Getting there.

Hello again... and welcome to Inso's World.

It is a stunning Sunday afternoon in sunny Cornwall and I have just got back from the pub, after watching the England football team win a match (Yay! Go team!). Friday, we went out and watched a band  and Saturday we just pottered around; not doing very much... which is roughly how the rest of the week went too.

From a hobby perspective, I have also pottered along. First of all, I have finished sculpting the Plasma-Tank's commander and she has gone from this:

Click the Pic!

... to this (after a full base-coat and wash of Agrax Earthshade):

Click the Pic!

Unfortunately, I went off the boil a bit and she is still in the same condition. I find the stippling phase to be a fairly boring process so I have to gear myself up to get it done. Luckily, the remaining four tanks arrived from Ebay and they have all been checked and their sprues washed now:

Click the Pic!

All the sprues are now dry and in a big box awaiting assembly/painting. In the meantime, I have been looking at my army lists and noticed that there are quite a few 'awaiting assembly' entries and, in a bid to get rid of a few, I washed a bunch of Halfling Snipers and have cleaned them up, filled them where necessary and based them... so if you ever wanted to know what 30 Halfling Snipers looked like, here's what:

Click the Pic!

The assembly of these has meant that I can tick off three boxes on my organisation chart because 1, 2, and 3 platoon, now have a squad of ten Halfling Snipers each. 

With the army lists in mind, I noticed that I was short 3 Sentinels for the third platoon. With the expense of the Tank Company weighing heavy on my mind, I couldn't justify spending another £45.00 on three more Vulkans from Prodos so I got my thinking cap on and remembered that I had three of the old style 'Warzone Resurrection' Vulkans. They are not as beefy as the newer ones but are of a similar style so I have dug them out of the loft and will be adding them to the army as three Scout Sentinels. They look like the ones in this image that I made from pictures found on-line:

Click the Pic!

If you compare them to my existing Armoured Sentinels, you will see what I mean:

Click the Pic!

The Scout Sentinels will be getting a Fist and a Heavy-Flamer each, along with a one-shot missile. I will be using the Heavy-Flamers that were left over from the Armoured Sentinels and the Fists that were part of the add-ons from the Kickstarter that I got the lighter Vulkans from. I will also be beefing up their shoulders and may well change the 'cockpit' but at the moment, I don't plan on starting them... but I have them to hand, if I need a change of pace. My main focus has to be my Tank Company at the moment... but no plan survives contact with the enemy.

In other news, my ideas head has been working overtime and I have been thinking about Battle-Cannons for the last of the tanks. Luckily, I remembered that I had some weapons from my old VOTOMs Mechs that were not used so I dug them out and have sorted out some Battle-Cannons (and a Vanquisher-Cannon) for the last four Tanks. As well as this, I have been thinking about arming the Mecha that I am planning and have come up with an idea for how to build a big Chainsword... but I am not touching that for now. As for the Mecha... the more I think about it, the more involved the conversion is going to be. It is looking like it may end up more a scratch-build than a conversion... 

Well... that's it for today.

See you from the submarine!

More tanks?

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

I've had a great week this week because my lad has been staying with us. He had some leave so I have had company for the week.

Non-hobby wise has been lots of going out, chatting, and just pottering around enjoying the daily company.

Sadly, he had to return to his unit today but not before he'd wished me a happy father's day... speaking of which, my lass has had dinner with us today as well so it has been a proper family day (in one way or another) and I was well gifted for Father's Day.

Hobby wise, things have been a little slow but I have managed to finish the second Plasma-Tank... currently, this is where the tank company is at:

Click the Pic!

Tank number six (also a Plasma-Tank) is ticking along. I have sprayed the sprues but am waiting until I have finished sculpting the tank commander before I spray the hull and turret. Speaking of the tank commander, I have been struggling with my sculpting mojo and haven't got particularly far with her. I am hoping that I will be able to have her finished this week so that I can get the last Plasma-Tank finished.

Once the last Plasma-Tank is finished, I had no more tanks to paint... so I have jumped the gun and ordered the last four tanks for the company. The new tanks will be arriving this week but in the meantime, I have been struggling to find appropriate tank barrels for them. Yesterday, I remembered that I had some VOTOMs weapons, on their sprues, in the loft so a quick trip up a ladder later, I had what I needed and have assembled three new barrels, ready for when the tanks arrive. They will represent Battle-Cannons for three of the new tanks. The fourth tank (the company commander) will get a variation on the barrels because he (or she) will be getting a Vanquisher-Cannon.

The mech hasn't been touched and won't be until the tanks are finished. That said, I have been thinking about how things will be converted so will be fairly prepared, once work starts on the mech project (Knight Titan).

This coming week will be a bit all over the place with lots of admin, DIY and chores... on top of the hobby stuff so I should be kept nice and busy.

That's about it for today.

See you from the touch line!

Plasma-Tank!

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been one of household chores, a few social gatherings and a bit of hobby stuff.

Chores wise, I have had to get the gardens sorted for my missus' peace of mind so now the grass is all mowed, the weeds are all gone and this morning, the clippings were dropped off at the recycling centre. I also managed to get rid of the existing, mains, smoke detector (broken and hanging from the ceiling on it's wire), safely capping the wire, fillig in all the mess on the ceiling (where it had fallen from, been glued to and then fallen from again), repainting the ceiling area and then fitting a nice little battery operated one that works a treat. As well as that, it was a case of sorting a leaking toilet and doing household chores.

From a social perspective, we popped over to the Harbour Inn, Porthleven to meet up with an old friend and his new partner for an evening of chat. It was lovely to see them both together for the first time and get to know his new lady. On another night, we went to see a local ska band at the Rodney Inn, Helston and that was cool. On Wednesday, my missus completed a Race for Life with her work-mates and I got to meet them for the first time... they're a good bunch. I'd go as far to say that I have had quite a sociable week.

Hobby wise, I have been ticking along with my tank company and have got the first platoon of punisher-tanks finished (apart from decals):

Click the Pic!

I have also mocked up a marking scheme to show off how I want the tanks to look when finished (using Windows Paint): 

Click the Pic!

With the first platoon out of the way, I continued with the rest and managed to get the first of the plasma-tanks finished (except for decals):

Click the Pix!

It's the fourth complete tank and I have now made space on my table for the fifth one; also a plasma-tank. I also have the turret from the sixth tank on my table, waiting to get a tank commander sculpted into it... unfortunately, this may be a stumbling block. That said... my sculpting muse may turn up to help at some point... I hope so. 

Being keen to get the tanks finished, I have deliberately stored the Dougram kit away from sight so that I don't start getting it assembled. That doesn't mean I am not thinking about how I plan to convert it. In fact, I have more or less decided that it will have the same proportions as this one:

Click the Pic!

I found it on Pinterest and it has called out to be recruited by my Squat army as a titan. My version will not look the same but it will lean heavily on the proportions and some of the design elements of this particular mech... but not until the tank company is complete!

That's it for today.

See you from the workshop!

Let's roll!

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has more or less revolved around chores, shaking off this bloody virus and continuing the tank company.

This is a short, sharp blog post revolving around the assembling and painting of tanks.

To start with, I got hold of some hair ties and some highlighter pens and made some plasma-cannons by cutting a segment from the side of the pen lids and gluing segments of hair ties in to them:

Click the Pix!

After gluing them to the turret mantels, filling the gap with some green-stuff and a spray with primer and base-coat, this is what they looked like:

Click the Pic!

Then it was a case of getting the three tanks assembled as far as they could be, before spray painting:

Click the Pic!

Then it was a case of waiting for the weather to brighten up so that I could get some paint on the tanks and their sprues... however, there was a limited window and my spray paint decided to run out on me... so I only managed to get one base-coated. While that was going on, I was busily painting the tank commander's tank for the punisher platoon (the third tank) and have managed to get it completed (except for decals) so here is where I am at the moment:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, the tank commander still needs to be painted but his tank is done. The plasma-cannon tank has been fully base-coated and will be ready for a wash when the paint is fully dry. I have chosen not to paint the plasma coils glowing and have gone for copper coils instead. I think the duller look will suit the style of my tanks and seems more practical than having a big light emanating from a tank.

So far, I have got the first three tanks to a point where they are ready to have decals applied and once the commander is painted and the decals are on, they will be finished. The second three tanks are at different stages, with one base-coated and the other two assembled, ready for paint. You will notice that one of the plasma-cannon tanks has the turret hatch open so I will be sculpting the second commander to go in there. I plan to paint them one at a time so that means (hopefully - assuming I can summon the motivation) I will have time to sculpt a commander by the time I start painting his/her tank.

Now let's talk about decals. I ordered some about a month and a half ago and have tried to contact the seller, to no avail, so I have written them off and taken the EBay approach to get some more. They have arrived and that means that I now have all the decals that I need for my tank company. I am disappointed about the decals but at least I have what I need to continue the project so it isn't all bad.

The plan this week, will be to paint the commander and get the first of the Plasma tanks ready for decals... but I am not going to set that goal in stone because my hobby motivation hasn't been up to its usual level recently... and I have some chores on the house to get sorted.

Before I finish, just a quick note about the mech. I will not be working on the kit until I have finished the tank company but I am feverishly pawing through pages of Pinterest images to get an idea of what I hope to achieve, when I eventually get started on the mech. It will very much be a case of 'watch this space'.

Right. That's it for today.

See you from the tank-factory!