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
PMM Twelve Minute Modelsphere: August 2025
The excitement is building as we prepare for the IPMS Nationals in Hampton, Virginia! This much-anticipated event represents what we lovingly call "the best four days of the year" in the modeling world. After months without attending a contest (Mike hasn't been to one since Heritage Con in March), we're absolutely thrilled to reconnect with fellow modelers, showcase our work, and soak in the incredible talent on display.
We'll be set up at a vendor table throughout the convention where we hope to meet many of our listeners face-to-face. There's something magical about connecting with the modeling community in person after so many digital interactions. Whether you've been following us for years or just discovered the podcast, please stop by to say hello and share what you've been working on. If you've posted your builds in the Dojo and they'll be at the Nationals, we'd love to see them in person!
Speaking of the Dojo, our Facebook modeling community continues to thrive with over 5,300 members sharing incredible work and engaging in thoughtful discussions. Recent conversations about old-school web forums and storage solutions have taken on lives of their own, demonstrating the vibrant exchange of ideas that makes our community special. We're also excited to bring you Episode 145 featuring the talented Bruce MacRae sharing his recent modeling adventure, followed by Episode 146 where we'll recap our Nationals experience. Join us for what promises to be an unforgettable convention experience and connect with the passionate modeling community that makes this hobby so rewarding!
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Mike and Kentucky Dave thank each and everyone of you for participating on this journey with us.
Kev, tell everyone why you started Kit Mask.
Kevin, KitMasx:Well, manually masking canopies sucks, and somebody had to step in to save those countless kits from the shelf of doom.
Janelle, KitMasx:And now we've got over 400 sets and counting. We've got old kits, new kits, forgotten kits, you name it.
Kevin, KitMasx:Yeah, and if we don't have it, just ask.
Janelle, KitMasx:Yeah, people don't realize. We take customer requests and we even have a service that gets you canopy masks for free.
Kevin, KitMasx:We do.
Janelle, KitMasx:Our masks are precision cut. They fit well, they're easy to apply. Kevin cuts and tests every set.
Kevin, KitMasx:Several times.
Janelle, KitMasx:Yeah, precision is kind of his thing.
Kevin, KitMasx:And Janelle. She does everything else. She cares about each customer and is the heart of our business.
Janelle, KitMasx:If you ever reach out, you're talking directly to us. Real people, real modelers.
Kevin, KitMasx:And if you don't love your masks, we'll refund or replace them. No questions asked.
Janelle, KitMasx:Visit kitmaskcom, join the mailing list and treat yourself to easier, cleaner masking.
Kevin, KitMasx:Kitmask made by a modeler for modelers. Hey, what about me?
MIke:You're not a modeler. Well, mojovia, welcome to the August installment of the 12-Minute Model Sphere. And don't forget to use Mojo 15 at checkout for your 15% off your first order of kit masks, and give Kevin and Janelle some business. They're great folks.
Kentucky Dave:They are great folks.
MIke:Dave, it is August, it's here, summer's getting long in the tooth.
Kentucky Dave:Really, I always knew when August rolls around.
MIke:Or late July. Well, it's your wife's birthday, that's right.
Kentucky Dave:That's right. August 1st is my wife's birthday, so, believe me, I am well aware when July goes out and August comes in.
MIke:Well, we've not been anywhere in the last month, really.
Kevin, KitMasx:Well, we've been prepping.
MIke:We've been to a pool party and you just had another one. We've been prepping because it is time for your favorite thing of the year, dave.
Kentucky Dave:Absolutely the best four days of the year. So where are we going? We're going to Hampton, Virginia, to the IPMS Nationals. We are going to meet a lot of listeners and a lot of friends at the show. We're going to have a table in the vendor room and I am looking forward to a great time Again. I've never had a bad time at a nationals Never since I've been skunked since a heritage con.
MIke:I'm really, really looking forward to this trip.
Kentucky Dave:Oh my gosh, that's right. You haven't been to a contest since heritage.
MIke:That's right. Not since March. Oh, wow, so you're Jones and you got the withdrawal symptoms really looking forward to it and looking forward to hanging out with you and all our friends and meeting, meeting some of the listeners and just having the best time we can have. Because, I'll tell you, on the home front, 2025 for me has just been sucktastic.
Kentucky Dave:It's been brutal. You know I got no right to complain. I mean, compared to the troubles other people face, everything that's happened in 2025 has not been anything that couldn't be handled, but yeah, it has been one thing. Just when you turned around from one thing, you get hit in the face with something else.
MIke:Well, that's where we're going to be folks in Hampton Virginia in just a few days, so look us up.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah, people might be listening to this while they're traveling to the Nationals or traveling pre-Nationals. You know some people at the end of July.
MIke:Yes, and with the gnats coming up, we've got a little bit of a log jam.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, we do, but you know what that's in again. In the scheme of things, that's not a problem.
MIke:It's not a problem, but we do have two episodes coming up in August. Yes, the first one very soon, just a few short days. We're going to get that one out, episode one. One out episode 145. We had extraordinary, extraordinarily talented modeler bruce mccray back again to uh tell his tale of woe about his modeling adventure. He went on in the spring and then it was a great story.
Kentucky Dave:I'm sure it wasn't fun at the time, but it's a great story.
MIke:Guys, you gotta listen and then we circled back and got a little bit of info about his impressions of the number of shows he actually took in while he was on that trip.
MIke:So yeah, if you're a fan of bruce or not or you don't know who bruce is, check it out in episode 145 to hear about his latest adventure and then you could claw back about a year and pick up our first conversation with him.
MIke:You can actually just search bruce mccrayRae in the search bar on the website in the episode area and find that really quick. Well, episode 145 is also going to be a little truncated in the essence of time. We're going to cut out some of the segments and just really shorten that up so we can get it out and get it to you, because we want folks to be able to enjoy that one on the road on the way to the Nationals. So hopefully we're going to drop that one tuesday this week. So, coming up quick, got some editing to do after that dave, we should be all back and rested from the national convention and if our plan goes well and swell, we should have some content we generated at the show and hopefully we can roll up a shop talk kind of episode around uh, our nats adventure and just give folks a wrap up and what that was like for us.
Kentucky Dave:So looking forward to 146 as well yeah, although I'm not sure two weeks is enough for me to be rested after a nationals, I'm telling what. It takes me time to recover.
MIke:Well, the dojo just keeps getting busier and busier. It's been a lot of fun of late. I try to. I was a little more regular over the last couple of weeks or this month. Anyway, what's going on there, dave?
Kentucky Dave:Well, we're at 5,384 members as of this recording. We really would like to get to 54 and then 55. So any of you folks listening who are Dojo members please invite other modelers that you're friends with on Facebook to join the Dojo with on Facebook to join the dojo. And I got to say one of the reasons we want to see more and more people is that by building the community bigger and bigger, we're getting more and more input, more and more posts, more and more interaction when people ask a question. When people ask a question, I'm just super impressed by the posts on the dojo. The modeling that's going on. It makes me feel a little bad slash motivates me when I see what other people are cranking out. It makes me want to double down and get to it.
MIke:My first point would be if folks have something they've shown on the dojo that it's going to be at the IPMS National Convention, let us know. Either, while we're there, Introduce yourself and show us what you built. We'd be glad to take a look and see what you're up to. And then the other point I'd like to make is on that theme of the interactions. No-transcript have a little conversation about the demise of well, demise or current status or state of the old school kind of web forums.
Kentucky Dave:Yeah.
MIke:And man, that topic got legs on the dojo and I think even in the DMs.
Kentucky Dave:Yes, it did.
MIke:And maybe I even have an email or two about that. It was just real refreshing to see that and that's what we want, especially those shop talk. I think that's a good outcome for that, because we've got our opinions and the information we can give and the time we allot to it. But it's been really fun to see those get some legs and get some further discussion. That was one example was the old school web forums. Another one was the like storage.
Kentucky Dave:Yes.
MIke:Yeah, that one, that one got some good legs as well, and I, you know who knows what the next one's going to be. We're going to have to come up some more shop talk topics to keep this one going on.
Kentucky Dave:Well, we we've got a 10 hour car ride. Do you think we can do it? I'll bring a notebook.
MIke:Yeah, we probably have a lot of planning to do on the way up and back.
Kentucky Dave:I know.
MIke:Anything else on the dojo.
Kentucky Dave:No, I just want to reiterate yeah, when we do these shop talk topics, we're only, you know, doing 10 or 15 minutes at most on the topic. What we really want to hear, you know, mike and I hear each other's input or answer or whatever on the topic. What we really want to hear is what the community thinks, what your input is, because Mike and I, you know we will have an opinion about almost anything, but they're not the only opinions that are out there and we want other dojo members, other listeners, to come in and respond and say, hey, I heard you say this, I think this or I want to expound on what you said, or whatever. That's what we're hoping to build. That's what we're hoping to build.
MIke:Well, dave, that's going to be August, and I think we're also going to have another round of show spotlights coming in August or September. So looking forward to those. So we'll get that figured out after the national convention. We may even see some of those folks there. So, listeners, if you're at the national convention, stop by. We've got a table in the vendor room and say hey, and I look forward to seeing everybody soon. Bye.
