It was paint-staking ... but I had a ball

kaorukamiya · Post time 23-9-2011 12:46 PM

HOW about this for a bit of paintballing — a baseball that was given a fresh coat of emulsion EVERY DAY for 34 years.
Wacky Michael Carmichael, 64, started in 1977 after his son gave it the first coat. Since then, the ball has had 22,894 licks of paint — and is now so big Michael has to use a roller.Originally measuring 9in around, it now has a 70½in circumference and weighs 250st — as much as a small car.In fact, the ball is so huge it needs re-enforced metal rods to hang in the shed that Michael specially built for it at his home in Indiana, US.

People come from all over the world to see the ball, add a layer of their own and take a picture. Michael — a painter and decorator — said: "It started as a relatively simple project and a bit of fun but I just kept on painting and painting and painting and before I knew it, the ball was enormous. "Then I didn't want to stop. I moved it out the garage a good few years ago after it outgrew it, and now has its own special shed.

"People come from all over the world to add a coat and get their picture taken with it. "Sometimes I can add up to ten coats a day if the weather is dry, but we've added at least one every day." Michael — a granddad of six, who lives with wife Glenda, 61 — admits spending thousands of dollars on his project. It has now been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest ever painted ball. And Michael added: "I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with it but have no plans to stop painting it."My grandchildren have expressed an interest in it so maybe it could become a family heirloom."

[img]

[/img]
[img]

[/img]