This is the end... of 2024!

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again... admittedly, after quite a break... but welcome, nonetheless!

Tomorrow is the last day of 2024 and as a lot of people do, I decided to have a look back over the year and see what has happened in my life.

To start on a miserable note, I have come to the conclusion that the long COVID I had for over a year has permanently affected my breathing. Plans to run marathons have been permanently put on hiatus until I decide to go and get things checked out by the professionals. Apart from that, another cracked rib and a few aches and pains (related to my age and past activities), I'm feeling pretty chipper. 

This coming January, marks the second year of not being in therapy so I'd say that my mental health is pretty good and I'm in a good place with regards to that side of things. I am finding that NOT watching the news every day and ignoring the things that I can't change has really helped me to chill out and I am a lot less stressed/frustrated with life... which is nice...

I've been working in an elderly care facility for almost six months and I am really enjoying it. It's a day centre for people to visit, be looked after and entertained and then go home at the end of the day. It is great fun and I am getting on well with the clients and my work mates. For me, it's a bit like getting paid to go and have fun at a social club (with a bit of care-work thrown in) so I can see myself staying there for the foreseeable future.

I have started a college course to do with "behaviour that challenges" and plan to do more care related courses when I finish it and when they become available.

I still volunteer at the local Cornwall Air Ambulance charity shop on some weekends... something I really wanted to keep up with, after getting my care job.

The two-weekly quiz that I run at my local pub is ticking along nicely still... it's been over a year now and I have a group of regulars who pop along... as well as the occasional newbies.

Family is good. Cats are good. Norrel (our gold fish) is weird but still going strong.

I have been out on my motorcycle less than five times this year... that needs to change.

I (we) haven't had a holiday away, since we moved to Cornwall (8 years ago)... that needs to change.

All in all, I'm ticking along nicely but need to get a few ducks in a row in order to start getting more back from life.

The hobby... is it though? Is it a hobby? Over this year, I haven't been as active with my hobby as the previous year. I haven't painted anything... and I've sculpted 8 miniatures for myself. Everything else has been for other parties. This coming year, my main goal is to finish my "commission" list and not accept any more until I have had the chance to do some hobby, rather than "work" at my hobby. I need to learn to be a bit selfish and work on finishing my Squat army. I do a lot and don't have time for finishing my own projects... and that sucks.

So... what have I managed to finish this year? This:

• 4x Teletubbies, Noo-noo and a Tubby-Toast coin for the Frothers games at Salute 2024.
• 2x Astropath (for my army)
• Ukranian president for the Politicos range.
• 1x Squat adventurer (personal sculpt... for no reason).
• Chaos Squat (Predator) for Macrocosm Miniatures.
• 2x Human snipers in ghillie suits for a US company.
• Squat memorial diorama (personal project... for reasons).
• 3x alien creatures to use up left over putty from other sculpts.
• 4x Squat jungle troopers for Macrocosm Miniatures.
• (Preemptively) 1x Superhero for the Frothers games at Salute 2025.

Some images:

Jungle fighters so far - Click the Pic!

The Teletubbies and Noo-noo (painted by Badgers) - Click the Pic!

My memorial diorama - Click the Pic!

In the next few months, I need to finish:

• 3x Squat jungle troopers for Macrocosm Miniatures.
• 1x Martian for the Frothers games at Salute 2025.
• GET STUFF CAST UP AND IN MY ARMY!!!

It doesn't seem a lot but hopefully, I can get it finished and then I can get back to finishing my Squat army... which still needs some servitors to be sculpted... plus a few bits to be cast up and of course, everything that isn't painted, will need painting.

In other hobby news... I have got my ticket for Salute 2025. I am planning to use it and I am planning to meet a few friends who I haven't seen in a while; from the hobby community. Going to Salute is as far as any plans have got, apart from buying a ticket... so getting there, accommodation etc. is still required... but it's not for a few months yet... 

That's about it. 2024 hasn't been a bad year at all. It could have been better... but so could the weather! I'm looking forward to 2025 in much the same way as any other year... skeptical optimism. I hope that it's a s good a year as you or I deserve and hopefully the wheels don't fall off.

See you from the past... looking into the future!

Cheers! Have a Happy New Year!

Back in the system.

 Hello again and welcome to Inso's World. 

I have a bit of an announcement... after about two-and-a-half years away from paid work, I am finally employed again. I have a job at a local day-centre for elderly people and I've been there for just over a month. I am working part-time and can still volunteer at my local Air Ambulance shop so it's a win-win all round.

As a result of the rather abrupt change in my circumstances, I have not been as pro-active with my sculpting as I could have been... due to training, extra workload and trying to get into the rhythm of fitting work around other "life stuff"... but I'm starting to get back into the routine and expect to be sculpting more, very soon.

So... YAY! GO ME!

From a sculpting perspective, I have finished the mourning soldier diorama:

Click the Pic!

All I've done since last time is texture the top, sand the edges and make sure that the two soldiers have the right amount of contact. 

In other sculpting news, I have finished another critter:

Click the Pic!

It's the one on the right and it's called a Grinning Creeper. It is a peaceful creature that has a vegetarian diet but is feared due to it's creepy appearance. When confronted, it makes itself as large as possible and grins out of fear... this is often seen as a threat and many Grinning Creepers have been dispatched out of ignorance.

Finally, I have finished the first member of a hunting party for Macrocosm Miniatures... This one is the commander:

Click the Pic!

There are another six planned to join him and they are all in a state of being started, with feet but not much further than that. I am hoping that when I can start getting regular sleep and get back into the way of things, I can throw effort into the team and make better progress. I am also continuing with the "waste-putty" critters and have one that is WIP but I'll show it off once it's finished.

So... new job, getting used to things, a few finished sculpts and lots of WIP.

See you from the bottom of the ladder!

The times, they are a changin'

 Hello and welcome to Inso's world. 

I know it's been a short while but the world continued to turn so it's all good.

What news? Well... after just over two years of volunteering at my local Cornwall Air Ambulance shop, I am having to think about getting paid work again. I was hoping to get an opportunity to try for the shop manager's job but circumstances have stopped the job coming up so, after giving it six months to appear and with no clear picture of when the job might turn up... I am having to think about looking elsewhere for paid work.

The question has been asked... "why not sculpt for a living?". There's a simple answer to that; it's my hobby and if I turned it into a job then I'd not have a hobby. The other reason is that I don't sculpt well with too many restrictions and deadlines kill my sculpting mojo... so it's not an option.

I am thinking that a return to care-work may be on the cards.

That aside, I'm happy with my lot... although a few issues with sleeping and other little illnesses have really slowed down my hobby work but things are picking up and I currently have eight finished sculpts on the table, with seven more WIP ones. 

Here's what's finished (I posted a couple in the last post that are still on the table so I won't repost them):

First, I have the adventurer I mentioned was nearly finished... it's now finished:

Click the Pic!

He was loosely based on the old GW "Colt Stoner" Squat. I think he turned out well, even if I swapped a few things (the original had a flamer with an axe head attachment...). Next up, we have the first of a small group of miniatures for Macrocosm Miniatures... this one is a stealthy Chaos Squat who like to hunt down anyone foolish enough to enter into his zone of operations:

Click the pic!

There are WIP sculpts for a small team that may be out to get the Chaos Squat... but they're not ready to have pix yet. 

Next up, there's a pair of human snipers that have flown to the USA to join another company:

Click the Pix!

Away from commissions, I decided to finally get my head around sculpting something that I've wanted to do for ages... a small diorama that I want to turn into a charity thing for the Royal British Legion (RBL)... it's early days and it isn't completely finished yet (I still need to finish the base) but here's where I am at:

Click the Pix!

As you can see, it's a distraught soldier being comforted by one of his comrades, at a grave site. The final pic shows the base prepared for texturing and leveling things out so that the comforting chap's hand rests properly on the sitting chap's shoulder. Ideally, I want to get this cast up and have profits go to the RBL... but like I mentioned, it's early days yet :) .

Finally, I have tried to use up waste putty on random sculpts... so now any spare bits that I would normally throw away get used to create some random alien zoology. This has led to a Rattle-Tailed Spiker (Squat for scale):

Click the Pic!

... and a Cyclopean Gill Worm:

Click the Pic!

There are more on the way with a small, hairy, creature coming up next.

So... TLDR: I am going to be entering a time of change, I've had a bit of a sculpting drought but I'm back at it with a vengeance and I'm in a good place...

... So I'll see you from the front of the queue!

A short spell of things.

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again. It's Easter and the last post was around three months ago but frankly, it's been a bit "meh" since Christmas so I've not had much I wanted to post.

I was hoping to be a shop manager by now but that was on the table for eight days before "situations beyond our control" happened so it was deferred for at least 6 months. That means I have had to wait but I can't wait for ever... and I haven't got any idea what I'd like to do instead... so "meh"!

I had plans for sculpting a few more bits for the army but my sculpting mojo disappeared... so "meh"!

I had a long run of insomnia so I wasn't safe to go out on my bike... so "meh"!

I had a "health issue" that was linked to drinking grown up drinks... so I've practically been teetotal since the end of November... so "meh"!

... and then...

The Frothers Unite / Bunny Badger gamers for Salute, threw out a request and that started a bit of motivation which led to quite a lot of sculpting... and I'm still sculpting things as a result so it seems that things are looking up.

At least I have cats, eh?!

So... the sculpting. My friend Ben from Bunny Badger games put a request out for some Teletubbies (including Noo-noo) and I thought they would be a good thing to get my mojo back so I offered my help. There were a few specific requests (one needed to be holding a rabbit and one needed to be eating one) so I used a bit of poetic license and came up with these:

Click the Pic!

They were finished in good time and have already been painted up, ready for the gaming table at Salute 2024 (a massive gaming event in London  at the Excel Centre). I was also asked to make a token for the gamers to take away as a prize... so I made some Tubby Toast:

Click the Pic!

This was sent over to Jon at Ainsty Castings to replicate for the event. As a result of this little sculpting "change of direction" I decided to try working on an Astropath for the Dwarf project. I started with a clear idea of what I wanted... and then went with the flow; creating something completely different but perfect for what I wanted... so here's the Astropath:

Click the Pic!

I was aiming for a clean-cut version of a "Living Ancestor" but ended up with a feral "shaman" type of chap... which works fine for me.

As well as that, I finally finished a sculpt of the Ukrainian president for the Politicos range:

Click the Pic!

Sadly, it was one of those sculpts that was intimidating, due to having to get the likeness right... so it took far too long and in the end, was a reasonably passable version of Zelensky... not perfect but passable.

Then I got a request / commission for some themed miniatures from my friend at Macrocosm Miniatures, which I am keeping under my hat for now... but I've got a team of seven miniatures in mind, with six of them already on corks undergoing the very early stages of the sculpting process... ie, they all have feet!

While that has been happening, I started on a little personal project which I have called "my secret project"... and that is very nearly finished so will be appearing in the next post on here (whenever that may be) so it's a case of "watch this space".

Furthermore, I have made a decision on how to base my Epic Squats and have got some classic "strip" bases, rather than the square ones. I've started gluing the troops into them but haven't got any pix so far... so here's a reminder of where the were before I started gluing them onto their proper bases:

Click the Pix!

Hopefully, I'll have progress pix, next time...

Plans... plans... plans...

I still need to sculpt a few servitors and possibly a second Astropath... but that's all for the Dwarf army project. Then... whatever comes along, I guess...

See you from the big chair!

The deep breath...

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World for the last post of the year.

This year has been a mixed bag... good health, bad health, achievements and procrastination... but over all, it's been a much more positive year than 2022 so it's not been so bad.

I'm still working at the Cornwall Air Ambulance shop as a volunteer and am still enjoying it. My wife is still happy with her job. My children are both happy and doing well. The cats are great, the fish is still swimming and the house is slowly getting better (with an almost finished, new kitchen). My motorbike is still running but hasn't been out much... and the hobby has been getting done (most of the time) so pretty positive stuff.

On the health side, I have realised that I have to accept that the long covid (2021-2022) has affected my lungs so when the cold weather turns up, I have to slow down a bit. Not a major thing but it's something I have to come to terms with. My plans to train for a marathon have fallen by the wayside but I still plan to complete a marathon in 2024... just a bit later in the year!

The hobby has mostly been successful but over the last couple of months I have stalled a bit... however, I think I've accomplished quite a lot so here's a list of what I've managed...

P = Paint

S = Sculpt

C = Converted

S - Squat Air Advisor

S - Diver

C - Leeloo (for the Frothers table @ Salute)

P - Squat First Platoon (CMD, HW and 2 Infantry Squads - 31 troops in total)

P - Diver

Click the Pic!

C + P - Squat "Santa" Beer Seer

C + P - Squat "Elf" Wine Witch

P - Squat "Thor"

Click the Pic!

P - Squat Air Advisor

P - Squat Artillery Advisor

P - Squat Second Platoon (CMD, HW and 2 Infantry Squads - 31 troops in total)

S - Kier Starmer (Commission)

Click the Pic!

I don't think that's too bad but there isn't as much sculpting as there could have been on the list... maybe 2024 will be better but after a good few years of sculpting pretty solidly, maybe it's time to keep things slow... who knows?

At the moment, I have a few things on the corks... namely five miniatures for the Frothers Salute table for 2024... one of them being this:

Click the Pic!

I also have a sculpt of the Ukranian president on the go (commission) and a few other bits and bobs but nothing firm apart from that.

I still need to sculpt some Servitors and an Astropath for the Squat Project but after that... "white noise"...

... in other news, I have been thinking a lot about Squat Bikes and Transports/Armour and a few "special" sculpts for the Squat Project that I started but need to rework. I'd also like to sculpt some plate-armoured Squats (Stormtroopers) but I am not set on designs so that will definitely be a bit "wait and see".

All that remains is to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year. I hope you have a safe journey from now and into the new year and find your own way to enjoy the end of the year and the start of the new one... whether it's your thing or not. 

Click the Pic!

See you from the dawn of a new year!

Wake me up... when September ends...

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It's the start of September and that means that I haven't posted in three months... so I guess it's about time :) .

It's been a standard summer in Cornwall... so I have been avoiding the crowds and my motorcycle hasn't left the garage in ages. I'm happy, my family is happy and the cats are all happy, work is continuing and life has just been ticking along.

I have been getting a bit of running in but have bit hit by one thing after another... broken toe, shin-splints, summer cold etc... so I am hoping to get back into it very soon. After all, a marathon won't run itself! I have another charity page for the marathon but I'll not share details until I have got into a routine of training.

Hobby wise, I have been fairly constantly busy with much more painting than sculpting... in fact, I don't think I have finished a single sculpt since May. There's a few bits on the corks that I have been fiddling with but I may end up starting over and that is probably one reason why sculpting has stalled: indecision. 

With that in mind, lets get some of my painted work up on the blog, shall we? First up, I'll be posting a few repeats but the first infantry platoon is complete:

1st platoon command:

Click the Pic!

1st platoon support:

Click the Pic!

1st platoon infantry squad 1:

Click the Pic!

1st platoon infantry squad 2:

Click the Pic!

Onwards with the painting and the second platoon is also complete:

2nd platoon command:

Click the Pic!

2nd platoon support:

Click the Pic!

2nd platoon infantry squad 1:

Click the Pic!

2nd platoon infantry squad 2:

Click the Pic!

The only other thing that I have painted since May is Thor:

Click the Pic!

... and I felt that a little fun was in order...

Click the Pic!

In other hobby news, I have been looking at the WH40k 10th edition index cards for the Astra Militarum and have discovered that I need to make an Astropath, in order to include any advisors so that is one of the sculpts on the corks (that may end up restarted). I also need to sculpt four servitors to go with the Engineseer... again, I have two on the corks but I'm not enthusiastic about them and will probably restart them.

Furthermore, I have been thinking about the next big thing... which was supposed to be Beastmen (that went for a ball of chalk) but is now going to be Stormtroopers/Scions instead. It's VERY early days but I have some very solid ideas about how I am going to construct them...  so watch this space.

With that said, I am still in a painting sort of mood so I am hoping that I can get the army finished soon... before I need to sculpt the final troops (Astropath/Servitors)... but my muse is a fickle beast so who knows?

That's about it for now.

See you from the gallery!

Mayday, Mayday!

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again. It is May already and May always signifies a lot of change for me; this May being no exception... so let's start.

First of all, I have been working away at the Air Ambulance shop and have been enjoying all aspects of work; especially the social side of things when I am working at the till. I am constantly surprised by the donations and stories that go along with some of them and understand that part of working in a charity shop is taking in donations from people who have lost loved ones and are clearing their possessions... so I am also required to be the oil for troubled waters... my previous work in care has stood me well.

Flora Day has come and gone and although it was a little less sunny, it was a great day. It is definitely my chosen day of the year to celebrate community and inclusion.

I have also completed my "20 a day until May" charity push-up challenge, in aid of the Alzheimer's Society. I am still a way off my target but the page is open until the 30th of May so there is still time to donate:

Push-Up Challenge LINK

With the push-up challenge completion comes the next big challenge... the running of a marathon! My plan is to run a Marathon before next Flora Day so I have roughly 12 months to get training and deciding which marathon fits the bill best. I will be running for Marie Curie and the Cornwall Air Ambulance so I will be putting up a new charity page very soon. 

As for the hobby, I have been (mildly) busy with painting and sorting out divers... Here's what has happened with the diver project:

First the sculpt:

Click the Pic!

Then the resin master casts:

Click the Pic!

Then a few more resin masters casts and a host of metal casts:

Click the Pic!

Then tabs were removed and and the polishing started. The one (on the left) is now a pendant being worn by the chap who commissioned it:

Click the Pic!

Another eight have also been de-tabbed and polished up, marking the official end to the commission.

In other news, I have been painting things...

First was an Infantry Squad for Blue Company:

Click the Pic!

Followed by an Engineseer:

Click the Pic!

With a Heavy Support Squad coming up next:

Click the Pic!

I have also base-coated the second Infantry Squad for Blue Company but before I could finish it, I became distracted by preparing the divers for delivery and the painting of one; just for the fun of it:

Click the Pic!

I thought a traditional look would suit it well but I have another one in the process of being prepared for a more up-to-date paint job.

With painting in mind, I have also continued to paint a Beer Seer and Wine Witch that I have converted. They will be finished soon and will have a specific leaning to their decoration.

Other plans include finishing a sculpt for a charity, completing the Infantry Squad and then starting the next platoon.

With marathon training on the horizon and plans for another range of miniatures, this year is shaping up to be quite busy!

See you from the finishing line!