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!

Happy Camper.

Hello again. Welcome.

This week has been pretty much the same as most others. I have been working hard, getting a few charity bits and bobs sorted, doing the odd chore and getting some hobby time in as well.

At work, I am starting to feel like I have properly settled in and am relaxing a bit. My work-mates are including me in more conversation and have realised that I am in for the long haul. I still think that I have found my calling and am really happy to have been given the opportunity to work alongside some wonderful people in such a challenging, yet hugely rewarding, career. It is most certainly a 'job' that has got me smiling more than any other job ever has. That said, I think that the timing was important... I could not have worked in Dementia Care five years ago. I don't think I could have coped because I was less patient and quick to get annoyed. Now, I am being praised for my calmness and patience!

Anyway... enough of me gushing about work... Let's talk about some hobby stuff. First up, I managed to get a grip and start a bit of sculpting on the Squat Veteran Squad. It isn't finished yet but I have managed to finish the standard Veterans (with shotguns):

Click the Pic!

Now I just have to finish the five special ones (meltas, comms and Sgt). Since the picture was taken, I have reworked the pointing arm of one of the troopers; it was too short so I had to pull it off and sculpt in an extra segment. As for the rest of them, I will sculpt the hands/sleeves on the four troopers first because the Sgt will need a bit of extra work due to his bionic arm (he has a cuff mounted chainsword and I am also planning to attach a spare hand to his belt so that he can swap out his chainsword when he needs to). 

But...

My three boxes of Ambots arrived yesterday and I seem to have fallen into the usual trap of getting distracted. As a result, I have started working on a pair of them but only one has got far enough to be of use... so here are some scale pix of my Ambot with a Squat and a Primaris Space Marine for comparison purposes:

Click the Pic!

I think it is perfect for the Centurion role that I have chosen it for. It is 50mm tall from the bottom of the base to the top of its carapace.

As for the conversion, I had all sorts of plans but decided that less is more so I have gone for the simple option of replacing the head with a bubble windscreen. There is ample room inside for a Squat pilot  so that is good. I have also decided to use the thumbs from the kit and move the meltas to the back of each fist (they fitted to the thumb position but didn't look right to me)... no trimming required just a case of gluing them in a different location. I will also be adding the 'shoulder shield' to the top of the carapace so that it can represent an assault launcher (as per the Centurion rules).

On to the kit. The kit is a nice one. It has the options of fitting a thumb, graviton gun or meltagun to each hand, in the thumb position. Each sprue contains all the components required to make the robot in two poses... and as a result there is an extra set of legs/abdomen, and extra head and an extra shoulder joint. I am very happy that there are extra legs because they will make great conversion fodder and I am already thinking of upgrading one of my planned Minotaur 'Ogryn' with some mechanical legs. 

The kit assembles simply but the upper armour on the thighs, needs some careful positioning or it will look odd.

I am very happy with my purchase and, to be honest, I don't think that they are too badly priced either.

On to a bit of life and I am currently under the influence of pain-killers due to my shoulder being horrible today. That means that it's going to be a day off from pretty much everything so the hobby has taken a hit. I also apologise if this post doesn't make sense.

See you through the haze!

The Colonel.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

I've had a bit of a day (work and a sleep on the sofa) so this post is a bit late and has taken me ages to write because of all the corrections...

So. This week has mostly been about work, a few chores and a bit of hobby.

My wife has finally got to a point where she is well enough to go to work and go out and about, as long as she takes it steady... so we have been shopping and out for a meal as well as having an evening at the pub so things are starting to get back to normal after her little illness (7 weeks isn't little...).

Work has been good. I had my probation interview and they are keeping me on... so that is good news.

Hobby wise, it has been a mixed week. I finished a sculpt but quickly flat-lined afterwards so no other sculpting got done (a mix of tiredness and the dread of sculpting in little batches were the issues)... but I did finish a sculpt so there was a positive aspect to the week's hobby. The sculpt in question is my Squat version of the Catachan hero 'Colonel Iron-Hand Straken':

Click the Pic!

I read through the official background for him and took certain aspects as inspiration. I decided to give him a Berserker's Mohawk because his character is a bit of an anarchist and I thought a Mohawk would show this. I didn't go too mad with bionics apart from his arm because I felt that his flak armour could be covering all sorts of cybernetic gubbins and I didn't feel it was necessary to go overboard on the bits you can see. 

On to other sculpting and I will be converting the shotgun vets individually to try and keep the motivation going... and I will be starting with the lasgunners rather than the special troopers.

In other hobby news, I have pre-ordered a bunch of these:

Click the Pic!

They are Ambots from Games Workshop and I plan to use them as Space Marine Centurions... or (in my army) Hearthguard Assault frames... so I may have pre-ordered three boxes of two. I will need to convert them but I will have to wait until they arrive before I set my ideas in stone... but the weapons they come with, match the Centurion weapon load-out very well. I can't wait to get hold of them.

That's it... I'm off.

See you from the trawler!

Ticking along.

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

It is a lovely, sunny day and I've just got back from a nice little trip over to Marazion, with my wife, to see the sea, have a coffee and get some fresh air.

This week has been lots of work, lots of chores and a bit of hobby so I'll get straight on with the hobby stuff.

To start with, I finished Dillon; the last member of the Predator Rescue Team:

Click the Pic!

So I now have a full team:

Click the Pic!

With the team in mind, I have been looking, online, for pictures of 'the chopper' but they all seem to be overly dark and the markings on the aircraft are minimal or indistinct so it got me thinking and I have decided to add a bit of character, with a bit of a personal slant... I am going to add the decals from a 1/48th scale Merlin. Not only that, it will be a Merlin that I have worked on and have added nose art to:

Click the Pic!

I know it isn't from the Predator but it will look nicer than dark green with black lettering and nothing else... plus it adds a personal element.

Now that the predator team has been sculpted and primed, I will attempt to paint them (at some point) but in the meantime, I have been gripped by the sculpting bug (for now) so I have dug out my shotgun veterans to finish off:

Click the Pic!

I just have the arms and a few minor details to finish so I am hoping that I can power on through and get them finished this week. In addition to these, I have also started a conversion for Colonel 'Ironhand' Straken. It is very early days yet so I don't have an image to share but hopefully, there will be pix by next Sunday.

In other hobby news, I recently received a small Ebay order... two Ratlings and four Beastmen from the GW 'Blackstone Fortress' boxed set... I have no idea what I am going to do with them but I have recently been gripped by a desire to add more Beastmen to my Squat army so watch this space.

Well... that's about it.

See you from the shingles!

Still here.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It's still here... for now.

This week has been very similar to last week but a bit more challenging at work. I've had a couple of days where things have been particularly heavy and at times, I have had to defend myself and my colleague against physical harm... so it has been an interesting week.

Work is still extremely rewarding and worth all the highs and lows so I'm enjoying it immensely (even with the challenges)... dementia care isn't always straight forward.

In other news, I have been continuing to sculpt the Predator team and have finished Mac:

Click the Pic!

I decided that the scorpion scene should be the main inspiration and also the scene where he cuts his cheek, while shaving (hence, he has a cut on his cheek). 

Dillon is next on the list and after a bit of 'on-line' chat, I have taken on board the suggestion to give Dillon big biceps... so he'll be the only member of the command squad that doesn't have sleeves. He is progressing nicely but I don't have any pics of him yet... hopefully, there will be pics of the finished team next week... and then painting will commence... OR I may continue sculpting while I am in the mood. Who knows?

See you from the disco!

Maybe we dodged the Armageddon?

Hello.

It would appear that the Google issues have held off so far... so maybe things will continue to go relatively unscathed. Who knows?

Welcome to Inso's World again and this week has pretty much been the same as last week... plenty of work, plenty of chores and I am still running everything because my wife is still poorly.

That said, I managed to escort her to the car, yesterday and we went and sat by the sea with a coffee so that she could get some proper fresh air. It's the second time I have managed to get her out of the house in three weeks (the first was to go to the doctors).

Anyway... this week's hobby has revolved around the Predator hunting team so without further ado, here is Poncho:

Click the Pic!

... and here is Hawkins:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, they are not copies of the team but they do have facets of their counterparts. I have started work on Mac and he will have a scorpion to deal with.

In other hobby news, I have been struggling to stay focused because I am tired and my creative mind has been working overtime. The main distraction has been a Hydra anti-aircraft tank. I have started converting a Chimera from one of my Meng King Tigers and I have reached a point where I just can't be bothered with it any more. If I can't be bothered with one, there is no way I'll be able to carry the design over to thirteen Chimeras so I am likely to switch directions and turn it into a Hydra. I have some gun barrels and I have the rest of the King Tiger kit, all I need is the turret and I think that I may have found a solution to that with a Panther turret from a regular 1/35th kit... but NOT NOW! I need to finish my little sculpting project first.

See you from the life boat!

We're all DOOMED! DOOMED I tell you...

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

A very short blog post this week due to life being very hectic and not having a lot of hobby time.

To cut a long story short, my missus is still poorly, work is still heavy and having to do all the chores on top of everything has meant that my time has been all used up.

That said, I decided (for some completely random reason) to dig out an old project and get back on it... the call of the Space Dwarfs was very strong...

Click the Pic!

This is an almost complete conversion of 'Dutch' for my special drop troop unit... AKA the Squat Predator hunting team. This picture was taken before a pair of bracelets were added... the following pic shows him finished, with his two buddies:

Click the Pic!

These will represent various Catachan Jungle Fighter troops; namely:

• Sgt. Harker
• Sly Marbo
• Platoon Commander
• Command Squad

That means that I have seven planned with four more to convert. Currently, I have 'Poncho' on the sculpting bench. If you are still none the wiser, this image of the rescue team from the movie 'Predator', should clear things up:

Click the Pic!

Obviously, the faces won't be likenesses of the characters... what with them having beards and being Squats... but I hope to capture a small amount of the essence of the characters of each one.

I have NO PLANS to sculpt the Predator... it would be a distraction, when I could be sculpting other things.

SO... in other news... my Blog(s) may be affected by Google's decision to kill off Google+ accounts. This could affect comments and images. Everything is set to start from tomorrow and will be finished by the end of March. I have no idea how my blogs will be affected but if images and comments disappear, I will be closing the blogs down...

... Let's hope that isn't necessary.

See you from the start of the downward spiral!