A re-introduction, if you will

[Beekster]

Greetings, gents; Beekster here.  Yes, it has been roughly a year since I've been here.  I've been wrapped up in a wargame campaign (Star Fleet Battles), in which a buddy of mine up in Seattle is a major player.  I've been functioning as a sort of chief of staff and tactical adviser.  The game has reached a stage where the pace of strategic activity is slowing down, so I'm going to go back to the bench.  It's been an eventful time otherwise, and not all in a good way.  I had a minor health scare in September, and made some lifestyle changes to try to correct that.  Going in the right direction, but the jury's still out so I'll keep working at it. In December my father suffered a stroke.  He's recovering well and back home now, but my mother needs a lot of support in dealing with the changes, some of which may be permanent.  We don't know yet; it's been a rather rough six weeks but its getting better.  I need to reestablish connections with the things in life I enjoy, and modeling is one of those.  So I'll try to stop in here more often, and will resurrect some of my own old threads as I get back on to various projects like my Chilean Mack tank transporter, Madill 071 logging yarder, and others.  Those two need paint and I still have subassembly work to do on the cab of the Madill, but the chill and humidity here in Oregon this time of year make airbrush work a trial, so the paintwork aspects of those will wait another couple of months.  Yesterday I started tinkering with the Hobby Boss M911/M747 kit, which I will do as an ex-Army civvie truck to carry the Madill.  These rigs are old enough now that they are relatively cheap and plenty strong for hauling a 'dozer or a 43 ton yarder.  My modeling sickness hasn't really abated:  Having started the intended civvie M911, I just ordered another kit from China for $60 so I have one for a military version sometime...

Greg

[BUCKY]

Welcome back, beekster! Glad to see you have a chance for some bench time!

[JCON]

This is very welcome news to have you back with us... we kept the light on for ya!!! Jump in when you can and I'll be praying for you and the family!!!

[Beekster]

Thanks, Bucky! We'll see how much time I get and what kind of progress I can make. Something else that needs attention before I get to posting too much here is a new camera, though I haven't budgeted for one. My trusty old 8MP Sony with Zeiss zoom lens, circa 2004, is showing signs of age: Batteries barely hold a charge; takes forever and usually several tries before it connects to the computer to transfer images. It's undoubtedly time for a modest DSLR, but I need to squeeze out about $600 for that.

[BUCKY]

Like Joe said, just jump in when you can! I use a Sony 20mp camera that only cost around $200, so good cameras are out there.

[Beekster]

I've had my eye on the Sony Alpha 6000 for a while, with both a close-up macro lens and a longer zoom lens.  At the end of the month my wife and I are taking a few days away at the Oregon coast, and there's a Shutterbug store at the outlets in Lincoln City.  I think I'll take a look when we're out there.  Thanks for the kind thoughts about Dad.  He's really doing quite well for as early in the game as we are right now.  Full control of limbs, walks well, speaks well.  Problems are a left-side visual field defect and considerable aphasia, the inability to consistently select the right word when speaking.  Reading is very difficult because of the visual field problem, but with therapy that will likely improve.  The most difficult issue right now is the need for catheterization, and we are hoping that a urologist will be able to help with getting that function back as the recovery progresses.  Stroke recovery takes six to twenty-four months, so we've got a long journey ahead of us.

On the lighter side, I will eagerly await everyone's accolades for my efforts at taking one for the team...I'm sure it was my completion of my resin kitbash of a 1/35 M3A1 Lee CDL that caused Takom to announce one in plastic!  I would be happier still if Hobby Boss announced a 1/35  IDF Mack DM 885 and Agam trailer, since I've spent countless hours working on that Chilean version of mine.  Somehow, though, I doubt that a 1970s IDF tank transporter is high on their list of projects.

[RLFoster]

Welcome back, Greg! The more, the merrier!

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Knowing what a great modeler you are, I'm really looking forward to seeing some of your works on here Beekster.