Back sculpting Squats again.

Welcome to this week's blog post and this week, much like last week, it has been a relatively quiet one for hobby stuff.

That doesn't mean it hasn't been a busy one... just that what I am working on takes a long time to get any 'show-offable' progress...

...but that doesn't mean I have nothing to show off.

Here is one of the things I have been working on; my Robot Squad:

Click the Pic!

In the pic, we have Chopper Harley on the left, Big Robot on the right and in the middle we have a WIP Gun Dog. As you will quickly notice, Gun Dog was originally a VOTOMs Scope Dog but I have shortened his legs and altered his pose from the original 'stiff' look that he arrived with. Here's what he was originally:

Click the Pic!

I decided that Gun Dog would join Robot Squad because I didn't have a place for him anywhere else... and he looked lonely so I am in the process of repainting him to match the other two a little bit.

This week, I have also been sculpting Squats again. I have been continuing to sculpt my command squad for the Squat army and also... something else. Have a look at this picture and see if you can guess what I am doing... the one on the right is the army standard bearer:

Click the pic!

I'll not say anything more on the subject apart from... he is not the only one...

And in other news, I have a few more random lots on EBay (starting at 16:00 hrs GMT today) so please pop along and see what is on offer:

EBay Link

See you from the forge!

Salute weekend.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World on the day after Salute 2016.

What can I say about the show? Nothing... apart from I am both glad and saddened that I didn't go this year.

This week has been very quiet and I haven't really been very much of a hobbyist. I received another box of Ghar suits from EBay and a storage case from Kaiser Rushforth... meaning that I had some storage space to fill so a bit more sorting got done and a bunch of miniatures got packed away.

Whilst rummaging around, I found a few things that I have put on the painting table as 'quick wins' so I have been tinkering with those... but there is nothing to show off yet.

In other news, on Friday My wife and I went to the Sergeant's Mess for a Spring ball and enjoyed the event. Lots of good food, good music, great company and fabulous dancing daaahling! Saturday was a little slow to get going... as you may imagine.

So... Salute. Why didn't I go? To keep it simple:

• I was still a little jaded after the Spring ball.
• It costs a lot of money to just get into the show (including travel).
• I wasn't working for anyone so probably wouldn't have stayed too long.
• I didn't have anything specific to go and see.
• I am thinning down and knew that I would buy stuff I didn't really want/need.
• I couldn't be bothered to deal with the train mess in London.

As a result, it would seem that last year is my last Salute for some time (maybe ever).

The good news is that, from what I have heard from various people who went, it was a profitable show and they did pretty well.

I would have liked to have gone and met all the people I know and offer my support but it just wasn't to be this year.

Yesterday, I was on my own while my wife went to see a football match with my son so I watched 'Dredd' for the first time instead. I quite enjoyed it and thought that Lena Headey played a really gool baddie. Judge Anderson was cool too and Dredd... well he was Dredd (which compared to Stallone's version was MUCH better and quite true to the written character). If you haven't seen it, I'd suggest you do but be prepared for quite a lot of gory violence. In the meantime, you could do a lot worse than watch this nice little fan film:

That's it for today.

See you from behind the wire!

A week of getting grounded.

Hello again.

I've just got back from a lovely stroll around Henley with my wife and am sitting with a cuppa so it seemed the perfect time to update Inso's World. Here's the river Thames over at Henley:

Click the Pic!

It was nice just to get out and about in some fairly decent weather. Yesterday, we went to Farmoor Reservoir, near Oxford and unfortunately, didn't get to enjoy the visit as much as we had hoped due to freezing rain and howling winds... but we hadn't been there before and will go there again, once the weather is a bit better. On the plus side, there were a lot of birds over there (including Grebes and Cormorants) so apart from it being a bit of a 'recce', we also got to see something worth seeing.

I really think that sometimes, you need to 'ground' yourself and that is what has happened this week. I have taken a deep breath and managed to land a bit.

Anyway... the hobby. This week has been fairly quiet on the hobby front but I have managed to get this far with the first of the Ghar battlesuits:

Click the Pic!

I am not sure whether they are finished yet... I need to decide if I am going to add any markings or not... but from a general standpoint, they are finished and I am now cracking on with the second set of three:

Click the Pic!

These will get one of the finished ones as a leader and be the first complete little squad. I have already ordered another set; just like the ones above so they should be here at some point this week which will motivate me to get these ones finished before I start assembling the new ones.

One of the major things that has been happening with my hobby lately is tidying. I have been through all of my stored bits and bobs and have sorted them into keeps, discards and sales. I have managed to sort all of the stuff that was stored upstairs into 4 boxes of keeps. Now I have to sell what has been dug out and then I will start on the bare-metal miniatures I have. As a result of all this 'consolidation', I am starting to feel much happier about the hobby situation again so I can only imagine how much better I will feel when I have completely finished the streamlining.

As a result of the tidying, I have anothe couple of things going up on EBay at 16:00hrs today (just three lots) so if you are in the UK, have a look:

EBay Link

I think that, once I start getting rid of the lead mountain, the anvil will be cast away from my neck and I can start focusing on what I want to rather than being constantly reminded of all of the clutter I have built up.

Now... some people might be recoiling in horror when I mention selling hobby stuff but rest assured, I am keeping lots of it too and will be continuing with my hobby projects just like before... it's just that I will be doing it from a more relaxed place that isn't dictated to by 'TOO MUCH STUFF!!!'

I think everything will turn out just fine in the end.

See you from the rescue centre!

Which way?

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

This week has been a bit of a damp squib to be honest. I was feeling poorly for the first couple of days and with a lack of sleep added into the mix, I really didn't feel too much like doing much hobby stuff.

So... the Ghar are still where they were last Sunday... and so are the transports but with those in mind, I have separated the top 'platform' of the one I showed off with the turret because the platform was askew. Now I can fix it back in place where it should be. I also received my mini turrets from Ground Zero Games so I was able to confirm that they were perfect for the job I intended for them. I have also found some other little turrets from Old Crow that will probably be used for the heavy flamers on the front (tidying through 'stuff' does have its uses).

Speaking of tidying... I have been sorting through all of my hobby stuff recently (and it is still continuing) and having to make some difficult (but sensible) choices about what I should keep and what needs to go (either sell, give away or bin). This has had a negative affect on my mojo but has been quite cathartic as well. I still have a lot of stuff to go through but I have managed to thin down considerably without having to get rid of the stuff I really want to keep. My wife has been great because she has placed no restrictions on me... she knows that I need to free myself from the weight of everything so I am able to decide what stays or goes. I am getting to a point where the sorting is almost finished and now I will begin to focus on storage for everything. It will be good to empty some of the painted stuff that is cluttering up my cupboards into storage cases.

So... a bit of a boring week so far. However... in one of my usual changes of direction, I decided to make a female Squat in Exo Armour. She is effectively a counts-as Captain Lysander from the Space Marine Codex... here she is:

Click the Pic!

She has an Iron Halo (the big fins on her shoulder pads) and is armed with a Thunder Hammer and Lightning Shield. Here she is with her friend; another captain:

Click the Pic!

...and here she is with all of the Exo Armour together:

Click the Pic!

So... why did I decide to build her? Well... while sorting through things I found a spare Forgeguard body and thought "I've got those Statuesque heads that would fit nicely on that" so I converted her up. I thought that I wanted to make her a bit different so I dug out the hammer and shield and thought they would tie in nicely with the stats for Lysander so that is what happened.

Once I had finished her, I struggled to prevent myself buying a bunch more of the Mantic Forgeguard off EBay (fortunately, I succeeded in keeping my money in my pocket).

It's funny how things just decide for themselves what happens.

See you from the top of a Diplodocus!