Welcome to 2016!

Happy New Year and welcome to Inso's world for the first post of the year.

I guess that, with every new year, there come resolutions and plans that people want to follow through. Well, I have plans that I HAVE to follow through this year and they include:

• Thinning down the hobby stuff
• Saving money as much as possible
• Planning for a big move at the end of the year
• Prepare my CV and get some courses/work experience in
• Move to a different county
• Prepare to be a civilian (after 28 years of being military)
• Sort all the niggles of the house out, ready for moving out

This is the last full year I have in the military and come January next year, I will be a civilian. It is a big change but I am looking forward to it... 28 years is a long time.

In addition to the stuff I HAVE to do, here's what I would like to do:

• Properly sort through my collection and get storage for what I want to keep
• Spend less time on the hobby and more time on getting things done
• Get myself a dog (at the end of the year)
• Sort out all my little medical/dental issues while I still have the support of the military
• Get myself back to my regular level of fitness (I have let my standards drop since the Falklands)
• The most important thing... be happier this year (another thing I let slip since the Falklands)

So... there you have it. No resolutions, just things I have to do and a few things I'd like to... but if I don't get everything done... that's life.

Now the boring stuff is out of the way, I thought I'd chare a couple of images of the Sharclon transport. Here's a 'before primer' pic:

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... and here's one after a unifying coat of primer has been added:

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I have started painting the transport but am not very far along yet. It is going to be gun-metal with glowy bits. I am also thinking of using Tau decals on it... but that may change.

That's it for now. I hope you have all had a great Christmas and wish you well for all of 2016.

See you from the branches of the singing, ringing, tree!

Aaaand relax...

hello again and welcome to the last post of 2015.

I hope you all had an excellent Christmas/holiday period and enjoyed it just the way you chose to.

Here at home has been great. I have had a very nice time and it has been based on family and food/drink. Much better than last year where I was due to be flying to the Falklands on the 28th... it all felt so surreal.

As you may well have guessed, I have shelved the hobby for the festivities and have only just unpacked one or two things to be getting on with today... namely this:

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It may not look like much at the moment... but it will end up being a vehicle for my Sharclon to travel around in. It has been languishing in a box for ages and I have only recently dug it out for some TLC. As a side note, it has been made so robustly that I reckon I could probably stand on it without it breaking (but I don't want to chance it, just in case). It will look a bit 'old school' when it is finished so it will match the Sharclon very well... I just need to find the right bits for the unconventional turret. It should also tie in nicely with the air support I have planned (there is a pun there but you'll have to wait to see it).

So... Christmas gifts. I received a small amount of extremely well targeted gifts and they were, as follows:

• A pair of dinosaur hand puppets (self assembly - card).
• An etched port glass and miniature bottle of vintage port.
• A Grumpy Cat Christmas jumper.
• A Lego Starwars kit (Shadow troopers)
• A 1/35th scale Cromwell tank kit.
• A Ladybird book of Hangovers.
• A donation made on my behalf to Shelterbox.

All things that were spot on and 'in tune' with me... something that rarely happens.

Needless to say that Christmas has been very good to me... and Boxing Day was mostly having an excellent meal in the pub where my daughter works.

Onwards an upwards... and although I have had a lovely Christmas, I won't be looking back on 2015 too favourably when we get to 2016. 2016 is going to be a massive year for me and my family as we plan our journey to a new life in a different area... and doing so as civilians rather than a Service family.

So in a few days we will all be seeing out the old year and seeing in the new one. 

I wish everyone a happy New Year and hope that you spend it doing what you wish.

Roll on 2016!

See you from the height of indecision!

With a BUMP!

Hello and welcome to Inso's World.

This week has been a fairly dour affair so I have had to take a deep breath and come to terms with a whole bunch of 'stuff' that has been building up for a long time.

This weekend is the first one for a good while where I have been able to just be me and not have any external forces acting on my mojo. It has been a welcome change and I feel all the better for it.

So... with a bump, eh? It had to happen eventually. Last year, in August, I started my Squat project. Ever since I have worked exclusively on it apart from three items; a RC model driver, an Age of Sigmar miniature (unfinished) and a single plastic Ork. That is around sixteen months of working on the same thing. Well, I have had enough of the project for now and am shelving it. I haven't given up on it... I just need a proper break from it so I am putting them away and will go back to them at a later date. I have made a note of my plans, painting schemes and additions so that when I get back to the project, I can continue where I left off... but to be brutally honest, I am burnt out on Squats.

So where does this leave the hobby?

Still in a good place, really.

Recently, I bought more Sharclon from Heresy Miniatures and guess what is currently occupying my work space?:

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This is the second squad that I have worked on and both of the squads will get a couple of additions at a later date (heavies? Specialists? Who knows?). They will be painted the same as my previous ones and I am planning to add some decals to both squads (on their shoulders) for rank and squad markings. I reckon I am likely to use Tau decals but it isn't set in stone yet.

In addition to the Sharclon, I have another little project on the go... and it all starts with a little pot that normally contains a chewable tooth brush:

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I'm not letting on exactly what this will be but needless to say, it is a very early WIP at the moment.

In other news, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a rather special bottle of wine this week... and thoroughly enjoyed sharing it with my lovely wife:

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The clue is on the label.

Well... this is the last week of work before I start my Christmas holidays so it's almost time to batten down the hatches and power through! The light is at the end of the tunnel!

See you from the end of the world!

It's just a case of getting there...

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

It hasn't been a bad week and things have been ticking along OK. Little and often has been the main idea about hobby time this week and it has started to pay off a little.

I have one priority at the moment and that is to finish the command squad for my Squat army. Anything else is secondary. With that said, I have managed to get a bit further than the very WIP picture I last showed and have at least given them all their beards, equipment and weapons:

Click the Pic!

So, from left to right, we have:

• Commander with bolt pistol, power fist and refractor field.
• Veteran with sniper rifle.
• Veteran with comms set, laspistol and close combat weapon.
• Veteran with medi-pack, laspistol and close combat weapon.
• Veteran with company standard, laspistol and close combat weapon.

Obviously, they have a long way to go but it is progress. The commander will have a bionic eye and I am still working out how to blend the power fist into the shoulder. The standard will count as the close combat weapon for the veteran carrying it because I am going to give it a spear head. I am hopeful that my sleep patterns will allow me the dexterity to get more work done on these during the week but I guess that is just something to wait and see about.

While I have been working on this squad, I have also been ticking along very slowly with the second primaris beastman. He is starting to get a face that looks presentable but I am not going to show him off just yet bacause I'd like him to be a bit more finished.

In other news, I needed to order some more green stuff so I bought some from Heresy Miniatures. While I was at it, I couldn't help myself and bought a few more Sharclon to go with my collection. When my sculpting mojo has died, I will be painting Squats and the Sharclon will make an excellent change of pace during the process. My last ones had a simple paint scheme and I will be continuing that with the rest of them. Here is what I have already painted:

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I need to swap things around a bit (I have plans for some heavy weapon conversions) but the paint scheme will stay the same apart from squad identifiers... I'm thinking some sort of symbol on the red part of the shoulders. I really love these little miniatures and it shows because these are the only miniatures (apart from those involved with my Squat army or VOTOMs) that I have purchased in a long while.

Turning my gaze towards 'life' now and my dad's condition has improved greatly so there is likely to be a shorter stay in hospital than expected... that said, I thought I'd share this image of him so that you can understand why my mind hasn't been as focused on things as would normally be expected:

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The short version is that he fell and broke his neck and it has now been bolted together; hence the head-gear. He has made huge progress over the last four weeks and his rehabilitation is going well. 

Aside from dad, my son has been getting on with his basic training well and it was ironic this week that I was getting gas-mask training for the last time, when he was getting it for the first time! I am sure that he probably enjoyed the process just as little as I did.

That's it for another week.

See you from the bus stop!

More progress and the machine has started to whirr.

Before I start this week's blog update, I'd like to welcome Robert Locklan to Inso's World. Welcome aboard, Robert and I hope you enjoy your travels around my little piece of the interweb.

This week, I set myself the job of completing the first squad of the second Squat army platoon. Fortunately, I managed it and here it is:

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I have already got the next squad on the table; ready for some work. Once the second squad is finished, I can get some serious work done on the army command squad and then... it may be time to dig out the paints and start painting a few units.

In more Squat related news, I have been wondering what to arm my second Sentinel squadron with and have had a look through my various spares boxes with a view to swapping weapons. The Vulkan miniatures come with a heavy bolter (not an option for Sentinels) and a heavy flamer. I have put the feelers out and a heavy flamer isn't necessarily the best weapon for an armoured Sentinel... so I will most likely give my next Sentinels the las-cannons that I got when I bought some Centurion weapon sprues. It just goes to show how important not throwing stuff away is.

Not necessarily Squats... but a bit space Dwarf related, I ordered some Sharclons from Heresy Miniatures this week and they have arrived. They are awesome miniatures so I'd recommend getting some soon... because they have a slight resemblance to a certain Dr Who race and may have to be withdrawn from sale as a result... here's some that I painted a while ago:

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This week also sees more sales on EBay. Here's my page: METALVEST and here is what I have for sale at the moment:

EBay Link; Deathcultists.

EBay Link: Gaunt's Ghosts.

EBay Link: Preachers/Priests.

EBay Link: Sisters of Battle Squad and Cannoness.

So please feel free to pop along and put a bid on. The next lots will be Eldar.

Well that about says it all for today. Have a good week.

See you from the surfboard!

Sunny Sunday.

It has been an interesting week. A lot of things have sorted themselves out and I have actually managed to start doing some painting.

First of all, I got hold of Andy at Heresy miniatures and he sent me an order of Sharclon that I had sort of arranged to pick up at Salute but then didn't... and then got forgotten so Andy shipped them immediately and I painted them up pronto. Here they are with the other five:

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In addition to that small amount of painting, I have been tidying up and getting rid of some stuff so I had to nip into town to post a lot of little parcels and while I was there, I had a nice coffee and bought a book of cat poems to read (by T.S.Elliot, no less). The beauty of it all was that I had to take the bus in (because my name isn't on the insurance for the courtesy car we currently have) and it inspired me to write a little poem:

I woke up this morning and thought 'oh what fun',

I'll go for a wonderful walk in the sun.

Then I thought 'it is blowy', I'll save all the fuss.

And instead, take a trip into town, on the bus.

So that's what I did, and I'm so glad to say,

That a bus trip to town's a good start to the day.

A hot cup of coffee, watching people go by.

Doing sudoku and feeling time fly.

A trip to post parcels and to buy a few things,

A mystery item, to liven up things.

Then it's back to the stop and to save any fuss.

I cheerfully travel, back home on the bus.

When I returned home, I started to think about stuff to paint... when another parcel arrived from Heresy Miniatures with more Sharclon inside. Now I thought that if I ploughed into these, it may mess up my current painting ability so I thought about other stuff... and found this to paint:

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It is a small walker from the Kryomek range (from Scotia Grendel). It is one of those miniatures that I bought in a fit of nostalgia because I originally bought one in the eighties but it long since got lost so I felt the need to replace it. It is just something random to paint and speaking of random, apart from the sculpting and normal painting I have on the table, I now have a partially painted, converted, Enforcer captain from Mantic Games and a Sasquatch from Reaper Miniatures waiting for some putty to dry before I can prime it.

Kick Starters are all the rage and as I mentioned in my last post, I am on board with a few at the moment. 

First up is Warzone Resurrection which has now finished. I am now waiting for three Vulkan Battlesuits with additional close combat weapons to be sent out in June/July/August. I plan to use them as support for my Dreamforge Games troopers.

Next comes Crossfire Miniatures which is still running at the moment. I have pledged enough to get the five heroes that will be produced. It is likely to stay that way unless something truly awesome jumps up and demands my attention.

Finally, we have Deadzone from Mantic Games. This one is due to finish very soon and has got my undivided attention. I have pledged enough (so far) to get a starter faction (Rebs) and a $50 booster (which will be two boosters of my choice because it is buy one, get one free). I plan on getting a Forgefather booster (which contains Dwarf Bikers!) and possibly the Rebs booster. Alternatively, I may go for the $50 faction starter for the Forgefathers and Asterians... Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

I just hope I can get my mojo to build up to a state where I can actually paint all of this (or even a small amount of it).

See you from a point of introspection!

Can the Sharclon save the day?

It is Sunday and the sun is shining brightly. The sound of a lawn-mower fills the air; as do the squeaks of children playing.

It is a beautiful day and I am sat inside typing... maybe I should go outside and enjoy the sun...

So, this week has been another dry week for my hobby. I have not picked up a brush or any sculpting tools. I seem to have lost my mojo. What usually happens during these times is that I take stock and also spend a lot of time on-line so that is what I have found myself doing.

On my travels, I have checked the various forums and where I can help with what is required, I have been reducing my miniature/component stash and sending it out (sometimes for money, other times just because I can). I have managed to build up a small amount of funds in my Pay-pal account so I will be able to put that towards stuff I want rather than having a load of stuff cluttering up my valuable hobby space.

I have also been bidding on E-bay again and have managed to get hold of another 1/60 scale Scopedog, Red-Shoulder Custom so I am quite pleased with that. I also received my order from Heresy that I should have collected at Salute but it got forgotten about so Andy sent it over at the speed of light once I told him I'd forgotten it... so I have some Sharclon on the table and, as a result of the only hobby stuff I have done this week, they are cleaned and assembled ready for the gaps to be filled and the bases to be green-stuffed.

Kick Starters have been on my mind this week and I have pledged for two and was very tempted by a third.

The one I didn't pledge on was the Macross board-game. I really wanted to but the entry level to get any miniatures was $80.00 and I would have wanted to add more to get the extra add-on miniatures... and I just couldn't afford to do it.

The two I did pledge on are the latest Crossover superhero one and the latest Mantic Kick starter, Deadzone. There will be more news on those later.

On a completely different subject, Charmmy has been to the vets and is now fitted with a micro-chip. She was spayed while she was there so we have the prospect of the 10 days being filled with the fun of a cat who wants to go out but can't. Hmmm...

See you from the road less travelled.

And it was all going so well...

Every once in a while, everything catches up with me and I just can't get motivated to do anything hobby related. This week has been one of those times where my sleep deprivation has destroyed my will to paint, sculpt or anything else really.

That said, at the beginning of the week, I did manage to finish Stunner:

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... and start off Steel Spartan... but that was as far as it got until yesterday, when I decided to get the plasticard out and make some shapes. I haven't achieved much worth showing off but I have assembled the main hull of a Sharclon grav APC and in the process managed to work out how to make domes using a set of measuring spoons, some olive oil and some green stuff.  Once I get a little bit further along, I'll post some pix. 

Yesterday I decided to buy one of my favourite tank kits; a Tamiya 1/35th scale M41 Walker Bulldog with the soul purpose being to convert it. Well, I assembled the basic tank but without all the little details and have been converting bits. It has a bigger gun and some extra armour so far but will get much more work... when I have some motivation. It is starting to look good... so I hope it works out OK in the long run.

In other news, my son has just had an appointment sent through for his aptitude tests for the RAF and that means the process has started proper. I am so happy about it right now and hope that he manages to get through the process as easily as I know he is able to do. It will be a proud day for me when I watch him leave for his basic training.

So... it has been shopping, shopping, shopping lately. My daughter has her prom dress and all of the accessories and make-up that goes with it so I don't have to worry about that. My wife has her evening dress and shoes sorted for the summer ball and I don't have to hang around dress/lingerie shops any more.

Hopefully, I will manage to shake off the sleepless nights soon because I am really getting fed up with being exhausted... then maybe I'll catch up with some of the sculpting backlog that I have built up.

See you through half closed eyes!

Iron Man Sunday.

What has happened this week?

I have been working hard and finishing tasks at work... including a closing meeting for a big modification that has been on-going now for over eight years! BOOSH!

I have not been sleeping at all... and that has been a real downer but I managed to get a bit of extra kip last night so it isn't all bad.

I managed to paint my Sharclon troopers (from last weekend's Salute haul):

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I really like these and will be getting many more. Andy (owner and sculptor of Heresy Miniatures) has said that more will appear at some point but probably not before Christmas. Just for a bit of information, I have put together a scale pic with other ranges:

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In other news... I decided to finish off a superhero that was sitting on the table... and also put a name on another one's base. So I now have The Judge and Tango Man joining my team of human sized superheroes:

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The group is looking a bit too masculine at this point so I have also been painting the first female, Exocette... and she will be making an appearance soon (once I have finished painting her base). She is the first flying superhero; hence her name.

This weekend has been a bit odd. Friday night I had to get up in the middle of the night because I was wide awake. I realised that at 02:30hrs, my son hadn't returned home from work and got in touch with him (he should have finished at 23:00hrs... and he's 17 and had been at college all day before going to work at 17:00hrs). He finally got home at 03:15hrs and they wanted him back at work for 11:00hrs. To cut a long story short... Saturday lunchtime, I had a one way conversation with my son's boss after threats of sacking because my son wasn't at work for 11:00hrs. Needless to say the Health and Safety training that I have received really came in handy when quoting policy for young workers and a stream of apologies suddenly happened. The Royal Air Force trains its personnel well.

Today... we went to see Iron Man 3 and I thought it was awesome. Some of the story was a bit lame and needed some padding for those not in the comic-book know but that really didn't matter because there were lots of different suits flying about. There was also a big twist involving the Mandarin (that I didn't expect) so I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The 'botanist' was quite nice too. I'd recommend seeing the film and would say that, even though the Marvel films have a bit of info after the credits, on this occasion it tells you nothing but it is worth stopping back to watch because it is amusing.

Well... that is it for now. This week I'll be finishing off Exocette, trying to get some sculpting done (I'll need to get a bit more sleep before I can focus on that so here's hoping) and then get cracking on my Grymn in powered armour again.

Life is never dull.

See you from the top of the tree!

The last day of my holiday.

Welcome to Maj. Diz Aster! he is the newest follower of Inso's World and is most welcome. If you see anything you like or want to share ideas, feel free.

Deep breath time... I have a lot to share today and wanted to start with... a gratuitous kitten picture:

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She was fast asleep up until I unfastened the camera case... but you can see that Charmmy is now getting towards her 'catten' stage and will soon be off to be spayed and chipped ready for unsupervised outings into the big, wide world.

Such distractions but my week off has been full of them. The biggest was a day trip to London to shop around for my daughter's prom dress... which didn't take as long as I'd dreaded so that was a big worry lifted (and it was less expensive than I feared so it was win, win). Apart from that, I bagged another nine Grymn in powered armour and finished off the command squad whilst starting to paint the rest:

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I still need to add rank and insignia but I will do that when the platoon is finished so that I can get them all done at the same time (that way they will all use the same colours etc.).

Next up was a small order to Heresy miniatures for some of their new Sharclon miniatures. I hope they arrive soon so that I can properly decide how they look.

In other news, I have been informed that the Grekwood green is now master cast and will be available to buy from Grekwood Miniatures in the near future:

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In more sculpting news, I am getting there with the Wang Shambler and Thor sculpts and have even added some more putty to the Daemon Prince... but I have been forced to lose a few other minis from their corks to make way for my next exciting project... more superheroes! This time it will be two Dwarf superheroes with separate heads... and they are for a miniatures company... so watch this space for information (if not pictures) of how that goes.

So it is back to work tomorrow and Salute next weekend! I expect to post a couple of times this week with a bit more information about my plans for the event.

Interesting times!

See you from the bottom of the gorge!

New Diminutive Troops.

Before I start this post proper, I'd like to say welcome to the newest follower of Inso's World; Herr Zinnling.  I hope you find things to keep you interested and make sure you comment if you feel the need and share any ideas.

So... in a couple of weekend's time, it will be Salute and as a result, many miniatures manufacturers are pushing to release lots of new stuff. That is a double edged sword because they hold off releasing stuff for a little while before Salute and then release far too much cool stuff for me to be able to buy!

So... what the heck am I going on about? Well, there is the powered armour from Hasslefree Miniatures for a start. That will break the bank. Then there are a few bits and bobs from Twilight Miniatures that I like but what has just turned up is out of the blue.

Heresy Miniatures have just released the Sharclon:

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The top one is a standard trooper and the bottom one is an officer. What immediately jumped out at me was how good they would be as enemies for my Grymn. They appear to be quite evil looking and with the right paint-job would be ideal for the job. They are just taller than a Grymn and are much more bulky so they would be worthy opponents. I liked them so much, I couldn't help putting an order in for a small unit of five... so I hope they arrive soon.

In other news, I am off to London tomorrow for an entertaining day choosing a prom dress for my daughter.

Wish me luck!

See you from the platform!