I'm home off work all this week with a case of Shingles. They suck. They really, really suck. Ugly infectious blisters and quite a lot of unrelenting pain. Not much fun. But there is a positive.
It's given me lots more time to work on models than I would normally get. Having to lock myself away from the world because I'm so infectious, I've gotten a lot more scratch building of The Seahorse done than I would working full-time. And painkillers have been my friend.
I'm not going to jump the gun and show pics here just yet, but it's good to be working to that June deadline for the 2018 Australian Model Expo.
So you know, this whole Shingles thing: pluses and negatives, pluses and negatives...
Cheers,
Dave
(P.S. I'm not actually comparing Shingles to being crucified. It's not quite that bad...)
Part 6 of my scratch build series working on The Seahorse, and this time it's all about building sub-assemblies that will all plug together when it's time to complete this monster. I can't quite believe I've been working on this for six months now! I realised during the filming of this that the 2018 Australian Model Expo is less than three months away, and that I better get my arse into gear if I want to enter The Seahorse this year...
In this episode, I scratch build a crane, deck railings, a lighthouse and a life preserver ring.
Each of these is built from bits and pieces I have sitting around - discarded hardware, old bottles, pieces of old toys. There's even one piece from the 1970s in this case - did I mention I'm a bit of a hoarder?
It's definitely getting closer to completed.
The good news is that I feel the end is within sight now. That's all of the major sub-asssemblies completed. Now it's time to start finishing the main deck and hull, so that it's all ready for painting. When the paint goes on - that will be when it starts to really come to life.
My Australian audience may have felt a little left out when I announced The MOD Squad earlier this week - we had a US retailer and a UK retailer, but none from Australia. The great news is that I have been in negotiations with Hobbyco here in Australia, and they are now on board with my members discounts program! 10% off at Hobbyco, either in store or online!
Hobbyco - now an Australian retailer in The MOD Squad
Exclusive Hobbyco benefits for MOD Squad members
So if you sign up via my Patreon page, all MOD Squad members will receive a free Hobbyco Club Membership, which offers the following benefits from Hobbyco:
When you sign up as a MOD Squad member, you will receive a special link where you can also sign up as a Hobbyco Club Member (you must use the same email address for both memberships). A digital Hobbyco membership card with a unique number will then be emailled to you within 2 business days - this can be used immediately upon receipt. Your Hobbyco Club membership will be valid for as long as you continue paying your MOD Squad membership on Patreon.
How to use your free Hobbyco Club Membership
Online purchases: Login to www.hobbyco.com.au using the email address affiliated with your membership card. The 10% discount will apply upon checkout.
In store shopping: Simply show the digital card at the counter to receive your discount.
More to come!
I'm in ongoing discussions with hobby retailers to continue bringing extra value to MOD Squad members. The more value I can bring you for your 3 bucks a month, the happier I'll be!
If you have any questions, please get in touch. Otherwise, I look forward to bringing you more member benefits as they come in.
A while back I told you something big was in the works. Well here it is... Over the last year I have had a number of people ask how they can donate or support Dave's Model Workshop, but I wasn't ready to accept just "feel good" donations. This is a two way street, and I wanted to be able to offer you actual valuable benefits in return for your support. So I have worked hard to set up The MOD Squad, my supporting members program. It gives you tangible financial benefits for supporting my work.
So what is The MOD Squad?
MOD stands for "Members Only Discount", and it is my way of giving you value in return for your support. If you become a MOD Squad supporting member, for $3 a month you will receive an exclusive 10% discount on online purchases from a range of major hobby retailers. So if you normally spend $30 or more a month on modelling, you'll actually be saving money while supporting Dave's Model Workshop and allowing me to produce my videos and blog posts for a long, long time to come.
Basically, you get "Dave's Mates Rates" ;)
10% Discount retailers
Currently I have negotiated for these retailers to be part of the MOD Squad 10% Off program:
I'm in ongoing negotiations to get more retailers on board, so if your local retailer isn't on the list: contact them and tell them they should be! Then contact me and let me know, so I can negotiate with them. The more people who contact hobby retailers and swamp them telling them they should be involved, the more value we will all receive! Power to the people comrades!!!
MOD Squad Gold
There is an additional, optional level of support available which I'm calling The MOD Squad Gold. For $25 a month, you'll have an on-call modelling tutor. You can message me whenever you want with modelling questions and I'll offer ongoing feedback and advice. If you want, you'll also receive a one off 60 minute Skype session with me to discuss whatever you want: models, techniques, social media, Youtube, whatever. Also, once we hit $450 per month in support I will begin a YouTube video series where I interview Gold MOD Squadders. Plus you of course receive the 10% discount that comes with the normal level of $3 a month support. (Oh, and you'll also receive my undying gratitude for your generous support.)
How do I join The MOD Squad?
Easy. Just sign up at Patreon - it's a website that allows people to support content-producers like me (e.g. podcasters, musicians, artists, people who put stuff out on the web for free).
It's all secure and easy, and it allows me to give you something back. I view you guys as a community, not just an audience to milk funds out of, and for 3 bucks a month you can actually save money while supporting Dave's Model Workshop. That's a Good Thing for all of us.
In a nutshell: Support me at US$3 a month = 10% OFF all online hobby purchases at participating hobby retailers.
Contact me if you have any queries, or if you've just told your local retailer they should be on board. Let's make this huge.
This latest video is something a little different for me. Halfway through filming I was tempted to can it, to just give up and move on to another video - absolutely nothing went right filming this video. But then I thought that maybe there was something valuable in the absolute fiasco, that there was some little nugget of gold in among all the crud that went wrong.
I wanted to scratch build an air horn to mount to the cabin of my anti-grav build. I had a clever idea of a way to make my own air horn. I started filming. And from that moment it all started going pear-shaped.
But in the end I did come up with an air horn. It might not be as slick and polished as what I had originally envisaged, but I didn't give up. I adapted my plan, and overcame. And that is the small nugget of gold I mentioned earlier - that sense of pushing on and adapting. If Plan A doesn't work out, come up with Plan B, and then Plan C, D and E if necessary.
This video really isn't my most finest moment as a model maker and scratch builder. But it does show the reality of modelling - that things will go wrong (so many YouTube videos are just too perfect, the problems are edited out to make the modeller look perfect and totally in control...). It's important to develop that mindset of asking yourself, "If this doesn't work, what is my backup plan?" and this video shows that in absolute bloody spades.
The end result. It's lucky I'm going for a slightly shabby, beaten-up look...
(Also, lookit that glue globbing near the window frame! Add that to the "To Be Dealt With" list!)
I try not to swear in my videos - don't get me wrong, I swear like a trooper in my everyday life, but I try to keep it professional in my videos as I know it's not to everyone's taste - but I drop the word "shit" in this one. It was just that kind of modelling day yesterday ;)
Here's the latest installment in my ongoing Sci-Fi build, the Seahorse. We're up to Part 5!
The previous video, Part 4, can be found here, along with links to Part 1, 2 and 3 as well.
The interior of the cabin before it all got put together.
In Part 5 the above-deck superstructure begins to finally take shape. It's been a looooong time coming! Plus there is video of me sanding plastic with a sanding stick (riveting!) and then breaking a piece of my work (scintillating!).
So this morning I looked in my email inbox, and saw something from Metro Hobbies. They're my favourite hobby shop here in Melbourne, and last year they had to close their CBD store due to infrastructure railworks, meaning that if I wanted to visit their remaining suburban store I had to travel a 60km round trip. It was a bit of a sad situation.
But this morning's email was Very Good News Indeed. From Metro Hobbies' email:
"We are ecstatic to announce:
We are moving back to the CBD!
We are very excited to confirm that Metro Hobbies will be opening a new Melbourne CBD store this year. Bigger and better than our previous Swanston Street store, we look forward to getting the doors open as soon as possible."
Hurrah! I'm very happy to hear that. It's nice to see an example of a hobby shop re-opening rather than the ongoing trend of them closing down. Now I need to dig up those two Metro Hobbies gift cards I received for Christmas...