BLAM!

I was going to post hobby stuff but I've just got back from seeing 'The Avengers Assemble' and I thought I'd share my feelings on the film (without giving anything away...NO spoilers here!).

By now, everyone will know all of the characters in the film and so I feel safe mentioning names. All of the characters were good and were suitably expanded from their individual films. Old characters cropped up and were similarly expanded.  I thought all of the characters held their own (even diminutive ones like Agent Colson) but none as impressively as the new Hulk. In both Banner and Hulk forms, the character ROCKED! Gone are the boo-hoo, I'm a victim side to Banner. Here is a character who knows what he is capable of, knows the responsibility he has and knows when the right time to act is. He has humour and intelligence and he put the rest in the shade.

My overall view of the film was...YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS FILM.

... and remember, it's a Marvel film so stay until the credits are finished...for all you comic nerds out there, a metaphorical Pandora's box is opened after the credits that you won't want to miss.

See this one in 3d, see it often and buy the DVD... you won't be disappointed.

From this film... leaders find their path and stand forward, through pain a team finds it's way and watch out for the comic moments... PUNY HUMANS!

Whew! I'm still full of excitement and need to land a bit.

Oh... I forgot... something different? You're damn right!

This weekend has been a weird one for a lack of sleep so I can not be held responsible for what I do. Therefore, I decided to dig out some miniatures that I remembered as a result of a conversation at Salute. Last year, I met a guy who had a little line of home made miniatures that he was casting. He didn't have a spin caster or pressure pot... just silicon/rubber moulds and a pouring jug. He gave me his card and I remembered seeing his little site on my web-travels and I thought I'd buy some of his miniatures. This year he popped by and stirred my memories again so I thought I'd dig them out and paint them. I have only painted two so far but I have another two to go. The website is Silent Spectre Studio and you can find the miniatures I have painted HERE. So, here are two Dhurn with a Grymn to show how big they are:

Click the Pic!

Now I know that the guy who runs this little project has had some stick for his work and I would like to adjust the balance a little with some observations that I have made. I will be taking the fact that these are pour-cast miniatures in my findings.

What is good?:

• The cast is as crisp as you'd find on some spin cast miniatures
• The edges of the armour are sharp and not soft at all
• The drapery is good and shows different behaviour for different materials
• The faces are filled with character
• The weapons are well proportioned and sharply detailed (and look like weapons rather than an assembly of 'gubbins')
• Each of the miniatures work well together and all have the same stocky feel to them

What could be improved?

• There were a couple of voids that were in some of the deeper recesses
• Anatomy

I really had a blast painting these and can't envision painting the other two being any different. As you will see, I have chosen to paint the skin yellow. I did this because I have chosen to portray these as aliens rather than Dwarf-Humans because the anatomy is a little off around the neck and shoulder area.

Now for the anatomy issue. In order for these to be Human styled Space Dwarfs there are a few areas that need to be looked at:

• The shoulders are too high
• There doesn't appear to be any neck... the head seems to be attached to the front of the torso
• The hands need to be more defined and hands need to be studied to get the proportions right
• The musculature on the arms needs to be improved
• The heads need to have larger brain cases

That may seem over critical but I am only making observations. As far as I am concerned, a decent anatomy book is all that is needed to transform these from short aliens into proper Human styled Space Dwarfs. Everything else is brilliant...the pouches, armour, clothing and weapons are all bang on so the ability is there. All that is needed is for the sculptor to refine his anatomy knowledge and these would cater to a wider audience. Add a spin caster into the mix and these could hold their own against many producers out there. Not bad for an amateur sculptor who just thought he'd 'give it a go'.

I think these make excellent little alien mercenaries and I hope that the range expands so that I can buy a few more.

Right... I'm off to continue painting Dhurn.

See you from the Quin-jet!

##EDIT##

After having a chat with Silent Spectre, the position of the neck and shoulders was the chosen style for his particular race of Space Dwarfs... a more alien approach. So I was right to think they were aliens :) . Hopefully there will be more to come.

Something different...

I just need to dry brush the bases and they are finished... but I can't do that until the base-coat has dried.

They really are quite interesting as well.

That's the good thing about bad weather... you have an excuse not to go out.

The early bird.

...wakes up before it is light and ends up getting out of bed at 05:30hrs because he just can't lie there any more.

That means, I guess, that I have a good couple of hours before the rest of my family join me so I thought it would be a good time to get some painting done...

WRONG!

Some sculpting then?

WRONG!

What could I do if those two were not on the agenda?

Assemble 'Ninja':

Click the Pic!

It is at times like this that I realise I am in the right profession. I always like to think that painting and sculpting is what I'd rather be doing than being an aircraft technician. But your body sometimes tells you what it would rather do and when everything else is off the cards, it reverts to what it knows best and in this case it is building stuff that needs work before putting it together. Every piece needs a bit of fettling to remove a slight mould line or get a nice flat surface and then there is the drilling and pinning... so back to my roots.

Ninja was an experiment to see how mobile I could make him look. It also gave me an opportunity to see how the guns looked and to be honest, the larger of the two guns was MASSIVE so I decided to opt for just the smaller one and the shoulder rockets. Like before, I have left off the rocket plates from the shoulders  to allow the perceived space for a Grymn in there and I've also put the groin plate in place... but according to the creator, the groin plate is a butt plate and I put it together wrong. Seeing as I've done it once, I'll keep doing it otherwise things will get daft.

Ninja will be black with red accents.

Oh... and in case you were wondering, Optimus isn't finished yet. I will be adding highlights and a few choice decals/free-hand markings.

see you from the tip of the iceberg!

We went down, to Oxford Town...

As I said yesterday, I went to the hospital with my lad today and spent a rather boring couple of hours in a waiting room with my lad, before he was given the all clear by the doctor.

This afternoon, I have managed to slap a bit of paint on my first GZG Mecha... and I have called him Optimus:

Click the Pic!

He still has a way to go and is still very WIP... but it is a start and if nothing else, it shows where the window is better than any of the other pix. One thing I have really decided is that the next ones won't be so rigidly static looking as this one.

Work tomorrow... sadly.

See you from the pulpit of the devil's chapel!

Idling along...

I have been pottering away at home again today and the empty house is not stimulating me to much movement. I haven't been sleeping too well recently and to be honest, I just can't be arsed with too much today.

I have until Thursday off work but tomorrow I have to take my lad to hospital to get a load of results and stuff for his illness last summer so I am making a day of it with him in Oxford. That means that today is the last quiet one before work. So what do you do if you are bored? I decided to sort through my miniature cases and add some labels so that I have a bit of a clue to what is inside them. Six standard cases and a larger case are all sorted now and I can now say (with reasonable accuracy) what is in each one... which is nice.

I have also sorted out an on-line account for my son's phone which has been sat waiting to be done since January.

To finish, I've filled in the edges of all the pod bases with Green Stuff and have finished the assembly of the first of the GZG mechs. I have decided to make this one pretty basic by leaving off the shoulder mounted rocket pods. He is an anti-personnel mech and scales up nicely with many of my other projects:

Click the Pic!

I have decided to go all old school and paint the three mechs I have in bold colours like renegade mercenaries. I got my idea from HERE because of the beautiful job he's made of his mechs. I won't be copying the style, just the idea of bold paint-schemes...very inspiring stuff Gunner Dunbar!

What am I going to do now? I haven't a clue. I have immersed myself in the hobby recently and am probably feeling a little burnt out by all the ideas and projects that I have on-the-go at the moment... I think we'll all just to have to wait and see what happens next.

See you from rehab!

GZG Mecha Component Breakdown

I thought I'd show how the components for the new GZG Mecha go together so here is a pictorial information bulletin:

Make sure you click all the Pics to enlarge them!

EDIT: Scale Pix Added:

Make sure you click all the Pics to enlarge them!

That is the end of this public information bulletin.

See you from the mecha cockpit!

Back to normal operations.

Before I start, I'd like to welcome my two newest followers 'The Dark Templar' and 'The Dozing Dragon'. Welcome to my blog and make sure you comment on things you like... or don't and take away anything that you need as inspiration because ideas come from the strangest of places... and Inso's World is certainly a strange place!

The sun has set on another Salute weekend and after the tidy up yesterday, I can get back to normal operation and get back to what I know best... sculpting, converting, collecting and painting.

Now I could marvel at all of the goodies I bought at Salute but I think it would be even better to show a little progress on my little jungle unit... so here is a pic:

Click the Pic!

This sniper has ended up in my jungle unit because he is the only Grymn that has a gillie suit on. I have sculpted gillie suits on Grymn before but they have been over the top of all the kit rather than underneath it (seeing as gillie suits usually go over the top of everything). and they take a while so I wasn't prepared to go to those lengths to include him in my urban Grymn army... so I thought he'd fit in well with the junglies. He is a special character who scouts ahead and reports back to the rest of the patrol.

Speaking of the rest of the patrol...I have started to paint the first of the pods:

Click the Pic!

I still have a way to go but I thing the colours look quite good on it (compared to the bold blue and white that they usually wear). I also glued it to one of the bases I bought at Salute and filled the edges, ready to glue the sand on when I am ready. Now I need to tidy it up, add a bit of highlight and base it...maybe add a decal or two...

I am still tired out so I will take a small amount of time to climb back on the old hobby horse but I'll be back to my old self soon.

See you from the underside of a tour bus!

Post Salute Musings...the last (shopping!)

While I was at Salute, I had the opportunity to have a wander and get some shopping done. Here is a post where the pix tell the full tale:

Clic the Pic!

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So...

The dust has settled, everything has been sorted out, the blisters cut up for paint pallets, the bags de-labelled and stored, the pamphlets recycled along with the carrier bags, the miniatures put in their compartments in my lead mountain, the bases in their own storage area, the Polo shirt is in the wash and finally... the ache is starting to disappear from my legs.

The Heresy sci-fi troopers will join the rest I have and there will be two squads of ten (each with a support weapon) and a couple of characters to float about.

The Heresy gangers will join the rest of the gangers I have and complete the set for me (I have the lot now).

Dr Hugh is joining my Heresy Sci-Fi miscellanea.

The Bolt Action commandos will be getting pulse rifles and better head-gear (maybe even different heads). I have plenty of other weapon options for them so they will have special/support weapons and Comms too.

The Dhogu will join the rest of the Dhogu I have and they will form a lovely little raiding party.

The Grymn have joined the other snipers I have and are now sorted into sections for my Urban Army; four sections consisting of two snipers and two troopers each.

The bases are in their storage area and the 50mm bases will get the Pods glued to them (well, eight of them at any rate).

And the mechs... Hmmm... Hmmm... Pic from Salute:

Click the Pic!

The three at the back are the ones I bought... all different but the same. I am thinking that leaving the rocket plates off the front of the shoulders will give plenty of Grymn space so they will be walkers for SOME project EVENTUALLY...

... we are a bunch of hoarders!

see you from the lead pile!

Post Salute Musings.. the second (LINKS)

Right... seeing as I didn't take any pictures of the Salute event, here are a few links to some EXCELLENT stuff by other people who deserve all the credit for their work:

Gallery

Blog Gallery1

Blog Gallery2

Blog Gallery3

Blog Gallery4

New Company

South London Warlords

Sweary Frothers Pix (Warning contains swears!)

Blog Gallery5

Blog Gallery6

Blog Gallery7

Blog VIDEO

Gallery

Blog Gallery8

Blog Gallery9

Blog Gallery10

Gruntz Video

As I find other links, I'll try to pop them up here... So keep checking back :) .

See you from the Barbary Coast!

Post Salute Musings...the first...

Well...where do I begin?

At the beginning, I guess!?

I started the day at about 05:50Hrs and boarded the train at 07:30Hrs (there was a delay so the train was about ten minutes late). I then travelled by train, tube and DLR to Excel and walked straight into the Salute 2012 event (due to having a traders badge) at about 09:10hrs.

I met up with everyone on the Hasslefree Miniatures stand, put on my new HF polo-shirt and while it was quiet, popped to see Andy on the Heresy Miniatures stand to get a few list items.

Then I waited for the doors to open and the work to begin...

...and it began with a vengeance and continued all day. I would say that it was the busiest I've been at a Salute yet, with a constant flow of visitors and punters all day and it made the time fly past. I only wish I could have written down all the names of the people who stopped by to say hello because I met a LOT of people who I know from various forums and blogs.

To all of those visitors who stopped by to say hello I would like to express my thanks and also to say that you all made my day for popping by. This hobby is filled with some great people and I can safely say that I could have chatted away all day with you lot, if it hadn't been for the work aspect of me being at Salute.

To those who worked on the stand with me...it was a privilege for me to be in the company of such fine people who, as always turned the day into a 'family' event. I had a complete blast and was almost disappointed to leave for a wander around the hall.

...but I did go for a wander and I managed to have a quick look at some of the stands and buy a few choice items. I didn't look at the gaming tables because I had a list that needed filling and some of the stands had moved in relation to their map position so finding them was difficult.

The big picture of the event was, as usual, a professional effort from the South London Warlords and apart from a little queue jumping needing sorting out and some really bizarre tanoy announcements, I think it went pretty smoothly. All of the tables looked great, there were the usual re-enactors in Star Wars kit, Napoleonic dress, WWII dress...the list goes on, the painting contest looked to be well turned out and the stands were laid out so that there was plenty of space to browse.

I took my camera with me but I never managed to get any pix taken... sorry about that... but I know a few links to pix and I will post them later.

I left the event at about 18:15Hrs and finally got home at around 21:45Hrs... and had the best cup of tea in the world! I was shattered then and after an early wake up, I am shattered now...but in a satisfied, 'job well done' sort of way. It was the best show so far and the takings were up again... so it was win-win all around.

My parting shot is this...

Roll on next year!

See you from the railings! 

Pre-Salute Nonsense!

I decided that I'd take a few days leave and make sure that I have the time and planning to properly enjoy Salute again this year.

Today, I have:

• Withdrawn some cash.
• Sorted through my storage to see what miniatures I had.
• Made a shopping list.
• Made an 'INSO' badge (because my T-shirt this year has 'Steve' on it).
• Printed off a London Underground map.
• Made a note of the train times to get me to London (and back).
• Found a small fold-away rucksack to take with me.
• And put all my lists, tickets, badges, sundries and a couple of pens together so I won't forget anything.

That means that I have plenty of time tonight for getting excited about tomorrow's event.

As usual, I can be found over at the Hasslefree Miniatures stand (TA02 on this MAP - note: it's a PDF file) and will have a nice HF T-shirt on. Please feel free to pop over and have a chat!

I should get a few minutes off to do a little shopping and I have plans to visit a number of stands including:

Heresy Miniatures (TA04)

Twilight Miniatures (TB02)

Critical Mass Games (TH04)

Antenociti's Workshop (TG07)

Warlord Games (TG12)

With additional searches for some tiny Union Jack decals and a general perusal for sci-fi things. A full list of traders/stand positions can be found HERE.

What is on my list? Well...

• Grymn (troops and walkers)
• Weapon sprues
• Dhogu
• 40 and 50mm plastic bases
• British Commandos
• Sci-fi troops
• Gang members
• Kaamados Dominion troops/vehicles
• Decals
• Miscellanea

I will, of course, show off my haul after the event so anyone who doesn't go won't feel left out. I'm not one for taking pix of the event so don't expect them from me (there are always plenty of Salute galleries on the WWW after the event so you can do what I do and search them out over the next couple of weeks because it is impossible to see absolutely EVERYTHING on the day... especially when you are helping out on a stand).

Now for something completely different... weight loss.

I am not a large person. In fact, I am quite slim. Last year, I put on a little weight and ended up having to buy some 32" waist jeans/trousers. Not a problem, you'd think...

...well, I went to put on my Salute trousers last night (they are cargo trousers with lots of secure-able pockets for all those things you want to keep safe at a convention) and discovered that they were far too large and I looked like a scarecrow. I checked the label and they were 32" waist so I went to find some smaller trousers with lots of pockets and discovered that I was not only back to my usual 30" waist...but had got a bit slimmer besides.

I haven't been on a diet or exercised too much...so all I can think of is that reducing processed sugar in my diet (for my glucose intolerance) and walking home from work on lunch-breaks has made me lose fat around my waist. 

So I now have lots of trousers that I can't wear until I put a little weight on again! I quite enjoyed having a bit of extra weight for a while too.

As a final note... and it has nothing to do with trousers... I was going through all of my storage boxes today so that I could decide what I needed from Salute when I was struck with a dilemma. What can I do with this:

Click the Pic!

He is a cracking miniature but he is also the only Grymn in a gillie-suit so he is a little bit of an oddity. It suddenly struck me that he would make a perfect addition to my little band of Jungle troops so I have based him up and am waiting for the green stuff to set before I paint him up and put him on point-duty.

Sorted!

So... that is it for me today. If I don't explode by Sunday, I'll post up some stuff. If any of you are attending, please pop by and say hello!

See you from the tube-train!

Midweek special

I have had a slow week again so far but on the plus side, the new case arrived from Kaiser Rushforth and I have now packed away the first platoon of urban troops. That means that I have a little space in my cupboard again...but only a little so I'd better get varnishing some stuff!

On a different note, I have finished painting the jungle troops for the little pod-squad and here they are:

Click the Pic!

I guess I had better get started on the pods now.

Only a couple of days to go before Salute...

See you from the happy tree!

Fairly random update.

Before I start the post proper, I'd like to welcome Exiztenzial to Inso's World. Welcome to the blog and I hope that you gain some enjoyment as you walk around the paths and look at the inhabitants here.

Well...what can I say? I've had a bit of a slow week when it comes to hobby stuff and only started painting last night.

I know why... my painting table has too much sitting on it... and I've got nowhere left to put the stuff I am not in the mood to paint. This is my interim cupboard...the place all my stuff goes before it finds a permanent home in a case:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, I have run out of space. The entire top shelf needs varnishing and everything except the urban troops and large mushroom on the bottom shelves need varnish too... (and a few need painting of course).

In order to try to alleviate the problem I have ordered a new case from Kaiser Rushforth that has been selected to house the Urban Grymn (the first two platoons) and as soon as it arrives, one of the platoons are ready to be packed away... but the main issue is the huge amount of varnishing I need to do. I am really not motivated towards getting it done but I am sure I'll bite the bullet at some point.

On a completely different note, I now have a Strikedog, Rabidlydog and Redshoulder all in 1/60 scale. That means I have a lovely selection of arms, legs, weapons and other bits and bobs to really customise a future project with. My plan (as I have already mentioned) is to make the various components cast-able so that I can build an army of them. I will be simplifying things with the minimum amount of components for each robot... but it will take a huge amount of time so they are packed away for now.

Continuing with the robot theme, I have also managed to get hold of another Megaro Zamac kit. Here is the range:

Click the Pic!

I have just picked up 'Jhau-Zamac' and only need to find 'Run-Valam' and 'Va-Gal' to complete my goal. I have been trawling E-bay on regular occasions and at the moment, there is a 'Va-Gal' for sale in Germany...but I refuse to pay £40-00 for it! I am sure that I will get lucky at some point.

It is Salute next week! That means I have to decide what to buy and also sort out getting there. I think that there may be a few pre Salute posts here in the run up to the event so keep an eye out.

Finally...I have finished 'The Duplicate Adventures' and have started a new story 'Rebirth'. Click the links to have a bit of a read, although I can see Rebirth getting a slow start (because of Salute). Feel free to comment... every day is a learning day, after all.

Well... I think that about finishes things for today. I will be ticking along with the Grymn for the little Pod squad today but I doubt I'll get to a photograph-able position so i doubt there will be any more post today.

See you from the sunny side! 

Oooer!

Hello. I should be at work today but my stomach has had other plans so it is a home day today...and a clear path to the toilet facilities! I also feel a tiny bit shaky so hobby stuff is out...but it isn't all doom and gloom. Especially seeing as I can now welcome my latest follower steeldragon. Welcome aboard and enjoy your stay, steeldragon...you never know what you will find here.

Pods. I have all my pods ready for paint; now that the putty has dried but have yet to start them. The troops on the other hand are all roughly base-coated and are ready for tidying up before the washes start. Here is a montage of some of them showing their hats and water-bottles...plus a comms set:

Click the Pic!

The pods will get a similar scheme with the main body being the same as the armour on the troops and details being in the darker green of the rifles. The additional markings will be yellow.

It is all coming together nicely :).

See you from the infirmary.

Happy Easter...and more pods.

First of all, to all of you who celebrate it, Happy Easter!

Next, I'd like to welcome the latest follower of Inso's World; Jonathan Clements. Welcome Jonathan and I hope that you find something to inspire, encourage or entertain you during your stay. Feel free to comment on posts and share your experience.

Finally...I have been busy with pods and have finished converting all eight of them now. Here they are with some Grymn troops to look after:

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The Grymn have been stolen from a desert raiding party I was working on a long time ago but I thought that they could be pressed into service...seeing as they have been stuck in a box for a good few years. Once I have base-coated everything you'll get a better idea of what the troops look like but until then...they have had some pouches, water-bottles and hats added.

See you from the top of the world!

Pods 2.

Well, after a couple of hours chopping and gluing, I am happy with the height of the first four pods:

Click the Pic!

As you can see in the pic, it just took four cuts per leg and a little bit of a re-glue and they have been brought down to a less gangly height. Once I have done the same to the other four, I will sort out the little details and base them ready for paint. I am thinking about making the white ones a bit more dynamic and maybe in the process of flying/landing.

I have a small selection of Grymn that have been in storage for ages. They were converted to be desert Grymn but they could work equally well as jungle troops. I reckon that if I painted the pods in a mid green with yellow markings and white decals, they would suit a jungle theme quite nicely and would provide me with a good place to put my stagnating Grymn.

It really is amazing what being bored can help you to achieve...

See you from the butcher's block!

Pods

I am at my worst when I am bored. I have so much stuff to do but I am just the wrong side of tired to do anything.

...so I went into the attic and had a bit of a rummage and descended the ladder with these:

Click the Pic!

They are 1/200 scale, Nichimo, Macross kits and there are six Regult soldier pods and two Regult scout pods. I have always meant to use these for my Grymn (surprise, surprise) and have left off the most spindly of aerials and guns but now that I look at them, I have decided that they are just too tall...

...so for a little light relief, they will be losing their legs later. I have already decided where to cut so it should be fairly straight forward.

All I have to say now is...

Pod squad...GO!

See you from the surgery!

Easter musing.

It is Easter Friday. That means I am at home again...YAY!

For many of you Christians it is a time of re-birth and huge religious significance...he died, then he came back to life! Nowadays, that would be called a classic Zombie tale but back then, it was spiritual.

For many other people it is a time of eating chocolate eggs and painting chicken eggs before rolling them down a hill.

For still more people it is about dancing naked in the wilds at sites of particular spiritual significance... the Spring Equinox.

For me, it just means that I get a couple of extra days added to my weekend. It also means that I have extra time for THINGS!

Well...I have been thinking... and seeing as I have been writing a long tale about a mixed crew of space adventurers (namely Grymn...but others as well) HERE it got me thinking about the possible hobby aspects of creating the characters from the story. As a result, I have plonked a miniature in the Dettol and have decided to start putting together some miniatures to represent the characters at certain points along the story trail. The first one will be Joo'an and the version I have chosen is after she has lost her psychic powers and after Tully and Jela have got their hands on her and taken her shopping for clothes. She will be carrying Grymn weapons (because she never had any of her own that weren't attached to her bio-suit) and wearing 'interesting' clothing. If you want to take some interest in this project, here is a LINK to where it will be ticking along. If you haven't a clue about what I am talking about...read the story.

I won't be going very quickly on this project because I have bigger fish to fry but I expect to tick along when the muse grabs me.

You could say it is the birth of something new for the Spring Solstice.

Or you could say..."here he goes again with another project that will get half finished and forgotten" which is probably nearer the mark but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

See you from The Obituary (the one from THE STORY).

A change is as good as a rest.

Before I start today's post I'd like to welcome David Cooke to Inso's World. He is our newest follower and I hope that he finds the time to join in, share ideas and generally take something away from here that encourages his hobby projects.

This week has been a very slow one. It has taken me all of my reserves to even LOOK at a paint brush, let alone use one. The weather has been so nice that I have been quite lazy and have just enjoyed the sunshine. I guess that this is the pay-back for the week of finished projects from my leave.

But all that aside...I have managed to finish something and that is a unit of Black Legionnaires from the VASA faction of Void 1.1 and to show what I mean...here they are:

Click the Pic!

The unit is as table-top standard as you can get but it keeps me from getting too far behind on the Void 1.1 project. With this unit finished, I need to finish two further units in April and I will be back on track. With that in mind, I will be painting Commander-X as the first unit and probably a second unit of Black Legionnaires; very similar to the ones above. I have a selection of Void miniatures in the Dettol bath as we speak so I will be kicking those off this week.

So... I have received the last three Glaive transports from Old Crow this week and on inspection, they are as excellently cast as the other ones I have (as I have come to expect from Old Crow) but I also noticed that there are a couple of subtle changes to them.

1. there is a different rear hatch that is more detailed.

2. some of the smaller parts have swapped from metal to resin (hatches)

3. some of the upper hull has been hollowed out to save on resin.

This sums Old Crow up... they keep trying new things to improve cost effectiveness and model design. They never rest on their laurels.

On another note, I recently won bids on two further VOTOMS kits from Australia and they are currently winging their way here. They will join the Scopedog that I already have to be packed away for the future army project. I have a Strikedog and Rabidlydog coming and that gives me flexibility with two extra different sorts of weapon, different head designs, slightly different torsos and different lower legs. They also have rather fetching heavy-claws on one arm (two slightly different ones) so there will be more options for special units. Once they arrive, I'll put some pix up.

April is here! That means that Salute won't be far away and it also means that my usual list making will have to happen soon.

BUT...there is a problem this year. I know what I want and it is the Grymn Walker. I also know that is debatable as to whether they will be available by Salute. That means that I have to keep my money in my pocket until they are ready. It shouldn't matter too much because I will be working for most of the day at the Hasslefree Miniatures stand so if they are available, I won't have to go far to find them. There are a few other things that I would like to look at...decals and a couple of individual miniatures here and there so I will find a short while to wander about and see what I can find.

Well... that is about it for this post. I'm sure I'll find something to plod along with before the next post...and it is a long weekend next weekend so I'll have no excuses!

See you from the back of a golden steed!