So...it's 2022 then.

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World at the start(ish) of 2022.

Things have already been challenging... the death of my step-dad (RIP Graham), the potential closure of the care home where I worked (Trengrouse) and a small flood in the kitchen (plumbing woes...)... but I am still trying to focus on things picking up a bit.

My wife is happy at home and work, my children are happy, the cats are happy and I am fairly happy... so there's that.

The hobby has been a mixed bag, lately. The cold air has not been kind to me so I am a bit lethargic and struggle for motivation... but there has been some progress.

First up, I received a small parcel from an adorable little kickstarter that I pledged in. Three little war-dogs arrived and have been added to my growing little Khorne warband:

Click the Pic!

Next, I started an armature for the next "Dear Tony Blair" miniature but haven't got very far with it... however, I finished the tail and horns conversion kit so it is still on the radar. I also started a bunch of Space Dwarfs:

Click the Pic!

These will end up as a DJ (with decks and sound equipment) and five close combat troopers (with bolt-pistols and melee weapons). There's still a little way to go on them but I am getting there.

Finally, I have a set idea of what my Exo troopers will look like. The idea-train has kept me awake for a few weeks but I now have the idea set... I just need to realise it now... so watch this space.

Right... back to life stuff...

My step-dad stepped into the breach when I was about to reach my teens and my sister already had. He had to deal with two angsty teenagers who had a bunch of stuff going on, after dad left. He was patient, kind, forgiving and respectful... and he took us on, as his own children. It takes a strong character to be able to do that and Graham had it in spades. I'll admit that we haven't had the closest of relationships, since I left for the military but we have always kept in contact and we have always been in each other's thoughts. I was so glad to hear that he had found true love with Maggs, if anyone ever earned happiness, it was him.

Safe travels to him and the most sincere of condolences to our family and his friends. He will be sorely missed and remembered very fondly.

...

...

...

Finally... the care home. I loved working in Trengrouse care home, up until I got COVID and could no longer work. I have been away from there for just over a year and was always hoping to return to work there. However, as a result of "restructuring"... "economising"... "corporate bullshit", Cornwall Care (the charity that runs the place) has decided to "mothball" the home. In doing so, they will be forcing a number of staff to find other work, accept voluntary redundancy or work out of town (not everyone has transport) and will cause catastrophic disruption to the vulnerable residents; most having specialist care needs. 

We are all VERY angry about this and are not taking this sitting down so various things have been started, to try and save the home. One such thing is a petition. If you feel that you would like to support us, please click the following link and sign the petition:

LINK to PETITION

The second finally... I have a charity page for my "year of no hair-cutting/shaving", in aid of the Cornwall Air Ambulance. Again, please click the following link and support me if you can:

LINK to Air Ambulance Page

That's it! See you from the picket lines!

News from the front.

 Hello again. Welcome to Inso's World.

Keeping the boring stuff short... I still have long Covid... it is still causing me issues and preventing me from returning to work... I am fed up of it and want it to end but it is just a matter of patience.

As I've mentioned before, I am still able to get things done so I have been spending most of my time geeking-out on the internet, sculpting and doing a few chores. I am trying to get out for walks on a regular basis but they are a mixed bag and can be quite a struggle.

There is one thing that I have found, that has been really important to me and that is Twitch. Twitch (if you didn't know) is an on-line, game-streaming site that has a chat function so you can communicate with the live streamer. Being stuck at home on my own a lot is a lonely business but Twitch has enabled me to make friends with people all over the world and has also filled the void of not having people around all the time... so if you are feeling lonely or just fancy watching some video games, I'd recommend it.

Link to Twitch: TWITCH

Now let's get on to the sculpting side of things. 

The last Kick-Starter for my sculpts (plus a couple of others) was run over the last few weeks and has now finished. It ended up doing pretty well and can be viewed here:

Link to Kick-Starter: Kick-Starter

Seeing as sitting on my arse is something I can do, I have managed to get a lot of sculpting done, over the last couple of months. It started with the Standard Bearer that I showed off in my last blog post and moved on from there... 

The first couple of sculpts to be finished were a Trooper with Heavy Flamer and a Lasgunner:

Click the Pix!

I wanted the Trooper with Heavy Flamer to look cheerful and the Lasgunner to look bored or reflective and I think they worked out okay. The next couple of sculpts were a pair of Medics:

Click the Pix!

The idea behind the two Medics was that they carried pistols to defend themselves and those under their care and also enable them to carry more kit. One of them has taken this to an excessive level and the other is more able to dash about and is signalling to a wounded Trooper to "stay where you are and take cover" so that he has extra time to get to him. 

Following on from these two, I sculpted a Trooper, throwing a grenade:

Click the Pic!

This sculpt was a direct response to forum feedback. Someone suggested that I should make a Trooper throwing a Grenade and a few people agreed... so I sculpted one. You will also notice a Heavy Weapon Trooper in the above image. He is one of the original ones that I sculpted a while ago but he is carrying a newly built weapon; an Auto-Cannon. I needed to finish the Auto-Cannon so that all of the Codex Heavy Weapon options were covered (along with the Heavy Flamer Trooper). After this, I noticed that I only needed one more Lasgunner pose to complete the Lasgunner poses on my list so I converted one at "high-port-arms":

Click the Pic!

Once the last of the Lasgunners were finished, I packed up the little group and sent them off for casting/production to Macrocosm Miniatures...

Click the Pic!

After sending off the miniatures, it was time to take stock and see what was left... and it turned out that I have 14 sculpts/conversions to finish for the basic list I have prepared. These are:

1x Colonel

1x Captain

3x Comms conversions 

9x Lasgunner conversions

Once I receive casts of my latest batch of sculpts, I will have all of the bodies needed for the remaining conversions (including a few that are on my workbench) and then I can take a pause before embarking on the next wave of miniatures (a Close Combat Squad, Engineseer, Servitors and Advisors) but I haven't drawn up a list yet so that I remain focussed on the current project. 

As it stands, I am working on a Captain for now and will be putting new heads on a bunch of Lasgunners while working on the Colonel. During this process I will be deciding which additional Lasgunners will get a Comms Set... so there is still a bit of work to be done.

PHEW! 

In other news, I have bought another box of Kastelan Robots to play about with and will be converting them into smaller, engineering suits... Not to mention there has been some work going on with some mecha... but that will be for another time.

In the meantime...

Click the Pic!

Stay safe, follow the Covid restrictions and look after the ones you love.

See you from the front line!

Father Nurgle's Gift

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

What can I tell you? Well, first up, I finished sculpting my Space Dwarf, Standard Bearer:

Click the Pix!

As you can see, he's just a little bit larger than his brothers (by design) and wears slightly different armour that helps him to stand out as a champion who is worthy of holding the company standard. The banner topper is about 10mm tall and is supposed to depict a Dwarf version of Thor, sculpted in a 'rustic' style.

The Standard Bearer will be sent off for casting when I have finished a few other sculpts... speaking of sculpts...

I currently have five miniatures on the corks; a Medic, Heavy Flamer, Lasgunner, Captain and Colonel. My focus is on the first three because they have the same boots, armour and webbing pattern. I'll get their bodies finished and then move on to do the same with the officers. Once that is done, I'll go back to the first three and finish them before I finish the officers. Once they are all finished, they'll get sent off to Macrocosm Miniatures, with the Standard Bearer, for casting up.

Speaking of Macrocosm Miniatures, the recent Kickstarter has successfully completed. I am very happy that Chris has done so well on the Kickstarter and also that so many people are happy to buy my work. It certainly helps with motivation for sculpting.

So far, I have provided 21 miniatures (including the Standard Bearer) for the range (this includes full sculpts and head-swaps), with another 15 or so, on the list so I still need to maintain my focus and keep churning them out!

So... life.

I can say with certainty that COVID-19 sucks. I have had it for three weeks and I have had breathing issues, troubles with dizziness/feeling faint and a general lack of energy. LUCKILY, I haven't been bad enough for a hospital trip so it could have been much worse but it has really affected me being able to move about. Sitting down is fine... it's the moving that is the bother.

This week I went to the funeral of my mother-in-law. It was a lovely little service and she was laid to rest with dignity and care. It was strange that only a few people were allowed to the service and that we couldn't gather together, afterwards but at least everything went without a hitch. I drove to the town (about 6 hours driving, each way) and was fine... up until I had to walk anywhere... that was a struggle and I nearly passed out on one occasion. It took an age to recover from even the shortest of walks... but at least I managed to get my wife and daughter to the funeral so that we could all pay our respects. That was the only time I've left my house since Jan 16th... and I'm off to the doctors tomorrow so that'll be a nice trip out...

Anyway...

I'm still here, I'm still sculpting and I'm still happy so it isn't all doom and gloom.

See you from the manufactorium!

A new year...

 So here we are again... welcome to Inso's World.

I just thought that I'd share a bit of news. Not only have the 2 Sgts and 3 Junior Officers been sent off for casting:

Click the Pic!

... but Macrocosm Miniatures are currently running a new Kickstarter for a bunch of my sculpts:

Macrocosm Kickstarter Link

The mortars aren't my work and I think there's an odd head or two that aren't mine either... but it's a great way to add a few troopers to your Space Dwarf army.

Over the next few weeks/months, I will be working on a Standard Bearer, Heavy Flamer Trooper, Medic and 2 Senior Officers... and after that, a bunch of Lasgunners and additional Comms Troopers... but I am focusing on the first batch for now.

In other news, I am isolating because I have got COVID-19 at the moment, with a mild cough so I am hoping that I can get things done and not get particularly sick... fingers crossed, eh?

See you from behind the mask!

Extra chances.

Hi everyone.

Just a very quick post to alert you to a new kickstarter that not only offers a range of miniatures including Squat bikers and Genesteler Squat bikers but also another chance to pick up my Squat sculpts...

Click the Pic!

 Here's the link:

Kickstarter Link

Get on board and enjoy!

See you from the trenches!

A Kickstarter?

Hello again... seeing as I have some big news, I thought I'd share it.

As it happens, a few months ago, I sold a couple of sculpts to Macrocosm Miniatures; after finding out that the owner (Chris) had bought my Berserker sculpt from the guy I sold it to...

Click the Pic!

I didn't think too much about it and then I got a message that Chris wanted to start a Kickstarter for 'Seven Dwarfs' sculpted by Phil Hynes (of Bears Head Miniatures). We got talking, as you do... and the subject of adding some of my sculpts to the Kickstarter came up. After a bit of too and fro, we agreed that a Commissar and a heavy weapon trooper would be cool to add to the existing two that Chris already owned; these two:

Click the Pic!

... so I said "why not?" and duly sculpted a Commissar and a Heavy Weapon trooper:

Click the Pix!

The Heavy Weapon trooper is a conversion of the original Sgt miniature... that's the beauty of having a company send you lots of copies of miniatures to play with! Now... while I was playing with the Commissar and HW trooper, I got busy with riflemen... adding a couple of new heads to the first version and sculpting an 'all new' one:

Click the Pix!

That just left me with the heavy weapons to sculpt. Now this is a new departure for me so I have been going through a trial and error process. So far, I have finished a Missile Launcher but am still WIP on the HMG and Laser Cannon... here's the finished one:

Click the Pic!

I am currently working on the Laser Cannon and am also at a very early stage on the HMG but I am getting there. Once these are finished, I have plans to add a few more troopers to the range but they won't be part of the Kickstarter, they should (hopefully) be part of a range that will be available from Macrocosm Miniatures at a later date... So big things have been going on, over the last few months and I thought it was worthy of popping into Inso's World to share it.

There will be more news, when I have it...

... and to start with, the Kickstarter has JUST funded at £4085 (with a required amount of £500... so over 800%!).

How cool is that, eh?

See you from the top table!

Tanks for the memories...

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have mostly been absolutely shattered... so things have happened in fits and starts.

Work has been very good and I am still loving it. A few changes have happened but the team is pulling together and making everything tick along nicely so Kudos to everyone there.

From a charity perspective, I have been very humbled by the massive support I have received from my work mates and visitors, for my "Boldly Goes" event. I have collected over £150 in sponsorship pledges so far and that will go very nicely towards my goal of buying a new 'Flexi Porter' chair for my care home. I have also been invited to carry out the little shaving event at my local pub "The Rodney Inn", in Helston so that's where it will happen and many thanks to Terry and Emma for that wonderful gesture.

As for the on-line fund-raiser, I could do with a bit more support so if you are able to, please see if you can add some funds here:

Steve Boldly Goes LINK

In other charity news, I will likely appear in the local paper at some point in the next couple of weeks because Marie Curie received a very kind donation from Wendron Football Club and the committee needed a few bodies for a photo-call to accept a big cheque... it seemed appropriate for the treasurer (me) to be there so I attended. A MASSIVE thank you goes out to Wendron Football Club for their donation!

More charity... this time a little bit of sculpting. One of the members of a sculpting group I am on (Facebook) has found out that he is afflicted with Sarcoidosis (a condition where lumps called granulomas develop at different sites within the body) and he has come up with an idea to raise some money for the UK charity. As a result, sculptors have been sent small shields and have been asked to sculpt faces on them before returning them for casting and sale. With this in mind, I was sent some shields and did this: 

Click the Pic!

If you are interested in this little charity drive and use Facebook, here's a link:

Shield Aid LINK

That all leads me nicely onto hobby stuff. Sadly, I have not been up to much hobby BUT I have managed to start work on my four Taurox IFVs for my Squat army. At the moment, I have a 'proof of concept' vehicle and have now started work on building up the other three vehicles to the same standard. Obviousl, I have a long way to go but this is where I am at the moment:

Click the Pix!

As you can see, it is not designed to look like the official Taurox but I think it looks okay. I have tried foe a German WW2 version of a Swedish S-Tank. The main guns are the twin-linked auto-cannons that a basic Taurox can have and they are more or less fixed... a bit like fitting them to the rear positions on an official Taurox. I am currntly working on the 'top boxes' for the three remaining hulls.

There's more... my Kick-Starter from Bad Squiddo Games has arrived. I pledged for 'all the Dwarfs' and they are very cool. Here is a link to where you can see them on the Bad Squiddo site:

LINK to Dwarfs

I haven't really had a chance to look through them but from first glance, they look excellent.

There's even more... but this time it's all about bikes! I have an opportunity to own a Honda VFR 750 that has had a bit of a scrape and needs some TLC to get it back on the road again. Of course, I want to streetfighter it so it will make a nice little project for me to keep my engineering hands in. I haven't seen the bike yet but it is a given that I will own it! More news when I actually own it.

Finally, I start two weeks holiday on 30th September so hopefully, I'll be able to rest, recouperate, visit the doctor (anaemia) and generally recharge. What will happen over those two weeks is anyone's guess so we will all just have to wait and see.

That's it!

See you from the sea-side!

More Sculpting.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been a good one. Work has been great, sometimes challenging, but definitely a case of when the going gets tough, the team pulls together... and team-work, makes the dream work!

Speaking of team-work, last night a large clump of my work mates gathered in my local last night and we all had a blast together. I got to introduce my wife to my friends and even threw a few shapes on the dance floor... a cracking night was had by all!

I have had my son and his girlfriend visiting this week as well and we have been enjoying a few quality days together. He is in good spirits and it is always nice to see him.

I have had notification that a Kickstarter pledge is in the delivery pipeline so it looks like I'll be getting some troops to chop up pretty soon. Which ones? These ones:

Kickstarter Link

I have pledged for the Northmen and will have about 42 infantry to turn into men-at-arms for my Primaris Knights:

Click the Pic!

There will be lots more information, once I have recieved the pledge and started conversion work. 

Speaking of conversion work, The Beastman Jedi has had a small amount of work done... but not enough for me to show off. He now has a right arm and the start of a lightsaber so things are moving forward.

Sculpting has been my main priority, this week and as a result, I have finished the second of my competition sculpts:

Click the Pic!

I think he turned out quite well and scales up with the Sgt quite nicely:

Click the Pic!

I have started to bulk out another armature, in a bid to get another basic trooper sculpted. I am thinking of sculpting a few basic troopers, a comms specialist and maybe a few special weapons troopers (Melta, Plasma and Grenade Launcher). That way, there will be enough to build a veteran unit. It's early days but while I am enjoying sculpting, I may as well take advantage of it.

Speaking of sculpting, I have got embroiled in another competition which is all about alien creatures. I need to convert an alien creature, paint it up and put together a bit of fluff to go with it. I knew what I wanted to do so I have been sculpting a successor to this one (that I sold off a long time ago):

Click the Pic!

The one pictured was a "three-eyed, moustachioed, hairy, groper" but the one I am working on is going to be called "the Catachan, moustachioed, hairy, groper". It's another full sculpt that will be a one-off (I have to paint it) and it will be markedly different to the one pictured above... so watch this space for an image or two, next time I post.

Well... that's about it for now. 

See you from the sculpting bench!

More of the same.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It has been a quiet few weeks.

The garden is still filled with rubbish from the fence replacement and that is something that is beginning to annoy me.

I haven't been sleeping very much so I haven't been getting much hobby done... in fact, apart from going to work, I haven't been getting very much at all done.

Sam (my cat) has been very strange over the last week and I think his tail injury is the problem. He will need to go back to the vets again but I think he just needs a bit more time to get well...

... we have managed to coax him into the house after he has been avoiding us for a few days so at least he has a full belly, even though he is currently hiding behind the washing machine. I fear that we have some difficult times ahead, with him.

The kitten is being a kitten. Alfie is either tearing up the house or asleep... so he's a typical kitten. He needs to tone it down with the other cats because he is looking to get beaten up by one of them... you never know, it may do him some good and teach him some 'cat manners'.

Work has been good. I'm still enjoying it but am looking forward to sleeping more because I am in a heavy working environment at the moment and I need to keep my wits about me.

Hobby wise, I have received some brass wire and hole punches from EBay (for sculpting and cutting holes in plasticard for my Epic Squat army bases), I received my Kickstarter pledge from Diehard Miniatures (more on that in a later post), I have pledged for another Kickstarter and also started a sculpt for a Facebook Sculpting competition.

This is the sculpt I am working on and the title for the competition is "the humble infantryman". I have decided to go for a Squat Sergeant 'at rest':

Click the Pic!

As you can see, he is very WIP at the moment but he's only been on the go for a couple of days so he's getting there.

As for the Kickstarter I have pledged for, it's this one:

Kickstarter Link

I've just pledged for the Dwarves. Time is running out so if you fancy adding some of these to your hoard, get pledging.

That's it for now.

See you from the trough!

Woooosh!

Hello again! Is it Sunday already?! Welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been mostly about work... lots of it. That means that I haven't had a huge amount of time for very much else. It also means that when I did have time, I wasn't really in the mood for hobby stuff... so not a lot has been achieved.

I must admit that it has been nice having a couple of days off, with my wife. We have spent some quality time in each other's company so it has made up for me not having a Christmas holiday a bit.

Work is still great... although the 'politics' can be a little jarring. I am loving the work though... so that is where my focus is going.

So... all the hobby:

Click the Pic!

This represents all my hobby time this week. The whole bike squad is now converted and the bikes are all in the process of paint. One is more or less finished, the other five need the green tidying up before a wash with Agrax Earthshade and then highlighting etc.

In other hobby news, I have received my Onna-bugeisha Kick-starter from Bad Squiddo Games. I have not really had a chance to go through it properly but I will do so and share a review soon.

In other Kick-starter news, I have sorted out the pledge manager for two others... so when they arrive, I can share a review about those too. More news about those a bit later.

Seeing as I now get a pay slip, I decided to get another five Meng, World War Toons,  King Tiger tank kits... so I only need five more and I'll never need to buy any more again... unless I change my mind.

That's it.

See you from the halt!

Grinding advance.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

What have I been doing this week? Painting a tank. Sadly, I haven't been able to get as far as I would like because I have had work and family distractions... plus a strained back... that has meant that my hobby time has been restricted. As it stands, I have a painted tank with a WIP tank commander and the model will be finished by next weekend... here's some paint:

Click the Pic!

The fully painted and assembled tank:

Click the Pic!

This image shows the base-coated and washed tank commander. She is ready for the highlight stage which will probably start tomorrow because I have to go to work very soon:

Click the Pic!

It has been a nice change to work on this tank... but I still don't enjoy the stippling part of the painting process... however, it does create the effect I am looking for so I guess it's just something I have to put up with.

What happens when this is finished? I'm in two minds. I'd like to get more APCs converted and painted but I have a few distractions that are due to arrive over the coming weeks and months, namely:

Mantic Valkyr Bikers. (12... like the ones in the link).

Onna-Bugeisha Kickstarter.

Diehard Miniatures Kickstarter.

Fireforge Games Kickstarter.

The plan is to convert the Onna-Bugeisha miniatures to a sci-fi gang, use the bikes as Scout bikes in my Squat army, convert the Fireforge troops into a small Astra Militarum detachment and do 'something' with the Diehard miniatures...

... however, I would also like to paint some more Squat troops so that I had some finished passengers for the planned APC conversions.

Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

See you from the hobby desk!

Back to work!

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It's a gloriously sunny day and I've been removing the remains of the fence in the garden. It was a victim of the recent storm and needed to be removed after some of it was blown down... that led to removing a 'seat' made of cement blocks and some slabs; which were obviously built by someone who never played with Lego as a child... I'll leave the sweep-up for another day.

Anyway, I digress.

This week has been one of training and pottering about. It is just like being back in the RAF... sitting through induction training. Mind you, I am getting to learn and use the new equipment that is required for my new job so it is most certainly worth while and is fairly enjoyable.

This coming week, I have more training and some proper work shifts... obviously with maximum supervision but at least I will be able to start working properly, rather than being limited to what I can do.

As a result of some of the more 'interesting' challenges I am expecting to face, I am also required to take a course on conflict deescalation. That will be at the beginning of November and that will mark the end of my induction training. I have already seen the training being used in my care home so it is definitely something that I will need.

In other news, I was informed that I had a parcel on the way from the USA, via email from the US postal service. I didn't recognise the sender and spent a good deal of time tracking them down... luckily, the parcel was cool... one of these, as it happens:

Click the Pic!

It's an Aliens APC with a Ripley figure to go with it. It is pretty big and will find a use somewhere in my collection. On a different note, this highlights how using nicknames instead of real names, gives people a certain amount of anonymity... I ended up spending a lot of time, searching the forums to see who I'd sent things to, in order to find the identity of who had sent the parcel... just so I could thank them. That's why I always put my forum name (Inso) in my signature, when I am dealing with other people in my hobby.

Other hobby news is not going to happen. I haven't received my parcel from Hasslefree Miniatures yet, I haven't ordered anything else from anywhere else... but... hang on... there is that Kickstarter that has just funded... and I pledged on... this one:

Kickstarter Link

As it stands, my pledge will get me 48 troops, a separate champion and a separate champion riding a horse. I think that I will be able to build a good sized platoon of troops with support and command elements but I will be turning them sci-fi... so I have arms, heads and weapons to think about... but not yet because they aren't due to arrive until May next year.

I have also received a box of random kits and miniatures from a friend who will be sending a few more as well. The idea is that I can sort them out, sell them on and give the profits to charity... so I am hoping that I can get some tidy profit from these very generous gifts. More will come to light, once I get my teeth into the contents.

Unfortunately, I have lots of chores this weekend so I can't see myself getting much hobby time (my wife is poorly so I am picking up the reins)... and I reckon that, with everything going on this week, I will be too knackered for much hobby so until I start getting back into the swing of working again, I can't really see very many hobby related items turning up here...

... but in the words of "The Secret of Mana"... "Time, like a river, flows"... so who knows what may happen over the next few months?

That's it for today.

See you from the university of life!

A busy few weeks.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World on a rather overcast Sunday afternoon.

It's been a couple of weeks since the last post but I thought that it would be better not to post if there was nothing to tell you about or show you.

Over the last few weeks, I have been sorting out Dad's flat, making lots of phone calls, writing letters, having meetings and generally being involved with all the things you get involved in, when someone passes away. On Wednesday, this all culminated in my Dad's funeral and he had a good send off.

Over the next week or so, I am clearing the flat and dealing with probate and all of the lovely paperwork that goes along with that... so I will still be pretty caught up in real life.

Now that I have put all that to rest, what the heck have I been doing with my hobby lately? Well... even the staunchest of warriors needs a quiet moment or two and my quiet moments have been put to good use. First of all, I have finished the remaining two Squat Berserkers (Ministorum Priests):

Click the Pix!

Once these two were finished, I looked through the storage boxes and the only primed miniatures for the army, were my three Beastmen Jedi (Primaris Psykers) so I started to paint them but then... BRAKES!!! Let's be sensible for a moment... I don't want to paint all the characters before I paint some basic troops... so I put the Beastmen away and primed a squad of Squats, ready for paint. So far, I have finished a rough base-coat and now need to tidy them up before a wash... but just to prove that I have managed to get that far, here's a WIP pic of the first squad of 2nd platoon:

Click the Pic!

As you can (hopefully) see, they are in the same earthy colours as the Berserkers and I quite like the toned down look to them. I can't say that they will be finished for next Sunday but I hope to get a few more stages finished, even if it is just the tidy up and wash.

In other news... THIS happened:

Click the Pic!

My Kickstarter pledge turned up. It's been a while but it's not the most delayed Kickstarter I have been involved with (Mantic). I will sort out a review at some point but at first glance, they are rather nice... but a little bigger than expected. Now I would be the first to say that I didn't pledge for any other reason than to just see what they were like. With that in mind, I am free to use these in whatever way I see fit (rather than fitting them into any particular army) so they may end up as aliens or dwarfs or even robots... who knows?

Well... that's it for this week.

See you from the stairway!

Retreat and regroup time.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been another slow one on the hobby front, with visits from family and shelf building taking priority over my hobby... especially seeing as my hobby mojo has left the building at the moment.

Fortunately, I have things like this to enjoy now:

Click the Pic!

That was Marazion; yesterday. Beautiful, isn't it?

So I have sat down and thought about how my Squat army is going and I have decided that I need to make a few changes to get back to the original theme I was planning and that means I need to trim a few things.

I felt that I needed to streamline the army so have chosen to remove the Wolverines (they are too different), the Wyrdvanes (they just don't fit with the style of the army) and the Assassin(s) (I cannot think of a way of explaining their 'superness'). Everything else will be staying in the army and this is now where I am at with the organisation (the top three tiers are Codex Space Marines, the rest Codex Astra Millitarum):

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You may need to 'right click' and 'view image in a new tab' to get a decent look at it. As you can see, I have finished quite a lot but still have a long way to go... but by keeping it simple, I am increasing the likelyhood of finishing everything.

That said, I may still add Wyrdvanes but they will be more tailored towards my existing Psykers (Beastmen Jedi) and that means a lot of conversion so I will worry about them later.

In order to get a few things finished, I have bought some space marine centurion weapon sprues from EBay so they should be arriving in the near future. That will enable me to equip my 3rd platoon with the special weapons they need, without having to convert them. It has also planted a brain-worm for a new conversion but I am going to wait and see what happens because it will mean more Priests/Berserkers (and I already have the three I am allowed... so it is an extra rather than something to fill up existing organisation slots).

What else is new? Well... I have filled in my pledge manager for the Kickstarter I joined. It was the Elsor-Varo Kickstarter, run by Gidran Miniatures and can be found...

 HERE

I have just gone for a single set and the add ons and am now in the queue, waiting for things to arrive, as and when Gidran complete all the sculpting. It should be fun.

Once in a while, it is nice to be able to 'share the wealth' with fellow hobbyists and this week I have been able to do just that. I have sent a few spare arms to a chap because he really needed them to complete a unit of Squats. The reason I did this was because he only asked for what he needed... nothing more so I was happy to help and have sent a few extra bits too (I hope he will be happy with them). I think that 'giving back' is an essential part of life and really helps to balance all the shitty stuff that is going on in the world. I also think that there would be less shit in the world if more people just did nice things... especially when it doesn't cost anything (well... apart from a stamp in this case).

So... to finish, seeing as it is Mother's Day and I don't have one anymore... Here is the most important woman in my life... with me at the beach yesterday. Happy Mother's Day:

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See you from a happy place!

Adherence to ceremony and a host of new mecha.

Today is Remembrance Sunday. It is a day when my family visit the local town of Wallingford to attend the ceremony of Remembrance. Every year (when I am in the country) we do the same and every year, the square is filled with people who are also there to pay their respects and give humble thanks for the ultimate sacrifice of so many people so that we could live in relative peace and freedom today.

In 2007, I went to Iraq for a couple of weeks to carry out some maintenance on a helicopter there. When the plane landed, we discovered that three of our colleagues had just been killed when a rocket landed in their accomodation area. Today, I remembered them.

Here is a short poem I wrote for Remembrance day:

They fought, 

They fell, 

They went through hell, 

To keep us safe. 

Remember well. 

I remember them.

As you will have already found out, I got a parcel yesterday and it contained all my Mechadrome Mechs. Well, I have now had time to have a root through and here are a couple of pictures:

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In the top pic, I have provided a ruler, standard 28mm human and a Grymn for scale. As you can see, the mechs are quite large (60mm and 90mm without the rocket pods). In the lower pic I have shown all of the arms, shoulderpads and rocket pods.

Overall, the quality is excellent but, and there is a but, the two resin guns (bottom left) have a bit of a step in them (mould mismatch) that will need a little extra work to put right. It isn't a total catastrophe... just a bit of extra work with a knife and file. The resin pieces have a few bits of waste resin to trim off and I think there is a single, small, airbubble on one of the medium mech bodies... but the details are sharp and everything looks brilliant.

I am likely to leave them as they are for the time being as I don't want to rush them and I haven't decided which particular army/unit they are going to join so they will be 'awaiting paint' for a while; until I make a decision.

... In the meantime, I have my Squats to work on. This week, I have tinkered a little with Big Robot but have spent most of my sculpting time on a pair of Squats from the command squad for the first platoon. Here is a Squat with flamer and a medic:

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The command squad uses pistols from the Khorne Berserker boxed set and as a result, the hands are quite large. I can live with it but it may not be to everyone's taste. The flamer Squat uses shortened space marine arms for extra protection. The hose from the cannister to the flamer is a piece of brass wire with a 'Scouby' string covering it... sometimes having a daughter who is into crafts is handy when conversions are being created.

This coming week, I am planning to work on the other three members of the command squad whilst ticking along with Big Robot... however, with so much mecha goodness sitting in a box nearby, I am not confident in my resolve to ignore them!

See you from a place of respect!

Another tick on the list of life.

Welcome to Inso's World on a rather autumnal Sunday. Before I kick things off, I'd like to welcome our newest traveller, Bob Kinnear. Welcome Bob! I hope you enjoy your time here.

WOW! What a week.

I have had a few days at home and have done a few cool things this week. First off... I travelled over water on this very beast:

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When I was a nipper, I was able to look inside a static display of a hovercraft at a theme park but this week, I travelled from Portsmouth to the Isle of White on a hovercraft. What was it like? Well... it was very much like travelling in a helicopter rather than a boat and it was great fun. It has further fuelled my desire to have one of my armies transported by a fleet of sci-fi hovercraft.

One thing in life that always humbles me is how completely wild animals react to humans. Yes, we've all been close to wild birds and animals but for them to actually interact with you is just wonderful. This week, me and my better half went to a nature/wildlife park and while we were there, some migratory geese made friends. One in particular even let me stroke it! It's a proper privilege to have a wild bird eating from your hand and choosing you for a bit of company... here's my new friend helping himself to some pellets from my hand:

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The clocks went back today so I have gained an hour... but that said, I actually slept through the whole night (8+ hours!) for the first time this week and feel up to the challenge of using the extra hour to do STUFF!

On my travels this week, I spotted this:

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I don't need it... but I bought it just to show everyone how perfect it would be for a Spacemarine bike or even a Rough Rider bike for the Imperial Guard. It only cost me £2.00 and I think it has great potential for converting for your 28mm heroic scale miniatures.

In other news, I have been informed by Gangfight Games that my Mechadrome Kickstarter pledge is on its way! I am REALLY happy about this and can't wait to get my hands on some mecha goodness... like THIS.

With so much happening, you would have thought that my hobby may have taken a back seat... but you would be wrong. I have taken the opportunity to focus my attention on my little Engineseer and have finished his body. He just needs his head and backpack sorting out and he will be finished. Here he is with his charges:

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Because the main focus has been the Engineseer, I have only managed a very small amount of work on 'Big Robot'... but at least he has arms now :).

Ebay has been lucky for me this week as I managed to win a Grymn walker for a very reasonable price (Half RRP)... so I now have a character model to add to the walker platoon (when I eventually put it all together).

Well... I think that about sums everything up for now.

See you from the line of scrimmage!