Held on September 28, 2019 at the unique and wonderful Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, CapCon is the bi-annual scale model show and contest hosted by IPMS Ottawa. It’s Been Ten Years?!?!? CapCon is the first contest I ever went to (2007) and the first contest I ever entered (2009). I still remember being a […]
Read More 2019 IPMS Ottawa CapCon ShowIt seems a bit silly to be discussing the virtues of Social Media & scale models in a WordPress blog post. Has Social Media hit scale modeling? Of course it has. Has this been a good thing? Of course it has – even if there are some downsides. I believe one of the biggest changes in this […]
Read More A Model Maker Revival: Scale Models and Social MediaWe hear a lot about the demise of the hobby and certainly the demise of the brick and mortar hobby shop. Of course the internet, China, Japan, video games, expensive kits, lack of youth interest, the economy, oil prices, and the way the winds are blowing that day are a few the many reasons for […]
Read More Hobby Stores Bucking the Trend – The Hobby Centre (Ottawa, Ontario)Last weekend I attended the annual contest and model show put on by the Association de Modeles Reduits de l’Outaouais – otherwise known as AMRO. As far as I can tell, this is a small local club that meets regularly in the home of one of the organizers. AMRO is not affiliated with any formal society like IPMS […]
Read More AMRO 2019: A small show brought to you for 30 years.I love pretty much anything aviation related. I love seeing airplanes, reading about them, building models of them and for a short while – actually flying them. And when it comes to seeing actual planes, I really enjoy visiting aviation oriented museums. I have featured several aviation museum visits on Model Airplane Maker: A Visit […]
Read More Finding Inspiration: A Visit to the Canada Aviation & Space MuseumWhen the announcement of Tamiya’s latest 1/48 scale release hit, I could only think of my “wish list” from back in January 2019. There I wished not only for a Tamiya 1/48 Lightning, I also wished that it would be an early variant with “Miss Virginia” markings. Earlier this year I got to see a […]
Read More Tamiya’s 1/48 P-38 Lightning and the Significance of ‘Miss Virginia’When I decided to go to the 2018 Nationals, I wanted to compete and not make a fool of myself. I figured the only way I could safely bring a model with me was as a carry-on. That meant something small that could be protected in a small box; something that could easily fit into […]
Read More 1/72 Hasegawa Ki-45 NickI believe one of the more interesting parts of World War 2 airplanes is the engine. In terms of visual impact, the kit engine is one part of a model where it is worth the time to improve – especially if it is a radial engine. It is also one of the easiest ways of “improving” model […]
Read More Modeling Radial EnginesOne of the repeating things you hear in hobby circles is that the price of models today is out of line with the prices of years ago. There are several variations of this theme: Today’s manufacturers are pricing themselves out of the hobby Kits are too expensive for kids Models cost a lot more today […]
Read More The Expensive Model Kit MythWay back in my university days I played sports with a guy who considered himself very smart. His was a mind chock full of trivia and he could recall all of it at any time. When asked an obscure fact about some pop culture item, he could reply instantly. Sports? He knew that stuff cold. Entertainment, Pop-History, […]
Read More The Parrot is not a Rivet Counter.
