Sunday 30 January 2011

They're everywhere!

I have been a bit busier this week and have actually managed to achieve something of substance...

...but before all that, welcome to my two newest followers oddleg and Doom On You! It seems that a few Necron conversions may be just the thing to lure in a few new visitors so buckle up and enjoy the ride :) .

So...back on track...I have managed to put together all twelve of my Beetle-Bots and have got as far as base-coating them ready for the ink wash phase (well, Devlan Mud Wash...but you get the idea). Here they are!:

Click the Pic!

I went for grey for two reasons: 1) They will go with any army 2) My daughter said that they should be mid grey. That is good enough reason for me.

I now need to wash them, highlight them, paint a few details (eyes and possibly some rank/insignia) and base them and they will be done.

To go with these Beetle-Bots, I have got a pair of Necron Destroyers. Now originally, I was going to turn them into transport but they are just too small so I will be altering them to act as a little bit of heavy support but that doesn't negate the need for transport so I have been looking at something more appropriate for that...but I'm saying no more until I have something to show off.

On a different note...there are new Grymn in the Hasslefree shop and I have ordered a few of them...snipers and LMG specialists. They look great so go over there and have a look (they are in the Grymn Specialist section)!

I'm on day-shifts for a few weeks now so I should get some sort of sleep pattern going. That means I should be able to get a bit more hobby stuff completed...after that, I'll be taking a short hobby break as I will be off to Africa again so look out for a few pix of weird and wonderful stuff from the Dark Continent (as is used to be called).

You never know...I may even get a sun-tan this time around!

See you from the depths of a Necrontyr Tomb World.

Sunday 23 January 2011

Landing with a bump!

I have had a somewhat woolly week. I haven't been sleeping well so I have had to take some medication to help me sleep...it really is cracking stuff but it sort of knocks my equilibrium a bit...couple that with a monstrous hangover today and we have a huge amount of hobby stuff achieved this week...NOT!

I'd like to welcome the 90th follower to Inso's World but for the life of me I can't tell whether it is wargamer or Ivan DBA so I'll welcome both of you (just in case). Welcome to the blog and I hope you see something that you like.

I decided that I needed yet another distraction to occupy my flagging hobby enthusiasm...so I started chopping up Necron parts. While this was going on, I sort of dabbed a bit of paint on a few Grymn Tunnel Fighters...here's where I am with that:

Click the Pic!

I had no idea that it would take so long to get 12 Necron conversions finished but last time I did some, I did them one at a time and didn't really pay too much attention to how long it took. To cut a long story short...I quickly knocked one of them together and apart from a bit of putty on the hip joints, this is the first of 12 new Beetle-Bots:

Click the Pic!

I haven't made up my mind what to do with them yet but they will get a grey paint-job so that they can be considered useful to a number of different armies. I think that they will be considered fully 'human' in their thought patterns and would act as humans on the field of battle...but would just have robot bodies. I'm thinking that they could be shock troops that are dropped into battle in small pods to disrupt and cause panic amongst the enemy. They would work well with the Tunnel Fighter army because they use quite a lot of robots/drones and could even be mixed in with the squads or have a small army of their own. I have even considered building a few specials from a few spare Necron bits and pieces that I have from old projects.

The good thing is that now that I have finished converting all of the torsos, the rest isn't too much of a problem so the hard work has already been finished.

I'm on night-shift this week but have a few days that I have to go in instead...one of them to get my annual trip to the gas chamber over and done with...awesome...NOT! But looking on the bright side, I don't have to work tomorrow (apart from finishing a report and preparing kit) so it will be fairly chilled.

Soon...Kenya...

I'm not going to say that I have any hobby plans this week but I will say that I am a bit narked at the lack of stuff on here so far this year so hopefully I'll manage to get a few things done to make up for it.

I saw a few films this week...Inception (not one for me...a bit far-out), Whipped (Ellen Paige and Drew Barrymore skating about...what's not to like?) and The Expendables (exactly as you'd expect! Full-on ACTION!!!)...

...see you across the airfield :) !

Sunday 16 January 2011

Take a deep breath...and jump in!

There have been many times in life where I have been confronted by things that make me stop in my tracks and take a hard look at the situation. Travelling around and meeting new people...moving to a different job...deciding on what is best in the situation...

...Let's face it, sometimes the journey means more than the arrival.

I would say that I have had a rather interesting life. Okay, I haven't won an F1 Grand Prix or hitched a ride on a space shuttle...but I've done lots of other stuff that many people would never dream of doing...even the simple stuff like holding a tarantula or boa constrictor and being in a cage with a live Cheetah. There are definitely times where I have been terrified by the decisions I have been called to make...but there are times when you have to take a deep breath and just jump in!

On a recent trip to Kenya, I found myself standing on a cliff face, looking down at the river below and thinking...I've got to jump into there!? Every instinct I had, was telling me not to but I knew that I had to do it or face the ridicule of everyone else in the group. Then it struck me...it wasn't the group that would ridicule me the most...it would be me, telling myself that I should have done it...so I took a deep breath and jumped in. When I surfaced, it felt like I was on top of the world...life couldn't feel any better...it was absolutely invigorating...not because I HAD jumped in but because I now knew that I COULD!

Yesterday, I had my 40th birthday. To me a birthday doesn't mean anything other than being closer to the grave by another day...and why would you celebrate that ;)? What was really important was the fact that after 22 years service, I had reached a major turning point in my career that, until last week, hadn't even dawned on me...I was now able to draw a pension if I left the service. I have been working towards this for the last 22 years...yesterday I took away that goal and everything seems to have become a huge question. I will obviously continue with my career but I now have the option of calling it quits if the going gets too tough and drawing a pension...it sort of makes you think long and hard about the future when you know that there are new options.

...I know...blah, blah, blah...but that is the sort of week I've had.

So this is what I have decided to do now:

Click the Pic!

Click the Pic!

Click the Pic!

So far, I have begun preparing 12 torsos and am waiting for the glue to dry before I chop the bottoms off them, ready to start the next phase. My plan is to build 12 Beetle-Bots with standard rifles to act as a parachute/shock-troop unit.

I have also been ticking along with the next Tunnel Fighter unit and have started assembling the next mech for them too...there just isn't much point showing them off at such an early stage.

This week I am on a normal day shift so I will have the evenings to play with. Hopefully I will have the energy and enthusiasm to get a bit more completed for next week's Blog update because I have been a bit slow so far this year and need to shake off the doldrums and wake up a bit!

See you over the new pastures!

Sunday 9 January 2011

Where has the week gone?

Before I start this week's update, let me welcome our two newest followers; Dags and myincubliss...WELCOME! I hope that you enjoy your stay here but be careful not to put your hands in the water...

This week has been a week of going back to work, straight onto night shifts. That means that I have been well and truly thrown out by life and have not really been in a fit state for my hobby stuff.

I have stared at the Necron box...
I have almost painted some Grymn...
I have almost built a drop-ship...
I have nearly converted another Grymn squad...

...but all I have actually achieved is to undercoat a squad of tunnel fighters and make a cardboard box.

That said...it is a very important cardboard box. the box in question represents a half scale stowage area for four Glaive APCs. What that means is that the drop-ship has started to take on a physical presence in the world.

The idea is to make up a half scale mock-up of the drop-ship so that I can turn it around and around and stare at it until I am happy with the design...or need to change things. I have some thin card and cereal boxes to build the thing...now all I need is the enthusiasm. It will be interesting to see if my 2D plans turn into a 3D masterpiece...or a 3D monstrosity!

I am on reasonable shifts this week so I hope to have a bit of time to get a bit of hobby stuff in motion.

I want to get some sculpting started again (if I can), finish off the last two squads for my Tunnel Fighters and tick along with the drop-ship as my main priorities so we'll just have to wait and see how things turn out :).

Next weekend is very special...Sunday, you'll fin out why :).

See you through the window!

Sunday 2 January 2011

The first Sunday of 2011.

I know I said that I wasn't necessarily going to post tonight...but it's Sunday and I just couldn't get out of the habit.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pix to show off today but rest assured, I haven't been idle. I have been busy converting the next squad of tunnel fighters and just have a strap to finish on one of the troopers and another basic squad will be ready for paint.

The funny thing about Christmas is what to do with gift vouchers. I find gift vouchers a bit of a godsend as they give someone something appropriate to give as a gift without feeling like they've just given you cash. On the other hand, what do you spend them on? Well, I received £35-00 worth of GW gift vouchers and popped into town today to spend them. I went into the shop and was faced with an array of stuff to spend the vouchers on but half of the products didn't have prices on and, knowing that GW are in the process of 'price changes', I was limited to what was already priced up (who wants to go to a till only to find that what they have picked up costs more than they thought? I know I don't!)...

To cut a long story short, I bought a box of Necrons and still have £15-00 left for some paint at a later date. I bought Necrons because I can make 12 more Beetle-Bots now :).

On my web-travels, I often see some very cool paint-jobs on some very cool miniatures. One of the people whose painting always catches my eye is a bloke called Dags (on Frothers Unite UK). Well, Dags has a new blog...and if I were you, I'd go and have a look at it:

Cool Painting Site

Isn't it annoying when you want to paint something but have to convert it first? I am in the mood for painting Tunnel Fighters but I have to finish converting them first...Grrr ;)!

Well, I reckon that is about it for now...

...but wait...

...I haven't wished you all a Happy New Year yet!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

See you through the steam rising from a lovely cup of rosy lee!