Plastic Model Mojo

PMM Twelve Minute Modelsphere: January 2026

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A fresh year deserves a fresh bench. We kick off 2026 by trading the “dark time” for bright, practical momentum: a clearer plan for January, two focused releases on the calendar, and an open invite to help shape what comes next. We look back at five years of recording and realize the best thing we built isn’t an episode catalog—it’s a thriving community that keeps growing and teaching each other every week.

First up, we outline episode 155, where we get specific about what progress looks like this year: realistic build goals, smarter habits at the bench, and small changes that add up to more finished kits. Then we preview episode 156, a Shop Talk with our friend Jim Bates, who brings hard-earned insight on modeling and life. Expect candid updates, practical tips, and a few topics we’ll hammer out before the mics go live so the conversation stays tight and useful.

We also open the door for clubs and show runners. If your group has an event coming in February, throw your hat in for our Show Spotlight. The earlier you reach out, the better we can tell your story and help more modelers find your tables, vendors, and categories. On the community front, the Plastic Model Dojo just crossed 5,600 members and keeps climbing. Join for WIPs, product tips, new releases, and the kind of encouragement that gets you to the finish line. If your post gets stuck in spam, ping us—we’ll get it unlocked. And keep the listener mail coming; questions and hot takes help us steer future segments toward what you care about.

Ready to trade resolutions for results? Hit play, join the Dojo, pitch your club’s show, and tell us what kit you’re starting. If you enjoy the pod, follow, share with a friend, and leave a quick review so more builders can find us.

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KitMasx
Custom Canopy Masks for the Scale Modeler

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Mike and Kentucky Dave thank each and everyone of you for participating on this journey with us.

Janelle (KitMasx):

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Kevin (KitMasx):

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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):

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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 kitmask.com, join the mailing list, and treat yourself to easier, cleaner masking.

Kevin (KitMasx):

Kitmask, made by a modeler for modelers.

Janelle (KitMasx):

Hey, what about me?

Kevin (KitMasx):

You're not a modeler.

Kentucky Dave:

Happy New Year, Mojovia. Happy New Year to you, Dave. Happy New Year to you, Mike. Happy New Year, listeners.

Mike:

That's right, man. It is 2026 and we're ready to hit the ground rolling, I hope.

Kentucky Dave:

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I cannot wait.

Mike:

Normally we lead off with where we've been and where we're going, but these holidays have kind of thrown wrench into that. There's not many shows for starters. Well, there is in January, but they're too far away. But, you know, we don't really have any plans for through the the month of January to get anywhere. But I know you're coming out of the dark time. The dark time's over, man. The days are getting longer, too.

Kentucky Dave:

Yes, the dark time is over. Days are getting longer. Things look bright and sunny ahead. I'm very optimistic about 2026.

Mike:

Well, I am too, man. And the amazing thing to me is I was looking back through all the episodes on the website and rolled it all the way back to January 2nd, 2020, and thinking, man, that seems like not that long ago, but it also seems like forever ago, depending on which hand you're looking at. And I just I can't believe it, man. We've been doing this for five years, going on six.

Kentucky Dave:

Yep.

Mike:

It's amazing.

Kentucky Dave:

It is. It is. It's uh it's been wonderful. You know, I won't I won't lie and say it's no work, but it's light work because I think you and I both enjoy the heck out of it, and we enjoy all of the interactions. You know, I'm I'm again, I'm nothing but optimistic about this year. I think you and I have some some ideas on where we want to develop this and where we want to go in the future. And 2025 was a great year for. So I'm I'm looking forward to 2026.

Mike:

Well, Dave, January is going to be a pretty typical month. We're gonna have two feature episodes and maybe uh a show spotlight in there somewhere because we know we got some shows coming up in February.

Kentucky Dave:

That's right. The the spring show season will start very quickly.

Mike:

Well, we've got episode 155 and 156, and we mentioned some plans and big ideas for 2026. So in in episode 155, we're gonna kind of dig a little deeper into what our hopes and aspirations are for 2026 and then any kind of hard concrete plans we're making at our own bench or or just wherever. See what we can get out of that topic. Because I know we both got looking forward to well, we typically look forward to a lot of the same things. We want to get a little bit more done. We want to meet more people, but we'll save that conversation for episode 155 and see what 202 2026 is gonna be for uh for you and me, bud.

Kentucky Dave:

Yep, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's gonna be great.

Mike:

And then later in the month we have episode 156, gonna be a shop talk format, and we're having our buddy Jim Bates back. We haven't had him on in a while, so it's time to get Jim back on here and see what he's up to and get his input on three or four topics we'll we'll hash out before we send him the outline.

Kentucky Dave:

Well, I know he's looking forward to it. Jim and I talk nearly every day in one form or another, text, phone call, whatever. So for me, you know, I've talked to him all the time. But yeah, we've it's been way too long since we've had him on. He's he's div he's going through a lot modeling-wise and life-wise and all. And I think Andy's got a show coming up, and so I think it will make for a really lively conversation.

Mike:

Well, I hope so. And speaking of shows, and you know I mentioned the show Spotlight. If if you're out there listening and you're involved with a club or group who's putting on something in February, and you'd like to be featured in our model show Spotlight, we'd like to have you, especially if you've never if the if your particular show's never been featured before. So we'd like to start uh stacking the deck for that and getting that all in the works and uh look forward to hearing from some folks, Dave.

Kentucky Dave:

Yep, you can email us at plasticmodelmojo at gmail.com or you can DM us either way, or or you can respond in the link in the episode. Anyway, just reach out, contact us sooner is better. Yes. Uh simply because, you know, we want to get the show spotlight put together. We want to feature your show with as much lead time uh as is appropriate. So please do reach out.

Mike:

Yeah, lead time for your show and lead time for us to actually get the thing together and out on our schedule, too. So yeah, let us know through the avenues that Dave just outlined there, and uh, we look forward to hearing for some folks. Well, Dave, I know I've added a bunch of people to the dojo since Christmas, and then several before Christmas. So things are things are still still going the right way, man.

Kentucky Dave:

Yes, they are. As of this recording, we have 5,608 dojo members. So we've crack cracked 5,600. We're adding anywhere from 65 to 75 members every month. It's it's just fantastic. Please, if you're a listener and you're not a member of the dojo, now keep in mind that's different from our Facebook static page, the Plastic Model Mojo. But if you're not a member of the Plastic Model Dojo Facebook page, please consider joining. We'd love to have you. There's a lot going on. A lot that hasn't included me over the dark time, and I apologize for that. One of my resolutions for 2026 is to not only be on the dojo more, to post more, which means build more, which is also one of my resolutions. So, you know, I continue to be impressed by what people post there, whether it's new product announcements from our our support our sponsors and or other manufacturers to completed kits. Man, those are always inspirational to me. To, you know, work in progress or reports regarding a particular product and how they've used that. In fact, I I got some tips from a listener about a product that I'm gonna take a look into. I'm you know, the dojo's great. Please join, please participate, and please help us continue to grow this community, which is without a doubt the best thing that has grown out of Mike and I doing this podcast. And Lord knows when we started it, we didn't think about that at all. Not not at all. And I've we were we were dumb for not even realizing it. But it's not only is it there, but it is the best part of the podcast.

Mike:

And I'll mention we're still struggling with some things getting tagged as spam. And like you've mentioned before, Dave, it seems to be things that are getting cross-posted.

Kentucky Dave:

Yep.

Mike:

Typically we're pretty fast on those. If we let your post lag a little bit on getting it flipped over and published on the dojo, just uh shoot us a message and remind us it's out there because sometimes I don't see the notifications for those.

Kentucky Dave:

Yeah, that that happens to me. What happens is, especially during the dark time and you know, holidays and all the things that that entails, all the family time. I'm not, I don't have the opportunity to pop in on my phone and check the dojo and check particularly the spam folder. So if you've posted something and it hasn't gotten approved and posted within 12 or 18 hours, just go ahead and shoot us a DM.

Mike:

Yep, we'll get that worked out. And also mention we look forward to interaction not just on the dojo, but listener mail. So, folks, please write into the show. Let us know what you think, send us a question, whatever you want to do. It's uh it can be done at uh plasticmodelmojo at gmail.com or the Facebook messaging system through DM at the face with Facebook Messenger. So let's get that mailbag full, folks. We're looking forward to it.

Kentucky Dave:

I've had some great DMs in the last week that'll obviously be talked about in the next episode, but please keep the DMs coming.

Mike:

Well, with that, Dave, we'll get on out of here and get on to our 2026 plans, man. So as we always say, so many kits. So little time, Dave. Let's get some modeling done.

Kentucky Dave:

Yeah, let's get some modeling done big time.

Contributor

Mike Baskette

Host
Contributor

David Knights

Co-host