John's Whatever Bench Returns ...

[JohnRatzenberger]

From the Washington Post, this afternoon, but the 1st sentence are my sentiments exactly:

NEW YORK — And just like that, after five years of posturing, 99 agonizing days of an owner-imposed lockout, and three months of intermittent negotiations that left many wondering if anyone really wanted to get a deal done at all, Major League Baseball is back. The league’s owners and players tentatively reached a new collective bargaining agreement Thursday afternoon in New York.

It's a simple game -- hit the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball, run the bases -- and plenty of money for all -- so just get out there and Play Ball !

[iggie]

I honestly don't know what to think or say about your health issues John, except to say that I sincerely hope that things will improve in time. I'll look forward to seeing your progress on the various projects you have on the go a and when you can and it goes without saying that I hope that someone knocks heads together and you can get back to enjoying MLB soon!

[JamesPerrin]

Your health seems a real game of swings and roundabouts John and I permanently have my fingers crossed that you’ll reach some sort of equilibrium.

[DavidWomby]

Your health seems a real game of swings and roundabouts John and I permanently have my fingers crossed that you’ll reach some sort of equilibrium.

James summed up my feelings too, John.

Best wishes

David

[JohnRatzenberger]

Thanks guys, and be sure I am not putting my displeasure with the MLB thing ahead of my concerns about Ukraine situation - I'm dealing with that in other ways. But Royals baseball, as obscure as it may be to many others, is my relaxer.

[jssel]

I hear you John.

Love my Tigers

[ShaunW]

Sorry to hear about your health woes, John and I hope things improve for you asap. I'm a little bit too English to appreciate the finer points of baseball I'm afraid, but if it gives you pleasure then I'm all for it

[Softscience]

Thanks guys, and be sure I am not putting my displeasure with the MLB thing ahead of my concerns about Ukraine situation - I'm dealing with that in other ways. But Royals baseball, as obscure as it may be to many others, is my relaxer.

I hear what you're saying, but watching the Royals can hardly be relaxing

[JohnRatzenberger]

It's all in expectations - we know we are small market, but we've always had owners who spent wisely, cultivated a good farm system, and fit within our middle-America values. The fans appreciate it as do the players. The ball park was a great place to raise our kids. Every half-dozen years or so, it all comes together and we win division, league, or even world series - and we know enough to start all over again.

One more baseball whine - along with the CBA, they have also taken another step toward making the American & National Leagues the same, with the DH now for all and now we'll play more interleague games than before. OK, I'm American League, DH, etc - and can appreciate the management differences of the National League w/o the DH - it is even quite interesting -- BUT the World Series is where the two Leagues play each other, not regular season. It's bad enough to have all the Amer.League high dollar players paraded around, esp the hated Yankees, but I am really uninterested in the Nat.League ones. Oh, well ...

BREAK. I know I may be coming across like Joyless Johnny in all this, so lets go back to models.

I finally got back on the bench with the two Matchbox ships. I am still painting, but trying to move faster and more organized.



The San Diego has had a base coat of 5-O put over the rest of the structures and also the pieces still on the sprue. Now I can both assemble and put on the next camo color and the deck/upper surface. One thing that bugs me is the small (20mm) tubs are small and the walls thick - I can get over the 40mm tubs & kit guns - sort of - but unless I figure a way to widen the interior of the 20mm tubs, I don't see how I can even fit some small PE guns. I will have to think about that.

Finally, on Duke of York, I have finished putting a coat of gray on all the deck details - dozens & dozens of them. I found that I got most of the tops but only 3 of 4 sides on many and had to touch up previous work. And of course I'll have to go back and try to touch up the decks where the swabbies spilled paint. Lots of work. I also slopped base color paint over remaining structures and all the parts on the sprue - again, should speed things up.

[Stuart]

Nice to see some progress on those two ships John.

[JamesPerrin]

Sounds like steady progress. Are the tubs circular? Can the be drilled out?

[JohnRatzenberger]

Yes, I think so but haven’t tried yet. I don’t want to shatter the tub and I concerned the cutting end may go too deep, although that could be filled I suppose. I will play with it soon.

BTW, I have lots of metric, decimal, and index drills so I should be able to work in small increments.

[iggie]

I've cut down a drinking straw before to replace the tub sides, but finding one the correct size can be tricky

[JohnRatzenberger]

Yes that works but after 1st try with PE I decided to try a different approach.

[Clashcityrocker]

Maybe a step drill would work?

Nigel