soliciting input for the Wheel of Accidental Wisdom, but we're kind of back to our kind of low, normal average, I think.
Kentucky Dave:Okay.
Mike:So folks send some more in and I'll hit you up for that again at the end of the segment. But first up, bruce Bingston and Bruce is from San Francisco, california, out on the West Coast, northern California, and I sent you this one earlier today. He sent us a PDF file about his 2023, the year in models. Okay, did you look at it?
Kentucky Dave:I have not seen it yet. Oh man, I just got in from the yard. Man.
Mike:All right, I got to start sending you these as soon as I get them.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, you should.
Mike:Well, he says it's nine months late, but at least it's done. It's a synopsis of his builds throughout the year and when you get there you know I may just post a thing to the dojo so everybody can look at it. I mean it's a PDF file so it'll have to go as a file download or a file link. Yeah, but two things to mention. First off, there's two pictures at the very front end of this thing. One of him when he's like eight years old and he's holding this. I don't know, it looks like an old AMT hot rod kit.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:Built up, and then he's got a picture of him current day and he's holding the same model. Oh really, yeah, I guess not a new build of the same model, but the actual one.
Kentucky Dave:Oh, wow.
Mike:It's amazing that it survived his childhood. And then he's got another. He's got this indicated in the picture. He's got another one that's circled between the two photos and a line connecting them. There's another model he's got from his childhood. It's also in the photograph, so that's kind of cool. Yeah, his childhood, it's also in the photograph, so that's kind of cool. Yeah, uh. The other thing is he showed us a. He showed a picture of a world war one diorama he'd built aviation diorama and on top of the acrylic case he's got it in is is an imperial german.
Mike:That's the kretchen, the pillbox, or pork pie field cap yep it's kind of cool because his grandfather brought it back from World War I.
Kentucky Dave:Oh, that's listen. Anytime you have any of those things that your relatives brought back from the war, value those and find a way to display them, because they really are an important part of your heritage.
Mike:Well, those caps had two devices on the front of them. There was one on the cap band that was the state colors of the whatever German state the unit was from. I believe that's right.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, Hitler. There's a famous photograph of Hitler from his World War I service where he's wearing one of these type caps Yep.
Mike:Yeah, and the other is just the national tricolor cockade Right Higher up on the hat the black, white and red.
Kentucky Dave:Red.
Mike:Well, his cap's missing that. So I just sent him an email today saying hey, if you don't have it loose laying around and you want a real one, I know where you can get one. In fact, I know where you can pick the one you want and they're original. I mean, they're not really a rare thing if you know where to look. Yeah, so hopefully I'll hear back from him and if he wants to complete that cap back to what it was before it lost its tricolor, he can do so. So we appreciate it and we're going to get that up. And, Dave, you need to look at that. I will take a look at it. He's a good modeler, he's in your scale too.
Kentucky Dave:Oh, got to give love to 72nd scale. I just wish that most years I had enough modeling to be able to do my year in modeling and not have it be a one-page report.
Mike:You'd need a lot of pictures.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, yeah.
Mike:Yeah, Up next Ken Acosta from Huntsville Club. They just had a show wrap up about a week or two ago.
Mike:Well, a couple of things. Once he sent me pictures of a build. Mike Ida-Cavage, our friend from the Atlanta area, had entered in there in that show. And oh, what else was it In that show? Yep, and oh, what else was it? Oh, ken had sent me the second set of parts in that Chinese 3D printed detail set for the SOC-3 Seagull, uh-huh. Well, I asked him about. You know that company also makes a couple of catapults.
Kentucky Dave:Right.
Mike:One on a plinth and the other on a turret.
Kentucky Dave:Yep.
Mike:For a pre-war ship and he actually ordered one of them and got it and it was. He had a little damage that the company's going to replace, but he's just pretty, pretty stinking nice. That's good news. It is good news. And El Presidente over at the Model Geek said when we saw him up at Heritage Con he had ordered one. I have to assume it's from the same company. His was shaped like a banana, so yeah.
Mike:I guess it's kind of a mixed bag, but yeah, I may be taking a risk and trying out one of those, because they look pretty good Well you shoot your shot.
Kentucky Dave:It'd be neat to have, it'd be neat to do.
Mike:That would be a great way to display both the turret and a catapult up. Next, also from california, dave steve burke told from covina, california, and we discussed box art during the wheel of accidental wisdom. Last episode came up on the wheel and he pointed us to a website the box art den yeah he says take a look at that website and you're going to take a stroll down memory lane because they've got a lot of the really old classic artwork on there.
Kentucky Dave:Somehow I am dimly aware of that website. You can fall down a rabbit hole and just get so lost in all that old box art.
Mike:Is this where I say you're dimly aware of a lot of stuff?
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, thank you. Or just I'm dim, that would be even better.
Mike:Well, we'll put the link to this website up in the show notes and folks could check it out, cause there's some, there's some cool old stuff on there. Yes, up next Dave is Michael Alusi from Peoria, illinois, and the Jack Weislick Polish Coatswasters chapter of the IPMS.
Kentucky Dave:Yep.
Mike:And he was appreciating William Adair's episode and he's checked out the 3X reading glasses as well.
Kentucky Dave:I am about to do that myself. I have come to that determination.
Mike:Well, folks need to remember William was actually special ordering some higher power glasses. Right, it's 5x and 6x, I believe yeah but anyway, michael says he's tried two different types of visors and you know they work but they get hot or they're heavy or whatever right and he actually is a model railroader a bit himself and he said he put on these glasses and was able to put in a tiny little six prong plug, plug into a tiny little six-hole receiver that connected a tender to one of his steam locomotives.
Kentucky Dave:Good for him. There are so many jokes I could make and I'm not going to make any of them. I'm proud of him for getting the prongs in the holes.
Mike:And he's going to order a Williams book. Yeah, world War, i's another interest, but one to 144th, oh my. He says.
Kentucky Dave:Speaking of which, have you been following Mr Adair's build of that taube in 74th scale? I have he's been posting to the dojo and oh my gosh, it's beautiful to begin with, but then you have to adjust your mind and say this is one 144 scale, so it's about that big and it's just amazing.
Mike:He's got to tackle a four engine.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, yes, yeah, we'll have to get on him about that. Have to goad him on. Yeah, we'll have to get on him about that.
Mike:Have to goad him on. Well, I'll come back to Michael in a minute, but up next is Terry Wilkinson and we mentioned his yoga practicing on the last episode as well and he said to tell Dave to get him on the seminar list for Norfolk. Now that's a joke. He says in all seriousness, yoga is perhaps the best practices for folks approaching middle age or beyond and it's fantastic for sedentary hobbies like ours. If you're interested, he could give us a few basics, dave.
Kentucky Dave:I completely agree. Hey, Nick, you never know what happens in the dojo at the next nationals. Can you imagine the 6 am yoga practice in the dojo?
Mike:Anything's possible man.
Kentucky Dave:It is.
Mike:Terry, thanks for writing in and for the little joke there, and maybe we'll take you up on that.
Kentucky Dave:Absolutely.
Mike:Well, up next is Jason Campbell from he's around Knoxville, middle Tennessee area, somewhere in there. He wanted us to reach out or mention the Appalachian Scale Modelers in our next episode. They're based in Johnson City, but those guys are all around the Tri-Cities area and beyond a little bit. This gets into the weather of last week. Michael Lizzie was asking me about my family because he even recognized Johnson City and mentioned it. I'm from Johnson City, tennessee originally. My folks are still there, a lot of my extended family's in Greene County. There's a lot of crap going on there with the weather and bridges getting washed out and all that. All my immediate and extended family in that area are fine. So I thank folks for asking.
Mike:It's just impossible, though, that we don't know someone directly affected by this man. It's a mess. Western North Carolina, chimney Rock, asheville, boone, blowing Rock, all those areas up through there. Yeah, it's something like we've never seen before and it's just a mess and I appreciate the thoughts. Folks and Jason went a step further. He provided a couple of charitable outreaches for possible donation. I've not checked out these, so if anybody's so inclined to do something we'd appreciate it and I'm sure the folks down there would greatly appreciate it. I can't speak for these two organizations personally, but they're a place to start Check them out. Have a look. If you want to help out, help out. I mean, there's people down there who were hopefully it's a little better now a week out, but had basically been islanded by washed out roads and I think Asheville can only be approached on the interstate from the east.
Kentucky Dave:Still, East now.
Mike:Because I-26 and I-40 both have washouts.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, it was completely. At one point, right after the storm, asheville, which is not a small city, was completely cut off from the outside world by road and that's just amazing. And because the mountains are so vertical in that part of North Carolina, east Tennessee, I mean, when the water came down it all ran into the valleys and it's just amazing. I've got to say, the thing that I found most amazing was all of the ordinary Americans with helicopters and earth-moving equipment who didn't wait to be asked but showed up and started doing stuff. And you know that speaks really well of the best of America and her spirit is people saw problems, they went out.
Kentucky Dave:You know, if you had a helicopter, you had a helicopter. If you had an earth mover, you had an earth mover. If you had a chainsaw, you had a chainsaw. And they just went. I saw one guy leading a mule train into the mountains because he had pet mules and he could get into areas where literally there was no longer any roadway to get to these places. So it's devastating, but it's also heartening to see how ordinary Americans came together to try and help.
Mike:Well, they still got a tough road to hoe. We'll be watching that, I know I will, because I got family down there. But so, folks, thank you, we'll put those links, jason. We'll put those links in the show notes and if folks want to help out, please, please, help out. I'm sure folks can get it down there, absolutely.
Kentucky Dave:Well, dave, that's it from the listener mail email side of things. What do you got? Well, I've got a few. Just the other day and there was a news report on it Christian saw it knew, of course, my interest in regard to Pearl Harbor and everything, so he passed the story on. I'll take and post the link to the story in the dojo. Just fascinating. You don't think that at this point there would be somebody that was still alive, especially considering how many of those pilots and crewmen didn't even survive the war. So it was nice of him to think of me when he came across that story.
Kentucky Dave:Next, eric Carvina. He DM'd two things. One, there's a wheel question. That is really a good wheel question that I'm going to email to you so that you'll have it. You can put it in your proper folder so you'll have it for the next wheel. But he also said you know how we were talking on the previous episode about how judging may cost the way. A lot of 1-2-3 judging is that it may cause people to play it safe and how you see a large number of lookalike, very safe builds entered in contests as opposed to magnum opuses. One point he made and this is an absolutely valid point is that magnum opuses are by definition a magnum opus. They are rare and they consume a lot of time. So it's logical that most builds most modelers make aren't their magnum opus. So it's true that, no matter what judging system, you're going to see a lot more of the regular builds than you will see somebody who has just gone crazy with their favorite subject.
Kentucky Dave:And that is a good point. Our friend Anthony Goodman reached out. He had listened to the last Shop Talk episode where we talked about storage and I described how I store my decals, basically in clear envelopes, in binders, in a opaque Tupperware Rubbermaid or Tupperware container with silica gel packets sprinkled throughout, and he asked me to send him a photograph for photographs of that, because he wants to organize something similar. So I will send him those photographs. I haven't forgotten. You mentioned Michael Illusi had emailed. He also had DM'd because he heard we were going to be at MMSI. He's going to be there and he just wanted to say he was looking forward to seeing us. On that same subject, bob Sarnoski DMed to say well, if you're going to MMSI, depending on how you're coming, you know you're going to go by the Three Floyds Brewery. Well, bob, yeah, that had not missed our attention. So Mike and I are going to see if we can somehow build that into our journey to MMSI. But thank you for the reminder anyway.
Mike:We need to verify that their tap room's even open, because I'm not sure that they have one.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, we've got. Well, we have to check the details before we go figure out do we hit it on the way up or do we hit it on the way back or what we do. But we'll definitely figure that out. But I appreciate him worrying about us to that extent to say hey, don't forget. And that's all I've got from the DM side.
Mike:All right. Well, folks, if you want to get in on the listener mail, you can do so by emailing us at plasticmodelmojo at gmailcom, or you can direct message us through the Facebook direct messaging system and send them on in. We like this segment a lot, and this time was a little light, a little lighter than I like, so let's get some more folks.
Kentucky Dave:Folks, if you have not rated us and subscribed in whatever podcast app you're using, please do so. Please subscribe. Please rate the podcast five stars. It helps drive our visibility. Also, if you are a listener and you know someone a fellow modeler who isn't a listener, a fellow modeler who isn't a listener, please help them. Point us out to them. The way we continue to grow in listenership is modelers who listen telling their friends. I cannot tell you how many people I've encountered new listeners who say, oh, so-and-so turned me on to this podcast and we appreciate it. It's the best thing you can do, one of the best things you can do for us.
Mike:And after you've done that, please, if you want to check out the other podcasts in the Model Sphere, go to wwwmodelpodcastcom. That's modelpodcast plural with an S, com. It's a consortium website set up with the help of Stuart Clark at the Scale Model Podcast up in Canada. There Stuart has aggregated all the banner links to all the other podcasts out in the model sphere in the spirit of cross-promotion and you can go to that single website and check out all the other podcasts and we appreciate it if you do that. In addition, dave, we got a lot of podcast blog and YouTube friends out in the model sphere.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, and got to see some of them at the MMCL show.
Mike:And we got to hear one of them on the last episode, mr Chris Wallace, model airplane maker. Chris thanks for being our guest last time in the third chair. Chris has a great blog and YouTube channel Model Airplane Maker. You're going to want to check that out. Another great one we get to see every now and then in our travels is Stephen Lee SpruPieWithFretz. He's got a great long and short-form blog. Always interested to see what Steve's got to say.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, we got to see him at both AMPS and the Nationals this year.
Mike:We did. Maybe we'll see him again soon. Yep, Evan McCallum, aka Panzermeister36 on YouTube Great YouTube channel. A lot of build reviews and model armor weathering and railroad model weathering. He just finished up his Bradley build, Dave.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, yeah, it looks great. I have not gotten through the whole video yet. I cannot wait, because we interact with Evan pretty regularly. We've gotten to see snippets here and there, just as we've all talked back and forth. I cannot wait to see the whole video.
Mike:Jim Bates of Scale Canadian TV on YouTube Jim, we haven't seen anything since the F-35B review.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, I talked to him just the other day. He promises one's going to drop this weekend.
Mike:Come on, Jim.
Kentucky Dave:Come on, Jim.
Mike:Get you over the finish line. And I want to add one, dave, okay, paul Budzik's Scale Model Workshop. Yes, not just the YouTube channel, but to folks who need to go over to Patreon and search for Scale Model Workshop, you can get in on Paul's latest videos. And what's he building? The A26? A26.
Kentucky Dave:Kitbash. I would call it pulling a Mike basket, but I really think that Mike basket pulls a Paul Budzig, so Budzig's pulling a Budzig. Basically, what he's doing is taking a couple of kits and doing exactly the same way you do with a lot of your builds. It's like how can I make an 826 out of these parts and scratch building, altering or modifying to make as close as I can get to the prototype item? And some of the things he does are just flat out amazing. That box he's got for alignment I would never in a million years have thought of that.
Mike:So folks check it out. It's worth every second Absolutely.
Kentucky Dave:Finally, if you are not a member of IPMS USA, ipms Canada, ipms Mexico or whatever national chapter where you happen to live, please join your IPMS national Chapter. It's a bunch of guys and gals who give up some of their modeling time to try and make your modeling life better, many times in ways you don't see every day, but it's happening in the background. If you are an armor modeler or post-1900 figure modeler, amps is out there, the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society, a really great group of guys, many of whom that Mike and I know personally and have known for years, really dedicated to the art of armor modeling and advancing the art. It's a really great organization and we're joining. I can't speak highly enough. Mike and I are already planning to go to the National next year. Dave, let's have a word from our sponsor, you got it.
The Voice of Bob:Plastic Model Mojo is brought to you by Model Paint Solutions, your source for harder and steam-backed airbrushes, david Union power tools and laboratory-grade mixing, measuring and storage tools for use with all your model paints, be they acrylic, enamels or lacquers. Check them out at wwwmodelpaintsolutionscom.
Mike:Well, dave, it's another Shop Talk. Folks seem to like these, so I think this is how we're going to format our episodes from now on, at least in the foreseeable future, that don't have guests. Okay, well, sounds good to me, and I think we got three topics lined up again that we're going to have a little conversation about, so hopefully we'll get through them all. Right, you got it. Conversation about, so hopefully we'll get. We'll get through them All right, you got it. Now you came up with these this time.
Kentucky Dave:Oh, thanks, I think. Great that's for the listeners. If you didn't like this episode, you're going to blame me.
Mike:No, that's not what I meant at all I meant that. I did not. Usually, if I come up with one, I've given it a little bit of forethought.
Kentucky Dave:Oh great.
Mike:That's even worse. No, it means that I don't know where you were going with these, and I'm curious to see what direction we take. Okay, that's all the first topic, Dave, you mentioned you wanted to talk about in this episode is bases.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, I do, and I've got three or four small subtopic areas. One, whether you should put your model on a base or not. Yes, I think, yes, you should. Yeah, I think, yes, you should, because A it makes ease of transport and ease of movement better. I will tell you, at the MMCL show we had to move some aircraft to get the aircraft categories spaced correctly, and it makes it so much easier if your model is sitting on a base. But that brings up a subtopic, and what is no base is better than a crappy base. Okay, if you are going to put your model on a base, make it something more than a slab of plywood, unfinished slab of plywood or something In other words—.
Mike:Well, most people do do that.
Kentucky Dave:Yes and absolutely, but my point being that models, if you take them to contests, are supposed to judge the model, not the base, unless it's entered in a vignette or diorama category. However, it cannot help affecting how a viewer looks at the model. If you have a well-finished base and there's two types you can have a base that represents what the aircraft would actually be, and I'm using aircraft modeling with armor. I'll let Mike speak to some of the armor issues. But regarding an aircraft, you have two types of bases Either one the aircraft model, sitting on a surface that depicts what the aircraft would actually be sitting on, either on a grass strip or on a carrier deck, or on a tarmac or whatever. That's number one or number two. You can have what I call a presentation base and this base the model is not sitting on a base that represents a surface, it is just a base that is in its best form, a really nicely finished not necessarily plinth, but plinth or base that creates a good background for the model to be viewed on.
Kentucky Dave:Lots of times these are mirrors or they are a solid black rectangle, nicely finished. The key here is nicely finished. If you're going to put your model on a base and I do think you should. If you're going to put your model on a base and I do think you should because, again, it solves a lot of problems, particularly if you attach the model to the base but put some effort into the base. Don't just sit the model on an unfinished mirror, don't sit the model on just a piece of tile. Do something to make it look like the base is as finished as the model is, because, again, even though it's not supposed to be judged and judges don't judge the bases for the viewers coming along and looking at the model, they are affected by how well it is displayed. And so, yeah, I am a fan of bases, as long as you put the effort into the base to make the finish on the base equivalent to the finish on the model, that you look at it and you can tell the person didn't just at the last minute grab an unfinished mirror and drop it on there, or grab an unfinished tile or you know piece of plywood or whatever. Make it more than that.
Kentucky Dave:Corollary to that, if the model is on a base but not attached to it, you need a sign, and you need a prominent sign that says attention, model not attached to base. And again, not just some little note on the entry form that might get hidden under the model or something. You need a prominent sign attention, model not attached to base. Just to help those who are either judging or have to move models prior to judging, so that they don't accidentally damage your model because they thought it was attached and therefore moved it more harshly than they might have if they realized that it wasn't attached. So, in regard to bases, yes rather than no, I think bases help the model contest organizer. They can improve the display of the model. If you're doing a base, I prefer attached as to unattached, but if you do unattached, please put a big sign and finally, again, put the effort into finishing the base so it has the same quality level as the model that you're displaying. So tell me about armor, mike.
Mike:It's not just armor, it's everything. Right, and I'm going to walk back my yes, it should be on a base a little bit. Okay, because I like the way you said it. I think it should be on a base a little bit because, because I like the way you said it, I think it should be. If somebody asked me I've got this model, should I put it on the base, I'm going to say yes, right, that's a little different than being so absolutist that it just should be no matter what. Right, because other people have other opinions. Right, that's fine. And we've had a guest who built a wonderful vacuform 48-scale short sterling that wasn't on a bass, yes, and we thought high enough of it to have him on the show. So clearly it's not the end all, no, though I do agree. I think it does increase the overall appeal of the presentation.
Kentucky Dave:Yes.
Mike:If done well, if done well, and the thing that comes to mind for me is what I consider bad bases.
Kentucky Dave:Okay, let's talk about bad bases and you mentioned unfinished plywood.
Mike:I think that's a little hyperbolic.
Kentucky Dave:It is, but I'm trying to make a point.
Mike:You are, but you know, let's pull that back down to reality a little bit. What do I consider a bad base?
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:I'm not even going to talk about sidewater, because that's something else, because everybody was thinking I was going to say that, right, no, no, too big.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, oh gosh, I didn't even address that subject Making the base right size to the model.
Mike:You know, I need to come up, I need to start paying more attention and come up with, like a mental flow chart to figure out what I'm seeing and what makes it unattractive to me. Yeah, I would say, though, like for an armor piece, that's not a diorama, that's not a vignette, that's just an armor permanently attached to a scenic base.
Kentucky Dave:Right.
Mike:If the footprint of that base, not the wood, not the outside, well, it could be that, but I'm thinking more of the actual terrain part, the finished terrain part. If the unoccupied space on that base is more than half, again the footprint under the tank, it's probably too big yes, well, who is?
Kentucky Dave:uh? What's his name? Uh, who wrote the book on the subject? What's his name? You mean she means shepherd pain? Yes, I'm sorry, ship, I apologize. That was one of the one of the points that he made in his book was right-sizing the base to the model. Now, he was talking about dioramas, so he was talking about right-sizing what you were trying to display in the diorama. But the same concept applies Not having a base so large that the model gets almost lost in it.
Mike:Yes, Another bad base for me. This is my opinion, folks, and I almost don't want to go here because I know at a couple of big shows we've attended in the last year or two, there have been numerous entries from probably numerous entries from a couple of modelers. So it's like some folks have honed in on this style of display base and they're putting multiple entries in on this type of display base and I think it's detracting from their work, which is you go to the craft store and you buy a picture frame.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:And the picture frame, typically the ones they're using for these bases. So try to describe this for an audio podcast. You've got the outside maximum outside rectangle or square of the picture frame Right, and then you have the opening in the middle Right and the bevel of the frame is. The opening in the middle is the high point and it slopes downward away to the high side, right To the outside dimension of the picture frame. So what I see that I find is detracting from the display is they set the model inside this picture frame, down inside that, so it's like it's sitting inside four walls Right. One, it's too big, almost immediately. And two, you've put your model down in this hole with these four walls around it.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:It could look a lot better, and the easiest way to make that look better is to cut a piece of something that just sits just inside the size of the opening, but up high at the top of the frame instead of down inside of it.
Kentucky Dave:Right, so it brings the model at the bottom of the model up to the top.
Mike:To the top of the frame, to the top of the frame and then the edges slope away from that, instead of sloping up and then down into a hole where you put your model.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:I don't think that addresses the too big problem. I still think almost all those end up being too big, especially for armor models. I agree, don't like that. So that's two examples the picture frame bases and just the general too big things you got to watch. A third one is sometimes parts of the model overhang the base, yes, and I think if that's like the corner of a fender or the gun barrel kind of doesn't matter.
Kentucky Dave:Right.
Mike:But when you have like appreciable lengths of the running gear not touching the grass and dirt and it's hanging off the edges of the base, for me personally I don't think that works. I think those bases are too small.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, you can go too small as well as too big.
Mike:What else are you thinking about? Bases, Dave?
Kentucky Dave:To go back to your picture frame example, I do think it is a disservice to any model to simply get a picture frame with a black edge, put a piece of cardboard or foam board or whatever usually it's gray and put that in the frame and then sit the model on top of that. It just does not look finished the way the model looks finished and I think it draws the eye away from the model. And you do see that. Now again, you know these are opinions, not hard and fast rules.
Kentucky Dave:If you don't want to make bases for your models, you don't have to. And the biggest advantage is if your model is on a base, it's easier for judges and show crews to move around, and if it's attached to your—the model is actually attached to the base transport becomes a whole lot easier. But you don't have to do it if you don't want to. I just think that, all other things being equal, it's a good idea to do and yes, it is an investment of modeling time to create a base, but I think it's worth doing because it can make the presentation of the model look so much better.
Mike:And we've talked before about not shortcutting it.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, yep.
Mike:You know even a scenic base.
Kentucky Dave:Yep.
Mike:Sometimes they look like they've run over a little roughshod and not quite put the effort into the base that they put into the model.
Kentucky Dave:Well, and this is the same thing and this happens to me when it comes to particularly modern jet aircraft I get to the end of the build of the aircraft and then there's no ordinance and I'm so tired of the model I want it to be done and to move on that I don't put either that I leave ordinance off or I don't put the effort into the ordinance that I do to the model.
Kentucky Dave:And yeah, that's giving it short shrift and you shouldn't do that. Make the effort on the base that you made on the model, even though it is an investment of modeling time and really it's not hard to do a good base. I mean, and if you do the same, I know many modelers out there that I can walk along a row of models at a model contest and I know whose model is whose. First of all, I know because it's amazing, if you take art history classes, you learn Rembrandt's style or Gauguin or whoever's style. What we do is an art and every modeler has a style and if you see their work enough, you get to the point where you can spot oh, that's so-and-so's model.
Mike:Yeah, whether they want one or not.
Kentucky Dave:Whether they want one or not, and sometimes they've fallen into it without realizing it. But the same thing goes for bases. There are modelers who they know. You know they have a base style and it may be a very nice base style, but they use that same base style for all their displays. There's nothing wrong with that, it's great. But if you develop a base style that you're going to use for all your models, it does make cranking out a good base, a good quality base, easier to do, because you're not reinventing the wheel every time.
Mike:Well, I think my last point on this one is going to be, I think, for the group of modelers we know, the ones who don't use the permanent bases are the ones who are the most prolific volume builders that we know.
Kentucky Dave:That's probably true.
Mike:And I suspect that it's not so much the time it takes to pop out that base to do it is that they have to store all these models they're kicking out and if you put it on a base it's going to take up more room than the model without it. In most cases yes, in almost every case, it's going to take up more room than the model without it. In most cases yes, in almost every case it's going to take up more room than the model without it. Yep, unless your base is too small.
Kentucky Dave:Right, and then that's another problem.
Mike:Maybe that's why they're doing it. I don't know Any more on bases.
Kentucky Dave:Dave no, I think that beats that one to death, dave. No, I think that beats that one to death.
Mike:Now, this is one I really was curious about what you wanted to talk about. Okay, basically it was model show plans or model show planning. I don't think you mean the putting on of the show. I think you mean what you're doing in preparation for attending the show.
Kentucky Dave:Yep.
Mike:I could be wrong, so it's your topic. Man, Let it roll.
Kentucky Dave:We can talk about all of those things if you want. But no, you and I, your little misadventure notwithstanding, you and I have managed to attend a lot of shows this year and we're not done yet. We've got at least one, maybe two, if we're lucky, more to go. I think that at least that was a result of prior planning prevents poor performance. That's right that you and I, at the beginning of this year, sat down and we had more than one discussion about okay, let's look at our calendars, let's look at the show calendars. What shows do we know that we really want to attend? What shows would we like to attend? What weekends We've got vacations, graduations, everything. So we blocked out what weekends or what weeks were just bad for us and we planned out.
Kentucky Dave:I think one of the reasons we attended so many contests this year fingers crossed is that we, at the beginning of the year, took the time to plan out what shows there were, what ones we wanted to attend, what ones could we fit into our family life schedule. And then not only did that at the beginning of the year, but then we, throughout the year, as things developed, were like okay, let's do this, or oh, we're going to have to drop that, or well, you give you two examples. One amps we added amps after our initial planning. It wasn't contained in the initial planning and we added amps because of the fact that, a we to go, b it was a location that we could do easily and C Charvat was going to kill us if we didn't show up.
Kentucky Dave:Okay, well, I wasn't going to mention the murder threat, but yeah, well, that's absolutely true and he would have had every right to do it. But the point being that we kept our eyes open and saw opportunities where they were, and we also adjusted and juggled as things happened. Well, I mean, one example is the MMCL show that obviously life interfered for you Two you're involved in the space industry and MMSI and space launches. There was a possibility they were going to conflict and so, even though you and I had planned MMSI from an early date, there was a point there where we were like is this going to happen? And if it isn't going to happen, what are we going to do?
Kentucky Dave:And luckily it looks like it's going to work out for us, but keeping the dynamic planning going throughout the year and then discovering when contests are announced, because at the beginning of the year you don't always know every contest. Like I knew there would be one in Murfreesboro sometime late in the year, but when we were planning at the beginning we didn't know the date. We had no idea, and only later did we find out. And, like I said, we're still trying to figure out if we can squeeze that one in. That may be the bridge too far, but I'd like to still try if we can, because we've got a lot of listeners and modeling friends down in central Tennessee and the surrounding areas and I'd dearly love to see them if we can. So talk to me about model show plans.
Mike:Well, I think that's it. You look at the calendar, you decide what you're going to go to for the year and, you know, maybe we have different motivations than just normal attendees, because we're trying to squeeze content on a lot of these and it's not just about going to the show for us, yes, that's true, but even still, we sure have a lot of fun.
Kentucky Dave:So maybe it is ultimately it is one of the things, one of the big motivations for doing all that planning is that you and I have both said if you're not going to model shows, you're missing out on a big, big part of modeling. And I'm not talking about the contest. As I rather famously said to someone at the Nationals this year, the contest is the least important thing going on at the convention.
Mike:And that's I had to pick his eyes up off the floor and come back to him.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, and that's to the Nationals.
Kentucky Dave:So, that opinion is not shared by everyone Exactly, but it is, I mean, for me.
Kentucky Dave:Let's say there's an opinion for me If you're not going to shows, you're missing out on a really important part of modeling, because even though this is a fairly solitary hobby in many respects, there is a lot of social interaction to be had, and the interaction with other people is what makes life great. You know, I'm proud when I produce a really nice little model, but I would much rather spend 30 minutes talking about what I experienced in building that model with a modeling friend at a show. That brings much more joy than the finished model itself. And so I am a huge believer in going to model shows and interacting with people. And, yes, you and I are extra motivated because we get to meet listeners who many times we have interacted with through email or DMs or posts in the dojo but never actually gotten to meet face-to-face. And that getting to meet, even if we talk for three or five minutes or just introduce ourselves or whatever, it just adds so much richness to the enjoyment of the hobby.
Mike:Well, I think the bottom line here is that plan the things as early as you can because that gives those non-modelers in your life around you are impacted by you being gone for a weekend or five days or whatever it happens to be. It just makes it easier to to negotiate those things. Yes, absolutely, and that's that's true at anything, not just model shows, but it's certainly. Even though this is a hobby, such a concept certainly applies and you know we pick the big ones we want to go to and then we fill in around that and I think MMSI looking good for that one, but that was a stretch goal for us to get to that one.
Mike:And we are giving up Cincinnati for that one. And there's compromises. We can't be everywhere. There's compromises in everything in life, but we've been to a lot of shows, my friend, and it's been a lot of fun and hopefully we'll get that one more in this year and I hate I missed our show.
Kentucky Dave:Well, life intervenes. That's one of those points you were just making about prior planning and all of that. You had before you a situation and you correctly chose. I've got family stuff to deal with that is way more important than my hobby and you made the correct call, even though I was deeply disappointed you weren't at the show. I completely understood the fact that you made the right choice.
Mike:Well, Dave, I knew where you were going with this one. Yes, and it's really timely, not just in the last 24 hours, but for the entire year really.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, absolutely.
Mike:Are books relevant as a media in the digital age?
Kentucky Dave:My answer to that question is an emphatic yes. There is so much free information available on the internet and much of it is photographs and reference that the theory goes you can find anything on the internet. Why do you need books? And my answers to that is first, I'm willing to acknowledge there's a lot of information out on the internet. Now, it's not always as easy to find as people think it is, but there is a lot of information.
Kentucky Dave:One example there is a great website out there on ejections modern well ejection seats from the time they were developed all the way to today, and you can find photographs of every type of ejection seat, manufactured both British, american, soviet, whatever and it is a fantastic resource. And I go there when I'm building a modern jet and it's a great resource. It would also be a great resource as a book. You'd love to be able to flip through it, but it's a great resource. But not everything is like that where it's all gathered in one place and you can spend hours and hours looking for just the right photograph of the left gear door of an F-106. Or you can go pick up your detail and scale book or, if you've got the digital copy, open up your tablet, scroll through it and you're going to find the photograph you need. You know where it is rather than having to go out and search for it on the internet.
Kentucky Dave:So, practically, I think books are still useful because they gather the relevant information into a single location that you can put your hands on when you need it, rather than spending a significant amount of time depending on how obscure the thing you're looking for is on the internet, looking for just the right photograph or just the right piece of information just the right photograph or just the right piece of information.
Kentucky Dave:So, as a practical matter, I think books are still useful for the value of gathering the information in a place where you know it is and you can just go lay your hands on it. I will not deny that there is a—I don't know if I want to call it a nostalgia value or just. There is a joy in and of itself in having an actual book and sitting down with it and leafing through it, even if you're not looking for something particular. Just taking that book, whatever the subject happens to be, and going through it and either reading or looking at the photographs or the illustrations or whatever I get we've talked about this before you get a lot of your modeling inspiration from photographs.
Mike:Yeah.
Kentucky Dave:And that's why you not only have books but you also you know you watch German eBay and get a lot of photographs of Soviet stuff and things like that. I get a lot of my inspiration from reading and I get inspired to build Saburo Sakai's A6M20 as it appeared at Guadalcanal when he was wounded, by reading about it. I mean, you read the book Samurai. You can't help but get inspired and want to build a model of that aircraft. So books are useful for being able to inspire the modeler to build. And I don't get that same inspiration from the internet. I mean, I find some great stories and things like that, but it's just not the same and there's a joy in collecting books, just like there's a joy in having a stash bigger than you're going to be able to build. There is a joy in collecting and having those books and knowing you have those books even though they spend the vast majority of the time sitting behind you on a shelf.
Kentucky Dave:I'm highly skeptical that the internet will ever replace books completely. Replace either history books or modeling reference books. I think it's a great addition. I think that it can supplement and add to the books in your library. But if you gave me a choice of having a library of books or access to the photographs on the internet. I think I would take the library of books every time. So what do you think, having just spent a large amount of money on books?
Mike:Well, clearly, I like books.
Kentucky Dave:I've got Tango Grad's new KV book here, Two copies in fact, not both for myself, but I was wondering if you were one of those guys you know people who buy two models, two kits of the same model, one as a backup. I was wondering if you were one of those guys you know people who buy two models, two kits of the same model, one as a backup. I was wondering if maybe you were one of these guys, but you had a backup book.
Mike:I'd be like a comic book collector of current titles you buy your reader copy and you're one to preserve. Exactly no, that's not the reason. But you know, you hit on a lot of great points and I think they distill down to convenience.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, that too.
Mike:The price you're paying for the convenience is storage space and whatever I mean. This KV book's huge, Very big.
Kentucky Dave:Now you've got to build a glass case to house it in.
Mike:Very big book. Now you've got to build a glass case to house it in. Very big book, and it's the ease of access and the aggregation of information. I mean, the thing about the internet is stuff comes and goes or it's in a form and it gets buried because of continued postings.
Kentucky Dave:Right.
Mike:There's some software out there you can get to download websites in their entirety, yeah, and some work and some don't work very well, depending on what kind of website that you're trying to download. Right, but the problem is most people don't do that, so most of the time they lose access to some of this information over time.
Kentucky Dave:Right, the Internet is not like a book, perfectly preserved forever. It's more like a piece of food that continually spoils and is continually refreshed at the same time.
Mike:You know, because people may create a great website for a subject Right, and then they either get out of the hobby or their interests change, or they pass away, or whatever, or they fail to pay their internet service provider fee.
Mike:Hosting fee and it goes away. I like books. I got two books in the mail today Three, but it was a duplicate copy of the KV book for Master Evan. Yes, I got Tanko Grad's new KV book and A friend and listener that will mention during the shout out sent me a book for the Curtis SOC Seagull.
Kentucky Dave:Yep.
Mike:The Ginter book, I believe. Yes, the Ginter book and it's my comment back to him was well, thank you for one. Yeah, right, obviously, for a guy like me who's like in the shallow end of the aircraft swimming pool, this is a great single source reference. Yeah, I've got this book. I can go look at this book. The pictures are big. It's like I think it's A4 format maybe. Yes, it is, and some of these pictures are single picture per page or two per page, and it's fabulous.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, it's more than enough to build a 72nd scale model of the Seagull.
Mike:With some enhancements. Exactly, it's a great book. My point is it's all there.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:I don't have to get on my computer and go find each individual piece of this on 15 different websites or whatever. Right, it's all here. Now, after I say that, somebody's going to link me to a Seagull website that's going to have more information than the Gidger book, right, but as of today, I don't need anything else. Right, and the KV book is that in spades? Yep, I mean, this thing is colossal.
Kentucky Dave:And the other nice thing is that you can go sit on your couch. You can watch Tennessee whoop up on Arkansas. I don't know about that and sit there and enjoy the game and leaf through either one of those books and get the enjoyment of doing it. It's much harder to do that to watch the game and troll through a thousand internet webpages.
Mike:Most of the information may be out there on the net.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:The scale drawings to this degree of precision and completeness. Completeness are not, yeah, and there's a lot. There's a lot of lower level. You know very granular information in this book that has has detailed drawings with it that you're not going to find on the internet right it's just I really like books.
Mike:I think there's always going to be a place for books, and you know we mentioned a couple episodes back Detail and Scale. When they were going to reconstitute that brand and that product line, the original thought was it was going to be digital and only digital and only digital. And that didn't work out because folks in this hobby have a mindset like we do.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah Well, and let me say I love the digital versions of the detail and scale books. Rock has converted me to having those on a tablet, but to me that's more akin to having a book than going out on the internet.
Mike:Exactly it's still a book than going out on the internet.
Kentucky Dave:Exactly it's still a book. It's still a book in a location, with the information all together, as opposed to going out on the internet. And unless you happen to find that SOC 3 Seagull site that was built by somebody who was super dedicated to that particular aircraft, the information that you might be looking for on the Seagull is in 30 different places and you'd have to find all those places. And my wife says that I'm not a modeler. I'm a librarian who occasionally models, and she's not wrong and I'm proud of that fact because I like books.
Mike:I'd be curious what the listeners think Me too. Anything else on books, Dave.
Kentucky Dave:Buy them, buy lots of them. Oh, there's one thing that you mentioned that I was going to mention. This year I've bought more books than I bought models. I think I have too. Yep, it's probably a good thing. Yes, I think bought more books than I bought models.
Mike:I think I have too. Yep, it's probably a good thing.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, I think that's a good thing.
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Kentucky Dave:I spend way too much time on the Squadron app. Man, that thing is. It's great slash awful Because you know some people. If you're standing in line or you're killing a couple of minutes, you go look at Twitter or whatever, instagram or TikTok or whatever. I find myself going on squadronapp and going to see what new has dropped in 72nd scale.
Mike:How much money are you going to send, Brandon? Yeah yeah, it's the Bench Top Halftime Report and I got a feeling this might be a little underwhelming this time.
Kentucky Dave:I wouldn't say it's underwhelming. At least for me, I've made progress. Now, the last four or five days have not been particularly good because, due to a combination of circumstances, I haven't been able to make it to the bench much at all. But the A7M2 is the underside is completely painted I have masked it off is completely painted, I have masked it off and, who knows, tonight, after we record this, I may apply the base top coat to it, but it's moving along. It's moving along well.
Kentucky Dave:The photo etch and 3D print set that I bought for the Musaru finally arrived, and so when I'm not working on the A7, a7m2, I have started on our Musaru build, which I have to get done by the beginning of March, and that's a lot closer than I would lead myself to believe. That it is so I'm moving on it, that it is so I'm moving on it and I like this set of photo etch and 3D print material. I've made progress. I've started the Moosaroo. I've made some progress on it and that's moving along. And then I've got the BT-7 from Flyhawk that I got halfway together and then stop that, I am going to restart, I'm going to finish the build on that so I can get that into the paint shop as well.
Kentucky Dave:So it's moving and not moving as much as I'd like. But then again I have a job and a family, and older daughter who just bought a new car, a younger daughter who just bought her first car, and you know so I'm spending my time doing insurance stuff and title transfers and all of that and those little things suck time out that otherwise I'd be modeling. But you know what? I don't regret any of them, because your family time is great time, so you view it in, you keep things in perspective. That's all I would say. If you're feeling down because you haven't gotten to the model bench, that's fine. Figure out why and dedicate yourself to getting back to it. But don't feel bad about the things that kept you away from the bench, that were family, that were other enjoyments in life. Enjoy those moments, because I'm here to tell you you're going to blink your eyes and they're going to be gone.
Mike:So when are you getting your driveway widened?
Kentucky Dave:I now have currently four cars sitting in my driveway, and when my daughter, my older daughter comes over to visit, I have five, and you know I've got a fairly big driveway and five cars fills it up. So, yeah, I don't know that I'm getting my driveway widened, but yeah, I'm at the point where I'm starting to have to regularly move cars around. You're kind of in that situation yourself, aren't you?
Mike:A little bit, but I don't have one that's permanently in my driveway. That was too expensive to have permanently sitting in my driveway.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, absolutely, that's a problem I have to cure.
Mike:Well, folks, I got nothing for you, unfortunately. I've got the paw gloss coated and just because of the last two weeks I've not gotten much past that. Well, you did get the gloss.
Kentucky Dave:I think you put the gloss coat on in the last two weeks. I think that was right before the power failure.
Mike:I think it was in the last Benchtop Halftime Report.
Kentucky Dave:Was it? I didn't think you had the gloss on. I think you were ready to put the gloss on.
Mike:I think I did, and other than that I think I talked about, you know, going through my decals and figuring out what I was going to use and not use and did a bunch of mental modeling.
Kentucky Dave:Right, Well, and you also did some test modeling on your mule, decal paint and decal mule. And it's a shame you weren't at the MMCL show because Lee Fogle stopped by the table and we had a really interesting discussion regarding the different setting solutions Warren Dickinson, Lee Fogel, myself and Inch and talking about what solutions we use, what we have found that works, on what the pitfalls of the 80s and 90s Japanese decals or decals from Japanese manufacturers is what I should say, and the fact that Avia Print is going to redo all those Japanese tail codes, which I'm thrilled about. But you did do some experimentation with those decals to figure out okay, this is going to work and this isn't.
Mike:Yeah, you're a good coach, Dave.
Kentucky Dave:I'm trying to find the silver lining and again, like I said, there is nothing more demoralizing than spending four days without power, because even when you get it back, your life doesn't get back to normal for like another two or three days.
Mike:You know, it's worse than four days without power, Dave, two weeks without power.
Kentucky Dave:Well, five yeah, but yeah yeah, because really you got it back 24 hours earlier than they were telling you you were going to.
Mike:Well, they were telling us, because they were tired of phone calls. Well, the kit releases keep on coming.
Kentucky Dave:Boy do they?
Mike:There's a lot of crazy stuff happening, man.
Kentucky Dave:The kit releases. I am thrilled proud, stunned happy. I am thrilled proud, stunned happy. I've got an all-fave list and only one of them is actually 72nd scale, and it's I mean we live in the golden time of modeling.
Mike:You didn't try to find a yawn.
Kentucky Dave:I couldn't. Well, I would have had to dig for a yawn the lists of stuff that's coming out. There were so many good ones that you didn't see the bad ones for the good ones.
Mike:Well, I would say the 72nd scale. Folks are living large right now. Yes, we are, but I'll let you go first. What's your first fave, dave?
Kentucky Dave:The first fave is that Edward has announced in 72nd scale. Now we're not going to get this to late 2025, but the folks at Edward are going to do all of the early Merlin engine Spitfires, basically the Mark I through the Mark V. Now they've already done the Mark IX through many of the later models and there are already Spitfire Mark I's out there and Mark V's out there. But man, edward has been knocking it out of the park. I mean, I bought two of their Royal Class kits within the last two months and they are just awesome models and I know there will be Royal Class Spitfire Mark I's and Mark V's and I'll buy the crap out of them. I'm thrilled to see it because I know it's going to be a great kit. How about you?
Mike:Fave or yawn. My first one, dave, is a fave. Okay, micromir, out of Ukraine, out of Ukraine, has announced a 72nd scale M2 F3 lifting body.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, yes, micromir is known for doing a lot of unusual subjects.
Mike:So they've got everything between the M2F3 lifting body and the Turtle Revolutionary War submarine, exactly, and a whole bunch of crazy crap in between man.
Kentucky Dave:Absolutely, and I know you've gotten into these lifting bodies hard man.
Mike:You know, I'm going to buy this one for sure, guaranteed. As soon as I can get my hands on that I'm going to get one, so looking forward to it. That's just, they're just so cool, yep.
Kentucky Dave:Absolutely, they are.
Mike:What's your next one?
Kentucky Dave:And okay, this one is one of two 48 scale kits I've got on my on my list as a fave. Again, I'm I'm showing the love to my 48-scale friends out there. Arma has announced that they are doing a 48-scale MI-28N. This is the Russian let's call it the equivalent of the Apache Russian, let's call it the equivalent of the Apache. It's the Russian two-man, you know, not side-by-side but front-and-back-sitting helicopter that you're seeing used a whole lot in Ukraine and I can imagine that it's going to be extremely popular among the 48 scale brethren who are really looking for a really good kit of the MI-28N, which is the latest version of the MI-28. So I'm happy to see my 48 scale brothers happy.
Mike:How about you? Well, my next fave again, 72nd scale. It's a Chinese company, I suspect these are 3D printed, yeah, and I hope they're better than the Beaver models equivalent. They've released four different sets of Imperial Japanese Navy pilots and ground crew.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, I saw those.
Mike:So that's pretty recent.
Kentucky Dave:on Skillmates yeah, and what's the name of the company? It's Triumph.
Mike:Models Gotcha Like the car Triumph, right, you know, I don't know, we'll see. They only have artwork up now, so I'd be real curious how these actually are. So looking forward to that.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, Somebody out there post pictures. If you've got them Well as soon as they come out.
Mike:May end up being me.
Kentucky Dave:Yep.
Mike:Well, what's next for you?
Kentucky Dave:All right, this is another 48 scale one. So again, shout out to the 48 scale brothers. And I follow on Twitter Fine Molds and our friends at Fine Molds announced a late model Zero and a 6M5 in 48 scale. Which do you remember the Fine Molds Oscar in 72nd scale, where the canopy framing is actually molded separate from the canopy?
Mike:Yes.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, well, you remember it because you found one at Heritage Con. Framing is actually molded separate from the canopy. Yes, yeah, well, you remember it because you found one at Heritage Con. Well, this is a Fine Molds 48 scale zero a 6M5. They're doing that same thing with the canopy, but in 48 scale, where they mold the framing separately, and the detail level from the photographs that they have published. They've published not only 3D artwork, they've also published some photos of kit parts and actually photographs of parts of the molds on their Twitter feed to the molds on their Twitter feed. And man does this thing look good. In fact, I re-exed or retweeted a tweet from Fine Molds about this kit and Chris Siebert Lou Fromm was like I already have one pre-ordered. So yeah, it's going to be popular and I'm happy for the 48 scale guys, because I cannot imagine this is not going to be a really great kit.
Mike:Well, my next one is from IBG.
Kentucky Dave:Okay, well, god, I love their stuff 72nd scale again. Mm-hmm.
Mike:I don't know how much of this is new and how much of it is a combined boxing, yeah, but they've got a kit coming out. This it's. It's the scammel pioneer tank recovery tractor. Yep, with the trailer yep with a cruiser mark one slash mark three. Yep, all in the same box. So you get.
Kentucky Dave:You get the whole thing and yeah, I don't know if that's just combining two kits that were already out or that's a one or both of those are new. But yeah, god, the IBG 72nd scale armor not only well, not only armor, but armor and soft skins. They do great kits, no question. But such interesting subjects you can imagine doing one of those in desert camo with the desert camo Crusader on it.
Mike:Oh, I built the Airfix, scamal and trailer as a kid. Yeah yeah, I probably wouldn't want to do that again.
Kentucky Dave:No, but you want to do this one Maybe.
Mike:Yeah, but that's. You want to do this one Maybe.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
Mike:But that's a lot of stuff in one box.
Kentucky Dave:Yes.
Mike:Everything you might want.
Kentucky Dave:Absolutely, absolutely, and even in 72nd scale, when you're done. Not a small model.
Mike:No, no, it's not. It's a lot to it. What do you got next?
Kentucky Dave:Well, next one's a point of just absolute. It's completely personal to me has announced a 30-second scale conversion for the Trumpeter P-47 to convert it to an XP-47H, which is the prototype that they did of the P-47 with an inline engine and it looks like a shark. And speaking of the MMCL, first of all, this is one of my favorite aircraft. It just looks so neat. It is a shame it did not get a production order and get into combat because it's just so good looking.
Kentucky Dave:At the MMCL show this past week a modeler had entered a 48 scale XP-47 and I didn't get to find and talk to that person. And whoever you are, if you're listening, reach out because I love that model. It was really really nice looking, you did a really great job and it's just an attractive model. So this is not everyone's cup of tea and you've got to buy the 32nd scale Trumpeter P47 to start with the Razor. Yeah, I just if you were going to make, if I was going to build something in 30 second scale, that would be high on my list. So you know, not again, not everybody's cup of tea, but a fave for me I'm surprised you haven't mentioned this one yet.
Kentucky Dave:Okay, one yet.
Mike:Okay, kp models, okay a grumman j4f, wigeon yeah, a new tool plus three other decal option kits. Yep, I mean, the only option before was the old airfix one yes, yep, because I don't think sword did a wigeon.
Kentucky Dave:I don't think they did. I don't think they did so. I don't think they did so. Yes, you're right, that fills a hole, and those things were used a lot in World War II.
Mike:Now it's a smaller one. It's like somewhere between a plane and a flying boat.
Kentucky Dave:Yep, yep. It technically, I think, is classed as a flying boat, but it's a really neat little aircraft that didn't get a lot of glory because it was as much a utility aircraft as anything else. But I can definitely see the folks who are into World War II Navy aircraft being excited by that Well, what you got next? World War II Navy aircraft being excited by that. Well, what you got next? I've got nothing next. So I didn't have a yawn this time because I was so enamored with all the stuff that was getting announced. So do you have a yawn?
Mike:I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I've got a yawn. I've got a fave.
Kentucky Dave:Okay.
Mike:I'm going to drop the yawn because I'm going to cut Dragon some slack, so that just took care of the yawn all by itself. Okay, my final fave, dave, is from Paracel Miniatures. They're doing a kit of a Mekong Delta type civilian longboat.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, I saw that, I know.
Mike:We talked about this before. I think we we mentioned it before. I'll mention it again we, we are, we're far enough from the vietnam war, now that we can. How did we say it last time? We can not only talk about it, but we can. I don't know, I I can't remember how we said last time, but model it more objectively than we could be more objective about the entire thing, be it books, kits, finished models or whatever.
Mike:We can be objective about it and a lot less biased about it. Parasail miniatures out of vietnam is doing a lot of really cool things yes, they are, and that long boat is real.
Kentucky Dave:You just look at that.
Mike:I mean, the possibilities are near endless for modeling the thing that comes to mind is a Tamiya Pibber built waterline and this thing and some of the other small boats that various manufacturers have made, and just some really cool dioramas.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, absolutely Absolutely. Which reminds me there's one more fave I do want to mention. Okay, alpine Miniatures has announced and I think they've actually released these they have two figures from the US 2nd Infantry Division in 35th scale, us 2nd Infantry Division in 35th scale, and man, the quality of Alpine's sculpting is just unbelievably good. You know, I know sometimes some people have criticized the lack of maybe a little more life in the poses, but man, these things are just unbelievably attractive, models or figures, whatever, and yeah, I suspect we'll be seeing those show up standing next to standing next to 35th scale tanks at the Amps next year, standing next to 35th scale tanks at the Amps next year.
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Kentucky Dave:Mike, we're almost at the end of the episode. I'm assuming that means you're almost at the end of your modeling fluid and I almost don't have to ask if you enjoyed your bullet.
Mike:I almost don't have to ask if you enjoyed your bullet. Dave, I did enjoy the bullet, but you know what I think. The Russell's Reserve 10-year is my new favorite.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, you had said that you keep going back to the Russell's. No matter what else you try I mean whether it's an old favorite or something new no matter how much you like the item you're trying, if it's not Russell's, you always seem to be comparing it to the Russell's.
Mike:I've said it before for a 10-year it's a bargain.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, I agree.
Mike:And my taste recommendations have got a pretty good record among the listenership. Have got a pretty good record among the listenership.
Kentucky Dave:Well, and something I'll point out that I'm sure you've probably seen that Russell's have released a cask strength and a single barrel. Those are higher price points and they're stronger ABVs, but it'd be interesting to try them. Well, you can buy me one, I'll try it. Oh, you got it.
Mike:What about your beer, man?
Kentucky Dave:Well, you know this is a lager. The notes on the can describe it as full-flavored beer. Up front, biscuity and honey that fade into a light dry finish. That's rich. Yeah, well, that's rich. It's not so heavy and forward that it's obnoxious. I'm not sure if biscuity is exactly the way I would describe it, but it has definitely got body to it. It is very low hop. So if you're not an IPA fan, if you don't like all that hipster IPA, how bitter can we make our beer stuff? This beer is for you because it is very low in hops content and therefore in the bitterness 6% alcohol by volume.
Kentucky Dave:Good beer, high Wire Brewing out of Asheville, north Carolina. Hopefully High Wire Brewing still exists as we speak. I hope they survived, I hope everything is okay for them and if you want to support the folks in Asheville, north Carolina, as they're getting back on their feet, you could do a lot worse than buying a six-pack of High Wire Brewing's Zirkus Fest Oktoberfest lager beer. I enjoyed it, mike. We are now truly at the end of the episode. Do you have a shout-out or shout-outs?
Mike:I've got two. Okay, how many you got?
Kentucky Dave:I got one.
Mike:Okay, well, I'll go first and you put yours in the middle. Yeah, you got two. Okay, how many you got?
Kentucky Dave:I got one, okay, well, I'll go first and you'll put yours in the middle. Yeah, you got it.
Mike:Well, first off is our customary shout out to all those folks who support Plastic Model Mojo through their generosity. The latest is Mr Jason Sizemore, who has bought us a few beers, aka buy me a coffee. In fact, he's the first listener to use that avenue of support for us, so we appreciate that, jason. Thank you, jason. Jason is also a member of MMCL, who emancipated you from your duties of being club secretary.
Kentucky Dave:Well, and newsletter editor more importantly, yes, thank you, jason.
Mike:Yes, thank you for that, because now now he's all mine, and thank you for the financial support. So if you'd like to be like Jason and support plastic model mojo, we'd sure appreciate it, and there's several avenues you can do that. Like we just said, you can use buy me a coffee, call it, buy me a beer, cause we like beer instead of coffee. Patreon and PayPal All those avenues are great to support the show and the links for those can be found in the show notes of this episode. Folks, we appreciate it and again, I'm going to mention I'm going to keep mentioning it because we were like right on the cusp of launching this thing. We're in the final edits and the final approval. We got a new platform coming and all your support is helping to make that possible, and I'm going to bring you a lot of great stuff through our new platform. So if you want to contribute, please do. It's all greatly appreciated.
Kentucky Dave:I second that and I support everything Mike just said. Like thanks mainly to Mike and his efforts. We are on the cusp of something different and hopefully something that expands your enjoyment of Plastic Model Mojo and all of our modeling friends. So thank you for your financial support. It really means a lot. I would like to shout out our friend, friend of the podcast, jeff Groves. Inch High Guy Jeff was down for the MMCL contest. He and I got to go to lunch together. By the way, the Fish House in Shepherdsville is a great seafood restaurant. We had a great time there and for reasons that Jeff knows there and for reasons that Jeff knows this, shout out's for him thinking about you, buddy, and cannot wait to see you at the next modeling show you and I both are at and Mike and I are going to look at maybe coming up and trying to schedule a visit with you, because you've extended that invitation numerous times and we'd love nothing better than to come out and hang out for a day.
Mike:Well, dave, my final shout out is to our friend and Septimberist John Vickis. John is the one who sent me the Seagull book.
Kentucky Dave:Yes.
Mike:And I really appreciate his generosity.
Kentucky Dave:John is a great guy. Again. You know how I have said that most modelers are really really nice people. John is the embodiment of that.
Mike:Well, john, if you're listening, I'm sure you are. Thank you for the Seagull book, and maybe that was a kick in the pants to get me started on the September's build for the next national convention.
Kentucky Dave:There you go. That's clearly what he was trying to do.
Mike:Maybe, I think maybe he already had a copy of the book, but he probably doubled down and had two things to accomplish through that donation. So, man, I appreciate it. It's a really good book. Yeah, I don't think I'll need anything else to build my little seagull.
Kentucky Dave:Yep.
Mike:When and if I ever do.
Kentucky Dave:You got to get to it, man. Dave, you got anything else? No, that's it, man. I think we're done with this episode.
Mike:Well, as we always say, Dave, so many kits, so little time.
