A post at Easter

Hello and Happy Easter (if you celebrate it).

The good thing about Easter is that you get time to spend at home (unless you are one of those people who have to work) and that means time for hobby as well as other things.

So... where to start?

During this week I went on my very first organised pub crawl. We had a map, got it stamped at each venue and all I need to do is turn up at a pub to collect my T-shirt... we didn't end up at the T-shirt pub... so I need to present my map at some point. It was good fun and not at all irresponsible. We also started the afternoon with a discussion about human factors that affect us when we are at work... so it was an educational day as well.

Hobby wise, I am very glad to say that some of my turrets arrived from Ainsty Castings (I am now just waiting for the mini turrets from Ground Zero Games) so I have been working out how to mount them on my Squat vehicles. Fortunately, I had a pack of plastic shot glasses which have come in very handy... so I was able to get this far with the first one:

Click the Pic!

I have built the platforms for the turrets on all five vehicles but still need to trim the shot glasses for the front of the remaining platforms. I think the turret suits the vehicle perfectly (it is from a Hammer's Slammers 15mm command blower tank) and will look even better once I have fitted the barrel to it. Incidentally, the area on each side of the turret platform is where the mini turrets will go. At the moment, the vehicle looks a bit 'chopped in two' but that will change once I add some gubbins between the cab and the transport compartment.

In other news, I have got a bit further with the Ghar... the third close combat suit has now been washed... but I wasn't in the mood for proper painting so I assembled and primed the three ranged suits I bought. Here's where I am at:

Click the Pic!

I have decided to give the different types of suit, heads to match their role so they are different depending on what weapons they have; a handy thing about the kits is that they come with three different heads in each one.

So... there you have it. Appart from sorting a few things, that's it for now.

See you from the other side!

Two posts on the same day?

I know that this doesn't happen very often but I have been caught up in a bit of sorting... and in the process have catalogued an army that I will be selling soon. They are called the Soran 8th Army and are based on the old style, metal Cadian troops.

The army consists of:

• Army command Squad with Chimera transport
• Infantry Platoon (Command, two infantry squads and a Chimera)
• Armoured Fist Squad (Infantry squad with Chimera)
• Veterans (Veteran squad with Chimera)
• Support platoon (6 Mortars, a Lascannon and 2 Missile Launchers)
• Leman Russ tank
• Griffon mortar
• Sentinel Squadron (3 scratch-built Sentinels)

There is a mix of standard troops with the odd conversion here and there (the veterans have boltguns). I have also scratchbuilt three Sentinels because I built this army before the latest version of the Sentinel was released (and the previous styles of Sentinel were attrocious).

Anyway, here are some pics (in the same order as the list above):

  

 Click the Pix!

This army is at least 20 years old and has been packed away for almost all of that time... so as much as this makes me reminisce, it takes up space that I won't have when I move so they will have to go. At some point, they will be hitting EBay but I have to work out how to pack them and how much it will cost to post them before they do.

I have decided that my Catachan army will be staying with me. Maybe to be completely renovated at some point... maybe not.

See you through bleary eyes!

The ECO warrior returns

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week I have been away on another course (Energy Management) and have learned all sorts of interesting things like:

• LED lightbulbs are super efficient, don't contain the harmful materials that other bulbs do and also save you money (they use less than 5% of a traditional bulb). The light is very bright and white (so takes getting used to) but is instantaneous and really quite good for painting lamps.
• Methane is much worse for the environment than carbon dioxide.
• In Argentina, they tap cows for methane... yes, they actually stick a pipe in the side of cows and tap the methane which prevents it entering the atmosphere and enables it to be used for energy production... see the video below if you don't believe me.
• Disturbing a bat roost can cost you upto £5,000 per bat.
• If you polute, there is a rule that says 'the poluter pays'... and that can be an unlimited fine and years in prison if it is suitably bad.

I also learned lots of other stuff... but the whole 'cow back-pack' thing was just mad... even before you consider the ethics behind it:

So... apart from the course, I have been ticking along with my Ghar suits and have now got this far with three of them:

Click the Pic!

The one on the left has been roughly basecoated and needs tidying up ready for a wash but the other two are finished apart from the bases (although I am thinking of adding some markings). To continue with the Ghar theme, I have bought another little box of three, this time with ranged weapons. I am thinking that I will assemble little units of four suits which will be arranged like this:

• Leader - Assault suit (as shown above)
• Trooper - Battle suit (claw and scourer gun)
• Trooper - Battle suit (claw and scourer gun)
• Trooper - Bomber suit (claw and bomber gun)

With that in mind, I now have the leaders for three squads and the three additional troopers needed to complete a single squad.

If I buy another two Bomber boxes, I will have 3 squads of four suits and I think that will make a nice little platoon sized unit. If I keep the platoons 'straight out of the box' I can assemble them fairly quickly and give myself the option of spending my converting time on a couple of command units.

So... that is what I think about the mecha-suit side of the Ghar army... what about the troops? Well, I don't want the troops to be a major part of the force so I don't plan on getting very many of them, however... I have been thinking that the Ghar miniatures are a bit naff and I don't like the fact that they are bi-pedal... because it really casts doubt on why a race of bipedal creatures would opt for such a difficult, tri-pedal option for thier battlesuits. As a result, I am thinking that a more alien approach to the troops is in order; particularly Cephalapods like THESE. I haven't decided on which miniatures to use but they will need to be small and the Black Hat ones could be a good choice.

So... there you have it. What other hobby stuff has been going on? Well, I have been keeping an eye on my Squat transports and will be actively chasing components this week as I have been halted in my tracks by events of a logistical nature and I need to maintain some momentum or I run the risk of losing interest. I have also been sorting stuff out for selling on Ebay and I have a few bits and bobs that will be going up at 16:30hrs GMT today. Only two lots but worth a look later on:

EBAY LINK

There is much more to go... but little and often is the way forward.

Well, that about says everything for now.

See you from the platform overlooking the ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS!

Another change of direction.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

This week has been fairly settled so I have had a small amount of time to get stuck into hobby things. As I mentioned, I am a bit stuck on the Squat APCs because I am still waiting for bits (namely the six mini turrets for each vehicle and then the main turrets for them all). Until I have them, I can't really finish the shape of the vehicles so I am loathe to start filling, just in case I attack an area that won't be visible (wasting my time). That means that the vehciles will be sat until I get my turrets. However, in the meantime, I have been asked about the size of the vehicles so here is a scale pic with a Squat and a Dark Eldar:

Click the Pic!

With the forced lack of progress on the Squat transports, I turned my hobby gaze towards something else and decided that I'd have a look at the new Ghar kits I bought from the Overlord show. Each of the Ghar suits come on an individual sprue (three to a box) so I clipped the pieces off, spent a few minutes cleaning the pieces up and before I knew it, I had one assembled and primed:

Click the Pic!

As you can see from the picture, it is nicely detailed and is very sharply cast. The following day, I got to grips with it and soon had a painted Ghar Assault suit (apart from the base):

Click the Pic!

I went for a nice, simple colour scheme that was dark and almost a little steam-punk with the colours. I have seen a few of these suits painted up by other painters and I think that darker colours suit these better than the white scheme that they are presented with by Warlord Games. Obviously, with the first one painted, I have had start another one and have got to the pre-wash stage:

Click the Pic!

I doubt if I will have it finished today because I have things to do... namely packing for another course this week... this time Introduction to Environmental Management. I am also doing a spot of redecorating in one of the rooms due to finding a large hole in the wall left by the builders when they fitted my shower (it was hidden behind a shelf unit). It was so long ago that I won't bother wasting my time trying to get the builders to fix it... they were contractors for my unit and are long gone. I am looking at it as an opportunity to have a go at decorating (something I haven't done for MANY years)... so it isn't all bad.

So this week will be a bit patchy but I hope to have at least some time to get on with something hobby related. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

See you from the crow's nest on HMS Great Britain!

Yo duuudes... I'm like 'eco-friendly' now.

Welcome to this week's blog post and to start off I'd like to say hi to Da Gobbo Grotto as they are the newest follower of Inso's World. I hope you find something of interest on your travels here.

So... another week and more travels... this time an 'Introduction to Environmental Protection' course. It was quite interesting (if a little dry in areas) but I now have an idea of what policy and practices are involved in the world of environmental protection.

As you will quickly gather, I haven't had much hobby time since I've been away from home for the week so unfortunately, I don't have any pix this week.

That said, the APCs are ticking along and I have been over to Overlord at Abingdon to the annual games show today so it isn't all negatvity.

Overlord is a relatively small wargaming show but it is always packed with tables, sellers and punters. I met up with some friends while I was there and bought a few items; including:

• A Ghar Assault Squad from Warlord Games
• A Panzerfaust Dwarf Command squad from Hysterical Games
• A Pair of otter hounds from Ainsty Castings
• A US GI dog handler from Parkfield Miniatures
• A breakfast for me and my wife!

It was great that my wife joined me for the first time ever at a wargaming event and she thought it was quite enjoyable. 

While I was there, I had a chat with Jon and Andy at Ainsty Castings and they are going to help me out with some nice turrets for my APCs... so that is brilliant.

It was a bit sad today because next year, I won't be going to the show because I will be down in Cornwall starting out my civvy life so I don't see me travelling up to visit.

Well... that's about it for today.

See you from the park bench!