The Aliens are starting to arrive.

Before I start today's post, I'd like to welcome Ihar Krautsou as the newest follower of Inso's World. Welcome aboard and I hope you find something that interests you as you walk around the gardens.

So... we had a bit of an update earlier this week that was all about Alien Visitors. Well, I have been hard at work converting things and have managed to complete the first Meteor Deployment System (MDS) by gluing two of the beads I got from Ebay to a Mantic Base and building them up slightly with a bit of Green-Stuff:

Click the Pic!

It's a very simple idea that will look better when painted and based. I specifically chose the Mantic bases because they have a recess that makes shaping a little crater a bit easier.

But you aren't really interested in a couple of beads glued to a base... you want to see troops. Well, you can't! You can't because I have only finished the first of the champions:

Click the Pic!

The grav sled is piloted by a psychic alien who projects a shield around them as they close with the enemy. When they get to a suitable point, the non-psychic champion leaps from the platform and smashes the living wotsits out of everything it comes into close combat with. The champion himself is just a head with various life support systems that not only keep him alive but also link him to his robotic armour. When not in battle, his remains are plugged into a different body that is more aligned to the size of the standard troops... a bit like swapping a decanter stopper from one decanter to another.

There is still a little bit of tinkering to do on this first onebut it is more or less finished. The second one is on the work bench getting a bit of TLC but is very WIP.

So... that's it for now.

See you from the ova-fields!

Alien Visitors... re-visited...

Hello again... it's not Sunday... but I just needed to put some stuff down in text form.

I posted a picture of these guys last week:

Click the Pic!

The reason being that Khurasan Miniatures recently released their new 15mm versions of them (HERE) and I immediately knew that I needed to get some for my Alien Visitors army (the leader of which is pictured above).

Talk about a bolt from the blue distraction...

... move on a few days and I have trawled through the storage case and have worked out what I would like the army to end up like and it looks like this:

1x Supreme Leader

(riding grav-sled with four honour guards)

2x Battle Champion:

(each wearing power armour riding a grav-sled piloted by a trooper)

2x Battle cohort; each with:

(Leader riding grav-sled with four honour guards)

(20x foot troops)

(4x Striders with heavy plasmaguns)

1x Battle cohort with:

(Leader riding grav-sled with four honour guards)

(20x foot troops)

(4x Striders with multi lasers)

3x Scout cohort; each with:

(10 scouts)

3x Meteor Delivery System (MDS); each with:

(10x MDS)

So far, I have completed one of the battle cohorts and the supreme leader. Battle cohort (as previously shown):

Click the Pic!

That means that I have the rest to finish.

I already have all of the troopers, leaders and champions. I have one more Eldar dreadnought on it's way to add the final components for the 8 striders required. I have placed an order for some 15mm versions to act as Scouts (I have ordered 30 and plan to put two on each 30mm base) and finally, I have ordered some plastic beads to act as MDSs (I plan on mounting a few of the beads on each base and having them act as portals).

So... when everything arrives, I will need to paint strip the dreadnought and then everything will be ready to build the rest of the army.

The only problem I can see is that I am not sure whether I have enough of the original paint left to paint them with... so I may end up having different 'clans' with different paint schemes.

But I guess I'll just have to think on it.

See you from the purple fields!

Just another one of those weeks.

Welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been filled with life... the new kitten has more or less settled in, the house buying is ticking along at 'solicitor speed', our cat that had disappeared; turned up, and some of the stresses of life have caught up with us a bit... so there has been a bit of a deep breath to try and land a bit.

This week, our daughter finally moved her things out of the house so we are now a two person home. That obviously causes a lot of mixed emotions but these things have to happen for life to advance; from our perspective AND our daughter's. Definitely bitter-sweet and just another pebble in the pot of other stresses that is getting pretty full at the moment.

That said, I did complete the five Squat bodies and have got them all packed up, ready for sending off on Monday to their new home in the USA.

So... what hobby stuff have I been getting up to?

The KING OF RATS is now fully converted and is paint-in-progress. It is part way through base coating and, even now, is looking exactly as good as I expected so I reckon it will be just what I planned by the end. I just need to come up with a fitting quote for it (it is going to be a very specific diorama).

DUNCAN has begun the conversion process. I have assembled him as standard but am now adding details to spice him up and make him into a Rogue Trader type adventurer. There isn't really anything worth showing off at the moment so no pix just yet.

In the bid to finish off commissions, I have been sculpting a small Cthulhu beast (15mm) that would have been much further on, had I not packed the WIP sculpt 'SOMEWHERE' and lost it... so I had to start again. It just needs arms and legs now so that should be finished very soon.

From a practical hobby point of view, that's about it... however, there has been a shift in the Force this week and a few things have turned up that have got me enthusing.

Do you remember these? (converted Greys - Alien Visitors):

Click the Pix!

They were originally available from Tengu Miniatures but that company no longer trades. Fortunately, they were sold to CP Miniatures so you can still get hold of them... and in order to finish off the project, I have ordered another 24 this week. They will join the other unstarted miniatures in their little storage box, ready for some work in the fututure... BUT WAIT!

... there is more...

The Tengu sculptor sculpted some of these little miniatures in 15mm scale. They were sold to Khurasan Miniatures and are now available to buy. I have looked at them and think that they would fit in perfectly with my project by putting three on a 40mm base and using them as swarms. I am currently deciding how many to go for but I can safely state, there will be a bunch of 13mm tall aliens joining this force soon.

Surely there can't be more?! Well... yes there can. 

Games Workshop has decided to bring out a DROPSHIP that seems to be perfect for my Squat army. With a very small amount of tinkering, it will make a great proxy Valkyrie. With that in mind, I am almost certain to buy some:

Click the Pix!

It may involve a certain amount of reorganisation but I think these are just what I have been looking for for a very long time.

Well... that is that.

See you from the edge of eternity!

Sunday stuff.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

This week has been pretty good from a hobby perspective. I have been properly focusing on getting my little Squat commission finished and have nearly got there... I reckon that by the end of today, I'll have all five finished but unfortunately, this pic shows that I still have the straps on the one on the right to finish:

Click the Pic!

However, I have made great progress on them and am pleased with how far I have got.

In other news, I ordered something from Fenris Games that really piqued my interest. It is something that I wouldn't normally have gone for but as soon as I saw it, I knew what I needed to do to it so I ordered it (along with another awesome miniature) and it has now arrived. I have already started working on it (it is being very slightly converted) but I am not showing it off until it is finished or it will completely spoil the big reveal. The miniature in question is this one:

THE KING OF RATS

... and the other miniature I ordered (because it is one I really like - and is a duplicate of one I already own) is Duncan. Here is one that I have already painted up:

Click the Pic!

I bought a second one to turn into an alien Rogue Trader (sci-fi) so watch this space (although... it may be a while before I get started on this one).

With hobby in mind, you will probably notice that I have stopped work on my Squat army for the time being. It is only a temporary pause as I take stock of things, and part of taking stock is thinking about how I can make improvements or change small things to add flavour. Well... I have been thinking a lot about transport and may be moving towards getting some super heavy transport for my two platoons; namely some Stormlords. They are big enough to hold an entire platoon, can be purchased, need minimal conversion and are single vehicles (I would need three Chimeras (or counts-as options) to transport my platoon and even then, the heavy weapon squad would have to walk) so they seem to be the ideal choice. They are also one step closer to a Squat land train so they are quite flavourful for a Squat army.

The things I think about...

See you from the vehicle manufactorium!

Getting things done.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been geared towards finishing up commissions and that is likely the way it will continue for a while.

I have tried to sculpt the second of my Squat Assassins but have monumentally messed it up so all interest in that particular project died... so I decided to continue with painting Death and got him finished, ready to give to my friend:

Click the Pic!

I was quite pleased with the finished result and particularly the way that the varnish tied all of the highlights together. It has now been boxed up ready for delivery so I hope my friend likes it.

If you are interested in where Death comes from, try here: DEATH

With commissions in mind, I have nearly finished the third of five Squat bodies. I just need to put the belt and chest disc on it. I have also started to build up the armature for the fourth one so that I have somewhere to use the leftover putty from the third one. I have decided that 'enough is enough' and it's time to get these done. Hopefully, I can do just that.

My little time waster (Sam the Kitten) has properly settled in and is a real firebrand. He is great fun but you have to watch him like a hawk. He is into everything and also reserves all of his 'angry play' just for me... so I have pretty scratched up hands at the moment... but he is just perfect so I give him the benefit of the doubt. I'll take a video of 'fight time' and pop it up so you can see just how angry he gets (in a cute kitten stylee of course).

House buying is progressing but things are slow... it's hurry up and wait at the moment but things are ticking along.

Well, that's about it for now. 

See you from the bunker at the corner of the street!