Salute 52 plus other animals.

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again... and this post is going to be a little longer than usual because of Salute 52 and a bunch of other stuff that has been going on since the last one.

So... here goes...

First up, this:

Click the Pic!

The above image is of the Space Dwarf army box and as you can see, everything in it is painted! That's right, I painted the whole contents of the box. At some point soon, I'll have another few miniatures to fill the Astropath and Servitor components (six miniatures in all), especially seeing as I have finally got a design sorted for the Servitors and am in the process of sculpting one... and that will be the army finished!

While I was looking at the troops, I felt that a couple of the Advisors were a bit "out of theme" so I decided to convert a couple more. These were purely for my army so I quickly painted the conversions and added them to the army:

Click the Pix!

The (painted) guys on the left are the new Airforce and Artillery Advisors. They replaced the "sweary" artillery Advisor and the Airforce Advisor that represents me in miniature form (the one wearing glasses with a dog leaning on him). They had extra patches and insignia that didn't fit with the rest of the army so they needed to go.

In related news, I have a WIP Servitor on the bench that ACTUALLY looks like it may have a chance of being finished and looking the part. I don't have any pix of it because I don't want to jinx it... but so far, it looks promising so watch this space. That said, I won a VERY cheap lot on Ebay that may or may not have influenced the direction that I have chosen...

Click the Pic!

Now lets talk about the big adventure to Salute 52, at the Excel centre in London Docklands.

Friday 11th April:

Bus from Helston, Cornwall at 08:17hrs. Train from Redruth, Cornwall at 09:41hrs. Tube from Paddington to Marlylebone and then on the Chiltern line to Aylesbury... finally arriving at around 17:30hrs. An evening in the company of my father-in-law followed by a sleepless night in a very comfy bed, worrying about tickets and things...

Saturday 12th April:

Train replacement bus from Aylesbury at 07:50hrs. Tube from Amersham to Liverpool Street Station, then Bank, then the DLR over to Station House and the Excel centre for Salute 52, arriving at around 09:45hrs.

Finding the queue was easy and once the event opened at 10:00hrs, it took about ten minutes to get into the event. As is usually the case, the South London Warlords did a cracking job of organising the event and it seemed to go very smoothly. 

Once inside, I realised that I had not considered the effect that having so many people around me might have on me... OBVIOUSLY, living in a quiet town has ruined my ability to cope with crowds so I sort of went into a bit of a zombie-mode. I was trying to meet up with a few people but ended up being found by people, rather than finding them. Luckily, I got to meet up with almost all of the people I planned to but sadly, I missed a couple of them which was a real shame... however I managed to dish out a few keyrings that I prepared so that was a good thing:

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Here's the queue outside in special "blurry vision" and the only selfie I took, once I got inside the event:

Click the Pix!

The best bit of the show was meeting up with people and chatting... closely followed by seeing the "Bunny Badger Gaming" table, that I had made a couple of miniatures for, being used in anger as a "turn-up and play" gaming table:

Click the Pix!

I was particularly impressed when I found out that the table went and won the "Most Innovative Game" award which is brilliant for the guys after all the work that went into the table, the rules and manning the game during the day. 

As well as reconnecting with friends from past events and finally meeting friends that I've been chatting to on Facebook for YEARS, I also did a bit of networking and chatted with a lot of the stall owners... as well as also meeting Annie's (from Bad Squiddo Games) mum and we had a lovely chat about her recent trip down to Cornwall. A big thank you to everyone I met; I won't name names but I really appreciate everyone who took the time to find me and share a bit of time for a chat.

... I had planned to stay until the event closed...

... but at !5:00hrs, the wheels fell off and a very tired Inso decided he had to get the flip out of Dodge and get back to Aylesbury. The tiredness, the travelling and the massive crowds, finally took their toll and I needed to make for the DLR and go back to Aylesbury.

OBVIOUSLY, while pottering around the event, dodging people and watching the skies for invaders, I managed to buy a few bits and bobs so here's "the haul" (along with the freebies):

Click the Pic!

A Mammoth Walker, 20 paint brushes, 3 packs of basing tufts, a highland Space Dwarf, a "Salute 52" mug, 16 variously sized wheels, a sprue of Quar (free), a "Salute 52" Highlander miniature (free), "Salute 52" dice (free), some stickers (gifted) and some samples (free)... and not pictured, the Salute carrier bag and programme (free). 

Not a massive haul but enough... end everything I planned to buy; plus a bit extra.

Three hours later at around 18:00hrs, I was back in Aylesbury having a cuppa and chatting with my Father-in-law.

Sunday 13th April:

On the train replacement bus from Aylesbury to Amersham at 07:50hrs, then over to Paddington Station for the trip home to Cornwall... finally arriving at Redruth at around 18:00hrs to be collected by my lovely wife for the last half an hour drive home.

Reflections:

First of all, the event was a brilliant success. There were big crowds, lots of games, lots of traders and all sorts of other bits and bobs to keep you entertained... a triumph for the South London Warlords.

The Excel Centre had plenty of places to get food and drink and (once stamped) you could leave and enter Salute to get fed and watered freely... and the prices weren't ridiculous either (city prices but not CITY PRICES!!!).

I tried to find people but was so distracted by the crowds that I was found by them instead. I missed a few people and a few traders because of the crowds and I have been quite surprised to see some of the traders in photos that I never realised were there. The meet-ups were great and it was lovely to chat and share news. I talked to some traders I've never met and have got a few people interested in possibly commissioning me at some point so that is cool. I am sad about not meeting up with everyone I planned to but I must admit that I was REALLY distracted by the crowds. I think that I've become more of a "small town" chap than I thought.

Travelling about was easy and I have no complaints... but the time I spent on getting to Salute and home again was a big investment for what turned out to be five hours at the event. I would have to think very hard about whether I would repeat it in the future.

On the whole, it was well worth going and I really enjoyed the event. I wish I had been able to sleep, I wish I didn't get so tired out (my post "long Covid" lungs and air pollution DON'T mix) and I wish I wasn't so distracted by the crowds but them's the breaks.

I will probably write another post once I've properly landed again.

I reckon that's about all I have to say (for now).

See you from the pit!

Marching in to 2025.

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It's been a couple of months but during that time, a lot has happened so I'll get straight to it.

Life-wise, I'm still volunteering with the Air Ambulance shop occasionally and I'm still working at the care-centre but in addition to caring for the clients, I have also been given the task of cooking their dinners and a bit of cleaning so things have ramped up, somewhat.

After nearly 2 years, I have made the decision to stop creating/delivering the bi-weekly quiz at my local pub. I've just run out of ideas and enthusiasm so I'm stepping aside for someone else to give it a go. This will have the effects of reducing my stress levels and giving me more time to do some stuff for me... which will be nice. You never know, I may even get some sleep occasionally!

Our goldfish passed away after 10 years of happy swimming... 

... and that's about it for normal stuff so it's on to hobby related things now.

So far this year, I have finished the Jungle Fighter project and have sent the sculpts off to Chris at Macrocosm Miniatures:

Click the Pic!

That's seven Jungle Fighters and one Alien predator. I expect these will be a Kickstarter at some point fairly soon.

While I was working on the Jungle Fighter project, I was also sculpting a couple of miniatures for the Bunny Badger / Frothers games at Salute this year. I was asked to sculpt a "fat Elon Musk in Homelander cosplay and Marvin the Martian" so I sculpted these:

Click the Pix!

They have since been sent off, painted and will appear on the gaming table at Salute 52, this year (12 Apr 2025).  

As well as these sculpts, I attempted to sculpt some Servitor robots for my Squat army but failed. I was hoping to add the Servitors to my other finished sculpts and send them off for casting but I decided to give up and send off what I had... so the two Astropaths, the Adventurer and the Mourning Diorama have all been sent off to Macrocosm Miniatures for casting. Hopefully, I'll get some casts soon.

Click the Pix!

Seeing as my sculpting muse has done a runner, I have been painting units for my Squat army for a change. So far, I have painted the second infantry squad for the third platoon and the heavy weapon squad for the same platoon. I am currently painting the command squad that will complete the platoon (one infantry squad was painted a while ago):

Click the Pix!

Once the command squad is painted, I only need to add two Astropaths and four Servitors to the army and it will be complete. Obviously, I need to get them delivered first so in the meantime, I will be painting up a few already started, spare miniatures to trial some stick-on, grass tufts, that I plan to use for the army... which is one of the reasons that I am going to Salute this year... so I can have a look at what's available and see what will be a nice colour to add to my army bases. I have a few other things to see while I'm there but that will be for my "post Salute" blog post.

That's about it for now.

See you from the hangar!

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!