Yet Another Looking Forward Post!

Do we really need another year-end-retrospective or new-year-looking-forward post? Oh sure, the calendar has flipped to 2026. Some stuff was done in 2025. It is always a busy year at work and at home. And there are always unexpected things that bring both setbacks and opportunities.

Maybe these posts are important to show that everyone is pretty much experiencing the journey in the same way. Maybe people just like to look at built models and dream about the possibilities that lay ahead? I definitely should not suggest these posts are lazy ways to upload content by recycling previously posted material.

Hmmmm….no… probably not.

I can say 2026 will be a little different for me from a ‘spare time’ perspective. In November, I wrote what was (hopefully) my final exam for a course I have been taking since 2021. I now fully understand why we attend college in our younger days. Fewer distractions and brains that can easily absorb new information. It seems my life is a continuous distraction in my middle years. All this to say, I did far less modeling these past two years because all my time was devoted to preparing for three unnecessarily difficult exams.

But now, hopefully, all that is over. I’ll be finding out for sure in the next 2 weeks. Both fingers crossed. I am very tired of studying….

The Recycled Material

Now, it is not like I did not do any modeling this year. In fact, I felt that I did a lot of quality work. Three models may not be the most output, but I had fun doing them. I learned a lot from doing them and I created some fun videos from these builds:

And I was able to get away and visit HeritageCon in March where I met up with a pile of my modeling buddies like the Mojo Podcast, Panzermeister36, Kris Sieber, John Chung, Matt the Scale Canuck, Alex Bisset, Steve Hustad, and Mark Copeland. I even met some new modeling buddies: John Bonanni and TJ Haller. We definitely had a good time at the show.

Unfortunately, it was the only show I got to attend last year. As I said, when I wasn’t working, stupid studying had me chained to my home office for most of the year. God, I really hope I passed.

So, what’s ahead?

Right now I am working on a fun project that has me experimenting with ‘green’ modeling: A Corsair made up of the leftover bits of other Corsair projects. Now, I have done some kit bashing before but never with discarded bits. I also experimented with riveting the airframe and applying a freehand camouflage pattern. I am very much enjoying this build and I will have a video sometime in the next few weeks.

Speaking of videos, I have a few fun ideas for 2026. I won’t go into a lot of detail as I have not mapped out these builds yet, but I am hoping to resurrect a decades-old build from the shelf of doom, I’ve got a unique model display idea that will use LEDs and I am trying to up my model display base game with a jungle base complete with palm trees.

My buddy Zach Pease of Man Cave Models invited me to participate in a buddy build for the Eduard P-40 and despite my group build handicap, I am going to try my best to finish within the timeline. And if I don’t I fully expect Zach to endlessly tease me about it.

Other than that? Well, I am not sure yet. I think it is silly for me to map out an entire year at this point. But I am hoping this year will be a productive one.

And Lastly, A Thank You

Thank you to all who have checked out the blog, clicked a video, shared a comment, or reached out and introduced yourselves. Your encouragement and support mean a lot to me. I am looking forward to uploading even better and more entertaining videos in 2026 and perhaps the odd blog post too!