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Plastic Model Mojo
Plastic Model Mojo, a podcast dedicated to scale modeling, as well as the news and events around the hobby
Episodes
254 episodes
August, Aussies, and the IPMS National Convention: August Twelve Minute Modelsphere
Digger Dave Goldfinch joins us for some brief travel talk, from recent events to what’s ahead, including the 2026 IPMS National Convention in Fort Wayne. There’s a full-on side quest too: a road trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Hunts...
Cleaner Air And Smarter Workspaces For Scale Modelers: Episode 167
The fastest way to lose your modeling mojo is not a bad kit, it is a workspace that fights you every step of the build. With the IPMS Nationals in Fort Wayne around the corner, we keep things “Mojo Light” but pack in a ton of practical shop tal...
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Star Trek Builds And Ice Cream: August Model Show Spotlight
Vendors sold out months early, a Star Trek 60th anniversary category on the awards table, and a full day of plastic modeling in one of the most visitor-friendly spots in north Alabama. We sit down with Tom Clark from the
Superabundance In Plastic Modeling: Episode 166
The hobby is drowning in great choices right now, and that’s both a gift and a trap. We talk through what “superabundance” really looks like in modern scale modeling: a flood of high-quality plastic model kits, aftermarket decals, 3D printed pa...
Mighty Eighth Book Giveaway!
A Mighty Eighth Air Force book is on the table, but we’re not doing a “click and win” giveaway. We want something that makes the show better for everyone: your best Shop Talk topic ideas and your sharpest questions for the Wheel of Accidental W...
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 featur...
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What If Your Next Build Started At The Museum, Or On A Tour: Episode 165
A tiny paint question can turn into a big lesson about how the hobby actually works. We start with the everyday reality of scale modeling: reorganizing the model room, fighting distractions, and trying to protect bench time while life keeps pil...
New Tech And Better Shows For Modelers: Episode 164
A hobby can feel timeless right up until the moment it changes under your hands. We start with the real-world catch up: Wonderfest, the sprint toward the IPMS Nationals in Fort Wayne, and the listener mail that reminds us why this community is ...
Inside The 2026 IPMS USA National Convention Plan: Model Show Spotlight
You can feel when a Nationals is being built with real intention and Fort Wayne is making that case early. We sit down with John Figueroa, chair of the 2026 IPMS USA National Convention, and treasurer Dave Mason to get the behind-the-scenes loo...
Wonderfest Afterglow: June Twelve Minute Modelsphere
We get real about the behind-the-scenes side of running a scale modeling podcast. May hit us with health issues, a car that refused to make the trip, and the kind of production chaos that throws schedules off. We lay out what June should look l...
We Keep Building Because It Keeps Us Sane: Episode 163
A hobby can be the best kind of escape until your workspace fights you, your calendar fills up, and the internet decides a vague press blurb means the sky is falling. We start with what’s been happening at our own benches, including Dave’s push...
Squadron’s 3D Print Push
Something big is happening in scale modeling, and you can feel it in the way builders talk about 3D printing, new subjects, and the shows that are turning into true hobby meetups. We sit down with Brandon Lowe from Squadron to get a grounded lo...
PMM Twelve Minute Modelsphere: May 2026
We zoom out to the bigger modeling hobby community. We recap our trip to the AMPS International Convention in South Bend, Indiana, from standout vendors to the simple joy of photographing great models without hovering too close with a phone. We...
Two Can’t Miss Scale Modeling Events In Sacramento And Salt Lake City
Two model shows, two very different philosophies, one shared goal: make the scale modeling hobby feel bigger than your workbench. We’re in the thick of show season, and we’re shining a light on events that are actively evolving what a great mod...
Housekeeping at Plastic Model Mojo: Episode 162
Your bench time is precious, so when something starts sabotaging it, like CA glue fumes wrecking your sinuses or a half-finished kit stalling for months, we want fixes that actually work. After two big shows in three weeks, we finally do some m...
Kicking off a Special Feature on the Plastic Model Dojo: A PMM Special
He beat a brutal stretch of chemo, got the all-clear, then asked the question every craftsperson quietly fears: do the hands and the mind still work the same way? Our friend Ed Bareth is back, and he’s turning that question into plastic, paint,...
What If The Golden Age Of Modeling Makes You Freeze: Episode 161
Staring at a perfectly organized workbench and still not touching plastic is a special kind of frustration. A listener writes to us after a 30 year break from scale modeling, and the problem is not motivation, it is overload: canopy masks, weat...
PMM Twelve Minute Modelsphere: April 2026
We’re back from HeritageCon feeling the best kind of tired, the kind you earn after a weekend packed with great people, hobby shop stops, and a contest floor full of inspiration. We share highlights from the trip, what stood out about the quali...
The Golden Age Of Modeling And 44 Pounds Of Cheese: Episode 160
A simple lunch-break experiment turns into a genuine “wait, what just happened?” moment: we take AI prompting seriously, generate photorealistic figure concepts for a WWII Eastern Front diorama, and push that workflow toward a printable 3D resu...
Three April Model Shows Worth The Trip: April Model Show Spotlight
April is stacked with model shows, but not all scale model contests feel the same once you walk into the room. We line up three very different events and get into the details that actually matter when you’re deciding where to spend a Saturday: ...
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From AI Prompt To Printable Figure with Jake McKee: Episode 159
An AI prompt that becomes a real scale figure you can hold in your hand sounds like science fiction, but the gap just got a lot smaller. We sit down with returning guest Jake McKee to walk through the exact, messy, real-world workflow he is usi...
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Twelve Minute Modelsphere: March 2026
Ready to watch text turn into tiny people you can actually paint? We kick off March with big plans, bigger shows, and a hands-on look at a workflow that converts AI prompts into resin-ready 3D figures for your next diorama. It started with a li...
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Why We Build: Friendship and Focus Episode 158
When the days are short and the bench time is shorter, what keeps us building? We open the studio door on a fast, funny, and honest ride through the parts of scale modeling that actually matter: a workspace that invites you to sit down, a ritua...
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Inside HeritageCon: Dates, Registration, Vendors, And A Flying Lancaster
The Model Show Spotlight is brought to you by The World of Armor!A flying Lancaster overhead, rows of models below, and a sold‑out vendor hall buzzing with deals—
Fear Targets and Finding Fun Shop Talk: Episode 157
Ever stalled on a “dream build” because you’re afraid to mess it up? We went straight at those fear targets—perfectionism, PE jitters, bare‑metal dread, and the myth that pros are “just fast”—and came back with practical fixes that make the ben...
