EFGrune

March/April was received about 2 weeks ago, 20 miles south of you

There is no requirement levied, pro or con, in Rule III (and following) regarding bases. Nick addresses bases under II.14 [and II.15], which if you are not in compliance with, will move you out of the armor categories to vignette/diorama where there are no OOB awards. Under armor OOB specifically, you may block off a visual sight line through the bottom of an open sponson - and I would imagine by extension blocking under/through an engine grill. Add antennas, drill out guns. Use what came with the kit -- no aftermarket guns, stowage, or incidental details. Look what won previously in ShutterAce's link. In short, a basic base. Just ground cover, no extras -- you're cool Ed Grune; National Head Ship Judge

Trumpeter's Jeremiah O'Brien or John Brown Liberty Ships will fill the bill as tramp steamers. After the war many were seconded to commercial maritime operators. remove the gun tubs and paint in house colors and you are good to go for a civilian subject. They are plastic in 1:350 and 1:700 scales. PitRoad made some 1:700 scale versions as AKs. There are also resin & brass kits of Liberties from L'Arsenal amd Iron Shipwright in 1:350 Loose Cannon made some 1:700 scale resin & brass C-1, C-3, and C-4 subjects as well as some tanker and interwar subjects. They may be a little harder to find as Hugh Letterly (LC-West) and Dave Angelo (LC-East) have parted

But perhaps stick a piece of tape over the 'Captured SdKfz ... ' plaque on the front of the base. It confuses the story you want to tell. You are capturing all of these figures at 'a moment in time', but your SdKfz was captured long enough ago to have US markings field applied. The half-track is the centerpiece, but the story is the men.

My wife and one of her girlfriends are talking about a post-pandemic family trip for July 2022 to Orlando. What are the dates of the convention in Omaha so I can get it on the calendar before they firm up the trip dates?

Just to square the circle on this, Edgar Seay, Jr or Junior as he was known among friends, passed away yesterday (2/19/21) after a long illness. He was 79.

The OP may be talking about the "Latest Issue" posted on the IPMS home page, May/June issue with McFadden's redneck houseboat on the cover. I have received two issues since that one, the latest just this week.

Their IT department was in-house. When they closed the doors the webmaster left with the only copy of the website password.

Don’t laugh, a club I was associated with in NY, at the monthly meeting when members would stand up for their show & tell, they would start as ‘ My name is Ed, and I’m a modeler’.

Digging through my photos to update my new desktop, came across this of the Hallmark Disney Christmas Ornament from a few years back ... That's a USofA dime for scale. The Nautilus doesn't look out of place among other 1:350 sub models on the shelf

1). Paper or masking tape belts are fine. What is not allowed are manufactured belts 2). Rigging & antennas as shown on instructions or box art are allowed. May be either stretched sprue or wire 2a). Adding piping or brake lines to an OOB built us not allowed, whatever the material. Aftermarket decals/alternate markings are always allowed Jim Clark, head AC judge, was supposed to be looking at the AC OOB rules in light of the multi-media included in many modern kits (vis Eduard Profipak vs Weekend) Perhaps aligning them similar to Ships Single Media/High Tech

Photos in Stillwell's Arizona book (1941) do not show a ladder fore or aft sides of the funnel. Kagero's 3D drawings of the Arizona show a ladder from the platform at the level of the observation platform, in several breaks, to the top of the funnel. This ladder os on the forward side of the funnel. There are also ladders shown in Kagero leading to the observation platforms midway up the sides of the funnels Above these platforms, on their roofs, are gun tubs. While no light guns are shown, there are deflection pipes shown. Above these platforms are "monkey bars" which would allow access to the funnel top

They WERE moved, some dragged kicking and screaming.

The scale associated with OO gauge is 1:76. Many other of the old Airfix and Matchbox armor kits were listed as either 1:76 or OO In the model railroad world gauge refers to the distance between the rails

What’s happening with the chapter awards for the 2020 year: Website, Newsletter, Member, and Chapter of the Year? Being announced this year or will they be deferred to next year too?

In Mark Persichetti’s article in the current issue of the journal he indicated that the active membership at the time of the election of officers and the GSB question was 4020.

I think Phil Perry is working on a bounce-height test for that category🤥

I'll speak to the judging issue. The NCC is working on a plan to have the teams of three doing independent evaluation and each member produce a ranked list of their top 5 or 6 entries in a category. The lists will then be merged in a form of rank choice voting to determine final placement. Detais are still being worked out. There were other options; popular vote and single person judging were discussed and discarded. As of last week, all of the NCC judges have indicated that they are planning on attending. However Eileen Persichetti has said she will not be going . The efforts to crunch the numbers to produce the results in time for the awards may be difficult. I suggested that Mark Persichetti say what our plan B was going to be. We'll catch flak one way or another. Perhaps better before than during & after. Ed Grune -- NCC Ship Judge

Things may be coming to a head. Tarrant county (FtWorth/Arlington) has just implemented a mask policy which will expire 3 August. That puts all of the big cities (perhaps except Lubbock where there are more cows than people) under a mask wearing policy. governor Abbott has also just cancelled elective surgeries in Harris (Houston), Bexar (San Antonio), Travis ((Austin) and Dallas counties. He didn’t want to shutdown but 10% infection rate was his red flag. Passed that a day or two ago

Judge Becerra’s order also directs businesses to develop and implement a plan to ensure that patrons comply with mask use. Penalties may be borne against the business, not the individual who declines to wear a mask A person who declines to wear a mask may be denied entry to a business. Business licenses/occupancy permits may be pulled if egregious. At least 17 bars in the state have been closed by the ABC board for failing to follow distance requirements since this weekend

Point of information. As of Tuesday morning (23_June) there is no statewide mandatory mask order. Governor Abbott has expressed concern about the infection and hospitalization rate, but has declined to issue a statewide order.

You would probably help them better by buying one or more trophy packs. Decals, pins, and typical swag bag items are cheap. The cost of putting these sorts of things on are often in the awards. They are obligated to provide upwards of 180 trophy sets, all awarded or not. Heck, we found un-awarded 2000 Dallas convention plaques when we cleaned out MAL Hobby last year

Len, what does the San Marcos Embassy Suites see as the 'new normal'? There was a report on tonights NBC Evening News which they reported on sanitation and distancing procedures at hotels, centering their report on Hilton Hotels (parent company of Embassy Suites). blob:https://www.nbcnews.com/2646adf9-0a9c-4d55-938c-ed1096842501 No bellman at arrival, online check-in suggested, wearing masks required, one-person elevators, do not touch the stair railings signs, no buffets, no room service, distancing marks on floor, enhanced cleaning of public spaces, but limited room cleaning and in-room amenities. The Hilton Clean-stay program on their website says they will be rolling out their procedures soon. What does Embassy Suites say they will be doing the end of next month?

Mark Young, the National Newsletter Distribution guy, has a link in his latest newsletter blast. https://mcusercontent.com/2ce6b9ff003945e52c05b12b0/files/5d7ad952-ee80-445d-a3cc-f235eeb67532/Tamiya_Paint_Mixes.pdf ou should also be able to access it via your local chapter's national newsletter point of contact

Looking for an Alliance Modelworks 1:350 scale US Navy hatches photoetch set. OOP and not available from the usual suspects. I have found a set of plans of the USS Sphinx (ARL-24) conversion of an LST at the Library of Congress/Historic American Engineering Record https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Drawing: va2038&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co =hh&st=gallery&sg = true I'm in the process of converting the AFV Club LST to the Sphinx. The hull halves, aft deckhouse, a couple guntubs, and minor details are all that will be left. The rest are sheet plexiglass and styrene strip and sheet. I have started using the Alliance hatch set and would prefer to not change manufacturer & style in mid-bulkhead.