Two down...two to go!

Two performances down and two more tomorrow, finishing with a booze up for Inso and the family in the local pub. Tonight everyone was tired and there were a few grumps here and there but on the whole the performance went well. There was a much bigger audience tonight and that meant that there was more noise, more cheers and more banter so that really helped.
Thank heavens it's Saturday tomorrow...everyone will finally get a decent lie in. Looking at Inso and his missus tonight...they need one!

So...what happened today? I'll tell you; Inso didn't feel like painting so he put a Vulkan together to get an idea of scale and to see what it looks like first hand. The following pix were taken to give everyone the same information:



Inso has said that he has already 'lost' the head and has converted the area to have a windscreen and a hatch lid. I'm sure there will be a pic of the conversion soon. He has suggested that one squad of three will have the same weapon fit but the other two squads may have different ones (he's still not 100% sure of the big fist).

Well from what I can see, the Vulkan suits the Grymn pretty well and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest assembled...AFTER THE COMMAND SQUAD IS PAINTED!!! (no chance of him listening to me though!).

Catch you tomorrow!

Thursday...IT'S SHOW-TIME!

Well, the title says it all. The Pantomime started tonight and Inso and his family have only been home for long enough to have a cup of tea and tuck the nippers in bed.

There were a few tiny, first-night nerves but on the whole the Pantomime was a great success and fun was had by all. The in-laws enjoyed the show and Inso, his wife and two children all did a splendid job (as did the rest of the cast). Everyone has said that this Pantomime has had the best atmosphere of all of them...everyone actually enjoyed all the rehearsals!!!

A very tried Inso will sleep well tonight!

As for the Grymn command squad...just the first highlights have been done on the brown areas so there hasn't been a lot of progress but Inso can be forgiven because he has been preparing for the big night today.

For a picture today, we have something cheery and almost in the pantomime spirit. He's the Tango Man (who looks a bit like a Genii)...enjoy:

Wobbly Wednesday.

After feeling a bit dizzy last night, Inso awoke this morning feeling even more so. He doesn't know what's up with him but it sort of tailed of during the day but got worse this evening. Fortunately he managed to put some paint on his command squad while he had a less dizzy moment:



There is still a lot of work to do but he has made a good start. Inso is now praying that he won't be dizzy tomorrow as it is the first night of the pantomime...and he doesn't want to fall off the stage.

Today Inso has mostly been surfing the web. He generally likes to have a look at the Forum of Doom, Frothers Unite U.K., The Miniatures Page and Work in Progress (all of which are miniature and converting related forums). He is also a fan of You Tube and Weebl's Stuff which provide a little light hearted entertainment. So far he has resisted the lure of sites like My Space as he has plenty of 'community' based surfing on the forums.

Inso is currently resisting the urge to work on the Vulkan Battle-suits. He knows that if he starts on them, he will neglect his command squad but I reckon it won't be long before he waivers and ploughs into the Vulkans! I think he has ideas that need to be investigated as he has been sitting there turning the main body around in his hand, pondering...time will tell.

To finish off, here's Hellboy...enjoy!


See you tomorrow!

Tuesday...the last rehearsal!

Inso has just finished his tea (at 22-00hrs!) so this is a bit of a late one tonight. He and his family, have just got back from rehearsals which went on much longer than usual because the band was there for the first time. Of course there was complete chaos! I can never understand why the band is never there until the last rehearsal...the cast gets used to recorded music, then the band turns up and plays everything at a different pace in a different key!

The good news is that everything went pretty well and hopefully everything will go well on the night. Inso is currently suffering with dizziness so he won't be getting anything else done tonight (he should have had a bit more to eat today...muppet!).

On a more miniature related theme, the chaingunner turned up so Inso was chuffed that he didn't have to raise complaints against the seller (he e-mailed the seller earlier and there was a misunderstanding and apologies were exchanged). Continuing the theme, Inso managed to get the fatigues on the command squad finished today and has now got as far as having base coted the armour. There are no pix but tomorrow should see some, as it is a complete day off from Pantomime so there will be time for painting and pix.

Today the MIGHTY MONGO makes an appearance in lieu of Grymn pix:


See you tomorrow!

Monday...more rehearsals.

Well, Inso has basically had a day off from everything miniature related today. The only thing that he has managed to do is buy 6 more Vulkan Battle-suits and ANOTHER Viridian marine sergeant (hopefully a male one this time). He's also come clean to his long suffering wife about buying two more Tiger APCs from the US...of course she just looked at the ceiling and let him off with a tut (she's a real gem!).

The command squad is sitting, waiting for paint but tomorrow is another Panto day so they may not get to see any.

Tonight at rehearsals, was complete chaos. Cues were missed, lines forgotten and children were running riot. I think that everyone was tired out so they were a bit irritable. Inso bought a 'bald head with Einstein hair' wig today (to use while playing the Old Dance Director) and when he took a deep breath to say his lines...he drew in half the wig hair and nearly choked to death! It was funny to watch but it was a good job it was a rehearsal (as he had plenty of opportunity to get his colour back and compose himself)...hairspray will be used to prevent a recurrence.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some photos of the pantomime when everyone is in costume. Inso looks a picture as the jester...you can't see very much of him as the Old Dance Director.

I'm sorry everything is Pantomime orientated at the moment...but that's just how it is.

Just to finish off on a high note, here is a pic of a rather cheeky sci-fi sniper from Freebooter Miniatures...enjoy:


See you tomorrow!

Slower Sunday...

First of all, I was asked what a Vulkan Battle-suit looked like so I have found an image from the net to let everyone know what they look like. I don't own the picture and it remains the property of whoever originally posted it...


The pic shows the same box that Inso got through the post. as you can see, they look very nice :).

On to other news, Inso and his family have been over at the village hall doing Panto rehearsals again today. This time it was 'in costume' as there were newspaper reporters there, taking pix. As a result, there was a lot of fun being had and that slowed down proceedings a bit so Inso hasn't managed to get much painting done today, with the exception of varnishing yesterday's completed squad.

This morning, Inso managed to learn the rest of his lines, hunt for the rest of the items needed for his costumes and sew a few more bells onto his Jester hat and collar. As you can see, today has been dominated by panto related stuff.

Tomorrow...the In-laws arrive. That means there is likely to be a bit more of a slow down in miniature painting. I guess I'll have to start looking through the galleries again.

See you tomorrow!

Super Saturday!

What a day! Not only did the Vulkan Battle-suits arrive today but I've seen them and they are extremely cool (and appear to be perfect for little Grymn Sentinel proxies). They also appear to have been sculpted by Kev White (of Hasslefree Miniatures fame) so it goes to show that even when he doesn't know who's sculpted his miniatures, he knows what he likes when he sees it.

The pantomime rehearsals also went very well. Inso has nearly learned all his lines and will have them sorted by tomorrow...which is lucky because there will be newspaper reporters there to take pictures and gain opinions...so tomorrow will be fun for him.

What else? Well it would appear that I was wrong about what Inso could achieve today because it seems that he has...only gone and finished the Grymn squad! Not bad considering he was at rehearsals for 4 hours today and being busy doing other things as well. Here they are, by the way:



Inso has a command squad to paint now and then the platoon will be finished. He must be keen because the next squad is already sitting on the painting table ready to be started.

After all that...I'm off for now. There will be more rehearsals tomorrow so I can't say what will happen miniatures wise so I guess we'll all have to wait and see.

Catch you tomorrow!

Hah...I remembered Friday this week!

Well it's Friday and I actually remembered this week...so it's a good start!

Inso has been fairly busy today and has finished all the weapons on the Grymn but hasn't taken pix. He has had to stop for now because he is having difficulty focusing. It would seem that this week's painting schedule has caught up with him a bit.

Today, a parcel with four more Viridian marines turned up. They are a grenade launcher, rocket launcher, sniper and sergeant. Unfortunately the sergeant is the same one he already had...but there's the breaks when you go for random blisters.

The saga of the Gill Worm took a new form today as Inso gave it away to someone on the Forum of Doom. There's not a lot I can say about artistic temperament but I guess Inso has some. He posted it of to a guy whose user name is 'Rod the Worm' and in Inso's own words, 'who else could I possibly send it to?'. I suppose he has a point. The good thing is that it is going to a home to be painted and not cast; that means he can sculpt bigger ones without worrying about IP infringement.

Well, that's about it for tonight. There is panto for most of the day tomorrow so I doubt if very much will get done...but you never know!

See you tomorrow!

Thursday...again!

Inso sent this pic over today and it shows that, true to his word, he has finished all the brown bits. He even managed to paint a bit extra on the knives (which you can't see):

(Remember to click the pic for a bigger version!)

As he puts it "now it is the fun bit...guns and heads". That means they should progress fairly quickly from now on.

The panto rehearsals are going well and apart from his lines in the last scene, lines are being remembered very well...which is good because the first performance is next Thursday. To say he's nervous would be a complete lie...he loves making an arse of himself, does Inso!

Whilst having a look through his winning bids on E-bay, Inso noticed that one of the buyers was no longer registered and had removed all his items from the site. I hope that the seller honours his purchase (the Viridian Chain-gunner) otherwise there will be cursing and lots of hassle trying to get refunds. Again...we'll have to wait and see.

Well, that's it for tonight.

See you tomorrow!

...squeak...it's Wednesday...

Well, it's been a much slower day today. The Grymn now have brown boots, gloves and pouches and the highlights have been started but that's about it. I think Inso has burned himself out over the last couple of days but he assures me that tomorrow he will have the brown finished. I think he's doing OK...certainly better than the time since Christmas, during which the same Grymn have sat getting dusty.

Until next weekend, there won't be many free evenings for Inso because there are a lot of Panto rehearsals (the show starts next Thursday!). The good news is that he can get some painting done during the day because he is on leave.

More news on the Tiger front...they are both being dispatched from America on Monday and should be here 7 - 10 days later. That will be interesting to see because they are already assembled and are of indeterminate condition. Hopefully the gamble has paid off and they will be great...we'll have to wait and see, I suppose.

The Hasslefree parcel arrived today and that meant that the Grymn for the cavalry turned up (along with some other bits and pieces). The down side to the arrival was the fact that the Gill Worm turned out to be a bit small for the planned rider...so it looks like he'll be side-lined and not used. It's a shame but it goes to show that it sometimes helps to have all the required items at hand when working on an idea. On the plus side, there was a free Grymn in the parcel as a sorry for the parcel being delayed a little...unnecessary but a testament to the excellent service that Hasslefree miniatures provides.

When it comes to the Grymn, all are welcomed and none will be left out...Inso can always be relied upon to find a home for them!

There are only two more parcels due to arrive (apart from the Tigers); a Veridian marine chain-gunner and a pack of 3 Vulkan battle-suits. Then it will be NO MORE SPENDING for Inso...well...until he goes to Salute of course.

See you tomorrow!

ROOOOAAAARRRR! It's Tuesday.

You know what they say....

..."you spend all day waiting for a bus and then three come along all at once..."

Well the same could be said about Tiger APCs. Inso has told me that after a discussion about paint-schemes on Tiger APCs over at 'The Miniatures Pages', he has entered into negotiations to obtain two more! What's more, the deal has been done and all that he is waiting for is postage confirmation and payment details...and they'll be on their way from the good old U S of A! Obviously, more Tigers means a re-think on what to do with them but I'm sure that some cool idea will surface.

Well tonight there is definitely no picture. Inso is sat in a chair rubbing the back of his neck because he has been in the painting chair a lot today. The ten Grymn now have completed armour and base coated boots to go with their finished fatigues. They are progressing nicely and at the moment it is paint straight from the pot, rather than mixing colours, so Inso can tick along at his own pace for a few processes.

To completely change the subject, you should have seen Inso earlier. He was completely oblivious to everything going on around him as he was sat in front of the computer singing along to 'Chuchy Face' from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! He has found all of the Pantomime songs on You Tube and has managed to get some with the Lyrics being flashed up 'Karaoke' style so he has been singing away like a canary all day...

...Laugh? I almost fell off my chair!

Well, that's it for tonight. I'll see you tomorrow and maybe have a pic or two to show off.

Monday morning blues...

Or not, as the case may be. There has been some good progress made on Inso's Grymn squad; he has finished the fatigues and has started on the armour. There is still a long way to go but here's a pic of how far he's got:



There has also been a lot of news on the mail front. Not only has Inso received his five Viridian marines and his Vanir but he has also received this:



The pic is one of a Tiger APC and Inso has been after one of these for absolutely ages...well he now has one (in bits and unpainted) and thinks that it is great (albeit a bit smaller than expected). All the recent goodies have been boxed back up and put away for a time when he has finished painting a few Grymn. You never know, tomorrow may not only see some more painting progress but may also see the arrival of some more Grymn and a trio of Vulkan battle-suits.

Catch you tomorrow!

Sunday; busy Sunday...

Today, Inso has been painting his Grymn squad! He has base coated and highlighted the first layer of cloth and has finished the first layer of 'blobs'. From what he says, the hardest thing about painting these particular Grymn is the green part of the fatigues. Now that has been done, it should be down hill all the way from now on...so there should be plenty of progress in a short space of time. Inso hasn't taken any pix but assures me that he is on the right track.

Sunday night is Pantomime night and Inso, his wife and two children were off walking the boards this evening. There was a full run through tonight, with singing, dancing and plenty of lines being read. The whole family are doing pretty well with the learning of lines but still need a few cues during the second act. Next week (or this coming week), there are a lot of evening rehearsals so there won't be too much painting going on...fortunately Inso is on Leave so he'll have time during the day to get the painting done.

Inso has a parcel waiting for him at the Post Office and can't wait to find out what it is...with so much E-bay action lately, it could be anything. He seems to be a bit like a cat on a hot tin roof...he's a bit excited.

Well, seeing as there are no current pix, I thought I'd dig out his other project, a Neu Swabian League platoon (for Stargrunt II from GZG). The following picture shows the command squad:


Inso has another painted squad and two more on the go. These are on his 'finish before I go to Iraq' list but after all the cavalry malarky I would be surprised if he manages it. We'll just have to see.

Catch you tomorrow.

Lobster bites back!

The plan was for Inso to start painting his Grymn tonight. It didn't quite work out like that. After defrosting a couple of lobsters, he set to work removing the meat...only to slice open his thumb and finger in the process. He was a bit disappointed and has drunk lots of mead to make up for it. There will be no pix for the foreseeable future, I guess.

In order to make amends for his silly accident, he has started planning the next army and now has a concrete idea of what minis will be used.

The command squad will all have auto-guns apart from the Captain; he will have a pistol and power weapon. The command platoon will be the command squad and an attached heavy weapon squad with auto-cannons.

There will be two squads of five Grenadiers. each squad will include a veteran sgt and a grenade launcher.

There will be a veteran squad of seven which will be made up of the Vanir.

There will be a squad of 10 Ratling snipers that will be made up of Hasslefree Miniature's Kindred.

There will be a Sentinel Sqn of three; made up of three Vulkan battle-suits with a weapon swap.

Inso has looked through his bits-box and has decided that some will have helmets and some will have Arabic-style wraps around their heads (due to not having enough close-combat Grymn helmets). Comm-links are unlikely as well. The cavalry will not be used for this project but elements may find a way in (the worms, maybe?).

The Doctrines are currently:
Grenadiers
Special Equipment: Carapace Armour.
Restricted Troops: Ratling Snipers.
There may be two more added; one of which may be Rough-Riders.

Well...that's what has been going on today and I thought it would be nice to finish with a pretty picture so without further ado, here's Libby in rather brightly painted, Powered Armour from Hasslefree Miniatures:


Catch you later!

Another forgotten Friday.

Oops! I went and forgot to post an update again. I swear Friday has an aura around it! I never received any pix or contact from Inso last night so I started playing Wii Sports...four hours later I went to my pit with sore shoulders and a handful of high scores...that's the Wii for you.

So...what can we talk about if there are no updates from Inso? Well, I happen to know that he has been dabbling on E-bay lately and that he has won everything that he bid on. So he has some interesting bits and pieces to play with, on the way through the ether. He has:

A squad of 5 Viridian Marines from Void 1.1 (now sold through Scotia Grendel)
A Tiger APC from Void 1.1 (think AT-AT from Starwars but with shorter legs)
A squad of 3 Vulkan Battle Suits from Warzone (now sold through Prince August)

Add to that the Vanir and the Grymn that he has ordered and the few bits and pieces that arrived from Heresy, then there is a lot of stuff to be getting on with.

From what I understand, the Tiger APC and the Marines will form a unit and three more marines will be added to it (when the dust has settled on all these purchases).

The new Grymn army (that was talked about yesterday) will have the Vulkans as Sentinels, the Vanir as veterans and maybe the cavalry as Rough-riders. Inso has a LOT of unpainted Grymn and from those that he has, he will be making two Grenadier squads and maybe a Command HQ. He also has 10 Kindred which he plans to use as Ratling snipers. Every unit in the army will be converted in some way.

...BUT!...before he starts any of that, he has two weeks leave and during that time, his focus will be his green Grymn army; namely the second squad from the second platoon. After that he has two more squads to paint and he is calling it a day on the troops part of the army. That is a total of 21 troops left to paint (infantry squad-10, command squad-5 and support squad-6)...then there will be tanks but they are for a later time, after his return from the Gulf in July.

I have babbled too much! See you later!

Thursday...all is quiet.

To continue yesterdays theme, Inso is still out of the loop but plans are afoot to alleviate some of the hassle so things should start to improve soon. Tonight he has varnished the Druschian Stryker that he finished painting an age ago and has started to add some camouflage to the Zaku mech. Mostly though, he has been chilling out and playing chess on the computer.

Inso has mentioned that he has plans for a new, small Grymn army that is in direct response to some recent purchases he has made and some (hopefully) winning bids on E-bay. This new army will be a highly converted desert themed army and will consist of a few small squads of troops and a handful of walkers.

The plan...a command squad (tooled up), two grenadier squads, maybe some veterans and a sentinel squad or two. The cavalry that Inso has been working on may become part of the army and the Vanir that are on the way may also be themed in as scouts (maybe they will be the veterans?). It is in the very early stages of planning but I'm sure that there will be something of interest when the ideas start to fly around.

See you tomorrow.

Is it Wednesday already?

I'm afraid that there is still no new stuff from Inso. He is dead on his feet at the moment and real life has caught up with him.

Being a Sergeant in the Royal Air Force means that there are duties that have to be done that weigh heavy on the mind...namely staff appraisals. Inso has a handful to do and it always puts him on edge because he doesn't want to sell his team members short and that means he gets stressed out (and sleeps even worse than usual). Hopefully, they'll be sorted very soon and he can get back to doing what he enjoys; sculpting and painting.

Today I've got no pix from the gallery to show off but I have some news on the miniatures front. I have heard through the grapevine that Inso has some Vulkan battle suits from Warzone coming in from E-bay soon so we have that to look forward to. Also, He has two weeks leave starting this Friday so I can see a bit of progress in the near future. I have heard him say that the Grymn squad that has been sat on his table since Christmas will get painted during his leave...I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Catch you tomorrow.

Tuesday blues...

Everyone is under the weather today so there hasn't been any progress on any front. So just a short post with a pic from the gallery. This one is Grant; an adventurer from Hasslefree Miniatures:



See you tomorrow!

Just another manic Monday!

I've been sent another two pics from Inso today. First up is an update of Birdy. It is still not finished but now has a bit more texture and a pair of forelimbs. It also has a pair of eyes...which are always helpful!



Inso tells me that the head and beak will be worked on and tidied up a bit so it isn't going to look exactly the same as it does now. There will be plenty more feathers added as well...time will tell.

Next up we have the fourth mount which has gained the name of Tusker. Bear in mind that this pic is of a sculpt in a very early stage but what it does show is the rough shape...fat, bipedal and elephantine...with tusks:



Well, with what has been shown off so far, I dread to think what will come next. I'd also like to see what the Trhino ends up like. I think it's about time Inso pulled his finger out and got it finished! I mentioned this to him and all I got in reply was 'it'll get finished when it gets finished'...so I guess we'll have to sit and wait.

Well, that's Monday over with...roll on tomorrow!

See you.

And now for something completely different...

I got sent this pic today and it is a pic of the third Grymn cavalry mount. It is called a Gill Worm and will have a chariot styled howdah on its back for a Grymn to ride in (apparently):



As you can see, it is completely different to the other two and represents a desert dwelling, giant millipede of some description. I'd like to know what's next?...A giant slug maybe? I'm sure that it will be something different, seeing as Inso has the sculpting bit well and truly between his teeth at the moment.

There is further news on the Birdy front, with the addition of more feathers and a bit more detail to the head...but no pix I'm afraid. Maybe we'll get some later as Inso is off to pantomime rehearsals again soon.

As is always the case, comments are welcomed!

See you later.

Birdy has evolved.

After a days sculpting on the third cavalry mount, Inso has taken some advice and started to put a bit more effort into making Birdy more of a lizardy...



The question has arisen as to whether the front legs should be wings or forelimbs like a dinosaur would have. I think it should be dinosaur style forelimbs but the decision is still to be made. I'm sure that he'll make his mind up soon.

As for cavalry mount 3; I have seen it and it is nearly finished...well the 'beast' is but not the saddle or rider (the rider is still in the post). It is most certainly different to the other two but I have been sworn to secrecy so I can't say any more. All I can say is that it is tailor made for a harsh, desert lifestyle.

As well as a bit of sculpting, Inso put a bit of paint on the mecha...so I was wrong there! I thought it would just sit there!

What else has happened? Well there has been a bit of action on E-bay and Inso has bid on some Void stuff; namely an APC and a squad of marines. He's also gone and ordered some Vanir from Brigade Models. Why? I have no idea! I do know, however, that what ever he orders will get used for something...it always does. The Vanir are Dwarves from Celtos and they were sculpted by Kev White (the sculptor who makes the Grymn) so I think that a few Grymn/Vanir conversions may be forthcoming when the minis arrive.

More stuff tomorrow!

Yay! It's the weekend!

Inso has mentioned that with all the work he has been putting into the third cavalry mount, he has only managed to feather-up the top of Birdy's other leg...so he hasn't taken any pix (just imagine the last picture...but facing the other way!).

So what can we talk about instead? Inso's order from Heresy arrived today; two days it took and it contained a lolly as well as enough Green Stuff to sculpt an army of cavalry mounts and a nice handfull of shiny metal miniatures including three Hellmites (that Inso has hinted, may end up as more mounts for the Grymn...or maybe even a chariot).

Mecha has been on his mind lately as well. A While ago, he bought a Gundam super deformed Zaku robot and it seems to have turned up on his painting table again. I doubt if it will see much paint seeing as Inso has his sculpting head on at the moment...but we'll see. Here is a pic of what he has done so far:



From what I have seen, the 'horn' on the front of the helmet has disappeared but apart from that, it's the same as it has been for at least six months!

The weekend beckons! Catch you tomorrow!

Fancy a bit of leg?

Inso has sent over a small pic of some minor progress on Birdy today:



All he's done is started to texture the legs so that he doesn't end up with a sculpt that is finished except for the surface texture (as covering the muscles after so much work scares the bejeezus out of him :) )...like he did with the Trhino.

The thing with sculpting the way he does, is that everything is done in layers. He starts with a wire frame, adds a layer of putty to thicken the wire and provide a key, then he sculpts on layer after layer until it's done. The downside is that each layer needs to dry so Inso is left having to tap his fingers in impatience.

The reason that there isn't much to show tonight is because Inso has been putting a little more effort into his third, more simple, cavalry mount...and he doesn't want to show that off until the rider is ready to mount it.

An order went into Hasslefree Miniatures last night so there will be riders aplenty very soon!

Tomorrow is Friday so there is bound to be a bit more to show off very soon...after all the weekend is coming!

Wednesday pantomime fun!

Well, tonight it is a bit quiet because Inso has been away at rehearsals for the Pantomime.

This year he has gone for a local Pantomime rather than the one at his base because he was away in Iraq when the pantomime was running and this is the only way he could fit one in.

This time around he is playing a merry Jester and a doddering old Band Master (he gets about a bit!). The Pantomime is 'The Pied Piper of Old Helfordia' which is a localised version of the Hamlin version. It is a very local affair with only a handfull of audience expected to attend...but the old people would be upset if it didn't get made so there will at least be one or two people there to appreciate the effort!

So...what's on show tonight? Well...no cavalry updates I'm afraid so it's another delve into the gallery. Today it is the turn of Brigade Games and their smashing Alien Invasion miniatures. They are quite large (30mm tall) but I expect that just makes them easier to paint:


I hope to see you again tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Photobucket's back.

This is as far as the Trhino will be going until skin texture is added:


This is the new cavalry mount, currently known as Birdy:

Hmmmm...no Photobucket.

It's one of those days! Inso has been busy tidying up the loose ends on the Trhino before thinking about adding skin texture. He's also started bulking up his second cavalry mount (who shall be known as Birdy). Inso has also taken photographs of said progress...but can't upload them due to Photobucket maintenance. At least the pix are ready to upload and that means Inso can charge his camera battery and have no excuse not to produce pix next time.

As part of 'Operation Cavalry' Inso has started a third, top secret mount. He's not even told me what it is yet. All he has mentioned is that the rider stands on it to ride it...the mind boggles! He's also mentioned that he's going to do all sorts of mounts, including a motorcycle of some description! We'll have to see what happens there. So much for his painting list...at this rate he'll not get anything else painted before he has to go to Iraq/Kuwait again in April.

In case anyone is interested, Inso uses a putty to make his miniatures out of and it is called Kneadatite (or Green stuff, more commonly). As a result of his flurry of sculpting, his supplies have dwindled and he has placed an order with Heresy Miniatures for some more. He's also got a few miniatures to go with it (it would be rude not to make the most of free postage over £25-00 now, wouldn't it?). Another problem with sculpting lots of cavalry is the need for lots of riders; It looks like there will be another order going in to Hasslefree Miniatures very soon!

Well, that's it for now. I hope to have pix to show off tomorrow (as long as Photobucket is back on line).

Bye now.

Monday again.

Well it's another Monday and another evening where Inso has been keeping up the trend of weekend sculpting.

The Trhino has ground to a halt because the thought of adding skin texture to his new beast has put the frighteners on Inso and he is taking a step back until he can summon the courage to pile on the skin and cover all those muscles. He did, however, add some more detail to the head, neck and chest with a bit of gap filling on various 'missed' areas.

Inso has also started another cavalry mount that will have two legs and will probably be a bit like an Emu (but with an alien twist maybe?).

Unfortunately, there are no pix to show off but at least there has been a bit of progress.

Other stuff...

Well done the Giants for stopping the Patriots in the NFL Superbowl! I always support the underdogs and although I never watched the game was glad that the Giants were up to the task.

The Insomnia is biting Inso at the moment so it is likey that there will be lots of basecoating, varnishing or undercoating going on as his motor skills get messed up when he looses too much sleep.

See you tomorrow!

Sunday Cavalry

What with it being Sunday (and that means Pantomime practice), I will put up todays update early because I don't expect there to be too much more progress from Inso today. As far as progress goes, Inso has chipped away at his Trhino and has bulked it up a bit and added a little more detail. The little beast now has eyes as well so it is starting to look a little more complete:



Inso has also mentioned that he has added stirrups to the rider but won't be adding any reigns because he says that the beast would have been raised from a pup and would be trained to a level that would make reigns unnecessary.

From an idea on Friday, this sculpt has progressed at a great rate and I think that it should be finished fairly soon at this rate!

Unless any more progress turns up, I'll catch you tomorrow!

Saturday is Trhino day...

Inso sent this pic over and it shows the Trhino at a fairly advanced time during the sculpt. The Grymn with it was not his first choice as rider but it will suffice for the time being. He thought a beret would suit it anyway...so it now has one.



There is stil a long way to go, with the head, feet, chest and saddle still needing details and shape adding but it is a good start.

More tomorrow.

Whatever happened to Friday?

Friday came and went, didn't it? I sort of missed the day's post out didn't I? Well it hasn't happened today. A bit later I will have something to post that will be a little different. Inso has been pacing around like a caged animal and has finally said 'damn it!' and has started to sculpt a new cavalry beast for his Grymn.

It was a trip to the local game shop that convinced him to start his own sculpt. He bought a box of Riders of Rohan; Lord of the Ring miniatures from Games Workshop, to see how big the horses were and discovered that, even though they are in a slightly smaller scale, they are still too big for Grymn.

He has told me that this will only be a trial run as he has used a spare minitaure for the rider that he wouldn't necessarily have used if he had a choice.

The beast itself is going to be a mix of boar, camel and possibly tapir with a hint of added bony plates...apparently. Hopefully, there will be a pic by the end of the day, even if the sculpt isn't finished.


Well if the above information doesn't confirm that an artistic mind never rests, then I don't know what does. So far in the blog, we have gone from painting Zombies to Grymn to Tyranids and now on to sculpting alien riding beasts. Life with Inso is never boring!

Catch you later for another post!