Another sunny day.

Hello again.

It's a beautiful sunny day in Inso's World today... even if it is quite chilly.

The last fortnight has pretty much been all about work, lack of sleep and a little bit of hobby here and there... but as of yesterday, I am not only on a week off work but have also acquired a head-cold so this post is going to be a bit random.

Work. As I have mentioned before, I now work as a health care assistant (HCA) in a relatively high dependency, Dementia care home. As much as I love working there, there are times when it can be challenging because some of the residents have quite complex issues/needs. There is also the constant threat of residents passing away... another part of the job that can be challenging to deal with. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a death, a fall (resulting in a leg injury), some very challenging behaviour and a couple of new residents who are going through a settling in period. There has also been a decline in some of the resident's health. As a result, I have had a lot of different things to cope with... but have remained up-beat and cheerful throughout (at work) but have also been quite drained (at home)...

... but I wouldn't change things. My job is extremely rewarding and I wouldn't want to be without it now...

Hobby. I've done some... namely a bit of press-moulding... but before I got on with that, I finished off two units of Hearthguard Assault Frames (count-as Space Marine Centurions):

Click the Pic!

If you look at the image, I have shown the four possible poses that can be achieved, without having to alter any components. I am pleased with how they turned out and it opens up the possibility of getting another six, in the future, and turning them into heavy weapon variants... who knows?

Press-moulding? What's that all about then? Well... I got fed up and couldn't get any sculpting done so I decided to get some legs out and cast up a bunch of legs for some Steel Warriors so that I could turn them into Hearthguard, like these ones:

Click the Pic!

I have cast up six pairs of the same legs but have yet to clean them up because I am struggling to do anything at the moment, due to my nose dripping all the time. I have managed to dig out the components required to complete the Hearthguard but have only carried out minimal assembly so that I can be sure that things will fit together without making pouch-sculpting impossible. I tried a second go, with different legs but the mould didn't work very well so I scrubbed it. The process goes like this:

Click the Pic!

In another fickle moment, I decided to dig out a couple of Arkanauts to convert into a few more Big Dwarfs to go with these:

Click the Pic!

So far, I have cleaned up two bodies and glued heads on them so I don't have much to take a pic of... but hopefully, there will be more to share soon. I am thinking that they would make a good Kill Team or Necromunda gang... and with the addition of a couple of random Halflings from HERE (I have them on the bench as well), there will be a good representation of the Abhuman races from the games.

Well... that's about it for now. I'm sure that I'll think of something to write about by the time I write the next post.

See you through bleary eyes!

The machinations of war.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

Unlike the last few weeks, there has been a little bit of a surge in hobby related progress this week and without further ado, I'll start with a small amount of progress on the Hanomag pattern Chimera:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, I have tidied up the heavy-flamer point, added some vision slits and started work on the fenders. I need to tie the front and rear fenders together so I will no doubt be filling in the trim on the front ones to match the plain edges of the rear ones. I plan on adding some track guards that will hide the untidy join in the tracks but they will need to be left off until the vehicle is painted... so it may be necessary to make some form of clip so that they can be removed/fitted. There is still quite a way to go but I think the addition of the fenders has really given the vehicle a solid feel.

Next up, I have had an arrival this week. Yes, my leg casts arrived from the caster. I will be making a separate post all about the whys and wherefores of the leg casts but in the meantime, here is a picture of my nice little box of legs:

Click the Pic!

There are fifty in that little box; five for me and the rest will be put up for sale (the separate post about the legs will cover everything about sales). Obviously, I couldn't get a box of legs without cracking on with my Exo project so here is a WIP of my squad of Wolverines:

Click the Pic!

I still need to properly attach them to their bases, clean up the legs (if they need it) and then add some details to make them each a little more individual. The Wolverines are a squad of female veterans who accompany their female charge into battle. They have an ancient form of armour that the armourers have always kept maintained for the maiden veterans to wear. They are a simpler, sturdier design than the male suits and are soley used for close quarter battle.

There will be more information to follow soon. I will keep everyone updated about the leg situation on here but I will flag it in all the usual places so that everyone gets a chance to get their hands on them. I very much doubt if I will do this for the next couple of days because I need to put together a decent review and work out costs etc.

In other news, I fixed the car on Wednesday (replaced the radiator); saving a lot of money in garage expenses and I have also been over to Mousehole to have a look around... there are some excellent rockpools there and we also think we saw seals... but it was difficult to tell. 

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

See you from the depths of the armoury!

A Birthday Post.

Before I start, I'd like to offer a belated welcome aboard to Paul McWhirter and William Lancaster. They joined a week or so ago but in my fervour to post, I never got around to welcoming them. Welcome aboard, guys.

So welcome everyone, to Inso's World.

Today is a momentous one because, not only is it my birthday but it is also my very last day in the Royal Air Force. Tomorrow, I am unemployed for the first time in my adult life. I won't be rushing out to get a job tomorrow but will start looking in a week or so.

This week, I travelled up to RAF Benson and attended my leaving do. It couldn't have been better with a great turn out, some excellent banter and a chance to catch up with people I haven't seen for many years. I stayed an extra day to make sure that I was safe to drive and when it came to signing out of the mess for the very last time as an airman, it certainly had a poignancy I wasn't expecting.

So... That's it. I'm a veteran from tomorrow after 28 years and 3 months service. It was certainly an experience but it is definitely time to move on.

In other news, I have been in contact with my caster and it is likely that my 50 pairs of LEGS will be finished around the end of the week and I am very pleased about that because I had expected it to take much longer. Once they arrive, I will clean them up as much as they need and then assemble my little squad of Tartaros styled Exo Squats before being in a position to provide a review and also prepare to get some ready for selling. Once I am happy that everything is ready, I will think about pricing etc and THEN, I will accept orders (if anyone wants them).

My German half track arrived and I have been in contact with the guy who converted/scratchbuilt the model that caught my eye enough to want to try and copy it. He has been kind enough to provide me with some dimensions so I can try to get the proportions right. It will not be an exact copy but with what he has provided, I am confident that I can create something that fits my purposes. SDKFZ is the guy who inspired me to give the conversion a go and one of his awesome projects can be found HERE.

Here's a couple of pictures of SDKFZ's scratch built vehicle:

Click the Pix!

I think it will fit my vision for my Squat army perfectly (assuming I can get the proportions right).

Well that's about it for now. 

See you from the other part of the table!

Winter is coming.

Good morning and welcome to a lovely sunny day in Inso's World.

What... a... week...

This week my wife and I have been travelling. We went to Cornwall on Monday and had a few bits and bobs to sort out on Tuesday before picking up the keys to our new house. It had been a bit of a pain getting to that point (bloody solicitors) but we finally had the keys so we emptied out what rubbish was in the place, put up new curtains and light shades and changed the locks so that we were the only ones with keys.

Here is the view from our 'soon to be' bedroom:

Click the Pic!

Then, I think everything hit us and we didn't really know what to do!

... but we were in Cornwall so we enjoyed the beach and nightlife while we thought about the enormity of everything and put a few ideas down on paper.

We travelled back on Friday after a whirlwind of a week and then it seemed like we weren't home... because we had left our home locked up and empty in Cornwall.

So... big times ahead and that means that this little blog may have to take a short break in order for me to get on with all of the moving preparations. We are aiming to move in a couple of weeks so I have a lot to get done in a short time...

... but in the meantime, I haven't forgotten my hobby and have managed to get a small character finished:

Click the Pic!

He is (effectively) the leader of all the Hearthguard (space marine scout) units in the army and will count as Sgt Telion. He still needs a camo cloak but I am tempted to give him 'optical camouflage' rather than an actual cloak... so it may just be a fully camouflaged paint scheme... I haven't decided yet.

So to recap, I have sculpted two pairs of legs for the Mantic torsos. I have now cast six of the second pair; five are standard troops and one is Sgt Telion. I have also cast five of the first pair of legs and now have the sixth pair being cast as we speak and that will make the second member of Telion's squad. Once that is done, I need to finish sculpting a further three pairs of legs and make six casts from each so that five of each will make a unit and the sixth will become part of Telion's squad. Simple.

Well... what else can I say. 

The times, they are a changin' .

I'll see you when I see you next!

A rainy Sunday Morning.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

I'm not going to moan about sleep this week... I'll just cut to the chase... This week has mostly been about finalising a house purchase. We have finally got all of our money transferred and have had a lot of last minute stress due to the solicitors being somewhat reluctant to put any drive into our home purchase. That said, everything is in place to collect the keys this coming week... so that is extremely BIG news for us.

When there is stress all around, what better way to escape than to hide away in the hobby world for a while? Well that is exactly what I did and as a result I have managed to get the production line in gear for some press moulding, filling, assembly and a little bit of sculpting in order to finish the second batch of Hearthguard/Scouts for my Squat army. Here are the newly finished Hearthguard with their previous allies primed in the background:

Click the Pic!

The way I am going about these is as follows:

• I need 6 Squads of 5 (which I have already purchased).
• That means I need 5 different leg sculpts in order for each squad to have all different poses.
• Each leg pose will need 6 casts (one for each squad).
• If I build each batch as a squad (with one cast put to the side), when all the leg casts are done, I can swap the troops about to make sure all the legs in a squad are different.
• The squad made with the additional legs that don't fit with each 'squad' of batched legs, will end up being formed into a Squad with Camo-cloaks, sniper rifles and a Squat version of Sgt Telion as the leader.
• I am likely to have 3 missile launchers, 2 heavy bolters and in addition to the 2 Sgts with hammers, I will also have 3 with standard bolters (I will be putting bolters with missile launchers and hammers with heavy bolters).
• The camo-cloaks may well be a paint scheme for digital camo rather than having actual cloaks.

So... now I have completed a batch for two leg sculpts and have the third leg sculpt on the corks, ready for more work. I still need to press mould one more pair of legs from each of the sculpts I have already done but I can do that slow time now (better to put my effort into sculpting the legs). I really like the way these are turning out and I am completely in love with the Mantic Steel Warrior plastics as they are perfect for my army needs (once they are suitably reduced in height). It would have been so nice if they had been the right height in the first place... but they aren't designed to be Squats, they are designed to be Forge Fathers.

This coming week is one of excitement and travels so I doubt very much if there will be any hobby news to share next Sunday... however, there will hopefully be some happy news about our new home!

See you from behind the lens!

The first scouts.

After a few tweaks and repairs, I have managed to finish the first five Scouts for my Squat army:

Click the Pic!

Although these are arranged as a squad, they will be mixed between squads once I have sculpted another couple of different leg poses and copied five of each.

The legs are not as detailed as they could be but I think they serve a purpose and look OK. they also allow me to use the Mantic miniatures for my army... and I really like that.

The weapons represent boltguns, bolt pistols, a missile launcher and a close combat weapon (hammer).

This is the first unit of 'counts as' Space Marine scouts.

I have another 15 to go and will most probably buy more in the future because I really like them and as long as I keep the leg sculpts safe, I can just press mould as many as I need at a later date.

See you from the trees!

Press Moulding Fun.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

This week's hobby time has been all about Space Dwarfs / Squats.

As I mentioned last week, I have finished off the latest unit for my army (Jedi Beastmen / Primaris Psykers) so needed to start on the next unit. Well, I started my Ministorum Priest / Berserker unit this week and so far, I have got this far with the first one:

Click the Pic!

I have also been working on the second one. This one called for sacrifice so I removed the throwing Mastiff from a previous sculpt and added it to this new one:

Click the Pic!

Obviously, they both have a fair way to go but they are certainly getting there. Speaking of getting there, I have been experimenting with press moulding this week and have had quite a surprise... it actually works well enough for me to be happy with it. So... I started by sculpting the first pair of legs the other week. Then I got some Blue Stuff from Green Stuff World. Then I tried a couple of test casts and decided that I would use normal Milliput for my casts and I would also try to put a wire core in the putty to aid attaching the finished item to the base... Then I got press moulding:

A two part press mould in clamps (Click the Pic!)

The mould cracked open (Click the Pic!)

The pre-cleaned legs (Click the Pic!)

The first assembled trooper (Click the Pic!)

Five sets of legs (Click the Pic!)

So... I have cast up 5 pairs of legs and will now be re-using the Blue Stuff when I have finished sculpting the next pair of legs. I will only be casting up 5 pairs of each and will mix them between units. Depending on how many units I go for, I may end up sculpting more than the four poses I am planning but we will have to see. The beauty of this process is that the Blue Stuff is reuseable and the master sculpts are completely undamaged so I can cast up copies as often as I like.

One thing I can definitely say is that it is really cool to be able to make components so quickly. Not counting sculpting or waiting time, I spend about half an hour filling the mould, cleaning the finished legs and repairing the details. This is far less time than the four or five hours it takes to sculpt each pair of legs (not including the waiting times). This little experiment has really opened up the door to a better life for me... the options it provides are awesome so I am sure that I will be using this process a lot from now on.

In other news, I have been progressing the running Squat body and he is nearly finished.

Yes... it has been a good week!

See you from the podium!

Lots of stuff.

Before I start, I'd like to welcome Katsuhiko JiNNai to Inso's World. I hope yo enjoy your stay and take away something positive from your experience here.

So this week I have been mostly not very well. Full of cold and have had a woolly head. You'd think that I have been unable to acheive anything... but there has actually been quite a lot going on.

First of all, I have progressed one of the pairs of legs that I plan to cast up for my Mantic Steel Warriors and here it is:

Click the Pic!

I have added a belt buckle to it but apart from that, it is finished in the picture. I will tick along with these slowly because I have other fish to fry at the moment, namely my Primaris Psykers... my Jedi Beastmen. Well... apart from tilting the base to reset his C of G, the last one is now finished. Here he is with his mates:

Click the Pic!

Now that I have finished the Primaris Psykers, the next unit will be some Ministorum Priests which will be represented by Squat Berserkers. I haven't started them yet but I will do at some point this week.

Well it certainly seems like my sculpting muse is hanging around because the second Squat body is really progressing nicely again. I had a major stall with the feet but once they were done, the legs and jacket were pretty straight forward. Just the straps to go now:

Click the Pic!

Once this one is done, just three more to go!

To change the pace a bit, the weather has been nice enough to get the spray primer out so Death saw primer:

Click the Pic!

I also put some black on but obviously have a very long way to go yet... but a start is a start!

You'd think that's about it but no... I have more. I have been buying a few bits and bobs on EBay and now have plenty of 30mm bases for my next unit of Exo Armour, some Blue-Stuff for moulding and am waiting for some more paint to arrive.

I have tried using the Blue-Stuff to mould something (I just used a Plastic Squat body for trials and destroyed the cast) and reckon that I need to try a few different mixes of putty to see what works best. Then I will be able to start reproduction of my Steel Warrior legs.

It's all going on at the moment.

See you from the board room!

Victory and defeat... all in the same week.

Before I start today's update, we've had a flurry of travellers arrive so I would like to welcome Eddy War, Scalene (Warfactory) and Blaxkleric to Inso's World. I hope that you enjoy your meanderings here and feel free to share comments and ideas... it's what the hobby is all about.

So... this week I have had a week off work and have spent it with my wife. We have pottered around, got some chores out of the way and even went to the seaside for a few hours... but mostly, we have been inconvenienced by 'stuff we had to sort out' so it was less of a holiday and more of a week away from the workplace.

That said, I have managed to get a few things done and my little victories include getting my Squat APC to this standard:

Click the Pic!

The top pic shows the three current modules sitting where they should and the bottom pic shows them moved so you know what each one looks like. Obviously there is still a long way to go but I actually think that I may be able to finish it.

Another little victory has been something I quickly knocked together for a fun competition (no prizes). It is for Orktober and as you know, I am not a huge fan of Orks but felt that, in the spirit of community, I would get on board and give it a go. There were very loose rules and I knew that I could get away with just a single miniature so that is what I did. Here is Dezmond:

CliK Da PiK!

You may notice that he isn't a green skin. That's because I don't enjoy painting green skin... and it is also the explanation behind Dezmond eating the wrong mushrooms. Not bad for a two day project.

So... onto the dismal defeats.

First up... I have done no sculpting this week. None (gap filling on the APC doesn't count)... so the command squad is still just plastic bits glued together.

The second defeat is this:

Click the Pic!

The picture shows a nice little hatch, all ready to have mould rubber poured on it. Well, that's what happened and I learned a very valuable lesson. Now that I have managed to remove the un-set rubber, I know that latex is no good for a block mould. Yes, it has defeated me... but I will now be getting some silicon instead (once I decide where to go for it). Every day is a learning day. I am just glad that I was able to remove all of the latex from the hatch because I really didn't want to have to repeat the build if I could help it (so a little victory from a crushing defeat).

... and for the record, those are NOT Lego bricks so I am not committing any crimes against humanity (they are cheap bricks... although the base IS Lego... but I don't plan on damaging it in any way).

Finally, I am still trying to sell loads of stuff and will be putting more stuff up on EBay tonight. There will be a LOT of old style Howling Banshees, Jain Zar, some heavy weapon crews and two boxed sets of TEN plastic Dire Avengers so if Eldar is your choice of warrior, pop along to my EBay home and have a look (I'll be listing at 18:30 British Summer Time):

Inso's EBAY link (metalvest)

Well, that about sums things up for the week. I hope you all have a good week and I will hopefully see you here again next weekend for the next update.

See you from the war-torn surface of Mars!

An eclectic Sunday mix.

Before I start today's post proper, I would like to welcome The Responsible One to Inso's World. Welcome aboard and I hope you enjoy wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere. Feel free to comment and take inspiration where you find it.

So... where to start?

Being an 'artist' has its ups and downs. You'd like to be able to get stuff done but your muse comes and goes and finding motivation can be tough. There are also times when you get the terrifying statement "you're an artist... can you do...?" thrown towards you. It is apparent that just because I can sculpt and paint tiny people, I can paint portraits, build stage backdrops, hew sculptures from stone... etc... which of course I would give (and have given) a go at but it isn't my speciality and leads to mixed results. At the moment, I have a number of small commissions on the go. One I have had for almost a year and I have just lost my mojo for (fortunately no money has changed hands)... I have also misplaced the sculpts I was working on because I packed a lot of stuff away when I went to the Falklands and haven't found everything yet. Another I forgot about but found languishing in a bag and am now getting sorted:

Click the Pic!

It is a driver for a radio controlled car that needs a coat of paint. There was no rush on this one but I must admit to feeling a bit guilty when I found it in my work bag. I get to choose the colours and just paint it up.

I then had a request to paint black bits on a Celtic Knot for a wedding next weekend... so this is now done:

Click the Pic!

It's about 60mm diameter and will look much better than a solid chrome piece, when fitted to the kilt it is destined for.

In addition to this, I have my secret project, which I will reveal in a few weeks and have just been approached to make a cake topper for a wedding cake.

The trouble is... I take on these projects with all intention of getting them finished quickly and up to a good quality... and then my muse buggers off and I am left with no flair or motivation to get things finished! Then you just feel guilty... and that makes things worse.

I certainly couldn't do this sort of thing for a living. It would have to be on my terms and it would also have to be on subjects that I enjoyed working on.

Anyway... back to other things and I have now got as far as I need to on my first badger rider, 'Chuck':

Click the Pic!

I still need to finish the lance head but I will sort out the whole unit's lances at the same time so that I can focus on getting them all the same. The base also needs to be finished but I will tick along with that, using waste putty from the other sculpting I am working on at the time. 

I have also been thinking about other elite units and my thoughts turned to Bullgryn. Now at £28.50 for three, getting some from GW would have been overly expensive and to be honest, I fancied having a go at something different anyway so I ordered some Dreadball Orx from EBay and now have five miniatures to convert. While I was waiting for them to arrive, I thought I'd mock a few ideas up on Microsoft Paint... here's one of my ideas:

Click the Pic!

They look the part but will be slightly smaller than the newest version of Ogryn; however, with a slightly taller base, they are the perfect height for the old second edition Ogryn so I am not overly concerned about the difference.

As I have mentioned, I plan on casting up some vehicles at some point, using plaster. Part of the preparation is to assemble a casting kit and I am now one step closetr as a result of finding some cheap Lego 'proxy' bricks in a shop. 2 boxes of 500 bricks came to £5.98 so I was very happy with that. Now I have the ability to build a moulding box... I just have to wait for two large bases to arrive and my casting kit will be complete:

Click the Pic!

I guess I'll need some talc too... and to build what I want to cast of course!

Finally... I have got to get my uniform up to scratch because I am going to a wedding next week and in a few weeks will be going to an award presentation... so it will have to be very immaculate.

... and that is it for this week. My plan is to finish the secret project this week, continue with the badger riders and get some paint on the driver. Hopefully, my motivation will stick around long enough to achieve this. Who knows?

See you from the inside of a particularly robust turtle shell!

A nice cuppa.

I'm sitting having a nice cuppa whilst updating Inso's World this week. It is nice to just plonk sometimes and be a bit lazy and that is what I am doing today. This week has been a mix of dental pain, fitness tests (I passed it) and an excess of tequila (and the bruises that turn up as a result).

Since I returned from the Falklands, I have been trying to get my head together but have been failing dismally. I am hoping that once I shake off the final pains from my wisdom tooth extractions, I can get a grip and start thinking clearly with a bit more focus. There is a lot of 'stuff' going on at home that I am not going to sharehere until some really big decisions are made... and that has been like a big cloud hanging over me. Unfortunately, I have to wait for a few things to arrive to make the decisions so the suspense is getting to me.

More about all that at a later date.

So... what have I been doing this week from a hobby perspective? Well... mostly a secret project but I have also been finishing off the first of the two gun-servitors for my Engineseer:

Click the Pic!

I have also continued to work on the second one but I am having a bit of a dilemma with what to arm it with. I have other heavy bolters but they look completely different... and I don't have a plasma cannon or multi-melta... but I do have a pair of meltas which I can convert. I could, alternatively build my own heavy weapon... Hmmm... decisions; decisions...

So what else have I been thinking about? Vehicles... that's what. I have seen this wonderful thread on the Forum of Doom (LINK) that has inspired me to think outside the box and I have got myself some bits and pieces to do a bit of casting. Bearing in mind that I have never done any casting before and I don't yet have anything to cast, you will have to excuse the lack of pix or even talk of models. I can also say that it will be a while before I start on anything meaningful because I want to have a bit of a play first... just to see how things work.

Exciting times.

See you from the top level of the stadium!