A Monday morning update?

I'm on night-shift tonight...so why on earth am I up at this time of the morning? Well, my baby girl has just turned 13 and I wanted to be around when she opened her birthday presents...13...13!!! GOOD GOD where has the time gone!??

Well, seeing as I'm here I'd like to welcome the latest follower to Inso's World; digitarii. Welcome! I hope you enjoy your travels through my world of...stuff!

What else? Well I worked feverishly on Blue yesterday but didn't get it based in time to get photographs taken last night...so I've got them for you this morning instead. Here is Blue with his friends Red and Green:

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...and here's the all-round view:

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For the more observant amongst you, you will have noticed that the WIP picture of this one didn't have the channel around the helmet filled in with Green Stuff...this one (like the others) has had the channel filled in.

Have a nice day!

See you through the reed-beds!

Sunday's update and...where there was one...

...now there are two...

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Here is an all round view of my first HALO Grymn:

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On to an all round view of the second one:

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This picture has been taken, to show where the additional bits of armour are placed. This one was a little more tricky to build because I ended up having to sculpt fingers on to the stock hand:

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I don't see myself making many more of these because they seem to be super-soldiers so you don't need many of them...that said...I have been known to change my mind sometimes...

So...where do the HALO Grymn fit in to the big scheme of things? Well, I thought they would be a nice addition to my Grymn urban army. I think the urban army is the one that is most representative of the ground forces in the video game so that makes them perfect for the HALO Grymn to join.

Speaking of the Grymn urban army, I have been thinking about how to paint the ground forces so that they aren't covered in little squares. With that in mind, I have come up with a couple of similar schemes; with one being slightly darker than the other. Have a look at this pic:

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If you are feeling VERY helpful, please leave a comment to say which one you like the best... either the light armour on the left of the screen or the dark armour on the right. At the moment, I am erring on the dark armour side but I am open to suggestions...please leave a comment to help me decide.

If you don't want to leave a comment that's fine but could you please vote in the poll over on the right hand side...I'd really appreciate the input :).

What else has been going on in Inso's World? Well, I guess I buckled. I wasn't going to just yet...but I ended up ordering six A10 tank-buster (Warthogs) from an on-line model shop. They have since arrived and they are very cool. They have a LOT of additional missiles/rockets/bombs and are perfect for my idea to convert them to Grymn ground-attack aircraft. I have gone for 1/144 scale for the kits because I wanted to keep them small...they won't, however, end up looking too much like an A10...I have bigger plans for them :).

I have been busy wheeling and dealing and have sold a few bits and bobs from my unpainted collection. That means that my Pay-pal account is starting to collect funds for buying more Grymn for the tunnel-fighter army. I have decided to make my collection fund itself...how long that will last, I can't say...but it is a nice thought.

On a final note...the weather is absolutely stunning today. I am off to the supermarket very shortly and I can imagine that the day will follow on with the F1 Grand Prix and football on the television...ah the joys of a sport-mad family...that means I won't get disturbed while I am painting!

See you through the purple patch!

...and to his surprise...

The commander saw a very tiny streak of fire, high in the atmosphere. As he watched the streak of fire got larger and larger as it grew into a fireball and got closer to the citadel where the group of leaders mulled over the fate of their people.

With an ear-shattering sonic boom, the fireball struck the ground outside; showering the earth with debris over a diameter of a hundred metres or more. when the dust settled, all that could be seen was a bright, glowing orb about the size of a standard passenger car. With a deafening blast, the orb shattered outward, cutting through the assembled masses like a knife through butter...

...all that was left was a lone figure, poised and ready to exact terrible vengeance on the opposing forces...

Stay tuned for more on Sunday.

See you through the wasteland!

Something is stirring in the night sky...

On the surface of the planet, the rogue states were warring against the inter-planetary federation. Riots had been occurring with increasing frequency and this led to a larger proliferation of small arms. The masses were revolting against the federation, driven to fervour by dark-clad clergymen; touting the word of god and claiming that the federation was nothing more than the devil!

The problem multiplied as the days grew into weeks. Black marketeers began trading bigger and more powerful weapons with the rogue states. The federation was being beaten back. The rogue states were becoming more and more zealous; burning their captives alive, drinking the blood of the federation's troops and even feasting on their flesh.

Evil was everywhere...

Who could the federation turn to in these evil and wretched times?

Commander Theodore Welt looked down at the desk in front of him. All around him were the gathered commanders from a dozen beleaguered armies. Their faces were careworn and their gazes were far away. They were beaten but they just didn't know it yet.

All was quiet.

There was an air of complete failure in the room and the taint of hopelessness hung around the commanders like a cloud of pollen floating on a spring breeze.

Commander Welt looked up from the screen on his desk and said, to those assembled...

"What can we do to turn the tide on these mad zealots? Is there no one who can come up with a plan?"

Silence was the reply....

...but...

The commanders desk began to beep. He looked down at the screen and upon it was written a very short statement...

WATCH...THE...SKY...

Bemused he looked out of the window...

I'm literally on a roll...

I have had such a fun day at work, I felt the need to share.

I generally enjoy my job and although the work can be frustrating, tiring and inconvenient at times it really is a job that offers plenty of work satisfaction...however, there are days when I have to attend training courses and on the whole they tend to be tedious...

NOT TODAY!!!

I was attending a course today and it wasn't tedious or boring...it was awesome.

I went to an off road training area and learned how to drive a Landrover up and down gradients you wouldn't believe. I have driven around banked turns that seemed impossible, over terrain so rutted you'd think the vehicle would beach...but it didn't....I have had a really great day at work!

The instructor drove around with me as a passenger to start with; showing me how the vehicle behaved and showing me the right and wrong way to do things. We then swapped seats and I drove the way I was shown...then I was allowed to go solo and potter around the course at my leisure; practising what I had learned.

I am now confident that I can handle a Landrover through the toughest of terrain, sort out stalls, get out of ruts and generally use the vehicle to the extent of it's ability.

I must admit that I was approaching today's course with a lot of trepidation...but the calmness of the instructor and his continuous commentary as we drove around the training area, really helped to relax me to a point where I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

That is another tick in the box for going to Kenya...and a fun one it was too :).

See you through the dust cloud!

Another Update?

...yes...but not as we know it.

I have been busy typing and have started a couple of new army building topics over at my other blog:

Grymn Blog

It is definitely worth a look as it gives a couple of methods for collecting Grymn armies; ranging from organised to chaotic.

While you are there, you may wish to read some of the stories and other information related to all things Grymn.

I just thought I'd share that.

See you through the sniper-scope.

Good afternoon...and thanks for all the fish.

Hello again, it is time for another little update but before I start, I'd like to wish all of the dads out there a HAPPY FATHER'S DAY (especially my Dad).

It has been a very strange week for me. Odd working patterns, inoculations, expected working weekends that don't happen, work colleagues having unexpected tantrums, not working late on Friday...the list goes on and on...and don't get me started about the football!

...I get home on Friday and am met by two angry souls who are upset about the football match on the TV. Who gets it in the neck? Me. I have now threatened to bin the TV if it happens again...and they wonder why I despise the English national game :(...it seems to turn civilised people into raging animals.

Aaaannnnyyyy way...onto the hobby stuff and unfortunately, I haven't finished the secret project yet but what I will do is update this post a bit later with some pix as I am not far off getting it done.

So...what next?...Oh yes, I almost forgot...I've FINALLY finished my Urban Grymn, assault platoon! I am so happy I could cry...why? Because I don't have to paint any more tiny little squares again! Here are a few pix to show off the support and command sections along with the rest of the platoon:

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And here is what I have finished so far:

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Please bear in mind that these have been on the WIP pile for over a year now so I am completely over the moon that I have finally finished them.

So what now for the Urban Grymn? I am planning to start putting together the ground forces (which I already have in my CUPBOARD OF DOOM!!!) but there are a few issues to sort out before I start painting:

1. There are a lot of little conversions that need to be done
2. I haven't decided on a paint-scheme for them yet...I AIN'T PAINTING ANY MORE SQUARES!
3. I haven't worked out whether to base them first or work out a way to paint them on pins
4. Do I have the enthusiasm to start on 'the next big thing' before I go to Kenya?

I think that I will dig out a couple of spare Grymn and get a few test-schemes painted to help me decide which direction the painting will go...only this time I will be keeping it very simple, with NO camouflage pattern. They will be plain but in a camouflaged colour rather than pattern...a bit like grey coats for a grey environment. I am determined that the ground forces won't be kept in limbo for as long as the assault platoon was.

So look out for a couple of test schemes being shown off here.

I have been assembling a track-unit for one of the tunnel fighter's transports and although it has turned out slightly larger than I thought it would, it will still work okay. It is still very much in the 'turn it around and around whilst staring at it' stage so it may change or may not...hence, I don't think it is worth putting pix up at the moment.

The joys of Honda. I decided to give my bike a try the other day. I charged the battery but did nothing else... I didn't even drain the fuel and put fresh in...two pokes on the start button and it purred into life! 18 months without any attention and it started after two attempts! That is the beauty of Japanese engineering. Continuing on the bike theme, I have now got some new fork seals and a front brake disc so I can start work getting the bike back on the road again. I can't guarantee it will be before going to Kenya but at least I have the bits for when I get the motivation.

I am GUTTED that Rossi isn't in Moto GP at the moment...'The Doctor' has been sidelined by the doctors! There is some irony there but it doesn't impress me :(.

So...another day, another day closer to the grave ;)...I'll pop back later to edit this post with pix of my SECRET PROJECT!

As promised...the secret project:

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I guess our teddy bear friend has been caught by the security robots and is about to be INCARCERATED!!!

See you through the beaded curtains!

All change...for now...

Just a short post to explain why Inso's World has had a bit of a makeover...it is because one of the things that has always bothered me is not being able to fill the whole width of the screen with blog content.

All of a sudden, blogspot has added a few extra tools for setting up a blog and one of them involves changing the width of the various content boxes...so that is what I have done. Unfortunately, my old style blog doesn't have the same options so I changed to a new one.

I'm sure that I'll tinker with the layout and look of my new-look world but I reckon it won't change too much...but then again...

On another note...I'm not working the weekend so I'm really quite chuffed about it.

In fact, I'm so happy, I've added a new fish-type gadget to my blog. If you move your cursor around in the tank, they follow it around...it keeps a simple man like me, happy for ages...you can also feed then by left-clicking on their tank!

See you over the barbed wire.

Thursday teaser...

I guess it is Thursday again and another week is flying by at a great pace.

I have another two, welcome, followers and they are FabesMinis and the titan. Welcome to my humble blog! I hope you enjoy your stay and be sure to post comments if you feel the need.

At the moment, it doesn't look like I will be working the weekend...so fingers crossed there. That means that I may actually have something to update with on Sunday.

This week I have been working the late shift which goes from 16-30hrs to 23-30hrs...but I have to be there early and stay late for the handovers/takeovers because, for my sins, I am the rectification controller. Add to that the fact that I have so far this week had dental appointments, inoculations, hearing tests, medical briefings and all manner of other stuff to do before I have gone to work and you will realise that there hasn't been much time for much else.

Going to Kenya is a major administrative undertaking!

...however, time flows like a river...it ebbs and flows like a tide...

...and I have actually managed to get quite a lot done on the quiet.

The urban Grymn are ticking along nicely. I have weapons, helmet straps, visors and squad markings to go on them...which is not a lot for my urban scheme because it is bleeping labour intensive!

Add to that my...SECRET project which is also ticking along nicely but you'll get to see more of that at the weekend.

I have also managed to get a bit of plasticard cutting done and have partially assembled the first of many drive bogeys for my Grymn tunnel-fighter, transport vehicles. They are slightly larger than I first thought but they will work okay, once I get a bit further along...as long as I can keep the height down to a minimum.

Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully, I'll get some time off over the weekend and get a bit more hobby stuff finished...I guess we'll just have to see.

See you through the mud and the blood and the beer...(Johnny Cash; A Boy Named Sue).

...part 2...

I have been asked for an army pic for the tunnel fighters so I thought...why not? As a result, here are pix of my army. They are very similar but I haven't been able to get really clear pix of them so I posted the two best ones:

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...and in other news, I'd like to welcome two more followers; phillipcurran2008 and Bill B. Welcome to my blog and enjoy your stay!

Will there be more updates today? Who knows?

...but rest assured, my No1 Uniform fits me perfectly and is almost ready for inspection (apart from pressing a shirt) so I am pretty stoked about that...lots of effort spared there!

See you through the tall grass!

Sunday update

Yet another Sunday and yet another Sunday update...time ticks by and all that.

Welcome new follower Danny C. It is great to have you aboard and I hope you find something of interest to whet your palette with...also feel free to comment on anything that you see, I do read all of the comments and take note :).

So...a square week has finished and I've moved on to other areas of my Urban Grymn squad. As it stands, I am about to wash all of the leather areas, ready for highlights so I have got a little further but not far enough for anyone to notice if I put pix up...so they'll have to wait for another time.

On to the next subject; my Grymn tunnel fighters. I have finished the latest batch of troops for them and they happen to be a second unit of Clankers:

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It is a unit of 3 (the top pic has a Grymn bodyguard in it for scale) and considering they had a pretty rough texture to them, they have painted up okay.

With those finished, the army stands at:

Command squad(10):9 Grymn with a commander, close combat weapons, four special weapons and a comms bot.

Scout squad(9): 3 Grymn with pistols and 6 Tooth Doggies.

Close combat squad(10): 9 Grymn with pistols, a pair of special weapons and a comms bot.
Close combat squad(10): 9 Grymn with pistols, a pair of special weapons and a comms bot.
Close combat squad(10): 9 Grymn with shotguns, a pair of special weapons and a comms bot.

Infantry squad(10): 9 Grymn with pulse-guns, a pair of special weapons and a comms bot.
Infantry squad(10): 9 Grymn with pulse-guns, a pair of special weapons and a comms bot.
Infantry squad(10): 9 Grymn with pulse-guns, a pair of special weapons and a comms bot.

Clanker squad(3): 3 Clankers.
Clanker squad(3): 3 Clankers.

I am planning to add another four infantry squads at some point, along with the 11 transport vehicles I need to carry them all. I may even have a twelfth one for the scout squad but that doesn't seem too necessary.

I will need to buy another 36 Infantry, another pack(3) of spider bots (for comms) and also build the transports. I have amassed a lot of components for the vehicles, including wheels, turrets, plasticard and tracks...I have even started gluing track links together...so they may get built eventually...who knows?

Who likes Dr. Who? If anyone does and they also like Daleks then why not pop to the newsagent and buy yourself a copy of 'Dr. Who Adventures'. Not only do you get all sorts of Dr. Who related information but you also get 5 free plastic Daleks on the front. They are about 28mm scale and they are hard plastic so you can glue them easily with plastic cement. They are the new style Daleks...so you have been warned...

...I've got a few ;)...

Here's a link to a thread with pix:

Daleks!

Just read through and there are painted pix too...well worth a look and it is a great forum as well...why not join? (The home-page can be found in my links: Lead Adventure Forum).

This coming week I am very busy with work and will likely be working next weekend as well. The build up to going to Kenya is in full swing and I have so many appointments and courses that I can hardly decide which way to turn next. Add to that, running the shift and ensuring that the helicopters get to fly on time and that will leave me little time for anything else...so I don't anticipate a huge update next Sunday...

...I have been wrong many times though...

If I get any further with my urban Grymn I may update again later but I am not confident.

See you through the falling blossom!

I can't see anything but...

...TINY LITTLE SQUARES! As you will see in the next picture, I have had a busy couple of days painting tiny little squares:

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I still have to highlight the black squares (among other things) so the monotony isn't quite over yet. In order to keep myself sane, I have also been assembling another squad of Clankers for the tunnel fighters:

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As you can see in the pic, the heads are all converted from the original (there was a little head plonked on top that looked far too vulnerable for such a bulky suit) with green-stuff and hatches (from Old Crow). I've also swapped the legs about a bit so needed to add some green-stuff to the hip joints...apart from that they are assembled as they come out of the box.

Speaking of removing them from the box, the battlesuits needed a HUGE amount of preparation because they have been afflicted with a case of 'lead-rot'. I'm hoping that a coat or two of paint will seal all the nastiness in, otherwise I will just have to sit back and watch them slowly dissolve. Mind you, if that does happen, they won't need to have any battle damage added!

So...what else?

I am suffering from a mild case of whip-lash. That would explain why I felt so rotten after falling over at the ice rink. Mind you, I'd rather have a bit of whip-lash than have my head hit the ice.

...the things we do to keep our children occupied during the holidays...SHOULD HAVE GONE BOWLING INSTEAD!!!

My motorcycle parts haven't arrived yet :(...but it has been very warm over the weekend so it could have been a blessing in disguise (because I would be working outside, in the sun...and I am an ex-ginger so I burn).

I have been strongly resisting the urge to buy more model kits. I need five aircraft kits for ANOTHER project...but in about 6 weeks I am going to Kenya for a couple of months so buying more stuff is just madness (as it will just sit there)...

Back to work tomorrow!

See you through the drainpipe!

Slightly later meanderings...

Well, all the songs were complete and the children did a grand job. My son wrote a rap song about school which was rather cleverly written, with some good use of English (not something I'd normally expect from him...so I was doubly impressed) and my daughter wrote a pop song (to the tune of Justin Bieber's 'Baby') about...gravy. Another top effort but I must admit to being surprised that it wasn't my son who wrote the comedy song...

My two songs were well received too...a rap song about a Samurai Mantis (to the tune of Ice, Ice, Baby) and a pop song about butterflies (my children chose 'insects' as my song subjects).

I was surprised at how embarrassing it was for everyone (including myself) to read out their work...funny really.

So we went skating...it was fairly good fun...my son and wife had a quick go but dipped out early on (it isn't everyone's cup of tea, after all) so me and my daughter kept up the family pride and soldiered on. I am currently in rather a lot of pain as a result of 'the most spectacular fall of the day' and as a result have a rather poorly elbow. It was quite amusing to see the ice rink staff dash over to see if I was OK! I just climbed up, shooed them away and went for a little sit down until I stopped wanting to pass out (I must be getting too old for all the excitement). Fortunately I didn't bang my head so I was back out onto the ice to keep tabs on my daughter.

Note to self...don't go ice skating when you've only had six hours sleep over a three day period.

I am planning to get some painting done tonight and tomorrow and have already said to my family that I am going nowhere tomorrow so that I can get some painting done. If I'm really lucky, they'll all go out and leave me in peace...who knows?

See you through a two way mirror...

Early meanderings...

Good morning to everyone! It is 2am and I'm not sleepy so I thought I'd post a couple of welcomes...yes, we have some more new followers. Welcome to Alex, Zanza Harara and Doctor Warlock. I hope you all have a pleasant stay here and also I hope you enjoy the broad spectrum of 'stuff' that does the rounds here.

...I have two children; a daughter who is almost a teen and a son who is definitely a teen! They are on a weeks holiday from school and I thought it would be nice to have a holiday at home with them (rather than being at work) so that is what I did. To cut a long story short, they were being incredibly boring so I set them a challenge...write a song by midday Friday and have an idea for a tune to go with it or the penalty would be a forfeit (singing a song of my choice, in the garden so everyone could here). In order to keep things even, I said I'd write two by the same time or suffer the same fate!

My son still has to finish his, even though he was more keen than his sister to do it and his sister has finished one, with a second one on the go too. I have finished my two as well...so no singing in the garden for me (not that I don't already...but that's another story ;) ). It is funny what you have to do to stimulate any form of life in teenagers sometimes.

Last night I didn't sleep. Today we spent all day walking around London, eating pizzas, chips and ice creams and drinking lots of coke and coffee...I should be tired but no doubt I will be tomorrow.

We may end up ice-skating tomorrow...holy cow! That will be interesting on the amount of sleep I've had lately....but the good thing about not getting sleep is that it clears your mind for thinking about the more interesting things...so what have I been thinking about?

Grymn aircraft...I have discovered that 1/72 scale A10 Warthogs are too big so I will need to get 1/144 scale ones to satisfy my ideas for a Grymn fighter/ground attack aircraft. I am thinking that it will be a cross between a VTOL and a standard fighter...I just need to get hold of some kits first.

Urban Grymn (do you notice the theme here?)...I have been painting the assault platoon and have been looking through what other troops I have to go with them. So far I have two infantry platoons and a support platoon. I have just put in an order with Fenris Games for another thirty six resin bases (which will be enough for my two infantry platoons) and have enough bases already for most of the support platoon. I have a few minor tweaks to make (some comms are required) and a few conversions to do but once I have the assault platoon finished, I will be ready to start the ground forces in earnest.

Star Wars Trade Federation tank...I have glued a few bits together and have ordered some plasticard and lift fans, which turned up a few days ago, from Evil Mushroom Games. I have some vague ideas about what I want to achieve with it but I am having difficulty deciding how to go about things. The basic idea is that it will be a large floating APC. I haven't decided what I will use it for...but I have always wanted the kit since I first saw it so it is something I needed to do...we'll see what happens.

I have a bunch of Old Crow vehicles that are tapping me on the shoulder, demanding that I paint them...I don't know how long I can resist...

...My motorcycle parts haven't turned up yet :(...it could be a blessing...who knows?

I'm rambling now so I think I'll potter on my merry way.

See you through the London heat haze :).