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Yes! IPMS chapter at Ellsworth/Hancock...IPMS Down East. Hancock County Scale Modelers if you will. Meets first Wednesday at Hancock VFD 2 @ 7 pm. There's also an IPMS Chapter down in Portland. Email or message me and I'll give you a phone number. Where are you?

I'm doing this at the meeting right now.

Rick

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3 hours ago, Alternative 4 said:

Is Maine like Stephen King describes?

I sure hope so, I would love to explore that state outside of Bangor. I read Salem's Lot, 1963, and Needful Things recently and it has sparked my interest.

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We've lived here 21 years. Maine is a neat place to live and visit. I suppose it is fair to say you'd need awhile to get into the culture like King writes about. Some people say it is hard to get to know Mainers but we have made several very good local friends. Anybody not born here is a "from away" and we don't fight it. Some do and get, shall we say, unhappy.

It  is a beautiful place, too. From sea coast to mountains. The summer gets pretty crowded with "from-aways" in many places.  Fall is wonderful.

There are two IPMS chapters: Portland and Down East. Down East group meets in Hancock near Ellsworth. No hobby shops left. The nearest are in the Boston area. We order most things online or phone. A lot of us are on a first name basis with our Post Office, UPS and FedEx delivery folks! Also, there are special challenges modeling in the winter. The cold, and humidity are two.

Never mind the politics!

Will you see Steve King wandering the sidewalks? Probably not. YMMV. He does have a good reputation and he and his wife are generous supporters on many Maine non-profits.

OK, That's enough of a primer. Come see us and the scenery for more. We have a fifth season called mud season, mostly in April. It's a mess.

Rick

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11 hours ago, fulcrum1 said:

I sure hope so, I would love to explore that state outside of Bangor. I read Salem's Lot, 1963, and Needful Things recently and it has sparked my interest.

 

Speaking as a Masshole who frequently is up in ME for work / vacation, I love the place.   Portland is a pretty happening city these days, the coastal area is beautiful (but the water is way too cold to swim in).   If you are up for a road trip starting near Bangor, head up to Presque Isle.  It’s a really pretty little farming town (don’t forget to check out the old BOMARC launch sites).  Then continue on towards Caribou, where you can wander through what was one of the largest SAC bases in the US, the former Loring AFB site.   Last I was up there, most of the buildings, WSA, etc were still intact. 

 

If you keep going past Loring, you will end up in one of the largest wilderness areas in the US.  Nothing but lakes, woods and lots of wildlife.  Great place for hunting, fishing, camping, etc.

 

Also, if you are into climbing, take a hike up Elephant Mountain.   You’ll see the remains of a B-52 that crashed there back in the 60’s, along with a memorial to the crew who died (I think one pilot survived the crash by wrapping himself up in his parachute to get through a night of sub-zero weather and snow). 

 

Decent plane watching at Bangor International Airport.  It’s a frequent stopover point for troop flights coming to/from the mid-east, also has a guard KC-135 unit based there.   Lots of unusual aircraft often present. Last time I was by there, saw John Travolta’s 707 on the ramp.

Edited by 11bee
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9 hours ago, Rick in Maine said:

We've lived here 21 years. Maine is a neat place to live and visit. I suppose it is fair to say you'd need awhile to get into the culture like King writes about. Some people say it is hard to get to know Mainers but we have made several very good local friends. Anybody not born here is a "from away" and we don't fight it. Some do and get, shall we say, unhappy.

It  is a beautiful place, too. From sea coast to mountains. The summer gets pretty crowded with "from-aways" in many places.  Fall is wonderful.

There are two IPMS chapters: Portland and Down East. Down East group meets in Hancock near Ellsworth. No hobby shops left. The nearest are in the Boston area. We order most things online or phone. A lot of us are on a first name basis with our Post Office, UPS and FedEx delivery folks! Also, there are special challenges modeling in the winter. The cold, and humidity are two.

Never mind the politics!

Will you see Steve King wandering the sidewalks? Probably not. YMMV. He does have a good reputation and he and his wife are generous supporters on many Maine non-profits.

OK, That's enough of a primer. Come see us and the scenery for more. We have a fifth season called mud season, mostly in April. It's a mess.

Rick

Do tell about winter modeling. I've built in the dry cold and in hot humidity and worked around it, what are the challenges?

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Been there many times as my cousin lives in Falmouth but grew up on Peakes Island and in Portland.  My mom also moved to Portland, from Canada, after graduating from nursing school but she returned to nursing in Canada after a few years.

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Sometimes we think of going to Canada as well! But I'm not going to discuss politics.

Despite all the good things about living here, Maine is, admittedly, a hobby shop and air show desert. The last hobby shop and military base have disappeared. but, despite that, there are two strong IPMS chapters as well as modelers in the rural areas.

The big air show expected this year at the former NAS Brunswick cancelled. Some businesses have had success at the former Loring AFB and some really fast motorcycles have used the long runway.

Many of us use mail order and, fortunately, get great service, especially when a group makes a big order.

We definitely love it here most of the time. Some great shoreline, parks, forests, even weather, after we learned how to manage it.:thumbsup: I'm not saying it is perfect. Just wicked good!

Rick

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I'd pack up and move back tomorrow if I could. Was also stationed at NAS Brunswick (along with that knucklehead above me...ya notice we're both in the Pax River area now??) and lived in town  there. Wife enjoyed it in Spring, Summer, and Fall but being a Southern gal winter was not her thing...although I had to beat her out the door to run the snowblower on most days it snowed! My kids loved it there, so much so that my son ended up going to college at UMaine, Orono.

 

There was an ok hobby shop in Bath at the time I lived there, also down in South Portland?? (Frilldo were was that other hobby shop??). Made it to the IPMS DowneastCon once while there, and even took home an award or two...was deployed all the other times it happened. P-3s were in high demand then.

Edited by 82Whitey51
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There was a joint in Bath but I can not remember the name of it.  It was a nice shop had a few Hasegawa 72 scale P-3 and EP-3 kits and an okay selection of supplies.  That one was in Sacco ? i believe wasn't it?  decent shop with RC planes hanging from the ceiling. 

 

 

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