“Charting a Course”
Dateline Meow-cow, Idaho. While I haven’t gotten to the bench a whole lot this past week, I did make a trek up to Spokane with friends and hit B&B Hobbies and Hobbytown hobby shops. Somewhere in the past week or so I saw a post online about the XF5F Skyrocket and decided it was weird enough that I would look around for a kit. Sure enough, B&B had two and so my quest to add another yellow wing to my collection (aka stash) was complete. As if that wasn’t enough of a sign, a fellow modeler tipped me off to the Grumman XF5F-1 & XP-50 Skyrocket book at a local used book store. While there I also picked up Flying Colors. Both cost a total of $11. Pretty good buy, if I say so myself! On to the podcast review.
Plastic Model Mojo Ep81 (01:52) 2/9/2023. Clocking in at just under 2 hours, Mike and Dave talk Modelsphere, Modeling Fluids, a hefty Listener Mail section, IPMS National San Marcos update, What’s on the Bench, Favs & Yawns and the special segment “2023 Charting a Course“.
Mike and Dave plan on heading up to HeritageCon, most likely to ensure there is no hanky-panky going on with the Moosaroo Cup judging. Or … to ensure their “donation” is appropriately received.
I enjoyed the listener mail in this episode. The first was concerning the ‘Wheel of Misfortune’ segment from a previous episode that dealt with fears & inhibitors to modeling and the effects of social media on the hobby. Has it made it better or worse and is it good or bad for the hobby? I’d say a little of both. Personally, I find the excessive posting of minute incremental steps somewhat annoying. Cross posting to multiple groups runs a close second as it seems I see a lot of the same people in many of the groups. After about the fourth same post I tend to ignore and scroll on by. As a result, I tend to visit fewer and fewer groups.
A second email from Detail & Scale on their new book F-117 sent me off to my storage locker to dig out my old PC game F-19. Unfortunately, it’s from the mid ’90s and the 3.5″ disks are not readable on my Mac. 😦 Maybe I could wipe my old desktop and install unix? But that would be a lot of work and checking Steam might be a better option. This email had me waxing nostalgic for F-19, Silent Service II, Mech Warriors, Great Naval Battles of the North Atlantic, and IL-2. And the hits from the 90s goes on.
I had to laugh at the propeller being stepped on. Not that it was funny but rather the rabbit hole something like that could cause. Apparently, the aftermarket parts come with the hub & blades separate that necessitate a prop alignment jig. Imagine the time, money and effort not to mention the research and postage involved 😉 Yikes!
The last one made me chuckle. “How many time have I had a kit or book in hand, put it down and then went back to buy it, only to find it gone?” Picture IPMS Nationals in Las Vegas where I saw a Kinetic F-16 A/B NSAWC Adversary kit. I held it, looked longingly at it and set it back to make one more circuit in the vendor room while I thought it over. But sure enough, when I decided I had to buy it, it was gone! When I heard this question in the episode I paused the recording and went to find the one in my stash. Upon returning home from the Nats that year I promptly located one online and ordered it. Is it built? Nope. But I can.
2023 Charting a Course. Dave plans to be more optimistic, Mike used Boston’s “taking my time” to plot his 2023 course. Me, I usually get stuck in a time loop just staring at my stash. Of course, my latest acquisition usually rises to the top of the pile so when one is finished whatever is on top is usually the next on the bench.
A great episode, one that made me think. Give a listen!
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Model Musings from a Cavilier Cat 