A Loooong Sunday.

Welcome to Inso's World on an extra long Sunday. The clocks went back last night so I have had an extra hour to potter about today (there is no way I could stay in bed for an extra hour). It has meant that I have been able to more or less finish the space cowboy commission (until I discovered that he has a whip I didn't know about!!!!). I just have a little smoothing and the base to sort and he's all done (well... apart from the blessed whip!). As I have said before, I can't show pix but I am happy that he is NEARLY there.

So... apart from that, what have I been up to this week?

Well, I have finished converting the honour guard for Mekon:

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It is not the best pic in the world but it is the first one that shows the added bits 'in the green'. I also chose to push a ball bearing into the front of each of them just to add a bit of extra something... they are the supreme commander's body guard after all.

In addition to the Visitors, I have also started to convert a lizard man:

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He is converted from this character: LINK :

I will be bulking things up and changing the pose a little but hopefully, he'll look pretty cool when he's finished.

I got the miniature above from Hasslefree Miniatures this week; along with a couple of Grymn, some aliens and a big steam-punk chap. In addition to those, my order from Miniature Heroes arrived so I have a nice selection of speciality models to add to my visitor force... plus some other cool bits and bobs.

In other news, Henry has really begun to enjoy the outside world and has worked out how to get into next door's garden... but not how to get back! It is funny trying to fish him over the fence when he is having a big old panic about being stuck... NOT!

Sheesh! If it isn't children, it's pets that cause problems.

I almost forgot my little sculpt for the day nursery:

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(it has a bicycle light inside it).

See you from the bunker!

Sunday again

Well after an interesting week I have finally reached the end... it is Sunday, after all. This week saw the completion of the cyclist which was a massive weight off my shoulders and the accompanying leaving party was a good night too. With that all over and done with, I have been free to focus my attention on the other commission... and I have made a great deal of progress towards finishing the 'space cowboy' but I am unable to show pix of it just yet (until I have posted it and been given permission to show it off). As you may have realised, it has been the time-sink for my hobby time BUT putty needs to dry so I have also been working on  my Visitor walkers:

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The walker on the left is called 'Blade' and is finished apart from the base. The walker on the right has been washed and has had his legs re-coated but still has a fair way to go. I think I will finish painting both of them before basing them at the same time. It is nice to be able to think that the first wave of Visitors is nearly finished.

In other news, I have bought a couple of miniatures from Hasslefree Miniatures and am waiting for a bid on E-Bay to do its work... I doubt if I will win but I live in hope.

Well... the only thing left to share is a gratuitous kitten pic:

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Henry likes to sleep on his back and didn't take kindly to the camera flash.

See you from the car-park at the back of the last chance motel!

Savings all over the place!

If you are after some miniatures at the moment, then you could do worse than try Heresy Miniatures because they are having a 20% off everything sale at the moment.

If Heresy doesn't float your boat then why not try Fenris Games? If you input the code 'PRICEUP' you will be able to get 20% off their miniatures and other stuff too.

In other news, Tengu Models are now back on line with a new layout to their shop. Prices have risen slightly but they still represent good value so are well worth a look (it also means that I can order more greys soon).

I am really in the mood to buy a few Grymn but the Hasslefree Miniatures site is in the process of swapping to a new server so I can't at the moment... but they will be mine... oh yes... they will be mine (and a dog in powered armour). Oh, and Hasslefree have some new releases so keep an eye on the store.

Miniature Heroes is quite a nice place to buy stuff. There is a mix of second hand and new items and it is the perfect place to buy Reaper Miniatures in the US because they order them direct, sort out all the import costs and send the miniatures to you when they arrive. There is also a Forum to peruse and it is a very civil place.

Now that the cyclist has been finished I have re-directed my focus onto my final sculpting commission and have been busy working on it today. In between sculpting, I have been washing the two Eldar Dreadnoughts for the Visitor force... so things are ticking along.

There will be more news tomorrow so stay tuned.

See you from the steering platform!

Just the varnish to go

I spent all evening painting this yesterday and at 22:30 hours it was finished... just the varnish to go:

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Once varnished, I'll fix him to the wooden base and glue on the newspaper with his leaving details on and it's done.

###EDIT###

All varnished and attached to the base:

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I have added some news papers made to reflect name/arrival/departure and "Stealth cyclist spotted leaving SHEDIT". They are just the front page of the 'SHEDIT times', printed out and laminated and scattered over the base (glued in place).

All finished just in time for tomorrow's leaving do.

Yay!

See you from the happy bus!

Sunday milestone!

Before I kick off today's post, I'd like to welcome two new followers; Arkhein and lalebrasil. Welcome to the pair of you and I hope you find something interesting as you travel the paths of Inso's World.

So... here we go.

First of all, I have managed after many hours of faffing and gnashing of teeth, to complete the cyclist sculpt:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, he hasn't been painted yet... or properly attached to the wooden plinth but he has been sculpted to a level that I am happy and it also means he will be ready for the leaving do this Thursday! It is a huge relief and it also signals the return of some sculpting activity. My next job is to finish painting him and finish the space cowboy sculpt whilst continuing to paint my Visitors.

Did I mention Visitors? Well, I am not as far along with things as I would have liked but here are the next two walkers base-coated ready for the wash to be applied:

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As you may have noticed, there are two little characters below the walkers and they will be the base miniatures for the two powered armour heroes... once I convert them up a bit.

In other news, do you remember this?:

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Well, I have recently discovered that the box art for the Airfix Merlin kit has now been done and there is also a list of the variants... one of which is the helicopter above so there is now positive proof that my 'SPLAT' artwork is going to be in the kit:

LINK 

LINK

In other news... yes... there is more...

I am making a photo-backdrop for the Christmas party and it is going to be a sleigh pulled by reindeer BUT... no... I'll keep it a secret until I have something to show off. 

Unfortunately, word about my artistic slant has been spreading and I will be making the front of a Santa's grotto as well! All this Christmas stuff and I am not a fan of the festival... who'd have thought it?!

Right... that's it!

See you from the mines of Wales!

An ode to Friday.

It is Friday and I have had some news. It would appear that a couple of my poems are to be published.

I am rather pleased.

That is all.

See you from under the up-turned bucket!

Sunday's post by way of a distraction...

So I planned to sculpt this week... and failed. I seriously need to get my arse in gear and finish a couple of sculpts but I just don't have the drive for sculpting at the moment.

Instead of sculpting, I have been painting and have managed to finish the first two walkers for the first wave of Visitors:

Click the Pic!

I am happy with their current state but will add a further highlight when I have finished all of the walkers... that way I can maintain the momentum by not having to faff about with highlights. All I need to do now is finish the next two walkers and then I get to treat myself with some troops... and that means starting the next wave.

In other Visitor news, I have started to convert the hover chariots for the powered armour heroes but I haven't got very far. Speaking of the heroes, I have been busy on E-Bay trying to get hold of the miniatures to act as the base for them... and have had a spot of mixed luck. Yes; I have managed to get hold of two but I managed to spend far too much money in the process so as happy as I am to get hold of the miniatures, I am pretty sad about the price. I am genuinely gutted... but hey... it's only money, right?

All this Eldar activity (walkers, dreadnoughts, weapon platforms etc.) brought to mind my Eldar collection; specifically my Howling Banshees. In a fit of lunacy, I bought a Jain Zar Phoenix Lord and have been painting her up. I won't be painting her in Eldar style and the 30 Banshees that I also have in an unpainted state will be painted in a similar way... eventually. I have decided that Jain Zar will just tick along and get paint when I fancy with no time limits or anything and it is working so far. One day, I'll show some pix :).

That is about it today.

See you from the foxhole!