Trying to Beat the Heat: July Twelve Minute Modelsphere

We settle into a laid-back holiday catch-up, swap a few vacation highlights, and revisit that specific kind of nostalgia that comes from remembering long-gone hobby shops and the stuff we bought there. Then we look ahead to July with two feature episodes on the calendar, including a shop talk segment, plus a Nationals run-up as IPMS Nationals gets closer. If you like plastic model building podcasts that stay practical and builder-focused, this one sets the tone for what’s coming next.

We also spend time on the heart of the hobby: community. The Dojo keeps growing because modelers show up with questions, techniques, material tips, and works in progress, and the replies actually help people build better. A perfect example is the 3M tape conversation that started as a listener tip and turned into a thread with real momentum and even some unexpected crossover into Mike’s day job. If you’ve got a topic you want us to tackle, or you’re planning to come to the national convention, we want to hear from you. Subscribe, share the show with a modeling friend, and leave a quick review so more builders can find us.

Give us your Feedback!
Rate the Show!

Support the Show!
Patreon
Buy Me a Beer
Paypal

Bump Riffs Graciously Provided by Ed Baroth
Ad Reads Generously Provided by Bob "The Voice of Bob" Bair

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

Transcript

Why KitMasx Exists

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:00

Kev, tell everyone why you started Kit Mask.

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:02

Well, manually masking canopies sucks, and somebody had to step in to save those countless kits from the shelf of Doom.

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:10

And now we've got over 400 sets and counting. We've got old kits, new kits, forgotten kits, you name it.

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:15

Yeah. And if we don't have it, just ask.

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:17

Yeah, people don't realize we take custom requests and we even have a service that gets you canopy masks for free.

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:22

We do.

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:22

Our masks are precision cut. They fit well, they're easy to apply. Kevin cuts and tests every set.

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:29

Several times.

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:30

Yeah. Precision is kind of his thing.

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:32

And Janelle, she does everything else. She cares about each customer and is the heart of our business.

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:37

If you ever reach out, you're talking directly to us. Real people, real modelers.

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:42

And if you don't love your masks, we'll refund or replace them. No questions asked.

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:46

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

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:52

Kitmask, made by a modeler for modelers.

Janelle (KitMasx) 0:54

Hey, what about me?

Kevin (KITMASX) 0:55

You're not a modeler.

Holiday Check-In And Summer Weather

Kentucky Dave 1:12

Well, happy 4th of July, Kentucky, Dave. Happy 4th of July. Happy 250th anniversary of the country.

Mike 1:21

That's right, man.

Kentucky Dave 1:22

Yeah.

Mike 1:22

Not quite the 250th episode, but uh No, no. We'll get there eventually, man. Darn well. Oh, you enjoying the heat? It's better than the rain.

Kentucky Dave 1:35

Well, I missed all the rain. Yeah, if you give me a choice, I'll I'll take the heat over the rain any day of the week.

Mike 1:42

Um we'll give you a few more days of heat and come back and ask you again.

Kentucky Dave 1:46

Hey, I got an air, I got an air conditioner and I got a pool in my backyard. I'm okay.

Vacation Stories And Hobby Shop Nostalgia

Mike 1:55

So did you enjoy your vacation? I did. That just messes nice with where we've been and where we're going in June or July. Well, in June, we really haven't been anywhere. No. I've been on vacation, like you just mentioned.

Kentucky Dave 2:09

Yep.

Mike 2:09

And I don't think we're going anywhere. But to your point, I had a very nice vacation, Dave. We went down to one of my favorite geographies in this country of 250 years, which is South Carolina Low Country. Um, the maritime forest and the mulch it generates just smells so good. It wasn't as hot as it is here until the last couple of days we were down there. Still a little hotter inland than down there, even in South Carolina. But I bet you did some good eating. We did some big eating. We caught some big fish. One of my sons found a flipping huge shark tooth on the beach down at Edisto Island.

Kentucky Dave 2:46

Oh, wow.

Mike 2:47

And uh I don't know, came up all cherries on the uh slot machine of life, Dave.

Kentucky Dave 2:53

That's great. Did you happen to find a model shop while you were down there?

Mike 2:57

I looked, but I did not. There used to be a little shop in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Right I know that the building's still there. And when we drive by it, I can still see it in my mind. But you know, when I saw it the first time I ever saw it, we never stopped. So no, I did not find one in uh thought about Columbia on the flip side coming back to Columbia. I don't know if there's one there or not. Dutch door used to be there, which is gets back into that whole uh story about the art I've been buying from uh the uh Soviet Panzers in Action book from from the original Squadron Signal line. Uh that book I bought at that hobby shop. I don't even know I know it's not there anymore, but is there a hobby shop in in Columbia, South Carolina? Let us know, folks. I don't know. I'm next time I'm down that way, I'll check it out.

Kentucky Dave 3:42

We got listeners down there, they'll tell us for sure. But you you at least did some modeling adjacent stuff. You edited and published the last episode.

Mike 3:52

I did. You know, once you're tired of the heat and have trying to digest this big meal you've eaten and all that good stuff, played in the ocean, been fishing, you come back to the place and the air conditioning's rolling pretty good. And yeah, I took time to edit the podcast, got the podcast out on time, it's doing pretty good. I like where we ended up for uh for June. It wasn't bad at all.

Kentucky Dave 4:14

Nope, I agree, and I just can't wait for July.

Mike 4:18

Well, uh, you know, we've we've been, you went to Wonderfest in end of May, if yeah, right? End of May, and then we've talked about that quite a bit already. And I went on vacation.

Kentucky Dave 4:33

And I and I stayed around the house and I have been doing yard work and garden and pool stuff nearly nonstop. Although, since I wasn't on vacation, I actually have been down at the model bench a lit a little bit and making some progress.

Mike 4:51

Well, that's good. So I don't know we're going anywhere in July. I don't even be PTO left after vacation, so it's gonna have to wait till the IPMass Nationals Day.

Kentucky Dave 5:00

Hey, that's worth waiting for, brother.

July Episode Plans And Shop Talk

Mike 5:22

Well, Dave, we got two feature episodes in July. Mm-hmm. We got 166 and 167 coming up. You know, we had a little delay in there, and we've kind of got the the even one at the first of the month and the odd at the second, but we we're off that common drop week of all the other pods. So uh that's good for all of us, I think.

Kentucky Dave 5:44

Yep. Spread spreads out the listening.

Mike 5:47

Yeah, it does. Maybe it doesn't matter in the long run, but uh when you're watching the numbers a little bit, it it it sure feels like it matters a little bit. Yeah. Well, 166 Dave, we've we've uh discussed among ourselves some topics for uh the shop talk segment. So folks have been enjoying those and we've been enjoying doing them. So it's gonna be uh a Mike and Dave spectacular for uh 166.

Kentucky Dave 6:13

And I gotta say, I'm looking forward to that.

Mike 6:15

I am too. It's gonna be some good stuff. So be sure to tune in for that one. 167, we're gonna do a little bit of a national convention run-up. And uh we haven't scheduled them yet, but we're trying to have a guest for that one who may be coming to see us.

Kentucky Dave 6:28

Yep. I have reached out, I just haven't heard back yet to confirm it.

Mike 6:34

If not, we'll still do a NAS run-up. Oh, yeah, I know. And we'll get somebody else.

Kentucky Dave 6:39

That's right.

Mike 6:41

So we know lots of people coming.

Kentucky Dave 6:44

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And we're looking forward to seeing them all.

Listener Topics And How To Reach Us

Mike 6:49

We are, and I was just want to mention for these shop talks, if there's a a topic you would like Dave and I to uh expound on, expand on, blather on about, you can send it send it to us in a listener mail. You can do that by sending it to plasticmodelmojo at gmail.com, or you can use the Facebook instant messaging system to send us a DM and uh I'll handle the email. Dave will handle the direct messages and uh look forward to any suggestions, really. Yep, absolutely. We we do a pretty good job of thinking them up, but it'd be always be nice for somebody to throw us a curveball.

Kentucky Dave 7:26

Well, and to to be honest with you, some of the best topics suggestions or topics we've had have been suggestions from listeners. So, you know, stuff that Mike and I haven't even thought of. So absolutely we want to hear from you all. And if you want to talk about something specific, please let us know.

Growing The Dojo And Sharing Builds

Mike 7:52

Well, Dave, I know while I was on vacation, I approved at least I think five or six people for the dojo.

Kentucky Dave 7:59

Yep. Yep. That's just me.

Mike 8:00

I'm not the only moderator.

Kentucky Dave 8:02

I know we keep adding them right now. As of this recording, we are at 5,807 members.

Mike 8:11

Recommend, recommend your friends, folks. Let's get to let's get to six.

Kentucky Dave 8:15

Yeah, we want to get to six, and we'd like to get to six. You know, we're averaging between 50 and 60 a month. We'd really love to get to 6,000 here in the next couple of months. So if you have Facebook friends who aren't members of the Dojo, but they're modelers, please invite them. Reach out. It's real easy to invite people to the dojo. Go on Facebook, do it, and we we really appreciate it. And speaking of the dojo, man, it is just really great content. We've got still got some shows going on, so we've got some show reports, lots of great in progress and and completed builds. And the thing that has been, I think, really helpful of late is a lot of questions. I've asked a few of them in regard to different subjects, modeling related. And then other people have asked, you know, hey, what about this project? What about these materials, etc.? And man, the the community has been really, really good about when I post something, they've been really good about responding to me. And when other members have posted stuff, they've been really good about responding. And to me, that's one of the big values of the dojo is the exchange of information because I've learned stuff that I wasn't aware of. Some of it has helped me in my model room remodel. And I've it's just been really great. So I encourage everybody go to the dojo, you know, quite often, daily. Post, particularly post if you have questions, either about techniques or materials or kits, etc. And also as you're building, let us see what you're building.

Mike 10:26

Yeah. I like those the best.

Kentucky Dave 10:29

Yeah, I I'll tell you that that that's a close second to the to the modeling question ones for me.

The 3M Tape Thread Takes Off

Mike 10:36

Well, here's an interesting tidbit, and I know we'll talk about it more in the listener mail segment of the first feature episode for July, which will be 166. But that thread on the dojo that got started, I don't know who started it, but it was in regard to your comments on on the podcast about the 3M tape. Yes. That one's got some legs.

Kentucky Dave 10:59

Yes, it does. People keep giving me credit for it, and I keep saying, I appreciate that I was able to let you know about it, but the only reason I know about it is one of our listeners told me about it. And I wish I could and I wish I could remember who you were so I could give you the proper credit.

Mike 11:22

But they need to pop up and tell you it was them.

Kentucky Dave 11:25

Yeah. And that's the great thing is, you know, so somebody mentioned it to me, I mentioned it on the podcast, and now other people are taking it from there and running with it. And and I that's nothing but great.

Mike 11:42

Well, good. I I've enjoyed that one. I'll I'll I'll uh tell this now and we'll talk a little bit more during the future episode, but you'll have to remind me if I forget. But the knowledge of that material is now creeping back into something I'm doing for work.

Kentucky Dave 11:55

Oh, really?

Mike 11:56

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Kentucky Dave 11:58

Oh, cool.

Mike 11:59

Cool. So we'll see, man.

Kentucky Dave 12:02

So we could have a dojo topic in space at some point.

Mike 12:06

Um, it may help make something that goes astray.

Kentucky Dave 12:09

There you go. Well, that's what I mean. That's what I mean. So I can't wait to hear more about that.

Nationals Meetups And Final Reminders

Mike 12:17

So, folks, recommend your friends come on in and send us a request to join the dojo. So keep it up, folks. We appreciate it. Join us for our two feature episodes in the month of July. And tell you what, let us know if you're coming to the national convention. Uh, so we so we so we will know who's gonna come by a table. That'd be great.

Kentucky Dave 12:35

Yes. Yeah, because we want all of you to come by the table. Because as much fun as it is interacting over the internet or the interwebs, as the as the kids say, the the face-to-face stuff is really some of the best.

Mike 12:53

All right, man. Well, Dave, don't blow all your fingers off. Fourth of July, you're gonna need those at the bench.

Kentucky Dave 12:57

Yeah, that ain't gonna happen. I stay far away from that stuff. All right, man. All right. You take care.