Epic post

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It's been a fairly interesting couple of weeks, since I last posted, but mostly unrelated to hobby things.

I have donated blood, worked a lot, got poorly, had a week off (holiday at home), travelled around Cornwall on my motorbike, got depressed and was very glad to be out of my own company and back at work again. I also counted charity money, did the annual accounts (for our committee) and even had a time where I sat and watched TV.

My wife and I managed to see Captain Marvel at the local cinema and enjoyed it. I thought it was a bit 'impersonal' and I felt that I couldn't connect with the main character very well. Hopefully, that will change in the upcoming Avengers 'Endgame' film.

Hobby wise, I have started things but not got very far with them. I managed to finish the two Big Squats though...

Click the Pix!

They have now been primed and are ready to be painted along with the other three that need paint. In addition to the two above, I have started three more. They are equipped with close combat weapons and las-pistols and just need the quilting and heads to be sculpted. I am planning on making these look a bit more berserk (close combat orientated) with Mohawks and bright hair colour... but they stalled and I started the next partial thing...

... Hearthguard leg casts. I have cast up seven sets of legs (two spares) and have allowed them time to dry but I haven't cleaned and prepared them for fitting to the torsos yet. Why? Well, I got distracted again with...

... Squat super heroes that could be used to proxy Primarchs, Tanks or large creatures. That was the idea... and with that in mind, I started to sculpt a super Squat... but stalled... and he is now stood on the cork, glaring at me and trying to guilt me into finishing him... so I then got distracted and decided it was high time I did this:

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This week, I decided to put a rubbish bid on a complete set of Epic Squat Warriors... and I won! Yep... I'm now the proud owner of five mint sprues of Squat Warriors and have begun the task of deciding what to do with them.

As it happens, I have decided to just build an army and not base it on anything Epic because I don't game. They will be organised and based how I feel, rather than in line with any rules and that means two things... 1) I can design things how I want them to look 2) I can add what I want, from any other ranges that I like.

With five sprues in hand, I set about arranging an army and this is what I have come up with:

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There are spare bits and bobs (I haven't even included the mole mortars because they look dire) but I am happy with what I have come up with. Once I have painted and based this lot, I will be purchasing some transport for them. I am hoping to get some nice APC miniatures from a relatively local source (Plymouth) but I'm not going to talk about them too much, for fear of getting distracted again.

That's it for the hobby this time around. I have no idea what this coming week will bring but I expect it will be fairly lack-lustre, if my current fickleheadedness has anything to do with it.

See you from the peak!

Of Space Knights and Superheroes.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again. It's been two weeks since my last post but I want to try and keep things relatively interesting so I felt a longer gap than usual, was warranted.

This week, has been very similar to last week... lots of work, lots of sleepless nights and lots of tiredness... but I had a birthday in there, so it wasn't all doom and gloom.

I have now been on the wagon for over eight months and the time is flying by now. May is creeping up nicely and I will soon be able to enjoy a nice pint of ale again.

At work, I am now (more or less) part of the furniture so I am working hard and people are starting to listen if they need to... which is nice. I still have some ice to break, here and there, but I'm getting there.

Hobby time has been relatively slim but I have managed to get a few things done.

First up is a converted superhero:

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It started life as THIS Hasslefree Miniature and ended up as a new speedster for my little group of superheroes. A very simple conversion and it has worked out quite nicely.

Next... this:

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Yes... I have been painting Primaris Space Marines.

I have called them Space Knights and they will all be represented by metal armour and their own personal heraldry. It is early days yet but the sixth one is on the table... so it's ticking along.

The bikes (from the last post) have not progressed at all and still sit on my painting table.

That's it for the hobby.

In fact, that's it for the blog this week.

See you from the carriage!

Is this the real thing? Or is this just fantasy?

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

Forgive me, friends, for it has been two weeks, since my last update.

Last week would have been a fairly boring update. It would have just been about training courses, tiredness and work... with no hobby stuff at all.

This week is fairly similar but maybe, a little bit more varied...

Over the last two weeks I have been getting training and work experience and have been plodding along very nicely at work. I have been involved with most of the day to day duties that a Health Care Assistant, level 1 (HCA1) may face but I have had to be line of sight and monitored closely while I am in the learning phase. I have assisted with personal care, eating, hoisting, restraint and also have had time to enjoy the company of clients in a friendly environment. Sadly, one of our clients passed away this week so I have also felt the sadness of what Dementia eventually causes... so the last two weeks have been pretty full-on.

This coming week, I have more training and then I will be free of induction and can start really focusing on the job at hand and building up my 'work stamina' again... yes, I have struggled getting back into work after nearly two years off and have felt pretty tired out, as a result.

The main thing is that I am loving my new career choice and have found something that is extremely rewarding to do... even if the wages are ridiculously low for the work and responsibility that is expected from you... but that is just the care profession for you. On my travels, yesterday, I noticed that I would get 5p more an hour, working in Mac Donald's... so make of that, what you will.

On a different note, I have had a weekend off this weekend so yesterday, I drove up to Aylesbury and back to visit family. We had a lovely visit and put the world to rights before a drive home in what can only be called, terrible weather. Needless to say... for the first time in as long as I can remember, I slept for over 10 hours last night! I must be both tired and happy, to do that.

Okay, okay... let's talk about hobby stuff.

I'll start with what I have been tinkering with; namely Dash Hound:

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Dash Hound is a super-speedster (mostly created because I have been watching a lot of DC's "the Flash", recently) and he has been converted from THIS Hasslefree Miniature. Hopefully, you will get a better idea of the miniature, with primer on it:

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Dash Hound will be joining my existing super team:

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In addition to Dash hound, I have also purchased another Hasslefree Miniature from HERE and he will be getting some similar conversion treatment... but I haven't decided which direction to take him yet... so it will definitely be a 'watch this space' thing on that one. In the meantime, Dash Hound has been base-coated and will be getting finished this week.

Obviously, from the previous information, you can tell that my order from Hasslefree Miniatures arrived this week... so I now have STEVE (who will be joining a different group of heroes... yes, I have many groups) as well as the conversion dolly and two pots of green paint (for my Demiurg Earth Guild drones). As it happens, I also received a very nice little extra miniature... which will be getting lots of noise and fanfare when it is revealed... but I am not mentioning any more about it yet... apart from, it's worth waiting for.

In addition to the Hasslefree order, I bought a Primaris captain from EBay and also a Primaris psyker from WH Smiths (Warhammer Conquest magazine) so my little Primaris project is gaining momentum. I'd show some images but... they're just marines...

From a charity perspective, this week I traveled with my committee chairperson, up to Bodmin for a bit of a get together with other Marie Curie members on Thursday evening and had a very informative time. There were speakers from various places amongst the charity and I got a good insight into what the charity was about and where it hoped to be in the coming years. Well worth the trip and there were even posh biscuits... so it was win-win!

That's it for this week... or two?

See you from the head of the line!

Easter greetings.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate it... and for the more heathen amongst you...

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This week has been a fairly productive one; with a few twists and turns along the way. I have been unsettled at night but have also managed to do lots of work in the garden and still have the dexterity for a little hobby stuff on the side. 

First up, I have got a little further with my Squat platoon:

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As you can see, all of the arms have had the first coat of green stuff applied, ready for further sculpting work. Since the picture was taken, I have also filled in the gaps on the specialist trooper arms, added straps to comms packs and also blended in the gap between the medic's pack and his back. Obviously, I have a long way to go on these... but unfortunately, someone decided to put an idea in my head and I have been distracted. What by? This:

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In case it isn't obvious, it is the start of a Ratling sniper in full ghillie suit. Unfortunately, it is a slow process because I have to let the previous layer of leaves dry before I start the next one... but it is ticking along nicely. One of the good things about a sculpt like this is that details aren't hugely important because everything will be covered by leaves so that makes it a slow... but simple sculpt. If it goes well, I will make a few more and get them cast up. The good thing is that Ratlings will fit in perfectly with my army (I have already included Beastmen and Ogryn in my list... so a few more abhumans are definitely in the theme of things) and will also mean that I don't have to have a veteran unit with snipers if I don't want to (I really wanted a sniper unit in full ghillie suits and the Ratlings will fill that void).

In another drastic change to the usual process of things... I saw these and couldn't resist:

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It has been a long time since I have bought any human 28mm miniatures but these ones just have 'Agents of Shield' written all over them and they will look great as part of my existing superhero project. The big dog (Chip) will be joining the Pug squad:

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...but that's not all!

Enclosed within the little parcel I received was some popping candy AND a rather interesting little bag with 'Happy Retirement' written on it. Inside the bag were some wonderful little surprises... that I will be sharing with you at a later date because... well... they are AWESOME!

I was extremely happy and it was a wonderful surprise so I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Hasslefree Miniatures for such a generous gift.

Well... that's it for today.

See you from the world of illusion!

A monumentous occasion.

This weekend has seen the 18th birthday celebrations of my son. Friday was his birthday and after he'd spent the afternoon with his mum, he came to the pub with me for the first time as a legal patron. Needless to say that the evening was spent drinking and playing pool... with a lot of good natured chat along the way.

Yes... I had to carry him home but I think it was a great evening and he agreed.

The following night (for him) was his first nightclub experience with his older mates, which he also enjoyed greatly.

So... I have had a few distractions. This has meant that although I have managed to get a bit of painting done, I haven't got any pix again.

From a Grymn perspective, I have just got the final grey highlights and the bases to add to another three powered armour troopers and they will be finished... leaving just six more to finish for the whole platoon. Once the platoon is painted, I still have to add all the trandfers/decals but I'll wait until they are all painted so I can do them all together.

In other news, two more Votoms kits turned up from Japan so I can now say that I have all of the kits I need. I also had a surprise arrival from SLAP miniatures... my pewter pony miniatures (which I will show off at another time).

So... last week I went to Overlord and bought a few bits and bobs. One of which was this:

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He's a Cybertronic Immortal from the Warzone Resurrection game. I didn't really know what to do with him so I had to get my thinking cap on... but it wasn't too hard to find a place for him in my Super team:

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He's big but I think he still fits in.

I also bought a box of cheap Space Rangers from Em4, some little robot technicians from Crooked Dice, some 15mm Werewolfs from MJ Figures, some pack-less GW Kasrkin stormtroopers from the bring-and-buy and finally a Warmachine character from the same place. I bought a few laser cut bases as well but I binned them because they smelt terrible. The Space Rangers are on the paint table next to the Grymn in powered armour... so they are getting a bit of paint when I get fed up with painting angles and lines.

This week should hopefully be a bit less hectic... we'll see I guess!

See you from the pool table!

Is it Sunday already?!

Before I start this week's post, I'd like to welcome Dungeon Master to Inso's World. Please feel free to share ideas and comment on the posts.

This week has been an interesting one. Lots of work during the day, lots of disturbed sleep due to the dog next door and an evening in the mess to commemorate the Battle of Britain has meant that my hobby time has taken a hit this week. All I have managed to do is add a few plates to the side skirts of the command vehicle.

It has also been one of those weeks where I have been gripped by an idea that has been circulating around my head for a while... but at the moment, it seems that it won't go away until I have at least tried to scratch-build something... so I have started to do just that. What is it? Well... it is 'hopefully' going to be a Grymn aircraft but beyond that, I'll keep it to myself until I have something solid to show off.

So... not a lot to speak of really.

Oh... I almost forgot about the Crossover Superheroes:

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As you can see from the picture, I have three males and three females. I haven't assembled them (obviously) but I can see that they are well cast, have minimal clean up and have some nice details (not to mention plenty of head options). I can also see that the females in particular, have some serious proportion/anatomy issues that will need fixing... but nothing too disastrous that can't be fixed once I decide to get to work on them. My personal thoughts on these are that the original sculptor did a much better job and the latest sculptor needs to get to grips with an anatomy book and learn to sculpt the female form. Am I disappointed? Not really. Many people will be able to look past the proportional flaws and just live with it so it means that there are now a few more superhero miniatures on the market for everyone to enjoy... and through Kickstarter, I helped that happen so how can I be disappointed? With a little work, I will sort the miniatures to my satisfaction as well... not ideal... but liveable with.

So there you have it... great quality miniatures but with a few odd proportions.

I think that will about do for today... I have a fuselage to build.

See you from the manufacturing hangar!

A super day!

Welcome to Dungeon Master, the newest visitor to my blog! I hope you enjoy your travels here.

This is just a quick post to say that I had a nice surprise at lunchtime... my Kickstarter parcel from Crossover Miniatures arrived.

Inside were six metal superhero miniatures one quite large one and five human sized ones (in a 28mm sort of way). Three boys (one of which is the big guy) and three girls. Lovely crisp casts too.

When I get around to it, I'll post a bit of a review.

Now all I need is for my other two Kickstarters to follow suit and I'll be really happy (although I don't expect one of them until next year).

Interesting stuff.

See you from under the sofa!

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!

A holiday Sunday post.

It is a bank holiday weekend and that means I have three days to play, rather than just two. On this particular occasion it has been quite handy because I have had one night where I got very little sleep (rendering the following day's plans useless) and one night where I slept pretty well so I got to catch up and still have a day off.

What have I been up to this week? Well, the main drive of this week's hobby time has been superheroes and what better way to introduce a couple of new characters than with some pix? First up, we have Exocette:

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...and APE (Alien Psychic Entity) followed closely behind:

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I have another two on the go at the moment; Stunner and Steel Spartan but they are still very WIP at the moment so there are no pix yet.

In other news, I have been sculpting today and have managed to get quite a bit done... hopefully the muse will stay with me for long enough to finish some commissions. Only time can tell.

Due to the fact that I hope to be attending a summer ball, yesterday's shopping trip was spent choosing a dress for my wife so no hobby shopping got done... but I did get a 'grow your own crystals' set for a bit of a fun distraction so hopefully it will work.

That is about it for today.

See you from the summer lawns!

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!

Sweep and clean...

This week has been one of tidying up loose ends at home and at work. There has been a lot of shifting, moving and binning things and it seemed to extend to my home and the need to put Christmas decorations up.

I have been tidying up my hobby areas and still have a lot to go but things are slowly improving... but you don't want to hear about housework so I will start the post proper with a welcome. Welcome to Schrumpfkopf, the latest follower at Inso's World. Please feel free to share thoughts and ideas and I hope you enjoy your stay.

Well, first up is another superhero. This one is called Stockade and he has joined Beamer and Matterhorn:

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Next is the tale of an early wake up call. Saturday, I awoke suddenly with the thought of the size discrepancy of Mantic's Forgefather miniatures. The plastics are bigger than the resin miniatures so I decided to just use the plastic ones which meant I could now paint some. I wanted to make them baddies so I kept their kit dark and their faces bleached. This is the first five:

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I have just realised that the beards need a slight addition but I am happy with the way they turned out. I hope you do as well.

In other news, my Hellbrute still hasn't turned up but I am hopefull it will arrive this week. 

I have been asked to sculpt a Thor miniature. It will be a likeness of the Thor from the latest Avengers movie so it will be the newest super-version. It looks like a Loki will be following soon after too... but at the moment, there is no wire on the corks.

One week to go before I start my infeasibly long Christmas holiday. I will need to keep busy so it is likely that the hobby progress should i,prove dramatically.

Here's hoping.

See you from the bus queue!

It's all starting to get crazy!

It is getting to that time of year where I can't go shopping for fear of going postal on all the people who insist on walking at you because they have their Christmas blinkers on. That means that I have to occupy my time in other ways so this weekend has been one of painting and cleaning up stuff.

First on the agenda were my Visitors and I managed to finish off the Mekon's unit:

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Once they were finished, I started cleaning up the next vehicle for my Tunnel Fighter army; the ambulance but didn't get very far so I decided to look for something else to do and didn't have to look far because these were on my painting table... so I painted them:

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Not the best pictures... but these are the first two of the five Crossover Miniatures I got as part of a Kickstarter I joined. I am not sure... but there may be more to follow.

In other news... Henry the kitten decided to go walkabouts this week and gave us all a case of nerves... but he came back and it was only when I looked him straight in the eye, I realised where the problem was:

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Can you see the problem? No? You mean you haven't noticed? Yes... he is a Hitler cat! Oh the shame! 

Last week, as you know, I dyed my daughter's hair. Well it didn't go down too well at school so this week, she looks like this:

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Some teachers should lighten up a bit... but I guess there are standards and there are no other people at the school who dye their hair (he said sarcastically). 

Well... what is next? I guess this:

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It is single shot and Henry loves chasing the darts. It also makes a handy distraction for him when he is doing things he shouldn't be... as long as I don't shoot at him of course! Even if I did, it is perfectly harmless so the odd one doesn't upset him.

Christmas is coming. Only a few weeks left. I have an extra long holiday this year so I should have plenty of time to get all of my chores done and crack on with a few projects. I plan on getting my travelling done before the event so that I can have time to chill out and get rid of all the tiredness that has built up over the last few months.

I guess that is about it for today. What will be next, who knows? 

See you from the top of the Blackpool Tower!

BLAM! It's Sunday's post.

Before I start, I'd like to welcome the latest follower of Inso's World; Alcidas. Welcome Alcidas and I hope you find a few things of interest as you stroll around the gardens. Feel free to leave comments and add suggestions.

Fancy a bit of a challenge? Well if you do and you don't need a prize to compete (apart from the kudos of winning!), the Forum of Doom has just kicked off this year's Unofficial Diorama of Doom. For more information, rules and where to start things off, click HERE.

Phew... what a week. I have had to chill out because the old Insomnia beat me this week so it was a day off work and some sleep meds to get me back on track. Fortunately, it only kept me down for a day and I was able to transform my freebie Grey Commander from Tengu Games into Mekon; Supreme Overlord of the Visitors:

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While I was repositioning his head and arm, I managed to snap them off so I had to reattach them but I think he looks brilliant as the Supreme Commander... and I couldn't help calling him Mekon.

This week, I have received all of my expected E-Bay purchases and I can now rest on my laurels that I don't need to strip any figures for the time being. I have a couple of bids in for a bit of flavour but I am only expecting to win one of them... hopefully. The other one was a 'let's put a stupid little bid in to be cheeky' sort of bid... You never know.

One thing that I was really happy to receive was my charity miniature; Super J. He is a cracking little miniature but in his silver state, he doesn't photograph very well so if you want to see what he looks like, here he is by another painter:

(Both are linked from Lead Adventure Forums)

If you are interested in getting hold of one, here is a link to the thread on the Lead Adventure Forum: LINK.

Finally, our newest family member (Henry) has had his second set of jabs and a week for them to work before this happened:

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Once he was out and had dashed back into the house a few times, he got the hang of being outside and started to investigate... all supervised of course. He certainly seemed to enjoy the occasion... even if he was apprehensive.

Well... that is about it for this post. I am continuing to sculpt the cyclist at the moment but I hope to start painting some dreadnoughts when I get the chance too. We'll see, I guess!

See you from the amazing micro-verse!

So it's Sunday again...

It is Sunday and the sun has come out! What a lovely day and I have made the best of it by... doing chores in the garden. I've got rid of the bags of garden waste at the recycling centre and have dug a flower bed and edged it. Yesterday we had a pleasant day in Oxford and I now have a lovely Tweed jacket.

But... that's all normal stuff and we don't want to talk about that so I'll talk about hobby stuff instead.

I have been pretty side-tracked with my gizzit lately but I have now handed that over to the committee ready for it to be presented so I can forget about it now and continue with other things.

Sculpting has been pretty sparse so I haven't got anything that has progressed far enough for pix but I have assembled a few things, namely two comms robots for my Clanker units:

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I have not bothered fitting any weapons and have added a decent sized antenna to the tops of each of them. They will be perfect for the job of joining the Clanker units. I have another one that is yet to be assembled but I haven't built and converted the squad for it yet so there is no rush. 

I have had to order some 60mm bases from GW so I have also ordered a Jokaero 'fine-cast' miniature just to see what the material is like... and I get a robotised Orang-utan into the bargain. 

In other news, my Kickstarter miniatures have arrived from Crossover Miniatures and I have assembled, based and started painting them... so here they are:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, they are five superheroes and their names are written on their bases so that I can remember them. They are in the process of being base coated but I wanted to get the basic colours down to put a finished picture in my mind. I will do a bit of a review once I finish painting them.

So... not a lot of anything again but a little bit at least.

See you from the barrel of the gun!

Sunday with a whooosh!

It has been a weekend and no mistake. Yesterday, I spent seven odd hours sorting out a computer for my father-in-law and although it took ages, I was very pleased with the results (now all I need to do is sort out the printer and we are cooking on gas!). As a result, I didn't really have the time or enthusiasm for much hobby stuff yesterday but there you go.

Today I have been ticking along with this and that. I have got a little further with Goliath:

Click the Pic!

What you don't see is the huge amount of work that has gone into smoothing out his back... but the head is finished. I have been working on the arms as well but need to sort out the boots, gloves and then smooth everything out properly. I'm quite pleased with him so far but am finding his size to be a pain due to handling while the sculpt is still setting (and because he is on a plastic base, I can't really hurry things along with a heat source).

Next up is a pair of legs:

Click the Pic!

I am happy with the legs/boots and will be slowly sorting out his body-armour over the next couple of days... I am thinking of having this one as a blank (so no arms/head) to get some casts made so that I can make a few different sculpts from it... I haven't decided yet.

As I mentioned, I bought a Storm Talon kit from Games Workshop. I have been fiddling with the kit and have assembled the cockpit with a replacement floor and have realised that it is more than big enough to house a Beetle-bot as a gunner/navigator and a Grymn pilot. In fact it is much larger than I expected... take a look:

Click the Pic!

I have also decided that I will be making the ship into something more than just a gunship... eventually... so watch this space.

In other news... I have won something cool on E-Bay! As you may know, I have a bit of a model-crush on the old Warzone, Vulkan battle-suits. In fact, I decided that 22 is never enough so I have been bidding on a further 3. These are the special ones with the rocket launcher on (that I didn't have any of)... Well, I won them and I am rather happy about it. They will look great in my Clanker units for my Tunnel Fighter army.

...And finally...

I have another week of being at training-school so I need to get my head straight for the exam on Friday! Crikey, who said an old dog can't learn new tricks?! At the end of this week I will know what the difference is between a Puma Hc Mk1 and a Puma Hc Mk2...

...But I can't tell you that because it is a secret (and of course, I'd have to kill you ;) ).

See you from the corner!

Happy Diamond Jubilee.

Today is another bank holiday and it is to celebrate her Majesty The Queen's 60 years on the throne. I watched the Thames Flotilla and was impressed that Her Majesty stood for the whole occasion. Today will be epic :).

I have been busy with a little sculpting lately and have got further with two of my commissions (not able to show off), started the next Space Dwarf and have even managed to get a bit further with Goliath:

Click the Pic!

I am happy that his legs and pants are finished and I have been busy smoothing things out to get rid of the lumps and some of the more stark divisions between muscles.

I still have a lot to go... starting with his boots, then his head and finally his back and arms/hands. He is a big lad so he is taking much more time than my usual stuff which is a bit frustrating... but that is the way of things.

So... Space Dwarfs. 

I have already mentioned that I have started the next one and he will have:

• Body armour
• Crotch guard
• Shoulder sleeves (you'll get what I mean when you see them)
• Knee pads
• Open hands for any weapon (r.hand holding pistol grip, l.hand open for a stock)
• Beret (no beard)

I have decided to have the hands open to avoid any complaints about the weapon. If I don't put one on, no one can complain that it is the right sort of weapon, can they?

There will be pix once he is finished... no WIP shots because he may never end up finished (and I don't want to get hopes up with a part finished sculpt).

I've got a bit of family time to come so I'll see you from the hot seat!

A packed Sunday post

To kick off today's post, I'd like to welcome maxxev to Inso's World. I hope you enjoy your stay and feel free to get involved with comments and questions. If you look over at the blog list, you'll find his blog there and it is well worth a look because of the interesting conversions on display.

Here's a (blurry) picture:

Click the Pic!

On the left we have the start of Goliath for the super-soldier program and on the right we have a secret sculpt at a very early stage. It just shows that I am still ticking along on my current sculpting journey. Speaking of which, I have got more done on the Gizzit and the cowboy but I have been reminded that these are surprise gifts so I shouldn't really post them up... so I'm not going to (until they are finished and gifted). In other sculpting news:

Click the Pic!

I managed to finish Beast and have even got as far as painting him:

Click the Pic!

I think he fits in rather well. There is a nice mix of colours going on but red seems to be winning at the moment so it will be nice to have a big, blue Goliath towering over them all. I have been steered towards sculpting a Wolverine to go with the team and I think a dash of yellow would compliment the group as well. I just have to decide on how to make his claws.

In other news, my shopping addiction has returned and this week I have spent FAR too much money on STUFF. I have pre-ordered a Storm Talon, thrown some money into Old Crow stuff (more on that in a later post) and have been bidding on E-bay again... three Void miniature boxed sets (Syntha) for £12-00 (including postage) can't be bad.

I have been charging my bike-battery up and it appears that I won't be getting away with firing the bike up. I guess it is deep-strip time... at least I'll get to do a bit of spannering again :). I need to get some oil circulating around the engine so I'll have to hand-crank it with some oil in there... that means taking things to bits, removing the spark-plugs and trying to turn the rear wheel with the bike in-gear. If that fails...the engine will have to come out and get stripped and cleaned and re-assembled. I hope we have a dry summer (I don't have a garage).

Yesterday I watched a short film called 'The Telephone Box'. It is an old, foreign film from 1972 that when I was really small, it gave me terrible nightmares. To cut a long story short, it is about a man who gets trapped in a telephone box. He is just about to be saved by the fire brigade but the phone company turns up and takes the box, and its occupant away to a warehouse where there are phone boxes everywhere. In each one is a person in various states of decay. The box gets dropped off and the truck drives away. 

Well, I watched the film and although I didn't find it frightening, I could see how I would have been frightened and to be honest, I didn't really enjoy watching it again. Whether it was the memories from my past or the actual film, who knows? I am glad I watched it though... but I remembered it from start to finish...  it really must have made an impact on me.

Well... that about sums everything up. 

See you from the rickety bridge!