Slooooowwww Sunday.

Welcome to another Sunday update. I'd really like to say that I had lots to share today but I haven't. The recent lack of sleep has given me the usual twitchy eye and it is really off-putting when you are trying to paint...

...that said, it hasn't been a completely wasted weekend (with regard to my hobby). I have made plans to expand the Grymn tunnel fighter army so I have painted up the two spare comms-robots that I had:

Click the Pic!

Those of you who are a bit observant will notice that the robot on the right has a bigger antenna than the one on the left. That is due to it being mis-cast with only one gun barrel (it is a gun-droid after all...I just bend the gun barrels up to act as antennae) so I needed to add an alternative...so that is what I ended up with. It will be the command comms with an extended range.

As it stands, I don't have any more Grymn for the tunnel fighter project so I thought it was about time to re-visit an old project; my urban Grymn. The final 8 members of the first platoon; an assault platoon, have been sat in my cupboard for far too long so I dug them out. I rebased the final 4 and have painted the base-coat on most of the bits. These are the areas that will be getting a wash of Devlan Mud before much else so it made sense to get them all to roughly the same stage. Here they are:

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As you will see, they are very WIP but this is a milestone in its own right...so I am confident that they will get painted rather than put away again. For those of you who want to know where the bases are from, they are from Fenris Games (who have an E-Bay store).

On to other things and I have been doing a little bit of on-line shopping and have bought some bike spares that should be delivered Tuesday. I have also ordered a batch of plasticard and some bits and pieces from Evil Mushroom Games . They are a great store and have all sorts of hobby related stuff to look at. While on the same little shopping spree, I also bought a few bits and pieces from Old Crow Models ; mostly turrets for a batch of transports that I am planning.

Finally on a sadder note...

It would appear that our stray cat; Rocky, has disappeared. He was becoming increasingly skinny and losing condition drastically. The last time we saw him, he was a bit wobbly on his feet but still had the fight in him to prevent me getting him to the vets...

...it turns out that he was on a neighbour's fence and was caught by a dog. The owner freed him and called in the RSPCA who took him away. It is a real shame that it came to this but at least he is now in the best hands...whether that means he is put to sleep or healed and re-homed.

I wish him the best (one way or another) and I'll miss him because he showed me a damn site more attention than either of our own cats ever do.

I guess that is just life, I suppose...Here's a decent set of pics of him in happier, fatter times:

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See you through the bottom of a glass bottomed boat!

Just a few small distractions...

It is far too early on a Saturday morning and I had to get up because I couldn't lie in bed, awake, any longer. I have got a nice cup of PG tea and have sorted out the two cats (one was out and one was in overnight) so I can just sit and type for a while.

Before I go too far, I would like to welcome Heresy-Online to my blog...WELCOME! I hope you enjoy your time here and if you (and any others out there) like what you see, feel free to comment on the posts.

So...a few distractions...what do I mean by that? Well here is what I mean:

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I went to a BBQ at work and got chatting to one of my friends and he said that he could collect my poor, forgotten motorcycle for me. It had been sitting in my in-laws garage for over 18 months and needed to be transported to my latest house due to it not being road legal (no tax/MOT). On Thursday, we went to pick it up and Friday morning it was delivered to my home.

Looking at the bike, you wouldn't have thought it had been unceremoniously stuck into a garage after a seven hour ride in terrible conditions, without a clean and for over 18 months. A couple of weeks ago, I went over and gave it a clean, removed the battery (to charge it) and freed up the brakes and clutch so that I could push the bike around; ready for it to be transported and was quite surprised at how well it had fared...things I have to do:

New fork seals.
New front brake disc.
New wing mirror.
Sort out the sticky clutch.
remove the corrosion (this may take a while).
Get the engine started (I'll need to drain the fuel, open up the sparks and get some fuel sprayed in for lube, and hand turn it to make sure it isn't seized etc).
Service the bike ready for it's MOT.

I reckon that could be classed as a bit of a distraction in it's own right! On top of that, there was the BBQ, the following day recovering and last night I had a dinner guest for the evening so again...no time for any hobby. Mind you, having a dinner guest meant that I had to clear my workstation from the table and that was a good opportunity to have a bit of a clean up:

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What's on the table? My mushroom sculpts, some Space Marine components (my little commission) and 8 urban Grymn. I have run out of tunnel fighters for the time being so I thought I'd try and get the last 8 members of my urban assault platoon finished. It is a vain hope because it means I have to paint lots of tiny squares...I also have to remember how I painted the other ones!!!

On to other things, it is now half term holiday for my children so (for a change) I have taken some leave to spend some time with them while they don't have to be at school. That could mean plenty of hobby time or it could also mean plenty of going out time...it all depends on how active my (teen-aged) children feel on the day.

Anyone been to Kenya recently? I'm due to go there mid July with my work. I'll be there for about 6-8 weeks...I think it will be a challenge but I'm sure it will be entertaining (even if it is going to be hard work)...I am in the process of sorting out internet for when I'm out there so that I can update Inso's World.

That is about it for now...don't expect too much of an update tomorrow as I can't promise anything constructive for today.

See you through sleep deprived eyes!

A quick update.

I started this one on Sunday night and just had to get him painted. He is a Boss Meesan (a) from Hasslefree Miniatures and he was just begging me to paint him like this:

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More ink washes over a silver base-coat and I guess you know who is inspired by...you guessed it 'Spider M(ees)an'...

...I'll get my coat!

See you through the butter-nut squash-pulp!

Mushroom power...

As promised, here's a quick update on the MUSHROOM MEN FROM OUTER SPACE!!! First up is a bit more progress on the Shaman:

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Next is a bit more progress on one of the puff-ball-bombers. The pic has a 28mm scale miniature for scale comparison:

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Both of the above are still very WIP but they are also in the process of drying...so that will be all I can do on them for now :).

Finally, here is the next miniature on the painting table...the Meesan Boss (a):

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He is slightly different to the last one in that he has an extra digit on each hand and also has some sort of weapon in his palms...weird, or what?! He will be getting his shiny coat of paint/wash over the next week...well, if I get my act together, it will be done by Wednesday...

See you through the stained glass!

Sunday; Purple Sunday!

I guess it is another Sunday...time is flying by! I went out to a birthday party last night and the lady in question was 40...that will be me next year! Will it be special? No...another day older, another day less to wander around aimlessly on the surface ;).

Sooo...what the heck have I been doing? Well, a few days ago someone on the Forum of Doom wanted to see what a Meesan Boss (b) looked like. I happened to have one that I received at Salute so I assembled it and took some pix (seeing as I am quite a helpful chap really ;) ). Once it was assembled, I thought I may as well paint it so I decided to use a slightly different palette:

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For anyone interested, here is the low-down on the painting (all GW paints/washes):

Undercoat - Dheneb Stone.
Basecoat (skin/warts) - Chainmail.
First wash (skin/warts) - Leviathan Purple.
Second wash (warts only) - Asurmen Blue.
Third wash (skin/warts) - Leviathan Purple.

Eyes/ Mouth - wash with Devlan Mud.
basecoat (eyes) - Bad Moon Yellow.
wash (eyes) - Thraka Green.

Basecoat (teeth/claws) - Vermin Brown.
First highlight (teeth/claws) - Vomit Brown.
final highlight (teeth/claws) - 50/50 Bleached bone/Vomit Brown.

Basecoat (base) - Beastial Brown.
Highlight (base) - drybrush with Vomit Brown.
Basecoat (base rim) - Chaos Black.

Job complete!

There were a couple of reasons for the metallic look. First, it was something different and I thought it was fitting for an alien. Secondly, I was using this as an experiment for when I paint some fish people that I have...using washes over a metallic basecoat will be how I will be painting them and I need to practice to see how different washes interact with each other.

Just wait until you see the second Meesan Boss I have...more use of an interesting mix of washes...

Onto other things and my parcel arrived on Thursday so I was able to assemble, convert and paint the final three members of the command squad for my Grymn tunnel fighters...here is the complete squad:

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For those of you who have been following the build up of this army, you may notice a lack of certain elements that were originally planned in to each squad.

I have decided NOT to use the tracked, shield robots because they placed too many restrictions on the type of transport I could use for the troops. The Comms robots could fit where the Grymn could but the tracked ones would be bigger...and that didn't fit with me (it also saves a lot of work for the time being). I have also left out the 'special' elements of the command squad; namely the panda, big robot and hover-bot. Again, I didn't think they fitted with the austere look of the army so I have left them out.

All of the elements that I have omitted will still end up being used but for different projects so they will get finished in the long run.

The tunnel fighter army now has 66 troops, 7 comms-robots, 6 mini-Mawes and 3 walkers. I have another 3 walkers to add (at the moment) and plan to flesh out the army with a bunch of transports...stay tuned for those :) .

The MUSHROOM MEN FROM OUTER SPACE!!! have not been forgotten. I have been chipping away at the shaman and using up any left over putty on the puff-ball-bombers so there is progress going on all of the time with those. I should have the shaman's body finished today (minus the arms) so there may be another update to the blog a bit later on today (with some pix).

Another sculpting project I have on the go is a small commission to convert a Space Marine to specific requirements. I haven't been told not to show pix so when I get anywhere with the project, I'll show off what I have achieved.

I have started to 'recycle' the Trade Federation, droid-tank that I bought from the charity shop...re-gluing a kit that had to be pulled to bits is a frustrating thing to do...so it is a VERY SLOW PROCESS...but when it is finished, it will be something different and useful...

See you through the sunshine!

The spores are contageous!

I seem to have got the mushroom bug. I blame the fact that I am waiting for a parcel and have become twitchy to a point where I have started to obsess about something new. Let's face it, the painted version of my Ogarix has kicked my mushroom-muse into gear and no sooner had I finished it, I wanted to sculpt some more...starting with a Shaman. Have a look at this very WIP pic of some mushrooms:

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The top pic is of the shaman, a twisted wretch of a MUSHROOM MAN FROM OUTER SPACE!!! but with the added bonus of having an 'all seeing' eye of great psychic power. Once I have finished the sculpt, it will have a few extra arms so that it could be used for sci-fi and fantasy...maybe one really deformed, one with a tree-like staff and one with a power rod that looks a little like the Ogarix's club...but a bit longer.

The lower pic is of three puff-ball-bombers...little MUSHROOM MEN FROM OUTER SPACE!!! that are quite cute...up until they explode right next to you, showering you with poisonous spores and knocking you over with the force of the explosion.

The Shaman will be about 45mm tall and the puff-ball-bombers will be about 20mm tall.

Isn't life funny sometimes.

See you through the spore choked room!

Tiny, Happy people holding hands...

Here is the first complete 15mm Dwarf, with a 28mm scale Dwarf for comparison purposes:

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I may end up detailing the helmet a bit more but, for now, it is good to go.

...better late than never? Who knows?

Comments are welcome on this one (please).

See you in the supermarket.

Early post...for a Sunday change.

Before I start with today's update, I'd like to Welcome tim_b42 and Si, as new followers to the blog. Welcome to both of you and I hope you enjoy some of the more varied aspects of this place.

Speaking of varied aspects, I've gone from Grymn Tunnel Fighters, to waiting for Grymn to arrive and finally to...what can I do to keep me busy while I wait? Well, Friday saw the Mushroom Ogre get his sculpting finished and today he gets his coat of paint finished:

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He is an Ogarix and was originally sculpted to join the band of MUSHROOM MEN FROM OUTER SPACE!!! that I was converting up. The race as a whole are called Agarix and the original miniatures were from Hasslefree Miniatures and they are pictured, in their converted and finished state (I painted their bases today...they have been waiting for this for a very long time!), below:

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The Agarix miniatures don't come with weapons so I added some to give them that menacing ALIEN INVADER look.

For a final bit of cheese...Protect the mushroom god!!!:

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Why didn't I get the Ogarix cast? That is a question I have been asked a lot and here is a list of reasons:

1) It is huge and would need to be cast in resin...I'm not a fan of resin.
2) It has a mix of materials which mean it would have to be cast in resin...see above.
3) The putty I used was old and full of little lumps. Some of the lumps were impossible to remove so throughout the sculpt there are little lumps of un-cured putty...also the surface is not very smooth.
4) He has a really 'half-arsed' weapon that isn't good enough really.
5) I didn't want this to be a measure of the quality of my sculpting. When I release a mini I want people to be impressed with it's quality...not disappointed.

So...that is why it didn't get cast.

That doesn't mean that no one will get the chance to own one...I plan to sculpt a few new big mushrooms over the coming few months and they will be of the required quality to cast...watch this space!

On to other news...I knew it was going to happen...someone else has sculpted 15mm Space Dwarfs. It is also quite likely that the guys who have been patiently waiting for me to finish mine have bought them...and if that is the case, I don't blame them because I have been exceptionally tardy. That said...I have taken this new development in the miniatures world as a bit of a kick in the pants to get my little guys finished...even if they aren't necessarily going to end up where I wanted them (it is all rumours and conjecture...so I guess we'll see).

To finally get some movement on the 15mm Dwarf project I am going to completely finish one and then see how it goes from there. The first one is almost there...I only need to add feet and a head and then tidy up the gun a bit and he is finished. Seeing as I have posted so early today...I may have finished pix later (if I don't get too sidetracked today)...we'll have to see.

Note to self...don't plaster your unfinished 15mm Space Dwarfs all over the web when you are too lazy to get them finished quickly...SOMEONE will beat you to the prize!

I have a small commission to work on. I am building a Space Marine for a bloke in Belgium. He is sending me a plastic marine and I will be making it all pretty, like :). As I get things done, I'll show it off here...I'm doing the job for a pittance so there will be no complaints :).

Well I guess that food shopping awaits so I'll see you through the bottom of the coffee mug :).

Thank fungi, it's Friday!

I have no more Grymn to work on (apart from the 60 or so that are waiting for another project...but they are all the wrong type)...so I had to do something...but what?

It is at times like these that I look through my hobby cupboards for inspiration and as I looked, I spied something that had been lurking in the depths, unfinished, for too long...

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The above pic is of an Agarix Majoris...more commonly known as a Mushroom Ogre from space! He has been almost finished for far too long so I finished him quickly just to get him done. He will be painted very soon (I've pledged it on a forum) so he'll be done by the next update...which is usually Sunday.

See you through the mossy peat!

Thursday...is it?

Welcome! Welcome darth tater and Bren Mayhugh. You have brought the follower tally to 60. I hope you enjoy wandering around and viewing the real-estate.

In case you haven't seen the pic below...there is a pic below! The five WIP troops are finished except for the squad colours...but they'll get them when the last three arrive from Hasslefree:

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I am seriously getting to a point where I will have to start building the shield robots up...all that chopping of plastic is a hell of a hurdle to clear...I would love to say that I am looking forward to it...but I can't.

At least I've still got some more battle-suits to put together to keep me enthused in between.

Hey...it won't be long before I have to build the transports...

See you through the eyes of an ant.

Sunday evening's update.

As I promised earlier, I have some pictures for you. The first pic shows the start of the command squad troops. From left to right, we have: two plasma rifles, a body guard and two Dante Flame-throwers:

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Seeing as the picture isn't the best, I'd recommend clicking on it so that some of the details show up.

Next up is a diversion from the original plan. It shows a squad of three Vulkan Assault Walkers with the commander in there for scale purposes:

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They are manned battle-suits and I think that their stumpy nature sits well with the Tunnel Fighter theme. As a side note, the Vulkan on the right has so far been painted three times! In desert, urban and now a tunnel fighter theme...I used to be indecisive...but now I'm not so sure ;).

I have 22 of the Vulkans but only plan to use another three for this army as the rest are spoken for (my Urban Grymn will be using them too...but with a few weapon upgrades).

So...what else have I got to say?

I have just got back from watching Ironman 2 at the cinema. It was awesome!

See you through the paisley pattern drapes!

Sunday and a new direction?

There are times in life when you take a step back and have a look at things and you realise that all the work you have put in may have gone in a direction that may not really work. It can be a huge, life changing realisation or a relatively small one that requires a tiny amount of adaptation to get back on track...

I was looking at my Grymn Tunnel Fighters in all their glory and noticed how coherent they looked...except for the command squad. So much metal, so many robots and then we have a furry little Bear and a giant 'cartoon' style robot to go with the commander. They just didn't suit the general look of the army...so they have been removed and will likely turn up somewhere in the future as part of another project.

That means that I have had to have a bit of a rethink on the command squad and have decided on a standard sized squad, with the robot comms unit and the moving shield robot included. I have decided that four of the troops will be bodyguards for the commander and the other four will have 'experimental' weapons. I have started work on the new squad but am still needing to get hold of three of the bodyguards. The new command squad will be:

1x Commander
4x Bodyguard with pistol and Power sword
2x Trooper with Dante Flame-thrower (Dante's Inferno? Get it?)
2x Trooper with Plasma Rifle
1x Comms Robot
1x Shield Robot

I hope to have some pictures ready to show off a bit later today...

...Speaking of pictures, I have also got some progress on another different direction for the Grymn Tunnel Fighter army...you will find out later what it will be. I will say that I decided to paint these on Tuesday so it was quite a recent decision for them to join in the fun. I will say that the new additions suit the army to a tee and are likely to be joined by a few more.

See you this evening :).

Wednesday...

Another short update today.

I'd like to welcome another couple of followers to the blog...so welcome steven_ewing2005 and Thadrin! I hope you enjoy looking through the general stuff on here.

In addition to the new followers, I've added a new blog to my 'blogs I follow list' ; Grymn and Bear It! It is at a very early stage but I hope it will end up another on-line stop for Grymn goodness.

See you in the next queue...

Better late than never...

This is just a very quick update with the finished Tooth-Doggy handlers:

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I've not really got anything else to add...so I won't!

See you through the cooking smoke...Cough! Cough!

A Late Sunday Update...

Before I start, I'd like to welcome Josh and Chris to Inso's World! Welcome aboard and I hope you both enjoy the crazy trip!

So...it is very late and I haven't updated yet. Well calm down, I'm doing it now! I have been desperately trying to finish the dog handler miniatures but have been unable to get them based yet...I'll keep you in suspense no longer:

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What I have done is swap each left arm with one from a Torsten miniature (Grymn in powered armour from Hasslefree Miniatures). I have then removed the gun and replaced it with a small screen from a GW Sentinel joystick and added a little GS to finish. The helmet swap was the same as the rest but I needed to join the arm with the armour so I added a large pad and some corrugated joints to make it work. The 'dogs' are Mini Mawes from Hasslefree Miniatures. The Mini Mawes come with integral bases so I hollowed out three resin bases from Fenris Games, glued the Mawes and their handlers in place and then filled the bases with GS. I will be finishing the bases tomorrow.

As you will have noticed, the Mini Mawes don't have any ears or eyes. How do you get a creature like that to do what you want? Well, I've decided that the device in the handler's hand is a sonic oscillator. The little red dot on the front is a laser pointer. The handler puts the laser dot where he wants to target and then fires the sonic oscillator which causes a trail of vibrations that the Mini Mawes can follow. The handlers have armoured arms just in case the Mini Mawes get a bit boisterous.

Why did it take so long for me to paint these minis? I went to visit family yesterday and had a great time...that is why.

Tomorrow, I'll have some finished pix to show off and maybe even a hint of the next part of the Tunnel Fighter project...who knows?

Do you remember the Dwarf Diver? If you do and you are interested in owning one, there is a nicely painted one being sold on E-Bay at the moment, that you may want to have a look at:

Dwarf Diver

It's being sold for charity (as you will see) so if you can bid, please do.

That is it for tonight...

See you through blood-shot eyes!