2025 was a shit year. Between losing my wife early in the year, setting in of depression then ending it with a massive heart attack that led to having a pacemaker installed, I just want to move forward.
I was in the process of building a 70's Challenger for this years model show. However that got set aside as I recover.
Yesterday was the 2026 Modelcon here in Chattanooga. From what they said it was a very large turn out. Something like over 300 kits on display. My friend had a booth set up at the request of his friends sister, who had passed late last year. She wanted to sell off his kits and what not. She is a sweet lady. And i expressed my condolences as I had met her brother and he helped me quite a bit in building my first tank as well as the Stoumont Panther.
I also got my brother to go to the show and he was overwhelmed. He didn't realize the size of the show, for it being a local show, the kits, vendors, etc. I may have gotten him bitten to start building as we did when we were younger.
I took my Lost Soldiers diorama as well as the Stoumont tank. Last year the dio took gold, this year it took silver. The judges stated a solider was missing a helmet, yet the "solider" was wearing a soft cap. No one understood that one. The tank took silver last year, this time around it took bronze. I had an idea I would get hit for points on the wheels, but both judges came back with the same thing. Not enough track sag and no weathering on the tracks.
I'm not upset, nor could I care less. I just wanted something to display and since I'm not building right now, I just took a few pieces of what I've already finished.
I spent about $200 in total and ended up with a hand full of free gifts thanks to the lady who was working with Eric. My little stash closet is running out of room. And despite me being adamant about not wanting to build a ship, I now have a ship to build.
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| 2026 haul from the show. |
I didn't take as many photos as normal due to me being sore and hanging with my brother and nephew. But the builds this year were phenomenal. Here's a link to my drive of this years photo's.
I won't be building as much as I have in the past, going forward. But I will be building bigger and better. More time and effort will be put into learning new techniques and making my builds better than previous builds.
I will still build things in between, kind of like weekend rush builds. As this helps with my techniques but gives me an opportunity to try things that I may want on the more important builds. I do want to concentrate a lot more on figure painting. I see some from people online on the social media platforms I'm on, and it's like, damn I wish i could paint like that. Now I get to work on it.
To wrap, I want to leave a bad year behind and move on to a better and bigger year ahead. And to everyone who follows me, here's to a good, healthy and safe 2026 and may your builds be bigger and better.
