Plenty of Squats

Is it Sunday again already? It seems to have come around so quickly this week.

Well, I’m still on the island and still working hard and this week has mostly been about sorting out my platoon duties rather than my proper day job. I am back on call and even got to play soldiers a bit on Saturday due to a bit of training... so it has been very much be a green week... with more on the way.

I have been on a bit of a downer since I went to San Carlos last weekend. There is nothing like being in a place of peace and tranquility to make you really notice the chaos of being out here, doing lots of jobs and being away from family. That has basically meant that I have been grumpy all week and hiding in my room in the evenings instead of socialising. On the one hand, it hasn’t necessarily endeared me to my work colleagues but on the other, it has meant that not only have I put a bit of extra effort into packing my ‘go-kit’ but also had plenty of time for sculpting. As a consequence of this sculpting time, I have very nearly finished the first infantry squad of Squats (just the control unit on the heavy gunner's wrist to go). Here’s a pic:

Click the pic!

You will notice that the picture is a bit bigger than usual but that is down to me trying to get to grips with my new camera. The picture shows the whole squad with the Sgt, plasma-gunner, heavy-weapon operator and seven las-gunners (one will end up as comms and another the loader for the heavy weapon – but that will have to wait until I get home so that I can get access to my bits boxes for the added components). I have also begun work on four of the next Squad so, from a sculpting perspective, it has been a good week.

I am on call for this coming week so I will be having another ‘stay at home’ week and will hopefully have plenty of sculpting time... I may even get the platoon completed... who knows?

See you from purgatory!

A tranquil post.

It’s that time of the week again and although I haven’t got much hobby news, there have been some things that have kept me entertained.

Friday night was a Timmy’s night and this week was ladies night so in true military tradition, there were plenty of blokes dressed in women’s clothing as well as plenty of lads and lasses dressed normally. Fortunately, I was on door duty so was dressed in uniform. The evening went really well; there was a live band, a DJ for when the band took breaks and there were prizes for the best dressed ‘woman’. Plenty of drink was sold and there was no trouble (apart from a minor argument that could have erupted into something worse but I got in quick and stopped the trouble before it started) so I was happy.

On Saturday, I worked the morning and then went to San Carlos in the afternoon; staying overnight at the home of a folk singer called Andie Neate (she’s played at Glastonbury many times) and her fiancé (who was taken hostage by the Argentineans when they invaded in 1982... he was only a baby though). I went there with a group of our lads from work to help strip out a large out-house. It was amazing the amount of history that was in the building... including a newspaper from May 19th, 1982). We finished all the work as it started to get dark and spent the evening chilling out with food, beer and song. Here's a song:

 

 It was a positively brilliant way to spend a weekend... it was almost like we weren’t in the Falklands! The sun has been glorious all weekend and staying on the farm, overlooking the bay was so peaceful and beautiful.

As for the rest of the week, it has very much been a case of work and Gym... although I have done a small amount of sculpting on my Squats but not enough to show pictures of yet.

That’s about it for now.

See you from the tranquil waters!

Squats on a Sunday!

Welcome to Inso’s World again. Unfortunately, this week has been another quiet one with lots of work and many trips to the Gym but very little in between.

I have had to say goodbye to one of my work mates out here as his time was up and he returned home to his family again. His replacement is in so I will be introducing him to all of the things he will need to know during his tour. It is one of those things that will happen time and again as the steady cycle of personnel replacement continues ... you just get used to someone and they move on.

The same thing happens with the platoon I have control of which means that I have to continually make sure that I know who I have got, and that they are correctly trained and equipped.

This weekend has been a lazy one but I have been doing a little bit of sculpting so it hasn’t been completely wasted. Here is the completed command squad for the Squat Platoon:

Click the Pic!

And here is a WIP shot of six standard troopers from the first squad: 

 Click the Pic!

I still have a lot to do to finish the platoon but slow and steady wins the race.

See you from the barracks!

Stanley Tales

Welcome to Inso’s World again and this week I have actually got a few things to talk about.

First up, on Friday I was not on call-out so I was able to go to Timmy’s Bar, have a couple of drinks and sing a few tunes on the karaoke. Timmy’s Bar is our section bar that we open on Friday each week and last Friday was an open night. It was a great evening, everyone had a great time and the bar was drunk dry (apart from a few dozen cans of soft-drink) so we made a good profit on the night.

Next up, on Saturday afternoon most of our section went into Port Stanley to wander around and go for an evening meal in the Malvinas hotel followed by a bit of night life in the bars. It was a great night, the food was fantastic (I ate reindeer for the first time ever and it was to die for), the venue was lovely and airy and the company was spot-on. We went to a couple of bars after the meal and met some of the locals: 

 Click the Pic!

We eventually got back to our digs at around midnight. This morning we had a spot of breakfast at Shortie’s Diner before traveling back to camp:

Click the Pic!

We also had the opportunity to take in the sights in glorious sunshine and when I return to the UK, I will share some photographs with you... however; here is the Cathedral (complete with Whale bone sculpture):

Click the Pic!

 In other news, I have started sculpting arms on my Squats again and here are the two I have been working on: 

 Click the Pic!

They are both from the platoon command squad and hopefully, I will continue with this and get the whole platoon sorted while I am here... but we’ll have to see. That’s about it for now. See you from the shadow of Mount Alice!