Sculpting and other things.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has mostly been about sculpting. First of all, I finished my competition sculpt so I am now free to get on with other things:

Click the Pic!

He is a Squat (Space Dwarf) Berserker. I have kept him fairly neutral in genre so that he can be used for fantasy by removing his holstered pistol. I have sent pictures off so he can be judged and depending on the out come, he will either be cast as part of the competition or I'll get him cast up for sale at some point, through 'Inso's Diminutive Emporium'.

I have now got time to work on other things... but it seems that I have been overrun by commissions lately. I currently have ten sculpts that need to be finished (3 Goblins and 7 Squats). I have six on the corks at the moment and of those six, the Goblin is the furthest along:

Click the Pic!

He's going to be a grumpy officer, telling his minions how it is. He has moved on slightly from this picture but not much further. The other five sculpts (on the corks) are all Squats and I have got as far as bulking out the armatures and adding feet to them. As these get finished, I have a further two Squats and two Goblins to add to the corks. As you can probably tell, I have all the commissions I need at the moment and won't be taking any more on until these are all finished and I have had a chance to decompress with some of my own stuff.

With my own stuff in mind, The Aether Navigator has arrived and is tucked away, ready for conversion. I have also decided that I need to build a couple of proper Squat dreadnoughts so I have bought a set of Kastelan robots for the purpose; which is also tucked away, ready to be converted. Obviously, I still have the Predator team to finish but at the moment, commissions are taking up all my sculpting time, so that will have to wait as well.

In other news, I managed to see the doctor and have better pain control now. I also had the window survey done and am waiting for the team to start fitting new windows in March. Saturday, I travelled up country with my wife to see the in-laws which was tiring, but lovely to see the family. Today, I am pretty sore but well rested for a change.

This coming week will be all about commissions and possibly a few chores that have been gathering... so it is likely to be busy.

There is also the prospect of some very cold weather, snow and ice next week... so it will be interesting to say the least.

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

See you from the dragon's cave!

Interesting things...

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It has been an interesting week. In fact, it has been one of happenings and things getting done.

To start with, I have talked to some local, reputable and recommended, double glazing people and this coming week I start the process of getting new windows installed in the house (the survey/measuring starts on Friday). That means that in a few weeks, we should have functioning windows that have vents and can open and shut without having to be sealed shut to stop the gales blowing through. It will be lovely!

I managed to get out on the motor bike this week too. I had a lovely couple of hours pottering about. I went over to Marazion and sat with a coffee while watching horses gallop along the beach and kite-surfers playing on the waves. I also popped over to the dealer where I got my bike from and they have my windscreen in so I have arranged to get that fitted when it comes to first service time.

In my hobby world, I have been getting quite a lot of sculpting and converting done this week. First up, I ordered some alien creatures from Fenris Games and when they arrived, they were smaller than expected... so I decided to have a play and see what I could do and managed to come up with this:

Click the Pic!

It's likely to be a one-off but I guess even Halfling snipers need to get places and not be tired.

Next up, I have managed to convert and prime three Demiurg:

Click the Pic!

These guys all have helmets and keep to the same idea as the other ones; mechanic, drone-controller and leader. These are going to form part of a new idea for my Demiurg army; they will be Air Guilders...

I have decided to have separate war-guilds for my Demiurg: 

Earth Guild: The leading guild that operates on the surface of a planet and has ground troops and drones. It has overall control of the three war guilds. These Demiurg tend not to wear helmets. Their colour is green.

Air Guild: This guild operates drones and machines that fight in the air and space. These Demiurg tend to wear helmets. Their colour is blue.

Subterranean Guild: This guild operates troops, drones and machines that fight below the surface of a planet and in the seas. These Demiurg tend to wear heavy armour and reinforced helmets. Their colour is brown/orange... like iron oxide/rust.

That's it for now but it's a start. In order to get some Subterranean guilders converted, I have ordered one of THESE to act as a starting point for a heavy armour conversion. I have ideas about what direction I want to take it in but I won't say anything just yet because I am fickle and those ideas may change.

With sculpting in mind, I have also been ticking along with my commissions and also Dutch from my Predator unit so sculpting wise, it has been a really good week.

In other news... I decided to sell my Halfling Sniper greens:

Click the Pix!

I have kept aside all of the casts I need for my army and will likely dispose of the rest. I got Rob over at Hysterical Games to send the greens back and once they were in my possession again, I offered them up and they have been bought (and received) by CP Models. They will be produced in metal and will be available when they have enough new miniatures to fill a spin-cast mould... so keep an eye on them for any news.

So... this coming week, I am off to the doctors to talk about pain control and see if they can prescribe something to take the edge off my shoulder pain... then maybe I can get back on track and get some focus again. I have the window people coming on Friday and I have plenty of sculpting to be getting on with so it should be a good week... it'll be even better if I can get a few miles in on the bike as well.

See you from the duck pond! 

Focus... focus... focus...

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

This week has been a pretty strange one, with snow coming to make an appearance in Cornwall. Obviously, Cornwall ground to a halt because of ice on the roads so it was definitely an interesting week, weather wise.

The band on Friday at the Rodney, Helston was really good... they were called Bache and had a nice mix of familiar music and their own songs. It was a great evening.

I have decided that it is time to get the windows sorted... the mould from not having heating for two weeks has really highlighted the condensation problem so I have a 'Colin' popping around next week to talk about new double glazing. I knew it was something that needed to be replaced so it isn't a surprise... it's just going to be the biggest expense so far (outside of the mortgage).

I am SERIOUSLY getting itchy feet. Not actually... but metaphorically. I am getting to a point where I am going to have to get a job for my sanity. I reckon that once the windows are sorted, a job will be the next thing on my agenda... and it is likely to be in elderly care; starting on the lowest rung of the ladder and working up. I just hope that my shoulder doesn't make finding employment too difficult. I guess we'll see.

Hobby wise, I have spent most of my sculpting time on a competition sculpt. It is a Squat Berserker and currently looks like this:

Click the Pic!

All that I need to do now is sculpt his head, tidy up the hammer head, fatten up his thighs a bit and add a basing tab and he's finished. He should be ready for the blog next week. 

Along with the competition sculpt, I have quite a few other sculpts on the go... all have taken a back seat while I focus on the competition sculpt because, for some reason, I can't seem to be able to work on more than one sculpt at a time (hence the title of this blog post). Here is what my workbench looks like at the moment:

Click the Pic!

The ones labeled 'Squat' and 'Goblin' are all commissions and will be getting all the love, once I have finished the competition sculpt. Top right, you'll notice that the Demiurg with the helmet has been primed so he may see some paint fairly soon... who knows?

One problem I am facing at the moment is that my shoulder pain is not helping me sleep at all and that means that my mind is in overdrive. It is a double edged sword because I get lots of ideas but it also means I can lose focus and forget stuff. It also means that I don't have the dexterity to do fine sculpting so I have to be picky about what I do... so working on MY stuff is preferable to commission stuff because I am not going to mess up stuff for other people. OK... it may mean it takes longer to get the commissions done but at least I know that I have been at my best when I am working on them.

Well... that's it for now.

See you through gritted teeth!

The gates have been opened.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week he been pretty good; mostly because we have had the boiler repaired and I am now able to get warm without the need for twenty layers of clothing. It also means that I am able to use green stuff again rather than mixing it up and it not wanting to work properly (it doesn't like my cold hands).

As you may have guessed, I have been sculpting a lot this week. I have been working on Dutch, five commission sculpts and a competition sculpt. Unfortunately, there isn't much to show off yet so there are no pix... however, after a bit of chat on Facebook (the WH40k Squats group), I had the bright idea of assembling a Demiurg with a helmet instead of a sculpted head. I used a plastic head from HERE, Backpack and axe from HERE and Ion pistol (also from Anvil Industry but I can't find the link). This is what he looks like:

Click the Pic!

I think that the larger head suits the look of my Demiurg so I will make a few more of these. Hopefully, it will stimulate my Demiurg 'head sculpting' muse.

Now on to the big news for the week. Games Workshop/Forge World have decided to make a Squat bounty hunter for Necromunda. the news was released in a video:

... and pictures have been released all over Facebook so I have mercilessly borrowed some:

Click the Pix!

At the moment it is just the one... but seeing the response that this news has had, I am optimistic that there may be a few more in the future. 

My view on it is positive. It is a nicely designed miniature that will look great as part of a gang/unit. I don't think he is the same size as the original Squats; more like the size of a Kharadron Overlord... but I think it was inevitable that this would be the case. I expect that it will be about £15 to £20 in price... so if I get one, it will be just the one.

Still... very exciting news for a Squat collector... GW have admitted they exist now!

See you from the Home Worlds!