...and another thing...

Well it's Sunday already and I'd like to start off by welcoming Pau to Inso's World! I hope you enjoy your stay and feel free to post comments...constructive comments are always welcomed :).

It has been one of those weeks, this week. I have been working a night shift so my body clock has been thrown out as usual...and I'm on late shift this coming week followed by a week's 'Quality Assurance' course away from home...life can certainly never be considered dull around here.

On my down-time I have been tired but still able to do some hobby stuff...which is nice. I even started doing a little bit of sculpting until I pulled a tendon in my thumb...but not even that could stop me painting...so I ticked along with the Votoms and managed to finish one to a base-coated standard and assemble another one; ready to be painted. Here is what I have so far:

Click the Pic!

Looking at the pic, I still need to fill in a few bits and I just remembered that I have to put the pilot in...

I have no pilots. I am waiting for an order to arrive from Em4 that is full of 'cheap plastic goodness'...in other words; pilots. I have also ordered a few plastic mechs to go with them...but it is a gamble so we'll see what turns up. On the ordering front, I have also made an order through GW and have bought some bases (six dreadnought bases and 10 bike bases) along with a couple of Lord of the Ring Dwarfs to finish off the very small war-party I have...maybe I'll show them off at some point but I'll have to paint them first.

I don't like the Italian postal service...parcel sent: didn't arrive: refund given :( . I will not be posting to Italy again unless it is special delivery or something...

On another completely random note...never underestimate the generosity of strangers. I visit lots of forums and socialise with lots of people on line. Some I have met, some I know to chat to, some are friends and some are trolls...but on this occasion, I clicked on a post, saw something I liked and mentioned that I liked one of the miniatures and wanted to know where it was from so I could get one. I didn't know the guy posting, I had no idea where he lived or even if he was a guy or a girl (I know now :) ) but I got a private message asking for my address so he could send me a duplicate miniature...which has since turned up and is as awesome as it looked in his post pix. I was very happy, as you can imagine and have sent a small thank you in return...but this brings up the message of this post...

...a lot of people consider us weird for participating in our hobby. Some times we get ridiculed, sometimes we are scorned. sometimes people marvel at what we have achieved...but generally speaking, we can all considered to be a friendly bunch who view other peoples love of our hobby as something to be cherished and we continuously share ideas, praise, constructive criticism, tutorials, time and even miniatures or supplies with people we have never met...there is a lot of trust on here you know. It makes me realise that there are a lot of good people out there and how lucky we are to be a part of such a welcoming community.

I mentioned this on Facebook and the first post I got in return was 'That is a bit weird...what do they want?'...they didn't believe me when I said that there was no price or anything wanted in return...it makes you think, doesn't it?

GRYMN INCOMING!

It is a joy to behold! Kev White, of Hasslefree Miniatures has been sculpting Grymn again and it looks like I will be spending a lot of money when they turn up. The above link shows some of them but there are heavy infantry, powered armour troops and a few characters too...not to mention a grav-bike with optional pillion...colour me happy :).

KINDRED INCOMING!

The above link shows new Kindred (they look like WW1 Halflings)...they are pretty cool too!

Phew! So much to say!

I am bored of Dark Eldar for now...all the Grymn news has distracted me...so the Tunnel Fighters will be back on the menu for the time being...that obviously includes the mechs but I have (as I mentioned earlier) started sculpting and while I could, I began the conversion work on my medical team...pix will come soon...

...I think that is about it for now!

See you through the wheat!

Sunday goodness...

I have had a fairly mixed week this week...

I drove down to See my dad (about time too seeing as I hadn't seen him for 6 months) and had a nice day there. I have been staying up late and chilling out in my own space (we all need it some times). I have been contacted, out of the blue, by a person from my childhood years...who now lives in Australia (I really love Facebook...you never know what will turn up in your message box!). I have been compelled to buy a box of Dark Eldar to paint (more on that further down this post). I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (what a great puppet shadow-show in the middle of that film) and I have also managed to tick along with my current Grymn Tunnel Fighter project, the Votoms mechs...here's the latest one painted to a 'pre-washed' standard like the two Brutish Dogs are:

Click the Pic!

...and it would be a shame not to show a small group hug:

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Obviously, the mechs aren't all finished yet but it is good to get the three of them to the same standard...and not in shiny coloured plastic. The next one to be assembled is likely to be another Brutish Dog...but it may be another standard Scope Dog...

So I was thinking...I have some Dark Eldar now. I also have a box of 5 Dark Elf Cold-One cavalry...and I don't collect fantasy...so it had to be done...

Click the Pic!

I suppose this would be a sort of Exodite Dark Eldar? The good thing is that a standard Dark Eldar squad can be 5 troops strong so that leaves me enough to make 5 cavalry too...and I don't need to tie them into any ruleset because I don't game! It will all be just for the look of it. Don't you just love toys without any purpose?!

It took a little work to tie the torso in with the cavalry legs but it worked out OK.

Well...another day another update finished.

See you upon the golden shores.

Dark Eldar?

Hello again... I am back and I welcome another follower 'The Angry Lurker'...welcome aboard and please keep your arms within the confines of the car...thank you!

I saw so many pictures of black clad Dark Eldar with neon highlights that I was compelled to buy some and paint them in a normal fashion...this one is painted to resemble a grave stone...he is a member of the Kabal of the Desecrated Tomb:

Click the Pic!

Isn't it funny the way things go?

See you through the webway...

Is it Tuesday?...

Hey! Welcome to all of you...and welcome to new follower Critical Mass Games! Enjoy the view!

I was asked on a forum somewhere 'how do you sort out the pilots in your Votoms?' So I thought I'd knock together a bit of a how to...see this:

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It is a very simple procedure and would work with any 28mm scaled miniature...if you went for larger or smaller scales, you'd have to raise or lower the cockpit floor to suit, otherwise they wouldn't be able to see out of the window :).

You may have noticed that the body used above was green...that is because I have stuck together the latest mech; a Scope Dog:

Click the Pic!

I still need to add the shoulders but I do that once the arms are painted. This one is going to be painted in a slightly different sequence because the arms will obscure details...so I will paint the mech with the arms moveable and then glue them in place once I have finished...a little more awkward but it will end up looking OK. The Scope Dogs will be added to my basic infantry squads because they look the most like basic infantry :).

I have painted the second Brutish Dog to the same standard as it's friend and that means that I need to wash, highlight and detail the pair of them...but I really can't be bothered to wash them at the moment so I thought I would ride the crest of the muse while I have it and continue assembling and base-coating for now.

See you across the water!

A busy day

Before I start with today's post I'd like to welcome a new follower to Inso's World; crowmag99...Welcome! I hope you enjoy your sojourn through the labyrinth that is my world!

So...where do I start? Well I have been doing a bit of drill practice over the last couple of weeks and have attended the Festival of Remembrance today...I'm in amongst this lot somewhere:

Click the Pic!

It was a solemn affair, as you would expect; with the reading of the names of the fallen of the village being the most poignant. It is only when you listen to the surnames of those who fell in the various wars that you understand that some families were decimated...sometimes as many as five of the males in a family were killed during WW1...effectively ending the family unit. A terrible price and one that should be remembered.

So...

This week I have been ticking away with the easy stuff again and have put the base coat on the first of the Brutish Dogs:

Click the Pic!

I reckon that it looks so much better now that it isn't pink! It obviously has a long way to go...ink wash and highlight...details etc...

Now I really didn't fancy slapping a wash on it this week...so I assembled the second one and gave it a quick base coat:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, the mech project is ticking along nicely...

I don't know if I have mentioned it but the other day a friend of mine brought me a present...a piece of old fish-tank backing...the foam, rock textured backing that you see at the back of aquariums. Well I thought it would look nice as a bit of backing for my photographs so I have started to paint it up (after re-doing the texture with Polycell) and just have a bit of sand to add to it to finish it off...Here is an Ogarix to show it off a bit:

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On top of this I have paint-stripped a bunch of miniatures (to be revealed at a later date) and have put all of my Tyranids into a nice case...so generally speaking, I have managed to achieve nothing of detail...but lots of 'general' stuff. Hopefully my coming week of leave will let me recoup a little sleep and help me get back to some more detailed work again...or not...who knows?

See you through the poppies...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

A small Tuesday update...

Well, this new project seems to have kicked me into action...here is the first mech all finished:

Click the Pic!

Click the Pic!

And seeing as I am on a bit of a roll, I have assembled the next one...a Brutish Dog. It seems odd to me that the manufacturer of such a butchly named mech would mould it in pink...but there you go:

Click the Pic!

The colours will change to that of the first mech very soon. I still have to add the shoulder pads and sort out the pilot but apart from that (and gluing the joints) this one is all ready to go...YAY!

Everything is ticking along nicely :).

On a different note, I am participating in a spot of marching tomorrow...another practice for the Remembrance Day parade that I am involved in...I really do enjoy a bit of pomp and ceremony once in a while and I am always very proud to be part of the Remembrance service in particular.

See you through the ether!

And so it begins...

I have kicked off my quest to get back on the hobby trail with something that has been hanging around the place for a while. As some of you may be aware, I am quite a fan of the Armoured Troopers Votoms series (a Japanese cartoon) but have failed on all counts to come up with the correct scaled mechs for my Grymn. Well, during my quest, I acquired a couple of 1/35th scale kits that have sat in my cupboard doing nothing...well...I assembled one but then left it...

...so I thought "what can I do with it?"...and then it hit me...add a Grymn pilot and 'up-scale' it!

Here is the first one to get the treatment. It is still WIP but it is really getting there:

Click the Pic!

I had to make a few adjustments to make it fit in with my plans for it...it used to look like this:

Click the Pic!

It was a Marshy Dog...kitted out with flotation equipment...but I have used the various pipes and air-tanks on his back to turn him into a mech with a flame-thrower. I have glued him into a set position so that he is easier to paint. I still need to sort out the grey areas, the shoulder pads, details and some decals but it is a good start...I even managed to knock together a pilot and...SCULPT THE ARMS!!! Maybe I have started to break the sculpting duck...maybe...

Anyway, this first mech is part of my blue squad of Grymn Tunnel Fighters; the ones that carry shotguns with a couple of flame-throwers. I chose him for that squad because he is the prototype and I only have one shotgun squad...perfect.

So what next?

One of these, probably:

Click the Pic!

...and there are 4 more on the way...3 more Scope-Dogs and an ST-Bachus (the Bachus will be the command mech).

...I'm so happy I could cry!

The idea is that each of the mechs have a squad of infantry for support; a bit like tanks would in a modern mechanised army. As I have 6 standard squads, 3 close-combat squads with pistols, 1 close-combat squad with shotguns and a command squad, the mechs will be divided so that the Scope-Dogs go with the basic squads, the Marshy-Dog goes with the shotguns, the Brutish-Dog goes with the pistol squads and the Bachus goes with the command squad (it looks like an up-graded Scope-Dog so it will suit as a more advanced mech for the command squad)...

Watch this space for more GIANT VOTOMS ACTION!!!

See you through the haze of battle.

Right...that's enough of that!

I have come to the conclusion that I have been a bit of a miserable git over the last few weeks and I need to shake off this 'funk' that has gotten me down. Yes I'm still very tired but...hey...I've been very tired before and it hasn't stopped me being cheerful and getting stuff done.

As I have said before, this is a time of consolidation. I have now got enough miniatures cases to sort out some of the clutter into nice, labelled storage and that means I can start re-filling the spaces I clear with some of the backlog. The trouble is, I still need to varnish my Tyranids and Tunnel Fighters...and that is what I have started doing :).

So far I have varnished a few of the Tyranids and should have them all done by the weekend. I am not planning on varnishing any Tunnel Fighters just yet because they are on my 'TO-DO' shelf and that is where they belong at the moment...seeing as they are my current project.

Now here's the thing...how do you shake yourself out of the doldrums? I'll tell you how...SHOPPING! And what could be better than shopping? SHOPPING FOR GIANT ROBOTS!!!

I have a plan...a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a Velociraptor!

I have decided that my Tunnel Fighters look like they could operate in a post apocalyptic urban battlefield...as well as kicking arse in caverns and tunnels and with that in mind, what could be more appropriate than buying a room full of giant robots to go with them as they stride across the war-torn landscape? I'll tell you what could be better...NOTHING!!!

The good things about this little project are:

1. They are my favourite subject (other than Grymn ;) )
2. They are plastic kits (and I enjoy building plastic kits)
3. They are cool enough NOT to need converting (which means they are more likely to get finished)
4. I will not need to do any sculpting (I am at a standstill where sculpting is concerned...:( )
5. They will look great in amongst the troops
6. The ones I am buying are VERY cheap! (I can buy two Grymn for the price of one 8" tall robot)
7. They will hopefully get me inspired enough to pull my finger out and get some work done
8. They will make me write fluff/organisation to go with them
9. I will have 7 of them to work with...oh happy days
10. They will fit on Dreadnought sized bases
11. They open up the 'ideas' channel...robot transport, mechanics, access to cockpit...etc...
12. LOTS OF OTHER GOOD THINGS!!!

Bad things about this idea...

...Nope...can't think of any :)

I'm not going to promise anything yet...I'm not going to say where the robots are coming from or which series they are from (although Japan would be the best place to start looking)...what I will say is that I hope this gets me going again as I really am getting gnarly waiting for some inspiration...

See you through the missile trails and gas-clouds