If at first you don't succeed...

I'd like to start today's post with a welcome. Welcome to Lord Siwoc! Good to have yo aboard and feel free to comment and join in while roaming about and (hopefully) getting ideas for projects of your own.

So I re-sculpted Black Widows arms and although the hands could be a little bit smaller, I am relatively happy with the end result:

Click the Pic!

I hope you agree that there is an improvement because I think there is. I know for sure that once she has a bit of paint on her, she'll look better as well.

So...on to the next one and Hurricane has been all fleshed out, ready to start detailing. She is a chunky lass but I am happy that I have got her proportions right this time around. I am smoothing the bumps on her because she is a speedster and will be wearing a special, protective, suit (a bit like a wet-suit) so her lady bumps won't be so pronounced. I don't have any new pix of her but will have something by Sunday's update, I am sure.

See you from the dock of the bay!

Oh Dear...again...

Sometimes you get caught up in a sculpt and you keep plodding on in a bid to finish it, even if you know there is something not quite right. That is exactly what has happened with this sculpt and it is a bit annoying because I have essentially finished it but now have to go back and rip its arms off because they are too long:

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The picture above shows how tiny she is but also it shows just how obviously long her arms are. I will be finishing the other WIP sculpt in the picture before I go back to the first one...as I can't face ripping the arms off just yet.

Oh woe is me :(

On a different note, my little doggies have turned up from E-Bay and they are smaller than I was expecting so I will have to think about what to do with them.

Ah, the ups and downs of the hobbyist!

See you from behind that door...YES...THAT one!

Oh dear...

Before I start my post, I'd like to welcome Spacejacker to Inso's World. Welcome! I hope you find some comfort as you travel around the mazes and the labyrinths!

So why 'oh dear'?

I have just won another auction on E-Bay. It was a timely appearance of something that had gained my interest during my internet travels. It didn't cost much...

...but it's more 15mm stuff.

I have a bunch of armoured wolfies winging their way to me and they will be perfect to go with my nine little walkers...probably because they are Protolenes, just the same as the walkers. I reckon that they will still be able to tie in with my 28mm stuff by being 'ickle aliens' but I may have to change my ideas when they actually arrive.

Strange things happen when you work funny shifts.

My little sculpt of my first superhero is nearly complete. I just have ears, hair, wrist-bands and hands to go and she will be finished. I reckon that by the time I go on shift tomorrow, I will have her finished...we'll just have to see.

My four APCs are now under-coated and ready for the base-coat to be applied. If I get time tomorrow, I'll start that little process. Unfortunately, the fiddly nature of the sculpting is keeping me from painting the three walkers so they have just sat...but they are certainly not forgotten.

That is about it for now.

See you through the window of my Spitfire as it plummets towards the ground!

Is it Sunday yet?

Shift work has had a nasty effect on me this week...I have had a major re-lapse on the sleep front and was wide awake until gone 04:00hrs this morning. It is a pain when I go to bed and feel tired out but have an active and wide-awake mind...but it does give me time to think.

So in amongst the de-caf tea I trawled the net to find some decent pix of superheroes for my little team and have now decided on the following group:

Nick Fury (go between)

Iron Man (flier/blaster)
Black Widow (martial artist)
Hurricane (speedster)
Juggernaut (brute)
Beast (brawler)

I have started sculpting the first of them and there is a sneak peak at the bottom right of the following picture:

Click the Pic!

Also in the Pic, you will see that I have progressed slightly with the three walkers. Although they are still in need of a major tidy up before I even wash them, they look a bit better now that the windows are defined.

Above the walkers are four more of my Tunnel Fighter APCs. They are assembled and filled as far as they need to be to get their undercoat applied...but the putty still needs to dry a bit so paint will have to wait. It is a funny thing that when I get a bit over-tired, I dig out things from the cupboard and just tick along with them...this time it was quite productive. I assembled the APCs with some epoxy glue from a 99p store...and apart from smelling very strongly of ammonia, it worked very well.

I reckon that I'll get a bit more finished on the little sculpt tonight but that will be about it. She is looking OK at the moment but don't expect super-detailed because I want to keep the little team simple and have the paint-scheme bring it to life. Also bear in mind that each one will be around 22mm tall...so you'll have to cut me some slack if they don't turn out awesome.

Can you guess which one the first sculpt will be?

See you over the metropolis tower!

From Russia in Perfect Safety

Whilst sleeping off my night shift, I was rudely awoken by the post man so I dashed downstairs in little more than my underwear and signed for my latest parcel.

The parcel had a nice Russian stamp on the front and a bunch of Russian script and inside the jiffy-bag was this:

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Yes...it was a nice plastic soap dish or, as I'd like to put it, a future component in some sort of vehicle.

So I open up the little capsule and this is what I find:

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Whoever sent this parcel REALLY knows how to pack things safely. So I delve a little deeper and I discover the true identity of the delivery...a small squad of Space Dwarfs:

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They are from Velard Miniatures (a defunct company that had some great little sculpts) and they have been cast to order in resin. They are nicely cast with minimal mould lines and they will look very nice as a small security unit. They didn't come with bases but I have plenty of those so it isn't an issue.

I really like them and would recommend them...but they only appear infrequently on E-Bay so getting hold of them may not be easy.

Once I have got around to basing them (they will be on the back-burner for now), I'll post some scale pix.

Now...where's my cuppa? I need all the help I can get today!

See you through misted lenses as I drink from the cup of life!

Robotic News.

I was so glad that I finished my other two walkers today that I thought I'd throw a picture out there with the assembled group:

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I have to decide how I am going to paint them all at the moment but they will be urban coloured (grey) but may have some sort of camouflage and will DEFINITELY have nose-art teeth and eyes. They need that big space under the cockpit covering up.

A bit earlier, whilst travelling the web, I found this:

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It is a WIP Spider-Mech from Antenociti's Workshop and I can see a lot of gamers going mad for them. The smaller body at the front, is possibly aimed at the 15mm market but I can see myself going for the smaller one for my Grymn forces. With a small amount of conversion, they would make great Tachikomas from Ghost in the Shell. I reckon they will be fairly pricey, looking at them (especially the big one), but if they were used as transport for your commander/character models, you wouldn't need too many to add flavour to your forces.

Just a thought :).

See you ducking down in the gully, avoiding the snipers!

Yay! A parcel!

I went over to my local postal depot this morning and collected the parcel that was waiting there from Saturday. Straight away, I knew that it was too heavy to be my Space Dwarfs so it had to be my other purchase. I was very lucky to get these at the price I did:

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The miniatures in the pic are 13 Exo-suit wearing Gladiators from the Urban War game and can be found here. Each one is £8-00 to buy so buying them new would have cost me £104-00 plus postage. I paid less than £19-00 including postage so I am extremely happy about my lucky E-Bay bidding :).

What I am going to do with them, I'm not sure but I am thinking that a different skin colour and some glowy paint on the weapons would turn them into an alien race of Gladiators...who knows?

Definitely something different...maybe even something for a few superheroes to fight...

2nd Post.

On to the second part of Sunday's posting and this time there is hobby news. Unfortunately, I have been unable to finish the remaining two walkers but have got a fair way. Here is a pic to show them so far:

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All I have left to do is add two window frames, either side in green-stuff (at the moment, I have to wait for the existing layer to dry) and then fill in all of the gaps in the frames. Once that is done I just need to pin and glue the guns on before undercoating and painting. I guess it is a case of 'so near, yet so far'. Well. I'll be ticking along with those until they are finished.

The postman only rings once...and then takes my parcel off to the depot until I can pick it up tomorrow. The big question is..."Is it Space Dwarfs or my other parcel?"...I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

For ages I have been keen to add a few superheroes to my collection and I have finally decided that it is time to get the ball rolling. The idea is to have a team of five 'super-soldiers' with a liaison officer to act as a go between with the normal armed forces. I have decided that, rather than just making it all up, I'd opt for some recognised Marvel/DC heroes and have decided on the following:

Go-Between:
Nick Fury.

Team:
Captain America
Ironman/Warmachine (maybe even the Crimson Dynamo).
Black Widow
Hurricane (effectively a female version of the Flash - super speedster)
A brute of some description (maybe Juggernaut or Beast)

I have chosen the above because they can all be explained away with serums or technological or biological science. There won't be any 'struck by a mystic bolt' nonsense! I want them to be super soldiers rather than mutants or mystical superheroes or aliens.

Unfortunately, the miniatures that are on the market don't fit in with my plans so I will have to sculpt/convert my own which is one of the reasons I have kept it to a limited number of team-members.

I'm not saying that they are imminent but they are on the drawing board...

One last note before I get back to my Walkers. I have been trawling the web...as I do...and I noticed that Miniature Heroes has the Denison range of sci-fi troops. In amongst them are a few gems and for their time, they are pretty decent little miniatures. It may be worth a look...

Miniature Heroes

Well, that is about it for today. I am on night shifts this week so I will be a bit disjointed with sleep and that will impact things a little. It doesn't mean I won't get anything done, it just means I am getting my excuses in early!!!

See you through the shattered remains of the bay window!

The first post for Sunday.

I have a lot of stuff to say today so I thought I'd split today's post into two parts...this being the first post.

I'd first like to welcome a plethora of new followers this week! Welcome Diakon, Blitzspear, Ironmammoth, Warped and Lorenzo Calvi. I hope that you all enjoy your stay here and I also hope that you take away some inspiration for a future project of your own.

I think five new followers in one week is a bit of a record...I must be doing something right ;).

In case you haven't noticed, I have added another link on the blog list...Role 'n' Roll! It looks an interesting site so pop over and browse (especially if you like superhero fun).

On a completely separate note...I have got a new job :). I have been chosen to work in a design integration team and will be leaving my current post in December. I am still on the same unit but moving to a different building and will be going on to a permanent day shift. It will be a new challenge and is a job that I have wanted for a very long time so I am over the moon! My new job means that I have a bit more of a standard routine which should enable me to get a sleep pattern going...that will mean that I have more energy for everything; including my hobby.

It is about time that I got some decent luck ;).

Later on today, I'll be posting proper hobby news so watch this space.

See you from behind the sofa!

Job done...

Before I start today, I would like to welcome ADAM to Inso's World. I hope that you enjoy your stay here and find something that takes your interest.

I must admit that I have had a bit of a busy working week with late shifts but I have still managed to set aside some hobby time to carry out a walker conversion. You may remember me mentioning that I had bought some walkers from Critical Mass Games, at Salute a couple of years ago. Well, the walkers in question were three 'Arc Fleet Cannon/Missile Support Combat Walker' models and here is a picture of one (courtesy of Critical Mass Games):

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The walkers themselves, are made for 15mm wargaming but I thought that, with a little conversion, they would make good combat walkers for my Urban Grymn. Here is a picture of the components for one of the mechs and each of the three mechs came with all of the components shown (so there were spare chin weapons):

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The good thing is that the chin weapons will happily fit on the shoulder mounts instead of the main guns. This means that you could get the scout walkers and use them as close infantry support by fixing the chin weapons on the shoulders and under the chin...and they would be £2-00 cheaper than buying walkers with shoulder guns.

...anyway...I digress! I was intending to use the walker for my 28mm Grymn so I set about converting the body with plasticard and putty. After filling in the chin area I added a cockpit and a hinge block at the rear to give the impression that the canopy lifts like an aircraft canopy. Well...this is what I came up with:

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I used plasticard where I could and only used putty where I had to (to try and keep the design as simple as possible to re-create...especially because I have three of them). Here is what it looks like with some under-coat on:

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I almost forgot the usual scale shot so here it is:

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I hope you like it. I think it will be perfect for trotting down urban streets; blowing the heck out of the enemies of Grymn kind.

Once I have got it painted, I'll post more pics...and then I'll have another two bodies to convert. I must admit that although chopping up tiny pieces of plasticard can be quite frustrating, it can also be quite therapeutic!

That is it for today!

See you from the depths of the the deepest, darkest, hobby cupboard!

All things 15mm...

I seem to have got the intention to empty my cupboards of 15mm stuff at the moment.

After the 'Dogbots' I am keen to progress with a few more walkers so I am in the process of assembling a few more from Critical Mass Games. These ones are another Salute purchase...but from a few years ago and they, like the Dogbots, have been hanging around in my cupboard, making themselves awkward for quite a while.

Unlike the Dogbots, these walkers will need a small amount of conversion to make them usable for a 28mm army so I will be assembling them as far as I can and then converting them to suit. I already have plans for these and they will be joining my Urban Grymn forces in the future...in fact, they may be the start of that project proper...who knows?

I know I have been a bit chatty this week but I am on a late shift and have not been sleeping too well...so I am tired and can't do too much that taxes the mind. A bit of on-line chat and miniature assembly is about all I am good for, hence the multiple posts this week.

Don't worry though...pretty soon I will be back to Sunday posting so you won't have the same amount of waffle you have been getting over the last week or so :).

See you when the sun shines and the fish are jumping!

Dogbots

First of all, welcome to Vampifan and Christopher; the newest followers here at Inso's World. If you want Zombie action, Vampifan's blog is the place to go for all things undead. There's nothing much of that in Inso's World but I hope you both find something to get the muse going.

Well, nothing much to report today apart from the fact that I have finished the Dogbots now:

Click the Pic!

I have put in a scale pic for those of you who are interested in how they will fit with 28mm. I am sorry about the quality of the pic but my camera has just run out of batteries and it never performs well on the wind-down.

I will take better pics when my camera has recharged.

See you over the top of the world!

Links Update.

I'd like to welcome Avicenna to Inso's World. Avicenna is a painter of renown and to name but one of his achievements, was the winner of the Salute painting competition this year. Welcome aboard and I hope you find something to interest you here on my blog.

Tenuous link...but speaking of blogs...the axeman has come and removed some of those blogs that have been dormant for awhile and replaced them with a few that are new and a bit more regularly updated (I hope). Feel free to browse away and enjoy.

See you over the editing suite floor!

Robots...FAAAHSANDS of 'em!!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was looking through one of my hobby cupboards and I was finally convinced that I needed to assemble and paint these:

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They are Ayame Battlesuits from Critical Mass Games and are meant for 15mm but will work fine for 28mm robots. I still need to finish the bases but I won't have them done by the end of the day so I thought I'd post these anyway. At this moment in time, I have no plans for these...they are just ticked off and available to add to a future project at some point.

There are a host of these Protolene battlesuits available so they could be used to build a complete army if you wanted...and at around £4-00 each, they are comparable to standard 28mm prices. They come as a resin torso with separate resin legs and metal arms. All of the components are crisply cast but there are some very faint striations where the 3d digital sculpting method has been used. At this sort of size, they aren't too noticeable but they are a particular bugbear of mine.

Lovely little robots though.

I have a few more bits and bobs from Critical Mass Games that will appear at some point...but they will be tied straight into my Grymn forces.

Here is a picture of the Condor with a cardboard 15mm miniature for scale:

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I would have used a proper miniature but I don't have any 15mm ones so just for Comstar, I made an ickle cardboard one :). I hope this is good enough for your purposes.

This week has been a mixed blessing on E-Bay. I was unfortunate in losing my bidding war for a pair of Warzone Vulkans...but went 'buy it now' for a squad of Space Dwarfs.

The Space Dwarfs are from a Russian Company who used to be called Vellard but due to IP problems, they disappeared. Occasionally, the miniatures turn up on E-Bay and I decided to take a punt and order some. Once they arrive, I'll share the wealth and show off a few pics.

The Condor has stalled a little while I try to decide how I am going to explain some undercarriage...but I am sure something will crop up.

Sculpting has stopped for now...but I have a strong feeling that it won't be for long...

See you from the poop deck, me hearties!

I just can't shut up!

I have seen the light and it is hard, metal and clanky. I was trawling the forums, as I quite often do and I found something absolutely beautiful. Here is what I am talking about:



The miniature is available from Studio McVey and comes with different arm kits and each one comes with an open and closed cockpit for a bit of customisation. The walkers are £21-99 and the arm sets are £1-99 and although they are quite expensive, they would make excellent tunnel fighters, spaceship boarding-parties, loading dock MHE or even special characters in a mercenary army.

I really like them and think that there is enough room in the torso for a seated Grymn...so maybe...

See you after visiting the bank manager!