A reawakening?

To start today's post, I'd like to welcome David Dale to Inso's World. There is all sorts of stuff to be found here so make sure you dig around and if you find stuff you like, be sure to post comments.

I'd like to say that I have slept well this week and that I have achieved huge amounts of hobby stuff... but I haven't. My main focus has been to get some sculpting finished and up until yesterday, I couldn't get on with anything because my focus was shot... however, it seems that I have managed to get a small amount of kip this weekend (YAY!) and I am left with putting a single integral base on the last of the three sculpts I am doing for a commission. So it isn't all bad. I would put pix up but I don't think it is a good idea until I have talked with the 'owner' of them.

So... I ordered a few spoons a week or so ago and they haven't arrived yet. This has been a disappointment because I have stuff set aside for a conversion that is waiting for the spoons to arrive. Without a pair of spoons, I can't do a thing... so hopefully they will turn up very soon. What am I working on? I'm not telling you (I need to see if it works before I share anything... hence my annoyance at the spoons not arriving).

A long time ago, I put together a squad of Grymn that wore jump packs and had tiger stripes:

Click the Pic!

This led to a little story which died on the old Forum of Doom but I have resurrected it HERE. With the advent of Grymn Powered Armour and some jump-packs that I saw over at Puppetswar, I thought that it maybe time to upgrade Torge's Tigers with some new kit. Here is the first of a small squad of newly equipped, Torge's Tigers:

Click the Pic!

He's a basic trooper with a flamer and power claw. I have four more troops to go but that may not be the end of it. In the first pic above, there is a rather large reason for me to continue the little project to include just one more trooper (at least)... can you spot it? Obviously, it will have to be scratch-built but the idea factory is working on it already.

Work is going to be interesting for a few months. I am not only dealing with my work BUT I am also deputising for my manager. It isn't something I can't handle but it may further erode my hobby time so a little patience may be required for those who like to see lots of pix on here.

That, as they say, is about that.

See you from the bottom of the deep blue sea!

Grymn Power!

Before I start, I'd like to welcome Maj. Dysst Rakkshun to Inso's World. I hope you enjoy the trip along the pathways here and gain something from your visit.

This week has been a continuation of my sleepless woes and I have really struggled to motivate myself to do anything... let alone hobby stuff. Insomnia is a real pain sometimes. That said, I have been setting myself little goals that have not required too much intricate detail and have been ticking along (assembling, filling and slapping on rough basecoats).

First up, I have been beginning the basecoating process on my Grymn Powered Armour platoon and have got this far:

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I am actually quite enjoying the process at the moment. I haven't sorted them into units yet but there 7 units of 4 troops (one being the command unit, the rest being identically assembled fireteams). There is obviously a very long way to travel... but slow progress is better than no progress.

Continuing along the Grymn theme, I ordered five more Grymn in powered armour for a special little distraction. A while ago, I ordered some Air Strikers from Puppetswar Miniatures; mostly to see what the jump packs looked like 'in hand'. I decided that they would be perfect to lift a Grymn in powered armour off the ground so with a little bit of trimming and filling, I assembled the first five of a very special unit:

Click the Pic!

I think they look great and they will be perfect for newly equipped Torge's Tigers. If I get these painted the way I like, I expect that I will expand the unit in a rather random way... they are a single fighting entity and don't necessarily behave like a standard platoon might. Sometimes it is a healthy thing to be completely random.

Dare I say it? Speaking of random, I ordered 20 plastic spoons the other day. They are double ended and have a different size at each end. They will come in very handy for the other Grymn project that started this week. It all began with a very small delivery from E-Bay... but it wouldn't be fair to tell you everything all at once, now would it?

See you from the armoury!

Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock... goes the metronome.

All or nothing.

This or that.

Here or there.

That is how my week has been.

Work has been busy and I have just tried to relax in the evenings because my sleep has been poor lately. I am hoping that now the clocks have gone back, I will get a bit of sleep again. My rhythm seems to be tuned to the winter clock.. I guess we'll just have to see.

This week has been a little disappointing. I ordered some stuff on line and have been watching the store, only to see 'awaiting dispatch'. I checked in detail and noticed that the payment was in process so I checked paypal. Due to my card having to be replaced a few weeks ago, I had to upload a card to Pay-pal to replace it (which I did)... but I forgot to validate it so I have to send 'e-cheques' at the moment which take 5 to 10 days to process... I have now started the validation process and await my code in the post. I wish that I had done this sooner, then I may have my products now.

Another disappointment was buying a DVD to watch, getting it home and finding no DVD inside. Luckily, the shop had shut so I had to wait an extra day to watch my DVD... I may have been a bit sarcastic there. It was Oblivion and it was OK. I am glad I watched it on DVD rather than going to the cinema though. It was more predictable the longer it went on but had a neat twist near the end. The tech was good and the scenics were good... but it was definitely a DVD movie.

So... I have some Teratons (from Mantic) on order to convert up for a sci-fi order. I have also been informed that my 3 Vulkans from the Warzone Resurrection Kickstarter are going to be sent this week so there is a bit of light on the horizon.

In other news, my 3 eyed, moustachioed, hairy, groper has found a new home. I sold him on Friday and he has been sent off... hopefully to be cast up and sold on. Here he is:

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He was a mess around sculpt so I am glad that someone wanted to buy him and make something of him.

From a painting point of view I have finished another Reptiliad character... the Power-Stone Automaton:

Click the Pic!

He's not as well painted as I would like but I had no enthusiasm for it... so I am glad that he is as painted as he is, to be honest. 

To completely de-rail things, the Puppetswar freebie turret has been scratching at my subconscious thoughts and yesterday, I decided that I needed to make something of it. I had planned to build it up into something and wasn't sure what... until another annoyance reared its head:

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I added a cockpit to a Macross kit and have never really liked it so the paint-job never got finished. With a little bit of snipping, re-shaping and a quick over spray of primer, we have the start of something different:

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I have now found a place for the free turret... it is the cockpit acting as the mech's head. This is only tacked together at the moment and there will be more pix to follow once I have painted a few bits. The lid of the cockpit is held on with a couple of magnets so you will be able to see the pilot inside once it is finished. It is a proper Macross/Puppetswar collaboration :).

That's it... there's a storm brewing in my neck of the woods so it is time to batten down the hatches and enjoy the ride (hopefully, we'll still have a roof tomorrow).

See you from the Cobb, Lyme-Regis, while watching the waves crash and the gulls stay ashore!

Of Chaos Marines and flying Gods.

This has been one of those weeks where I have been fully wired. So many ideas, so many distractions, so much to be getting on with. That generally means that I do little bits to a lot of things and don't achieve anything as a result. However, this week, I set myself little goals and managed to achieve most of them. The first job was to paint-strip the Vulkan Battlesuit, which I have now done. The second was to finish off the first normal sized Dire Wolf (an ex Space Wolf), which I did:

Click the Pic!

I then decided to start the next one, which I then finished:

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He is an ex Crimson Fist who has turned to the Dire Wolves for fame and fortune. After I finished that one, I thought I would add some paint to the Reptiliad automaton but only got as far as the first highlight coat... but I then decided to try my hand at a Puppetswar Air Striker... so I finished one of those:

Click the Pic!

You may notice that he has the head of an eagle. Well all of my Puppetswar characters will have Egyptian heads... the next being Anubis (who has been assembled ready for painting). The other Puppetswar troops will not have the flight-packs... a flying bull just doesn't seem right. I also have other plans for their flight packs...

Oh and please have a look at THESE (from the Puppetswar site):

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...They are Rippers and they are awesome!

So a week of bits and bobs. In addition to that, I have had a very kind gift of some Warmachine Dwarfs that will fit in to the Reptiliad project and a couple of Darkage characters that will make great Chaos cultists to join my Dire Wolves.

In other news... I am slowly becoming obsessed with Mantic Games' Teratons... Oh dear.

See you from the queue that is behind the queue for the queue!

A Sunday deluge.

The light is dull, the sky is overcast and the rain has been falling for an awful long time. It's just me and my daughter in the house at the moment; with the BTCC on the TV. She is knitting and I am am painting and doing a few odd hobby jobs...

... so what has happened this week?

Work has been crazy, sleep has been limited and hobby time has mostly been spent on Facebook.

That said, I have finished the first of my normal sized Chaos Marines and have started the second one. If my camera was working, I'd be able to show you a pic but I fear the battery is on its last legs and charging it is getting to be a very lengthy process. Maybe it will be up for a pic later on... if so I'll pop one up.

In other news, I have been pleasantly surprised by the generosity of one company and that would be Puppetswar. As you are aware, I ordered some Air-Strikers and extra heads from them a couple of weeks ago but there was a mistake with the arms so I didn't get the right amount to put the miniatures together. Well, I picked up a parcel from the depot yesterday and not only did I get enough arms for the ten Air Strikers but I also received one of these:

Click the Pix!

It is a very handy little turret. What can I say? That is customer service done right! Kudos to Puppetswar. As a result of my parcel, I have assembled and begun to paint the first of me Air Striker models... but that will be for another time.

While I was at the post office, I also picked up two other parcels which contained a total of four Vulkan battlesuits. Unfortunately, one of them didn't have a power pack but I am OK about it because I plan to heavily convert them all anyway. Speaking of which, this one:

Click the Pic!

...has now been torn to pieces and thrown in the Dettol for a paint strip. I wasn't going to strip it before repainting but the varnish was just too thick to consider a repaint because the washes wouldn't work properly. It isn't a bad thing... I rescued the pieces AND the unit gets to be built together so they will all learn to be friends. Obviously the head will need to be rebuilt because the green stuff will dissolve... but there are only five of the suits to convert so it won't be a problem. In fact, it will be nice to be able to do something different with the unit instead of fitting them in with my Tunnel Fighters.

Did I mention the Tunnel Fighters? Yes, I did... and yesterday, I dug out all of the vehicles that were complete (all but the final command vehicle) and painted over their number plates, ready for some numbers to be added. Each plate has also been outlined so it is just a case of adding decals now. That will come when I have finished the command vehicle... I'll decal-up the lot of them together (it isn't something I enjoy doing).

Well... that is about it. Hopefully, I'll be able to take a load of pix of things this week so it can be a veritable gallery on here next week. If not, I may have to elicit the help of my daughter and her camera.

See you through the tunnel of TERROR!

100,000?

Well, I'll be jiggered! I popped into Ins's World earlier today and it seems that It has broken the 100,000 hits line.

It's taken a while.

Thanks to everyone who visits and especially those who spend some time here while leaving comments.

I got an e-mail from Puppets War today. They apologised for the arms mix-up in my recent order (Air Strikers) and will be sending replacement parts ASAP. So far, I can't complain at all about their customer service. It is nice to see prompt replies to e-mails and positive noises from the other end of the line.

Speaking of Puppets War, it looks like I may well be ordering from them again very soon with new stuff like this turning up:

Click the Pic!

See you from beside the fence!

Oooo... Toys on Tuesday!

It is Tuesday and today, I received a parcel from Puppets War in Poland. I had ordered some of their cool Air Strikers and some additional heads.

Well I opened the parcel and inside were lots of lovely sprues that included these:

BODIES 

WEAPONS/FLIGHT-PACKS

HEADS

ARMS

Click all the Pix!

I haven't shown everything but it is all great... however, you may have noticed the arms being a problem. Unfortunately, I was only sent enough arms for five troops and then a sprue without left arms to go with the right ones. I now have the opportunity to try out Puppets War's customer service. Apart from that little glitch, I was sent extra heads as a bonus and the casting is crisp and pretty bubble free so I am very happy with my purchase. The flight packs are fantastic and they will be perfect for adding to Grymn in Powered armour. 

You may have noticed a metal miniature in the pix for scale purposes. He is from Heresy Miniatures.

Now... let's see how Puppets War deals with customer order corrections...

I'll keep you posted.

See you from atop a wild and dangerous beach-ball!

Pre-Sunday update.

Before I start rambling on, I'd like to welcome Grigork to Inso's World. Welcome aboard and feel free to make comments and find inspiration for use in your own projects.

So, I will be without internet for a week or so and as a result, this is Sunday's blog update.

To start, I have been painting in amongst all the insane heat and have managed to actually finish a couple of things... which is nice. First up, we have a Mhurni alchemist on his Enuk riding beast (from Twilight Miniatures):

Click the Pic!

I'll admit that it isn't the best photograph but when I get a few more Reptiliad miniatures painted up, there SHOULD be some interesting pix to show off so hopefully, there will be much better pix when that happens. 

Next up, we have a painted version of the Goblin Aid sculpt I did (available here). I have decided on a paint scheme that is a little more generic than a lot of the paint-schemes I am expecting to see but I still think he looks the business:

Click the Pic!

In other news, I have a primed Mhurni soldier on the table along with all the other bits and bobs so I expect him to be painted soon (assuming I don't get any more miniature related distractions). Talking of miniature distractions, I have been quite taken lately, with a European company called Puppets War. There are two things that I particularly like... first is this:

I think that they would be excellent for adding to some Grymn Powered Armour to make up a hard hitting assault squad. Next is this:

Two variants of the same suit... both being very cool indeed. Unfortunately, the heavy armour is not yet available but when it does turn up, I'll be ordering a couple and some of the jump packs at the same time.

Well... I have a week or so where I won't have much to do so I am planning on a little bit of writing for the Reptiliad blog. Whether or not I manage it, only time will tell but hopefully, something will turn up.

That, as they say, is that.

See you from the edge of the dark, dark, forest!