A very Autumnal post.

It's another Sunday and, as is usually the case, it's time for another post but before I start, I'd like to welcome the newest follower of Inso's World; Roebeast. Welcome aboard and I hope you get involved, share your comments and enjoy your stay.

This week has been a little bit interesting. First of all, I have decided to start uploading all of my short stories to the WWW and the ones I have started with are those that involve Grymn. Seeing as they are about Grymn, I thought it was appropriate to upload them to the Forum of Doom and here is a link to the section where they live:

Grymn Link

The stories in question will all start with the term 'Grymn Fluff' and be posted by 'Inso' so they should be easy enough to find. If you are interested enough to read the trilogy, it goes in this order:

The Duplicate Adventures

Rebirth and Realisation

Eastward Endeavours

I hope you enjoy my random musings.

Unfortunately, I may be forced to don a spandex costume and fight nefarious super-villains at some point soon. Why? Because I have been bitten by something that has caused me such discomfort that I can only assume it was this:

Click the Pic!

It has caused my immune system to make all of the glands in my neck to expand greatly. Fortunately, it just itches a lot... but the moment I get the urge to start running up buildings, I'll let everyone know!

Oh... go on then... how about some hobby stuff? This week has mostly been about waiting for little gun turrets to arrive... and that's what happened. I have also been shaping hover skirts and adding bulk to the Squat Engineseer:

Click the Pic!

The top pics show the Smoothed out skirt on the buggy conversion, the next pics show the awesome little gun turrets (of which I now have 5) and the bottom pics show the padded out Engineseer body. 

Obviously, there is a lot to do... but the lines on the skirt will be scored out to represent different panels. Once that is done, I will tidy things up and start on the other two components that will make up the hover buggy's intake and propulsion systems. 

The little gun turrets are from Anvil Industry and they were absolutely perfect. The casting quality is exceptional and they only needed snipping from the sprue, cleaning up where it was clipped off and a bit of a brush with a tooth brush to remove the fine flash. I am extremely impressed with the quality of these and will be ordering more to go with the other squads. In addition to this... the sprue is actually cast up to look like rubble for adding to bases; which is a nice touch.

The Engineseer is still at a very early stage and will be getting armour and details from now on. You can see that he has a peg leg at the moment but that will slowly transform into a bionic leg. I am happy with the way he is going... so it is likely that he will get finished.

Well... that's it for today.

See you from the bridge of The Obituary!

The Quest for Second Breakfast.

It's this way, Bernard.
No it's this way.
Why do you say that?
I can smell chicken.
But Bernard, we came here for the Gem of Ages.
It's time for second breakfast and I can smell chicken... it's this way (said Bernard with a glare that Spiky Pete knew not to question).
But we'll look for the Gem of Ages straight after.
I smell cheese as well...

Click the pix!

As you can see, the diorama is finished.

In other news, I would like to welcome wolfen to my blog. I hope you find something of interest and please feel free to share your views through the comments function.

See you from the top of the tree!

Another short story.

The Visitors 2

“Sir, we’re picking up unidentified projectiles entering the outer perimeter” said the scanner technician.
“What size, number and trajectory?” asked the officer.
“Small… smaller than a soldier… in excess of a hundred and fifty and they all seem to appear at a point five hundred kilometres beyond the outer perimeter, sir” replied the technician.
“Alert defence and scramble interceptors” said the officer.
“Yes, sir” replied the technician.

“This is Alpha one” said the pilot “stay in formation and link computers so we all go for different targets, over.”
“Alpha two, Roger, out.”
“Alpha three, Roger, out.”
“Alpha four, Roger, out.”
“Alpha five, Roger, out.”

The interceptors kept a tight formation as they approached the small objects that were speeding towards the planet’s outer orbit. As one, they all fired their pulse cannons and were surprised to see that the small objects were simply thrown off course and not destroyed. They continued their assault on the targets and were determined that, even if they weren’t destroyed, the objects would be sent out into space and away from the planet. After a short while, Alpha flight were content that no more of the objects were heading towards orbit and called off the attack but were quickly alerted to the fact that the objects had altered course and had redirected towards the planet again.

“This is Alpha one to Alpha flight” said the pilot “switch to rail guns and continue on task, over.”
“Alpha two, Roger, out.”
“Alpha three, Roger, out.”
“Alpha four, Roger, out.”
“Alpha five, Roger, out.”

Again the interceptors converged on the targets and began to blast them with hyper-velocity rounds but this time, some of the objects were destroyed by the attack.

“This is Alpha one to Alpha flight, continue with rail guns and destroy all targets, out” said the pilot.

It was little more than target practice after that and in less than an hour; all of the objects had been destroyed.

“Hello, this is Alpha one to control” said the pilot “please confirm all targets destroyed, over.”
“This is control. All targets confirmed destroyed. Return to base for de-brief, over.”
“This is Alpha one, returning to base, out”.

“We have sent out a recovery team to collect some samples from the destroyed objects” said the colonel “we should have something to inspect very soon.”
“Excellent” said the high commander “I believe that this was a test of our defences and we need to be extra vigilant at this time.”
“I agree, sir” replied the colonel “I have already voiced my concerns with orbit control and they have put the interceptors on amber alert.”
“That is good to hear, colonel” said the high commander “as soon as we have the samples I want our best scientists on task.”
“That is being dealt with now, sir” replied the colonel.
“I wonder what the recon team will find at the entry point for all of these objects” said the high commander “I would suspect some sort of special gate like the Sleiti used to use to teleport.”
“You don’t think that the Sleiti have returned do you sir?” asked the colonel.
“Of course not, colonel; they have been our allies for nearly a hundred years and they have no reason to break our treaties due to the aid we have delivered since their home world died” replied the high commander “I believe that this is something altogether different… maybe something from outside our own universe.”
“Well, I hope we find out soon” said the colonel “we will need time to muster our forces and prepare the arks if we need to.”
“Let us hope that the arks aren’t necessary this time” said the high commander sagely.

“A full and thorough investigation of the objects has been carried out and we have reached the conclusion that they are some form of psychic teleportation system” said the head scientist “they contain a biologically manufactured synovial fluid and a range of psychic transceivers that would likely be able to open a worm-gate to allow the transportation of objects over a vast distance.”
“So it was an invasion attempt?” asked the high commander.
“We must assume the worst, sir” said the colonel.
“Doctor, is there any way of disabling the gate-projectors across a broad pattern or are we forced to take them out one at a time?” asked the high commander.
“We believe that a broad spectrum nano-wave transmitter will disrupt their ability to open gates whilst not harming the local population” replied the scientist “with your permission I will task the relevant agencies to commence manufacture of the transmitters immediately.”
“Granted, doctor” replied the high commander “colonel, ensure that the orbital interceptors are correctly equipped and that all ground personnel, including civilians, are made aware of the threat.”
“Yes, sir” replied the colonel.

A green fist slammed against the console. On the screen was a Grymn home world. It was rich in resources and bio-matter but the alien commander knew that it would not be efficient to launch a campaign on such a technically advanced planet. He turned to the small character stood by his side and muttered a few barked syllables before he waved away the planet on screen and brought up a fresh image.

“CHRaaak, Lecht raahhk” said the commander.
Loosely translated: Launch gate-spheres.

A small story.

The Visitors

“What are those, daddy?” asked the little girl who was peering from her window at the unusually high level of meteor activity in the night sky.
“Those are just shooting stars” replied her father.
“There are lots and lots of them” said the little girl.
“Yes but I wouldn’t worry, it just means that the sky is sharing her treasures” replied her father and he ushered her into bed before tucking her in and leaving her to sleep.

“The unusual amount of meteor activity was witnessed across the world last night; leaving scientists baffled” said the news caster “In the light of day there have been increasing numbers of meteorite finds in areas as far afield as the polar ice-caps and the city of Delhi.”

“I was lucky not to have been squashed like a pumpkin” said old Bert “if I’d been digging my taters instead of the carrots I’d have been a goner. There was a big bang and I was thrown to the floor… when I looked at my tater patch it was gone and all that was left behind was a gert big hole and a ball of rock!”

“We have collected a number of the meteorites and have discovered that they are all around the same size; about the size of a beach ball and are all regular in shape” said the government scientist at the press conference “they appear to be made of an iron ore with a hollow core but all attempts to break through the surface have failed at this time.”
“What do you think they are?” asked the reporter.
“We can’t be sure at this time but I would suspect them to be regular fragments from a larger comet that have broken off… a bit like the fragments from safety glass all being similar sizes when the glass is shattered” replied the scientist.
“Are they safe?” asked another reporter.
“I would not recommend anyone should approach the meteors at this time and would advise anyone who finds one to notify the police” replied the scientist.
“So they are dangerous then?” replied the reporter.
“We cannot categorically state that they are safe so it would be a standard precaution not to touch them” said the scientist.

“What have you tried so far?” asked the scientist.
“Everything except explosives” replied the technician “there seems to be a magnetic field that is preventing anything from actually touching the surface.”
“I had better inform the military” replied the scientist as he left the room “try whatever means you need to.”
“Will do, sir” replied the technician “Harry, get in touch with Kent and tell them that we will be bringing a meteor to blow up on their range in the next couple of hours.”
“Will do, John” replied Harry.
“I’ll open you up if it’s the last thing I do” said John as he patted the meteor.

“It has been two days since the meteor shower and there have been increasing amount of sightings of small, green men reported across the globe” said the news caster “police have maintained that hysteria is the reason for the reported sightings and are trying to keep a lid on things getting out of hand.”

“Daddy, where has mummy gone?” asked the little girl.
“She’s just gone to put the bin out. I’m sure she’ll be…………….”

“Excellent news, sir” said the scientist “we’ve managed to open one of the spheres using a focused microwave beam.”
“Quit the yap, Poindexter… what’s inside?” replied the general.
“There is a small silver ball with strange text over the surface” said the scientist “and inside that is a mix of tiny metallic components and a thick grease-like substance.”
“And what does it do?” asked the general.
“We can’t be sure, sir... whatever it is it doesn’t appear to be functional and has no obvious power source” replied the scientist.
“How many rocks have you got there?” asked the general.
“Forty six, sir” replied the scientist.
“Well keep cracking them open until you have an answer for me” said the general.
“Yes, sir” replied the scientist as he signed off “Harry! Bring up the next one…”

In the depths of the Sahara desert, the meteor shimmered briefly before it resumed its inert state. There was no one there to see it but it happened.

“SIR!” shouted the technician “The meteors are attacking!”
“What do you mean?” asked the scientist.
“Harry’s head has exploded!” said the technician “He touched the meteor and his head blew up… it was terrible… Harry’s dead… he just blew up!”
“Clear the lab” said the scientist as he operated the emergency alarm and contacted the general “Sir, the meteors are defending themselves.”
“Are the microwave weapons ready?” asked the general.
“There are a few… but less than twenty” replied the scientist.
“My team is on the way…you must make sure they get the weapons on their arrival” said the general.

“Was it just Harry?” asked the general.
“Yes, sir” replied the scientist.
“Good, that will make it easier to contain. Captain, inform his family of the accident he had and explain that he is so radioactive that his body will never be released” said the general “and we have opened all of the rocks now?”
“Yes, sir” replied the scientist who looked completely shell-shocked.
“And they all contained the same device inside?” asked the general.
“Yes… even down to the symbols on the shiny spheres” replied the scientist.
“Hmmm” thought the general “they only react when touched but don’t defend themselves at range… what manner of device are these?”

The meteor in the children’s play-park, just outside Henley in Oxfordshire, began to shimmer with a constant, flickering field around it. A moment later, an area of space next to the meteor wobbled and a tall, dark, walking machine emerged from the portal; closely followed by three more that were identical apart from the symbols on the head carapace. They were as tall as a house and had small bodies with spindly arms and legs. The four machines stood motionless for a few minutes before silently striding off towards the river.

“The scene is one of utter destruction!” said the reporter “eye witness accounts tell of giant, walking machines that blasted everything that moved with some sort of a ‘melting’ weapon and a smaller gun that fired shards of crystal. They have destroyed all of the boats near the rowing club and there are dead birds everywhere…the machines seemed to react to all movement with the same ferocity so many people were lucky that there were so many frightened birds about.”
“Where are the machines now, Glen?” asked the news caster.
“They strode across the fields towards a nearby airfield but before they got there, they disappeared through a sort of air-gate that opened and swallowed them” replied the reporter.
“How have the authorities responded?” asked the news caster.
“Troops from nearby Benson were called in to cordon the area and help the emergency services to control the scene” replied the reporter “there are also reports that there was a known meteor in the area of the air-gate but this has not been confirmed.”
“Thank you Glen” said the news caster “we can now speak with the Prime Minister live from Westminster. Sir, can you give us any more information on what has happened in Henley?”
“As you will be fully aware, an incident like this will require a full investigation and I am unable to pass on any information at this time. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic incident” said the Prime Minister “I can assure everyone that we are treating the incident with utmost importance and the best scientists and professionals are being drafted in to investigate.”
“What are your thoughts on the information about the meteor being near to the scene?” asked the news caster.
“I am not able to comment at this time and you will have to excuse me because I have urgent matters to attend to” replied the Prime Minister.
“Thank you, sir” replied the news caster “the Prime Minister. In other news…”

“Is there a way of finding all of these meteorites… some way of tracking them?” asked the general.
“No sir… they seem to absorb radiation and any radio waves so all our detectors will be useless” replied the scientist.
“Then we have no other choice… we’ll have to issue an order for all meteors to be reported and we’ll have to respond to every one individually” said the general “How are the microwave weapons coming along?”
“They have gone into full production, sir” replied the scientist “they are being issued to the containment teams as we speak.”
“Excellent” said the general “have you shared the designs with our allies?”
“Yes, sir” replied the scientist “exactly as you ordered.”
“Good” replied the general “we’ll let our enemies find out their own way of dealing with the threat.”
“But sir… what if these walking-machines get a foot-hold?” said the scientist “once they have destroyed our enemies, they will come after us.”
“By that time, we’ll be ready for them” said the general.

“This is a general alert” said the newscaster “Everyone who is not a civil servant is to report to their nearest public shelter. All civil servants are to report to their places of work immediately. All military, whether on leave or off duty, are to report to their duty units immediately with deployment kit.”

That was how it started. We thought we had the situation under control but we didn’t. It only took one or two meteors to start the flood of aliens. No sooner had the walkers arrived, the foot-troops followed; terrible little things with green skin, bulbous heads and eyes as black as night. After the foot troops, the leaders arrived on their little chariots and as soon as they did, a multitude of air-gates appeared and more invaders flooded in. We thought the microwave weapons would destroy them but we were wrong… we lost many troops finding out. In the initial stages, we were massacred; cut down by a variety of weapons that vaporised, burned or shredded… but we learned fast. Concentrated firepower was the key; that and the trusty infantry rifle. Who would have thought that the copper jackets on the bullets would allow them to penetrate the psychic barriers that the aliens used. It took a lot of shots to do it but eventually the copper ‘shorted out’ the barriers. The walkers were still horrendously difficult to bring down but the lessons were learned and the tanks and artillery pieces were armed with copper clad, anti-armour rounds. We eventually beat them back but had to share what we had learnt with our enemies as well as allies in order to do so. We had won the fight but at a terrible cost… many lives were lost and cities were reduced to ash. It was the dawn of world-wide cooperation. Strength through unity, they called it. We didn’t have a choice if we wanted to survive. All meteors were systematically collected and destroyed with microwave weapons but we could never be sure that we collected all of them so we were at a continuous readiness state. We just hoped that the meteors never returned again.

In the depths of space a pair of coal-black eyes peered at a screen. On it was a rotating picture of the earth. A green hand stretched over to a small cup, grasped the handle and drew it up to green lips. The alien drank from the cup, put it down and waved its hand above the screen; extinguishing the image. It stood up and left the control room; grinning as it went.

A quiet week...

I have had another one of those quiet weeks. Virtually no hobby stuff, a bit of writing and a bit of fun. I was talking to my daughter about nonsense poems and I suddenly thought of the Jabberwocky so I found the words and put my poetry hat on...

The first poem I thought of was Ning, Nang Nong but that one is less dramatic.

I am off to a wedding reception today. I like it when I am driving somewhere and I only get the details when we leave... life is so exciting that way and it never causes any argument.

I am not sleeping at the moment so I have been thinking a lot about drop-ships. It is going to get to a point where I am seriously going to have to bite the bullet... I just wish I could draw what I am thinking about because it would make life a whole lot easier. The main drive of the design is to have enough space for four Old Crow vehicles and thirty troops. The main cargo area will house the vehicles and there will be gantry steps up to the passenger area above the cargo bay. I have been pondering the whole 'rotating engines' thing but I am really in two minds about it because it seriously complicates things... but at the moment, it is all shapes and lines... and a lack of space.

I have finished my latest story and concluded the trilogy. If you are interested, click these:

The Duplicate Adventures

Rebirth and Realisation

Eastward Endeavours

For my next stories, I am thinking that a walker pilot would be a good character. I may give the walker a robot personality or something...

Henry will be arriving soon.

Henry is a little black and white kitten.

He is going to be my daughter's... but he'll still be in the house so he'll still be fun for me too.

Have a nice Saturday.

Busy days

Before I start the post proper today, I'd like to welcome Howard to Inso's world. He's the latest follower to see the beacon and has arrived to wander the paths in safety. Welcome Howard... I hope you enjoy your explorations here and feel free to comment an what you find.

There are definitely times in life where everything catches up with you and I think that this week has been one of those times. As everyone is aware, the armed forces has been undergoing a bit of a restructure recently and I went to a leaving do for some of those who were leaving the RAF for one reason or another (including compulsory redundancy). As a result, my week has been a little melancholy because there were some good mates taking the step back to civvy-hood.

The trouble is, I'd normally buy something to cheer myself up but due to my son's phone-bill bomb-shell has put paid to that... so I decided to continue with my writing and have finished this story:

Rebirth and Realisation.

...and have started this one:

Eastern Endeavours.

Take a look, see what you think and let me know.

On top of that, I have mostly NOT been doing any sculpting because I have certainly not been in the right frame of mind for it. What I have been doing instead is to assemble a few of these:

Click the Pic!

That is two squads of nine Clankers waiting for their comms robots to join their squads (don't tell anyone but they are on their way from the USA as we speak... I couldn't help it).

In other news, I am now OFFICIALLY an awesome dad. Why? Because when I am asked to do stuff I am fairly broad minded... so out came the clippers and scissors... and this is what my daughter ended up like:

Click the Pic!

... and that was AFTER she got some interesting eye-wear for her birthday:

Click the Pic!

Today she is going to be tearing up the town whilst meeting a friend... all I can say there is heaven help him.

All that STUFF and I didn't even mention that my son went to his end of year prom-night on Friday...

...You can see that this has been a week of all sorts other than hobby-stuff... which is good sometimes.

I'm sure you agree.

See you from the spire!

Fairly random update.

Before I start the post proper, I'd like to welcome Exiztenzial to Inso's World. Welcome to the blog and I hope that you gain some enjoyment as you walk around the paths and look at the inhabitants here.

Well...what can I say? I've had a bit of a slow week when it comes to hobby stuff and only started painting last night.

I know why... my painting table has too much sitting on it... and I've got nowhere left to put the stuff I am not in the mood to paint. This is my interim cupboard...the place all my stuff goes before it finds a permanent home in a case:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, I have run out of space. The entire top shelf needs varnishing and everything except the urban troops and large mushroom on the bottom shelves need varnish too... (and a few need painting of course).

In order to try to alleviate the problem I have ordered a new case from Kaiser Rushforth that has been selected to house the Urban Grymn (the first two platoons) and as soon as it arrives, one of the platoons are ready to be packed away... but the main issue is the huge amount of varnishing I need to do. I am really not motivated towards getting it done but I am sure I'll bite the bullet at some point.

On a completely different note, I now have a Strikedog, Rabidlydog and Redshoulder all in 1/60 scale. That means I have a lovely selection of arms, legs, weapons and other bits and bobs to really customise a future project with. My plan (as I have already mentioned) is to make the various components cast-able so that I can build an army of them. I will be simplifying things with the minimum amount of components for each robot... but it will take a huge amount of time so they are packed away for now.

Continuing with the robot theme, I have also managed to get hold of another Megaro Zamac kit. Here is the range:

Click the Pic!

I have just picked up 'Jhau-Zamac' and only need to find 'Run-Valam' and 'Va-Gal' to complete my goal. I have been trawling E-bay on regular occasions and at the moment, there is a 'Va-Gal' for sale in Germany...but I refuse to pay £40-00 for it! I am sure that I will get lucky at some point.

It is Salute next week! That means I have to decide what to buy and also sort out getting there. I think that there may be a few pre Salute posts here in the run up to the event so keep an eye out.

Finally...I have finished 'The Duplicate Adventures' and have started a new story 'Rebirth'. Click the links to have a bit of a read, although I can see Rebirth getting a slow start (because of Salute). Feel free to comment... every day is a learning day, after all.

Well... I think that about finishes things for today. I will be ticking along with the Grymn for the little Pod squad today but I doubt I'll get to a photograph-able position so i doubt there will be any more post today.

See you from the sunny side! 

Easter musing.

It is Easter Friday. That means I am at home again...YAY!

For many of you Christians it is a time of re-birth and huge religious significance...he died, then he came back to life! Nowadays, that would be called a classic Zombie tale but back then, it was spiritual.

For many other people it is a time of eating chocolate eggs and painting chicken eggs before rolling them down a hill.

For still more people it is about dancing naked in the wilds at sites of particular spiritual significance... the Spring Equinox.

For me, it just means that I get a couple of extra days added to my weekend. It also means that I have extra time for THINGS!

Well...I have been thinking... and seeing as I have been writing a long tale about a mixed crew of space adventurers (namely Grymn...but others as well) HERE it got me thinking about the possible hobby aspects of creating the characters from the story. As a result, I have plonked a miniature in the Dettol and have decided to start putting together some miniatures to represent the characters at certain points along the story trail. The first one will be Joo'an and the version I have chosen is after she has lost her psychic powers and after Tully and Jela have got their hands on her and taken her shopping for clothes. She will be carrying Grymn weapons (because she never had any of her own that weren't attached to her bio-suit) and wearing 'interesting' clothing. If you want to take some interest in this project, here is a LINK to where it will be ticking along. If you haven't a clue about what I am talking about...read the story.

I won't be going very quickly on this project because I have bigger fish to fry but I expect to tick along when the muse grabs me.

You could say it is the birth of something new for the Spring Solstice.

Or you could say..."here he goes again with another project that will get half finished and forgotten" which is probably nearer the mark but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

See you from The Obituary (the one from THE STORY).

Today is a good day.

Not only is it Friday but it is the start of a week's leave!

YAY!

I was all set to get a lot of prep work done on my latest platoon of Grymn but I stopped and thought that maybe a night off and a long soak in the tub would be better.... after all, I have a whole week to mess around with hobby stuff.

I have reached page 117 (A5) of my little Grymn story so if you are inclined to spend a while reading the saga so far, then have a look HERE. It may...or may not float your boat.

On a different note, Games Workshop are changing all their paints again. Yes, they are keeping all of the paints that are in the range at the moment BUT they are changing all the names just to confuse everyone. They are also adding a load of other paints and washes.

I am really losing the will to live where Games Workshop are concerned.

See you from the garden gate!

It's almost the weekend.

I will be glad to see the weekend. Not because I've had a bad week or anything but because I just want to try and get some sleep! At the moment I am getting about four hours a night (at most) and it is starting to dig at my impeccable sense of good humour. It is funny because I am feeling OK but I just want to fall asleep at the most inopportune moments (like during an important meeting that I was quite involved with). It was all I could do to remain focused.

ANYWAY, enough of my bleating...I have been busy painting stuff this week and have so far managed to finish the first section of my urban infantry army...that is four whole Grymn! I am about a seventh of the way though the second section so I hope to have both the command and support sections, for the first platoon, ready to show off on Sunday.

I have also been working on a picture to show off some of the planned helmet markings...it isn't perfect but it will suffice. Add to that a little bit of homework on the army selection and Sunday should see quite an interesting post.

I know what you are thinking...BAH! no pix!...but please bear with me because I have been busy writing this week as well. Click on the STORY to read the continuing adventures of Thorred, T87 and the crew of The Obituary.

That, as they say, is that.

See you from the back of beyond!

Phew...the end of the week.

It has been a bit of a week but at least it is now over. I can relax and hopefully get some sleep over the weekend.

I have managed to write a bit more of the STORY so feel free to click the link and have a read...feel free to comment as it is still in the making.

I have finished the first Grymn for my Urban Mechanised Army; a test model that can be seen here: LINK Please feel free to share comments about it because it is the first one of an awful lot of troops and it would be nice to get it right (I won't be painting camouflage though).

Thoughts are on VASA pledges for next month and I have decided to go for my original idea and re-paint a unit of already prepare Black Legion troops with jump packs (some of the Black Legion models have wings). I am debating whether I should re-paint Commander X in my chosen urban scheme...or maybe pick up another one instead...Here she is at the moment:

Click the Pic!

Funnily enough, the red unit below her are the ones I will be re-painting...now there's a coincidence!

See you from the shed!

I'd forgotten how nice it is...

...to paint a single piece miniature.

I have finished painting the first Grymn in ages. What makes this one different is the distinct lack of converting or messing about. I cleaned it, glued it to a base, filled the gaps and painted it. Smashing!

I have also written a bit more STORY...which is nice.

Just thought I'd share.

See you from the top of a step-ladder!

The future is bright...

...the future is Grymn.

I have a Grymn on my painting table that has been cleaned, and stuck to a base ready to become the painting datum for my next army.  I have been thinking about colours today and have a scheme in my head so now all I have to do is put it on a miniature to set it in stone. Once the putty has dried, the journey will begin.

Speaking of journeys, the STORY continues. Remember to scroll down the linked topic to get to the latest instalment...the intrigue increases...

See you from The Obituary! (That's the name of the ship).

Life, writing and sport...OUCH!

Just a quick post today. I have added another part of my ongoing STORY. Again, you'll have to scroll down to read the latest part. Things are hotting up as the trip continues...

I am in the process of basing the last of the bikes. Once the glue has dried, I'll be painting the bases and adding the camouflage to the tops of the bikes. Then it will be transfers and varnish. Not far to go but the PVA takes a long time to set the sand in place...

That, as they say, is that...

...but I did pass my fitness test today (easily) and afterwards I spent an hour playing indoor football (badly). I now have a poorly functioning left hand and feel like I have been run over by a truck...at 41, I think fitness must be something that other people do.

Football...a game where even a friendly kick-about has people telling you you are doing things wrong. I thought my awesome leg waving skills were great...not to mention my fantastic air kicks, awesome 'eyes shut' headers and flailing arm goal keeping skills! I scored goals too!  I bet the opposition were crying into their boots over that!

Good fun that I will pay for later.

See you from the minor injuries unit!

The doldrums.

I knew it had to happen at some point because I have had such a good run of hobby creativity... I have hit the doldrums and am having an immense amount of trouble picking up a brush or sculpting tool. It isn't all bad though. I have been writing again and have written the third instalment in the Duplicate story...feel free to click this link: STORY and scroll down to find the third part (or read the whole thing if you like).

Things in the mix are varied. I have my Void bikes on the table and they are slowly getting painted. I also have five resin space Dwarfs in the process of paint and they are sitting next to the bikes. Beside those is a Grymn in powered armour that is waiting for a claw to be sculpted. Everything else is in the cupboard. I had hoped that clearing the decks would help to get me painting but it doesn't seem to have worked...

...so I have been doing a lot of thinking. The Dropship idea has changed from day to day and I am even going to the effort of asking serious model makers about internal measurements of modern aircraft kits in various scales. One of many ideas is to strap a couple of modern transport aircraft together and work from there...other ideas include wooden frames with thick foil walls held on with pins and even a length of waste-pipe. The problem is that I know what I want to do but have yet to work out how I will do it. It is no biggy though...it's not as if I haven't got a lot to get on with while I think about it.

On top of that, I have been thinking about the vehicles for my Urban Grymn and am getting close to thinking about assembling them (I have ten to assemble). The trouble is that my working storage area is currently filled with 150+ Grymn, mechs and vehicles that all need varnishing...so I have to be careful about what I build because I will have nowhere to put it. I also have no colour scheme sorted so that will slow things down as well.

I have stalled on the Mantic space Dwarfs...I will make further comment about those at some point when I can be bothered (oh dear).

I have been checking out my VASA minis and have decided on a few colour changes for some existing minis as well as some minor recovery jobs on some of the Black Legion minis I have. It is important for me to keep up the momentum with the Void stuff because I have joined the challenge of '£10-00 a month PLUS' and want to achieve that.

My writing has stimulated a need for a few character sculpts...but until the doldrums finish, there is no chance of that.

Roll on the weekend! Hopefully, I can shake off the lack of motivation and get back to the hobby again.

See you whilst I'm standing by the lamp-post, on the corner of the street!

What? More?

Shhh...don't tell anyone...but I've written a bit more STORY (you'll need to scroll down a bit when you get there).

See you from inside the cupboard...

Another day older...

Well, it would appear that today, I mark another notch on the life-post...it's my birthday.  So far, I have had a mellow day and have had a 'picnic' lunch in the country...for that read McDonalds, in the car whilst parked in a lay-by overlooking fields.

I have received a couple of gift vouchers that will mean another visit to GW at some point (batons and riot shields at the ready!) and some well wishes so I am quite happy with my lot today.

On to the grander scale of things, I have been busy tinkering and have managed to change direction yet again!  Instead of painting the Void bikes like I planned, I have returned to the converting table and have finished a few of my Beetle-bot conversions.  First of all, the five finished Immortals:

Click the pic!

These were sitting there goading me to get them finished so I had no choice...and while I was at it I thought I may as well finish the five sniper-bots as well:

Click the Pic!

Now I don't have any conversions sitting on my table, waiting to be finished.  That means that I can get on with other things...and it was at this point, I realised just how little needed to be done to the Tunnel Fighter, drone-squad vehicle to finish it...so I finished it:

Click the Pic!

It is a converted Marauder APC from Fenris Games and is the perfect vehicle to carry the drones and their controllers.

What else has been going on?  Well, as usual, I can't stop buying things so I have ordered 4 Dwarfs from Silent Spectre Games (sci-fi), 5 Russian Power-Armour suits from Micro Panzer, a sheet of decals from another on-line shop, a Junkers force-book for Void1.1 and I also have another Marauder coming from Fenris Games.

I have been sent some Necron Scarabs (as a kind gift), have a couple of resin vehicles being sent as a gift as well (more on that in a future post) and have traded DALEKS for Necrons.  In a bid to help out a little (it is the least I can do with all the gifts I am getting at the moment!), I have sent a bunch of Necron bits to someone building a 15mm drone army.

WOW!  

On to Void and I have been pottering along, slowly, with the bike squad and will most likely get that finished for next Sunday.  I am thinking that once the bikes are finished (including the leading biker), I will start on some Shuriken Guards...I have a small squad of five that are bare metal, straight from the box that need a bit of cleaning up and painting.

The draw of drop-ships has not been far from my mind and I have broached the subject of building a 2 foot long aircraft with a 2 foot wingspan on the living room table...I got a long silence and a disapproving look but my lovely wife understands that if I HAVE to do it then she will just have to stand by and watch otherwise I'll drive her mad.

So, add to that the lack of sleep I'm getting (bleeping drop-ship!), the running I have been doing and the work that I have going on...not to mention some WRITING ...and you'll see that Inso's World is on complete overdrive at the moment.

See you from the stress councillor's office!

Angles are just so yesterday...

What does a metre long piece of 150mm, plastic ducting have in common with a platoon of Grymn troops?

What makes the space shuttle and a C17 Globemaster the same...but different?

How many 'D' rings does it take to allow enough points to tie something down without affecting the integrity of a floor?

I guess that I have been re-visiting my original theories on drop-ship design and I have been taking a close look at various big lift aircraft and the good old Space Shuttle for ideas.  It seems that all the angles that I had planned have lost their appeal and in a fit of insanity, I have decided that a tube will make a good base for my design.

I will have to adapt a few things (like adding panels to widen the tube...yes...WIDEN it!) but I reckon when I'm done, the drop-ship will be about 2 foot long with a similar wingspan.

It will have two decks with the bottom one being for cargo/APC transport and the upper one for troop transportation.

I haven't started buying anything YET...but the itch is really getting annoying lately...

AND on a different note, I have written a short story!  Here is the link:  LINK

...oh...and I couldn't resist buying the decal set that has my 'Splat' artwork in it...I'll share when it gets here.

See you from the drawing board!

A short story.

Just for a change, I thought I'd throw together a short story about a lowly Grymn trooper making a very important delivery...so here it is. Enjoy:

A Special Delivery.

Tomlinz neatly placed the package in the stowage compartment in his Grav-bike. It wasn’t too heavy so there was no need to adjust the repulsor arrays to compensate. He jumped into the pilot’s seat and gunned the engines before waving to the ground engineers and lifting into the air.

Tomlinz was very proud to have been given the honour of delivering the package. It was marked as top priority; essential for front line activities and it meant that he had taken another step up with the responsibility and trust that his seniors gave him. As he darted along the tracks, feet above the ground, the head-up display (HUD) glittered with holographic images of the trees and terrain that was dashing past. Occasionally, a red warning would flash if he got within a couple of metres of an obstacle but Tomlinz was an accomplished flier and avoided the hazards easily. He was having a peaceful trip at the moment but knew that it would be a little trickier once he crossed the border and entered the disputed territory.

The first sign of the ambush was the motion sensor beeping a warning with accompanying red dots appearing on the HUD. Tomlinz was quick to react and slowed quickly to re-arrange his route. The beauty of the warning system was that it had a good range and as long as you reacted quickly, you would have plenty of time to get out of trouble. After a quick course adjustment, he set off again and zipped through a small forest; avoiding the main track and the enemy soldiers that were lying in wait. As he zipped though the trees, his motion sensor beeped again to indicate that the ambushers were moving towards him and although he tried to avoid them, there was the sound of small arms fire and the associated ‘WHIP…WHIP’ of rounds flying past. Tomlinz accelerated and took evasive action but was un-able to avoid all of the incoming rounds as some bounced off the armour of his bike. Just as he thought he was past the worst of it, the HUD illuminated with a flashing array of cautions and the warbling beeps that accompanied them filled his ears. “MASTER CAUTION! ENGINE 2” was quickly followed by a marked drop in power and a sudden lurch to the right. Tomlinz kept his cool and immediately shut the offending engine down whilst flicking the emergency power switch for the remaining engine. He was still leaning to the right so he compensated with an additional boost to the repulsor on that side to offset the imbalance. He was lucky; the corrections worked and he was able to continue on his way. It was then that he realised that the HUD wasn’t indicating any motion and the incoming rounds had ceased…he was past the ambush.

After another hour of uneventful travel, Tomlinz reached the first check-point for the Grymn outpost. It was set quite away from the actual camp to ensure that there was time to flag up defence, should there be enemy attack. The guards checked Tomlinz’ ID documents and were very pleased to see that the package was safe on board. One of them dashed into the bunker to pass on the information and when he returned, he said that the gates would be opened from now on and ID checks wouldn’t be necessary. It was, of course, a very urgent delivery. Once he was cheerfully waved through the barrier, Tomlinz continued on his journey and as he passed through the remaining two check-points, the guards waved and cheered at him. After a couple of minutes, he reached the main gate and was met by a junior officer who checked his details and made sure that the package was safe. Tomlinz picked up the package and followed the officer through a doorway that was situated on the side of a sheer rock-face and led into the depths of the ground. In a couple of minutes, after passing many side offices, he was led into a large hall and seated all around were Grymn soldiers on benches, looking expectantly towards him. He walked over to a very senior officer who warmly shook his hand and received the package from him; signing the docket in the process. The senior officer turned to his adjutant and said “Prepare accommodation for this Grymn, he will need to wait until tomorrow for the reply”. With a ‘yes sir’ the adjutant hurried off and Tomlinz was ushered to a small seat with some refreshments on hand.

The senior officer stood up and faced the gathered Grymn. “Mail call!” he shouted “The Christmas mail is here!” He tore open the package and started to call out names for the gathered troops to collect their messages of good will.

“Trooper Tomlinz, isn’t it?” the officer asked.
“Yes sir” He replied.
“You’ll drink well tonight, my lad!” he said as he raised his voice to shout “let the festivities begin!”

On another note...

'What the Voices Tell Me'

On my conscience today we have dropships, Void army selection for VASA, Mantic sci-fi dwarfs, 'THE HOLIDAY PROJECT' and little-purple-people.

See you from the stern!

Sorted...

After all the indecision about the Iron Man design, I have decided which direction to go in by means of 'trial and error'. I started by sculpting an armature and whilst looking at pix of the various Iron Man armour types, I just sculpted bits and bobs and went where the muse took me. Fortunately, the muse has been helpful so the sculpt is looking good...

...She-Hulk just needs her hands finishing and a general clean-up. She may be a little more muscular than a lot of people would be expecting but I have gone for a more 'angry' temperament for her and to quote the Marvel site, she doesn't always maintain complete control while she is Green. That said, I will be smoothing things down a bit so that she doesn't look too angular.

The Mushroom Spore Launcher has got a base coat and is ticking along...but he is low on the priority.

I reckon that by Sunday, the super team will be at 7 (not necessarily all painted...) and the mushroom will be pretty much the same as it is.

See you from the saddle of my Dragon!

EDIT:

From the rubble of a destroyed building, the defeated form of Abomination staggers forth; only to drop, face down on to the scored earth. As the dust settles, a shape coalesces from a blurry outline into a tall, muscular, green-skinned, woman. Standing next to the unconscious villain, she brushed her hands together, flicked her hair from her face and said...

"Any one for coffee? I really fancy a Mocha"...

With that, She Hulk strode off while the SHIELD agents scooped up Abomination and secured him in custody.

Yes...She-Hulk is finished :)