Monday Mystic.

I got this pic sent through today. It is the third of the Mystic children and is also the tiniest:


The picture isn't great but Inso assured me he took loads of pix and this was the result of the best ones...

He had nothing more to say apart from 'only one more to go!'.

Catch you tomorrow!

Sunday...an hour earlier than it should be!

The clocks went forward an hour last night. It's British Summertime. Of course it rained today!

Inso has painted the first of his Mystic Warriors and is unlikely to finish any more today so I thought I'd post early today. This one is queen Jen Amidala:


She is only the same height as a Grymn and her face is tiny so god knows how he painted the make up...Inso says that it looks better in the flesh (so it sounds like he isn't that happy with it). I'll leave it up to you to decide whether it works or not.

Well, that's it for now.

See you tomorrow...

...Or not. Inso just sent this over to me and swears that it is his last for tonight. It's Young Mystic Meg and can you believe it is even smaller than the last one:


Definitely bye for now!

Another Saturday...

Well, things have been almost as quiet as expected. Inso has been busy enjoying family life today so hasn't really done too much of his hobby.

The only thing he has done is completely change direction and has based and undercoated four Mystic Warriors from Hasslefree Miniatures. If you are unfamiliar with the miniatures, check out the HF site and look in the shop in the Pirate section. Inso has the four Mystic Warrior children and is already thinking about paint schemes.

So far the base has been painted brown and is waiting for the dry brush. The miniatures are undercoated in white.

Apparently, the plan is to give the minis different coloured face paint. The thing is that they resemble Jedi from Star Wars and some of the alien Jedi look really cool so the easy way of replicating the look (without converting the miniatures) is to give the minis face paint...simple really.

So...which one will be Darth Maul then? We'll just have to wait and see.

Catch you later.

Oh, by the way, if you check out the Forum of Doom, go to the Hasslefree Fluff section and check out the threads: 'A little bit of Grymn fluff: Kjaran' and 'A little bit of Grymn fluff: Pjotir', you'll be reading the stories Inso wrote while he was on his course...Enjoy!

...What time is it?...

Hello again, it's Friday and Inso has returned from his travels a very tired little bunny. He couldn't sleep while he was away (being parted from his wife, sleeping in a tiny bed and listening to it squeak every time he so much as twitched meant that he didn't sleep more than a couple of hours over the four days he was away) so I doubt if much in the way of hobby material will be forthcoming.

While he was away he wrote two short stories...both related to Grymn. He has also started a twisted tale about Arthur who happens to be a bit of a murderer; on the quiet. They will be posted at some point but probably on the Forum of Doom (well, the Grymn tales will be at any rate) so I'll make sure I provide a link when it happens.

He also watched Serenity. Inso has always been surprised by the popularity of Serenity but after watching it again, he has started to understand some of the appeal. He thinks that the characters interact extremely well and there is a sense of family that few other films of this type manage to achieve. That means he's taken a shine to the film. He also mentioned that now he has the DVD he has started to look closely at the design of the Mule anti-grav sled. What that means...only time will tell.

He also watched the Johnny Cash film 'Walk the Line'. He has basically told me that if I don't watch this film, I don't have a soul. I guess I'll have to watch it.

So...what did he do while he was away? Lots and lots of military stuff. From battlefield assault drills to range firing, throwing smoke grenades, ambush drills, mine clearing (simulated...there weren't real mines. There were booby traps and a lot of loud bangs though!). He even got to strip and re-assemble an AK-47. He had a great time (even though some of the more 'interesting' briefings that he attended brought him down to earth, somewhat) but is physically and mentally drained at the moment and is looking forward to his own bed tonight!

Sheesh! All this effort just to go to the Gulf again. It's a bit like having to build your own fire just to stick your hands into it!

That's it for now.

Catch you later.

...Hmmm...

Not a lot again today. All that has happened is the first layer of paint has gone onto a Grizzly. It's going to be red so it will join the red Grymn. There aren't any plans for an army...yet...but you never know.

I can see Inso building up a small force of red Grymn but I know for a fact that his plans for a desert, Arab style army will take precedence. I reckon the red ones will tick along for a bit of variation , when he is working on his main plans. I guess it's going to be one of those 'wait and see' things again.

Well, you won't be hearing from us for a week now. Inso is leaving for a training course tomorrow and won't be back until Friday so there is no point posting anything.

So, I'll see yo in a week!

Catch you later.

It's been a bit quiet today...

Not a lot has happened today. Inso has added a flamer to one of his Grizzly battlesuits, has based and undercoated it and varnished the Grymn he painted yesterday. That's about it I'm afraid.

I don't expect to see too much tomorrow as he will be prepping his kit for ANOTHER training course next week. It seems that he is either on a course or on detachment lately. No wonder he's a bit grumpy at the moment.

So...what has Inso been thinking about lately? Well, one thing is that he needs to decide what to do with the Grizzlies. After painting the grey skinned Grymn yesterday, the idea of painting up the Grizzlies and a few other Grymn to join him has crossed his mind...but there is nothing set in stone yet. He hasn't mentioned anything else really, apart from yesterday's Grymn.

Well...not a lot today and little prospect of very much tomorrow.

Catch you later.

Friday...and it is Good!

It's Good Friday. It wasn't that good for me this morning, I had a stinking hangover...never mind (we all reap as we sow, after all).

So...what has Inso been upto today? First off, he decided to take a picture of another chunk of his Grymn collection. The following pic is more or less the rest of his collection (if you add it to the green army). There is all sorts in there:



If you want to see more pix, you might like to have a look here:

http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d161/Inso/Grymn/

Not content with his little photo session, Inso suddenly had a chaotic brainwave and decided to paint one of his spare Grymn in a completely different way. Not only does it have a non-camouflaged uniform but the mini's skin is grey. He was going for a Chaos style Grymn, much in the same theme as some painted Imperial Guard he once saw. Here's the pic...you can make up your own mind if it works or not:

The base is not painted yet (and needs to be sealed with PVA glue) but Inso only started this 8 hours ago so he hasn't done too bad (seeing as he had to wait for the putty on the base to set).

Well that's it for now.

Catch you later.

Thursday's child...

...is full of port!

Yes I am (in the words of Paul Whitehouse) very drunk!

I have a day off tomorrow and then the weekend...so YAY for Easter (even though I don't follow the religion...well not too much anyway :) ).

Inso has the same time off, as the RAF feel the need to let their troops have bank holidays off...as they should!

I haven't heard a thing from Inso today...not that I would have had too much interest, I am in no mood for miniatures today...let's talk about...Buddy Holly.

Where would Elvis have been if Buddy Holly hadn't died in that plane crash with the Big Bopper and Ricky Valens? I'll tell you where...the back of the line, that's where! Buddy Holly was on the verge of becoming the greatest rock'n'roll star of all time..but fate cut his life short, along with so much other talent and the dregs were left behind.

I know that history has made Elvis immortal but spare a thought for those that had the talent but were cut off in their prime...Buddy Holly rocked the world...and died for his sins. Who said life was fair?

I tilt my glass in a toast to those who paved the way for others to get the glory. I toast those who lay their jackets on the ground for others to walk upon and I toast those fallen heroes who gave (and still give) their lives so that others may carry on the fight.

To Buddy Holly!
To the Big Bopper!
To Ricky Valens!
To the unnamed Soldier!

God bless them all and long may their memory carry on.


Inso got his Iraq medal the other day...no fanfare...no parade...no fuss...

Catch you tomorrow.

...YAWN...

That's all I got from Inso today. Last I saw of him, he was asleep in his armchair. Hardly surprising since he didn't sleep at all last night.

So no updates, no painting, no pix...all I know that he's done is to coat the officer Vulkan's base with PVA and touching up the grey undercoat so that everything was coated.

So what now? Well we have a three day weekend starting tomorrow night and after that, Inso is traveling away (on Monday) to attend another training course. This time he gets to do a bit of camping, a bit of shooting and a bit of jumping out of the back of Landrovers under covering fire...you've got to love the military.

Hopefully, there will be a few small updates before he goes but I can't promise anything.

Well, at least there is something happy today:


God I hate cats...;).

Catch you later!

Is it Tuesday already?

So, I said to Inso "what have you got for me today?" and he says, "I've taken a pic of my green Grymn army...will that do?"



What could I do but say "I suppose so...but you'll have to do better next time". 80 painted Grymn and 7 more started...not bad for a years work (amongst other things of course!).

Inso also told me that he'd done the bulk of the weapon conversions for the other 6 Vulkans; 3 now have las-cannons and the other 3 have auto-cannons. There is still work to do on the arms but they are mostly done. He hasn't assembled the Vulkans though, he's just converted the weapons for now.

So...onto the list for Salute. Inso will be visiting all of the stands but has a list of the ones that he needs to spend some time at:

Hasslefree Miniatures - To meet friends, view the new stuff, pick up pre-orders (mostly Grymn) and browse...probably buying more Grymn!
Black Scorpion - To see the new Aliens and weapon sprues and buy some, if there are any left.
Heresy - To have a look at the hell hounds and the sci-fi range (with a view to purchase some).
Old Crow Productions - To buy some hatches and look at the 15mm and 25mm tanks.
Scotia Grendel - To look at the Void, Kryomek and decals.
Ground Zero Games - To look at miniatures/vehicles in general.
Caliver Books - To look at Alpha Forge miniatures.
Black Hat Miniatures - They sell space dwarfs called Dvarg...they're worth a look.

Other stuff of interest: Battletech, AT-43, Halo clix, Monolith Games (if they can be found at Salute), vehicles in general, decals and anything sci-fi.

This year Inso will be looking around at a few of the games as well but has no intentions of joining in with any...that would involve him being sociable...

Well that's it for tonight.

Catch you later!

Monday again.

Things are ticking along slowly in the Inso household.

The second Vulkan has been base-coated and the shading wash has been applied. The Officer Vulkan has had its base covered with sand and grit and is waiting for a sealing coat of PVA glue. Once that is dried it will have the rest of its undercoat finished and then a base-coat will be applied at a later date.

So...if things are only ticking along slowly...what has been going on?

I'll tell you what is going on...Salute planning. Yes, it is coming to that time of year when the gaming world gets one of its biggest UK shows. There will be a lot of traders, a lot of games going on, painting competitions and even a bring and buy stand. Of course there will also be a lot of gamers and miniatures collectors there to enjoy the day and meet friends from all over the world and from those on-line forums that everyone makes friends on nowadays.

What Inso has been doing is checking out the Salute website, seeing what traders are there, making a note of those he wants to visit (using a printed copy of the floor-plan, from the site) and deciding on the sort of things he wants to look at and maybe purchase. Last year was his first ever visit to a show like this and he got a bit confused by the whole thing. That meant he didn't meet everyone he wanted to, didn't see everything he wanted to, didn't buy what he wanted and went home with far too much money left. This year it will be different...hence the plan.

I'm sure that he'll miss something out but I hope he will have more fun at this years Salute because it is his last big fling before going to the Gulf for 2 months.

So...what's on his list then?

Well there's...

I'll tell you what, I'll keep you in suspense until tomorrow!

See you then :).

Another Sunday; another update.

I know it's early but Inso has some homework to do later so he won't be getting much more done than he has already.

It seems that the heavy weapon squad has really taken a back seat at the moment as Inso has sent over another Vulkan pic. This one shows a conversion of the one that he was sent the other day:



The conversion consists of a weapon swap (it now has a heavy flamer) and the addition of a few bits to represent improved comms. The Vulkan will be used as the Sentinel detachment commander; a lieutenant attached to the command HQ for the Desert Rats army. Inso has said that it had to be an officer because it has a heavy flamer and you can't miss with one of those (but with anything better, an officer couldn't hit a barn door!). The plastic bits on this Vulkan are from a GW Tau battlesuit kit and suit the model very well.

Apart from the work on the above Vulkan, Inso has been base coating the second one of the first unit. He hasn't got very far and won't take a pic because there is nothing worth showing.

He has also been very lucky and bought a box of three GW Cadian heavy weapons teams for £6-99 ($14-00). That means he can now add three las-cannons to the next unit and three auto-cannons to the final unit. That will add some much needed firepower to his small, elite force that has minimal heavy weapons at the moment.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to have something to show off tomorrow, it all depends on how much homework Inso ends up with!

Catch you later!

Another Friday missed.

We're all human and Friday I was more human than I should have been. I didn't get any stuff sent to me but I saw that there was a bit of progress on the first Vulkan...so I could have mentioned it but I got to doing other things and forgot.

That said, I now have a pic of the first Vulkan painted up as far as it will be (prior to having decals added):



As you can see, it has changed quite a bit form the last pic, especially with regard to the camouflage but in Inso's words...'it just went in that direction'. Not a lot I can say to that, is there? What he did say was that there will be a lot of differences in the army so there is likely to be variation in camouflage schemes.

On a different note; Inso had a parcel today and it contained three Grizzly miniatures from Starship Troopers. This pic shows one next to a Vulkan, Grymn and Imperial Guard:


Inso is more than happy with them as he had no idea how big they were!

More later...or tomorrow!

Thursday Vulkan.

Inso sent this to me today:



He said that he couldn't be blamed for not painting his heavy squad because people were saying he should paint these instead. Apparently, the colour of the rear view is about the same as the real thing, the front view has been bleached a bit by the flash.

Before everyone starts mentioning the lack of shading, it hasn't been added yet. This is the only one that is being worked on to this stage, at the moment. It has been base-coated, highlighted and then the patches were added and highlighted. The next stage will be a bit of ink washing BUT Inso may add the black to the metal bits before that.

The camouflage is going to be a bit of a mix through the units of Vulkans. Some will have it and some won't. There will also be a mix of colours and shades. As far as Inso is concerned, he doesn't want his next army to be too uniform so there will be all sorts of strange things going on. I guess only time will tell whether the approach will work.

Catch you later!

Whoops! I guess I missed a day!

Well, Tuesday came and went and I heard nothing from Inso so I didn't have anything to post...so no post for Tuesday. Today, however, there is something to post. First up is the heavy squad for Inso's Grymn that I have kept going on about. The pic shows the squad as a whole and there is a pic of each of the converted rail-gunners. One has a new arm and the other two have added hair / facial hair:



As you can tell, there is still a long way to go on the painting but it is a start, I suppose.

Next up is a little group shot of the first squad of Vulkans for the Desert Rats. Once he had undercoated them, he noticed a deformed fuel tank so has re sculpted the dodgy area. The pic also shows a fourth Vulkan that Inso kindly got sent from a member of the Forum of Doom. He has removed the head, repositioned the arms and glued it to a base. The fuel tank removal and grey paint application was done by the previous owner:



It is very likely that this fourth Vulkan will become a leader that hangs about as part of the command HQ platoon for the army. I'm sure that it will have a few extra gadgets added, to mark it as something a bit special.

After all the windy weather and a bit of indigestion, Inso hasn't been sleeping very well lately. The upcoming missile dodging tour isn't helping things either so expect things to slow down even more as he tends to just do base-coating, priming and varnishing when he gets really tired.

Well, that's it for today. Hopefully there will be something to show off tomorrow...you never know.

Catch you later.

Another Monday.

Well, there isn't much to say today. All Inso has managed to do since yesterday is paint the PVA on the Vulkan bases and paint six faces the base pink colour for skin.

Seeing as there is not a lot going on in the hobby department...let's talk about the weather. Today has been very blowy. Gusts up to 80miles an hour. Inso was nearly blown off his motorcycle on a number of occasions and had to slow right down in order not to change lanes without steering! He was a bit glad to be home in one piece, I can tell you. A work colleague failed to show up for work but sent a phone pic of his drive...a foot deep in water! He couldn't drive to work because the fire brigade sand-bagged his drive and pumped the water out...which meant he couldn't get out.

What now? Nothing!

See you tomorrow!

Hmmm.....

Inso has just got back from a mates 60th birthday party and is feeling rather nauseous. He only had a small glass of wine but thinks the Tiramisu may have disagreed with him (he said that it was a sweet...it said that it was a pudding...yes, that was my attempt at a joke). He suggested we get this done now while he's feeling vaguely healthy.

So, without further ado, here is a group shot of his three converted Vulkans (there are only three but the pic is divided into one taken with a flash and the other not):



They look pretty menacing as a group, don't they. Inso has to cover the base in watered down PVA glue before any painting starts but they are converted as far as they are going to be. He said that it is very unlikely that they will be getting any paint before he disappears to the gulf as he needs to focus on getting his other army complete. While on the subject of the other army, Inso was asked about what the medic was carrying. Here is a pic of the medic with a Hasslefree backpack and sculpted scanner, hoses and connector:



As usual, if you click the pix, you will get a bigger view.

Well, that is Sunday and I hope Inso is well enough to get something done before tomorrow's post.

Catch you later!

Slooooow Saturday.

Hi!

Today has been a day of this and that. Many plans were made but went by the wayside. Instead of Inso diligently slaving over his paints, he has had a day of sorting out and taking stock.

First, he varnished the command squad and put them with the army. He took an army pic or two but they were so blurred that he didn't bother sending them over. It was probably 'meant to be' as he hasn't finished all of the troops yet. Once the heavy squad is painted (it has been moved from the cupboard to the painting table today!) there are two light infantry troops that have been painted (or partially painted) in the same colour. As a result, Inso trawled through his Grymn box and found another 14 to go with them...so there may yet be a few more squads to go before the army is finished. He has suggested that one of the squads will be 'engineers' and the other 'medical orderlies'. For list purposes, they will just be 'remnant squads' for the two platoons.

Secondly, Inso has sorted out all of the troops for the next army. After bagging them all up (complete with some conversion bits and pieces), he has decided that he needs another 8 heavy infantry. That will bring the basic Grenadier squads up to 10 strong.

Finally, he has assembled another two Vulkan battlesuits...apart from the head conversions. He is waiting for the glue and Green Stuff to set before he messes with the heads.

Over the last few days he has also had contact with a few people that will be providing him with some additional toys. These should be another Vulkan Battlesuit and a three man squad of Grizzly powered armour troops from Starship Troopers (Mongoose Publishing make them).

If I could sum him up, I would say that when it comes to his hobby, Inso is a perpetual motion machine. Even when he sleeps (as little as that is) it would appear that he dreams of his hobby...he'll be talking about new designs for this and that more or less as soon as he gets up (his wife is VERY long suffering on that!). You should see him when he's out and about. He looks at everything for inspiration and can often be found staring at some shape or other with a glazed expression...later you'll see the same shape in a conversion or scratch-build. It just goes to show that in life, everything has its uses!

Well, I've rambled on a bit so I'm off.

Catch you tomorrow.

No chips and a birthday celebration...

Complete turmoil has engulfed the Inso family home tonight. Why? His son was twelve today and had a few mates around for dinner and a Wii tournament. The three lads were very well behaved and a good time was had by all. One of the lads actually took an interest in what was on the end of the dinner table so Inso explained about miniature painting and sculpting and even gave a quick demonstration of how he sculpted using green-stuff. Inso was quite surprised because his son isn't that interested.

Well, the lads have all gone home, the house has been tidied and Inso actually managed to get some painting done. In fact, he's done more than just paint...he's gone and finished the command squad! Here they are:

Click the pic to get a bigger view.

With the completion of this squad, Inso has finished the second platoon and now only has six troops to go to finish the army. SIX! Of course he has eleven A.P.C.s to paint and various other armoured vehicles but the troops are very nearly done. From what I can see, he's chuffed to bits.

Well, that's it for tonight. Catch you tomorrow.

Nearly Friday!

Just a short post tonight...no pix...

Inso has painted a bit more on the command squad but not enough to take pix of...so he didn't.

Plans are afoot to build two more Vulkan Battle-suits to make the first Sentinel squadron but painting the command squad seems to be taking precedence at the moment.

Salute is coming soon. That is the biggest UK war-games show and Inso is going to go there to get a few bits and pieces. He has downloaded the layout and has been making notes on where the stands are that he wants to visit. It is the perfect opportunity to meet people, see miniatures that he didn't know existed and get an idea of the scales of the minis that are on offer (on the web, scales are not always obvious). So if you go, you may see him...he looks like his avatar pic and will probably be hanging around the Hasslefree stand.

See you tomorrow!

...Tired...

Inso is suffering from post stress fatigue. He gets worked up about going in the respirator test building and doesn't sleep particularly well. As a result, he is tired today and also seems to be moaning about 'man flu'...

...on the bright side, he has finished the brown on his command squad:



There is still a long way to go and the pic above just shows the same squad twice (for some reason) but it does mean that the good stuff will be starting soon (guns, heads and kit).

Inso did mention that he has gone pretty firm on a lot of ideas for the new army. He is going to call them 'Desert Rats' (that's original) for starters. There is all sorts of other stuff but I won't go into them just yet as I don't want to get him too worked up on a new army before he's finished his command squad.

That's it for tonight. Catch you tomorrow.

The return!

Inso got back from his training course earlier today.

He is now happy as he has finished the course he always dreads as part of it involves carrying out safety drills whilst wearing a respirator in a gas contaminated environment. The drills involve removing the mask at times so it usually means that you get a taste of the gas and you also get stinging skin. It is nothing dangerous (it's the same stuff that is used for crowd control) but it is not very pleasant. He also passed his fitness test and did various other bits and pieces.

On his return home, he found the parcel from America that contained two more Tiger APCs. They had been glued together but the journey had unstuck them a bit so he will be taking them to pieces and pinning them to get the strength. They are in perfect condition and I thought that he would pop when he saw them. He is absolutely over the moon with them. He now has three and is trying to decide whether to have them as part of the future Grymn 'Desert Rat' army or keep them for the Veridian Marines. Who knows what may happen...time will tell.

As part of the training he is doing, Inso will be busy for a few more days and evenings so there won't be many updates. Hopefully things should level out shortly but with an upcoming trip abroad, he will be getting less and less spare time as he prepares his documentation and kit. As a result, the posts on here may reduce a lot but I will try to update as soon as anything turns up.

Catch you later.

Mamma, it's all over now!

It's very late and after being at the village hall since midday, the two final presentations of the Pantomime are over. Much fun was had by all, many friends were made, much money was raised and many tired people will be glad to see their beds tonight. Inso and his son won 'fun awards' for the hottest headgear (Inso said wearing his hat was like wearing a carrier bag) and being singularly/doubly legless (as Inso's son had to wear a bandage on his leg...which swapped legs for the last three shows...continuity; what's that?).

So another Pantomime is over and everyone got through unscathed. You'd think that Inso would be able to relax a bit now wouldn't you? Unfortunately he has to go away on a training course for a few days so he won't be about to give me stuff to post (so I doubt very much if I'll post anything). He is about tomorrow though...maybe I'll post something a bit earlier.

Before he went to Panto Inso finished off the small conversion to the head of the Vulkan and has sent a pic. I think that it looks much better than a little head perched on there but you can make your own mind up:



Well that's it for today (although it is now technically Sunday).

Catch you later.